“Ahem.” An’nian walked over arm-in-arm with Shen Ruoyi.

“Ningning, let go.” An’nian picked up the teapot, poured a cup, and slid it in front of Mu Shiqing, smiling pleasantly. “Chief Mu, Ningning treats you as an older brother.”

What was she doing, clinging to Mu Shiqing’s arm? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t heard about how formidable his wife was.

Yan Yunning hadn’t paid attention and had latched onto Mu Shiqing’s arm without thinking.

“Sorry, Mu. I didn’t realize.” The girl flushed with embarrassment and smoothed out the wrinkles on Mu Shiqing’s sleeve.

“No need to apologize to me.” Mu Shiqing raised his hand to rap her on the forehead, saw the red-and-purple bruise, and quietly lowered his hand again.

An’nian maintained the smile on her face. “Chief Mu, my Ningning is still young. Please don’t say things that might give her the wrong idea.”

What was all this about not needing to stand on ceremony with him? Was he trying to charm a young girl?

Mu Shiqing tapped his finger against the teacup and curved his lips upward. “Madam of the Manor, what do you mean by that?”

An’nian pressed her teacup tightly, feigning ignorance — must she spell it out for him?

Camping at her Yuan Jing Manor without leaving — and it wasn’t for Ningning’s sake?

Why wasn’t his wife coming to Yuan Jing Manor to look for him? How had she let him stay outside this long without a word??

“Chief Mu, since Xiao Shi is not your sister, please stop lingering at Yuan Jing Manor.” An’nian smiled as she began nudging him toward the door.

“Ningning, when are you heading back?” Mu Shiqing asked casually, while reaching over to brush the stray strands of hair that had fallen across Yan Yunning’s forehead to the side.

Yan Yunning lifted her injured hand and pointed to her forehead. “Mu, how am I supposed to go back looking like this?”

Once she returned, her mother A’Niang and her father would worry all over again.

Better to wait until the injury healed before going back.

Mu Shiqing understood, picked up his teacup, and took a small sip. “Madam of the Manor, this year’s palace procurement contracts — I’ll cede them to Yuan Jing Manor on behalf of Qingyu Stronghold. Consider it compensation for imposing on the manor.”

An’nian was somewhat tempted. The palace procurement contracts had always been handled by Qingyu Stronghold — everyone wanted to gain visibility before His Majesty the Emperor of Qi, but it was obvious Mu Shiqing was only staying at Yuan Jing Manor for Ningning’s sake.

Mu Shiqing’s wife had a difficult, willful temperament. She couldn’t let a business opportunity put Ningning in harm’s way.

“Chief Mu, how about it?” Mu Shiqing said lazily.

An’nian gripped her teacup tightly. She should have accepted — opportunities like this didn’t come often.

“Chief Mu, there’s no need.” An’nian still refused.

There would be other chances in the future. She couldn’t let a single opportunity be the cause of harm to Ningning.

Mu Shiqing was somewhat taken aback.

“Cousin, let Mu stay for a couple of days.” Yan Yunning pushed her hair aside, trying to cover her forehead as much as possible.

“Ningning.” An’nian gave her a subtle kick underfoot.

Had she truly been taken in by Mu Shiqing?

“Mm?” Yan Yunning parted her hair and looked at her with a blank, bewildered expression.

“Since Madam of the Manor is seeing me out, I shall take my leave.” Mu Shiqing shifted abruptly. “Ningning, what exactly happened to your injury?”

“The cut on my hand was an accidental graze from Xiao Shi. The one on my forehead was because I tried to dodge her and bumped into a stone by accident.”

“An accident? An accident?!” Mu Shiqing’s expression darkened with restrained fury. “And it was Xiao Shi again.”

“Ningning, let your Older Brother Jiang come with you to get back at her.”

“When your cousin’s husband gets back, the two of us are going to find Xiao Shi and settle this.”

Shen Ruoyi and An’nian spoke up almost at the same time.

“I already got back at her.” Yan Yunning grinned. “Don’t go and make trouble for her.”

When Xiao Shi had been unconscious, she had admittedly applied a tiny bit of force in her irritation.

How was she supposed to explain that?

