Yan Yunning walked toward him and lowered her voice. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you’ve been away for so many days — have you finally decided to come back?”

Xuan Yanyu gathered her into his arms and murmured close to her ear, “What have you been up to behind my back?”

Yan Yunning tugged at the dark strands of hair trailing down the man’s back and laughed. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you left without saying a word to me, and you still have the nerve to ask what I’ve been up to behind your back?”

“Did you go back to take a side consort?” The young woman pinched his waist.

“Hmm?” The man caught her hand and rubbed his waist, sounding aggrieved. “How would I dare?”

“Why did you leave so suddenly?” Yan Yunning gave his hand a pat.

“I was injured and wanted to heal properly before coming to see you.” Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together slightly. “Then I learned that Imperial Father had arranged side consorts for me, so I rushed back to Xuanzhao. Once I had settled everything, I came to find you.”

“How did you get injured……” Yan Yunning shifted direction mid-sentence. “Did you go to the Prefectural Office to look for Murong?”

Her elder sister had been wounded and poisoned — which meant she had very likely been poisoned as well. On that day it was Ye Jian who had gone with the people from the Minister’s residence to the Prefectural Office. He had probably obtained the antidote and given it to her elder sister.

So Ye Jian had been driven out of Xuanzhao by Xuan Yanyu, and had then run to apologize to her?

And Xuan Yanyu had gone to the Prefectural Office alone to find Murong, gotten injured, and not wanting her to know, had sent Imperial Physician Wen to deliver the antidote to her?

“Mm.” The man’s voice carried a smile. “Yan Yunning, how did you figure that out?”

“Xuan Yanyu.” Yan Yunning pushed him away and grabbed hold of his ear. “Xuan Yanyu, you really something else — you get injured and hide away from me, and when you’re healed you needn’t bother coming to find me either.”

Ye’an’s hand had moved to draw his long sword, but Ye Chen pressed it back down. “Do you know why Ye Jian was driven out of the Crown Prince’s residence?”

Ye’an looked at him blankly. He’d been driven out by His Highness the Crown Prince — wasn’t it for failing in his duties and displeasing the Prince?

“It was because he did not put the Second Young Miss Yan first.”

Ye’an’s gaze swept toward Xuan Yanyu. The latter was speaking in a meek, placating tone to the Second Young Miss Yan. His Highness……His Highness……how could he be so spineless?

His Highness was the heir apparent of Xuanzhao — why was he lowering himself like this?

He glanced again at Pei Qingyan in the distance. The man had his lips pressed tightly together, redness rimming his eyes.

“Ningning.”

Yan Yunning glanced back at Pei Qingyan. “What is it?”

The bright light in the young man’s eyes dimmed. “Little Yanche has fallen asleep. Let’s head back.”

“All right, let’s go.” Yan Yunning tossed the little shoe in her hand to Xuan Yanyu and warned, “Keep your distance from me.”

Every time it was he who was angry and she who went to coax him. This time it was her turn — he had disappeared without a word for all those days, and she was furious.

“Ningning.” Pei Qingyan reached out a long arm and grabbed Yan Yunning by her arm, pulling her away from Xuan Yanyu’s side.

Yan Yunning looked up at Xuan Yanyu, and before she could get a word out, the next second the man sent a kick flying squarely into Pei Qingyan’s shoulder.

Pei Qingyan staggered, and Jiang Yanche in his arms nearly went flying from his instinctive reaction.

“Xuan Yanyu!” Yan Yunning glared at him.

Had he not seen that Pei Qingyan was still holding a child?

What if he had fallen?

“Are you all right?” Yan Yunning took Jiang Yanche from Pei Qingyan’s arms.

The little fellow smacked his tiny lips, burrowed into Yan Yunning’s arms, and went right back to sleep.

“Ningning, that really hurt.” Pei Qingyan bent over, rubbing his shoulder.

Xuan Yanyu let out a cold laugh. How much could it hurt? He had held back out of consideration for the child in his arms.

Yan Yunning said apologetically, “Sorry. Next time, don’t pull me like that.”

Pei Qingyan frowned. “Why not? We’ve held hands — why can’t I pull your arm?”

Why was she apologizing on that man’s behalf?

