“Little Lemon, it’s Lu… Lu A’Niang whose health is failing, it has nothing… nothing to do with Little Yu, please don’t… don’t blame him.” Lu Jin’an’s voice was weak, the threads of blood between her teeth particularly jarring to the eye.

Yan Yunning clutched her hand, which was growing colder by the moment, her mind in turmoil. She didn’t believe Xuan Yanyu would harm Lu A’Niang — even if something was wrong with the porridge, it could well have been Chu Wantang’s doing.

“You two step out first. Little Lemon, go call your father in.” Lu Jin’an cupped Yan Yunning’s small face in her hand, the corners of her blood-stained lips curving into a faint smile.

“Lu A’Niang…”

Before Yan Yunning could finish, A’Chen took hold of her arm and pulled her up from the floor. “Little Lemon, we’ve talked with Lu A’Po long enough. Let Uncle speak with her a little longer. Be good — let’s go outside.”

“Alright.” Yan Yunning followed A’Chen out of the side chamber.

After Yan Ruijing went in, Yan Yunning crouched by the doorway and pressed down the panic rising in her chest.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a heartbroken, gut-wrenching cry from Yan Ruijing came from within the chamber. Yan Yunning gripped A’Chen’s hand, her breath catching in her throat. “What… what happened?”

“Little Lemon.” A’Chen lowered his head, and the tears sliding from the corners of his eyes fell onto the back of Yan Yunning’s hand.

“A’Chen, why? Why?” Yan Yunning’s composure began to crumble.

Why did she have to go through this again and again? Why…

A ringing filled Yan Yunning’s ears. Her vision went dark, and unable to bear it any longer, she fainted into A’Chen’s arms.

“Little Lemon?” A’Chen’s eyelids trembled.

“Yan Yunning!” Before A’Chen could move, Xuan Yanyu arrived and took Yan Yunning from him, scooping her up into his arms. He called for Imperial Physician Wen, who had just been brought over by Ye’an, and carried her to his own side chamber.

Imperial Physician Wen had not yet arrived when Lu Jin’an breathed her last. All the evidence pointed to the bowl of porridge Xuan Yanyu had sent. After settling Lu Jin’an’s affairs, Yan Ruijing, deflated and hollow, shut himself away in his chamber.

Yan Yunning remained unconscious for two full days before she woke. Xuan Yanyu had stayed by her bedside without leaving for a single moment across those two days, and had only just closed his eyes.

Yan Yunning struggled to open her eyelids and saw the man holding her hand, looking somewhat haggard. She lingered in a daze for a moment — she had dreamed several times of going to her brother’s office and pestering him for pocket money.

In the dream, Xuan Yanyu was always lazily leaning back on the sofa, legs propped on the tea table, dressed in a suit, watching her coax her brother for money with an amused smile on his face.

In truth, it wasn’t a dream — it had actually happened. Whenever a pretty new handbag dropped, she would go to her brother for money. Just like in the dream.

The difference was that she had never noticed whether anyone else was in her brother’s office. Each time, she was too focused on asking him for money.

After her brother sent her a red packet, she would leave without a moment’s pause, paying no attention to anything else.

If that was real, had Xuan Yanyu known her long before?

No — Xuan Yanyu hadn’t transmigrated at all. It was only her imagination. Her dream had simply pulled him into it.

“You’re awake.” The man didn’t dare fall into a deep sleep. He opened his eyes to find the young woman staring at him.

“Xuan Xixi, where is Lu A’Niang?” The moment she thought of Lu Jin’an, Yan Yunning scrambled upright, urgency written across her face.

“Lu A’Po, she…”

Xuan Yanyu’s voice was a little hoarse. While Yan Yunning was unconscious, he had had neither the mind nor the heart to concern himself with anyone else. From what Ye’an had told him, Lu Jin’an had already been laid to rest, though the arrangements were not particularly elaborate.

The main hall.

Yan Ruijing regarded Xuan Yanyu with chilled eyes. “Did you have anything to do with Jin’an’s passing? The night Jin’an fell ill, I was the one who dined with her, and nothing unusual was consumed during the meal. She only took ill after drinking your porridge the following day.”

