With Fafa’s guidance, Yan Yunning arrived at the teahouse.

She spotted Qi Qingchen at a single glance. A male lead was truly a male lead — you couldn’t help but notice him right away.

“Sir, do you mind if I sit here?” Yan Yunning smiled pleasantly.

Qi Qingchen smiled gently. “Please, be seated.”

But as he said so, he rose from his seat and moved to leave.

Yan Yunning blinked. “Sir, have I disturbed you?”

“Not at all.” Qi Qingchen paused mid-step, turned to look at her. “Miss, please don’t think too much of it.”

“Sir, I’ve only just arrived in the capital a few days ago. You look like a local — would you be willing to show me around?” Yan Yunning lifted her clear, bright eyes to look at him.

Qi Qingchen’s tone carried a note of reserve. “I’m afraid that would be inconvenient.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

Fafa: 【Master, I told you — trying to steal the male lead won’t work.】

Yan Yunning smiled until her eyes curved into crescents, blinking her large, dewy eyes as she said in a soft, gentle voice, “That’s alright. Go ahead and take care of what you need to, sir.”

The young woman’s small face was flawless, her lips curving in a light smile as she looked up at him.

Qi Qingchen felt his throat tighten. As if compelled against his will, he suddenly asked, “All right — where would the miss like to go?”

Fafa: 【Wait? Master, you actually managed to charm him?!】

Yan Yunning suppressed the excitement rising in her chest and maintained a composed expression. “Anywhere is fine. Sir, there’s no need to call me ‘miss’ — my name is Yan Yunning. Please, just call me Ningning.”

Fafa: 【Master, I think I understand now. He probably hasn’t met the female lead yet — that’s why you managed to charm him. Once he meets her, he’ll want no one but her.】

Yan Yunning quietly ground her teeth, cursing inwardly. 【Get lost!】

Qi Qingchen paused for a brief moment, then the corner of his mouth lifted in a clear, soft smile. “I am Qi Qingchen.”

“A’Chen.”

She had no time to ease her way into things. She only had a year, so it was better to be direct.

Qi Qingchen cleared his throat behind his fist. “I’ll take you to see the flower market. You may not know, miss, but here in our Qilan Kingdom…”

“A’Chen, we’re acquainted now, aren’t we? Stop calling me ‘miss,’ won’t you~?” The young woman tilted her head back, her bright eyes sparkling with expectant light.

Qi Qingchen looked at her, his gaze flickering with thought.

Yan Yunning clasped both hands behind her back and looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. “Fine, ‘miss’ it is — let’s go, we’ll see the flower market.”

The moment they stepped into the flower market, a vibrant chorus of noise reached them from all directions.

Stalls stretched along the old brick road in a winding line, the booths laden with brilliant, vivid blossoms clustering together in every shade.

Yan Yunning pulled Qi Qingchen as they wove through the crowd.

“A’Chen, would you like this?” Yan Yunning took some broken silver from Qiuci’s hand and passed it to the stall owner.

Qi Qingchen’s gaze fell on the branch of Chinese flowering crabapple in Yan Yunning’s hand and gently declined. “Ningning should keep it for herself — no need to give it to me.”

Yan Yunning smiled, curving her lips. “It’s for you.”

With that, she placed the branch of flowering crabapple into his palm. The petals trembled lightly. Qi Qingchen seemed about to say something, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back.

“Ningning, what are you two…” Yan Shiyao bit her lower lip, a trace of hesitation in her voice.

Qi Qingchen looked up. Yan Shiyao’s delicate face came into view before him.

He felt his breath catch. His heartbeat surged beyond his control, pounding heavily in his chest.

The moment their eyes met, Yan Shiyao’s cheeks flushed faintly, her lashes trembling. She lowered her head, too shy to look.

Watching this scene unfold, Yan Yunning let out a frantic inner wail. 【Wuuu~~ Fafa, the sky is falling!】

Fafa: 【I told you not to waste your time. The male lead is destined for the female lead, and you wouldn’t listen.】

Yan Yunning: 【……】

“A’Yao.” Xuan Yanyu’s slender fingers lightly twirled a lotus flower as he stepped in a few strides to stand before Yan Shiyao.

