“What if I insist on making you stay?”

A’Chen curved the corner of his mouth, regarding her with a meaningful look. “Princess — I won’t stay.”

Xuan Zhaoran held back her tears, raised her chin high, and said, “Then leave this instant. You’re right — Ranle Palace doesn’t need you as an attendant.”

No one had ever refused her so many times, one after another.

A’Chen gave a nod, handed the palace token to Jing’er, and turned to leave the palace chamber.

The palace doors were shut. A’Chen’s silhouette disappeared at the entrance. Xuan Zhaoran’s mouth trembled, and then tears began to fall in large drops down her cheeks.

“Princess, please don’t cry.” Jing’er took up a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

“Jing’er — this Princess… it’s not because of him that she’s crying.” Xuan Zhaoran wept in fits and starts.

“Of course not. The Princess is crying simply because… simply because she felt like crying.” Jing’er soothed her.

Xuan Zhaoran sniffled. Tomorrow when he left the palace, she was going to see exactly where he went.

· · ·

On learning that Yan Yunning was unharmed, Yan Shiyao had hired a carriage to go and find Nanchū’s parents. She intended to deliver the letter and then return to the original inn to wait for her.

She was in luck — she found Nanchū’s parents quickly, handed the sealed letter to Nanchū’s father, and then brought Nanchū’s parents and elder brother to see Nanchū.

Watching Father Nan support a distraught Mother Nan as she broke down, Yan Shiyao felt a pang of sorrow.

“If not for you, what would have happened to my younger sister?” Nan Hua ground his teeth.

Yan Shiyao rushed to explain, “That’s not it — Anachū herself…”

Nan Hua’s expression was hostile. “Not you? My sister was perfectly fine up in the mountains. How did it come to this?”

With Nanchū like this, who was going to send him money? He had no official post and had long grown accustomed to living off Xie Yan’s support. The thought that Xie Yan would no longer be sending him money made him want to strangle this fool Yan Shiyao.

“I…” Yan Shiyao opened her mouth, feeling a little wronged. “I didn’t know that Wenjing, he…”

“Yan Shiyao, pay for my sister’s loss with yourself.” Nan Hua impatiently cut her off, his eyes scanning Yan Shiyao up and down.

Not bad looking — she ought to fetch a decent bride price.

“Brother Nan Hua, aren’t you being unreasonable?” Yan Shiyao was a little angry.

“I was only joking — don’t be upset, little sister.” Nan Hua suddenly broke into a grin, his face puckering from all the extra flesh.

Yan Shiyao’s expression eased. “Brother Nan Hua, I’m not upset.”

She was just feeling a little wronged.

Back then she had felt sorry for Anachū and wanted her to be reunited with Wenjing. She hadn’t known that Wenjing had originally planned to make Anachū a concubine for a wealthy man.

Now that it had gone wrong, she blamed herself deeply too. The chief of the stronghold had blamed her as well — if Crown Prince Yanyu hadn’t shielded her, she would have been…

“Little Sister A’Yao, stay in Pingshi Town a few days first. You see — mother took the news of Anachū badly, and her spirits are very low. She’s getting on in years; I’m really worried…” Nan Hua drooped his head, his voice carrying a faint catch of tears.

Yan Shiyao bit her lip, her face unable to conceal her reluctance to refuse. “All right.”

From a distance, A’Chen frowned as he watched Nan Hua lead Yan Shiyao inside the room.

“Has Prince Xuan truly not misidentified her?” A’Chen murmured to himself.

It shouldn’t be so. If Prince Xuan could have Xuan Yanyu remain at the young lady’s side, he surely would not have made a mistake in identification.

Back then, while he and the young master were on the road searching for the young lady, they had run into mountain bandits, suffered serious wounds, and the two of them had been separated ever since.

The young master used to say the same words every single day: “A’Chen, when Xuan Yanyu takes a wife in the future, whoever he makes Crown Princess — she is this young master’s little sister.

We must make absolutely certain he doesn’t succeed in marrying my sister — whether by poison, by hired assassins, by whatever means necessary. His plans must be thwarted.

