The man pressed his chin to the top of her head and laughed softly. “Ningning.”
“How did you end up here?” Yan Yuning stared up at him, thoroughly confused.
She had told Sister Yu Zhi — so as not to worry her — that she intended to return to the Crown Prince’s residence, and had been thinking of going back to stay at an inn instead.
But Sister Yu Zhi had quietly followed behind her, and upon seeing that she had no real intention of returning to the Crown Prince’s residence, had brought her here to the General’s residence.
How on earth had Xuan Yanyu found his way to the General’s residence?
The man buried the tip of his nose in her hair, and his fingertips reached out to deliver a small punishing pinch to her earlobe. “Grown bold, have you? Sneaking away from the Crown Prince’s residence behind this Crown Prince’s back?”
Yan Yuning seized his wrist and flung it away in irritation. “Xuan Yanyu, I am tired. Go away.”
“This Crown Prince will settle accounts with you tomorrow,” the man said, tightening his grip on her hand, afraid she might run off again.
Yan Yuning turned her face away and muttered, “Xuan Yanyu, I left the Crown Prince’s residence precisely because I did not want to see you. So keep your distance from me.”
“This Crown Prince was wrong. This Crown Prince should not have lost his temper with you, should not have agreed to share a meal with you and then had a subordinate inform you that this Crown Prince was occupied with other matters.”
The more Yan Yuning heard, the more irritated she became. She said coldly, “Get out. You are disturbing my rest.”
Realising he had said the wrong thing, the man picked up his discarded brocade robe and put it back on. His voice came low and gentle. “Ningning…”
“Get out.” Yan Yuning could not even be bothered to look at him. She pulled the light blanket up over her head, turned over, and put her back to him.
Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together and, spirits low, walked out of the side chamber.
He should not have said that second part. He had promised to share a meal with her, then used the excuse that he was busy — of course she would be even angrier to hear it.
——
The following day at noon, Yan Yuning finished washing up and opened the door, only to see Xuan Yanyu leaning against a round column along the covered corridor.
The afternoon sunlight filtered through the leaves swaying in the wind and fell across the man’s face, casting his dark under-eye circles into sharp relief.
Xuan Yanyu’s lips were pressed together. Those striking, beautiful eyes of his were heavy with exhaustion, and he lazily stifled a yawn, the corners of his eyes going faintly misty.
Sensing that Yan Yuning had come out, he lifted his eyelids and looked at her with clear, bright eyes, betraying not the slightest trace of fatigue.
Yan Yuning turned around, pulled the side chamber door shut, and walked toward the dining hall without a word.
The man’s extraordinarily handsome face was instantly flooded with helpless dismay — the look of it, strangely, gave one the feeling that something was quietly breaking apart.
Yan Yuning had barely set foot in the dining hall when Xuan Yanyu followed her in on her heels.
He made no sound either, and once Yan Yuning had sat down, he silently began selecting dishes for her, picking out fish bones, ladling soup, peeling shrimp…
Yan Yuning, with considerable pride, refused to eat a single bite. The piece of fish Xuan Yanyu had carefully deboned for her was picked up by her chopsticks in a show of spite and shoved to the side; the soup was pushed far away from her.
“Sister, come and sit here.” Yan Yuning smiled and waved Yu Zhi over.
Yu Zhi nodded and took the seat to Yan Yuning’s right, stealing a glance at Xuan Yanyu. The man had his head lowered, and the dejected look about him was enough to make one’s heart soften against one’s will.
She had never imagined that His Highness the Crown Prince would stand guard outside Ningning’s side chamber through the entire night, only now, at noon the following day, to be going about the work of a maidservant in this utterly self-effacing manner.
She had thought Ningning had been wronged, but looking at the two of them now, it seemed more as though they had quarrelled over some misunderstanding.
Since becoming pregnant, Yan Yuning had not been eating much, and each time it was Xuan Yanyu who coaxed her into eating a few extra bites. Today was no different — she ate a few mouthfuls of rice and then had no appetite for more.
“Have some soup.” The man scooped up a spoonful of soup and held it out to her lips.
Yan Yuning turned her head and met his gentle gaze, then took a small sip from the spoon he offered. In front of others, she did not wish to keep rebuffing him and making him lose face.
Noticing the dark circles bruising Xuan Yanyu’s eyes, Yan Yuning took the porcelain bowl from his hand and said lightly, “Go and rest. Otherwise Father Emperor will be blaming me again.”
“He will not.” Xuan Yanyu flashed an ingratiating smile. “Ningning, will you forgive this Crown Prince?”
