Tie Ci said flatly, “Very wealthy.”

Xiao Xueya’s mouth twitched slightly.

His expression grew colder as he looked at Wan Ji and said, “Insulting a superior officer – thirty lashes.”

His deputy immediately drew out a whip, cracking it through the air with a whoosh, and shouted at Wan Ji, “Come up! Receive punishment!”

Before Wan Ji could explode in anger, Tie Ci had already said, “I’m still here. When is it your turn to punish my people? Disrespecting the Crown Heir – thirty lashes.”

Behind her, Dan Shuang also immediately drew out a whip, cracking even sharper whip flowers through the air, shouting at Xiao Xueya, “Come! Receive punishment!”

“You!” The naval officers and soldiers on the fu ship’s deck were furious, all placing hands on sword hilts ready to draw.

With a “clang,” all the guards on Tie Ci’s two ships also drew their swords in unison.

Bu Qing, who usually had some friction with Wan Ji, not only drew his sword but even nocked an arrow, its cold black point aimed directly at Xiao Xueya.

The river wind suddenly turned cold, the pale moon’s light frigid, the atmosphere taut as a bowstring about to snap.

Xiao Xueya stared at Tie Ci.

Tie Ci didn’t even look at him. She glanced at Murong Yi, whose clothes were soaked through, signaling him to go change.

Xiao Xueya’s gaze fell on Murong Yi, his eyes slightly puzzled, then he raised his hand.

With one gesture and movement, everyone behind him released their grips in unison.

The people on Tie Ci’s side hadn’t moved yet.

Tie Ci also hadn’t moved, watching him.

Xiao Xueya was silent for a while, then signaled the large ship to lower gangplanks.

He brought one personal guard toward the gangplank, looking like he was preparing to come see Tie Ci.

Tie Ci raised her hand, and only then did all the guards on both ships lower their swords and bows.

A team of guards rushed up, occupying both ends of the gangplank with hands on sword hilts, glaring at Xiao Xueya like tigers eyeing prey.

No one would forget he was a member of the Xiao family.

Probably only he himself didn’t care about this matter.

Xiao Xueya calmly passed through the forest of blades, gave Tie Ci a half-bow, and said, “Southern Yue Navy Commander and Southern Yue Surveillance Commissioner Xiao Xueya pays respects to Your Highness. The Southern Yue Navy received orders from the Ministry of War to come suppress bandits in Fuguang River and escort Your Highness to Yannan by water route.”

This was indeed the deployment order originally issued to Xiao Xueya, which Tie Ci had promoted despite opposition. Hearing this, she merely nodded.

Xiao Xueya continued, “The Sea-Ruling Gang’s water pirates are rampant. This place is merely one of their main bases, with other important branch strongholds scattered throughout the waters from Changting Lake to Fuguang River. This subject has led ships all the way here, already destroying three of their water fortresses. Later we will continue south along the water route until the Sea-Ruling Gang is completely eliminated. During this bandit suppression and disposal, please do not trouble Your Highness with these matters – this subject will handle everything personally.”

Behind Tie Ci, Chi Xue pursed her lips.

This Snow Commander had humble wording but detestable tone.

Wasn’t this basically saying, “The water pirates I’m conquering – you’d better keep your hands off”?

Did he have any awareness that he was from the Xiao family? Ordinary people in such tense situations between their clan and the imperial family would either be conciliatory or avoid suspicion, not remain like a stubborn stone in a latrine, constantly getting in everyone’s way!

Moreover, this Xiao family member wanted to single-handedly handle Yannan water pirates during the Crown Heir’s southern tour – wasn’t he afraid the Crown Princess would be suspicious?

Over there, Gu Xiaoxiao and others who had hurried over also hesitated to speak.

In Gu Xiaoxiao’s view, Xiao Xueya’s request was not only arrogant but very disadvantageous to the Crown Princess. If he colluded with water pirates or Yannan forces, the Crown Princess would be in danger.

But Tie Ci seemed completely unconcerned, waving her hand quite readily and saying, “This is your navy’s business to begin with. Handle it however you should, just remember not to harm people’s livelihoods.”

A flash of surprise crossed Xiao Xueya’s eyes, then turned to calm.

