Within that cold, youthful voice lay the faintest trace of a grievance — barely perceptible.

Ling Jingshu acted as though she had not caught it and maintained her polite, composed smile. “Imperial Physician Wei is inside treating A’Xiao’s eyes at the moment. Once the treatment is done, I will have A’Xiao come to pay his respects to Your Highness.”

The faint trace of expectation the Crown Grandson had carried in his heart vanished swiftly in the face of Ling Jingshu’s courteous yet thoroughly distant manner. His heart went completely cold.

He had never been able to stop thinking of her — but she could barely wait for him to keep his distance.

As this thought struck him, the Crown Grandson felt a mixture of bitterness and sourness inside. Without meaning to, his tongue turned sharp. “It is Imperial Physician Wei who is treating Young Master Ling — if thanks are to be given, they should go to him. What is the point of thanking someone as unrelated to the matter as myself?”

Wang Tong suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

His Highness was clearly pining for Ling Jingshu in his heart. And yet face to face with her, he resorted to this kind of cutting remark. He was truly doing himself no favors with young ladies.

Ling Jingshu felt no anger. She had already refused the Crown Grandson — given his pride, the fact that he was still willing to accept her offer of allegiance was already a remarkable show of magnanimity. Could she really expect him to feel not the slightest trace of grievance?

He was the exalted Crown Grandson of the realm. She was a young woman who had come to him in secret offering her loyalty. The relationship between them was not unlike that between Wang Tong and him. If he wanted to be sharp-tongued and vent a little irritation, she would simply bear it.

“Your Highness is right to correct me.” Ling Jingshu lowered her head in acknowledgment.

Little did she know that the calmer and more even-tempered she was, the more fiercely the nameless fire inside the Crown Grandson’s chest blazed. He let out a cold laugh. “In your heart, it seems I truly am a complete outsider. This is the affair of you and your younger brother — I never should have concerned myself with it in the first place, should I?”

…… Well. Now his temper was growing even larger.

Ling Jingshu swallowed her own flash of irritation and answered meekly, “My younger brother and I have been looked after by Your Highness in every respect. I am deeply grateful to Your Highness. How could Your Highness be an outsider to this matter?”

Just those two dry and simple sentences — and somehow, as if by some miracle, they doused the fire in the Crown Grandson’s heart.

The Crown Grandson still fixed his gaze intently on Ling Jingshu, though his tone eased slightly. “Has Young Master Ling’s eye condition shown any improvement lately?”

At the mention of Ling Xiao’s illness, Ling Jingshu’s expression also softened considerably. “By Your Highness’s blessing, A’Xiao has been receiving treatments for so long now — taking his medicine and applying the ointment every day — and his eyes have begun to faintly perceive light. At this rate, in a few more months, A’Xiao’s eye ailment should make a full recovery.”

The Crown Grandson made a sound of acknowledgment, then asked casually, “I heard that some days ago, at Princess Changping’s estate, you dove into the lake and saved Princess An Ya’s life.”

Ling Jingshu gave a self-deprecating smile. “It is quite embarrassing to admit before Your Highness. My swimming is no more than passable. In that moment I acted on impulse and jumped in. By the time I had managed to grab hold of Princess An Ya, I had already used up what little strength I had. Fortunately, one of the ladies-in-waiting also jumped into the lake and pulled both Princess An Ya and me to the boat. Otherwise, I would have been in quite a bit of trouble myself.”

The Crown Grandson cast her a sidelong glance, his tone sharpening again. “The most important thing a person can do is know her own limits. Given that your swimming is not strong, you ought to have thought it through carefully before acting. Jumping into the water in such haste — if you had failed to save her and lost your own life in the bargain, that would have been thoroughly foolish. Even if your aim was to win the favor of Princess An Ya and Wei Jieyu, you could have found a steadier approach.”

He would never tell her how anxious and distressed he had felt when he first heard the news. He would never admit that when he learned Imperial Physician Wei had rushed to Princess Changping’s estate to check her pulse, he had been consumed with jealousy.

He was jealous that Wei Yan had been able to sit at her bedside, speaking to her gently, asking after her warmly.

