Yu Lingxi felt an instinctive tension toward Ning Yin’s couch. After all, the two detoxification sessions on it had left a deep impression.

However, on second thought: in her previous life, over two years, what position hadn’t they tried?

Those trembling memories had long been smoothed away one by one, leaving only serenity and peace, and occasional bubbles of palpitation that sometimes surfaced.

She leaned for a while and soon became drowsy, her stiff waist softening.

Yu Lingxi didn’t know when she had fallen asleep. When she woke, the bright sunlight outside the window had turned golden-red, casting long, slanting shadows by the windowsill.

Ning Yin sat cross-legged on the edge of the couch, one hand propping against the edge, leaning in very close, as if admiring an exquisite painting scroll, slowly savoring her with his gaze.

Yu Lingxi met his pink-colored eyes, blinked, and came to her senses.

“How long have I been asleep?”

She sat up, gently rubbing her sore neck, and the painting seemed to come alive, illuminating the dimness of dusk.

“Two quarter-hours.”

Ning Yin’s index finger tapped leisurely on the edge of the couch, then lifted to massage her neck for her. “The young lady sleeps quite peacefully.”

When the cool fingers touched the back of her neck, Yu Lingxi instinctively shrank back.

But she quickly relaxed her body; this lifetime’s Ning Yin had a very good temper and would certainly never grab her neck to intimidate her again.

After recovering from that numbness, she pointed her toes and stepped down, asking: “Have you finished the sketch?”

Ning Yin absently “hmmed,” that hand mischievously twiddled behind her ear before reluctantly departing.

“Not now.”

Ning Yin glanced at the bottom drawer of the bedside cabinet, his voice low and slow, “That thing is both beautiful and practical. When it’s carved, I’ll show the young lady.”

Simplified to essence, a jade body lying horizontal—certainly not something he could show her now.

“Being mysterious!” Yu Lingxi accused him.

Ning Yin suppressed a laugh, looked again at her simple hair bun, stood up, and straightened his lower garment, saying: “The young lady’s black hair is like clouds; pinned up with a hairpin, revealing a white, delicate, fragile neck, would surely be extremely beautiful.”

Yu Lingxi was stunned, vaguely recalling that in her previous life, Ning Yin did indeed prefer to bundle her long hair into a loose, shiny black bun, and was always fond of grabbing her neck to frighten her.

So it turns out, the little madman liked her neck so much?

Yu Lingxi touched her temple hair, thinking she should look for a suitable hairpin in her cosmetic box later.

Even she was surprised by her current compromise. After a pause, she said softly: “It’s getting late, I should return to my room.”

From the courtyard came faint rustling sounds; the cat seemed to have smelled a familiar scent and started meowing softly.

Ning Yin narrowed his eyes slightly, casting his gaze toward the courtyard outside the window, then withdrawing it.

“Young lady.”

He called to her. Yu Lingxi stood at the doorway, turning back to look at him with confusion.

Ning Yin walked toward Yu Lingxi, and stood in front of her, close.

He raised his hand toward Yu Lingxi’s face, and she couldn’t help but tremble her eyelashes.

Ning Yin was so close that when he tilted his head and bent down, his nose tip almost touched her cheek. At such a close distance, Yu Lingxi could even see the shadow cast by his lowered eyelashes, each one distinct.

She instinctively held her breath, but saw Ning Yin raise his hand to fix her disheveled temple hair that had come loose during sleep, saying in a low voice: “Your hair is messy.”

His gesture of arranging her temple hair was intimate and slow. In the sunset, two shadows lightly overlapped, like mandarin ducks with necks entwined.

“Ahem, ahem!” Two abrupt low coughs sounded from the courtyard.

Yu Lingxi, as if awakened, suddenly turned her head.

She saw her strong, tall father standing under the magnolia tree, and to his left and right stood her elder brother and sister, with complicated expressions.

Naturally, they had also witnessed that intimate scene that easily provoked imagination.

“Father.”

Yu Lingxi was flustered only for a moment before composing herself. She stepped forward to block Ning Yin behind her and asked, “Why have you come?”

All servants in the courtyard had been dismissed, leaving complete stillness.

The sunset was so thick it turned red. Yu Tuan’s face bore an unprecedented seriousness, his heavy gaze sweeping over his beautiful, obedient youngest daughter, then falling on Ning Yin.

Yu Xinyi frowned, giving her sister a look, mouthing: “Suisui, come here!”

Yu Lingxi had a premonition, shook her head slightly, and still blocked Ning Yin with her slender, graceful figure.

Yu Xinyi was anxious and wanted to go forward to pull her sister over, but was stopped by Yu Huanchen’s extended arm.

Yu Tuan looked at Ning Yin for a long time, his jaw muscles tightened, then very slowly and solemnly bent his back, bowing with clasped hands in salute to Ning Yin.

Behind him, a son and daughter, both military generals, also successively saluted with clasped hands.

As the three completed their salute, Yu Lingxi swallowed, knowing that the day for Wei Qi to return to being Ning Yin had finally come.

