Wen Shuyun took a sip of tea and acted as though she hadn’t heard a word.

She wasn’t foolish. The maid story was likely just a pretext.

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes slightly. “Go bring Ye Jian and the others in.”

“Yes, Young Master Xuan.” Qiuci responded and jogged out of the main hall.

“Madam, Young Master Xuan, Miss Yan.” Cook Feng came out from the kitchen. She glanced at Ling Mianmian and her mother, who had shown up uninvited, then looked to Yan Yuning. “The meal is ready. There’s the corn rice and roasted chicken leg that you like — you can go eat now.”

“Chicken what?” Ling Mianmian’s mother swallowed, looking over at Cook Feng. “You’re really too kind — it’s so late and you’ve gone through the trouble of hosting me.”

“Mom.” Ling Mianmian tugged at her mother’s arm, mortified.

Cook Feng was dumbstruck. She said straight to her face, “That courtesy was truly wasted — I genuinely did not have the kitchen prepare a portion for you.”

Ling Mianmian’s mother’s cheeks burned and she laughed awkwardly.

“Young Master Xuan.”

“Young Master Xuan, Young Master Xuan.”

Ye Jian, Ye Chen, and Ye’an, hearing from Qiuci that Xuan Yanyu was asking for them, came running into the main hall.

Yan Yuning looked at Ye Chen with an amused expression. Ye Chen scratched the back of his head.

Yan Yuning pointed at the corner of her own mouth. Ye Chen belatedly touched the corner of his mouth and found a kernel of corn stuck there, his expression going sheepish as he lowered his head.

He had been crouching outside eating corn just now, and when Young Master Xuan suddenly needed them, there hadn’t been time to wipe his mouth.

Xuan Yanyu’s brow furrowed. He shifted his body, blocking Yan Yuning’s line of sight to Ye Chen, his voice dropping low. “Remove the uninvited guests, disinfect the sofa and main hall, and inform the gate security that strangers are not to be admitted in the future.”

“Understood.”

“Understood.”

“Understood.”

Once the three had responded, Ye Jian and Ye’an went over to Ling Mianmian and her mother, while Ye Chen went to fetch the disinfectant spray.

Xuan Yanyu glanced over at Ling Mianmian with thinly veiled impatience. “Report to HR tomorrow and resign.”

Ling Mianmian’s beautiful eyes filled with tears, her expression wounded, and she ran outside.

Xuan Yanyu: “?”

“Shuyun!” Ling Mianmian’s mother panicked. “What does A’Yu mean by this?”

“I follow my son’s decisions.” Wen Shuyun put down her teacup and moved off the sofa.

“Shuyun… ah…” The moment Wen Shuyun left the sofa, Ye Jian and Ye’an pulled away the slipcover without ceremony — Ling Mianmian’s mother was caught off guard and toppled to the floor.

Before she could pick herself up, two bodyguards who had come in with Ye Chen seized her by the arms and dragged her toward the door.

“Wen Shuyun, Wen—— mmph——”

Ling Mianmian’s mother was taken out, and the room became considerably quieter. Xuan Shi’an, who had watched the whole scene to his satisfaction, strolled downstairs with a smile. Something occurring to him, he asked Xuan Yanyu, “What did you lose at the airport? You had the airport staff help you check the surveillance footage?”

Xuan Yanyu gave a light cough. “I found it.”

“You found it? What were you doing at the airport in the first place — and on top of that, you lost something……” He hadn’t finished speaking when Xuan Shi’an noticed Xuan Yanyu wrapping an arm around Yan Yuning and striding into the dining room.

Yan Yuning, half-enveloped in Xuan Yanyu’s arm as she walked into the dining room, let the corners of her eyes lift ever so slightly. She had wondered why Xuan Yanyu had been so easy to appease this time.

Lost something — he had heard her conversation with Lulu at the airport, and that was why his anger had dissolved completely.

“Didn’t you say you wanted corn rice and roasted chicken? What are you spacing out for?” The man quietly nudged the porcelain bowl toward Yan Yuning.

Yan Yuning plucked a mochi and took a bite, smiling softly. “Xuan Yanyu, I just remembered — once, Shiyao took a photo of me and Jingye, and you only made Shiyao apologize and left it at that.”

The man fed her a freshly peeled prawn. “At the time, I didn’t know it was you.”

