Spring flowers were beautiful indeed, but as soon as Nanyi turned around and returned to her room—finally reaching a place where Zhang Yuehui could neither see nor hear her—tears came streaming down. The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she became, gradually turning into loud wailing.

She cried for those years of her own life. Though her mouth spoke of being fine and letting go, the grievances in her heart had long been turned upside down—there had to be a spectacular conclusion.

Nanyi cried earth-shakingly, endlessly, righteously, not even noticing when Xie Queshan entered.

Suddenly catching sight of a person sitting there, with deep pupils staring at her motionlessly, Nanyi was startled and paused. Feeling there was no need to acknowledge him, she wanted to continue crying, but suddenly lost the mood.

Though she had stopped, her body still shuddered intermittently. Nanyi felt somewhat embarrassed, and a bit angry too.

He sat there like watching a play, completely unmoved.

Nanyi went over to pour herself a cup of water and drank it in one gulp. Her crying had truly made her hoarse—she needed to moisten her throat. She asked him ungraciously: “What are you here for?”

Xie Queshan felt very innocent—he hadn’t provoked her, so why was she getting angry at him?

In his heart he thought “to see you,” but what came out was an unkind-toned “I’m here to watch over you.”

Seeing her cry so heartbrokenly over Zhang Yuehui, he didn’t know what he could do. He wanted to comfort her, but a petty voice in his heart said that since she favored Zhang Yuehui anyway, what use would it be even if he talked himself hoarse?

“I can’t run away anyway.” She retorted sharply.

“Zhang Yuehui is quite capable—won’t you run away with him?” The words were full of sourness. Young Master Xie’s speech today was quite undignified.

Nanyi fiercely wiped away her tears and scolded him mercilessly: “Why must I run away with some man? Telling me to go so I go, telling me to come so I come—what’s so great about you stinking men that gives you the right to arrange my life! I have legs, can’t I walk by myself?”

“…”

You people, these, stinking men.

Why did she have to lump him together with Zhang Yuehui when scolding?

But Xie Queshan was hit where it hurt. He felt quite guilty too. However, when he felt guilty, he habitually put on an inscrutable expression. Nanyi thought he was angry.

But she wasn’t afraid either, just glaring at him like that.

He ultimately softened, his voice becoming somewhat gentler: “Zhang Yuehui is no good. I’m afraid you’ll be deceived by him.”

—You’re no different from him, so what gives you the right to say he’s no good?

Just as she was about to retort, she saw Xie Queshan’s expression suddenly turn cold. Before Nanyi could react, he pulled her over and covered her mouth with his large hands.

“Mmph—” She fell onto Xie Queshan’s knee, and to maintain balance could only awkwardly grab his sleeve.

Suddenly, the room became quiet. Nanyi heard the faint sound of roof tiles shifting from above. Normally, she would have thought it might be that hawk passing over the roof, but seeing Xie Queshan’s vigilant reaction, cold sweat broke out on her back.

Nanyi looked sideways at Xie Queshan, then at the candle nearby, silently asking if he wanted to extinguish the light.

Xie Queshan slowly shook his head. Doing so would only make them appear more guilty. He closed his eyes to listen, catching the barely audible sounds of wind.

Outside the house, about five or six black-clothed figures moved across the eaves, silently landing in the small residence’s back courtyard. The black-clothed figures scattered in different directions throughout the compound.

These were assassins sent by Gusha. Ever since Gusha had begun blatantly suspecting Xie Queshan, this covert squad had been tracking him day and night. Even the most cunning fox couldn’t always cover its tracks perfectly—they had finally followed him to this small courtyard, believing this was very likely where he met with Bingzhu Division associates.

They wanted to thoroughly investigate who was hidden in this courtyard and what was being plotted, reporting everything they saw and heard to Gusha.

Two assassins had already crept along the wall base to the only room with lights on.

Without hesitation, Xie Queshan scooped up Nanyi and passed through the curtain into the inner room. The candlelight cast their shadows on the window paper, appearing romantic.

The inner room had no windows, so Nanyi dared to speak, lowering her voice: “Are these people here for me?”

“No, they’re coming for me.” Xie Queshan said with certainty.

He placed her on the bed, his expression calm.

“It’s fine. These people aren’t carrying large weapons—they’re probably just investigating, they won’t attack.”

Nanyi thought of Zhang Yuehui’s words and asked uncertainly: “The Qi people don’t trust you?”

Xie Queshan didn’t answer, only saying quietly: “Sleep peacefully, don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

This was just to put Nanyi at ease—there was little Xie Queshan could actually do. He couldn’t directly kill these people, which would only increase his suspicion. Doing nothing was actually the safest course.

Nothing would happen tonight, but in a few more days, that was hard to say. He still didn’t know whether it was Wanyan Jun or Gusha who suspected him, but this residence was being watched. The urgent task was to move Nanyi.

Once she fell asleep, he would think carefully about what to do.

But how could she possibly sleep now! Nanyi felt somewhat anxious. She didn’t know why the Qi people didn’t trust Xie Queshan, but since they had investigated this residence, they might very well investigate her.

