“Remembered?” Xuan Yanyu took her hand and folded it in his palm.

Yan Yunning looked at him and said nothing.

“Little Yunning, let’s go.” A’Ci glanced sideways at their clasped hands.

What a nuisance. Young Master wouldn’t let them be together, and it was clear he had mistaken who the right person was — so why wasn’t Xuan Yanyu hovering around Yan Shiyao? Why did he insist on hovering around little Yunning?

Xuan Yanyu’s throat shifted. “I’ll accompany you on your way back.”

A’Ci regarded him with cool eyes and offered a pointed reminder: “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you have come to Qilan on important business — state affairs take priority. Little Yunning does not need you to accompany her.”

Xuan Yanyu’s smile did not reach his eyes. “A’Ci, you talk a great deal.”

Yan Yunning’s brow gave a twitch. “If you want to come, come along.”

She didn’t want him taking his displeasure out on A’Ci over this.

Xuan Yanyu let the smile fade and gave a soft exhale. That reluctantly he was allowed to go.

Qi Qingchen’s side room.

Taking advantage of Yan Shiyao’s absence, Nuo Xi fed the man lying on the bed another dose of medicine.

“Sister, that’s enough — feed him any more and he truly won’t wake up.” Nuo Xi casually wiped the medicine that had trickled from Qi Qingchen’s chin.

The medicine had been something the late tribe leader had spent a great deal of money to purchase from the mistress of Yuan Jin Manor — it was rather a waste to use it on him.

Nuo Nuo’s smile turned cold. “Won’t wake up? All the better — let him go keep the tribe leader company.”

Nuo Nuo looked at the man lying on the bed, completely without vitality. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, he might have appeared to have stopped breathing altogether.

That day, she had instructed A’Xi to use Yan Shiyao, luring them all to the clinic, and had then quietly slipped something into his food and drink.

The late tribe leader Luo Xuan had saved his birth mother, and he had received the antidote — yet not only had he never gone back to see the tribe leader even once, his side consort had even fallen pregnant. It truly was infuriating.

He had betrayed the tribe leader without a shred of remorse. He deserved to suffer a little.

If not for the constraints of his status, she would have truly liked to simply…

Nuo Nuo closed her eyes. She desperately wanted to ask the tribe leader: did she have regrets? Was it worth it? Was it worth it for a man like this?

“Sister, what if Yan Shiyao and the others send him back to the palace?” Nuo Xi was uneasy.

If the Emperor of Qi were to find out, neither she nor her sister would be able to escape this.

Nuo Nuo landed a sharp slap across Qi Qingchen’s face. “They would not dare,” she said coldly. “If they send Qi Qingchen back to the palace, they cannot escape implication either. There is nothing to worry about.”

Nuo Xi swallowed, watching the man’s cheek flush red from the blow. His chapped lips trembled slightly and his brow knit together.

And her sister just kept slapping — one after another. She was actually afraid she’d slap him awake.

“Sister… that’s enough.” Nuo Xi opened her mouth to dissuade her.

The way Qi Qingchen looked right now, she had no way to explain it to Yan Shiyao.

There was no need to worry about others, since apart from Yan Shiyao, no one came to see Qi Qingchen.

Nuo Nuo rubbed her numbing hand, and when she spoke again her voice had softened. “A’Xi, don’t do anything foolish for any man — do you understand? Otherwise you’ll end up like the tribe leader, gone for nothing.”

Nuo Xi nodded.

She understood. The late tribe leader Luo Xuan was the clearest example — Qi Qingchen had probably forgotten about her entirely by now.

“Stall them for a few more days, let Qi Qingchen suffer a little longer, then send them to Yuan Jin Manor for the antidote.” Nuo Nuo pressed down the cold fury in her eyes.

“Understood.”

Nuo Nuo looked at the bed — the thin quilt had been soaked through over a wide patch — and suppressed the wave of nausea rising in her stomach.

“Who has been tending to him these past few days?” Nuo Nuo raised a handkerchief to cover her nose.

“Yan Shiyao.” Nuo Xi pressed her lips together.

If Qi Qingchen were to wake up and learn how wretched a state he had been in, he would probably lose his mind.

“Truly devoted — Qi Qingchen had better not betray her again.” Nuo Nuo gave a light laugh.

And truly foolish, as well.

Nuo Nuo cast Qi Qingchen a sidelong glance, her eyes turning ice-cold.

