Qin Rao shared a spring night with Huai Jue at the courier station, while Yan Qing was brought to wait outside the room door, quietly awaiting the conclusion of their affair.

The sounds of intimacy drifted from within the room, yet Yan Qing waited outside with a wooden expression on her face.

When she finally heard the rustling sounds of dressing from within, Huai Jue pushed open the door and emerged.

“Go attend to the Princess’s bath.”

“Yes.”

Yan Qing entered the room to find Qin Rao staring vacantly out the window. Hearing the sound, she turned her head.

“Come dress this Princess.”

Qin Rao rose, revealing a body covered in blood-red bite marks.

As her gaze swept over those traces bearing faint bloody scratches, Yan Qing quickly turned her head away.

“Are you afraid?”

“This servant wouldn’t dare.”

Qin Rao tilted up her slender neck, looking at Yan Qing with a half-smile: “Elder brother says this is a pleasurable thing, but why can this Princess feel nothing?”

“Have you experienced it?”

Yan Qing shook her head in panic, causing Qin Rao to laugh coquettishly.

Before her laughter had faded, she suddenly grabbed a hairpin that had fallen on the bed and viciously stabbed it into Yan Qing’s arm.

“Ah.”

A cry of shock escaped, but was quickly suppressed.

Yan Qing bit her lip hard, not allowing herself to cry out in pain.

This was not her first day serving Qin Rao. If she showed too strong a reaction to pain, Qin Rao would only strike harder.

She tensed her face, not allowing herself to reveal even half a trace of suffering.

“How dull.”

Discarding the blood-stained hairpin, Qin Rao said: “This Princess saw the barbarian slave…”

Seeing Yan Qing’s movements pause slightly, she sneered: “This Princess remembers you two were quite familiar with each other.”

Yan Qing dared neither respond nor move.

Qin Rao’s moods were unpredictable. If a single word displeased her, it would arouse her suspicion, and torture would inevitably follow—at best severe injuries lasting several days, at worst she might lose her life in Dongning.

After thinking, Yan Qing dropped to her knees with a thud.

Seeing her like this, Qin Rao immediately lost interest. She sat on the bed and lifted Yan Qing’s chin with her toe.

“Plain appearance, though that delicate and pitiful manner has some appeal.”

Yan Qing dared not raise her head, only keeping her gaze on the top of Qin Rao’s foot.

“Get lost. Go find the barbarian slave and tell him this Princess doesn’t wish to depart today. You must find a way to make him stay and leave tomorrow instead.”

“This servant understands.”

Suppressing the agitation in her heart, Yan Qing clenched her teeth and withdrew from the room.

At the thought of soon seeing Shen Qianyu, her eyes reddened and she couldn’t help but shed tears directly.

When Huai Jue delivered her to the Dongning camp, Shen Qianyu was in the middle of writing a letter to Song Wan.

If they departed today, at his fastest pace he could see Song Wan by mid-next month. By then a hundred days would have passed since the Empress’s mourning period, and upon returning to the capital he could be with Wan’er…

Blushing slightly with a faint smile, Shen Qianyu carefully arranged the letter paper and sealed it properly.

“Your Highness, a maidservant from Nanqing requests an audience.”

Shen Qianyu was pondering how to make haste on the road while still bringing back some local delicacies for Wan’er when, hearing this, he couldn’t help but frown and refuse the meeting.

Shortly after, Ji Rong entered the tent saying the maidservant’s surname was Yan.

“Yan Qing?”

Shen Qianyu raised an eyebrow: “Let her enter.”

Yan Qing entered the tent to see Shen Qianyu bent over, fiddling with brush and ink.

When he left Nanqing years ago, he was only sixteen or seventeen, his features outstanding but far from as intimidating as they were today.

The Shen Qianyu she once knew was green and naive. Though he occasionally revealed hints of darkness and unwillingness, he had never possessed the kind of imposing presence he now had.

Power truly nurtures a person.

Looking at Shen Qianyu, who was no longer what he once was, no longer like her needing to struggle to survive, his entire bearing radiating pride, Yan Qing shed tears once more.