Xuan Yanyu’s brow furrowed slightly. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then why did you send Jin’an the porridge?” Yan Ruijing forced himself upright to ask.

Xuan Yanyu rubbed his temple. “A’Chen told me Lu A’Po was fond of yam porridge, so I had a bowl sent over.”

His intention had been goodwill. Ye’an had personally supervised the kitchen in preparing it — there was no way anything could have been wrong with it.

“Nonsense. Yam porridge was the one thing Jin’an disliked most. She told me so many times.” Yan Ruijing glared at Xuan Yanyu, his eyes bloodshot.

“Young Master Xuan, I never said that. Lu A’Po disliked yam porridge — both Little Lemon and I knew this. Why would I ever tell you she liked it?” A’Chen frowned as he looked at him.

Xuan Yanyu’s sharp gaze swung toward A’Chen. “Playing me for a fool?”

Yan Yunning lowered her eyes. Xuan Xixi would never lie, and neither would A’Chen.

Then what on earth was going on?

Lu A’Niang had fallen ill far too suddenly. There was a very real possibility that A’Chen and Lu A’Niang had joined forces to make her suspect Xuan Yanyu.

If that was the case, then Lu A’Niang was fine?

Had A’Chen smuggled her out of the Prime Minister’s estate?

But could A’Chen have managed that on his own?

Yan Yunning raised her eyes to look at A’Chen. She would let Xuan Xixi feel a little aggrieved for now, just to test her theory.

“Xuan Yanyu, the porridge was sent by you. Does Lu A’Niang’s situation have anything to do with you?” Yan Yunning raised a trembling finger toward him.

“I sent it, yes, but I put nothing in the porridge. Yan Yunning, you have to believe me — something is very strange about all of this. Don’t you think Lu A’Po…”

“What is so strange? Lu A’Po is already gone. Young Master Xuan, what are you still trying to say — slander Lu A’Po?” A’Chen suddenly stepped in front of Yan Yunning and cut Xuan Yanyu off.

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes. “You’re peculiar as well. You cannot be entirely removed from this matter.”

A’Chen’s throat tightened. “Young Master Xuan, are you saying Lu A’Po’s passing has something to do with me?”

“I trust you, A’Chen.” Yan Yunning stepped forward and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “No matter who might harm Lu A’Niang, you would never do so.”

“Little Lemon.” A’Chen’s nose stung.

Xuan Yanyu fixed his gaze on Yan Yunning and gave a quiet laugh. “Yan Yunning, you trust A’Chen but not me — is that it?”

Yan Yunning blinked at him. He lowered his head, staring at the floor with a look of dejection.

Beneath the bowed head, his expression was utterly cold. Thinking of Yan Yunning’s words — that she trusted A’Chen and not him — a fury he could barely contain blazed in his eyes.

Yan Yunning: “…”

Yan Ruijing sank wearily into the wooden chair. When Jin’an was passing, she had told him again and again not to move against Xuan Yanyu, making him swear on his word that he must not touch him.

He didn’t understand why.

What would it matter if he did?

But he had promised Jin’an — he would not touch Xuan Yanyu, and so he would not. He did not want to go back on his word to her.

He had no desire to press further. There was no point to any of it. Yan Ruijing hunched his shoulders and, supported by a manservant, made his way out of the main hall.

“A’Chen, come with me to visit Lu A’Niang.” Yan Yunning said, her eyes red-rimmed.

“Alright.”

“Yan Yunning!” Xuan Yanyu reined in his emotions with great effort. He grabbed her arm. “Trust me just this once. I will get to the bottom of this — all you need to do is believe in me, not doubt me. Yan Yunning, trust me just this once — just once!”

The man’s voice was hoarse, almost pleading.

“But Lu A’Po truly did fall gravely ill after drinking your porridge. Was there really nothing wrong with that porridge? You knew Lu A’Po didn’t want Little Lemon to marry you, and yet you went in person to deliver the porridge.”

“Perhaps you delivered it in person on purpose, precisely so that no one would suspect you — after all, no one would be foolish enough to harm someone and then deliver it themselves. It’s far too obvious. You used that very logic to wash yourself clean.”