When Yao Ying woke up the next morning, she rubbed her head and fell into a brief daze.

The events of last night flashed through her mind one by one.

She had touched Rāgika’s bald head, and even kissed it.

The sensation was as she had imagined – fuzzy, tingling against her palm.

Light flickered through the crystal curtains as a tall figure entered the inner chamber. Backlit, his crimson kasaya was rimmed with light, appearing solemn and sacred.

Their eyes met.

Yao Ying remembered the scene of embracing and kissing the top of his head last night, feeling somewhat guilty.

Tanmoluojia walked to the couch, holding a bowl of warm medicine, and asked: “Does your head hurt?”

His tone was gentle.

“No,” Yao Ying shook her head and answered softly, her gaze constantly drawn to his head.

Last night she had only kissed it once.

Tanmoluojia raised his eyes and met her gaze for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he looked away, extending the bowl.

“Drink this.”

His voice was hoarse.

Yao Ying sniffed the bowl – a sweet and sour fragrance. After drinking, she immediately felt refreshed.

Tanmoluojia watched her finish, took the bowl, and left.

Yao Ying watched his retreating figure, her lips curving slightly. It seemed he hadn’t been angry last night.

She got up, washed and dressed, then wrote a letter for her guards to deliver to Li Zhongqian. At last night’s banquet, she and Li Zhongqian had briefly discussed the matter of Haidu Aling, but with so many people around, they couldn’t talk in detail.

Suddenly the Indian physician came looking for her, his expression alarmed.

“Princess, Princess Manda has been detained!”

The Indian physician was now Mandadeva’s assistant and had also come to the royal court.

“When did this happen? Who ordered it?”

The physician said: “People came with secret orders to the embassy before dawn. It must have been the Buddha’s Son who issued the decree.”

Yao Ying’s lips twitched slightly. She had thought Tanmoluojia wasn’t angry, but he had sent people to detain Princess Manda in the middle of the night.

She comforted the physician briefly, then went to find Tanmoluojia.

Mandadeva was applying medicine to Tanmoluojia. She waited outside for a while until Mandadeva came out, then immediately entered.

The room was filled with a pungent medicinal smell and humid air.

She pushed aside the beaded curtain, saw the scene inside, and froze.

Tanmoluojia was leaning against his desk, his kasaya half-removed, upper body bare, muscles tense, shoulders and back covered in beads of sweat, his face pale and expression pained.

Just this morning he had brought her medicine to drink, and now he was in this state.

Yao Ying bit her lip.

Bisuo was wringing out a cloth nearby. Seeing her enter, his eyes darted around before he silently withdrew.

Yao Ying’s brows furrowed slightly as she sat down by the desk and picked up the cloth.

“Is this a new medicine today?”

Mandadeva had tried several new prescriptions these past days, but Tanmoluojia hadn’t reacted so strongly to the previous ones.

Tanmoluojia didn’t answer, his brows tightly knitted, his gaze ice-cold.

Yao Ying straightened up, pressing the cloth to his sweat-covered shoulder. Before she could move, his body tensed further, veins bulging, a killing aura faintly emanating from him.

When he was Tanmoluojia, he would never circulate his energy, but lately, he had shown signs of losing control over his martial arts. Even without actively using it, his true qi would surge.

Mandadeva said if they didn’t find a solution soon, he might go mad from qi deviation.

Thinking of Tanmoluojia’s fate, Yao Ying’s heart ached. Looking at his cold jade eyes, she didn’t back away, gently wiping his bare shoulders and back with the cloth.

She lowered her head, focusing on wiping him, her breath falling on his chest and shoulders, fingers brushing his exposed skin.

Wet and sticky, warm and soft.

Tanmoluojia’s body trembled, sweat rolling down as he grabbed Yao Ying’s hand.

“I’ll do it myself.”

He said, voice rough.

“Don’t move, let me help you.”

Yao Ying pushed his hand away and continued wiping.

Tanmoluojia lowered his gaze to look at her head so close to him, closed his eyes briefly, and stopped moving.

