“Miss, I can see that Princess Consort Yan has really abandoned all her principles now.” Bingtang stepped forward to support Qin Yining’s arm, saying in a low voice, “It seems she’s not getting along well with Madam Gu at the prince’s mansion.”

Ji Yun also said, “Prince Yan certainly pays a lot of attention to matters concerning his wives and concubines.”

“Where does he pay attention to wives and concubines? I think he simply can’t forget our miss.” Bingtang teased with a smile, “If the Prince were to find out about this, who knows how angry he’d get.”

When Qin Yining thought about Pang Xiao’s possible reaction, she couldn’t help but laugh. She hadn’t noticed it before, but the more time they spent together, the more she could see that Pang Xiao was actually quite a jealous person. Someone who was like an overlord outside would become petty when it came to her affairs—this contrast was truly amusing.

Qin Yining smiled and shook her head, turning to go back into the residence.

Who would have thought that Bingtang’s words would prove prophetic? After dinner, Qin Yining was reclining against a light blue satin large pillow on the warm kang by the window, reading a storybook by lamplight, when there came a slight sound from the rear window of the washroom.

Qianyun and Ji Yun were doing needlework when they heard the sound and exchanged glances. Qianyun stood in front of Qin Yining while Ji Yun quietly went to the back to check the situation.

Carefully positioning herself at the door, she heard Pang Xiao’s voice from inside.

“It’s me.”

Ji Yun was startled, quickly lifting the curtain to confirm. Seeing it was indeed Pang Xiao, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “My lord.”

“Mm. Where is your miss?”

“Miss is reading.” Ji Yun bowed and then led Pang Xiao inside.

Qin Yining had already put down her storybook and was getting down to put on her shoes.

Pang Xiao looked around the room, confirming there really were no outsiders, then waved his hand at Qianyun and Ji Yun.

The two maids exchanged glances, smiling secretly as they bowed and withdrew.

Pang Xiao first blew out the lamp, then helped Qin Yining sit down, bending down to grasp her feet in their white socks with his large hands, frowning as he said, “Why are your feet so cold? Don’t get up, warm yourself properly.”

Qin Yining smiled and said, “I don’t think I’ll easily adapt to the weather here anytime soon.” She lifted the thin quilt to cover herself, but saw Pang Xiao remove his boots and also climb onto the warm kang, sitting cross-legged facing her as his large palm grabbed both her feet and placed them in his embrace.

“Ah! What are you doing? Let go quickly!” Feeling her feet against Pang Xiao’s warm and solid abdomen, Qin Yining’s face reddened and her toes curled up as she hurriedly tried to pull her legs back.

But Pang Xiao wouldn’t let her refuse, gripping her ankles and lifting his own clothes to place her pair of cold feet directly against his belly through his under-robe, even wrapping his arms around her legs to prevent her from dodging.

“How’s that? Warm now?” Pang Xiao leaned close to her with a grinning laugh.

Qin Yining glared at him with her face completely red, though her struggling movements weakened. His body was like a small furnace, very warm in his embrace, and the texture of his abdominal muscles felt particularly good, like hard iron blocks wrapped in thick velvet.

Thinking about where her feet were resting, Qin Yining could only curl her toes, not daring to make any extra movements. Not only was her face red, but her ears and neck had also turned red. Fortunately, they had just blown out the lamp to prevent anyone outside from seeing the shadows of people inside the room, otherwise if someone saw her like this, it wouldn’t be enough embarrassment.

Pang Xiao chuckled softly in good humor, saying in a low voice, “After that incident with Madam Lu, your family didn’t give you trouble, did they?”

He lowered his voice and leaned close to her face, obviously afraid someone might discover him. Qin Yining thought about the current size of the residence grounds—she wasn’t the only one living in the back courtyard—and couldn’t help becoming cautious as well, also speaking in a low voice, “It’s alright. With the Lu family putting out word, being nervous is only human nature.”

When she lowered her voice, it sounded different from her usual tone, carrying a lazy, languid charm that made Pang Xiao’s ears tingle.

His voice also became somewhat hoarse.

“If you have any difficulties, don’t hide them from me. Just tell me everything. If your family can’t solve it, you still have me.”

Qin Yining couldn’t help but laugh softly, “I know you’ll back me up, but things haven’t gotten that serious yet. Besides, the Lu family has deep roots—I imagine when you all cooperated with them to conquer the Northern Ji Kingdom, there were quite a few complications involved, right? I know that with your abilities, you don’t need to fear anyone. But it’s better to be cautious about unnecessary matters and not invite trouble for no reason.”

Listening to Qin Yining’s caring words, Pang Xiao didn’t feel dejected about having his abilities questioned, but rather felt genuinely comforted and at ease, like drinking a steaming bowl of meat soup on a cold winter day—warmed through from inside to outside.

Qin Yining must really like him quite a lot now, right?

Originally, he had been the one shamelessly trying every method to bring them closer together. He had shed blood, climbed walls—all those foolish things he did to pursue Qin Yining were things he had never done for anyone else from childhood to adulthood.

Now that everything had turned out well and Qin Yining was devoted to him wholeheartedly, Pang Xiao felt all his efforts had direction. After all, only when he became strong could he stand up for his wife, right?

Pang Xiao’s large hands massaged her calves stroke by stroke, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

He began to feel somewhat grateful to Master Zheng who had found him initially. If he hadn’t been forced onto the battlefield by Li Qitian using the Pang family banner, he might already be dead in the war chaos now, or perhaps living peacefully as a small tavern keeper. The only thing certain was that in that case, he wouldn’t have met Qin Yining.

If this person didn’t exist in his life, how boring it would be.

His large hand traveled along her calf and slipped inside his own clothing, his palm covering the back of her feet as he sighed, “When I first saw you, you were so small, pushed out of the medicine shop and fell to the ground with things from your broken basket scattered everywhere—you looked so pitiful. I thought you would cry, but you didn’t. Instead, you wiped your face and turned to buy meat buns.”

Hearing this, Qin Yining was stunned and suddenly looked up at Pang Xiao, “You, what did you say?”

Pang Xiao looked at her tenderly, “I had only recently been found by Master Zheng then. I happened to hear Master Zheng mention the child they had stolen from the Qin family years ago. When I asked carefully, I learned that Master Zheng had actually switched you with another girl for revenge, and even abandoned you.”

“I’ve always believed that disasters shouldn’t affect family members—why should the affairs of one generation involve the next generation? So I begged Master Zheng for a long time before going to Liang City to see you. But at that time, my position in the army was lowly and I was still controlled by Master Zheng, so the silver I could leave for you was truly limited.”

“Yi’er, I’m sorry. I let you suffer on the mountain for so many years.”

“The silver I left you back then was limited and probably couldn’t support you for long, right?”

“When I went to Liang City again the following year, I couldn’t find you anymore. I asked many people, and they all said your adoptive mother had died and you had disappeared.”

“I was truly sad for a long time then. If not for General Pang’s affairs, you should have been a young miss in the Qin family enjoying all honors and wealth—why should you have lived so hardship?”

“You, you are…” Qin Yining’s lips trembled as she grabbed Pang Xiao’s clothes with both hands, her voice choked as she whispered, “You are that beautiful brother?”

Mini Theater: Pang Xiao: This king is very satisfied with how this identity reveal went. Reward! Foolish Moon: (＾－＾)V