Though he seemed to lack human feeling, having risen to this position at such a young age through military merit, how could he not understand the intricacies involved? His earlier words were half sincere, half probing – just to see the breadth of mind of this recently famous Crown Heir.

Whether the Crown Princess was putting on airs or truly had a grand vision, ultimately her willingness to delegate authority made her worthy of his serious attention.

He bowed his head in acceptance of the order.

Murong Yi, who had changed clothes and come over, curled his lips.

Who couldn’t see through this stubborn stone’s thoughts?

Just putting on airs and posturing.

You want respect and trust? His Shiba would give anything.

Because she had confidence to take everything back.

Tie Ci’s clothes were also slightly wet, so Murong Yi brought her a cloak.

This cloak that Tie Ci often wore was infused with her faint body fragrance – a clear yet warm floral scent that didn’t belong to any perfume. Murong Yi loved this natural scent and buried his head to smell it when he picked it up.

Walking now, he suddenly felt his steps unsteady, his vision blurry, his head buzzing.

Was the ship still swaying?

Someone seemed to be shouting behind him, but he suddenly couldn’t hear clearly.

Ahead, Tie Ci turned back, her smiling face suddenly changing. She seemed to move, mouth tensely shouting something, that speed really too fast, practically dragging afterimages. Watching made Murong Yi’s vision go black and his throat turn sweet.

The next instant he fell into a warm embrace.

His last confused thought was that Shiba had teleported again – hadn’t he told her to try not to use her innate abilities?

Also, seeing her so nervous about him – had everyone on the ships noticed?

…

Tie Ci caught Murong Yi as he suddenly spat blood and collapsed, her face instantly paling.

Behind Murong Yi, Chi Qingbo rushed over urgently, crying out, “It’s triggered! What did he touch!”

Tie Ci’s gaze slowly fell on her own cloak that Murong Yi held in his arms.

No way?

They’d tested so many things with no reaction – it wouldn’t end up being herself, would it?

When Murong Yi collapsed, he instinctively pressed close to her, and Tie Ci, panicked, had held him very tightly. Only now realizing, she discovered that in just moments, Murong Yi’s face had already turned gray.

Chi Qingbo also noticed, urgently saying, “It’s you… let go quickly!”

Tie Ci immediately handed Murong Yi to Mu Si who came running.

Mu Si immediately carried him several zhang away, far from her, then loudly grumbled, “Told you to stop showing off! Now look! Can’t take advantage anymore, can you!”

Tie Ci looked at Mu Si staying far away at the ship’s stern, finding it somewhat amusing but more frustrated.

What kind of situation was this!

Thinking about it now, Murong Yi’s immediate cabin isolation had actually been correct – otherwise it would have triggered much earlier.

Xiao Xueya said, “What’s happening?”

He scrutinized Murong Yi. He knew from family letters about this person’s existence, that the Xiao family was investigating his identity, and that the Crown Princess was very close to him – but hadn’t expected this close.

A trace of disgust crossed his eyes.

Obviously a frivolous wastrel.

The Crown Princess was fine otherwise, but her judgment was questionable.

No one explained to him. When he reached out to grab Chi Qingbo who was hurrying to follow, Tie Ci almost roughly knocked his hand away.

Xiao Xueya stared at the mark on his hand. With his pale skin, even a hard strike left obvious red traces.

He looked up at Tie Ci again. Tie Ci gestured for Chi Qingbo to leave, then turned back to give him a faint smile, saying, “This is a doctor. Saving lives is like fighting fire – please don’t interfere, Chief Steward Xiao.”

“Poisoned? He seems unable to approach others?” Xiao Xueya was extremely perceptive.

Southern Yue also had many extraordinary people and events – he’d heard of many such things.

Tie Ci didn’t answer.

Xiao Xueya immediately turned around, saying, “Send people to follow to his cabin, seal all four sides with iron sheeting, leave only a small window, don’t let anyone approach.”

But at this moment, Murong Yi woke up from being away from Tie Ci, just hearing this sentence. Furious, he roared, “What stray cat or dog dares confine me on my own ship!”

With his words, everyone on the entire ship – sailors, crew members, laborers – all stopped their work and turned to stare coldly at Xiao Xueya.

Those gazes were cold and merciless, like venomous snakes, enveloping from top to bottom. Anyone would get goosebumps being stared at like that.