Yan Yuning’s expression went flat. “So if it had been someone else, it would have been fine for you to take Shiyao’s side?”

Xuan Yanyu hastened to explain. “Of course not. At the time she said to consider the child’s sake, and I had also asked Gu Jingye — he said it hadn’t caused any harm.”

“Fine.” Yan Yuning moved her porcelain bowl and turned to one side, quietly scooping spoonfuls of corn rice.

Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together, rose, and moved to a different seat. Yan Yuning turned back and shifted to face forward again.

The man cupped her chin in his fingers and made her look at him.

“Xuan Yanyu, you’re disturbing my meal.” Yan Yuning didn’t argue or make a fuss — she simply gave him a calm glance, then let her lashes lower.

Xuan Yanyu’s throat moved. He released her and slumped back, raking a hand through his hair.

“It’s not like I can’t let it go.” Yan Yuning said quietly.

The man narrowed his eyes, then a playful smile appeared. “Are you saying you’d let it go if you found out about Xiao Ran and A’Ci?”

Yan Yuning: “…!!!”

Watching the flash of caught-out embarrassment cross the young woman’s face — and knowing she wasn’t genuinely ignoring him — Xuan Yanyu’s eyes crinkled with amusement at the corners. “Turns out I was overthinking it. Ningning didn’t mean that at all.”

Yan Yuning: “…!!!”

Hadn’t she been the one who was supposed to have the upper hand just now?!

When had the tables turned?!

Xuan Yanyu unhurriedly sipped his soup, in a fine mood as he waited for Yan Yuning to break and ask him.

Yan Yuning gave a quiet sigh, held out as long as she could, then gave in and leaned toward Xuan Yanyu. “Care for a prawn?”

Xuan Yanyu watched her with barely suppressed laughter. Yan Yuning shook her head. “Never mind — I’d have to peel it for you. Quite a hassle. Have some fish instead.”

“I’d need to pick out the bones too — also quite the hassle.” Xuan Yanyu said, in no hurry.

Yan Yuning nodded in agreement. “You make a fair point.”

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

“Some stir-fried rice cake?” Yan Yuning picked up a piece of rice cake with her chopsticks and held it to the man’s lips.

Xuan Yanyu parted his lips slightly and ate the piece she offered.

Yan Yuning wiped the corner of his mouth with her fingers — his lips were clean, not a trace of food on them — and smiled. “Was it good?”

The man’s throat moved, and his gaze darkened as it rested on her. “Not bad.”

Yan Yuning curved her lips. She picked up some shredded pork in fish-flavored sauce with her chopsticks, her other hand cupped beneath to catch any drips, and said sweetly, “A little of the fish-flavored pork?”

Xuan Yanyu took her hand and ate from her chopsticks. Once he had swallowed, he said, “Eat your own food. If you have something to ask, just ask.”

Yan Yuning blinked, remained dignified for a moment, then slowly scooted her chair closer to his. “Earlier, A’Ci and the one called Xiao Ting — it seemed like Xiao Ting was pregnant, and then Ranran was very sad. She went to stay at her sister’s place.”

“Pregnant?” Xuan Yanyu wondered if he had heard wrong.

Yan Yuning bit into her crispy, crumbling roasted chicken leg. “Not certain — but she was vomiting, and A’Ci went over to pat her back and then helped her leave.”

“That could just be an upset stomach.”

Yan Yuning raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite sure?”

“Mhm.” The man ate a measured spoonful of rice, his voice low and resonant. “Certain. Xiao Ting and A’Ci have nothing going on.”

“Ranran doesn’t know that, does she.” It was less a question than a statement from Yan Yuning.

“Mhm.”

Yan Yuning grew more puzzled than ever. “What exactly is going on?”

Xuan Yanyu leaned back, his slender fingers turning the soup spoon at a leisurely pace. “In A’Ci’s sixth year working at the Xuan Residence, Xiao Ran pestered me until I reassigned A’Ci to her side. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

“Later — one month after Qingchen’s divorce — Xiao Ran suddenly took Qingchen’s arm and declared she would marry no one but him.”

“Our father naturally refused. On top of that, he was furious enough to cut off all of Xiao Ran’s cards, and if it hadn’t been for our mother, he would have been on the verge of throwing Xiao Ran out of the house.”

Yan Yuning fell into thought. It seemed that in that ancient-setting novel, Qi Qingchen suddenly taking notice of Ranran had been adapted from this very situation.