He was jealous of every man who could get close to her and make her smile.

Especially that remarkably handsome Wei Yan.

……

Faced with the Crown Grandson’s inexplicable and sudden sharpness, Ling Jingshu remained as steady as ever. “I will not conceal it from Your Highness — looking back afterward, I did feel some regret. But in a moment like that, there truly was no time for deliberation. Should I ever encounter a similar situation in the future, I will be a great deal more careful.”

The Crown Grandson let out a low sound of contempt, then asked abruptly, “Wei Jieyu summoned you into the palace — and afterward, the Empress herself also summoned you to Jiao Fang Palace for an audience?”

Was he telling her that her every move and action was fully visible to his eyes and ears?

Ling Jingshu gave a cold inward laugh, though her expression remained completely undisturbed. “Indeed. The Empress did not merely summon me — she also bestowed gifts upon me and instructed Wei Jieyu to call me into the palace for conversation frequently going forward. To receive such exceptional favor from the Empress is truly more than I could have hoped for.”

Exceptional favor?

The Crown Grandson laughed scornfully. “It seems the Sixth Imperial Uncle has said a great many good things about you in the Empress’s presence. Keep up your efforts to please the Empress — perhaps you will find an enormous reward waiting for you in the future.”

Such as, for instance, being bestowed upon Prince Yan as a secondary consort.

The words went unspoken, but their meaning was made abundantly clear by the tone.

Even with Ling Jingshu’s composure, hearing one cutting remark follow another in such rapid succession, she could not help but feel the stirring of genuine irritation.

She gave a faint smile and answered — neither yielding nor yielding: “I am nothing more than an ordinary young woman. I have never had any ambition of attaching myself to power and influence, nor any intention of giving myself to anyone as a concubine. The enormous reward Your Highness speaks of is, it seems, a blessing beyond my capacity to receive.”

The Crown Grandson was briefly rendered speechless, and his expression darkened.

Wang Tong, listening from the side, felt his heart hammering with fright, terrified the Crown Grandson would lose his temper then and there. He summoned his courage and cut in: “Miss Ling seems to have an unfamiliar face beside her — I’ve never seen her before.”

Ling Jingshu turned to Wang Tong with a smile. “This is Qiao Yun, a maidservant I purchased just a few days ago. Today is her first time accompanying me out of the estate, so of course Commander Wang would not have seen her before.”

She turned and instructed Qiao Yun: “Qiao Yun, come pay your respects to His Highness the Crown Grandson and to Commander Wang.”

Qiao Yun answered obediently and stepped forward to bow. “This servant Qiao Yun pays respects to His Highness the Crown Grandson, and also greets Commander Wang.”

The Crown Grandson looked at Qiao Yun for a moment, his expression blank, and the simmering impulse of anger within him was gradually tamped back down.

Wang Tong felt a silent wave of relief wash through him, and once more made the effort to smooth over the strained atmosphere. “How did Miss Ling come to buy a maidservant all of a sudden?”

Ling Jingshu was equally glad for the change of topic and gave a brief account of how she had come to encounter Qiao Yun. “……Come to think of it, this was perhaps the fate between Qiao Yun and myself. Having come across her, I could not simply leave her there. At my side, she will at least have food and clothing without want.”

Qiao Yun responded at just the right moment with an expression of tearful, overflowing gratitude. “To have met Miss is the blessing of three lifetimes for this servant.”

The Crown Grandson still said nothing, but the anger that had filled his eyes disappeared without a trace.

Everyone present knew perfectly well who Qiao Yun truly was. And yet here they all were, keeping up this elaborate performance — weren’t they exhausted by it? Bai Yu grumbled inwardly and turned her face to the side.

Ling Jingshu quietly let out a breath of relief inside.

It seemed that bringing Qiao Yun to the Crown Prince’s estate today had indeed been the right decision.

It was at precisely this moment that Wei Yan, having finished the acupuncture treatment for Ling Xiao, walked out of the room.

When he caught sight of the two figures standing there, his footsteps came to an involuntary halt.

Tian Dong was taken aback.

They had been walking along perfectly well — why had he suddenly stopped?