With a “crack,” the gangplank connecting the two ships when Xiao Xueya came over suddenly broke.

A man sat on the ship’s rail, playfully manipulating a several-hundred-pound iron anchor in his palms like a toy, grinning at Xiao Xueya with gleaming white teeth.

Xiao Xueya’s deputy who had followed him over again placed his hand on his sword hilt, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Not that he didn’t want to stay calm, but at this moment he felt extreme danger, as if he’d strayed into a wolf pack in snow, surrounded by wolves with their glowing green eyes dripping saliva from gaping maws.

Tie Ci was about to comfort Murong Yi when she saw him wave his hand and enter his cabin himself. “…If I’m to be confined, I’ll confine myself!”

Bang – the door slammed shut heavily. After a moment, a sign was thrown out reading: “No one may approach except Xiao Xueya.”

Xiao Xueya: …Do I want to approach you?

He looked at Murong Yi’s cabin location and asked Tie Ci, “Where are Your Highness’s quarters?”

Tie Ci pointed to that cabin.

Xiao Xueya: “…”

You’re so openly cohabiting?

Tie Ci knew he misunderstood but didn’t care. She nodded to him, saying, “Since there are many follow-up matters, the Commander should go attend to them.”

Xiao Xueya saw she was really going to Murong Yi’s cabin. His icy brows changed expression several times before finally speaking, “Your Highness! This subject suggests you change your residence elsewhere! Don’t…”

Before his lecture about “indulging in beauty” could emerge, Tie Ci had already interjected, “I’m indulging in beauty and can’t bear to leave. But this is my private affair. Xiao Qing, as an external minister, you needn’t worry – I’ll consider it myself.”

She returned his earlier words to him, waved dismissively, and walked away dashingly.

She returned to the cabin area. Passing Murong Yi’s room, she saw the door was indeed tightly shut and walked past.

Behind the door, Murong Yi, who had been pressed against the cabin wall eavesdropping, raised an eyebrow.

Eh, she didn’t come comfort me?

He turned and lay down on the bed. Outside, Chi Qingbo knocked on the door. Murong Yi said coldly, “This person is dead. Burn paper if you have business.”

Chi Qingbo looked at Mu Si helplessly while A’li Teng laughed, saying, “Your Highness asked us to bring you food and test some medicine.”

The couple had already learned Tie Ci’s identity and had specially gone to pay respects. Tie Ci’s attitude remained normal, and though they were initially uneasy, they soon became at ease.

Only then did Murong Yi let people in. But Chi Qingbo said that before finding an antidote, he could only follow methods from ancient books he’d found to try reducing the severity of attacks for Murong Yi. Complete cure was really beyond his capabilities.

The only plan now was to maintain distance from Tie Ci.

At midnight, tossing and turning sleeplessly, Tie Ci heard faint scratching sounds through the wall, like fingernails idly clawing at the wall.

Hearing such sounds in the middle of the night was quite eerie, but Tie Ci smiled.

She pretended to sleep and ignored it. The scratching sounds changed to knocking – one, two, three times.

After knocking for a while, it stopped.

The corners of Tie Ci’s lips curved up. Even through the cabin wall, she could imagine that fellow’s bright-eyed wall-knocking, then increasingly dejected expression.

She waited until that side was completely quiet before reaching out to knock on the wall herself.

That side immediately stirred, but Tie Ci didn’t stop – she continued slowly knocking.

Next door quieted down. Murong Yi seemed to realize she wasn’t simply knocking on the cabin wall.

Tie Ci knocked for a long time until Murong Yi couldn’t stand it anymore. A mark appeared on the cabin wall, then a wooden board fell down, revealing a face behind it.

Tie Ci’s first glimpse was of a pair of enormous, bright eyes – each eye half the size of a palm.

She backed away, then realized with mixed laughter and tears that it was just glasses – imported goods.

The glasses perched on Murong Yi’s high nose bridge. Behind the lenses was a face half-wrapped in cloth.

Tie Ci studied him for a while, put on gloves, extended her arms, and removed the face-covering cloth, then stepped back to look.

Mm, indeed, quite the scholarly scoundrel type.

No wonder Master said glasses were men’s accessories – the temperament was completely different with or without them.

