His breathing was slightly heavy as he gently tucked the damp strands of hair by her temples behind her ear. His strong arms pulled her close, and his thin lips pressed down again.

She held her breath, then suddenly heard footsteps from the small kitchen. Bai Qingyan placed both hands against Xiao Rongyan’s chest, pushing him away, and called out first: “Chun Tao!”

Xiao Rongyan, breathing heavily, had no choice but to release her.

His hearing was excellent—he had heard the sounds from the small kitchen before Bai Qingyan, but he was reluctant to let her go.

Bai Qingyan straightened her clothes just as Chun Tao came running in with hot tea from the small kitchen: “Does Eldest Miss want some water?”

Chun Tao had suddenly awakened earlier, noticed the water had cooled, and worried that Bai Qingyan might want to drink something if she woke up in the middle of the night, so she went to prepare fresh hot tea.

Who would have thought that as soon as Chun Tao turned around the screen, she would see a man standing in the room! She was so frightened that the black lacquered gold-decorated tray in her hands nearly crashed to the ground, but fortunately, Xiao Rongyan was quick to catch it.

“Careful!” Xiao Rongyan said softly to Chun Tao, then placed the tray on the round table.

Chun Tao stared wide-eyed, her palms covered in sweat, her face deathly pale… When she had left just now, there had only been Eldest Miss in this room. Where had this living, breathing man come from?

Although Chun Tao was shocked and terrified, since Eldest Miss hadn’t told her to call for help, she held her breath and looked toward Bai Qingyan.

Fortunately, no lamps were lit in the room, so Chun Tao couldn’t see her young lady’s flushed face and red ears.

Bai Qingyan assumed a proper demeanor and instructed Chun Tao: “Go move the secret guards in the courtyard away, and accompany me to escort Master Xiao out of the mansion!”

“Yes!” Chun Tao turned around and bumped her nose hard against the screen. Frightened, before she could steady herself, she hurriedly reached out to support the screen, afraid of making any noise that might disturb others. If anyone saw a man in their Eldest Miss’s boudoir, how could their Eldest Miss continue living?

“There’s no need to escort me personally. Once Chun Tao moves away the secret guards, I can leave the Bai Mansion.” Xiao Rongyan glanced at the medicine bottle still clutched in Bai Qingyan’s palm and said, “Remember to take the medicine on schedule.”

This medicine was complex to make, and several of the herbs were extremely difficult to obtain. Xiao Rongyan knew he couldn’t persuade Bai Qingyan not to work so hard—after all, the Bai family currently depended on her to hold things together.

He only hoped that Bai Qingyan could properly care for her health, and also hoped for early unification so that Bai Qingyan could finally rest.

After Chun Tao dismissed the secret guards watching over Boyun Courtyard, she returned and said: “Eldest Miss, I’ve sent them all away! I had them go watch the front courtyard…”

“Thank you!” After Xiao Rongyan thanked Chun Tao, he left and disappeared into the night.

“Eldest Miss!” Chun Tao approached, still shaken. “What… what was that about? I was just in the room. When did Master Xiao arrive? He…”

Bai Qingyan opened the window, gazing in the direction where Xiao Rongyan had disappeared, gripping the medicine bottle tightly in her hand. She said in a low voice: “Master Xiao came to deliver extremely important news. Has Uncle Ping returned?”

“He has!” Chun Tao nodded. “But since Eldest Miss was sleeping, Nanny Tong didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Go call Uncle Ping over.” Bai Qingyan said.

Chun Tao trusted Bai Qingyan completely and truly believed that Xiao Rongyan had come to deliver extremely important news, which was why he had entered their Eldest Miss’s boudoir.

However, Chun Tao also understood the gravity of the situation. Regarding Master Xiao appearing in Eldest Miss’s boudoir, even Nanny Tong and Lu Ping couldn’t be told—the fewer people who knew, the better.

