The next second, a woman’s amused voice rang out beside him, “I’ll ask someone else.”

“Yan Yunning, you wouldn’t dare.”

“You can watch and see whether I dare or not.” Yan Yunning smiled with a soft, graceful curl of her lips.

“Yan Yunning!!!” Xuan Yanyu’s face darkened with fury, his teeth grinding together with an audible sound. “I will have his entire household executed — not one left alive.”

Yan Yunning said without the slightest concern, “Wouldn’t it be enough if I simply didn’t let you find out who it is?”

A cold chill rose in the man’s eyes. Suppressing his rage, he bent down and lifted her into his arms, his voice particularly hard and cold. “Very well. From now on, you need not step out of the bedchamber ever again.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

Was this right?

Wasn’t he supposed to agree to give her a daughter?

How did it turn into her never being allowed to leave the bedchamber?!

This was nothing like what she had imagined!

What she had imagined was Xuan Yanyu yielding, looking at her gently and saying, “Ningning, I agree.”

Having been brought back to Prince Xuan’s Palace, Yan Yunning weakly raised her hand. “That… we still haven’t gone to see Ranran.”

“……” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze paused — he had clearly been so furious he had forgotten.

“Shall we… go to the General’s Manor again?” Yan Yunning asked tentatively.

“Why didn’t you say so while we were on our way back to Prince Xuan’s Palace?!” Xuan Yanyu gave her a sideways glance.

“I thought you felt today was too late and wanted to go tomorrow.” Yan Yunning muttered quietly.

How was she supposed to know that judging by his reaction, it seemed he had simply forgotten?

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

Yan Yunning leaned closer to him with an amused expression, teasing him. “Xuan Yanyu, how could you get so angry that you even forgot why you were going to the General’s Manor? If you had agreed to my request early on, you wouldn’t have gotten angry enough to forget, would you.”

The man extended one finger and pressed it against her shoulder, a faint curve appearing at his lips. “Stay away from me. Without you infuriating me, how would I ever forget?”

“Impossible.” Yan Yunning brushed aside his well-defined fingers and wrapped both arms around his neck, her pert and lovely face pressing against Xuan Yanyu’s handsome profile, amusement dancing at the corners of her eyes. “Push me away then.”

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow, his voice low and resonant with a hint of laughter. “And then?”

Yan Yunning made a thoughtful sound, then curved her brow ends upward. “And then? And then I’ll take our son and walk away from you, of course.”

“Tch.” The man pinched her ear, his tone languid. “I don’t want to deceive you — without my permission, you cannot leave Prince Xuan’s Palace.”

Yan Yunning lifted her eyelids slightly, mildly exasperated. “However you look at it, I am still the Princess Consort of Xuan. I can’t even leave my own home?!”

“What can I say? Who told you that you’re not the Prince of Xuan?” The man’s insufferable voice carried a teasing lilt.

“……” Yan Yunning raised her index finger and lifted his chin, her voice rising with amusement. “In all the dynasties of Xuanzhao, has there ever been a Princess Consort like me who couldn’t leave her own home?!”

Xuan Yanyu tilted his head and planted a light kiss on Yan Yunning’s lips, a deep smile in his eyes. “No, there hasn’t. You are the first. Aren’t you pleased?”

“Get lost.”

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

Yan Yunning stared at Xuan Yanyu for a moment, her brow arching slightly. Her fingers rested on the jade belt at his waist, and she smiled wickedly. “Are you going to agree or not?”

“Agree to what?” The man raised an eyebrow and closed his hand over hers.

“I want a daughter.” Yan Yunning hooked her little finger around his jade belt.

Xuan Yanyu said flatly, “You have your monthly cycle.”

Yan Yunning: “……!!!”

“Forgotten? Hmm?” The man’s voice was low and deep, unable to conceal his amusement.

“……” Yan Yunning gritted her teeth, her gorgeous little face scrunching up like a steamed bun. She refused to even glance at the man who was clearly delighting in her misfortune. She walked to the bed and lay down, closing her eyes.

“Didn’t you say just now that there was no way you’d keep your distance from me? How is it that you’re so far away now?”

Xuan Yanyu rose and, whether deliberately or not, rummaged through the wardrobe and retrieved a piece of sleepwear he’d seen before — that slightly sheer, strategically clever garment from when they were in Qilan.

