“Nonsense.”

Zhao Sui’s youth could be described as unremarkable, but he could imagine the scene of the fifteen or sixteen-year-old Crown Princess running to the martial academy to watch those young men outside racing horses and playing polo. The Crown Princess certainly wouldn’t have gone alone, but she would definitely have been the one among the accompanying young ladies who attracted the most attention from those young men. So those young men would compete even more fiercely for the sake of a girl like the Crown Princess, and when they stripped off their shirts to expose their immature, youthful chests and abdomens, they surely would have hoped that the Crown Princess’s gaze would linger more on them.

Zhao Sui had never seen the Crown Princess from that time and couldn’t go back to cover her eyes, nor could he bare his upper body and brandish weapons before her.

In shamelessness he couldn’t compare to those young men from the martial academy of old, but while those young men couldn’t even touch the hem of the Crown Princess’s skirt, he could—

Zhao Sui covered the Crown Princess’s mouth, blocking whatever words of reproach for his impropriety she might have spoken.

The Crown Prince, driven by impulse, only truly realized what he had done at the moment of completion. However, regret was now useless. He could only deliberately ignore the doe in the deer pen whose intelligent eyes had been inexplicably watching them the whole time, deliberately ignore the Crown Princess’s muffled sounds leaking through his fingers, and end this absurd incident that should never have happened as quickly as possible.

Yao Huang’s left arm pressed against the wall, her forehead against her arm. Tears forced out by the Crown Prince blurred her downcast vision, but she still saw the Crown Prince’s black boots withdraw from beneath her feet, saw him release his hand, and finally her skirt fell back down, covering the silk trousers that hung loosely bunched above her embroidered shoes.

Yao Huang’s waist remained bent—not that she couldn’t move, but having been forced into this position for so long, continuing to maintain it was actually the least taxing option.

Yao Huang knew she was thoroughly disheveled at this moment, but what could she do about it?

In such matters the Crown Prince always took complete advantage. When he was disheveled and improper, he gave her no chance to turn around and look, and by the time Yao Huang had the strength to look, the Crown Prince, with his abundant stamina, had long since tidied himself back into his refined, immortal-like appearance.

Sure enough, before Yao Huang had even thought to turn around, the already-tidied Crown Prince came over to attend to her, kneeling behind her and first helping to pull up the silk trousers beneath her skirt.

When the skirt fell back down, Zhao Sui’s left hand curved around the Crown Princess’s shoulder while his right hand supported her legs, finally lifting the Crown Princess away from the corner of the wall where she had faced for so long.

Gentle morning light poured over them, illuminating the Crown Princess’s flushed cheeks and the fine perspiration on her neck and behind her ears.

The moment Zhao Sui glimpsed the faint finger marks he’d left on the Crown Princess’s tender cheeks, he averted his gaze.

Though Yao Huang had been bullied by the Crown Prince, she wasn’t angry at all—not until the Crown Prince prepared to lay her horizontally on the cool wooden bench. Only then did she cling to his shoulders in protest and nestle into his embrace: “I want Your Highness to hold me.”

That voice was soft and enchanting to the bone. Zhao Sui had no choice but to lift the Crown Princess higher, whose skirt had already touched the chair surface, and explained in a hoarse voice: “Rest here for a while first. I’ll inform Qing Ai, then carry you back to the rear hall.”

Yao Huang hummed and tugged at his collar: “Inform him of what? Can’t you speak while holding me?”

Zhao Sui: “How would I explain that you walked here but need me to carry you back?”

Yao Huang buried herself in his embrace, both shy and bold: “Just say I accompanied Your Highness in spear practice and accidentally twisted my ankle.”

Zhao Sui: “A twisted ankle requires summoning an imperial physician, which would alarm Father Emperor and Mother Empress.”

Yao Huang: “Twisted ankles come in varying degrees of severity. This time I twisted it in the kind that will be fine after I lie down for a while. What exactly is Your Highness planning to tell Qing Ai anyway? To drive away all the palace servants from every location? That would be even more like trying to cover up something obvious.”

