Shen Xiling had never imagined that when she saw Qi Ying again, he would be covered in wounds.

The last time they had met was over half a month ago. The two had been deeply affectionate then, but afterwards he had been busy with the spring examinations and hadn’t been able to return to Fenghe Courtyard, so they hadn’t been able to see each other since.

She had been missing him so intensely she could barely contain it—even her dreams were filled with him. That day, after waking from her afternoon nap, she suddenly heard Shuipei and the others saying that the young master had returned. She had been overjoyed at first, but then saw that several maids looked panicked. Upon careful questioning, they said they had heard that the young master had been severely injured and had been personally escorted back by the eldest young master of the Qi family. He had just arrived at Huaijin Courtyard.

When Shen Xiling heard this, she immediately became frantic. Without regard for anything else, she hurriedly ran toward Huaijin Courtyard.

By the time she arrived, the eldest young master Qi had already left. The room was in chaos, with maids going in and out. It seemed a physician had been called. Qing Zhu and the others were all attending to having the doctor treat Qi Ying’s injuries, and no one had time to pay attention to her. Through the crowd of people, Shen Xiling finally caught sight of Qi Ying.

…He was injured.

He sat sideways on the bed, apparently having injured his back. His clothes were stained with blood everywhere, and his complexion was paler than she had ever seen.

In the three years she had been by his side, she had always seen him as unhurried and composed, handling everything with ease. She had never seen him appear disheveled, yet now he was injured…

Shen Xiling felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her hands and feet going numb.

Amidst the clamoring voices, Qi Ying saw her. Seeing her standing in the corner looking completely at a loss, he seemed startled for a moment, then smiled at her and beckoned through the crowd, silently mouthing: “Come.”

He was telling her to come over.

Shen Xiling’s eyes immediately grew hot with tears. She pushed through the crowd toward him—if the space hadn’t been so crowded, she would have run to him.

She sat down carefully beside him. Though she hadn’t actually touched him, she still seemed afraid of causing him pain. With tears in her eyes, she looked him up and down, holding back for a long time before asking: “Do you… does it hurt?”

Actually, in such situations, the first thing a person would normally ask would be “What happened to you?” or “What’s going on?” rather than “Does it hurt?” But at that moment, she truly only cared about whether he was in pain, forgetting to ask about the cause and circumstances.

And this was naturally a rather useless question—injured as he was, how could he not be in pain?

Yet Qi Ying’s expression remained calm and indifferent, no different from usual. He could even spare the mental energy to comfort her, reaching out to gently smooth her hair and saying: “It’s nothing serious, just looks worse than it is.”

Shen Xiling’s eyes grew even more moist.

She naturally knew he was comforting her, because his hand stroking her was cooler than usual and trembling slightly. The physician behind him also looked grave, saying: “Please bear with it for a moment, young master. This… I’m afraid it will be quite painful.”

With his back to the physician, Qi Ying didn’t even turn his head, merely acknowledging with a sound, his eyes still fixed on Shen Xiling.

His expression gentle, he said to her: “Go back first, so you won’t be frightened.”

He was in such pain, yet still worried about frightening her.

For a moment, Shen Xiling couldn’t clearly describe the feeling in her heart. She could only force back her tears with effort, gripping Qi Ying’s hand tightly and shaking her head: “I won’t go back. I’ll stay right here with you.”

She spoke with determination. Qi Ying looked at her for a while, quite helpless, but in the end didn’t insist on making her leave, tacitly allowing it.

His back injury was severe. The Left Chancellor had been furious last night and had given him over thirty lashes in succession. Those family discipline whips left much more severe wounds than ordinary whips, already leaving his back a bloody mess. Having knelt in the ancestral hall all night, the wounds hadn’t been treated promptly, and now his clothes had adhered to the wounds. Before applying medicine and bandaging, the wounds first had to be torn open.

It was extremely painful.

When the physician began working, all the servants in the room turned their heads away, unable to watch. Even Qing Zhu couldn’t help but close his eyes. But Shen Xiling wanted to look—she wanted to know exactly how his injuries were. Yet Qi Ying wouldn’t let her see, making her sit in front of him. His expression hardly changed at all, as if he couldn’t feel the pain, but the veins on his hands bulged out and cold sweat appeared more and more frequently on his forehead.

Shen Xiling was both worried and heartbroken, unconsciously biting her own lips until they turned white. When he noticed, he reached out to touch her lips, as if afraid she would hurt herself, coaxing her: “It’s all right, don’t worry…”

Shen Xiling gripped his hand tightly, unable to say a word, her eyes already red as a rabbit’s.

By the time the physician had finally treated Qi Ying’s wounds and applied the medicine, most of an hour had passed.

Qi Ying was covered in sweat, but his complexion had improved somewhat—no longer so pale—though he looked very tired.

Privately, Shen Xiling actually wanted to stay with Qi Ying, but seeing him injured like this, she thought he must want to rest. So she instead followed the physician closely, carefully listening to his explanation of how to apply medicine and care for the wounds afterwards. After the physician had finished explaining, she prepared to escort him out.

But Qi Ying called out to her: “Wenwen.”

Shen Xiling turned around to see that he had already changed into fresh clothes and was sitting on the bed looking at her. He didn’t say much, but his manner told her that he wanted her to stay with him.

Shen Xiling’s heart melted completely.

