Yan Yunning cleared her throat. “I… I’ll just sleep on the couch… you…”

“Don’t tell me you’re still thinking of sleeping on the bed?” The man curved his lips, his voice low and alluring.

“Can I if I want to? Then you sleep on the couch.” The young girl blinked her wide, innocent eyes and made her request in a soft, delicate voice.

Xuan Yanyu glanced at her and spoke languidly, “Stop dreaming.”

It was the first time anyone had ever dared tell him to sleep on the couch.

Yan Yunning pursed her lips.

In the dead of night.

Yan Yunning lay on the couch, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

It was the first time she had ever shared a room with a man, and she had come down with insomnia.

“Xuan Yanyu.” She called out softly.

In the darkness, the man opened his eyes.

“Xuan Yanyu, stop sleeping. Keep me company and chat a while.” Yan Yunning lay on her stomach on the couch, watching him by the light of the moon.

Xuan Yanyu pinched the bridge of his nose. If he were being honest, he was beginning to regret this.

He should never have agreed to her request.

Yan Yunning threw off the brocade quilt, crept over to the bedside on tiptoe, and slowly crouched down.

From the corner of his eye, Xuan Yanyu caught sight of her movements and closed his eyes.

Yan Yunning rested both hands on the edge of the bed and propped her chin upon her fair hands, gently pressing her lips together. “Xuan Yanyu.”

The man kept his eyes shut, his long lashes casting a soft downward sweep, his well-defined hands resting on his abdomen, his breathing even.

Yan Yunning swallowed, momentarily captivated — sword-sharp brows, bright eyes, a high and refined nose bridge. Any one of his features, taken on its own, was utterly flawless.

[Why does he have to have eyes only for my A’Jie?] Yan Yunning furrowed her brows.

Fafa: [Mistress, this isn’t made clear in the book. Perhaps it’s for the plot, or perhaps there are other reasons.]

Yan Yunning: […]

Yan Yunning noticed the man’s throat bob up and down. Hmm? Was he asleep or not?!

“Xuan Yanyu, are you asleep?”

“You’re very noisy.”

“You’re not asleep? Then keep me company and talk a while.” The girl’s eyes instantly lit up.

The man turned his head to look at her, his voice carrying a trace of hoarseness. “You can’t sleep, so I’m not allowed to sleep either? Hmm?”

His tone was unhurried, tinged with a certain careless ease.

Yan Yunning licked her lips. Her heart was beating just a little faster.

“What did you want to say?” Xuan Yanyu folded his hands and tucked them behind his head.

Yan Yunning rubbed her flushed cheeks, let out a breath, and summoned her courage. “Why do you stay by my A’Jie’s side?”

Xuan Yanyu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Do you have feelings for my A’Jie? Why else would you always stay near her?” Yan Yunning couldn’t help but ask.

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyelid, his tone flat. “Yan Yunning, does staying by someone’s side necessarily mean having feelings for them?”

He only knew that Yan Shiyao had to become Crown Princess of Xuanzhao. Whether or not he had feelings for her was beside the point.

From his youngest days, the Emperor Father had never asked anything of him. Marrying Yan Shiyao was the one and only request the Emperor Father had ever made.

The Emperor Father had laid a scheme, allowing Yan Shiyao to rescue the “injured” him, and so he had settled into the Chancellor’s residence as a matter of course.

Given the degree to which the Emperor Father doted on him, the fact that he was willing to let him remain at Yan Shiyao’s side meant that Yan Shiyao must be of immense, immense importance.

If Yan Shiyao were not the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s household, why would he need to linger in Qilan? He could simply take her back to Xuanzhao directly.

If the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s household were taken away by him without warning, that would be nothing short of open provocation against Qilan.

Even if Xuanzhao’s strength far surpassed Qilan’s, he could hardly let Xuanzhao’s subjects know that their future Crown Princess had been snatched away by him.

Yan Yunning’s small face drooped onto the bed, her voice trailing off slowly. “You don’t like my A’Jie…”

Xuan Yanyu stared at Yan Yunning’s sleeping profile and, as if moved by some inexplicable impulse, reached out and pinched her soft, rosy cheek.

