Qin Yining propped herself up with her arm and sat up on her side, her smooth and lustrous long hair sliding from her shoulder onto the light-colored bedding.
“We just returned, how did he come so quickly? Could something be wrong with Mrs. Qiu?”
Pang Xiao pulled the blanket up for her and smiled, “It wouldn’t be. If something were wrong, he would have arranged for servants to come report.”
Qin Yining suddenly understood, “That makes sense. Will you go take a look?”
“Mm, you sleep first, no need to wait for me. If there’s anything, I’ll have someone come call you.” Pang Xiao grabbed his clothes to put on.
Qin Yining lay down on her side, hugging the blanket as she watched Pang Xiao’s tall and slender figure, covering her mouth as she yawned, “I understand, wear more clothes.”
Pang Xiao, who had been striding toward the door, stopped at her words, came back to grab a cloak to put on, and his large hand gently caressed Qin Yining’s cheek, “Sleep now, be good.”
Qin Yining smiled as she nuzzled against his palm, her eyelids gradually growing heavy, and she soon fell asleep.
Pang Xiao looked at her delicate profile, couldn’t help but show a warm smile, tucked in her blanket corners properly before tiptoeing out of the inner chamber.
When Qin Yining opened her eyes the next morning, she was nestled in Pang Xiao’s embrace. His arm circled her waist, holding her tightly in his arms, his legs warming her somewhat cold feet. She was pressed against his warm, solid body and contentedly squinted her eyes.
She was somewhat sensitive to cold, especially in this kind of weather—even her nose tip was cold when breathing, making her even more reluctant to leave the warm bedding.
Qin Yining didn’t want to move, so she quietly looked up at Pang Xiao.
Pang Xiao had his eyes closed, with long eyelashes, relaxed sword-like brows, and slightly parted thin lips—he actually looked somewhat like a child.
She smiled softly, her eyes full of love and tenderness as she looked at him.
“What are you looking at?” Pang Xiao suddenly spoke, turning over to pin her down, “Little lady, you’ve been looking for so long—could it be you harbor some unspeakable thoughts about this young master?”
Qin Yining draped her arms over his shoulders, her almond eyes curved with laughter, “Yes, I do have some unspeakable thoughts. Young master, you’re so handsome—would you like to become my mountain stronghold husband?”
Pang Xiao was startled, then burst into delighted laughter, the sound vibrating through his chest as Qin Yining laughed along with him.
Her eyes curved like two crescents, and morning light filtered through the light-colored gauze bed curtains. Her porcelain-white skin seemed to glow with a soft radiance.
So soft and pure, yet inadvertently revealing an enchanting allure that stirred the heart.
Pang Xiao’s eyes gradually darkened as he pressed against her soft, delicate body and captured her lips in a kiss.
The two were like swans with intertwined necks, embracing tenderly for quite a while before stopping their movements, both breathing heavily.
Qin Yining nestled languidly in his arms.
“What did Young Master Mu want when he came to see you last night?”
Upon hearing this, Pang Xiao burst into laughter.
“He wrote over ten pages of paper with names he’d thought of beforehand. Unable to decide, he ran to find me.”
Qin Yining said in astonishment, “He asked you to help choose a name?”
Pang Xiao nodded, “Mm, he said I had experience. You didn’t see his state—the names he came up with were simply beyond words. I couldn’t very well directly name the child myself, but watching him struggle between ‘White Tiger’ and ‘Heavenly Wolf,’ I was simply speechless…”
Qin Yining giggled hearing this, “You’re laughing at him? I don’t know who it was back then who, in order to name his son, seriously gathered advisors to study for most of the day. At least Young Master Mu only sought out you, his good friend, to discuss it—he didn’t force unrelated people to help think of names.”
Hearing this, Pang Xiao’s face reddened, but he stubbornly said, “If he had staff advisors, don’t you think he’d go seek their help?”
“So what happened in the end? What name was finally chosen? Surely it’s not really Mu White Tiger or Mu Heavenly Wolf?” That would make them all sound like wild beasts.
Pang Xiao laughed, “I advised him to ask Mrs. Qiu’s opinion, and besides, his martial uncle is also skilled at fortune telling—perhaps he could calculate a good name based on the birth date and time. After hearing this, he went to the military camp that very night.”
Qin Yining laughed helplessly and turned over to get up, “Regardless of what the child is named, we should also prepare some useful items to send over—we absolutely cannot be careless.”
“You arrange it.”
After the two got up and finished washing, just as they were about to eat breakfast, someone outside came to report: “Young Master Mu has arrived.”
Qin Yining smiled sweetly, “I suppose a name has been chosen.”
Pang Xiao also smiled, instructing people to prepare another set of bowls and chopsticks while he went out to welcome Mu Jinghu inside.
Qin Yining sat at the square table waiting.
Before long, she saw Mu Jinghu and Pang Xiao walking side by side. As they walked, Mu Jinghu was animatedly pulling Pang Xiao along, talking about something. Only when the two approached did Qin Yining hear the last few sentences.
“So Martial Uncle said to give him the character ‘Yan,’ saying that Yan Ge’er’s birth date and time lack fire, so this character is best. He also said his fate lacks a wise and brave godfather. I thought about it—the only person around me who’s both wise and brave is you, so I came to find you.”
Qin Yining smiled as she stood up, “It’s already decided to call him Mu Yan?”
“Yes. Shanshan also says this character is very good. My Yan Ge’er wants to acknowledge you two as godfather and godmother. What do you think?”
Although Pang Xiao felt that Tianji Zi’s explanation was eighty percent nonsense, setting that aside and looking only at his relationship with Mu Jinghu, he wouldn’t refuse.
“This is our honor.” Qin Yining and Pang Xiao had the same thought. After exchanging glances, she smiled and said, “Since that’s the case, at the third-day washing ceremony I must send a grand gift—I can’t let Yan Ge’er call me godmother for nothing in the future.”
Mu Jinghu smiled quite foolishly, obviously still immersed in the joy of becoming a father.
Pang Xiao invited him to eat, and Mu Jinghu wasn’t polite, eating while laughingly talking about how cute and beautiful his son was.
Qin Yining rarely saw Mu Jinghu in such a state. Having a son seemed to make him ten years younger. They didn’t care about the etiquette of not speaking while eating and chatted with Mu Jinghu.
Halfway through the meal, Ji Yun suddenly hurried in, curtsied and said, “Your Highness, your subordinate requests an audience.”
Pang Xiao had no intention of avoiding Mu Jinghu and directly asked, “Someone from the military camp?”
Ji Yun then spoke boldly and directly, “In response to Your Highness, it’s a Jinhu Guard who has returned from Huichuan County.”
Pang Xiao and Qin Yining’s expressions immediately became serious.
The two couldn’t bother with eating, and Mu Jinghu also sensed something was amiss, following them to the front hall.
The Jinhu Guard respectfully saluted upon seeing Pang Xiao, and at Pang Xiao’s signal, spoke directly: “In response to Your Highness, after this subordinate arrived at Huichuan County and carefully investigated, no abnormalities were discovered there.”
Pang Xiao frowned, “Explain in detail.”
“Yes. The imperial mausoleum construction project in Huichuan County has already stopped. Near the imperial mausoleum are several empty areas used to build work sheds and store stone materials. Currently, only a few workers are guarding the stone materials. The court hasn’t allocated silver, and Huichuan County has no county magistrate—with no leader, the situation in the city can be described as completely desolate.”
This information was all surface-level, just as Pang Xiao knew it to be. Obviously, this Jinhu Guard’s trip had failed to uncover any behind-the-scenes details.