After Yao Ying finished wiping his body, seeing his color was slightly better, she washed her hands and poured him a bowl of water.

He took a sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing, then pulled up the kasaya that had fallen to his waist, put on his prayer beads, and opened a scripture.

Yao Ying let out a long breath and knelt before him. “Master, had Princess Manda detained?”

Tanmoluojia nodded.

Yao Ying didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Because she told me about dual cultivation?”

Tanmoluojia looked at the scripture and said: “She had you drink blueflower wine last night.”

Yao Ying was stunned. “Yes, she invited me to drink blue flower wine… Is there something wrong with that wine?”

At yesterday’s banquet, she and Princess Manda had both drunk grape wine, and on the way back she had several more cups with Princess Manda, gradually becoming tipsy. Last night she had been somewhat confused, more willful than usual, but her mind was still clear. When leaving the banquet, her thoughts were lucid enough to discuss Haidu Aling with Li Zhongqian at length. Only after returning to the courtyard and relaxing did the drunkenness surge up.

Tanmoluojia moved his gaze away and took out Princess Manda’s confession.

The wine was problematic.

Blue flower wine had the effect of stimulating blood and boosting courage. Warriors would drink it before battle or martial competitions.

Moreover, this wine would react with the medicinal incense in his room, intensifying the drinker’s reactions.

Princess Manda confessed that she knew which medicines the Indian physician and Mandadeva had been researching recently, and had specifically prepared the blue flower wine. Her collection of blue flower wine was more potent than usual, able to amplify people’s sensations, making them completely relax and do things they normally wanted but didn’t dare to do.

“After drinking this wine, one feels happy and light. When smelling incense, sensations become more acute. Also, if one likes a certain scent, or likes someone, after drinking the wine, they will unconsciously want to immerse themselves in that scent, want to get close to the person they like…”

She swore she only wanted to help Yao Ying and hadn’t secretly added any harmful drugs to her wine.

Princess Manda’s exact words in the confession were: “This wine has no ill effects, I drink it often myself. Not only is it harmless, it helps set the mood!”

Yao Ying finished reading the confession, her eyelid twitching.

No wonder Princess Manda had said the wine would have a strong aftereffect when offering it to her.

Yao Ying put down the confession, pondered for a moment, and then raised her eyes to look at Tanmoluojia.

“It was just a cup of wine, I was somewhat drunk last night… Brother never let me drink much before because I was taking medicine and couldn’t drink alcohol, and when I’m drunk I like to cling to people and act silly…”

She paused, explaining, “Like last night… wanting to kiss you.”

Last night she had just been in a daze, aware of what she was doing. The blue flower wine had only made her completely relax, not affecting her mind.

The room fell silent, quiet as deep, still waters.

Tanmoluojia gripped the scripture tightly.

Footsteps sounded outside the window as Bamir entered and bowed from beyond the felt curtain: “Your Majesty, Prince Mopido of the Ujiri tribe has returned.”

Tanmoluojia came back to his senses, put down the scripture, and looked at Yao Ying.

“This time it was just a cup of wine, but what if it were something else?”

Yao Ying froze.

He wasn’t angry about the wine but worried that Princess Manda might trick her into drinking other things.

“I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“Princess Manda cannot be released yet,” Tanmoluojia said. “I have matters to attend to, please excuse yourself.”

Yao Ying made a sound of agreement and left the room, telling the Indian physician that Princess Manda would be fine.

…

The Indian physician went to visit Princess Manda and informed her of this news.

Princess Manda had been arrested and interrogated in the middle of the night, furious but not daring to express it. After honestly confessing everything, she cursed Tanmoluojia in her heart. Seeing the Indian physician arrive, she was overjoyed, but upon learning Tanmoluojia wouldn’t release her yet, her joy vanished and her brows furrowed.

“Did Princess Wenzhao not succeed last night?”

The Indian physician rolled his eyes at her.

Princess Manda narrowed her eyes. Princess Wenzhao was still too restrained – she would have to think of other methods.

