“Nanny, you’ve finally returned…” Linxia looked as if she had finally found her pillar of support.

The nanny gave Linxia a reassuring glance, placed the soup bowl she was carrying on the table, then walked to Zhu Yanyan’s side. Zhu Yanyan was anxiously biting her finger with a troubled expression, not even noticing her return. The nanny gently patted her shoulder, “Miss, time for soup.”

Afraid of startling her, the nanny’s voice was also cautious.

However, Zhu Yanyan, who had a guilty conscience, was still startled. She jumped, “Nanny?” Only then did she realize the nanny had been out for a long time, and asked, “Nanny, where did you go?”

“I went to the small kitchen to prepare soup for Miss. Drink it while it’s hot.”

Because she was eager to restore her health and marry in good condition, Zhu Yanyan had been drinking tonic soup recently. Hearing this, she didn’t suspect anything and obediently sat down to drink the soup.

The tonic soup looked dark and murky, containing several Chinese medicines, and the taste was truly not good. But Zhu Yanyan drank it with unusual earnestness and devotion. She was eager to restore her health… Mm, speaking of which, she wondered what kind of girls Master Lu liked? His younger brother liked girls with good fortune – was he the same?

No matter what, she had to restore her health. She couldn’t let him marry a sickly wife… She’d heard that being too thin wasn’t good for childbearing.

Oh my, how embarrassing.

Thinking about this, Zhu Yanyan covered her face again.

The nanny watching her young miss from the side frowned with worry. The young miss was indeed getting stranger. This soup was so bitter – usually she would frown and pinch her nose while forcing it down. Why today… was she drinking it so happily?

Thinking of the madam’s instructions, the nanny’s heart sank slightly.

As Zhu Yanyan alternated between joy and worry, the sky gradually darkened.

After absent-mindedly finishing dinner, Zhu Yanyan suddenly sneezed.

“Someone must be thinking of Miss,” the nanny seemed to say casually.

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart. Zhu Yanyan blinked and subtly blushed.

Mm, could it be that Master Lu… was thinking of her?

The nanny watched with trepidation. She walked over to close the window, “The night wind is a bit cool. Miss, don’t sit by the window anymore, be careful not to catch cold.”

“Mm.” Zhu Yanyan’s eyelashes fluttered, and she suddenly asked, “Nanny, what time is it now?”

“It’s the hour of the rooster.”

Only the hour of the rooster… “I’m somewhat tired today. I’d like to rest early.” Zhu Yanyan’s eyelashes fluttered as she decided to plan ahead and dismiss everyone early.

Zhu Yanyan’s words weren’t abrupt. Because of her frail health, she always rested very early, and she was a light sleeper – any sound in the room could easily wake her. Therefore, no one stayed to serve in her room when she slept… Now Zhu Yanyan felt she was simply too prescient.

Ready-made reasons – she didn’t need to rack her brains thinking of excuses!

After washing up, Zhu Yanyan was preparing to rest when she saw the nanny bring over a moon-white nightgown.

“Miss, change into your nightgown before sleeping.”

Zhu Yanyan glanced at the thin nightgown in the nanny’s hands and immediately blushed, “No… no need…”

“Miss, what’s wrong? Don’t you always need to change into a nightgown before you can sleep?” The nanny looked at her strangely, immediately noticing her abnormally red face. She was startled and hurriedly reached forward to feel her forehead, then muttered in confusion, “It’s not hot… why is your face so red?”

“…Probably from the wind just now.” Zhu Yanyan covered her face guiltily and made up an excuse.

The nanny was half-believing, “Then quickly change into your nightgown and rest.”

Afraid the nanny would become suspicious, Zhu Yanyan obediently changed into the nightgown and lay down on the bed.

After the nanny closed the door and left, Zhu Yanyan opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She no longer lay rigidly straight but turned over, bit her fingertip, and stared at the window in a daze.

After a while, she quietly got up, tiptoed to the window, quietly pushed it open a crack, then tiptoed back to bed and lay down. Having done this, Zhu Yanyan lay on the bed with relief, covering her face and secretly laughing for a while, then felt that being like this was truly too immodest.

But… who cares.

