Fafa: [Master, Luo Xuan is a complete lunatic — keep your distance from her! How did you manage to offend her so thoroughly?!]

Yan Yunning rubbed her numbed hand. [Don’t panic, I’ll just find Xuan Yanyu.]

Fafa: […]

“Qingchen, my dear brother.” Luo Xuan gritted her teeth, the hand covering her face trembling.

“A’Jie, didn’t you say you wanted to leave earlier? You can leave now.” The words had barely left her mouth when Yan Yunning grabbed Yan Shiyao’s wrist and broke into a run.

Qi Qingchen’s brow gave an involuntary twitch. She’d stirred up trouble and dumped the mess squarely on him!

“A’Jie, you go find Xuan Yanyu. I’ll go find A’Chen. Let’s get out of here quickly.” Yan Yunning came to a stop.

Yan Shiyao pulled free of her grip. “Ningning, I’ll wait for Elder Brother Qi.”

Yan Yunning’s brow furrowed. “What do you need to wait for him for?”

“Ningning, Elder Brother Qi hasn’t left yet. I won’t go without him.” Yan Shiyao lowered her eyes.

After a moment of silence, Yan Yunning grumbled irritably, “Suit yourself.”

With that, Yan Yunning turned and walked away.

Yan Shiyao pressed her lips together, watching Yan Yunning’s retreating figure, her own lips moving soundlessly.

Yan Yunning kicked at the pebbles underfoot in frustration. A’Jie wouldn’t leave, and if A’Jie stayed, Xuan Yanyu wouldn’t leave either — and she had just slapped Luo Xuan. Yan Yunning shook her head and walked to A’Chen’s room, raising her hand to knock.

“A’Chen.”

“Little Lemon!” A’Chen threw the door open, the corners of his eyes and brows brimming with delight.

“A’Chen, let me walk you home, all right?” Yan Yunning cajoled.

A’Chen pursed his lips, a trace of grievance flickering in his eyes. “Is Little Lemon going to abandon A’Chen again?”

“I’m not abandoning you. Be a good boy and wait for me at home, all right?” Yan Yunning softened her voice.

A’Chen’s nose turned faintly pink, and he said plaintively, “I don’t want to.”

“A’Chen, listen to me.”

A’Chen bit his lip with a pitiful expression. “Then let’s go back together.”

“A’Chen, after A’Jie’s wedding, I’ll come back.” Yan Yunning reached up and ruffled the top of his head.

After A’Jie’s wedding — if she was still alive, if she hadn’t been sent back yet — she would go back and keep her maternal grandfather and grandmother company.

She didn’t like the Chancellor’s manor.

“Then have A’Yao Sister get married tomorrow.” A’Chen sniffled.

Yan Yunning let out a soft laugh. “Tomorrow won’t work~”

“Then today? Can it be today?” A’Chen tugged at Yan Yunning’s sleeve, gazing up at her with hopeful eyes.

“A’Chen, you’ve been away from home for so many days. Grandpa and Grandma must be worried about you.” Yan Yunning spoke gently.

A’Chen tilted his head, carefully marshalling his words. “Little Lemon, Grandpa and Grandma are worried about you too. A’Chen saw it — Grandma was crying in secret.”

The tip of Yan Yunning’s nose stung sharply. Her maternal grandfather and grandmother truly cared for her so deeply.

“Did A’Chen say something wrong? Please don’t cry.” A’Chen was at a complete loss, suddenly flustered, his own eyes reddening in sympathy.

Yan Yunning tilted her head back, blinking hard to hold back her tears.

“A’Chen will be good. A’Chen will go home. After A’Yao Sister’s wedding, Little Lemon must come home too — promise? A’Chen will be waiting.” A’Chen delicately used his sleeve to dab at the tears in the corners of her eyes.

Yan Yunning’s voice came out slightly hoarse. “Mm. After A’Jie’s wedding, I’ll come home.”

A’Chen nodded vigorously, his lips curving open into a radiant smile.

The young man looked down at her with clear, bright eyes. Yan Yunning curved her own lips in return. “A’Chen, you look so wonderful when you smile.”

A’Chen blinked, and his smile grew even more brilliant.

Luo Xuan’s room.

Yan Shiyao offered a sincere apology. “Miss Luo, I beg your forgiveness on Ningning’s behalf.”

Luo Xuan covered her lips and smiled softly. “Miss Yan, you’re too gracious. Elder Brother Qi is right — Ningning is still young. I won’t hold it against her.”

Yan Shiyao was somewhat taken aback.

Luo Xuan’s expression remained serene. “I heard from Nuonuo that a new friend has arrived — is that right? How careless of me; I quite forgot to prepare a room.” As she spoke, she took the key from Nuonuo’s hands and pressed it into Yan Shiyao’s. “Miss Yan, would you be so kind as to bring this key to A’Chen?”

