Pang Xiao stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance, watching the procession of carriages slowly drive away. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly – even the stabbing pain in his arm didn’t hurt so much anymore.

Today he had used the opportunity to clean out most of the eyesores in his mansion. Now that these people had left the prince’s mansion, if they wanted to return it would take considerable effort. After all, these people all belonged to the prince’s mansion – whether or not to allow them through the gates still depended on whether he nodded his approval.

This way, when Miss Ning entered the household in the future, there would be fewer troubles.

As for someone as sharp-tongued and mean as Madam Pang, he wasn’t worried that Miss Ning couldn’t handle her. It was just that since he could plan and clear away these obstacles, why leave them behind to trouble Miss Ning?

Pang Xiao was in a cheerful mood as he turned to re-enter the mansion, but saw Huzi winking at him meaningfully.

“What is it?”

Huzi quietly pointed toward the alley across the way.

Pang Xiao inconspicuously glanced over with his peripheral vision and saw an unfamiliar servant standing at the corner.

The man had an ordinary appearance – quite unremarkable – but while laypeople couldn’t tell, an expert could see that this person was definitely someone with superior martial arts skills. Moreover, he had been watching the prince’s mansion entrance the entire time. When their gazes met, he didn’t avoid it but openly nodded slightly.

Pang Xiao had a flash of inspiration and seemed to sense something.

He forcibly suppressed his excitement and returned to the mansion expressionlessly.

Walking all the way back to his study and closing the door, he said quietly: “Do you think Miss Ning has come?”

“It must be Fourth Miss,” Huzi said with a grin. “Fourth Miss cares so much about Master. Now that news of you fighting with Prince Consort Ji and being seriously wounded is spreading everywhere, how could Fourth Miss not worry? She definitely had to come see with her own eyes to feel at ease.”

Pang Xiao nodded with a restrained smile on his face.

He paced two circles with apparent composure, saying regretfully: “It’s a pity there are still thorns in the mansion, otherwise I could bring her in to see Grandfather and Grandmother. These days while she’s been away, Grandmother has been constantly mentioning her.”

“The future is long. Right now Master should prioritize going to see Fourth Miss, so she can feel at ease.”

Pang Xiao nodded and changed clothes, replacing the bloodstained gauze on his arm with clean bandages. Then he quietly slipped out through an unguarded area at the rear side gate, instructing Huzi to follow at a distance and observe to ensure he hadn’t missed any tails. Before long, he had circled around to where Qin Yining’s carriage was located.

Jingzhe, Xiaoman, Xiaoxue, and Dahan were stationed around the carriage and at both sides of the alley. When they saw someone approaching, they all became alert, but relaxed after seeing who it was.

Xiaoman beside the carriage said quietly: “Miss, the prince has arrived.”

Qin Yining in the carriage was startled and quickly lifted the curtain, seeing Pang Xiao already standing beside the carriage window with a smile.

Seeing Pang Xiao’s arrival, Qianyun winked at Qin Yining and got out of the carriage. She smiled and bowed to Pang Xiao, then called for the several scouts to withdraw.

Qin Yining’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Seeing Pang Xiao nimbly jump into the carriage, she couldn’t help but smile with delight, her eyes crinkling.

Pang Xiao sat down beside her and lowered the curtain. His uninjured right hand touched her cheek: “How did you come here?”

“I heard you were wounded by Prince Consort Ji’s sword, so I came to see. I didn’t expect to witness such a good show.”

Pang Xiao laughed: “Those women in the mansion were truly too bothersome. They were seriously disturbing the lives of my grandfather, grandmother, and mother.”

Though what Pang Xiao was most concerned about in his heart was fearing that Qin Yining would suffer grievances when she married into the household in the future, he was too embarrassed to say this to her face, not wanting her to think he was seeking credit.

Seeing Pang Xiao’s meaningful smile, Qin Yining also laughed with a “puchi” sound. She put one arm around Pang Xiao’s neck in a brotherly manner: “Does my handsome brother have nothing else to say?”

This teasing tone made Pang Xiao chuckle, but his heart was tickled by her calling him “handsome brother.” His arm encircled her waist, pulling her toward his chest: “Nothing else in particular. Call me handsome brother again for me to hear.”