Little Sister was barely born before Prince Xuan designated her as Xuan Yanyu’s future Crown Princess. There must be a conspiracy behind it. We must protect her well.”

He had even asked the young master back then: what if they were already married?

The young master had said: “Then we’ll storm Prince Xuan’s palace and take my sister out.”

Storm Prince Xuan’s palace?

Poison His Highness the Crown Prince?

He never knew whether the young master was joking or serious. For now, the thing to do was protect the young lady and slowly search for the young master’s whereabouts — and resort to extreme measures only when absolutely necessary…

“What misidentification? Who are you muttering about?” Xuan Zhaoran crept up from behind him and yanked his ponytail.

A’Chen gave her a slanted look. “Princess, how did you manage to leave the palace?”

She’d been trailing behind him the entire way and hadn’t even thought to hide — what a foolish person.

Xuan Zhaoran let out a humph.

“Princess, there is no one outside the palace to ensure your safety. You had better return to the palace promptly.”

Xuan Zhaoran stood on her tiptoes and leaned in close to him, her voice full of warmth and laughter. “A’Chen, couldn’t you just protect this Princess?”

A’Chen bent his head and looked at the girl who was very close to him, his throat’s prominence rolling up and down. “Princess, you haven’t forgotten, have you? Last night I resigned from the post of attendant.”

Xuan Zhaoran spread her hands in a careless gesture. “Then just let someone hurt me. After all, there’s no one protecting me anymore.”

A’Chen folded his arms across his chest and leaned lazily against the trunk of a tree, giving her a sweeping, indolent glance.

After holding out for two seconds, Xuan Zhaoran frowned and asked, “Are you here to look for the eldest young lady of the Yan family?”

She had just seen Yan Shiyao go inside with another man.

A’Chen suddenly laughed. “The eldest young lady of the Yan family?”

Just the other day, before going to find Xuan Yanyu, she had been muttering away — “Why hasn’t Crown Prince Brother brought Sister Shiyao back to Xuanzhao yet?”

And now she wasn’t calling her “Sister Shiyao” anymore?

“A’Chen, you look so handsome when you smile.” Xuan Zhaoran stared at him and spoke the thoughts of her heart.

The smile stiffened on A’Chen’s face.

‘A’Chen, you look so handsome when you smile.’

‘A’Chen, once A’Jie’s wedding is done, I’ll head back.’

‘Wait for me at home like a good boy, all right?’

Little Lemon…

That day she had been standing at the riverside and almost fallen in. He had pulled her back. Afterward she had not only helped him track down the people who had bullied him to settle the score, but she had also taught him to read and write. She was the first person to ever tell him he wasn’t stupid…

She had said: ‘A’Chen, whoever says you’re dumb — I’ll go sort them out for you.’

She was also the first person not to look down on him — to teach him to wash his face, wash his hands. She had taught him that when leaving the house, you should leave a note, carry your money, ask when you don’t understand something. She had shown him how to survive on his own.

He had depended on her greatly, even though he was actually a few months older than her.

Back in those days, she would say every single day: ‘A’Chen, tell me — when will I be able to go home?’

‘A’Chen, I want to go home so badly.’

He hadn’t understood it then. Only now did he understand — all along, she had been longing to be taken back, taken back to the Chancellor’s estate.

If he were to do something harmful to Xuan Yanyu in the future, would she be terribly disappointed in him? And then, A’Chen lowered his gaze to look at the girl before him — what about her?

Would she blame him too?

“A’Chen, what’s wrong?” Xuan Zhaoran pressed her lips together slightly.

Why had his energy dropped so low all of a sudden?

“Nothing.” A’Chen said in a muffled voice.

“A’Chen, why did you come here to look for the eldest young lady of the Yan family?” Xuan Zhaoran asked again.

“Princess, why is it that I cannot come looking for the eldest young lady of the Yan family?” A’Chen raised an eyebrow.

Xuan Zhaoran puffed out her cheeks petulantly, her voice going syrupy sweet. “A’Chen, you are not allowed to fall for her.”