She immediately ran over to him. Qing Zhu at the side also knew how to read the situation, silently leading the other servants out of the room. Before he closed the door, the last scene he saw was the young master gently drawing that little maid into his embrace.

Shen Xiling silently allowed Qi Ying to hold her, but didn’t know where to put her hands.

She used to love wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his chest when embracing him, but now his entire back was injured. She didn’t dare move at all, afraid that any movement might touch his wounds and cause him more pain.

Feeling her restraint, Qi Ying released her and asked: “What’s wrong?”

His little girl’s brow was tightly furrowed as she looked at him hesitantly. After thinking for a moment, she said: “…I’m afraid of hurting you.”

Qi Ying raised an eyebrow and smiled gently.

He pinched her small face and said: “It’s all right now.”

Shen Xiling touched the hand with which he had pinched her face, gently nuzzling it with her cheek. Her eyes still red, she looked at him and asked: “What exactly happened? Why were you injured?”

Qi Ying looked down at her. Upon hearing this, he fell silent for a long time before finally saying: “I’m a bit tired… let me sleep for a while, all right?”

He truly was very tired.

From grading papers to preparing the examination rankings, he had been getting little sleep. Last night he had knelt all night without closing his eyes, and was now utterly exhausted.

When Shen Xiling heard him say he was tired, her heart ached again. She hurriedly nodded, saying: “Ah, you sleep, you sleep, don’t mind me—sleep quickly.”

She seemed to wish he would fall asleep immediately, her flustered manner still appearing adorable to him.

Qi Ying smiled and embraced her again, saying softly: “Stay here with me for a while…”

He looked not only very tired, but also… somewhat lonely.

He had always been strong—so strong that she felt he was omnipotent, so strong that she thought he had no weaknesses. But now she could see this person’s weary appearance, this person’s lonely appearance.

It seemed he had truly accepted her into the depths of his heart, and therefore allowed her to see these hidden corners.

Shen Xiling had never felt so close to this person—so close it seemed she could reach out and touch his soul with a single gesture. This discovery left her heart silently still, and she even felt that at this moment she could die for him.

She looked at him and nodded, then took off her shoes herself and got onto his bed, sitting crosswise at the head. She gently drew him to lie on his side with his head pillowed on her lap.

She lightly patted his shoulder, speaking in soft, gentle tones: “Sleep now, I’ll stay with you the whole time…”

Qi Ying said nothing more, only quietly closed his eyes.

He was too tired.

He fell asleep.

This sleep lasted a very long time, from the afternoon of the previous day until the early morning of the next.

Shen Xiling had originally not planned to sleep, but somehow while keeping him company, she had dozed off without knowing it. When she opened her eyes again, it was already broad daylight.

She had originally been sitting, but now found herself lying properly under the covers. Even more outrageous was that Qi Ying was also sleeping beside her, sharing the same blanket, and still hadn’t woken up.

Shen Xiling’s beautiful eyes immediately widened in circles.

This… this couldn’t be blamed on her!

Although she had indeed always harbored some improper thoughts about him… and after they had pledged their feelings to each other, such thoughts had become especially obvious… but today’s situation really wasn’t intentional on her part! Moreover, she always slept very properly and would never change positions midway to take advantage of him!

This… perhaps he had woken up once in the middle and, seeing her sleeping uncomfortably, had…

Shen Xiling blinked and the corners of her mouth secretly curved upward.

He was half-embracing her, breathing deeply and evenly, still seeming to sleep soundly.

Speaking of which, Shen Xiling had never seen Qi Ying asleep before. Unlike his usual demeanor, when sleeping he no longer looked so stern and aloof.

She had always known this person was very handsome, but Young Master Qi’s reputation and official position were too lofty, often causing people to overlook his appearance. Now that he was asleep, his usual aura had faded, and his handsome features became even clearer. Shen Xiling secretly thought that those so-called beautiful men of previous dynasties that books had gone on and on about certainly couldn’t compare to the person before her eyes.

She couldn’t help moving a bit closer to him.

Just then, the sun gradually rose, and bright, warm sunlight filtered through the bed curtains, with a ray falling on his arm.

Staring at that ray of light, Shen Xiling suddenly realized that he hadn’t gone to court today.

This was truly unprecedented.

Having been by his side for three years, she naturally knew what a diligent and rule-abiding person he was. In these three years, he had never missed court even once. Even when he was ill or extremely tired, he would still force himself to attend court—no amount of persuasion would work.

Yet today he hadn’t gone.

Shen Xiling felt secretly puzzled. Though she knew it was because of his injuries, she felt that given his usual temperament, he would still force himself to go out even in such circumstances.

She felt puzzled, yet also relieved.

This person was always busy and always made life exhausting for himself—it was good this way too, at least he could get a proper sleep.

Shen Xiling smiled gently and looked at him for a while longer. Finally unable to resist, she quietly leaned over and lightly kissed the corner of his eye.

Those incomparably beautiful phoenix eyes.

It was just a light kiss, like a dragonfly touching water, but it still woke him up.

At first, only his eyelashes fluttered. After a while, he opened his eyes, his gaze holding that unique languid quality of someone just awakened. Then, seeing her, he came to his senses. Gentle amusement spread through his eyes as he drew her closer, kissed her forehead, and asked in a rather hoarse voice: “Awake?”

Author’s Note: Sigh, the girl is still too honest. Actually, if you ask me, she might as well just…

Young Master Qi (urgently interrupting): ! Don’t teach her those things.

What, so you want to teach her yourself?