Xuan Yanyu fixed his gaze on her, his tone utterly earnest.

Looking at his gentle expression, Yan Yunning swallowed. “Am I really an exception?”

The man’s low voice carried a note of teasing. “Yan Yunning — you address me by name without a title, you refuse me at every turn, you have poisoned me, and you have laid hands on me. If you were not an exception, you would be in the ground by now.”

“……When did I ever lay hands on you?” Yan Yunning slipped the jade thumb ring off his finger and fitted it onto her own thumb. “I deny it.”

“You deny it? Did you not just grab my ear moments ago?” Xuan Yanyu pinched her nose. “Well?”

“Fine, I admit it!”

“So then, while I wasn’t at your side, that man held your hand?”

“Who told you to leave?” Yan Yunning held his hand and slid the jade thumb ring back onto his thumb. “If you hadn’t come back, never mind holding hands — I would have married him by now.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” The man bent down to meet her eyes, his tone unhurried. “Yan Yunning, if you truly dared to marry someone else, I would be so furious I would……”

The young woman pressed a finger to his lips. “All right, let’s go eat.”

If she actually wanted to marry someone else, what did she care whether he was angry or not — she’d just marry and be done with it. It wasn’t as though he would do away with her.

Doing away with her was unlikely, but he might well do away with her husband.

Xuan Yanyu frowned with dissatisfaction. “I am being very serious in telling you……”

“I know.” Yan Yunning said only the pleasant things. “There is no one better than you. And there is no one more suited to be my husband than you.”

A look of satisfaction curved the man’s lips.

……

The Dining Hall.

Because of Qi Qingchen’s presence, the others did not dine together with him. But dining alongside Qi Qingchen meant excellent food, so Yan Yunning always came to eat with Yan Shiyao and Qi Qingchen.

“Ningning, has Yanyu also come to Yuanjing Villa?” Yan Shiyao ladled out a bowl of porridge for Yan Yunning and smiled as she asked, “Why hasn’t he come to eat?”

“He said he wasn’t hungry.”

He’d told her to come find him in the room once she had finished eating.

Yan Shiyao absent-mindedly took a sip of her porridge. Not hungry?

Having left so suddenly and come back just as abruptly — could there be yet another scheme afoot?

Would he bring her to Xuanzhao?

Would he still wish to marry her?

“Yan Shiyao.” Qi Qingchen picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks and dropped it into her bowl, saying mockingly, “If Xuan Yanyu were hungry, couldn’t he come eat himself? You’re worried about him going hungry — you……”

“Your Highness the Third Prince!” A pained, wailing voice cut off Qi Qingchen’s words. “Your Highness the Third Prince, please uphold justice for this subject!”

Yan Yunning bit her wooden chopsticks and looked at Pei Qingyan, kneeling on the ground. His face bore vivid handprints and bruises, and so did the backs of his hands. She didn’t even need to ask — she knew it was Xuan Yanyu’s doing.

“What is the matter?” Qi Qingchen was somewhat impatient.

“Your Highness the Third Prince, it was the man who arrived today — he said his name was Xuan Yanyu. This state I’m in is entirely the result of his beating.” Pei Qingyan said through gritted teeth.

He had thought the man would be a pushover. He had gone to warn him to stay away from Ningning in the future, and perhaps give him a lesson while he was at it. He hadn’t expected the man to say he had been looking for him anyway.

They had come to blows, and the man had beaten him savagely — and he couldn’t even fight back. If Ruoyi hadn’t happened to pass by, he would have been done for.

Qi Qingchen, who was already irritated with Xuan Yanyu, grew even angrier upon hearing this. “This Palace is still here, and he dares to raise his hand? Let this Palace tell you — this is an affront to this Palace’s presence, and striking Young General Pei is a violation of Qilan’s laws. Drag him out and give him fifty strokes.”

Wu’an replied, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Yan Shiyao kindly advised, “Elder Brother Qi, leave it be.”

He hadn’t managed to land a blow on Xuan Yanyu — he would only end up being beaten by Ye Jian and Ye Chen instead.

Qi Qingchen throwing a fit inside their cousin-sister’s villa would only bring trouble to their cousin-sister.

