The Qi soldiers’ leader still looked back suspiciously, but only saw Xie Queshan carrying a beauty away, open and forthright, showing no flaws whatsoever. He could only search elsewhere.

Passing by the pond, Xie Queshan calmly threw the dart he had pulled out into the water—this could become key evidence for harboring criminals and had to be disposed of outside, absolutely not brought back to his room.

But even Xie Queshan didn’t notice that in the distant corridor corner, someone had covered their mouth in surprise and ducked back.

It was Lu Jinxiu, who had come out to investigate upon hearing the commotion. She stood diagonally in front of Xie Queshan and seemed to see that the person in his arms was Nanyi—were they actually having a “romantic tryst under the moon”?

Seeing this scene, Lu Jinxiu’s hands trembled. The maid following behind her couldn’t help asking: “Concubine Lu, what did you see?”

“Nothing… go back, quickly go back…” Lu Jinxiu couldn’t believe it and forced herself to forget what she had just witnessed, turning around in a daze and returning to her room without pause.

Xie Queshan carried Nanyi back to Jingfeng Residence. He Ping was only surprised for a moment before quickly cooperating, taking out the medicine box from the drawer and placing it on the table.

“He Ping, go stand guard outside.”

He Ping responded with a “Yes,” turned and went out, closing the door properly. The wind and snow were shut out, and the room returned to quiet warmth.

Xie Queshan laid Nanyi flat on the couch and asked: “Is Third Uncle safe?”

Nanyi hesitated for a moment but still nodded, then quickly added: “An accident occurred today. Sixth Miss Xie temporarily changed the rescue plan. I didn’t know beforehand… and it was Sixth Miss Xie who settled Third Uncle. I don’t know where he is either.”

By the end, Nanyi felt somewhat guilty and could only change the subject: “But why did you save me?”

Xie Queshan looked at Nanyi calmly and seriously: “Thank you for saving my family.”

Nanyi’s mind exploded with a buzz. This word of thanks overturned her understanding of Xie Queshan. She asked in surprise: “So you’re not in league with the Qi people?”

“Though I work for the Qi people, I don’t want my family in danger.”

Nanyi fell silent. The implication was that he was still the Qi people’s man.

“So those nights when you had me running all over the city… that was also intentional?”

“Familiarizing yourself with terrain is always a useful skill.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier!” Nanyi was somewhat annoyed.

“The will to survive is the best motivation.”

Nanyi was speechless. He was a ruthless teacher, but she had to admit his methods were effective.

Xie Queshan picked up a pair of scissors, preparing to cut open Nanyi’s clothing around the injured area to bandage her wound.

Nanyi quickly stopped him: “Don’t cut it! This dress is new. I’ve hardly worn it a few times. If I wash and mend it, I can still wear it. If you cut it, there’s no way to fix it.”

Xie Queshan paused and put away the scissors.

“Then take off your outer robe.”

Cutting open the garment was actually the simplest method. Removing the outer robe would inevitably affect the wound, but to save the dress, Nanyi endured the pain and slowly took off the outer robe. By the time she finally finished, she was already covered in sweat.

Xie Queshan naturally reached out to take her outer robe, and she handed it over without much thought. But she never expected that in the next second, Xie Queshan would throw her dress into the fire basin.

Nanyi’s eyes widened as she anxiously tried to rush over to save it, but the pain in her shoulder wound forced her to stop. She glared angrily at Xie Queshan.

“What are you doing?”

“This dress is covered in bloodstains. If you take it out to wash and mend, aren’t you afraid others won’t see you have a problem?”

Nanyi felt guilty. Sometimes she was indeed limited by the perspective of a common person, inevitably short-sighted. She always thought she could “secretly” complete some tasks, even if it meant taking some risks.

Nanyi muttered: “Then you should have told me earlier. I could have saved the effort of taking off the dress—aren’t you just playing with me?”

“If it doesn’t hurt, you won’t learn your lesson. Next time you’ll still dare to risk danger for a small advantage.”

Unable to argue with Xie Queshan, Nanyi could only obediently close her mouth.

Xie Queshan took out wine from the medicine box, poured it on gauze, and just as he raised his hand to clean Nanyi’s wound, he paused again, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, rolled it into a ball, and held it to Nanyi’s mouth.

He was concise: “It will hurt a lot. Bite this, don’t make a sound.”

Nanyi obediently opened her mouth and bit the handkerchief.

The wine-soaked gauze touched the wound, and piercing bone-deep pain immediately spread throughout her body. Nanyi instinctively grabbed the nearest thing to her.

Xie Queshan lowered his eyes. That pale, thin hand had grasped his sleeve.

She was very obedient, not daring to make any sound at all, her throat choking back broken and faint moans, her chest rising and falling involuntarily.

She wore no outer robe, only thin undergarments, her fragrant shoulders half-exposed. Dancing candle shadows flickered back and forth across her snow-like skin, swaying like tickling fingers across one’s heart.

For a moment, somehow, the sounds of candlelight and silver charcoal crackling in the room became particularly clear, and the sights and sounds before him seemed amplified.

Xie Queshan had been single-mindedly treating her wound, but inexplicably felt his chest surge with hot blood. He took a deep breath and quickened his movements.

Finally finishing treating her wound, Xie Queshan breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly looking up, he saw her eyes brimming with tears.

He removed the handkerchief from her mouth: “No crying.”

She had endured with great difficulty, but tears still fell as she muttered: “So fierce.”

Xie Queshan pretended not to see and lowered his head to pack away the medicine box.

“Sleep here tonight.”

“Can’t I go back to Zheyue Pavilion?”

“Tonight you and I appeared in the garden. Though we deceived people at the time, it’s impossible not to arouse suspicion. Now there are many eyes watching outside Jingfeng Residence. If you go out, there will definitely be danger.”

Nanyi immediately accepted: “Being by your side is definitely safest anyway—should I sleep on the bed or the couch?”

Xie Queshan paused. She was too frank, making his inexplicable romantic thoughts seem extremely dirty. He was even somewhat annoyed—did she have no sense of propriety between men and women?

Nanyi didn’t know about the turmoil in his heart, and she was just forcing herself to act as if nothing had happened. No matter how heartless she was, she knew what it meant for a lone man and woman to share a room.

Although this was unavoidable, although Xie Queshan was the great demon she feared, she could always see his mysterious and vulnerable side. Regardless, he had indeed given her many chances to survive.

She was grateful to him, especially tonight.

Xie Queshan gave Nanyi a look: “If you’re going to act, do it thoroughly. I brought a woman back to my room but let her sleep on the couch. If someone saw, what would they think?”

“Alright then, Young Master Xie will be inconvenienced tonight.”

Nanyi nimbly climbed down from the couch and went directly toward the bedroom behind the screen.

Both harbored ulterior motives while maintaining the appearance of keeping their distance.

Reaching the screen, Nanyi suddenly turned back, putting away the playful expression on her face to show some seriousness.

“Only tonight did I learn that you’re not actually an irredeemably evil villain.”

“And you’re not a heartless little scoundrel either.”

Nanyi couldn’t help but smile, but Xie Queshan’s next words froze her smile on her face.

“After this matter, I want you to extract Prince Ling’an’s hiding place from Xie Sui’an. If you deceive me again next time… I’ll make sure you can’t smile anymore.”

Tonight’s moonlight seemed like just an illusion. They had only briefly reconciled before quickly returning to their respective positions.