After all, she was someone connected to the Bingzhu Division… She couldn’t gauge whether Xie Queshan knew this, nor could she fathom what considerations lay behind his current calm. He might be loyally devoted with a clear conscience, unafraid of Qi investigation, but if she fell into Qi hands again… this time she truly wasn’t sure she could endure another round of interrogation.

Regardless of Xie Queshan’s situation, he was still a big tree—she had to use him as cover.

Steeling herself, she climbed down from the bed.

Xie Queshan pressed down on her hand, looking at her in confusion.

Nanyi had already grasped some clues. A man and woman alone together in a room could inspire many fantasies. She had to tell those people outside—Xie Queshan wasn’t doing anything sneaky in this outer residence, just keeping a mistress in a golden house.

Anyway, Xie Queshan had used this trick before; she was just learning from his example.

Nanyi brushed away his hand and resolutely climbed down from the bed, supporting herself on the bed frame and shaking the wooden bed until it creaked. Just this intense sound alone was enough to make those eavesdroppers outside imagine all sorts of things.

Xie Queshan’s mind had already realized what she was doing, but his body froze. Blood inexplicably rushed to his brain, and these creaking sounds disturbed his ability to think clearly.

Her behavior was completely beyond his expectations. He even couldn’t tell whether he was the person standing by the bed or the bed itself being shaken—not that it mattered much, since both were her tools anyway.

Her rapidly developing cunning made him feel out of control.

His muddled brain somehow miraculously managed to think of a strange question—Ah? How does she know so much about this?

As it happened, though life in the Yucheng Army was harsh, there were plenty of hot-blooded youths who each privately collected a few erotic pictures, passing them around or gathering in small groups to secretly look at them. Once Nanyi stumbled upon this and, curious about what everyone was enjoying, leaned in for a look…

So now Nanyi could even pat her chest and brazenly claim she knew quite a lot.

After shaking for a while, Nanyi still felt it wasn’t enough, so she lifted her leg onto the bed edge. Using one leg to shake the bed frame while pulling up her trouser leg, exposing her pale, scar-crossed lower leg, she simultaneously took out medicinal paste and applied it to her wounds in one fluid motion.

She grimaced from the pain, unconsciously making some groaning sounds of endurance from her throat.

Realistic, absolutely realistic.

Xie Queshan was dumbfounded, momentarily feeling he had nowhere to place himself.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t applied medicine to her before, or that he hadn’t seen more romantic scenes, and he clearly knew this was to mislead others, but the sights and sounds before him were somewhat comical yet made one feel heated, like a feather floating from somewhere, tickling his heart. He didn’t even know where to direct his gaze.

He finally couldn’t bear it and reached out to grasp Nanyi’s hand, stopping her from making these mind-befuddling sounds.

His palm was burning hot, her wrist ice cold. Invisibly, it was as if water and fire were invading each other, yet also seemed to be merging together.

Nanyi glared at Xie Queshan. Seeing he wouldn’t let go, she lowered her head and planted a loud kiss on the back of her own hand.

This sound could be called resounding.

One wasn’t enough, so she kissed several more times, like a chick pecking at rice.

At this moment, Xie Queshan was speechless with shock, as if frozen. Nanyi was getting somewhat addicted to the game, reaching back to tickle Xie Queshan’s palm.

He jerked his hand back.

Very good, he was ticklish. Nanyi had found his weakness and directly reached out to poke his waist. Xie Queshan instinctively tried to dodge, was tackled onto the bed by Nanyi, and she like a female rogue, unceremoniously had her way with him. He didn’t dare make large movements for fear of touching her wounds, could only blush bright red all over, and finally couldn’t help but grunt twice.

Nanyi found it truly amusing and somewhat satisfying, but didn’t dare laugh out loud, puffing her cheeks as she struggled to hold it in.

“Enough.” Xie Queshan finally caught Nanyi’s hands, squeezing out two words from between his teeth.

“Is this time… enough?” Nanyi was somewhat uncertain, showing genuine confusion.

Xie Queshan took a deep breath, gritting his teeth: “Enough.”

Nanyi felt inexplicably cheerful inside and temporarily couldn’t think of anything that made her sad. She patted her bottom preparing to get up, when suddenly Xie Queshan pulled her forward, and she tumbled onto him again.

She met his eyes just like that. His pupils were pitch black, and normally when she looked at his eyes like this, she would definitely be trembling with fear, but now it reminded her of the Chinese medicine she had to drink every day with a frown.

Very bitter, but it could heal.

She blinked innocently at him, her eyes still swollen from crying, with lingering mist that hadn’t dispersed.

“You’re finished.” he said.

Only then did Nanyi belatedly feel uncertain—when Xie Queshan wanted to get revenge on you, he had plenty of wicked schemes.

“Tomorrow when you drink your medicine, don’t think about getting candy.” Xie Queshan said fiercely.

“Then I won’t drink it.”

“You dare!” He suppressed his voice, barely more than lip movements, yet his face showed extreme exasperation.

“Do you want me to get better that badly?” At such close distance, Nanyi could almost see her own reflection in his eyes. She leaned close to his ear and spoke lowly, word by word: “Don’t you actually want me to die at all, Xie Chao’en.”

This question that had been circling in her mind for so long came out almost without much thought.