Jiang Zhiyi clutched the quilt tightly in her hands, shrinking into the corner of the bed with her heart pounding wildly. Previously, out of respect for her uncle, she hadn’t taken any action against this bedridden cousin. Who would have thought that this despicable creature, after lying in bed for half a month and barely able to stand, would not stay quiet for even a day, and now even dared to intrude into her courtyard!
If she had been alone in the room at this moment…
Jiang Zhiyi shook her head to dispel those thoughts, pressed a hand to her chest to calm herself, and looked at the sword-wielding silhouette beyond the bed curtains. Her heart, which had leapt to her throat, gradually settled back down.
On the floor, Fang Zongming clutched his stomach, the pain making his vision darken, nearly causing him to pass out. After recovering slightly, with cold sweat covering his brow, he raised his eyes to look at the man above him who had turned from visitor to master, and then at Jiang Zhiyi behind the curtains who seemed to be tacitly approving.
…Wait, isn’t this the Fang family mansion?
Isn’t this Shen Yuance supposed to be her sworn enemy?!
Fang Zongming straightened his back, his lips trembling as he prepared to curse.
Yuance pressed his sword downward, the scabbard pushing into the hollow of his shoulder.
His entire shoulder and back went numb, and he found himself unable to straighten his back no matter how hard he tried.
Fang Zongming was pinned to the ground like a chicken, his neck bulging and face reddening, with only his head able to lift: “I… I saw Shen Yuance sneaking around suspiciously, so I came to protect you, cousin! Why don’t you ask him what he’s doing here?!”
The room fell silent for a moment.
“What do you think?”
“What do you think?”
After that moment, two voices—one high, one low—spoke in unison.
Yuance turned his head toward the bed.
Through the golden bed curtains, their gazes met instantly, then quickly darted away.
Jiang Zhiyi coughed lightly and slowly pulled up the quilt to cover her face.
As if hearing some earth-shattering news, Fang Zongming stared in disbelief at Yuance looking down at him, then at his shy cousin on the bed. A thunderous realization struck his mind!
…These two adulterers!
His shoulder suddenly ached sharply, and Fang Zongming cried out, grimacing as he hunched his back.
Yuance tilted his sword and tapped Fang’s neck: “Watch your mouth and get out.”
Fang Zongming looked at the sword sidelong, his hair standing on end. Finally, not daring to look any longer, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled out.
The door opened with a snap and closed with another, the candlelight flickered slightly, and the bedroom immediately fell silent.
Jiang Zhiyi, hidden under the quilt, let out a long sigh of relief.
After sighing, she remembered someone else was still in the room. She couldn’t help but soften her breathing and nervously perked up her ears to listen for movement.
After a long while, she heard no sound at all.
The one who should have left did, but surely the one who shouldn’t leave hadn’t also gone?
Thinking this, Jiang Zhiyi emerged from beneath the quilt with a puzzled expression.
She saw Yuance standing motionless half a zhang away, looking at her with strange, complex emotions in his eyes.
Is it so complicated to acknowledge their relationship in front of others…
Or perhaps—
“Don’t wrongly accuse me again!” Jiang Zhiyi suddenly remembered how some people could bring up old grievances. “That despicable creature makes me sick just looking at him, he has nothing to do with me! Tonight I left the door open for you—”
Yuance raised an eyebrow slightly and snorted with amusement: “Do I need you to leave it open?”
Jiang Zhiyi choked, knowing of his great abilities. She glared at him angrily through the curtains.
“If I don’t leave the door open, you’d be stealing in for a tryst; if I do leave it open, it’s mutual consent. How can they be the same…”
“…”
“How can someone who fights in battles be so unromantic?”
Yuance’s face darkened as he turned and picked up his sword: “Since you’re in the mood for romance, it seems you’re well enough. I’m leaving.”
“Hey!” Jiang Zhiyi moved forward on her knees, pulled aside the curtain, and poked her head out. “I’m not better yet!”
Yuance turned back, his eyes questioning.
“I-I have a terrible headache! I’m still coughing—” Jiang Zhiyi’s gaze flickered as she covered her mouth and coughed a few times, then felt her forehead. “Oh, it’s so hot. Am I fevering again? Quick, feel it.”
Yuance lowered his eyes to look at her, tilting his head in disbelief.
With acting skills like these, how did she and his brother manage to keep their romance secret from all of Chang’an? People even thought they were mortal enemies!
Truly a miracle.
Yuance curled his index finger and pressed its knuckle against her forehead, pushing her back behind the curtains just as he had pinned down the chicken earlier: “If you’re not well, go back and lie down.”
“If I lie down, you won’t leave?” Jiang Zhiyi looked up at him, and seeing he didn’t respond, let out a light sigh.
“I’m a bit afraid…”
“If you hadn’t come tonight, or if you had arrived a step too late, who knows what might have happened…”
“What good is being a Princess if I’m ultimately just a helpless woman dependent on others? If my elder cousin gets bolder and comes again… even if he’s punished afterward, what use would it be to kill him?”
Yuance listened expressionlessly as she rambled on. He turned away and sat on the footstool beside her bed, one hand resting on his sword, the other on his knee, showing her only the back of his head.
Jiang Zhiyi blinked and crawled to the edge of the bed: “You’re not leaving?”
Seeing he didn’t answer, she propped her chin up to look at his expression: “Does this mean you’re not leaving?”
The voice behind him was like the water of Crescent Moon Spring, clear and tinkling, with a hint of successful cunning.
Yuance frowned coldly: “If you don’t close your mouth, I will leave.”
