Shen Lingzhen’s earlobes were extremely thin, more sensitive and ticklish than most people’s. Huo Liuxing’s habit of biting people’s ears at every turn was truly more than she could handle.

She covered her ears tightly and dodged far away, yet that ambiguous phrase he’d just uttered—”What do you think?”—kept echoing repeatedly in her ears with a rustling sound.

Shen Lingzhen’s expression flickered as she pondered: “My lord must… must only be joking, right?”

Huo Liuxing neither confirmed nor denied this, smiling leisurely as he unhurriedly tidied up the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. After a long while, he casually tossed her a line: “If you think so, then so be it.”

Shen Lingzhen’s breath had been held in suspense for quite some time. Having finally received a response, she still had no definite answer.

She was left with her mind trembling from this unfathomable attitude. Huo Liuxing seized the opportunity to change the subject, inquiring: “My cloak and handkerchief—are they still at the Duke’s mansion?”

She nodded.

“The matter of my rescuing you—does anyone else know about it?”

“My lord can rest assured. Only my father, mother, and I know the details of this matter. We’ve even kept it from Imperial Uncle.”

Huo Liuxing seemed to detect a trace of something unusual in this, asking with a smile: “Why hide it even from His Majesty? I thought the Grand Princess and His Majesty were deeply affectionate siblings who told each other everything.”

Shen Lingzhen had once thought so too, but at that time, no matter what they did, they couldn’t find any trace of her savior. She had suggested asking her omnipotent Imperial Uncle for help, but her mother had rejected the idea.

Mother had said that this person’s identity might be extraordinary, and if Imperial Uncle learned of it, it would inevitably cause a tremendous uproar.

Shen Lingzhen repeated these words.

“An extraordinary identity?” The smile on Huo Liuxing’s face remained unchanged, but the hand hidden in his sleeve clenched tightly.

Shen Lingzhen nodded matter-of-factly, thinking to herself that his helmet was comparable to a general’s regulation issue. If her Imperial Uncle, who had once become emperor by virtue of holding the position of Great General, were to find out about it, wouldn’t it provoke a storm of bloodshed?

She said: “Isn’t the insignia on my lord’s helmet extraordinary enough?”

“…” So this involved a helmet and insignia too.

Huo Liuxing wanted to continue inquiring, but unlike a silk handkerchief, there was absolutely no reason he could claim not to remember what his helmet looked like and ask her to sketch it. He could only respond vaguely: “I suppose so.”

“But why would my lord wear such a helmet that doesn’t conform to regulations?”

She asked him, but whom could he ask?

With no escape, Huo Liuxing came up with a plan. His ear suddenly twitched, and he made a hushing gesture to her, then pointed outside the window, seemingly indicating that someone’s ears had come to the wall.

Shen Lingzhen quickly covered her own mouth, not daring to make a sound.

After remaining frozen for about half the time it takes to burn a short incense stick, she squeezed her eyes at Huo Liuxing: Have they left?

Huo Liuxing nodded.

She patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief. For the moment, she forgot to pursue the matter of the helmet, asking in a low voice: “Could it be a spy sent by the Fourth Prince?”

Huo Liuxing shamelessly pinned this blame on Zhao Xun: “Your judgment of people is quite clear.”

Shen Lingzhen said melancholically: “But I see that Eldest Miss doesn’t seem to have seen through the Fourth Prince’s true face. Won’t my lord remind her?”

“It was I who told her that on the night at the teahouse, the Fourth Prince risked himself to save me, which is why she gets along with him so harmoniously. Reminding her would only ruin things.”

After a moment’s confusion, Shen Lingzhen understood. Zhao Xun had simply taken a fancy to Huo Shuyi’s straightforward nature and deliberately befriended her, attempting to extract information about the Huo family from her mouth.

If they told Huo Shuyi at this critical juncture that Zhao Xun harbored ill intentions toward the Huo family, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t slip up in front of him.

Only, this way…

“My lord is certainly considering the big picture, but when Eldest Miss learns the truth afterward, won’t she be heartbroken that you deceived and used her?”

“Then what can be done? Preserving the big picture is already difficult enough—must we demand perfection in everything?” Huo Liuxing looked at her innocent eyes. “Go look around Bianjing city, from civil and military officials to imperial relatives—among those who have established themselves at court, which one doesn’t advance cautiously, exhausting every means? You can try to be a good person who does right by everyone, but you simply won’t live long.”

Originally, Shen Lingzhen couldn’t comprehend these things, but having experienced two innocent calamities in succession, she knew that what Huo Liuxing said wasn’t entirely without reason. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but lower her eyes.

Huo Liuxing felt a lump in his throat.

It was as if he had dragged an innocent young girl onto a battlefield strewn with corpses, forcing her to open her eyes wide and see clearly just how unbearable the world truly was.

He cleared his throat softly: “It’s not that serious.”

Shen Lingzhen raised her head, her eyes questioning.

“I mean, this place isn’t as complicated as Bianjing, and the Fourth Prince may leave very soon.”

“How does my lord know?”

Naturally, it was because he had a way to make Zhao Xun leave. Having passively endured such a beating, Huo Liuxing couldn’t possibly not repay it tenfold.

Only, this sort of thing absolutely could not be revealed to Shen Lingzhen. He had misspoken.

Huo Liuxing smiled: “Just guessing. There are many affairs in the capital, and the Fourth Prince isn’t an idle person either.” To prevent her from asking more questions, he turned to extinguish the oil lamp, leaving only a short candle. “Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s sleep.”

Shen Lingzhen was still pondering matters concerning Zhao Xun, wheeling her chair after him to the bed in a distracted state. She was just about to hop onto the bed on one foot as she had the previous nights when she saw him stand up directly.