Yan Yunning pounded the brocade quilt. “Xuan Yanyu, don’t be so insufferably smug.”

The man raised his chin with an air of pure innocence. “I’m going to bathe. How does that make me smug?”

“Would the Princess Consort like to join me?” After a pause of several seconds, Xuan Yanyu added with a leisurely smile.

“No.”

Xuan Yanyu tilted his head. “Why not?”

“Come here, and I shall tell you.” Yan Yunning lay face-down on the bed, facing him, and crooked her finger at him with a beckoning gesture.

“Never mind.” The man shook his head with an expression of mock distress. “I must protect myself.”

“Xuan Yanyu! Get lost!!” Yan Yunning flung a soft pillow at the man, who stood at a considerable distance from her.

Xuan Yanyu caught the pillow with one hand, his handsome face wearing a smile, his voice low and resonant. “Insubordination — that warrants punishment.”

Yan Yunning covered her ears, too lazy to listen to another word he said.

The man widened his eyes. “This is gross disrespect toward me — that warrants even greater punishment.”

“Xuan Yanyu, come here — why are you standing so far away from me?” Yan Yunning propped her chin in her hands and smiled faintly.

Xuan Yanyu’s well-defined fingers stroked the jade belt at his waist, smiling with helpless resignation. “Did I not say I must protect myself? Did the Princess Consort not hear me?!”

“……” Yan Yunning lowered her eyes, a small curve appearing at her lips. In a frail voice she murmured, “Xuan… Xuan Xixi, my stomach… my stomach hurts so much.”

Before Yan Yunning could perform her act a second time, Xuan Yanyu crossed the room in a panic of long strides. “What do you mean your stomach hurts?”

Yan Yunning wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pressed her lips together to suppress a smile. “Got you, haven’t I, Xuan Xixi!!”

“I’m going to bathe!”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Yan Yunning’s smile turned bewitching.

Xuan Yanyu stared at her in disbelief, his jaw tightening slightly. “You have your monthly cycle.”

Yan Yunning deliberately teased him. “I know that. What does it have to do with you? Hmm?”

As she spoke, she tugged free the cord that tied the bed curtains.

“H… how outrageous.” The man made an attempt to flee.

Yan Yunning watched him with unhurried composure.

“Let go of me.” Unable to bring himself to push Yan Yunning away, Xuan Yanyu could only negotiate with her. “I promise you — be good, let go of me first. Not now, it’s not good for your health.”

Yan Yunning squinted with a smile. “You’re not lying to me?”

“I am the Prince of Xuan. How could I lie to you? Let go of me first.”

Seeing the tips of Xuan Yanyu’s ears growing red with agitation, Yan Yunning dissolved into laughter. “I don’t believe you, Xuan Xixi.”

“……” Xuan Yanyu’s throat moved in a slight swallow. He called out toward the outer hall, “Someone come, come—”

“Be quiet.” Yan Yunning groped for the porcelain vial on the pillow beside her, rolled up the man’s sleeve, gripped his arm, and bent her head to apply the cool, soothing medicinal ointment to his skin.

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow. “Just applying ointment?”

Yan Yunning said unhurriedly, “Rest assured, Your Majesty — you have managed to protect yourself today.”

“Just today?”

“Naturally.” Yan Yunning dabbed a little more ointment and applied it meticulously over the scarred area, speaking in a thoroughly unhurried manner. “Your Majesty, whether you can ‘protect’ yourself depends on when my monthly cy—”

“Your Majesty, Princess Consort — what has happened?” Qiuci, Xiao Wan, and the other maids pushed open the chamber doors and swept into the bedchamber in a cluster.

“……” Yan Yunning drew the bed curtain aside and waved them off. “Nothing at all. His Majesty is having one of his fits — all of you withdraw.”

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

The assembled maids: “……”

“Did I say something wrong?” Yan Yunning arched an eyebrow slightly. “Xuan Xixi, you tell me — are you not having one of your fits?”

She had said she would never leave, yet even now he was still afraid.

So afraid that he wanted to bring Ranran and Jiang Xian’s daughter to be raised at her side — if that wasn’t a fit, what was?