Her form was thin and weak, her complexion pale. The way she stared at Shen Qianyu and wept appeared pitifully touching.

The current Shen Qianyu was no longer the barbarian slave she knew. Yan Qing felt uneasy in her heart, her hands nervously clutching at her hem, not daring to speak.

“Why are you crying?”

Shen Qianyu looked up. Seeing Yan Qing’s reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.

“I…”

Stammering, she seemed to suddenly remember their current respective statuses and hastily knelt down.

“This servant greets the Crown Prince of Dongning. May Your Highness be well.”

Having spoken, Yan Qing’s hand unconsciously covered the arm that had just been stabbed by Qin Rao.

She furrowed her brow slightly, as if forcibly enduring pain.

The palace maids’ uniforms in Nanqing were indigo blue, embroidered with patterns unique to Nanqing’s imperial family. Shen Qianyu had not noticed her injury earlier, but now with this movement, he saw that her sleeve had been soaked through with blood over half its surface.

“I’ll have someone fetch an imperial physician to treat you.”

“Your Highness need not trouble yourself for this servant.”

Yan Qing’s face bore a numb expression of resignation, yet Shen Qianyu said: “It’s better to have it treated.”

He summoned the accompanying physician. Someone helped Yan Qing treat her wound while Shen Qianyu remained seated at his desk without leaving.

Qin Rao was deranged—he had long grown accustomed to this in Nanqing and found nothing surprising about Yan Qing’s injury.

“Young lady, if you feel pain, you may tell this old one.”

Yan Qing bit her lip, her delicate face showing some fragility: “Old sir, please simply proceed. This servant does not feel pain.”

After speaking, she murmured in a low voice: “This servant… has long grown accustomed to it. It’s merely a small wound.”

Hearing this, Shen Qianyu said: “Indeed so. After many injuries, pain becomes slow and dull. You need not be gentle—stopping the bleeding is what matters.”

Hearing this, Yan Qing pursed her lips slightly.

Shen Qianyu watched idly, only feeling that the physician’s movements were truly too slow.

Given his advanced age, he handled the wound with tedious deliberation.

Such a simple matter of sprinkling medicinal powder to stop bleeding—yet he made it so troublesome.

It wasn’t as if Yan Qing was a delicate noblewoman like Wan’er. What harm could a few stabs do?

Thinking of Song Wan, Shen Qianyu frowned with evident worry.

They had just established their relationship, yet he had been away for so long. Moreover, Wan’er’s previous letters seemed cold and distant—he wondered if she had cleared her head during this time and no longer favored him?

The more Shen Qianyu thought about it, the more worried he became, his eyes gradually growing darker.

Yan Qing saw him frowning tightly, worry clear on his face, then slowly exhaling.

Fortunately. Fortunately he still held some childhood sentiment toward her.

Fortunately her father had shown life-saving grace to Shen Qianyu.

Looking at the shallow, light, yet densely packed scars on her arm, Yan Qing clenched her teeth in determination.

“Young lady, avoid water these next few days, and you won’t be left with scars.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After the physician bowed and withdrew, only then did Shen Qianyu say: “Did Uncle Yan come with you this time? Is his health well? Have Qin Zhan and Qin Rao made things difficult for him?”

“Father’s health is sound. The Sovereign and the Princess have not made things difficult for Father.”

Shen Qianyu nodded: “Qin Rao sent you to find me—is there some matter?”

Yan Qing bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes as she said: “The Princess says she doesn’t wish to depart today and sent this servant to beseech Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Would Your Highness the Crown Prince perhaps delay for a day?”

Shen Qianyu’s brows knitted tightly: “What difference is there between one day or two? If she doesn’t wish to depart today, then leave tomorrow. What is there to discuss about this?”

He would set out first today, and Nanqing could catch up tomorrow. He didn’t know what princess airs Qin Rao was putting on, making a special trip to say this.

Shen Qianyu’s tone was disdainful, too lazy to guess at Qin Rao’s thoughts.

Seeing that Shen Qianyu agreed as soon as she asked, Yan Qing bit her lip and stole a glance at him, secretly delighted.