Xuan Yanyu’s hand suddenly clenched into a fist. Yan Yunning’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly. She took a few steps back and pressed down on Xuan Yanyu’s hand before he could throw a punch at anyone.

“We didn’t hold hands. I wanted to hit him, and he caught my fist — but then I punched him in the face anyway.” Yan Yunning’s voice softened slightly. “Xuan Yanyu, let’s go back. I’ve been holding little Yanche for so long, my arm is exhausted.”

Xuan Yanyu exchanged a glance with Ye’an. Ye’an caught on immediately and stepped forward with a smile. “Second Young Miss Yan, let me take the child.”

Yan Yunning didn’t decline and transferred Jiang Yanche into his arms.

Xuan Yanyu then gestured for Ye’an to take Jiang Yanche back to the villa. Yan Yunning caught sight of this and her eyelid gave a slight twitch.

Pei Qingyan narrowed his eyes, his gaze toward Xuan Yanyu full of disdain.

The man raised his eyebrow with an air of indifference and said calmly, “You held Yan Yunning’s hand?”

Pei Qingyan curved his lips, looking Xuan Yanyu over at his leisure. The next second, Yan Yunning watched as Pei Qingyan nodded.

Yan Yunning pressed a hand to her forehead. Was he going out of his way to get beaten?

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Xuan Yanyu’s mouth. “Then you’d best not keep it.”

Understanding his meaning perfectly, Pei Qingyan was intrigued. “Come then.”

“Young Master Pei, Elder Brother Qi just said he had something to discuss with you.” Yan Yunning worked hard to pry open Xuan Yanyu’s clenched fist.

“His Highness the Third Prince wants to speak with me?” Pei Qingyan frowned. “Ningning, are you telling me the truth?”

What could the Third Prince possibly want with him?

“Young Master Pei, if you don’t believe me, you don’t have to go.”

Pei Qingyan flexed his fingers uneasily. Believe it or not, he still had to go — if the Third Prince really did want to see him and he failed to show up, that would be tantamount to disrespecting the Third Prince.

Once Pei Qingyan had left, Yan Yunning gave Xuan Yanyu’s hand a firm smack. “Let go. He didn’t hold my hand — he grabbed my fist. And it didn’t matter anyway because I punched him in the face right after.”

Xuan Yanyu’s throat bobbed. Was there really a difference?

Yan Yunning attempted to change the subject. “How did your Imperial Father agree not to let you take side consorts this time?”

She’d been meaning to make him coax her, yet somehow she had ended up being the one to smooth things over for him again.

“Imperial Father didn’t agree.” Xuan Yanyu answered honestly.

“?” Yan Yunning took advantage of his loosening grip to slip her hand into his, fingers interlaced.

“I drafted the decree myself.”

Yan Yunning was stunned for a long moment before the reality sank in, and she stammered, “You……you drafted the decree yourself?”

“Mm.”

Yan Yunning pushed her astonishment aside. “And Ye Jian — do you have no plans of letting him return?”

Behind them, Ye Chen’s eyes lit up. Could Ye Jian come back?

During those few days in Xuanzhao, he had slipped away to check on Ye Jian in secret. Someone driven out from the Crown Prince’s side — the people in the palace, fearing they might enrage His Highness, treated Ye Jian poorly. It seemed as though by bullying Ye Jian, they believed they could somehow please the Crown Prince.

“No plans. The moment he defied my orders, he should have anticipated the worst. The fact that I didn’t have him executed was already showing him mercy.”

Ye Chen’s eyes darkened. His Highness was right — he had already shown Ye Jian mercy. Otherwise, Ye Jian would not have escaped with his life.

“He defied your orders?”

Xuan Yanyu had no intention of hiding it from her. “This Palace had not given him leave to administer the antidote to Yan Shiyao. While I was speaking with Imperial Physician Wen, he took the opportunity to give the antidote to Yan Shiyao.”

“Yan Yunning, there is no need to feel sympathy for him. Forgive him once, and what about the next time? Once someone has been pardoned, they will do the same thing again.”

“Where I am concerned, there is no shortage of people eager to serve as my personal guard even without him. I will not soften simply because of how long he has served by my side. Except for you, no one is an exception where I am concerned.”