After Lu Ping returned, he had matters on his mind and hadn’t slept. When he heard that Eldest Miss was calling for him, he came with Chun Tao to the inner courtyard without a word.

The main gate of Boyun Courtyard was wide open, and Bai Qingyan sat waiting under the tree at the stone table in the courtyard.

Lu Ping quickly stepped forward and bowed to Bai Qingyan: “Eldest Miss, after Ji Tingyu spoke about the mountain bandits’ burning, killing, looting, and child kidnapping, he went to investigate and discovered there are three groups in total. One group is using Shouyang’s bandit reputation to burn, kill, and loot under the false name of bandits, and the children they’ve abducted… were all sent toward the capital! The other two groups are just using the bandit reputation to rob travelers. If Eldest Miss hadn’t sent this subordinate to find Ji Tingyu, he would have found a way to send this news back anyway.”

Indeed, just as Bai Qingyan had thought.

“Ji Tingyu had this subordinate tell Eldest Miss that since we’re suppressing bandits… we must look the part of bandit suppressors!” Lu Ping handed the sheepskin map he had been carrying in his chest to Bai Qingyan. “This is a map drawn by Ji Tingyu. Perhaps because Ji Tingyu and his men are near the mines, these three groups haven’t approached that area.”

Three groups…

Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes to look at the several locations Ji Tingyu had marked on the map. He had specifically marked out the bandits who kidnapped children, seemingly grinding his teeth in hatred for these child kidnappers.

“Ji Tingyu said this group that steals and sells children has gone too far, and requests that Eldest Miss consider eliminating them first! It would be ridding the people of a menace!” Lu Ping pointed to the location of the child-kidnapping bandits on the map. “Ji Tingyu has already scouted this place thoroughly—there are thirty-three people in total! Not counting the few who come and go, taking away children!”

“Here… there are twelve!” Lu Ping pointed to another bandit location that Ji Tingyu had circled, then moved to the third location. “Here, there are twenty-six, but more people are still arriving.”

The numbers weren’t very large—dealing with them would be quite simple.

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Ping. Uncle Ping, go rest! Tomorrow, accompany me to the training grounds… to see how the training is going and whether they’re ready for use!”

“Yes!” Seeing the dark circles under Bai Qingyan’s eyes, Lu Ping gently advised: “Eldest Miss should also get some proper rest! Fourth Miss was so lively and energetic, yet couldn’t withstand the journey back, let alone Eldest Miss, who was already weak to begin with.”

“Uncle Ping can rest assured, I know my limits. Uncle Ping, go rest!” Bai Qingyan smiled at Lu Ping.

After Lu Ping left, Chun Tao softly urged, “Eldest Miss, you can rest peacefully now!”

“Mm…” Bai Qingyan put away the sheepskin map that Ji Tingyu had submitted and rose to return to her room.

After Chun Tao helped Bai Qingyan undress and watched her lie down, she lowered the bed curtains and quietly withdrew beyond the screen.

Lying in bed, as soon as Bai Qingyan closed her eyes, she thought of Xiao Rongyan’s deep gaze looking at her, and of his low, hoarse voice calling her A’Bao.

She turned over, hiding half her face in the extremely thin quilt, gently pressing her lips together. Both her palms and body were covered in a light sheen of sweat.

She hadn’t expected that regarding Xiao Rongyan’s late-night intrusion into her boudoir and his kiss, she felt surprisingly no revulsion at all—in fact, seeing him had even brought her a little joy.

After many days apart, Bai Qingyan also missed Xiao Rongyan, but with so many matters at hand, she had no energy to be distracted by him.

Bai Qingyan’s body was already extremely fatigued, but her thoughts wouldn’t stop. She drifted in and out of consciousness until nearly dawn before finally falling asleep.

Nanny Tong rose before dawn and listened several times at the door of the main room without hearing any sounds of Eldest Miss getting up. She quickly had someone instruct the servants and maids of Boyun Courtyard to move quietly—before Eldest Miss arose… the courtyard didn’t need to be swept.