…

News that Mopido had returned to the holy city with surrendering Northern Rong nobles quickly spread through the streets.

Tanmoluojia went to the royal temple to receive Mopido, with Bisuo and Yuanjue following.

Bamir said with a smile that Prince Jinbo and the others would formally present their surrender documents at the grand ceremony in a few days.

Yao Ying handled some minor matters while waiting for Tanmoluojia to return.

Suddenly rapid footsteps sounded outside the corridor as a guard rushed in: “Miss Seven, the Young Master is fighting with His Highness the Crown Prince! Young Master wants to kill the Crown Prince, we can’t stop him!”

Yao Ying’s face changed drastically. She dropped her brush, not even changing clothes before mounting a horse and racing toward the embassy.

The Gaochang embassy delegation was staying in a pavilion on the south side of the embassy. Li Xuanzhen was injured, and Yao Ying had posted several people to watch him, planning to send him back to Gaochang once he could ride, then on to Liangzhou. Her guards had been watching him these past days to prevent him from encountering Li Zhongqian.

Yao Ying’s heart raced anxiously. She wasn’t worried about Li Xuanzhen but feared Li Zhongqian would get in trouble if he hurt him.

She spurred her horse forward, asking: “Why does Brother suddenly want to kill the Crown Prince?”

The guard followed closely, saying: “Young Master was drunk at the banquet last night. You told us to watch over him, so we took him back to his quarters where he lay down and slept… Everything was fine, but this morning when Young Master woke from his drunkenness, he suddenly remembered the Crown Prince. He questioned the guards watching the Crown Prince, flew into a rage, and charged at the Crown Prince’s quarters with his sword, slashing and hacking, nearly killing him… We tried to stop and persuade him, but Young Master wouldn’t listen…”

“Young Master cursed the Crown Prince as a beast!”

Yao Ying’s heart tightened.

What had Li Zhongqian found out?

She whipped her horse harder, arriving at the embassy where the guards were in chaos. Seeing her arrive, they immediately found their center, surrounding her as they walked in.

Li Xuanzhen’s courtyard was very secluded. She rode non-stop, quickly passing through the long corridor, panting like a bellow as she rushed into the innermost room.

The place was a mess, the sturdy door hacked to pieces, the mud windows covered in slash marks. Figures moved about inside, the clash of weapons could be heard from far away, mixed with guards’ shocked cries and attempts at persuasion.

Guards pushed aside the fallen cabinets blocking the doorway. As Yao Ying stepped inside before she could make out the scene, a sword stroke carrying cold killing intent swept toward her.

“Miss Seven! Look out!”

“Young Master, Miss Seven is here! Stop quickly!”

Before Yao Ying could react, the swordlight flew at her. In her peripheral vision, she saw a figure charge over, fast as lightning.

The killing intent and air pressure suddenly froze as everyone stared dumbfounded, not daring to breathe.

Yao Ying stood motionless, flashing light before her eyes.

Just a finger’s width from her nose, a qi-infused saber, and a long sword clashed, sparks flying, energy surging.

Everyone in the room froze.

Yao Ying covered her eyes and collapsed to the ground.

“Mingyuenu!”

“Ayue!”

Two terrified voices rang out simultaneously as the saber and sword fell from their owners’ hands.

Both men rushed toward Yao Ying.

Yao Ying was turned over in someone’s arms, her vision blurry, unable to see clearly.

“Brother?”

She called softly.

Li Zhongqian trembled all over, violently pushing Li Xuanzhen away, his phoenix eyes full of killing intent as he gnashed out: “Beast, dare to touch even a corner of her clothes and see what happens!”

Li Xuanzhen lowered his eyes and released his grip.

Yao Ying grabbed Li Zhongqian’s sleeve by sound: “Brother, my eyes hurt.”

Li Zhongqian quickly looked down, anxious as fire, gently pulling away Yao Ying’s hand. Seeing no blood, he let out a breath of relief.

Guards brought hot water and clothes. He fumbled about, placing a hot cloth over Yao Ying’s eyes, then picked her up and turned to leave the room.