If she gave so much as a small nod, Xuan Xixi would certainly have the little girl brought into the palace straightaway.

The man pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Qiuci and Xiao Wan exchanged a glance and led the maids who had entered back out of the bedchamber.

Yan Yunning pressed a few kisses to Xuan Yanyu’s tightly sealed lips and smiled with genuine delight. “Your Majesty, do take good care of yourself~”

Xuan Yanyu shot her a sidelong glance.

“How outrageous! Who gave you permission to look at me with those eyes?” Yan Yunning mimicked Xuan Yanyu’s manner of speaking and bent over laughing. “Do you even know — my husband is the Prince of Xuan, my son is His Highness the Crown Prince, and you…”

The words she had not yet finished disappeared into a kiss.

The incense burner drifted with a faint lingering fragrance. The night breeze slipped through a window left slightly ajar into the chamber, and the bed curtains swayed slowly in the wind.

After a brief while, Yan Yunning said breathlessly, “Didn’t you say you were going to bathe? Go then.”

The man leaned close to her ear, the tail of his voice curling with a smile. “Didn’t you say just now that you didn’t mind?”

“I have my monthly—”

“I know.” Xuan Yanyu took her hand and guided it unhurriedly downward, saying without the slightest reservation, “I intend to keep my distance from you for the next several days, so today, Ningning will have to work hard.”

“Xuan Yanyu!!” Yan Yunning shrieked in furious indignation.

What was this about intending to keep his distance from her for the next several days?!

The maids dozing outside the bedchamber were jolted instantly awake by Yan Yunning’s outburst.

Inside the bedchamber, Xuan Yanyu let out a slow breath, his voice carrying a slight hoarseness. “What are you calling me for? Stop tempting me — I have absolutely no resistance against you.”

Yan Yunning pursed her lips and quietly clenched her fist.

“Yan Yunning!” A low, stifled groan escaped the man’s throat.

“Your Majesty~ your humble consort is here~ whatever are you calling your humble consort for~” Yan Yunning responded to him in a sweetly coquettish tone.

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

So she absolutely had to imitate him, did she?

——

At that same moment, in the main hall of the General’s Manor, A’Ci sat in slight discomfort on a sandalwood chair, head bowed, gaze fixed on the floor.

“Ranran, just one more sip — only one sip.” Jiang Xian coaxed her gently.

“I don’t want any more.” Xuan Zhaoranran glanced toward the doorway, her beautiful eyes and brows creasing slightly. “Didn’t you say Prince Xuan’s older brother and Sister-in-law Xuanhou were here? Have they come all the way to the manor just to see the baby?”

“Perhaps they adore our baby so much that they couldn’t bring themselves to leave for a while. Ranran, don’t fret — they’ll come to see you shortly.”

Jiang Xian scooped up a spoonful of porridge, his voice made soft and gentle, expectation brimming in his eyes. “One more sip — will you?”

Xuan Zhaoranran smiled with resignation. “All right.”

A’Ci clenched his fist, sitting as though on a bed of needles. He could not understand why Zh—… why the Fifth Princess had summoned him to the General’s Manor, nor could he understand why, having summoned him, she would not say a single word to him.

“You said just one sip earlier.” Xuan Zhaoranran’s voice was slightly weak, sounding soft and warm.

“I said no such thing.” Jiang Xian refused to acknowledge it with firm conviction. He looked earnestly at Xuan Zhaoranran. “I promise — this is truly the last sip.”

“I don’t want it.” Xuan Zhaoranran complained with a pout. “Every time it’s the same — I finish the sip, and then you find another excuse, until the bottom of the bowl is visible.”

“The imperial physician said your body is weakened — how can you get by without eating properly?”

Xuan Zhaoranran pressed her lips together pitifully. “Even when I wasn’t weakened, you were exactly the same.”

Jiang Xian: “……”

“Your Highness, Your Highness’s Consort.” Jing’er pulled the bedchamber door shut and respectfully placed the pendant she carried into Xuan Zhaoranran’s hands.

At the sight of that familiar pendant, the corners of A’Ci’s eyes reddened abruptly. His fingertips tightened instinctively. This pendant…

Five years. She had kept it all this time. He had thought… thought that once she entered the General’s Manor as a bride, she would have discarded it.