After being in a daze for a while and letting her thoughts wander, it was soon time for her usual bedtime. Unable to resist the approaching drowsiness, she yawned, then struggled to stay awake for a while… finally unable to withstand the overwhelming sleepiness, she dozed off in a daze.

Before falling asleep, she thought, mm, just a little nap.

Then, half-asleep and half-awake, she seemed to hear light footsteps in the room. Zhu Yanyan was always a light sleeper and immediately woke up. She rubbed her eyes, her consciousness not yet fully returned, but instinctively asked, “Nanny, what time is it now?”

Because of drowsiness, her voice carried a heavy nasal tone, sounding soft and delicate, as if she were acting spoiled.

“It’s the hour of the boar,” the person answered.

But it was a man’s voice, somewhat low in the darkness of night.

Zhu Yanyan didn’t react immediately, only noting that he said “hour of the boar.” She immediately cried out and jumped up, “Oh no, oh no, how did I oversleep…”

“You didn’t oversleep. The timing is just right,” the person chuckled and said.

Zhu Yanyan was stunned, finally realizing this was a man’s voice. She turned her head to look… and saw the man who had helped her at Jin Man Tower today standing by her bed…

Lu Zhuxi!

Seeing that she finally became aware of his presence, Lu Zhuxi smiled at her slightly.

Zhu Yanyan belatedly blushed, “Lu… Master Lu?”

“I am Lu Zhuxi,” he said.

As he said this, he also cupped his hands in salute, looking quite dignified.

Zhu Yanyan’s face became even redder. She lowered her head and responded softly, “Mm… I know.”

With this lowered head, she noticed that her overly thin nightgown was somewhat improper, and her face became even redder. She quickly pulled the blanket up.

Lu Zhuxi coughed lightly and slightly averted his gaze, “I have offended the young lady. I heard that there are many rules down the mountain, and originally shouldn’t have made this visit. But my younger brother sent me a letter mentioning a past event, saying there was a young lady keeping the promise from those years, waiting for me to come marry her.”

Hearing this, Zhu Yanyan’s face was already red as clouds.

Just as she was full of embarrassment, she heard him continue, “Now, though I have come as promised, I think that marriage is no trivial matter and should be confirmed with the young lady face to face.”

Zhu Yanyan was stunned at these words, then bit her lip and showed him the jade pendant she wore around her neck and never removed. For the moment, she couldn’t care about being shy and gathered courage to say in a small voice, “A word once spoken cannot be taken back even by a team of four horses.”

Though her voice was small, it was absolutely resolute. Lu Zhuxi hadn’t expected her to say this and was momentarily stunned, then chuckled softly, “I naturally keep my word, but does the young lady truly want me to marry you?”

His laughter was very pleasant to hear.

Zhu Yanyan felt sweet in her heart and said without hesitation, “Naturally I mean it.”

Seeing her unhesitating manner, Lu Zhuxi thought of the half-open window he had noticed when he arrived. His eyes showed more amusement, finding this girl adorably endearing. But… some things still needed to be made clear to her.

“My younger brother said you already know my origins,” he said.

“Mm.” Zhu Yanyan nodded, hesitated a moment, then said in a small voice, “Actually… I’ve known for many years.”

Lu Zhuxi looked at her deeply, “Then do you know that my father is the leader of Flying Jade Stronghold on Thousand Cliff Mountain? If I inherit the position of leader in the future, I might never be able to leave Thousand Cliff Mountain for the rest of my life. Even so, would you still be willing to marry me?”

Zhu Yanyan was stunned and suddenly bit her lip.

Lu Zhuxi’s eyes turned slightly cold. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he felt his sleeve being tugged.

Then he heard a soft, gentle voice.

“I… I’ve also saved some personal silver over the years, and my mother has prepared a generous dowry for me. Inside… inside there are also two shops that can generate some silver.” Zhu Yanyan lowered her head while pulling his sleeve, her voice somewhat hurried due to nervousness. Speaking to this point, she finally gathered courage to look up at him once, “If we’re frugal… it should be enough for the future… could you not engage in robbery and banditry?”

The last sentence, she asked very carefully.

Lu Zhuxi looked down at this foolish girl before him who seemed ready to give him her whole heart to see, feeling his heartstrings tremble violently. He never knew this foolish girl had firmly remembered his words from ten years ago, keeping that promise.

He was momentarily lost in thought.