Feng Jiu’er did not know exactly what she was thinking — only that, all of a sudden, she had connected her own car accident and resulting amnesia with Feng Jiu’er being burned in a fire and rendered a simpleton.

She, too, looked out toward the distance, turning Zhan Yuheng’s words from just now over in her mind.

She had said she wanted to study medicine, and that once she returned with her skills mastered, she would be Brother Heng’s very own physician, and no one else’s.

From a young age, she had harbored the ambition of learning medicine. Even though they were an ancient martial arts family, her interest in studying the medical arts ran deeper than her interest in cultivating ancient martial skills.

Why did she always feel that something was subtly off? Yet she simply could not identify what exactly was wrong.

She extended a finger and, out of old habit, bit down on it absentmindedly.

Whenever she had a problem she couldn’t puzzle through, she liked to bite her own finger…

Suddenly, a sharp sting shot through her wrist. She looked up, and only then noticed that her wrist had been tightly seized by Zhan Yuheng.

“You…”

“Jiu’er! Is it you? Have you come back?”

Zhan Yuheng appeared overcome with agitation. His five fingers tightened involuntarily, pressing several vivid crimson marks into her wrist.

His Jiu’er — when she was troubled, she liked to bite her own fingers!

Yet this habit, ever since she had been burned at age eight, he had never once seen again!

Feng Jiu’er was startled by him. Her expression grew cold, and she pulled firmly, trying to take back her hand: “Let go!”

A tremor ran violently through Zhan Yuheng’s heart. Not only did he not release her — he yanked her directly into his arms.

“Jiu’er, you have truly come back!”

Joy and emotion overwhelmed him, sending his entire being into a frenzy. In the spacious carriage, he flipped over and pressed her beneath him in one swift motion, lowering his head to seek her lips.

Feng Jiu’er’s right hand rose instinctively, striking a powerful blow toward his shoulder: “Let go!”

That palm landed squarely on Zhan Yuheng’s shoulder. The force of the strike, carrying the inner energy the Ninth Imperial Uncle had transferred into her the night before, sent the completely unprepared Zhan Yuheng’s breath into sudden disorder.

A thin thread of blood fell from the corner of his lips.

He stopped. Between his brows, there was no displeasure — only overwhelming agitation.

His little Jiu’er had always had an unyielding temper. If you tried to force her into something she didn’t want to do, she would bare her sharp claws and leave you wounded for it.

Heedless of the blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, he reached out and gently smoothed her hair.

The Jiu’er before his eyes was so beautiful — even with scars marring her face, there was a different kind of loveliness to her.

“Jiu’er…”

“Crown Prince Brother, why are you pressing down on Jiu’er?” The sharpness in Feng Jiu’er’s eyes withdrew in an instant.

She blinked her innocent, cloud-soft eyes and met Zhan Yuheng’s gaze, smiling a vacant, foolish smile: “Crown Prince Brother, do you want to play with Jiu’er?”

That simpleminded, oblivious expression was like a bucket of cold water dumped straight over Zhan Yuheng’s head from above.

In just that brief moment, he came to his senses. The wild elation in his eyes vanished, replaced wholly by deep disappointment — even despair.

“Stop the carriage!” Zhan Yuheng rose from Feng Jiu’er, as though she were contaminated with something filthy, his repulsion absolute.

He flung back the carriage curtain, and his tall, slender silhouette vanished from sight in an instant.

“Escort the Ninth Miss back to Feng Manor.” In the wind, only these cold, detached words remained — Zhan Yuheng himself had already walked far away.

Feng Jiu’er let out a quiet breath of relief and sat up in the carriage, rubbing at her brow.

What had Zhan Yuheng meant by his actions just now? Had he intended to take liberties with her? No — what he wanted was the Jiu’er who lived in his memories.

She had seen it clearly, in fact, in that brief moment just now — which was precisely why she had so swiftly remembered to feign foolishness and play the simpleton.

As it turned out, it had worked — her honor, at the very least, had been preserved. Only, the despair in his eyes truly made her feel… a faint ache.