……

The following morning.

Yan Yunning slowly opened her eyes, took a look around, and abruptly sat bolt upright. [Fafa! Fafa! How did I end up on the bed? And where is Xuan Yanyu?!]

Surely she hadn’t climbed up herself?

That couldn’t be.

She didn’t sleepwalk!

Fafa: [Mistress, didn’t we say before — when you fall into a deep sleep, I lose my connection too.]

Yan Yunning: […]

In Luo Xuan’s room.

Maids were coming and going. Qi Qingchen sat by the bed, helped Luo Xuan up, and fed her medicine from a bowl.

“Qingchen, we had agreed that this morning you would take me to the hidden chamber.” Luo Xuan’s lips were pale, and delicate lashes still clung with teardrops, a picture of fragility.

“Rest and recover first. We can go once you’re feeling a little better — there’s no rush.” Qi Qingchen lifted a spoonful of medicine and brought it to her lips.

Luo Xuan swallowed the medicine and sniffled. “But then Qingchen will have to stay a few more days. Would I not be holding Qingchen back?”

Qi Qingchen picked up a cloth and wiped the trace of medicine from the corner of her mouth, his voice gentle with reassurance. “It’s fine.”

“Qingchen, Young Master Xuan holds a deep prejudice against me. I don’t know what I’ve done to offend him.” Luo Xuan bit her lip, the tip of her nose faintly pink, her trailing voice full of grievance.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I shouldn’t have brought others here without warning. Don’t worry — I won’t let him hurt you again.” Qi Qingchen set down the medicine bowl and urged, “A’Xuan, take good care of yourself.”

Watching Qi Qingchen walk out through the door of the room, Luo Xuan twirled a strand of hair around her finger, a guileless smile spreading across her face. “Qi Qingchen. A’Chen.”

“Chieftain, does the wound hurt terribly?” Nuonuo’s eyes were still tinged red.

Luo Xuan pressed her fingertip against the wound, and fresh blood instantly seeped out. Her eyes curved into a smile. “If not for this wound, A’Chen would have left by midday today. I ought to thank Xuan Yanyu.”

“Chieftain.” Nuonuo’s voice still carried the remnants of a sob. She hurriedly moved Luo Xuan’s hand away and used a cloth to wipe the blood from her fingers.

“Nuonuo, if someday I am no longer here, you will be Taoyuan Manor’s Chieftain. You must guard Taoyuan Manor well.” Luo Xuan wore a gentle smile.

Nuonuo felt a sudden pang in her heart, and a sense of foreboding welled up within her. Her lips trembled. “Chieftain, what do you mean by that?”

Luo Xuan gave a small curve of her lips. “I’m only joking.”

Nuonuo opened her mouth, unable to speak.

“We can’t leave?! Weren’t we supposed to leave at midday today?” Yan Yunning’s eyes went wide.

Yan Shiyao let out a sigh and said gently, “Elder Brother Qi says we have to wait until Miss Luo has fully recovered before we can leave.”

Yan Yunning clung to Yan Shiyao, a note of pleading in her voice. “A’Jie, can we leave first? Just the two of us?”

She did not want to end up locked away again by Luo Xuan for no good reason!

Yan Shiyao patted her on the back and coaxed her warmly. “Ningning, can you wait just a few more days?”

“A’Jie.” Yan Yunning pouted.

“First Miss Yan, Second Miss Yan — something’s wrong! Young Master Qi and Young Master Xuan have gotten into a fight!” A maid came running in a panic, not even bothering to knock, and burst straight into the room.

Yan Shiyao’s pupils contracted. She hurriedly let go of Yan Yunning and ran out.

Yan Yunning: “?”

How on earth had those two gotten into a fight?!

Fafa: [Mistress, shouldn’t we go and have a look too?]

By the time Yan Yunning arrived, she saw Qi Qingchen holding a sword leveled at Xuan Yanyu, his white robe dotted with specks of blood.

Xuan Yanyu, by contrast, stood there with his tall, slender figure, not a single crease to be found on his fine azure robe.