She immediately looked around again, worried whether his shadow would be cast on the window or door. Having just confirmed with relief that all was well, she suddenly felt her body lighten—she had been scooped up horizontally in one motion.

Curled in Huo Liuxing’s arms, Shen Lingzhen let out a soft “ah,” staring at him in shock.

Huo Liuxing placed her on the bed, pulled over the quilt, and carefully tucked it around her properly.

Only then did Shen Lingzhen understand that he was simply helping her onto the bed.

She curled up in the corner, once again remembering his earlier phrase “I am fond of you.” Her hands clutched tightly at that heart which, like the candlelight in the room, was jumping erratically: “My lord, be careful of eyes beyond the window. You needn’t take such risks for my sake—I can manage on my own.”

Huo Liuxing lay down beside her with a smile: “This isn’t for you, it’s for myself.”

“Hm?” Shen Lingzhen froze.

“I cannot bear to watch you struggle alone.”

Shen Lingzhen’s breath caught, her eyelashes trembling rapidly.

Huo Liuxing turned his head to look at her. Seeing that she now had no spare capacity to dwell on thoughts about Zhao Xun, he closed his eyes. Little did he know that excess is as bad as deficiency—this teasing had gone too far and would also invite trouble.

He had barely closed his eyes when he heard: “My lord—”

This girl truly could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Huo Liuxing felt blood congealing in his heart, yet his body remained completely motionless.

“My lord, are you pretending to sleep?”

“…”

Shen Lingzhen sighed with a worried frown.

Huo Liuxing was just about to surrender when he heard her talking to herself: “I’ve thought it over carefully, and I believe I understand my lord’s meaning.”

“?” Understand what?

“My lord has expressed your feelings so clearly tonight. If I still evade out of shyness and pretend to be foolish, it would truly be unfair to you. I think that both emotionally and logically, I should give my lord a direct response.”

“?” Had he expressed his feelings?

“My lord holds such affection for me—I’m very grateful. Although I had been singlemindedly focused on repaying my debt before and hadn’t thought of you in that way…”

“…” So his expression of feelings was being rejected?

Huo Liuxing wanted to “wake up” and explain, but then he heard a turning point: “But I remember that during the day, my lord hinted to me that all people in the world come and go for profit, and if not seeking profit, then seeking affection. My lord saved my life—I shouldn’t be stingy with repayment. Since you seek my affection, then I’m also willing to work hard to develop feelings for you in return. However, I’ve often heard people say that matters of the heart cannot be forced, so I must ask my lord to wait patiently for me. I will genuinely apply myself to this.”

“…”

Having lived to this age, Huo Liuxing had always considered himself adept at handling interpersonal matters—when soldiers came, he would block them with generals; when water came, he would cover it with earth. This was the first time he had experienced what it meant to be caught between a rock and a hard place.

Clearly, opening his eyes to deny wasn’t right, and pretending to sleep in tacit acknowledgment wasn’t right either. In the end, when he was most troubled, Shen Lingzhen considerately resolved the situation with one sentence: “So my lord really has fallen asleep.” He then genuinely continued pretending until the latter half of the night.

The next morning, both of them having slept poorly through the night, they woke late. When Jianjia and Bailu called them up and they turned to look at each other, an inexplicable awkwardness arose.

As their eyes met, Shen Lingzhen said with obvious guilty conscience: “Did my lord sleep well last night? I saw you lose consciousness the moment you touched the pillow.”

Huo Liuxing didn’t quibble with her choice of words, following suit with his own fabrication: “Mm, that’s right. What about you?”

“Me too.” Shen Lingzhen smiled with a guilty conscience, crawling to the foot of the bed, going around him to get down, and hurriedly saying: “My lord, rest a while longer. I’ll be the first to get up today.”

Jianjia wrinkled her brow, feeling that the atmosphere between the young mistress and the young master was somewhat strange. She thought about it but couldn’t understand exactly what was wrong. It wasn’t until she had finished attending to Shen Lingzhen’s dressing and washing that she suddenly remembered—this situation was exactly like a story she had once heard.

That story told of a scholar who had expressed his feelings to a beauty he had admired for many years, but the young lady had no such intentions. After she rejected him, they fell into an awkward situation with each other.

Jianjia and Bailu accompanied Shen Lingzhen to eat breakfast outside. Kongqing and Jingmo entered afterward to attend to Huo Liuxing, but saw that the lord, who usually had his wits about him at this hour, seemed somewhat wilted today.

Kongqing looked at the dark circles under his eyes and asked curiously: “My lord, did you perhaps go out in the dark of night yesterday?”

Huo Liuxing glanced at him and suddenly asked out of nowhere: “Suppose one night, you originally just wanted to light a fire to ward off the cold, but accidentally added too much firewood, making the fire so strong it was sufficient to roast a sheep beside it. What would you do?”

Kongqing was stunned: “Well, if you don’t roast it, it’s a waste. Just eat a whole roasted sheep—why not? Isn’t whole roasted sheep delicious?”

“But that sheep isn’t yours to eat.”

“They’re all sheep—how can there be a distinction between which you should or shouldn’t eat? Well, if you really feel you shouldn’t eat it, then just put out the fire.”

“But seeing the fire so strong, the sheep has already prepared itself to be eaten by you. If you suddenly extinguish the fire, wouldn’t it be very disappointed?”

“There are such kind-hearted sheep in this world?” Kongqing gaped. “No, but my lord, why would you care about a sheep’s thoughts?”

Huo Liuxing made an “oh” sound and nodded.

Yes indeed—why had he come to care about a sheep’s thoughts?