Yan Yunning wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed into his embrace, breathing in the pleasant scent that clung to him, her nose trembling with the effort of holding back tears as she asked in turn, “After you left the palace, where did you go? What did you do?”
“Went to the Grand Commandant’s residence. Met with the Grand Commandant’s wife and Lu Jin’an.” The man answered truthfully.
“And then?” The girl’s voice was low and muffled.
“Ningning — if you were to learn that you are not the Chancellor’s biological daughter, would that cause you pain?” Xuan Yanyu ventured carefully.
“No.” Yan Yunning pressed her cheek against the man’s chest, listening to the steady, unhurried rhythm of his heartbeat. The weight in her chest made it hard to breathe.
She had never truly been her father’s daughter to begin with — there was nothing to feel pain over.
Xuan Yanyu could hear that her voice was not herself today. The words he had intended to say about her origins were all quietly swallowed back down.
Yan Yunning lifted her eyes and fixed them on the man’s fine-featured face, her lashes unblinking — reluctant to waste even a single blink.
Xuanxiaoxiao, don’t be sad either.
Xuanxiaoxiao — I’m sorry.
“What is it?” Xuan Yanyu wordlessly tightened his hold on her.
Yan Yunning tilted her head up. Her lips pressed to his. The man stilled for a moment, then brought one hand up to cradle the back of her head and kissed her back.
The sun descended slowly. Its last light fell through the window, gilding the frame in gold. The sky darkened, shade by shade, and by night, a fine rain began to fall, quiet as scattered stars.
In the inner chambers, garments lay scattered across the expensive lacquered floor. Behind the dragon-and-phoenix gauze curtains of the bed, two layered silhouettes could be glimpsed, drifting together in the soft light.
……
The following morning, the sky cleared. It was another fine day.
Yan Yunning did not sleep past midday. After washing and dressing, she made her way to the Hall of Governance.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince? Are you here?” She pushed open the door and peeked her small head inside.
“Crown Princess.” Mu Heng rose and bowed.
Yan Yunning gave a small nod and eased the door closed behind her.
“Are you feeling better?” Xuan Yanyu stepped out from behind the official’s table and took her hand, folding it inside his palm.
Yan Yunning smiled faintly. “Yes. If Your Highness the Crown Prince could spend the whole day with me today, I would feel even better. Your Highness — could you set aside the memorials today and belong only to me?”
The man gave a quiet laugh. “Of course. And not just today — from this day forward, every day, this prince belongs to you, and only to you.”
Yan Yunning’s heart flooded with warmth. She met the man’s gaze and said with a teasing lilt, “That won’t do, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I fear His Majesty the Emperor would come looking to make trouble for me.”
“He won’t. With this prince here, no one can make trouble for you.”
Yan Yunning felt the tips of her ears grow warm, and a flush rose slowly in her cheeks. “Your Highness, if you keep saying things like this, I won’t be able to leave you.”
“You’re still thinking of leaving this prince?” Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes, his tone carrying an imperious certainty. “Stop thinking about it. This prince will not permit you to leave.”
Yan Yunning curved her lips into a smile. “Not even allowed to think about it?”
The man leaned forward, holding her gaze — those smiling, bright eyes of hers — and said in a low, unhurried murmur, “Not permitted.”
“Ahem.” Mu Heng cleared his throat. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, Crown Princess, I… I am still here.”
Did the two of them simply not register his existence?!
“You’re still not leaving?” Xuan Yanyu cast him a languid glance. “Did you not hear the Crown Princess ask this prince to belong only to her today? And you’re still standing here?”
Yan Yunning: “……”
Mu Heng: “……”
“You’re still not leaving?”
Just listen to that — what kind of thing was that to say?!
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Crown Princess, pardon the interruption — this subject takes his leave!” Mu Heng enunciated each word deliberately, lending every syllable an emphatic weight.
Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning: “……”
The hall door swung shut behind Mu Heng. The room held no one else. Yan Yunning, without restraint, threw her arms around Xuan Yanyu.
