Ling Jingshu’s long, soft fingers traced slowly across Wei Yan’s forehead, his eyes, his nose—and finally came to rest upon his lips. His lips were neither too soft nor too firm, gentle to the touch.

The moonlight was tender and enchanting. A beautiful woman stirred the heart.

Ling Jingshu could not help herself. She leaned down, replacing her fingertips with her lips, and pressed against his mouth a kiss as light as a butterfly’s wings.

Their lips met with a gentle touch—no fierce entanglement, no deep, breathless fervor. And yet, it was more intoxicating than any passionate, lingering kiss could have been.

Ling Jingshu raised her head slightly, a quiet contentment filling her.

But she was not to have her wish for long.

A large hand shot out suddenly, pressing against the back of her head with a touch that was both tender and firm. The lips beneath hers moved with a hungry, eager warmth, and before she knew it, a tongue had pressed past her own, drawing her into a close and lingering embrace.

The sweetness of a reunion long delayed washed over Ling Jingshu all at once.

She quickly set aside all shyness and kissed him back with equal warmth.

It was so rarely possible for the two of them to meet in the palace at all—and to be alone together in a room with a bed, as they were now, had never happened before. The night was deep, the setting perfect. How could one let such a moment pass?

Wei Yan’s breathing quickened rapidly.

He turned instinctively, pressing her soft form beneath him with some force.

Before Ling Jingshu could so much as gasp, Wei Yan had sealed her lips completely.

As feeling deepened, the body naturally began to crave a closer connection.

Wei Yan’s large hand had, at some point, moved from the curve of her slender waist to her chest. Through the thin fabric of her clothing, his palm radiated warmth. The barrier of cloth left him restless. Deftly, he loosened her sash, and his hand slipped beneath the fabric…

With his touch upon her like this, warmth spread through her body as well.

Ling Jingshu’s cheeks had long since flared a deep, burning red—and yet she had neither the will nor the desire to stop him.

This silent yielding made Wei Yan grow bolder still. His other hand drifted quietly toward the side of her leg. He shifted slightly, and even through the layers of her skirt, she could feel the hard press of him against her softness…

This could not go any further.

Calling on a degree of self-restraint that she rarely needed, Ling Jingshu seized the hand that had been roaming along her leg. Against his lips, she murmured urgently: “Stop—stop this. Wei Yan, this is the imperial palace. We cannot do this here.”

To make a man stop at a moment like this was, without question, a cruel thing to ask.

Wei Yan went rigid all over, every muscle drawn taut—like a bow fully drawn, the arrow straining at the string. And now he had no choice but to ease the tension, to set the arrow aside…

A low, indistinct sound escaped from Wei Yan’s throat. He pressed close to her ear and murmured his complaint softly: “A’Shu, I am already twenty-seven.”

Twenty-seven years old! And still maintaining such restraint! Could there be a more unfortunate man anywhere under heaven?

In the past, it had been his wariness of Empress Xu that had kept him from any entanglement with women. But these past two years of keeping himself for only one person—that had all been for her. For as long as she remained unable to leave the palace, he would wait.

Like a child denied a sweet, he grumbled softly in her ear.

Ling Jingshu felt both tender and amused. After a long moment, she spoke with a flushed face, her voice low: “Lie down. Close your eyes. And don’t move.”

Wei Yan started, instinctively raising his head to look at her: “You…?”

“Do as you’re told. Lie down properly.” Ling Jingshu refused to meet his eyes. Her cheeks burned like fire.

A light of sudden understanding blazed in Wei Yan’s eyes, brilliant as starlight: “Alright. I’ll do exactly as you say. I promise to lie perfectly still and not move a muscle.”

With that, he lay down—faster than he had ever moved in his life.

True to his word, he closed his eyes. The thick, dark fringe of his lashes did not so much as flutter.

