The Crown Grandson’s heart stirred with excitement, and unable to contain himself, he drew closer to Ling Jingshu, his gaze burning as it fixed upon her face.

The feelings he had long suppressed in his heart erupted like molten rock — scalding and fierce.

Even a heart of iron and stone would find it difficult to remain unmoved!

Ling Jingshu raised her head, looked at his ardent and irresistibly handsome face, and at last lowered the walls she had built so firmly around herself. She said with candor: “I am sorry. I cannot accept your feelings. I suffer from a strange illness and cannot touch or be close to any man. I cannot marry and have children, and I will never fall in love with any man.”

“I already know about your illness,” the Crown Grandson said with stubborn insistence. “I do not mind. I can wait until you are cured before taking you as my wife.”

Ling Jingshu met his gaze with calm and composure: “You say you do not mind now — but what of later? What if my illness is never cured? Would you truly spend your days with a woman you can never be close to, who can never bear you children? One or two years may be bearable, but three to five? Ten years or more? You may not mind, but can your royal father and royal mother afford not to?”

At the mention of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, the Crown Grandson fell suddenly silent, the warmth in his eyes gradually fading, the brightness dimming.

“Moreover, I am a very selfish woman. I am unwilling to share my husband with other women. If I were ever to marry, I would demand that my husband remain faithful to me alone and never take a concubine.”

Having already spoken her mind this far, Ling Jingshu simply laid out everything in her heart in one breath: “Your position ensures that it is impossible for you to spend your life devoted to a single woman. Even if you have no desire for a household full of wives and concubines, you must take concubines to continue the line, or enter political marriages to consolidate power.”

“Therefore, from the very beginning, I have been perfectly clear. Between the two of us, there is absolutely no possibility. And I have never harbored any such thoughts.”

The burning ardor in his chest cooled gradually beneath these measured words.

His earlier impulse and excitement now seemed nothing but laughable.

The Crown Grandson was silent for a long while before he spoke, his voice low and hoarse: “Ling Jingshu, you have offered so many reasons, but in truth, none of them are what matters most. What matters most is that you have never once been moved by me.”

Without being moved, she had remained as composed as ever from the start — seeing everything with crystalline clarity.

Without being moved, she had felt no sorrow upon learning he was to take another wife.

Without being moved, she had withdrawn with graceful ease.

Only one who truly loves is capable of the courage and resolve to abandon all else!

Ling Jingshu pressed her lips together. Her gaze dropped slightly: “Since Your Highness already understands this in his heart, there is no need to say it aloud.” It would only bring mutual embarrassment!

Those brief words were like sharp steel needles, piercing the heart until it bled.

The Crown Grandson’s body gave a slight tremor. He clenched his fist with great force, his expression darkening. After a long pause, he forced out a few words: “The person you care for — is it Wei Yan?”

Ling Jingshu was caught completely off guard by these words. She was taken aback and, for a moment, did not deny it in time. By the time she came to her senses and made to open her mouth in rebuttal, it was already too late.

“Enough. You need say nothing.” The Crown Grandson squeezed out a smile that was rigid and exceedingly ugly: “I already know.”

Know what exactly!

How on earth did she and Wei Yan come to be linked together like this, out of thin air!

Ling Jingshu knitted her brows: “Who has been whispering such groundless words in Your Highness’s ear? Between myself and Imperial Physician Wei, everything is perfectly proper — there is no romantic involvement between us.”

The Crown Grandson gave a self-deprecating twist of his lips: “We have come this far already; why would you still conceal it from me? If there were no intimacy between Wei Yan and you, why would he have come to find me and say what he said?”

What he said?

Ling Jingshu was startled again, and looked over: “What did Imperial Physician Wei say to Your Highness? If it concerns me, please be straightforward and tell me.”

The look of bewilderment on her face was entirely genuine.

Could it be that she truly did not know?

That is to say — she had no idea whatsoever what Wei Yan had been doing for her sake. What risks he had been willing to take!

This realization roused him suddenly from his self-pitying resentment and indignation. His heart was a tangle of mixed feelings he could not quite name.

Ling Jingshu saw the complexity in his expression, and the doubts in her heart deepened. Unable to help herself, she asked again: “Your Highness, what exactly did Imperial Physician Wei say to you?”

The Crown Grandson composed himself and said lightly, in a tone that understated matters: “He told me of your illness.”

He had not lied — that was indeed something Wei Yan had told him. Of course, he had also concealed a great many things of far greater importance!

Ling Jingshu’s mind was sharp, and she was not so easily deceived. Hearing this, she pressed: “And beyond that — was there not something else of great importance?”

The Crown Grandson’s eyes flickered. Rather than answering, he turned the question back on her: “Did you not say you had no romantic feelings for him? Then why do you concern yourself so much with his affairs?”

Ling Jingshu: “…”

Ling Jingshu was left momentarily speechless, with no reply to give.

A flicker of indescribable satisfaction crossed the Crown Grandson’s heart, followed immediately by self-deprecating amusement.

The expression of jealousy and resentment he must be wearing right now — it must look extremely unpleasant.

Still, he did not consider himself so magnanimous.

The young woman he cared for was about to be taken by another man. The fact that he was not actively obstructing them was already a considerable display of dignity. Let no one expect him to willingly step aside and make way for them.

If Wei Yan wished to free himself from his predicament and win the beautiful lady’s heart, that would depend entirely on whether he had the capability to do so!

“The two of us have been out here for quite some time. If we remain any longer, it will arouse suspicion.” The Crown Grandson forced himself to maintain a calm and composed manner: “You go first.”

It was clear that today she would get nothing more from his lips about what she wanted to know.

Ling Jingshu pressed down the doubts and agitation in her heart, gave a bow of farewell, turned, and left.

When Ling Jingshu’s silhouette disappeared through the doorway, the composure the Crown Grandson had been barely holding together vanished at once, and he was left with a face full of dejection and desolation.

When Wang Tong entered, he took in the Crown Grandson’s expression in its entirety. The Crown Grandson had always been proud and spirited — Wang Tong had never before seen him look so downcast and dispirited as this.

Wang Tong wished to say a few words of comfort, but feared touching upon his master’s sore spot and making him feel worse. He hesitated, unable to decide.

“Wang Tong,” the Crown Grandson’s voice was somewhat low and hoarse: “Today’s meeting between myself and Ling Jingshu — you must keep it secret. Do not let the Crown Prince or Crown Princess know.”

Wang Tong assented.

After a moment, the Crown Grandson seemed to murmur to himself quietly: “Wang Tong, am I a person worthy of contempt?”

Without a second thought, Wang Tong replied: “Your Highness is a young man of outstanding talent. There are countless women who admire Your Highness. Why should Your Highness feel so low on account of a single Miss Ling?”

There might be ever so many women who admired him — but the one he cared for was precisely the one who had never once shown him any warmth.

The Crown Grandson gave a self-deprecating twist of his lips: “Let it be. What is not mine cannot be forced. I was momentarily confused.”

From this day forth, he would forget her, and put down this obsession he should never have allowed himself to harbor.