The man held her back, warmth threading through his voice. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
He very much liked it when she came to him like this, willingly and without prompting — just as she had last night.
“No. Have you, Your Highness the Crown Prince?” Yan Yunning tightened her arms around him.
The man, who had already eaten, shook his head.
“Your Highness, shall we go to the street stalls and buy something to eat while we walk around — or shall I cook for you? Pick one.”
Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow slightly. “Neither. We’ll go to the Qishan Dining Hall for the meal. Save you the trouble of thinking about it.”
“Why? Today I just want to hold your hand and walk down the street eating something.” Yan Yunning tilted her head back to look at him, softening her voice. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, is that alright?”
“Holding this prince’s hand is fine. Everything else — no. The food from street stalls, this prince is afraid it might upset your stomach. As for you cooking a meal — the street stall food would be preferable.” The man was unmoved.
The noodles she had made him last time had been half-raw. And now she was talking about cooking a full spread of dishes — he was afraid that if they both ate it, the entire Imperial Physician’s office would be summoned to the Crown Prince’s residence to tend to the two of them.
Yan Yunning: “……”
“If you are truly set on walking the street and eating at the same time, we can have a maidservant carry the dishes and follow behind.” The man offered, as a compromise.
“……Forget it. Let’s go to the Qishan Dining Hall.”
A maidservant trailing behind them carrying a tray of dishes — she didn’t even want to picture it. How unbearably ridiculous that would look.
After finishing the meal, Yan Yunning wanted to have a word with Xuan Zhaoran about a few things. Among all those who could reach Xuan Yanyu and were familiar enough with her, there was no one but Ranran.
She couldn’t manage to convince the man to stay behind at the residence and wait for her, so the two of them went to the Palace of the Prince of Xuan together.
——
Ranle Palace.
Yan Yunning, hoping for a moment alone with Xuan Zhaoran, found it impossible to shake the man who had her hand firmly in his grasp.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, I only need to say a few words to Ranran. Would you mind waiting at the palace doors?” Yan Yunning said, without much hope.
“No.” Xuan Yanyu simply pushed the palace doors open. The startled Xuan Zhaoran, who had been sitting in a daze staring at a pendant, jumped in fright.
“Crown Prince Elder Brother, Crown Princess Elder Sister Ningning.” Xuan Zhaoran clenched her fist around the pendant.
“What do you have in your hand?” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze landed on it.
Yan Yunning frowned. The pendant Ranran had been dangling from her fingertips and admiring with great pleasure just as they entered — she had caught one glimpse of it and felt a strong sense of familiarity.
“A… a pendant.” Xuan Zhaoran dared not hide it, and opened her palm.
“Oh?” Yan Yunning stepped forward, took the pendant from Xuan Zhaoran’s palm, gave it one look, and said immediately, “This is Aci’s pendant.”
Hadn’t Aci said it was lost?
How had it ended up with Ranran?
Xuan Zhaoran bowed her head, nodding with a trace of sheepishness.
“How can you be sure it’s Aci’s pendant?” The man took the pendant and examined it. It was a perfectly unremarkable pendant — nothing distinctive about its design either. How had she identified it at a single glance?
Yan Yunning said without thinking, “I gave it to Aci. Of course I recognized it immediately.”
“You gave it to Aci?” Xuan Yanyu’s tone shifted with unmistakable displeasure. “Why give it to him and not to this prince?”
“We hadn’t met yet at the time.” Yan Yunning smiled, her eyes curving. “Today, whatever you want — however much you want — I’ll give it to you. Anything at all.”
Xuan Yanyu passed the pendant back to Xuan Zhaoran and turned his head away in a leisurely sulk. “With others, you gave without being asked. With this prince, you made this prince ask for it first.”
Thinking about it further, she had proactively gifted Qi Qingchen a sachet before, and now it turned out she had proactively gifted Aci a pendant — and she hadn’t given him anything at all…
Yan Yunning curved her lips into a smile. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, I promise — from now on, you won’t even have to ask. I’ll give it to you myself. In a little while, when we walk the street, I’ll pick out a gift for you. How does that sound?”