Before Yan Yuning could say a word, Xuan Yanyu said, “This Crown Prince agrees to let the child recognise Qiuci as godfather.”
Meeting the man’s aggrieved gaze, Yan Yuning was so exasperated she let out a soft, incredulous laugh. Did he really think she had left the Crown Prince’s residence because he had refused to let the child recognise Qiuci as godfather?
And that Eunuch Feng arriving suddenly out of nowhere — did he think that had been about this too?
At first she had thought he was angry because she had told Qiuci that she would have the child call him godfather in the future — but she had told Qiuci that before she had even come to know him properly, and if he wanted to be angry about it, then let him!
He had said he would share a meal with her, so she had wanted to use that opportunity to explain, to clear things up.
But then he had suddenly lost his temper all over again — still convinced that she wanted to have Qiuci made the child’s godfather. Even if she had said as much, had he ever stopped to think whether she could actually make such a decision on her own?
Would King Xuan even permit it?
Yan Yuning lowered her head and steadied herself, then said with an unhurried drawl, “You agree? And can you also get Father Emperor to agree? And all the court ministers as well?”
The man was briefly at a loss for words, and after a moment’s thought said, “This Crown Prince will find a way. Ningning, you need not worry about that.”
Yu Zhi bit down on her lip. It was because of what Qiuci had said that day that Ningning and His Highness the Crown Prince had ended up quarrelling — she would have to remind Qiuci to think before he spoke in the future.
Standing to one side, Lu Jin’an pressed her lips into a smile. It was plain to see that His Highness the Crown Prince truly accommodated Ningning in everything.
“Xuan Yanyu, something is wrong with you.” After suppressing it for a long while, Yan Yuning finally managed a single sentence.
She fixed her gaze on the man with the dark circles under his eyes and could not help asking, “That day when Qiuci asked me whether I still meant what I had said about letting the child call him godfather — did I actually give him an answer?”
Xuan Yanyu thought it over with a frown. It seemed she had not — Ningning had not given Qiuci a definitive response.
Yan Yuning was so furious she seized his ear and twisted it, gritting out through her teeth, “Could you not simply have come and asked me? You just sat there brooding in silence?”
She had not wanted to coax him. When she had tried to explain things to him, he had gone and refused to see her. He could not even bring himself to open his mouth and ask — he just sulked alone in his discontent.
The man’s eyes brightened in an instant. “This Crown Prince misunderstood.”
His guess was likely correct after all. When Ningning had originally said those words, she had probably meant for the child to one day show filial respect toward Qiuci.
Because when Ningning had said it to Qiuci, Qiuci had still been in his foolish, addled state.
After Qiuci recovered, he had always been near Ningning, and he had never once heard her say those words to Qiuci again.
Yan Yuning let out a disdainful hum.
“Then what about Eunuch Feng passing on Father Emperor’s oral decree that day — and you telling him that you were agreeable to this Crown Prince taking a secondary consort? What was that about?” Xuan Yanyu asked.
“Nonsense. I never said I agreed to you taking a secondary consort.” Seeing the man’s lips curve into a smile, Yan Yuning said unhurriedly, “What I said was that I respected His Highness the Crown Prince’s choices.”
Xuan Yanyu’s smile faltered. “Pardon?”
“Which means — if you chose someone else, I would leave of my own accord.” Yan Yuning mirrored his “pardon?” right back at him. “Do you understand? Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
“One day, if you choose someone else, I will go.” As if compelled by some irresistible impulse, Yan Yuning added one more line.
“That will not happen.” Xuan Yanyu pulled her into his arms, his voice carrying a low, captivating huskiness. “This Crown Prince has you, and that is enough.”
Yan Yuning’s anger had not yet fully dissipated. She pushed him away. That was exactly what she had been trying to say — on that day, when they had returned to the Crown Prince’s residence from the long street, she had clearly already stopped being angry. So why had he suddenly grown angry again? It was because he had mistakenly believed she was asking him to take a secondary consort!
On top of that, he had misunderstood her about wanting their child to call Qiuci godfather!
The man made a point of acknowledging his fault. “This Crown Prince promises that next time, this Crown Prince will absolutely not lose his temper, and will always ask for clarification first.”
Tomorrow, when he entered the palace, he would go and deal with Eunuch Feng!
Yan Yuning said nothing. If she forgave him now, the very next moment he would turn around and settle accounts with her over the matter of her sneaking away from the Crown Prince’s residence.
Although Yan Yuning still appeared quite displeased, now that it was clear the whole thing had been a misunderstanding, Yu Zhi — after the noon meal — promptly chased her off back to the Crown Prince’s residence. Lu Jin’an did not even have time to get in a word with Yan Yuning.