Murong Yi adjusted his glasses. His careful preparation wasn’t fear of being affected by Tie Ci, but fear of transmitting it to her. If Tie Ci also became infected and sensitive to her own scent, wouldn’t that be disastrous?

He quickly wrapped the cloth back on, asking in a muffled voice, “What were you knocking earlier? Didn’t sound like a tune.”

“It’s a language called Morse code.”

“Another strange thing your master taught you?”

“She said it was a secret communication method between spies in her place, sometimes also used for rescue calls. But learning this requires first learning a script similar to foreign writing, so it’s quite complex. Want to learn?”

Murong Yi looked at her. No, he didn’t want to learn. The only thing he wanted to learn was how to cure this poison. He’d thought this long journey would be enough for him to embrace the Crown Princess, but unexpected complications arose. Now forget embracing beauties – he couldn’t even get close.

But if he didn’t learn, he’d have to go back to sleep. So he said, “Learn.”

Tie Ci first taught him letters, mentioning when she’d tutored Di Yiwei in basic English overnight, later using English for correspondence, and Lou Xi and others’ self-defeating additions. Because of this, when confronting in court later, producing this evidence left the Xiao family, who had wanted to keep arguing, speechless.

Tie Ci concluded meaningfully, “So learning a foreign language well is very important.”

She drew out letters for Murong Yi to study while taking up needle and thread and a piece of cloth herself.

As she’d expected, though Murong Yi seemed like someone who relied on cleverness and disliked studying, when actually learning, he was both quick and serious.

The more Tie Ci watched, the more pleased she became. Her Murong was indeed the finest man – always distinguishing priorities, strategically valuing, tactically despising, most graceful behavior with most sincere attitude.

After studying letters for a while, Murong Yi looked up to see her threading a needle. Having never seen Tie Ci in such a “virtuous” manner, he was very curious, pressing against the small window to ask, “What are you making?”

Tie Ci used the needle to smooth her hair, smiling without answering.

Murong Yi saw her skilled movements and said in surprise, “You actually know needlework!”

How could the Crown Princess know ordinary women’s domestic affairs?

“I know many things,” Tie Ci said. “Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, household management – whatever noble ladies must learn, I’ve studied it all.”

“You’re not…”

Tie Ci smiled without speaking.

Murong Yi immediately understood.

She was the Crown Princess, but also a puppet for many years. When the Xiao family was powerful, she and her father barely survived under the Empress Dowager’s nose, unable to show any talent or ambition, following the Empress Dowager’s arrangements in everything. Learning these things deceived the Empress Dowager and made the Xiao family feel she was content being a puppet, always ready to marry as an ordinary wife.

Murong Yi thought of her martial arts, her mastery of court affairs, her knowledge of astronomy, geography, classics and practical mathematics, plus learning many novel things from her master, and now these women’s daily skills couldn’t be neglected either. Any one of these required enormous time investment. How had she spent those seventeen years? Had she ever slept enough?

Pity arose in his heart. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close for kisses and embraces, but couldn’t.

Murong Yi was now truly somewhat angry, his eyes dark.

Tie Ci looked up and saw, immediately knowing what he was thinking. Finding it amusing, she comforted him, saying, “I’m very good at managing time – it wasn’t too hard. What’s hard about learning? What’s truly hard is wanting to learn but being unable, having no opportunities, and remaining ignorant all one’s life.”

“So my ideal is for all people under heaven to live and work in peace, with care for the elderly and education for the young. Everyone able to live like a proper human being.”

Murong Yi smiled, saying, “Before meeting you, I had no wishes. After meeting you, I want to make each of your wishes my own wish.”

Tie Ci stopped her needlework.

After a moment, she smiled, “Good.”

Under candlelight, her eyes sparkled brightly.

Murong Yi also smiled, holding up the letters she’d copied for him. “I know these letters now. What shall we learn next?”

Tie Ci then taught him pronunciation and vocabulary. When tired of studying, she said she’d show him a magic trick.

She lit a candle, immediately blew it out, lit it again, blew it out again. After three times, she let the candle burn longer before blowing it out. After several rounds, she briefly lit it, blew it out, briefly lit it…

She murmured to Murong Yi, “…This is light rescue signaling in Morse code, translating to SOS…”

Author’s Note: I actually missed the 28th in my chapter settings – I’m such a smart egg