Yan Shiyao accepted the key, offered a warm word of thanks, turned, and left the room.

“Clan Leader, why are you still preparing a room for Yan Yunning’s friend?” Nuonuo frowned.

Luo Xuan’s fingers brushed over her reddened cheek, and she smiled coyly. “Nuonuo, the real show is about to begin.”

This injury, this slap — she would have it repaid in full. She had absolutely no intention of swallowing this humiliation.

Yan Shiyao, key in hand, turned left and right through the courtyard and finally found A’Chen tucked in a corner of the garden.

He was crouched on the ground, gripping a dry branch, head bowed, scrawling and scratching away. When Yan Shiyao drew closer, she saw he had written three characters in the dirt, wobbly and painstaking: Little Lemon.

The strokes were crooked and completely without order.

“A’Chen.” Yan Shiyao couldn’t help but smile.

A’Chen looked up. Seeing Yan Shiyao, his eyes brightened. “A’Yao Sister, when are you getting married? Tomorrow, maybe?”

Yan Shiyao blinked, puzzled. “Why do you suddenly ask such a thing?”

A’Chen tilted his head, resting his cheek in his hand, and said with innocent sincerity, “Little Lemon said so — after your wedding, she’ll come home with me.”

Yan Shiyao couldn’t help laughing. She patted the top of his head. “Silly boy.”

Ningning would also have to get married someday. Their mother had already been looking for a suitable match for her. How could she possibly go home with him?

“A’Chen is not silly! Little Lemon said A’Chen is not silly!” A’Chen pouted, clutching the dry branch in wounded indignation and dragging heavy crosses into the dirt.

Yan Shiyao’s heart gave a sharp pang. She pressed her lips together instinctively. “I’m sorry, A’Chen. A’Yao Sister spoke carelessly.”

A’Chen slowly turned his body away, presenting her with his back.

Yan Shiyao was mortified. She said gently, “A’Chen, what if A’Yao Sister buys you pastries to make it up to you?”

A’Chen’s eyes blinked slowly. “Then you’d have to buy a lot,” he murmured quietly.

Little Lemon loved pastries most of all.

“Mm. A lot.” Yan Shiyao hid a smile in the corners of her eyes.

A gust of wind swept through the courtyard, and flower petals drifted down, a few settling in A’Chen’s hair. He looked up with his eyes, raised a hand, pinched a petal from his hair, and lifted it to the tip of his nose to breathe in its scent.

Then, faint and indistinct, the sound of footsteps filtered through the air.

Yan Shiyao sensed something was off. She turned her head — and saw two figures dressed in black walking toward them.

She stepped to the side, shielding A’Chen behind her.

The lead figure in black let out a cold laugh. “No need to protect him. Neither of you is leaving here today.”

Yan Shiyao’s heart flooded with terror. “Sir, surely you must have mistaken us for someone else?”

The man in black curled his lips in a vicious smile. He gave the dagger in his hand a slow spin, then flung it directly at Yan Shiyao. It buried itself in her body.

Yan Shiyao’s head rang like a struck bell. A searing pain tore through her in an instant. Her body went limp, and she crumpled to the ground.

“Blood — A’Yao Sister, you mustn’t sleep. You still have to get married. Little Lemon still has to come home with me.” A’Chen’s eyes went wide, his lips trembling.

Yan Shiyao gritted her teeth against the pain. “A’Chen, run.”

“I cannot leave… I cannot abandon you.” A’Chen’s eyes glistened with tears.

The man in black broke into a wild, arrogant laugh. “You’re not going anywhere either.”

A’Chen planted himself in front of Yan Shiyao and shouted with his neck stiffened, “I won’t let you hurt A’Yao Sister!”

Little Lemon had said — if you meet bad people, run first. But A’Yao Sister couldn’t run, and he could not abandon her.

“Why are we wasting words on an idiot?” The other man in black grew impatient. He drew his long sword and thrust it at A’Chen. A’Chen had no time to react — the blade had already driven into his chest.

“A’Chen!” Yan Shiyao screamed his name with everything she had.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed the man in black’s face. He wrenched the sword free in one brutal motion. Warm blood spattered across A’Chen’s pale face.

The young man coughed up a mouthful of blood. His body swayed, and he slowly collapsed to the ground, murmuring faintly, “It hurts so much… Little Lemon…”

The man in black hooked his lips in satisfaction, cast a last look at the two figures on the ground, and swiftly left the scene.

“A’Chen… A’Chen…” Yan Shiyao lay sprawled on the ground, her clothes soaked crimson. Her tears fell one drop at a time.