Qin Yining laughed playfully: “Handsome brother clearly used today’s wound from His Majesty’s brother-in-law as an excuse to seek compensation from His Majesty. Getting rid of a legitimate mother while conveniently sending away the concubines too – among those serving people there must be some unexposed spies, right? This kind of killing several birds with one stone has always been handsome brother’s style.”

Leaning close to his ear, she whispered: “Moreover, I think your main goal was sending away the concubines. Are you afraid I’ll have to deal with them in the future and felt sorry for me?”

Left with “handsome brother” and right with “handsome brother” – the calls made Pang Xiao’s bones go weak, a surge of heat rushing through his body, his mind filled only with her soft voice and the warm breath falling on his ear.

Pang Xiao was never a shy person. He simply turned over and pressed her down in the carriage, biting that small mouth he had missed for so long.

Before Qin Yining could react, the world was already spinning. Unable to struggle free, she could only obediently endure.

Only when she was nearly breathless did Pang Xiao prop himself up: “How could I feel sorry for them? I feel sorry for you.”

Qin Yining’s beautiful eyes sparkled brightly as she smiled softly: “I know.”

Pang Xiao couldn’t help but place another feather-light kiss on her eyelashes: “Knowing that you know, yet deliberately teasing me.”

Both of them laughed.

Qin Yining pushed him, and they both sat up straight. Qin Yining then asked: “Where did Prince Consort Ji injure you? I see your mouth corner is bruised – he hit quite hard.”

“If it wasn’t hard enough, how could it look realistic?” Pang Xiao laughed. “The arm was just scratched, nothing serious. Alan knows proper restraint.”

“Did you two agree on this beforehand?” Qin Yining moved to lift Pang Xiao’s sleeve.

Pang Xiao cooperatively removed his outer robe to show Qin Yining his wound.

“We didn’t discuss it beforehand. I just went to sit briefly at his mansion, drinking tea and chatting. When leaving, we happened to encounter Princess Imperial Anyang arriving. I thought it was rare to encounter such a scene, so why not seize the opportunity? Alan’s situation is similar to mine. He probably thought of the same thing. After a few probing words, we guessed each other’s intentions, so we fought.”

“You two really are… it wasn’t even planned in advance, yet you could have such tacit understanding.”

“It came from our time on the battlefield together. Though our current circumstances are very different from before, and we might even stand on opposing sides of interests, the mutual understanding and tacit cooperation we developed still remains.”

Qin Yining nodded in understanding and sighed: “Being born in this era leaves no choice. Though Prince Consort Ji’s strategies are good and he has decisive methods, he’s still a good brother.”

“Indeed.” Pang Xiao couldn’t help but feel emotional. “Our current situation isn’t like before. Though we might calculate against each other, we can both understand that sometimes it’s unavoidable.”

Qin Yining nodded: “I suppose this is the difference between men and women. If two good sisters calculated against each other for self-preservation, they probably wouldn’t be so magnanimous – their relationship would have broken long ago. But you men are different.”

“It’s not about gender, just about who it concerns. Ji Lan and I have a life-and-death friendship. I’ve always admired his character and martial arts. He’s an upright and honorable person, so I’m willing to treat him sincerely. Because our circumstances are similar, we understand each other’s difficulties even more.”

Pang Xiao couldn’t help but laugh at this point: “We’re now calculating against each other for self-preservation, and we’re both clearly aware of it.”

“So having this kind of tacit understanding isn’t a bad thing. Your wound is still bleeding.”

Seeing blood seeping through the gauze wrapped around his strong arm, Qin Yining said worriedly: “Don’t move much these few days, avoid water, and watch your diet. Don’t think you’re made of iron – don’t wounds hurt you? Your whole body is covered in scars – they look terrible.”

“Hey, you don’t like them? Well, there’s no help for it. I’m already covered in scars. Why don’t you go back and tell Bingtang to find me some method to remove scars, saying they feel uncomfortable when you touch them. How about it?”

If she said that, wouldn’t Bingtang laugh her teeth off?

Qin Yining blushed and glared at him fiercely: “Always so improper.”

With Qin Yining’s help, Pang Xiao put his clothes back on, then asked quietly: “That Lu fellow hasn’t given you trouble, has he?”

Qin Yining smiled: “No particular trouble. It’s just that I embarrassed Madam Lu last time – I don’t know if she’ll cause more problems later.”

“Madam Lu isn’t someone to trifle with. You should be more careful. With her temperament, she holds grudges and definitely won’t let this matter rest.”