Ling Jingshu, forcing herself through her embarrassment, reached out her hand and untied his sash. Then, with careful gentleness, she reached inside… She had no courage to look at him. She had already closed her eyes.

In the darkness, it was impossible to say whose heartbeat and breathing grew more rapid.

After quite some time.

Though truthfully, it had not taken very long at all… Wei Yan, who had never before tasted this particular kind of bliss, felt a release from the tips of his hair to the ends of his toes—utterly and completely at ease. The sensation was extraordinary and indescribable, something entirely new in his life, and he found himself lingering in the afterglow, reluctant to let it pass.

Wei Yan remained immersed in it for a long while, unable to bring himself back.

Ling Jingshu, meanwhile, was left with nothing but embarrassment. She had a silk handkerchief on her person, and in the moonlight made a somewhat haphazard job of tidying up. Then she urged him quietly: “Hurry and get your clothes in order.”

Wei Yan opened his eyes, grinned shamelessly at Ling Jingshu’s thoroughly crimson face, and had the audacity to say: “I have no strength left. You do it for me.”

Ling Jingshu shot him a withering look.

Wei Yan, met with that look, felt a pleasant tremor run through him—and that indescribable sensation from moments ago surged back unexpectedly. A low sound escaped him before he could stop it.

Ling Jingshu, mortified, grabbed his arm and pinched it hard: “You awful man! What do you think you’re doing, making sounds like that? If someone hears and comes knocking, let’s see where you plan to hide yourself.”

The pinch had been rather firm—it actually hurt. And if he pushed any further, she would likely cross from embarrassment into genuine anger.

Wei Yan felt a sweetness settle in his chest. The tension that had wound through him earlier had been released at last, and truthfully, the urgency had subsided as well. His shameless words just now had been nothing but the playful teasing of two people in love.

Wei Yan quickly straightened his disheveled clothing.

Ling Jingshu took the moment to tidy her own clothing and her loosened hair.

When they had both calmed somewhat, the two began to speak in low voices.

“What possessed you to come to my chambers?” Ling Jingshu whispered, a note of reproach in her voice. “There are quite a few people in Lingbo Palace right now. What if someone had seen you?”

Wei Yan, by now fully aware of how rashly impulsive he had been, rubbed the back of his neck with a look of genuine contrition: “I haven’t seen you in so long, and tonight I drank too much. I acted on impulse—I couldn’t help myself. Oh, and Elder Sister already knows I’m here, doesn’t she?”

Ling Jingshu gave a small nod: “Her Ladyship the Noble Consort should be asleep by now. A little later, when everyone in Lingbo Palace has settled in for the night, you can slip out quietly. If anyone asks…”

“I’ll say I had too much to drink and accidentally fell asleep in one of the unoccupied guest rooms.” Wei Yan finished her thought smoothly.

It was hardly a story that would hold up to scrutiny. But there was no better alternative now.

Ling Jingshu nodded.

Though the two had been apart for a long time, their letters had never stopped. Each knew the other’s circumstances fairly well. Still, there was something quite different about hearing things with one’s own ears rather than reading them from a page.

Ling Jingshu spoke of her life in the palace, and Wei Yan spoke of affairs at the Crown Prince’s residence: “…The Crown Prince’s health has been fully restored. As long as he takes care of himself, he should live to at least sixty. And now the Crown Grandson has returned from battle victorious, even capturing Prince An alive. Circumstances like these are very unfavorable to Prince Yan.”

No matter how much the Emperor favored Prince Yan, he could not possibly change the succession under these conditions.

At the mention of serious matters, the smile faded from Ling Jingshu’s face: “I have a feeling. Something significant is going to happen in the palace very soon.”

“Before, the two of us might have kept ourselves clear of all this and stayed out of it. But this time around, we both played a part in saving the Crown Prince. In Prince Yan’s mind, we are firmly on the side of the Crown Prince. Prince Yan almost certainly regards both of us with wariness now. From here on, we must be more careful in everything we do.”