The man lowered his eyelids and curved the corner of his mouth. “From now on, you may only give them to this Prince. No other man is permitted.”

“Alright, I’ll only give them to you from now on — but can you step outside first? I’d like to speak with Ranran alone.” Yan Yunning swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat.

There would be no “from now on”…

I’m sorry!

“What is there to say? Pick a gift for this Prince first.” Xuan Yanyu took her hand and led her toward the palace doors.

Yan Yunning parted her lips, then let it go. She would humor him today.

As midday approached, the main street was not very crowded. The sun fell warm on their shoulders, yet Xuan Yanyu noticed that Yan Yunning’s palm was ice cold.

“Are you unwell?” The man stopped walking and pressed a hand gently to her forehead.

“No.” Yan Yunning made an effort to tilt her face up with a smile. She pointed to an elderly vendor hoisting a straw rack of candied hawthorn skewers and smiled sweetly.

“Xuan Yanyu, I want a candied hawthorn skewer. Back in Taoyuan Manor at Qilan, you said you’d buy me one another day — go ask the vendor if they have sweet ones. This time you must pick a sweet one.”

If it was sour again, she would never again taste one he had bought her that was sweet…

The man glanced sideways at the vivid red hawthorn berries glistening in their sugary coating, then pinched her cheek gently. “Wait here for this Prince.”

“Mm.” Yan Yunning nodded firmly. “I’ll wait for you.”

The moment Xuan Yanyu walked away, Yan Yunning stood rooted to the spot, staring at his retreating figure. Her long lashes fluttered once, and tears rolled down of their own accord, slipping past her lashes. She hastily wiped them away and stepped into the shop directly across the street.

The moment she lifted the door curtain, she saw a rosewood cabinet filled with sachet pouches in all manner of designs, each adorned with dangling tassels.

“Miss, do any catch your eye?” The shopkeeper opened the rosewood cabinet and drew out several of the faster-selling sachets.

Each one, no bigger than a palm, exuded an air of elegance.

Not daring to linger too long for fear that Xuan Yanyu might not find her, Yan Yunning quickly settled on two sachets embroidered with golden and silver threads in a warm golden color scheme. She smiled at the shopkeeper. “These two — how much?”

The shopkeeper fixed his gaze on Yan Yunning and couldn’t help asking, “Miss, are these for a beloved man?”

She had picked two identical ones — surely she didn’t have two beloved men?

Even if she did have two, she shouldn’t pick the same style for both!

At the very least, go with different designs!

“Yes, for a beloved man.”

Once before, in Qilan, she had bought a sachet from a vendor, and that vendor had asked her the same thing. She had not answered then — only smiled. This time she didn’t hesitate at all.

The shopkeeper cleared his throat delicately and suggested, “Perhaps the miss would prefer a different design —”

Yan Yunning curved her lips into a smile. “No need. This color suits him. One for each of us — it’s just right.”

She swept her gaze around the shop: in this color, only these last two remained.

She didn’t know whether or not she would be able to bring one home with her.

The shopkeeper — who had clearly misunderstood — pressed his lips together with a trace of awkwardness and said with a smile, “Eight taels, miss. These two sachets are the finest in our shop — even the fabric is brocade silk —”

Before he could finish, the shopkeeper stared in complicated silence at the silver placed on the rosewood cabinet. He had been prepared to knock two taels off if she balked at the price.

Yan Yunning had no intention of bargaining. She took the silver from her purse, set it on the rosewood cabinet, and left.

Out of the shop, Yan Yunning looked around in every direction. There was no familiar figure in sight. A crowd of children had gathered in front of the elderly hawthorn vendor, yet that familiar silhouette was nowhere among them.

A flutter of panic seized her heart, and the tears she had been holding back fell without restraint.

She knew perfectly well he was somewhere nearby — yet simply not seeing him made her feel this wretched. When she was gone and he could not find her, what would he do?

She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears, and slowly crouched down where she stood, clutching the sachets tightly in her hands. Her father and mother would wait and wait for her to come home, and she would never come — what would they do?

A dull, twisting ache radiated from her heart. Yan Yunning pressed her hand to her chest, certain she was about to lose her mind from the strain.

“Ningning.” Xuan Yanyu came running in long strides.

He had only glanced away for a moment — how had she come to cry like this?

“Where did you go?” The girl threw herself into his arms, her voice thick with grievance.

“This Prince was wrong. From now on, this Prince will wait for you right here.” The man lightly patted her on the back, coaxing her in a low voice. “Just now, this Prince saw you enter the shop and thought to buy you a few peach blossom cakes.”

“Back at Taoyuan Manor in Qilan, didn’t you once beg this Prince to buy you some? This Prince promises — from now on, we’ll go together. This Prince will never again let you stand in one spot unable to find him. Don’t cry anymore, all right?”

At the words from now on, Yan Yunning’s tears fell faster and faster. Her chest tightened until she could barely breathe. Heedless of the curious stares from passersby on the main street, she crouched on the ground and wrapped her arms around Xuan Yanyu, refusing to let go.

With both arms pinned by her embrace, the man dared not move, and could only go on coaxing her softly.

The midday sun was bright and full. The main street was growing sparse — vendors and strollers alike were drifting homeward — and yet their Crown Prince was still doing everything he could to coax his Crown Princess out of her tears.

The light fell bright enough to make the eyes water. Xuan Yanyu shifted his numbing arm and raised it over Yan Yunning’s head to shield her from the glare.

His wide sleeve fell like a curtain before her eyes. Yan Yunning, who had only just managed to compose herself, felt her eyes fill with tears all over again.

She had never been like this before. How had grief made her so miserably sentimental now?

“I’m sorry.” Yan Yunning pulled his arm down — holding it up for so long would tire him.

Xuan Yanyu helplessly used his sleeve to blot her tears, his voice gentle. “Why would you say sorry?”

The girl lowered her gaze, and after a long pause finally said, “The sachets… the sachets I bought for you are soaked in tears.”

The man lowered his head and squinted at them for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. They can still be worn.”

Yan Yunning sniffled, then tied the crumpled sachet at his waist.

“It looks terrible.”

“This Prince thinks it looks fine.” Xuan Yanyu saw that her mood had lifted a little, and held the candied hawthorn skewer out to her. “Still want it?”

“Mm.” Yan Yunning nodded and took it, biting off a piece. The sugar-coated hawthorn leaned toward sweet. Her throat tightened. “Thank you, Crown Prince.”

The man took the other sachet from her hand and tied it at her waist, smiling. “No need for thanks, Crown Princess.”

“Xuan Yanyu!!” Xuanzhao Yang, spotting them from a distance, broke free of the Prince Consort’s hand and, with no regard for appearances, jogged straight toward the two of them crouched on the ground.

“Imperial Sister.” Yan Yunning’s eyes were still a little red.

Xuanzhao Yang stared at the hawthorn skewer with two bites already taken out of it in Yan Yunning’s hand, and a wave of helplessness washed over her.

“Crown Prince, Crown Princess — could the two of you find the time to open a medical text? Can someone with child eat hawthorn in any great quantity? First thing tomorrow, have the imperial physician transferred from the palace to your Crown Prince’s residence and arrange Ningning’s diet properly.”

Xuan Yanyu looked mildly startled. “Who told you Ningning was with child?”

How had he not known?

“…I guessed!!” Xuanzhao Yang rolled her eyes.

The year she had married the Prince Consort, Imperial Physician Wen had detected her pregnancy at a little more than one month along, and that was little Momo.

Counting the time, it was entirely possible that Ningning was already carrying a child right now — and the child’s clueless father was out here buying his mother candied hawthorn skewers.