Jiang Zhiyi responded with a soft “Oh,” pressed her lips together in a smile, swung her dangling legs in the air, then lay down flat and pulled up the quilt. From the corner of her eye, she watched his straight back and the sword in his hand, feeling somewhat reassured.
Although she was still a bit angry about that test, considering he had been coming to care for her every night recently and was sincere in making amends, she could forgive him this time.
Feeling happier, Jiang Zhiyi shifted to lie on her side, supporting her temple with her hand as she stared at the back of his head, her fingertips tapping on the pillow.
Her burning gaze was like a light shooting through the night, too intense to ignore.
Yuance opened his mouth, then decided not to disrupt this rare peace. He simply closed his eyes while holding his sword, pretending to be blind.
The candle wax dripping from the gilded candelabra gradually filled the small dish. After an unknown period of meditation with closed eyes, the gaze from behind him gradually weakened until it completely closed and disappeared.
Only the sound of deep breathing filled the room.
Yuance turned his head and, through the misty curtains, saw her sleeping face on the bed.
Compared to the previous nights when she had frowned and wrinkled her nose in discomfort, tonight she looked much softer, the corners of her lips slightly upturned, happy about who knows what.
Going to such lengths, he had surely atoned enough for his brother’s sake.
Yuance rose to his feet with support from his knee, stretched his muscles, took up his sword, and silently walked to the back window, pushing it open.
Just as he was about to leap out, he suddenly remembered her mumbling—
If my elder cousin gets bolder and comes again… even if he’s punished afterward, what use would it be to kill him?
Yuance paused, looked back at the bed with a furrowed brow, and withdrew his hand.
The long night was half over, with the moon high in the sky. Half an incense stick’s time later, on the roof of Yaoguang Pavilion.
A young man dressed in night-traveling clothes stood tall on the roof ridge, arms folded in the moonlight, quietly surveying the entire courtyard.
East, west, south, north—four sides, main gate, second gate, corner gate, screen gate, corridors, passageways, waterside pavilion, bamboo grove—
Setting aside the guards who had been withdrawn tonight, the structure and defenses of this courtyard were all show and no substance, with gaps everywhere.
No wonder that fool had been able to find a way in.
As his clothes fluttered in the long wind, Yuance rubbed his fingertips, quickly sketching a blueprint in his mind.
Trees that needed replanting.
Doors and windows that needed reinforcement.
Guard positions that needed repositioning…
Suddenly, a crisp “bang” came from the bedroom below.
The clear brushstrokes in his mind halted like interrupted ink. Yuance raised his eyelids, leapt down from the roof ridge, and pushed the door open with one motion.
In the bedroom, a porcelain cup had been knocked from the small table beside the bed onto the floor. The person on the bed sat there breathing rapidly, looking fearfully at the window, as if just awakened from a nightmare.
She turned her head and saw him, but seemed not to recognize him, even shrinking toward the corner of the bed.
Only when he reached the bedside and lifted the curtain did she seem to recognize him. Her eyes flickered slightly, and as if overcome with relief, she suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.
The question on Yuance’s lips was strangled by the jade arms that encircled him. His hand gripping the curtain, along with his entire body, froze as he slowly lowered his head.
The person in his arms began sobbing as soon as she embraced him: “You scared me to death! Where did you go…”
“Didn’t you promise you wouldn’t leave if I kept quiet? Why did you lie?”
Yuance: “I—”
“I wasn’t joking with you, I was truly afraid…”
“Uncle isn’t here, and I don’t have a single relative in this mansion…”
Jiang Zhiyi sobbed and whimpered, her thoughts drifting somewhere as she raised tear-filled eyes: “Have you lied to me about other things too?”
“?”
“Was it also a lie when you said you didn’t have a lover…”
“Was it also a lie when you said you hadn’t changed your heart?”
“……”
Could old grievances be dredged up like this?
One nightmare from her, and his four days and nights of effort count for nothing?
…Whose nightmare was this?
As tears soaked his clothes, the dark fabric becoming patched with wetness, a long-standing question crossed Yuance’s mind—
What exactly did his brother like about this crybaby?
Did he like her bossiness, her unreasonableness, her chattiness, her troublesome nature?
Yuance lowered his head and laughed in exasperation: “Can you be reasonable? If I had left, who would you be hugging right now…?”
“You should be reasonable! If you haven’t changed your heart, I’m crying like this, and you’re not hugging me—” Jiang Zhiyi glanced at his hand hanging by his side, “Why does it look like you want to hit me…?”
Yuance tilted his head, and his fist, which had been clenched without his awareness, suddenly relaxed.
When he looked back, those tear-filled eyes were gazing at him with a thousand emotions, as if looking at a heartless scoundrel.
The night wind blew in through the door he hadn’t had time to close, stirring the bed curtains. As they stood still, the light gauze drifted dreamily before their eyes.
Yuance blinked, and his hand, hanging at his side, slowly raised, inch by inch, until it hovered in the air, suspended behind her back.
Jiang Zhiyi turned her head to look at his hand, then raised her eyes to him.
Meeting her dissatisfied, urging gaze, Yuance turned his head away. His palm descended the remaining three inches and lightly rested on her back where her black hair was spread.
Somehow, in this moment, he suddenly remembered that unused water silk.
“What about your other hand?”
His other hand also came to rest on her back.
“Hold me tighter!” Jiang Zhiyi tightened her arms around his waist.
As if pushed by a soft tide, Yuance held his breath, his Adam’s apple moving slightly. He raised his eyes to look at the space and slowly tightened his arms, embracing her firmly.