Everyone says that only when the surroundings darken can you truly appreciate the other person’s beauty.

And only at that time does the longing in one’s heart become infinitely magnified.

The longing in Wei Yi’s heart gradually turned into impulse. An incredibly selfish thought actually flashed through his mind—to keep Ji Yunshu by his side forever, even if it meant confining her. The thought gradually evolved into a terrifying possessiveness that showed unmistakably in his eyes.

However—

The last bit of rationality remaining in his heart still made him dismiss that thought.

Probably due to the rain in the evening, the road surface was invisible and somewhat slippery. A sudden gust of wind arose, and the umbrella in Ji Yunshu’s hand was forcibly blown backward. Her palm lost its grip, the handle slipped from her hand, and it was directly swept away by the wind. Along with the momentum from that force, her body also tilted slightly backward. Caught off guard, her footing became unstable, causing her entire body to fall uncontrollably.

“Ah!”

The dense raindrops mercilessly assailed her body the moment the umbrella was blown away. The icy rain struck her face, seeping into her skin, making her whole body shiver. Just as she thought she would become a drowned rat, Wei Yi reacted extremely quickly. The instant her body began falling backward, his large hand was already firmly secured around her waist. With a forceful pull, he pulled her up, and immediately afterward, her entire body fell steadily into Wei Yi’s solid chest.

Held securely!

The two pressed tightly together, sharing shelter under one umbrella, the distance between them no thicker than a sheet of paper.

“Are you alright?” Ji Yunshu came to her senses, but her alarm hadn’t yet dissipated. The clothes on her body had already been soaked by the rain, and rainwater also streaked her face. Under the reflected light of the surrounding lanterns, she appeared especially crystalline and translucent. Blown by the wind, even though it was the end of the eighth month of summer, it was still bone-chillingly cold. But the warmth transmitted from Wei Yi’s chest gradually dispelled the cold from her body bit by bit.

Wei Yi held more than half of the umbrella over her head, while his own shoulder had already become completely wet.

Seeing this, she immediately pushed back the hand with which Wei Yi held the umbrella.

“Don’t let yourself get wet.”

But her strength was no match!

Instead, Wei Yi’s hand, which was firmly locked around her waist, applied even more force.

She looked up at him; he looked down at her.

The continuous drizzle drifted onto Wei Yi’s hair, flowing drop by drop along his jet-black strands to his forehead, eyebrows, eyelashes, corners of his eyes…

Languid yet deeply intense.

Such a Wei Yi was very captivating.

Especially those eyes—if one looked too long, one would sink deeply into them.

Unable to extricate oneself.

At that moment, Ji Yunshu became somewhat afraid. She feared that if she continued looking at those eyes, her heart would be moved. So instead, she turned her gaze aside, placing both hands between them and applying some force, trying to separate.

Wei Yi was unwilling to let go.

A young eunuch quickly came over with hunched back, holding the umbrella over the half of Wei Yi’s body exposed to the rain.

“Your Majesty, you mustn’t get wet in the rain.”

These words broke the “impasse” between them. Wei Yi seemed to suddenly awaken, quickly releasing the woman in his embrace while simultaneously pressing his own umbrella into her hand.

Ji Yunshu stepped back two paces.

But she no longer dared meet his gaze.

Wei Yi looked at her, but that face under the umbrella was obscured from the light, only faintly revealing a silhouette.

After a moment, they arrived at Zhi’an Palace.

Wei Yi immediately ordered, “Go fetch a set of clean clothes.”

“Yes.”

The eunuch hurriedly brought clean women’s clothing.

The clothes were very soft, made of fine satin—generally only palace ladies could afford such material.

“Shu’er, hurry inside and change out of those wet clothes.”

“Inside” referred to his inner chamber.

Several young eunuchs were stunned, because even the Emperor’s own consorts were generally not permitted to enter his sleeping quarters. Yet Wei Yi readily allowed it, showing how much weight Master Ji held in his heart.

Ji Yunshu didn’t think much about these things. At this moment, her whole body was trembling, and her head felt somewhat dizzy.

When she entered the inner hall to change clothes, two palace maids wanted to follow in to attend to her.

“That’s not necessary.”

“But Master Ji…”

“I’m not accustomed to being attended to.”

And she closed the door.

This was her first time entering the room where Wei Yi lived. The Emperor’s bedchamber wasn’t as spacious as the bedrooms of wealthy households, but it was clean and tidy with simple furnishings—only some ordinary items.

She changed out of her soaking wet men’s clothing, removed the silver clasp from her hair, letting her long hair fall over her shoulders and cascade down. Combined with the women’s clothing she had changed into, she was like a lotus emerging from water, exuding an air of elegant refinement.

Just as she was about to go out, she caught sight of a book placed on the bedside table.

It seemed somewhat familiar.

She went forward to look and discovered it was her copy of “The Records of Yunshu” that she had left at the Jinjiang County yamen back then. But why would it be here with Wei Yi?

And it was very well preserved.

She was about to pick it up, but her hand paused just as it touched the book, and finally she withdrew it.

She left the inner chamber.

Wei Yi had also changed clothes somewhere and was waiting for her in the hall. He had already ordered someone to prepare a bowl of ginger soup.

“Drink some ginger soup to warm yourself. Don’t catch cold.”

But she set it down after drinking just a few sips.

Suddenly—

Something came to mind, and she asked, “By the way, how has Nanny Zhang been recently? The last time I went to see her, she wasn’t feeling well and kept coughing, even coughing up blood.”

Wei Yi replied, “The imperial physicians have examined her several times. They all say that given her advanced age, inevitably her health won’t be good, so she’s been taking medicinal supplements all along.”

She sighed softly, “Alas…”

However, a question arose in Wei Yi’s heart. “Speaking of which, there’s actually something I’ve never been able to figure out. Back when I was locked in the palace by Prince Yi, why did Nanny Zhang come to rescue me? She was Prince Rong’s mother consort’s wet nurse—how did she know who I was?”

Yes! Why?

Back when Duke Yuguo rebelled at Jishan, Ji Yunshu had never mentioned this matter.

She extended her finger and pointed at Wei Yi’s neck.

“My neck?”

“Not your neck—that petal-shaped birthmark on the back of your neck.”

“The birthmark?” He reached back to touch it. “It has to do with the birthmark?”

“Do you remember when Jing Xuan first brought you into the palace, you encountered Nanny Zhang in the palace, and she was very surprised when she saw your birthmark?”

“I remember.”

“After Prince Rong’s mother consort died, Nanny Zhang remained in the palace. Not long after, your mother had a difficult labor, and many imperial physicians were at a loss. Duke Yuguo knew that Nanny Zhang had once been a midwife, so he brought her out of the palace to deliver your mother’s baby. That’s how she knew you had a petal-shaped birthmark on the back of your neck. But unexpectedly, the next day, Duke Yuguo publicly announced the news of your mother’s death and your premature death. Nanny Zhang also thought you had died, which is why she was so surprised when she saw you again.”

“So that’s how it was.”

“If possible, please send Nanny Zhang out of the palace. After all, when people grow old, they always long to return home.”

Wei Yi nodded. “I’ll make the arrangements.”