Ye Chen’s throat bobbed as he struggled to suppress his laughter.

He reckoned there was a nine-in-ten chance His Highness truly did not know!

Yan Yunning released the arms she had wrapped around Xuan Yanyu’s neck and lay back down on the soft pillow.

“Crown Prince, when will your ‘illness’ be better?”

Xuan Yanyu gave a small smile and gripped her hand as she reached for another pastry. “Do you want to leave the palace?”

“…” Yan Yunning pushed his hand away and nodded.

Every meal in the palace had to be taken with Emperor Xuan and Empress Xuan — that was not nearly as free as life outside the palace walls.

The man’s palm cradled the back of Yan Yunning’s neck, helping her sit up, then circled her waist as he leaned back lazily. “Wait two more days.”

“This subordinate pays respects to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.” Xuan Yanyu had barely finished speaking when a guard entered the hall to report to him:

“Your Highness, just now Consort Wu and the Elder Young Miss Yan exchanged some harsh words — Consort Wu’s quarreling stirred up her fetal energy. His Majesty has not punished Elder Young Miss Yan; he has only issued an order for her to recuperate and leave the palace immediately. His Majesty has accompanied Consort Wu to her palace chambers.”

Xuan Yanyu tapped the sandalwood table lightly with his fingertips, his expression showing no particular change as he nodded.

That Imperial Father had not punished Yan Shiyao was unsurprising. A few days prior, his imperial father had sent people to reinvestigate Yan Shiyao’s background — he had deliberately added a few pieces of evidence to make his imperial father fully convinced. Of course Imperial Father would not punish Yan Shiyao.

After all, in his imperial father’s eyes, Yan Shiyao was a star of fortune for Xuanzhao and for himself.

Laughable — whatever the State Preceptor said, his imperial father believed. Though actually, that was not quite right either. His imperial father had mistaken the person — that star of fortune was Ningning. What the State Preceptor had said was not wrong.

Having sorted through this reasoning, the man raised an eyebrow and looked down to see Yan Yunning reaching for another pastry to eat. He patted her head helplessly. “Did you not just have breakfast?”

“Mm, Crown Prince, I will not eat anymore.” Yan Yunning lifted the pastry she had taken only a small bite of and held it out to Xuan Yanyu’s lips.

The man propped his cheek on one hand with a rakish smile. “With you here, this Crown Prince does not even need to eat proper meals.”

Before, she had only given him things she found unpalatable. Now, regardless of whether something was good or not, she would have a taste and hand it off to him to finish — as if he were a waste bin.

From childhood to now, having never eaten anyone’s leftovers, he was making up for all of it this year.

Yan Yunning tilted up his chin with her finger, blinking innocently. “Crown Prince, I give it to you because I have you in my heart — otherwise, why would I not give it to Ye Chen to eat instead?”

Ye Chen’s body gave a faint tremor. What did this have to do with him?!

Why not say Ye’an? Was it fair to Ye’an that the Crown Princess only mentioned him in front of Ye’an?!

Ye’an slanted a glance at Ye Chen, the corner of his mouth curving upward slightly.

Ye Chen: “…?”

Xuan Yanyu curled his lips with amusement. “Oh? Is that so? Are you not just making an excuse to coax this Crown Prince?”

“Not at all.” Yan Yunning’s eyes creased at the corners. “Xuan Yanyu, you are the most important person to me in this entire world. No one can compare to you.”

She had spent more time with Xuan Yanyu than with anyone else in this world — next came her elder sister, then A’Ci, then her maternal grandmother and grandfather, then Lu A’Niang.

But the time she had spent with all of them was far less than what she had shared with Xuan Yanyu.

As for her father — she had spent hardly any days with him at all.

She carried none of the original soul’s memories. Strictly speaking, she was a soul transmigrator — one should not be without the original soul’s memories, yet she truly had none.

She did not know how the original soul had interacted with her maternal grandfather and grandmother, and when she had arrived, the two elders had not noticed anything amiss.

In many of the moments right after she had transmigrated, she had questioned whether the original soul had truly existed.

Yet if the original soul had not existed, how had she ultimately been struck down by Xuan Yanyu?

If the original soul had not existed, the most likely explanation was that Fafa had deceived her — she had been pulled into a book, made to become a character who had never existed in it, given a somewhat wretched script to follow, and saddled with a convoluted background!