Just as she was thinking, a fair, large hand fell on her shoulder, lovingly patting her gently.

“Don’t be afraid, young lady.” Ning Yin walked out from behind her.

Even at such a tense moment, his expression remained unchanged, even curling into an interested smile. “It seems General Yu wishes to speak with me.”

“Ning Yin.” Yu Lingxi hurriedly called to him.

She hoped Ning Yin would show his best side to her father, so she looked at him earnestly and said in a low voice: “You must talk well.”

Hearing this, both Yu Huanchen and Yu Xinyi raised their heads: Suisui… what did she just call the Seventh Prince?

……

Late afternoon, the sky was a mixture of dusk and night, with a round moon hanging lightly on the treetops.

The study door had been tightly closed for half an hour.

“Are you so worried about him?” Yu Huanchen glanced at his preoccupied youngest sister.

Yu Lingxi had a bowl of cold tea soup beside her hand, not even touching the pepper powder she usually liked to use for mental stimulation.

Yu Lingxi was indeed worried.

Although Ning Yin’s madness and obsession had abated considerably, vastly different from her previous life, she still couldn’t gauge her father’s thoughts.

After all, court officials choosing sides was like staking everything on a gamble, no small matter.

“Will Father make things difficult for him?” Yu Lingxi asked.

“If he truly is the Seventh Prince, once his identity is verified, it will be Father who faces difficulty from him.”

Yu Xinyi beside her laughed in exasperation, reaching out to pinch her sister’s soft cheek, “If not for Yu Huanchen discussing with me today, I wouldn’t have known Suisui was hiding such a big Buddha in our mansion. You’ve grown independent!”

Yu Huanchen’s expression was unusually serious.

He had observed in secret these days and found that the Seventh Prince was indeed an intelligent person skilled at lying low. There was only a fine line between a brilliant strategic genius and a madman who toyed with people’s hearts.

He even suspected that if Ning Yin hadn’t deliberately revealed traces to lure them in, the Yu family might not have been able to track his whereabouts.

Previously, Yu Huanchen couldn’t understand why the Seventh Prince would risk revealing his identity to the Yu family, and what purpose it served.

Now he understood—he was forcing the Yu family to make a choice.

This decision was extremely difficult for the Yu family.

After his father returned from court, he struggled for half a day before deciding to personally face this long-exiled royal descendant.

Yu Huanchen thought for a moment and asked: “Today the Emperor privately summoned Father for an audience. Suisui, do you know what it was about?”

Yu Lingxi shook her head. Her father and brother protected her well, rarely telling her about the scheming and intrigue at court.

Yu Huanchen said: “The Emperor also summoned Right Minister Xue and Superintendent Eunuch Cui, intending to divide the Yu family’s military power, creating a tripartite balance of power between civil officials, internal servants, and military generals to check each other. The Emperor has begun to suspect and suppress the Yu family, and Suisui should be able to guess the only reason he could use to take action.”

Yu Lingxi could naturally guess.

The Emperor had heard some rumor and was using this to warn the Yu family: the sovereign still reigns, do not stand on the wrong side.

Yu Lingxi slightly curled her fingers, raised her eyes, and said: “Once suspicion arises, it’s like a crack that’s hard to mend. If so, we have no other retreat.”

“It’s not that simple, Suisui.”

Yu Huanchen walked to the door, looked out to ensure no one was there, then closed the door and said, “Even if the Seventh Prince is truly worth our support, he absolutely cannot have his identity verified at the Yu mansion, cannot enter the court from the Yu mansion.”

Yu Lingxi understood.

She clenched her fingers and said softly: “Because once that happens, it would confirm the crime of forming factions for personal gain. From the moment he returns to the palace, he would be suspected and suppressed, never to rise again.”

“Correct.”

Yu Huanchen said in a low voice: “The current plan is to advance by retreating, seeking a sliver of hope.”

Just then, the study door squeaked open.

Yu Lingxi immediately stood up, pushed open the flower hall door, and went to meet them.

The hall was brightly lit. Ning Yin and Yu Tuan walked out one after another.

“Father.”

Yu Lingxi first looked at her father with concern, then turned her gaze to Ning Yin.

Ning Yin still maintained his calm, smiling demeanor, not much different from before entering the study. As for Yu Tuan, his expression had hardened considerably.

General Yu sighed, softening his voice: “My good daughter, go accompany your mother for dinner first.”

Yu Lingxi responded, glanced at Ning Yin once more, then gave a low “Oh” and turned toward the side hall.

Yu Tuan slightly cupped his hands in farewell to Ning Yin, then looked at his eldest son and daughter, solemnly instructing: “You two, follow me in.”

The study door closed again. Ning Yin looked up at the remnant stars in the sky for a moment, then curled his lips, clasped his hands behind his back, and stepped down the stone stairs.

Passing through the central courtyard, turning around the moon gate, he paused, then reached out without turning his head, pulling Yu Lingxi out from the shadow behind the rockery.

“If the young lady were lurking to assassinate, she would likely be dead by now.”