Qi Qingchen grew more agitated. “Wu’an, why haven’t you moved yet? Beat him — beat him one hundred strokes.”

Yan Shiyao frowned. “Elder Brother Qi……”

“Yan Shiyao.” Qi Qingchen pulled her arm and said in a low voice, “This Palace will beat him today regardless.”

He had noticed that Yan Shiyao was rather good at putting on a performance. When Yan Yunning and the others were around, she called him Elder Brother Qi and acted just as she always had. When Yan Yunning and the others were absent, she not only raised her hand against him but addressed him directly by name.

Yan Shiyao’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly. She continued to reason with him. “Elder Brother Qi, you can’t privately subject Yanyu to……”

“So what of it? Yan Shiyao, how about you beg this Palace on Xuan Yanyu’s behalf?” Qi Qingchen smiled, and it was not a kind smile.

Yan Shiyao picked up the teacup beside her, wanting to fling it at Qi Qingchen’s face. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Yan Yunning eating contentedly — and she set the teacup back down.

Yan Yunning noticed Yan Shiyao’s gaze, swallowed the rice in her mouth, and said with a squint and a smile, “Elder Sister, there’s no need to worry. Just let Elder Brother Qi beat him.”

Xuan Yanyu wouldn’t obediently lie down and take the beating — and the more she tried to talk Qi Qingchen down right now, the more enraged he would become.

Yan Shiyao: “……”

“Ningning.” Pei Qingyan suppressed the excitement in his heart, stood up, and sat down close beside Yan Yunning.

Ningning was worried about him……

Yan Yunning offered him a polite smile. With handprints mingling with bruises across his face, he’d really had wretched luck running into Xuan Yanyu.

Pei Qingyan cracked a grin, and the movement pulled at the wound on his face, making him draw a sharp breath in pain.

“Put some medicine on it.” Yan Yunning took a salve from her pouch and handed it to him.

“Ningning……”

“Young Master Pei.” Yan Yunning reminded him quietly once more. “Keep a little more distance from me.”

Pei Qingyan’s expression stiffened. It wasn’t the first time she had told him to keep his distance.

“I’m afraid that you’ll……” Yan Yunning fixed her eyes on his injuries and said apologetically, “Young Master Pei, I’ll pay for you to see a physician, and I’ll give you some additional compensation as well.”

Pei Qingyan felt as though the wounds on his body ached even more sharply. He gave a strained smile. “Ningning, why do you keep apologizing to him on his behalf? Why do you keep cleaning up after him?”

“Your Highness.” Wu’an struggled with all his might against the arms pinning him down. “Let go of me.”

Before he even reached the dining hall, his voice had already carried in.

A flash of murderous intent crossed Qi Qingchen’s eyes. Xuan Yanyu truly did not regard him as anyone important. Wu’an was calling him “Your Highness” — there was no way Xuan Yanyu didn’t know Wu’an’s identity. And knowing Wu’an’s identity, he still had his subordinates restrain Wu’an. This was blatant provocation.

“Your Highness the Third Prince, what is the meaning of this?” Xuan Yanyu struck first upon entering the dining hall. “Why did you send your subordinate to punish me without cause?”

“Is it permissible to arbitrarily punish me simply because one is the Third Prince? Is this truly how Emperor Qi has instructed His Highness?”

“The common people of Qilan must live every day fearing they might be punished by His Highness the Third Prince at any moment. I think it would be better if they all submitted to Xuanzhao — in Xuanzhao, there is no need to fear being punished at any time.”

“Xuan Yanyu!” The black depths of Qi Qingchen’s eyes burned with fury.

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow. With one hand he seized Pei Qingyan by the collar and dragged him to one side. Ye’an stepped forward and used a handkerchief to wipe the wooden chair where Pei Qingyan had been sitting, wiping it meticulously. “Sir, you may sit now.”

Pei Qingyan clenched his teeth and strained to hold back his surging rage.

“Your Highness the Third Prince, if today you cannot give me a clear explanation of why you sent your subordinate to punish me without cause, I will go to the palace gates to lodge a formal complaint against you.”