Yan Yunning rubbed her chin. 【A lotus flower — pure and beautiful. It seems my lovesick elder sister truly is the kind of untouchable, unattainable moonlight figure in Xuan Yanyu’s heart.】

“Yanyu-gege.” Yan Shiyao’s voice was soft and melodic.

Qi Qingchen’s expression dimmed. Suppressing his emotions, he could not bear to watch them stand so close together.

Yan Yunning stifled a laugh. 【A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding — my chance has come again.】

Fafa: 【……】

“A’Chen, this is my elder sister, Yan Shiyao, and the gentleman beside her is her…” Yan Yunning shifted her gaze to Xuan Yanyu and suddenly stumbled over how to introduce him.

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow. A’Chen?

A pang tugged at Yan Shiyao’s heart for no clear reason, leaving an inexplicably unsettled feeling. Ningning calling him so familiarly by a nickname.

“Miss Yan, it has been some time — I trust you have been well?” Qi Qingchen spoke with a tone of easy familiarity.

Fafa: 【Ha, hahaha — they know each other. Master, and there you were trying to introduce them.】

【How was I supposed to know they knew each other!】 Yan Yunning kicked at a pebble on the ground.

Fafa: 【Master, one is the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter, and the other is the Third Imperial Prince — of course they would have met before.】

Yan Yunning pouted. 【Then what was all that about ‘the male lead probably hasn’t seen the female lead yet, which is why you managed to charm him’?】

Fafa: 【…… I was only guessing!】

It had merely been speculation on its part!

“Third Your Highness, all is well.” Yan Shiyao’s face warmed unbidden, a pretty flush rising to her cheeks.

“You may call me A’Chen as your sister does.”

The tips of Yan Shiyao’s ears turned completely crimson, suffused with shy, flustered warmth.

“That’s hardly necessary — not everyone is quite the same as the Second Young Miss.” Xuan Yanyu’s smile at the corner of his lips was playful.

【What does he mean by that? What’s wrong with me?!】 Yan Yunning bristled with indignation.

Fafa: 【Master, go ask him. Where does he get the audacity to speak of you that way?!】

【I’ll… just let it go.】

Yan Yunning jogged over to stand beside Yan Shiyao, deliberately nudging Xuan Yanyu aside.

Xuan Yanyu’s gaze darkened. He fixed her with a dangerous look.

Yan Yunning rested her head against Yan Shiyao’s shoulder, her voice soft and a little aggrieved. “Elder Sister, I’m frightened.”

Yan Shiyao patted her hand and comforted her in a gentle, tender voice. “Don’t be afraid. It’s all right — Yanyu-gege will protect us.”

Yan Yunning’s eye twitched at the corner. It was him she was afraid of!

“Second Young Miss, Lady requests you return to the estate at once.” A maidservant rushed over to report.

Yan Yunning arched her fine brows lightly.

Since the day she had been brought back, she had only seen the Lady once — and hadn’t laid eyes on her since.

What did she want with her now?

Qiuci bit her lip and inconspicuously tugged at Yan Yunning’s sleeve, dropping her voice low. “Second Young Miss, ask the First Young Miss to accompany you back.”

Xuan Yanyu’s ear shifted almost imperceptibly.

“Did Mother say what it concerns?” Yan Shiyao’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

“First Young Miss, Lady did not mention it.” The maidservant inclined her body slightly in a respectful bow.

“Elder Sister, I don’t dare face Mother alone. Could you come back with me?” Yan Yunning grasped Yan Shiyao’s sleeve and pleaded in a soft, coaxing voice.

The corner of Xuan Yanyu’s lip lifted slightly, and a few light chuckles rose from his chest. She really was quite the little actress.

Yan Yunning turned her head and met his jet-black gaze — those eyes of his full of teasing amusement.

“Second Young Miss, don’t trouble the First Young Miss.” The maidservant looked at Yan Yunning with displeasure.

Yan Yunning puffed up with frustration. “I’m troubling my own elder sister — what business is it of yours?” she retorted without good humor.

【She’s just a maidservant — how dare she lecture me, the mistress?!】

Fafa: 【Because she’s a personal attendant of the Lady of the Prime Minister’s household. In the novel’s setting, everything in the entire Prime Minister’s estate revolves around the female lead — that is, your elder sister.】

Fafa: 【The female lead is out at the flower market, and you’re asking her to come back to the estate with you. Of course that maidservant is going to lecture you.】

Yan Yunning: 【……】