Ning Yin lightly pinched Yu Lingxi’s earlobe, still in the mood to tease her.

“Bah, bah, who wants to assassinate you?”

Yu Lingxi spat away the ill omen, straightened her collar which he had crumpled, and asked in a low voice, “What did Father say to you?”

Ning Yin’s eyes were black and deep, like inscrutable black mist, looking at her and asking: “What does the young lady hope he said?”

Yu Lingxi looked back at him and said: “No matter how difficult the future is, I naturally hope you and Father can work together with one heart, safe and smooth.”

Ning Yin smiled, the black mist in his eyes clearing like mountain haze dispersing, and asked: “The young lady once allowed me to take one item when leaving the mansion. Does that still count?”

Yu Lingxi was not one to go back on her word. She nodded and asked: “Why suddenly bring this up?”

She even developed a faint conflicted feeling, both hoping he could soon reclaim everything that belonged to him, yet fearing he would leave tomorrow.

Ning Yin did not answer, only raised his hand to twirl a strand of her hair that had been blown loose by the night wind, saying meaningfully: “The young lady remembers these words, that’s enough.”

In the study.

“He indeed has a unique royal token that cannot be faked.”

Yu Tuan sat in his chair, saying in a deep voice, “So young, yet able to control the entire negotiation in his palm, advancing and retreating appropriately… Suisui was right, this youth is no ordinary person.”

He was even more profound and formidable than they had imagined.

Yu Huanchen looked at his father’s solemn face and asked: “What conditions did the Seventh Prince discuss with you?”

Recalling the conversation in the study earlier, Yu Tuan’s expression grew even more solemn.

……

Summer thunderstorms always come unexpectedly, arriving without warning.

In the Palace of Cultivating the Heart, the Emperor opened a memorial, frowned, then opened another.

He flipped through several, all from the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate, requesting verification of the rumor that the Seventh Prince was not dead, imploring the Emperor to verify his identity soon, welcome back this lost pearl, and continue the royal lineage.

The Emperor threw the memorials aside, tiredly pinching his brow.

Concubine Li was indeed a rare beauty in the world; it was true he had seized her at all costs, and it was also true he had grown tired of her coldness and stubbornness.

When the initial passion faded, the beauty mark became a mosquito bite, and the child’s existence became a huge stain on his path as an enlightened ruler.

He even hoped Concubine Li and the seventh son would just disappear, completely erasing the stain of killing his brother and taking his sister-in-law, which is why he acquiesced…

Enough, why think of these old matters?

The old eunuch beside him noticed the Emperor’s troubled mind and hurriedly knelt forward to massage his shoulders and legs. After observing for a long time, he dared to say softly: “If Your Majesty ignores this, the rumors will surely surge. In this old servant’s view, it’s better to go with the flow, showing that Your Majesty loves his son dearly, fulfilling Your Majesty’s reputation for benevolence and magnanimity… Moreover, General Yu has already submitted a letter agreeing to transfer power, and the matter of bestowing marriage has also been put on the agenda. What Your Majesty worried about has already been resolved, you can rest easy.”

“Bringing the person back is not a big issue; it’s better to keep him under my eye than to let him run wild outside.”

The Emperor contemplated, “But the seventh son has no right to inherit the throne. Being too clever is ultimately not good; we must pull out his claws and teeth, and make him behave properly.”

……

On a rainy day, the brothel had few customers.

Only a few distant notes of the pipa tinkling, added some lightness to the dull weather.

In the tearoom upstairs, Zhejue bowed his head and said: “Your Highness, everything has been arranged properly, just waiting for the final east wind.”

“East wind?”

Ning Yin leaned against the carved window, his slender knuckles idly turning a short blade. “When to cast the net is for me to decide, not some east wind.”

“This subordinate misspoke!” Zhejue, carrying a heavy sword on his back, knelt to apologize.

Ning Yin understood the Emperor too well. The matter of killing his brother and taking his sister-in-law was his weakness; he would never allow this stain to be exposed and would certainly choose to quiet the matter to maintain his image as a loving, brilliant ruler.

He gave a cold laugh, looking at Zhejue: “What about that maid from the Zhao mansion?”

Zhejue said: “She has been settled in the woodshed here as Your Highness instructed.”

“Very good.”

Ning Yin looked at the silver basin placed quietly on the table, in the light brown water waves reflected his cold, indifferent eyes.

In the basin was a six-inch piece of premium white jade, already soaked in medicinal water for two days and two nights, very easy to dye.

He took out the soaked white jade, carefully wiped it dry with a cotton cloth, then turned the blade, and in Zhejue’s astonished gaze, cut his finger.

First a thin line of blood, then blood drops welled up in large amounts, connecting to flow down.

Ning Yin lowered his eyes halfway, casually raising his hand, letting the crimson fresh blood drip onto the jade until it was dyed with a misty, enchanting touch of red.

How could those hairpins made of common jade be worthy of Yu Lingxi?

He raised his lips slightly, his black eyes dissolving into a smile of tender pleasure.