Xiao Shi had been following Qi Qingxian’s orders when she came to Yuan Jing Manor to frame her and her older sister. She had fought back and hit her. Then Xiao Shi’s identity had been exposed by Mu Shiqing, and she had wanted to repay those few slaps.

But Xiao Shi had still gone soft on her in the end. Xiao Shi had great strength — she had carried her on her back to see the physician without tiring in the slightest. If she had truly intended to hurt her, her face would certainly have come off worse.

The cut on the back of her hand was an accident on Xiao Shi’s part. The slap that landed on her shoulder hadn’t been hard — even if she hadn’t dodged, had it landed on her face, it would have left no palm print.

She had asked Xiao Shi to untie her ropes, and Xiao Shi had done it.

Looking at it from Xiao Shi’s perspective — when one received orders from one’s master, one had to carry them out. And after being struck, it was natural to want to retaliate. Yet she had gone soft on her, which meant Xiao Shi was not a bad person at heart.

If Xiao Shi hadn’t gone soft and had truly hit her, then when those two men outside had knocked Xiao Shi out, she absolutely would not have given her a second thought.

She had been the one to save Xiao Shi from those two men — and yet in another sense, Xiao Shi had also saved herself by being the kind of person she was.

“You’re just going to let the injuries go like that?” Mu Shiqing’s gaze turned cold and distant.

Yan Yunning pursed her lips. “Mu, are you going to go and give Xiao Shi a beating?”

Mu Shiqing’s eyes shifted from detached to deep. “However she injured you, she’ll be injured in kind.”

An’nian felt a faint chill run across her scalp. Had Mu Shiqing truly set his sights on their Ningning?

“Mu, Cousin, Ruoyi — I’m fine. My injuries are all surface wounds, nothing serious. It was Xiao Shi who carried me on her back to the physician. She also said she wants to open a pastry shop someday, and when I go, she won’t charge me. Please don’t go making trouble for her.”

Yan Yunning poured a cup of tea for each of them with a dutiful hand.

After about an hour of coaxing and persuading — and half a pot of tea consumed by Yan Yunning herself — Mu Shiqing, An’nian, and Shen Ruoyi finally agreed not to go after Xiao Shi.

An’nian would not allow Mu Shiqing to remain at Yuan Jing Manor any longer. Mu Shiqing gave Yan Yunning a few parting words of instruction and then left the manor.

After seeing Mu Shiqing out, Yan Yunning returned to her room and had barely lain down on the soft couch when the wooden door was pushed open by Xuan Yanyu.

Seeing the man walk in carrying a heap of elegant gift boxes, Yan Yunning turned over, pulled the light blanket up over her face, and closed her eyes.

Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together, set down what he was carrying, walked to the side of the couch and crouched down. Through the blanket, he gave her small head a gentle rub. “Ningning.”

Yan Yunning was momentarily stunned. She had never heard him call her “Ningning” in such a tender voice before.

“Are you hungry? Would you like some—”

“Get out. I’m not hungry. I want to rest.” Yan Yunning’s voice was impatient.

When she had needed him, he had been with someone else. Wasn’t there a maid for that? He had to be the one to accompany her — and would he be doing the same the next time Ling Mianmian fainted again?

She didn’t want to hear him explain why he had been with Ling Mianmian.

He had simply been with someone else at the moment she needed him most. Now that she no longer needed him — and wouldn’t in the future either — there was no need for him to come to her now.

The man’s brow furrowed slightly, his mood heavy.

He thought carefully. Had he raised his voice yesterday, frightened Jiang Yanzhuo, and angered her that way?

He tried to open his mouth and explain. “That pastry — it was Mianmian who…”

“Get out!” Yan Yunning covered her ears. She didn’t want to hear a single word he had to say.

“Yan Yunning!” Xuan Yanyu’s own temper flared. “Yesterday I was in the wrong — I should not have questioned the maid with such a cold tone. The pastry was something Mianmian chose to eat herself. That is her own fault. You…”

“Get out!! Hearing you talk irritates me!!” Yan Yunning had no patience to listen to him finish.

Xuan Yanyu’s brow arched in anger. “Yan Yunning, if you are angry at this seat, can you not at least tell this seat what this seat did wrong?”