Bai Qingyan’s fingers, cool as jade tubes, covered the back of Xiao Rongyan’s hand, gently grasping his strong, powerful wrist: “Great Yan’s intention to destroy Wei has stirred my fighting spirit.”

Xiao Rongyan was not at all surprised that Bai Qingyan could see through his plans. Yes… he wanted to destroy Wei—first, to let all nations know that the State of Yan was no longer yesterday’s Yan; second, to lay the foundation for future great undertakings.

“Destroy Liang?” Xiao Rongyan asked.

Bai Qingyan nodded: “It’s just a pity… Jin State is not mine alone to command. Whether the Emperor or the Crown Prince, both fear becoming the target of all arrows and won’t easily dispatch troops to destroy a nation.”

“It seems… I might be able to unify this realm before A’Bao and marry you as my wife.” As Xiao Rongyan spoke, he leaned down close to Bai Qingyan, gently touching her lips with his, his hand sliding from her shoulder to her slender waist, pulling her toward himself. He released her lips, his thumb caressing the corner of her mouth, gazing at her quietly.

If not for the wall separating them, Xiao Rongyan would have already embraced Bai Qingyan to relieve the bone-deep longing he had felt for her over these many days.

She was completely enveloped in Xiao Rongyan’s presence. The restrained fragrance of sandalwood invaded her lungs dominantly, making her breathing somewhat irregular and her heartbeat intensely rapid.

Bai Qingyan tightened her grip on Xiao Rongyan’s wrist, rising on her tiptoes until their noses touched… She heard Xiao Rongyan’s extremely heavy breathing. He cupped Bai Qingyan’s face, his burning lips pressing down, no longer just a light taste but as if he wanted to lift Bai Qingyan out through the window, wrap her in his cloak, take her away, and keep her by his side forever.

But he knew that Bai Qingyan was not the type of woman content to merely stand behind a man. Moreover, her intellect, aspirations, and ambitions… were so vast that Xiao Rongyan also regarded Bai Qingyan as an equally matched opponent.

Xiao Rongyan only wanted to unify the realm quickly so he could marry Bai Qingyan soon.

Hearing rustling sounds from the outer chamber, Bai Qingyan quickly pushed Xiao Rongyan away slightly, turning to glance toward the hanging screen, afraid of disturbing the sleepy little maid. She lowered her voice to say to Xiao Rongyan: “Go back and rest quickly!”

Xiao Rongyan’s throat moved as he controlled his heavy breathing. He lifted his hand to tuck the loose hair behind Bai Qingyan’s temples behind her ear, kissed her lips once more, then said: “Tomorrow, I cannot celebrate your birthday with you. When the war is settled, I will certainly make it up to you!”

Bai Qingyan nodded, her earlobes so red they could drip blood.

Estimating the time and fearing the hidden guards would return, Xiao Rongyan reluctantly bid farewell to Bai Qingyan, pulled up his hood, and leaped away, disappearing into the night sky sparse with moon and stars.

Bai Qingyan stood at the open latticed window, looking down at the birthday gift Xiao Rongyan had specially brought, opening the box…

Inside was a pair of jade bracelets that reflected a cold, delicate luster in the moonlight.

Rather than calling them bracelets, Bai Qingyan felt these were treasures so exquisitely crafted that one couldn’t bear to wear them—the kind that made one want to place them on an antique stand as offerings.

This jade was of the purest imperial green, profound. Around the edges of the round bracelets, a circle of pod shapes had been carved, with slightly opened mouths revealing what appeared to be red beans…

These red beans were red coral ground into bean-sized particles and firmly embedded within, so that at first glance, one truly believed them to be red beans.

Setting aside the fact that these jade bracelets were flawless and rare treasures seldom seen in the world, the carving work was exquisitely perfect. Bai Qingyan couldn’t even guess how the craftsman had managed to embed the red coral beans within, and couldn’t help but marvel at it.

Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on the coral red beans faintly visible within the pods, her lips curving slightly… Red beans represented longing and love.

Xiao Rongyan had truly put his heart into this.

Hearing the little maid wake with a start, Bai Qingyan placed the jade bracelets back in the brocade box and closed the window. She saw the little maid enter with a panicked expression and kneel: “El… Eldest Miss! This servant deserves death! This servant didn’t know Eldest Miss had risen! Does Eldest Miss want hot water?”

“You needn’t keep watch here anymore. Go back and rest!” Bai Qingyan said.

“Eldest Miss…” The little maid looked up tearfully at the cloak Bai Qingyan wore. “If Eldest Miss needs anything, it’s all this servant’s fault for falling asleep! Please don’t be angry, Eldest Miss! Whatever Eldest Miss needs, this servant will fetch it immediately!”

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s smiling expression: “Go on! I don’t need anyone to serve me here.”

Only when the young girl saw that Bai Qingyan wasn’t angry did she kowtow and leave the main room with her bedding, but she couldn’t understand… why their Eldest Miss was wearing a cloak—where was she planning to go?

She looked back toward the room but didn’t dare ask many questions. After thinking, she simply wrapped herself tightly in her quilt at the door of the main room. This time she reminded herself never to fall asleep, lest Eldest Miss need something and she couldn’t hear.

The eldest Miss was still injured. Although Eldest Miss was magnanimous and didn’t hold grudges, the servants still needed to fulfill their duties.

The next morning, Chun Tao, worried about Bai Qingyan’s injuries, rose early. While fastening her buttons, she came out from the side room and saw the little maid who had kept watch last night outside the door. Startled, she quickly took small steps to run under the corridor gallery, crouched down, and shook the sleeping maid awake: “Why are you outside?!”

The little maid groggily lifted her head, using her sleeve to wipe the drool from her mouth: “Sister Chun Tao…”

“Why weren’t you inside properly watching over Eldest Miss?” Chun Tao urgently questioned.

“Eldest Miss told me to go rest. I was worried, so I kept watch outside, but I still fell asleep without realizing it.” The little maid spoke and then sneezed, quickly raising her hand to rub her nose.

Chun Tao frowned tightly, looking at the confused little maid: “Alright, alright! You go back to sleep! I’ll watch over Eldest Miss!”

Yesterday when this girl volunteered to keep watch, Chun Tao shouldn’t have agreed. She was still too young after all. Most likely this girl had fallen asleep in the middle of the night, and Eldest Miss, being soft-hearted and seeing the girl sleeping soundly, had let her go back to rest.

Chun Tao watched the little maid leave with her bedroll, thinking she should discuss with Eldest Miss later about promoting Chun Zhi to a first-class maid. Chun Zhi had a steady temperament, and Nanny Tong also said she was good, not like those others with high aspirations but no self-awareness.

If Chun Zhi could truly be promoted to head maid, then she and Chun Zhi could alternate keeping watch in the future, which would be more reassuring.

As for the others, they could be carefully selected again later.

Bai Qingyan had slept well through the night. Just after finishing her morning toilette, Dong Shi and Dong Tingzhen arrived with Nanny Qin. Nanny Qin carried a black lacquered gold-decorated food box containing a bowl of longevity noodles that Dong Shi had personally made early that morning.

The soup for the noodles was something Dong Tingzhen had risen early to prepare for Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan ate the bowl of hot longevity noodles, feeling warmed to her heart. Just as she was wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, Dong Tingzhen turned to receive a red wooden box from a servant’s hands and presented it to Bai Qingyan.