After a long while, Wei Yan finally raised his head, his expression thoroughly contented.

Unwilling to release her, he simply kept her wrapped tightly in his arms.

Ling Jingshu nestled against his chest, her face a vivid rose-red, her eyes half-closed, her lips a deep and blushing crimson. The urgency of her breathing made her chest rise and fall in unsteady waves.

When two hearts love each other in full, it is truly the most beautiful thing in the world.

It was he who had driven out all the darkness within her heart, and healed the strange affliction that had gripped her. And it was he who had given her the most beautiful and most tender depths of feeling this world had to offer.

“A’Shu!”

Wei Yan bent his head and called her name softly, close to her ear.

Ling Jingshu responded with a soft sound.

Wei Yan called again: “A’Shu!”

Ling Jingshu responded again.

He called once more; she answered once more. By the time Wei Yan called her name yet again, Ling Jingshu could no longer contain a burst of laughter, and she opened her eyes: “I am right here in your arms — why do you keep calling me like this?”

A man immersed in love will sometimes become charmingly foolish as a child.

At this moment, Wei Yan was exactly like a grown child, a rare touch of boyishness in his voice: “When we meet on ordinary days, I dare not call you like this — I cannot even steal an extra glance at you. Now that I finally have the chance, I want to call you a few more times. A’Shu, will you call my name too?”

It was an endearing sweetness, welling up from the depths of the heart all the way to its very tip.

Ling Jingshu suppressed her amusement and her shyness and called his name several times — Wei Yan.

Wei Yan answered each time with contented delight, and held her a little tighter still.

As the warmth of the moment settled into a quieter joy, Ling Jingshu thought for a moment and then said in a low voice: “We have been in here for this long — will it not give rise to talk? And also, if the Noble Consort suddenly comes back…”

Wei Yan broke into a helpless laugh: “How could Elder Sister do anything so mood-ruining? Do not worry. Lingbo Palace is her domain. Meeting here is the safest arrangement of all. She must have already quietly stationed people to keep watch outside. The fact that we two are meeting privately will not reach anyone else’s ears.”

Only then did Ling Jingshu let out a quiet breath of relief, and said with genuine feeling: “My lady is truly so good to you.”

“Of course she is.” Wei Yan answered without hesitation, as though it were simply a matter of course: “In this world, I have only her as my elder sister, and she has only me as her younger brother. For my sake, there is nothing she would not do.”

Indeed.

Even when Wei Yan had secretly arranged for Chief Eunuch Huang to administer the medicine to His Majesty, Wei Xianfei had said not a single word against it. She had then gone further and spoken up to have her released from Zichen Palace. To have such an elder sister was truly Wei Yan’s great fortune.

Thinking on all of this, Ling Jingshu could not help but be reminded of her own younger brother, Ling Xiao. She had been in the palace so long and had not once left its walls. She had no idea how Ling Xiao was faring now.

Wei Yan was exceptionally perceptive, and noticed at once that something had shifted in Ling Jingshu: “A’Shu, are you missing Ling Xiao?”

Ling Jingshu sighed softly: “Yes. It has been so long since I saw him, and I have truly been thinking of him. Yet I am confined here in the palace, and it is not easy to get word out. He is beyond these walls, with no way of knowing how I am faring in here. He must be so worried about me.”

Unable to bear her pain, Wei Yan lowered his voice and offered what comfort he could: “You are within the palace, and going out is far from easy. When Elder Sister brought you out of Zichen Palace, there is no telling how many eyes in this palace turned to watch your every move. Bear with it a little longer for now. Wait another two or three months — by year’s end, I will speak with Elder Sister and arrange for you to make a visit back to the Ling family.”

Ling Jingshu’s eyes lit up at once: “I can truly go back? Will this not put the Noble Consort in a difficult position?”

The rules of the palace were strict and unyielding. Female officials and palace maids within the palace had almost no opportunity to leave. Some women, from the day they entered the palace until the day they died of old age, never once set foot beyond the imperial walls.

Wei Yan pressed a tender kiss to her forehead: “Do not worry. With Elder Sister currently holding the phoenix seal, a small matter like this will not be any difficulty for her. Every year toward the end, the palace sends people out to the various households to deliver messages and so forth, and the comings and goings are considerably more convenient. You can take advantage of that opportunity to leave the palace for a visit. It should not attract any notice.”

Ling Jingshu gave a soft sound of agreement, and the thought of having a chance to go back and see her family sent a tide of anticipation and warmth rising within her.

But Wei Yan’s heart ached for Ling Jingshu all over again: “Girls your age ought to be comfortably sheltered in the inner quarters of their family homes — free to read or play the qin as they please, and preparing their own trousseau at their leisure. Yet here you are, working and serving in the palace.”

In order to avoid any chance of crossing paths with His Majesty, and to sidestep the schemes of the concubines who were forever stirring up trouble, Ling Jingshu made a point of not leaving Lingbo Palace at all on ordinary days.

It was far too great a hardship to put her through.

Looking at the tenderness in Wei Yan’s eyes, warmth spread quietly through Ling Jingshu’s heart. She smiled gently: “Wei Yan, I do not feel it as a hardship. You are still by my side now — no matter how many years I must endure within this palace, I do not feel it as a hardship.”

Compared to her previous life, this life had already been generous beyond measure. Now she had him, and the future was no longer something impossibly distant. She would live on with strength and courage, and wait for the day the two of them would walk out of these gates together and wander the world.

Hearing this, a bittersweet ache rose in Wei Yan’s chest.

What on earth had this poor young woman been through, that she had forged from it such resilience and such warmth?

She was not ready to speak of it now, and that was all right.

He would remain by her side, always. He had all the patience in the world — and he would wait for the day she was willing to open her heart and give voice to it.

The two of them lingered in each other’s company for a little while longer, until Wei Yan finally, with great reluctance, released her.

There was no mirror in the room. Ling Jingshu could only lower her head, smooth out the slight disarray of her clothing, and then asked Wei Yan: “Come look quickly — is my hair very untidy? Does it need to be redone?”

Wei Yan looked with care, then tucked the loose strand near her ear back into place, and said with a quiet smile: “Your hair is not untidy at all. It is just that your face is quite flushed.”

And those eyes of hers — liquid and gleaming with a soft, luminous glow — and those lips, flushed a deep, vivid red… It was all rather “telling” to anyone who cared to look.

There was no hope of concealing it from a discerning eye.

Ling Jingshu caught her own reflection in his clear, smiling eyes, and was at once both mortified and indignant. She brought her fist down against his chest: “All your fault! How am I supposed to face anyone looking like this?”

For all the apparent fury of the gesture, when it actually landed against him, it was light as a feather.

Wei Yan could not help but break into a grin: “Yes, yes — all my fault. Please do not be angry. Sit quietly for a moment and let your feelings calm. It will pass. Elder Sister will not come back so quickly.”

Wei Xianfei understood people’s hearts better than anyone, and would never come and interrupt their reunion at a moment like this.

Ling Jingshu blushed and shot him a look, then went and sat down pointedly at a distance.

Wei Yan, too, quickly composed himself and straightened his clothing, then said in a gentle voice: “A’Shu, I have already been in Lingbo Palace for quite some time and should be on my way. There is no need for you to come and see me off. I will find another opportunity to come and visit you before too long.”

Ling Jingshu did not insist on seeing him out.

For two people bound together in heart and spirit, simply knowing the other was there was already enough.