They did not arrive at Cha Xi Town until the second quarter of the hour of Hai, when night had fallen completely.

“Maternal Grandmother, Maternal Grandfather.” Yan Yunning pushed open the wooden door and called out softly.

“Little Yunning?” Lu Jin’an heard the familiar voice, and her eyes reddened around the rims.

“Lu A’Niang.” Yan Yunning smiled and threw herself into her arms. “Lu A’Niang, did you miss me?”

Lu A’Niang was someone her maternal grandmother had brought back to the household a few days before she herself was taken back to the Prime Minister’s estate. She had no children of her own, and had taken Yan Yunning as her goddaughter.

Lu Jin’an quietly dabbed at her tears. “I missed you — how could your A’Niang not miss you?”

“A’Po.”

“A’Po.”

Xuan Yanyu and A’Ci spoke at the same moment.

“A’Ci… you’re well?” Lu Jin’an patted the corner of her eye with her handkerchief.

This child had always insisted on calling her A’Niang just like little Yunning, yet today he was calling her A’Po instead.

“All well. Lu A’Niang, A’Ci is very sharp now.” Yan Yunning’s voice was warm with laughter.

“Good, good, good.”

“Have Maternal Grandfather and Maternal Grandmother gone to sleep?” Yan Yunning stood on tiptoe to peek toward the east room.

Pitch black — the candle inside must have been extinguished. The two elders had retired for the night.

“Your maternal grandfather went with your maternal grandmother to the manor estate. Before, when you and A’Ci were here, they had you to look after — now that neither of you is around, the two old ones have gone to the estate to clear their heads.” Lu Jin’an smiled as she explained.

“They’ve gone to the estate?” Yan Yunning nudged a pebble with the tip of her shoe, her voice falling with disappointment. “Then won’t I be able to see them?”

The estate was quite far from Cha Xi Town, and with Qi Qingchen’s condition still uncertain, if they stayed away too long, her sister would be alone in Pingshi Town and something might go wrong.

“You’ll see them — when your maternal grandfather and the others return, A’Niang will come and find you.” Lu Jin’an cupped her small face in her hands, her eyes full of tender concern. “Is the Prime Minister’s wife treating you well?”

Yan Yunning pursed her lips. “Not well at all. Lu A’Niang, not only did she want to marry me off to someone, she also threatened to invoke family discipline on me, and she had me locked in the ancestral hall.”

Lu Jin’an’s tears welled up all at once. She pressed her handkerchief to her face and wept, unable to hold back her sobs.

“Lu… Lu A’Niang.” Yan Yunning stood helplessly in place, at a loss.

“Little Yunning — if she used family discipline on you, did the Master of the Prime Minister’s estate just stand by and watch?” Lu Jin’an clutched her fingertips, growing more agitated with each word. “You are timid — being locked in the ancestral hall must have terrified you.”

“She never got the chance to strike. Father stopped her.” Yan Yunning took up a handkerchief and gently wiped away her tears one by one. “As for the ancestral hall — Xuan Yanyu broke open the lock on the door and freed me. I’m all right, Lu A’Niang, please don’t cry.”

The sight of her crying made her own heart ache terribly.

“Xuan Yanyu?” Lu Jin’an’s pupils gave a slight tremor.

Xuan Yanyu?

The given name of His Highness the Crown Prince.

Yan Yunning reached back and clasped Xuan Yanyu’s wrist, pulling him forward to stand before her.

The night was very dark, and Lu Jin’an could not make out his features clearly. She could dimly see that the young man before her was very tall, with refined and delicate features. She took a careful look at the brocade robe he wore — a glance at the fabric alone told her it was exquisitely rare.

“A’Po, set your heart at ease. I will not let Yan Yunning suffer, nor will I give the Prime Minister’s wife another opportunity to bully her.” Xuan Yanyu made his promise with complete sincerity.

Yan Yunning turned her head to look at him, her feelings complicated.

“You are… from Xuanzhao, are you not?” Lu Jin’an’s voice trembled unsteadily.

“Yes.” Xuan Yanyu nodded.

Lu Jin’an’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach, her mind thrown into turmoil.

How could Prince Xuan bear to send his one and only imperial son to Qilan?

“Lu A’Niang, what’s wrong?” Yan Yunning was bewildered.

Lu A’Niang was acting very strangely today.