Unable to refute this, Zhao Sui had the Crown Princess stand on the long bench first. The Crown Princess steadied herself with hands on his shoulders while he lowered his gaze to straighten her clothing.

One section of her skirt had been stained with his scent—he’d need to conceal this spot carefully when they returned later.

Zhao Sui could feel the Crown Princess watching him the entire time. Just as he worried she might tease him about his earlier impropriety, the Crown Princess suddenly leaned close and whispered in his ear: “Next time, Your Highness must not cover my mouth again.” It had nearly suffocated her.

Zhao Sui immediately pressed the Crown Princess into his embrace and bit down on her rear shoulder.

If the Crown Princess hadn’t come to entice him, he would still be single-mindedly practicing martial arts. How could he have behaved so improperly before her so early in the morning?

Having been bitten for no reason, Yao Huang grew anxious, crying out repeatedly in the Crown Prince’s ear that it hurt.

Zhao Sui released his bite and said near the Crown Princess’s ear: “There won’t be a next time.”

At least not outdoors—there absolutely wouldn’t be.

The next morning, the Crown Prince rose early again to practice with his spear. Yao Huang had no desire to be pressed against a wall by the Crown Prince in broad daylight, so this time she directly climbed up the wall from outside the deer garden and sat atop it to admire the Crown Prince’s martial prowess, under Qing Ai’s worried gaze as he stood ready to catch the Crown Princess should she fall.

Each time Zhao Sui turned around, he would see the Crown Princess atop the wall in her white jacket and green skirt, hands supporting herself on the wall surface, feet dangling down, swinging back and forth intermittently.

After practicing for two quarters of an hour, Zhao Sui prepared to rest a while and walked toward the wall where the Crown Princess sat, spear in hand.

Yao Huang drew a handkerchief from her sleeve and tossed it down to him from her elevated position: “Your Highness, wipe your perspiration.”

Zhao Sui caught the handkerchief and asked: “Is Qing Ai outside?”

Yao Huang twisted around to look down, meeting Qing Ai’s tense expression as he still prepared to catch her, and asked the Crown Prince with a smile: “Yes, does Your Highness have any instructions?”

Zhao Sui: “Have him withdraw.”

Yao Huang: “…”

Hearing this, Qing Ai immediately hurried away.

Yao Huang grew nervous and cautiously drew both feet up onto the wall, glaring at the Crown Prince with reddened cheeks.

Zhao Sui: “I only wanted to talk with you.”

The Crown Princess was skeptical: “Talk about what?”

Zhao Sui had originally intended to lean his spear against the wall, but seeing this, he continued holding it. He turned to face the deer pen diagonally opposite and asked: “Do you plan to come watch me practice martial arts every day from now on?”

Yao Huang: “How could that be possible? Coming once or twice to see something new is fine, but I can’t persist in rising at two quarters past the hour of the rabbit every day—unless Your Highness hopes I’ll come daily.”

Zhao Sui: “It’s too early. I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

Yao Huang loved hearing this and smiled at him. Looking again at the precious spear in the Crown Prince’s hand, Yao Huang asked curiously: “What portion of Your Highness’s previous martial ability do you feel you’ve recovered now?”

Zhao Sui thought for a moment: “About thirty percent.”

Yao Huang gained confidence: “Then shall I spar with Your Highness? Your Highness has instructed my brother in spear technique but hasn’t given me any guidance yet.”

Zhao Sui agreed.

Yao Huang then called toward where Qing Ai was concealed: “Qing Ai, fetch my spear! A’Ji and the others know where it’s kept!”

Qing Ai responded from afar with an acknowledgment.

Yao Huang had just stood up preparing to jump down when the Crown Prince below tossed aside the spear in his hand to catch her.

Yao Huang laughed and sat back on the wall: “My brother cherishes his spear as much as he cherishes himself. How can Your Highness just throw yours away like that?”

Zhao Sui lowered his gaze: “If a spear breaks, a new one can be forged.”