No matter — she would find out sooner or later.

A startled Fafa emitted a crackling electronic sound that rang out in Yan Yunning’s mind for a moment.

Yan Yunning raised an eyebrow. Had she guessed correctly?

Ye Chen nudged Ye’an’s arm and said in a low voice, “His Highness the Crown Prince is staring fixedly at the Crown Princess in a daze, while the Crown Princess is staring fixedly at the pastries in a daze — is the Crown Prince not even a match for that plate of pastries?”

From the moment Yan Yunning had said no one could compare to Xuan Yanyu, he had been gazing at her steadily, his eyes deepening in color. Ye Chen had mistaken this for her staring at the pastries, since she appeared to be lost in her own thoughts.

Ye’an glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting silently.

Ye Chen: “…?”

“No one can compare to this Crown Prince? In your heart, there is no one in this world more important than this Crown Prince?” Xuan Yanyu’s heart stirred with something he could not quite name, and he asked in a low, slightly husky voice.

The young girl’s eyes curved as she said it — his heart felt as if it had been lightly scalded, numb and tingling.

“Mm?” Yan Yunning, having come back to her senses, smiled brightly and leaned close to him, pressing a kiss to the man’s forehead. “No one.”

Xuan Yanyu’s throat shifted. He waved a hand at the others still present in the chamber.

In the next instant, unable to restrain himself, he caught Yan Yunning’s hand, drew it up to rest on his shoulder, tilted his head — eyelashes brushing together — and let fall a tender, uncontrolled kiss.

A familiar warmth swept past her teeth; Yan Yunning’s fingertips curled tight, and she exerted every last bit of her strength trying to push him away — the man remained perfectly still, tightening his arms around her.

Ye Chen, Ye’an, and the attending maids, their faces flushed red, retreated from the palace.

The chamber door was pulled shut. Xuan Yanyu, breathless, carried Yan Yunning up onto the bed.

“Xuan Yanyu!” Yan Yunning was nearly vexed to death. There had still been people in the chamber a moment ago!

“You are the one who set this Crown Prince off.” The man’s voice had gone hoarse; he shed his magnificent brocade robe and pulled down the gauze curtain with one hand.

Yan Yunning’s eyelid jumped. She had not!

Yan Yunning, who wanted to leap over the man and escape through the chamber door, was caught by Xuan Yanyu’s long arm and pulled back.

The sash tied at her waist was tugged loose by the man’s warm fingertips, and it slipped through the gap in the gauze curtain, landing on the sumptuous floor below.

With nowhere left to retreat, Yan Yunning took the initiative and pulled him close.

Bright light fell throughout the chamber; overlapping shadowy reflections rippled across the wall behind the gauze curtain.

From outside the chamber, one could faintly make out the trembling, lilting sound of Yan Yunning’s voice, and the man’s low, muffled, coaxing tones.

——

Yan Shiyao, who had inexplicably been met with Consort Wu’s pointed remarks, was in a foul mood. Consort Wu, emboldened by Emperor Xuan’s favor and the imperial heir in her womb, had deliberately sought her out to make trouble — all because of the near-miscarriage a few days ago.

Qi Qingchen was not here, and even if her palms itched she could not reach across the distance to give him a beating.

And then there was Xuan Yanyu — every time she thought of him now, her mind was filled with the image of that merciless kick of his.

She could not help but wish she could kick him right back several times — he had hurt her terribly.

“This servant pays respects to the Youle Commandery Princess.” A maid walked up to Yan Shiyao with a smile, bowed in greeting, and said, “Noble Consort Pei has heard from Young Miss Pei that you and our Young Miss are close friends, and would like to invite you for a visit to her chambers.”

The moment the maid finished speaking, Yan Shiyao clutched her chest, frowned, and said:

“Please convey my apologies to the Noble Consort on my behalf — I am truly unwell, and fear that appearing in this state would trouble the Noble Consort. If my health permits, Shiyao will certainly go to the Noble Consort’s bedchambers to pay her respects.”

Yan Shiyao was a Commandery Princess bestowed by Emperor Xuan — the maid had nothing unkind she could say. She curtseyed and replied, “Then may the Commandery Princess take good care of your health. This servant will go and report to the Noble Consort.”

“Very well.” Yan Shiyao gave a feeble nod.