“A’Ci, do you truly not wish to become this princess’s consort?”

“A’Ci, would you like to come to like this princess?”

“Your Highness, there will be someone more suitable than I.”

“I will no longer ask you to be this princess’s consort in the future. A’Ci, farewell.”

A’Ci pressed a hand over his chest, which felt tight and constricted, his eyelashes trembling slightly.

Xuan Zhaoranran took the pendant Jing’er had handed her and, out of long habit, rubbed it between her fingers a couple of times before she couldn’t help asking, “Why hasn’t Prince Xuan’s older brother come over yet?”

A’Ci lowered his gaze. In his ears, the young girl’s voice — so gentle and soft — rang out once more. “The Crown Prince’s older brother is the most important person in my heart.”

Jing’er swallowed. “Your Highness, it is said that His Majesty grew angry and left the General’s Manor with the Princess Consort, his expression very difficult to look at.”

Xuan Zhaoranran frowned. “Why? Were they not looking at the baby? Why did Prince Xuan’s older brother get angry?”

“From what the imperial physician said, it seems His Majesty remarked that the little Commandery Princess’s face was all wrinkled and creased, and the Princess Consort replied that all newborns are like that, whereupon His Majesty said the Crown Prince had been very fair and smooth at birth, and that it was certainly because he took after His Majesty.”

Jing’er thought for a moment and added, “The Princess Consort then said that a niece takes after her uncle, and that the little Commandery Princess was wrinkled precisely because she takes after His Majesty — perhaps that was what made His Majesty angry.”

Xuan Zhaoranran’s lips curved downward. “A’Xian, Prince Xuan’s older brother is finding fault with our baby.”

“No, he is not — how could he be? There must be some misunderstanding.” Jiang Xian murmured soothingly. “You mustn’t cry — tomorrow your husband will go and settle accounts with His Majesty.”

Xuan Zhaoranran sniffled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Jiang Xian bit his teeth together and, trembling slightly, forced out a single word: “Dare.”

Xuan Zhaoranran burst out laughing and moved to touch the man’s face, only then realizing she still held the pendant in her hand — and also remembering that A’Ci was present.

“A’Ci.” Xuan Zhaoranran’s gaze fell on A’Ci, and she smiled gently.

“Fi… Fifth Princess.” A’Ci raised his reddened eyes and met her gaze, also curving the corner of his mouth.

She was doing very well. Very happy. That was good.

That was good…

“I was thoughtless before, and I took your pendant without permission. I am returning it to you now.” Xuan Zhaoranran gave A’Ci an apologetic nod.

A’Ci rose to his feet and took the pendant from Xuan Zhaoranran’s hand. His voice came out slightly choked. “I’m sorry. Today it was because of me that you… you…”

“It is not your fault.” Xuan Zhaoranran shook her head with a smile.

A’Ci’s lips moved slightly.

Xuan Zhaoranran said gently, “A’Ci, may your future be full of happiness.”

“I will.” A’Ci nodded with a smile.

“The hour is late. I’ll have someone escort you back.” Jiang Xian began to see him off.

“There is no need.” A’Ci took a long, lingering look at Xuan Zhaoranran. His voice came out low and rough. “I can find my own way.”

“Very well then.” Jiang Xian did not press him.

A’Ci bowed from the waist, placed his hand over his heart, and smiled faintly. “Your Highness the Princess, A’Ci takes his leave.”

“Mm.” Xuan Zhaoranran waved a hand at him with a soft smile. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” A’Ci turned and slowly withdrew from the bedchamber.

The night wind was very cool — very, very cool. Standing outside the hall, A’Ci could faintly hear Jiang Xian once again coaxing Xuan Zhaoranran to drink the rest of the porridge, while Xuan Zhaoranran refused him with sweet-tempered wheedling.

Jiang Xian seemed thoroughly at his wit’s end, his deep voice full of helpless resignation.

A’Ci raised his head and gazed up at the sky. Step by step, he made his slow way out of the General’s Manor. The gate closed behind him. A’Ci stood on the long street in a daze, tightening his grip on the pendant in his hand.

He did not hang the pendant at his waist again. Instead, he fastened it around his neck, and the pendant fell precisely over the place where his heart was.