Yao Huang softened her voice: “But if I—”

Zhao Sui stepped forward two paces, embraced the Crown Princess’s legs, and steadily caught her as she came down, then rubbed the top of her head: “Don’t speak nonsense.”

Yao Huang hugged him briefly, then went to the side to limber up first.

Shortly after, Qing Ai brought the Crown Princess’s spear—this staff was one that Yao Huang had asked Guo Shu to select from the storehouse the year she married into the Prince’s residence, one of the Crown Prince’s old spears.

Before the match, Yao Huang asked: “Is there a wager?”

Zhao Sui: “If I lose, I’ll comply with any request of yours.”

Yao Huang: “If I ask Your Highness to practice martial arts bare-chested for me to watch, will Your Highness comply?”

Zhao Sui: “In that case, I simply won’t lose.”

Yao Huang: “With only thirty percent recovered, you dare speak so boldly. Turns out Your Highness is quite arrogant too.”

Zhao Sui looked toward the ground.

Yao Huang’s gaze shifted: “If Your Highness loses, you comply with my request. If I lose, I’ll be penalized by not being allowed to attend Your Highness’s bed for half a month. How about that?”

Zhao Sui: “…”

Yao Huang: “No response means agreement. Good, let’s begin!”

Having said this, Yao Huang took the initiative and attacked the Crown Prince first.

Zhao Sui earnestly sparred with the Crown Princess, but he only defended without attacking—this way he could neither lose nor win.

As for Yao Huang, though she’d spoken boldly, she’d known from the start she couldn’t defeat the Crown Prince. Setting aside the exquisite differences in spear technique, the Crown Prince’s arm strength surpassed even her brother’s. As long as the Crown Prince used full force to strike upward at her, Yao Huang’s spear would go flying.

But Yao Huang still exerted her full effort because she wanted to know to what degree she could push the Crown Prince.

Zhao Sui then discovered that the Crown Princess’s eyes, which usually held a smile, had become determined and sharp, and the force transmitted from the Crown Princess’s spear was stronger than he had ever experienced from her before.

When the Crown Princess had completely exhausted all the spear techniques she’d learned and had no new moves left, Zhao Sui began his counterattack.

Because the Crown Princess wasn’t playing around, he wouldn’t be perfunctory either.

However, Zhao Sui didn’t rely on brute force to overwhelm the Crown Princess—he only prevailed through technique when the Crown Princess revealed an opening.

The match ended here. Zhao Sui lowered his spear.

Yao Huang had fought to her satisfaction and could accept defeat gracefully. She walked to the Crown Prince’s side and asked him to critique her performance.

Zhao Sui praised the Crown Princess’s agile movements, pointed out several habitual weaknesses the Crown Princess displayed, and finally mentioned that the Crown Princess’s strength was insufficient. If she could persist in training with him for half a hour each morning—

Before the Crown Prince finished speaking, Yao Huang respectfully declined. Her pursuit of martial skills wasn’t sufficient to make her give up sleeping in each day.

“A wager is a wager. For this half month, Your Highness needn’t think of me—sleep in the front yourself.”

The Crown Princess embraced the Crown Prince with great reluctance and spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

The Crown Prince made no response.

That evening after dinner, when the wet nurse carried away little Jun, the Crown Prince also went to the front courtyard.

Yao Huang rested for two quarters of an hour before going to bathe. After washing, she sat directly on the couch in the secondary chamber, reading a storybook while letting her hair air-dry. When her hair was nearly dry, the Crown Prince came from the front courtyard. As he passed through the secondary chamber, he seemed not to notice the Crown Princess on the couch at all, looking straight ahead as he went into the inner chamber.

When Yao Huang followed him in, all the lamps in the inner chamber had already been extinguished.

Yao Huang groped her way in the darkness to the canopy bed and whispered to the Crown Prince, who sat at the bedside seemingly waiting for her: “Didn’t we say—”

The Crown Prince directly pulled the Crown Princess into his embrace.

Whatever nonsense the Crown Princess had spoken, he treated as though he’d never heard it.