When it comes to “deception,” no one could compare to how Ning Yin had once acted sweet and clever, using every means possible just to stay at the Yu residence.

Yu Lingxi knew this in her heart.

But hearing him say, “It doesn’t matter if you’re cruel to me,” her heart still trembled involuntarily.

“The first person who deceived me is already dead, and died in a most unsightly manner.”

Ning Yin seemed to recall a distant past, his voice becoming light and faint. “But if Lingxi were to deceive me, I couldn’t bear to… I could only lock you away, and slowly suck and bite that deceitful tongue to pieces until Lingxi could no longer speak, only whimper and sob while begging for mercy.”

He raised his finger to press against Yu Lingxi’s lips, his eyes suffused with an ink-like darkness, beautiful yet obsessive.

Ning Yin must have been in a good mood at that moment, even his exhaled breath carried a relaxed smile.

Yu Lingxi knew that if she wanted Ning Yin’s heart, this little madman would undoubtedly dig it out without hesitation, wipe it clean, and then smilingly present it to her.

Yet such an arrogant and willful person, when faced with her kindness, always let his obsession overwhelm his reason.

As if in his subconscious, he fundamentally didn’t believe anyone could truly love him.

Who was the first person to deceive Ning Yin?

She couldn’t help but speculate: was Ning Yin’s cautious obsession a gift from that person?

“I won’t deceive you.”

Yu Lingxi sighed softly, leaning against him naturally.

For someone with an open mind, saying a few heartfelt words wasn’t difficult.

“If you don’t believe me, feel it.”

Yu Lingxi turned her head slightly and said softly, “My heartbeat doesn’t lie.”

Ning Yin fell silent, his jaw buried in the hollow of her shoulder, feeling the soft contours beneath his palm.

After a long while, he said meaningfully: “I can’t feel it.”

“Hmm?” Yu Lingxi didn’t understand.

Ning Yin lowered his eyes and whispered in her ear: “Your clothes are too thick, they’re in the way.”

“…”

Yu Lingxi reacted, suddenly widening her eyes and shaking off his hand.

But Ning Yin easily pressed down on her wrist, leaning in close, his fingers trailing up from her wrist, brushing past her neck, and gently pinching her jaw to hold her in place.

He forced her to look at him until her cheeks flushed crimson, then smiled and bent down, his teeth catching her lower lip.

The hand supporting the back of her neck exerted slight pressure, and Yu Lingxi let out a startled cry.

Little did she know that this gave the person who had been plotting an opportunity to enter.

By the time the carriage stopped at the prince’s mansion, Yu Lingxi was already red-faced and flustered, her gaze scattered, with only one thought in her mind:

She absolutely must not deceive the little madman, or her tongue would truly be eaten.

Meanwhile, in the palace.

The Empress rolled the beads in her hand and asked, “Prince Jing snatched away the rejected Yu Lingxi in the middle of the street?”

“In full public view, absolutely true.”

Cui An drawled slowly, “Our previous assassination attempts all failed, with heavy losses to our people. If Prince Jing marries the Yu family’s daughter and extends his reach to military power, the situation will certainly become very unfavorable for Your Majesty and the young prince.”

The Empress narrowed her eyes and, instead of answering, asked: “Cui An, you wholeheartedly strategize for me and the deposed Crown Prince, but what exactly are you after?”

Cui An concealed the darkness in his eyes and knelt, saying: “Naturally, I am grateful for Your Majesty’s great virtue, and wish to repay your kindness like the grass and reeds repay the birds.”

“Enough, you may fool others with such words, but you can’t deceive me.”

The Empress pulled out a golden hairpin and poked at the candle flame in front of the Buddha shrine, then after a while said: “I remember that Xue Song has been demoted to the Imperial Kitchens?”

Cui An thought for a moment, then hurriedly said: “This servant will go make arrangements immediately.”

“Prince Jing is cunning; the bait must be sufficiently large to lure him in.”

The Empress inserted the golden hairpin back into her hair bun, her voice as calm as if this were not a life-or-death struggle. “Go now. If you fail again, you need not come back to me.”

This time, she would personally finish off this little beast.

Just like how she had finished off his mother years ago.

……

As it was New Year’s Eve, Yu Lingxi had been honestly staying at the Yu residence these past few days, accompanying her father, mother, brother, and sister.

Sister-in-law Su Wan was two months pregnant, and with this blessing of a child, the mansion’s New Year’s Eve was even more lively than in past years.

The courtyard was as bright as day with lanterns, and fireworks blazed in the sky. Yu Lingxi couldn’t help but recall how last year at this time, Ning Yin had been drinking the heavily spiced tusu wine while saying with reddened lips “Miss is the person in this world who treats me the best”…

She couldn’t help but smile faintly, wondering how Ning Yin would spend the New Year in Prince Jing’s mansion this year.

Probably without even a pair of couplets or a festive red lantern. In that enormous mansion, he always lived as if in a lonely tomb.

As she thought, Yu Lingxi’s faint smile faded. She raised her hand to touch the white jade hairpin with red threads in her hair, which turned into a soft sigh.

After the night vigil, Yu Lingxi bathed and changed her clothes, yawning as she walked toward her bedchamber.

The inner curtains had already been lowered, and the maids had prepared the bed and bedding in advance. Yu Lingxi didn’t think much of it, lifted the bed curtain, and sat down.

But unexpectedly, she sat into a hot and hard embrace, which frightened two of her three souls away.

Before she could cry out in alarm, her mouth was covered from behind.

Ning Yin held her firmly in his arms, his smiling voice coming from her ear: “Be quiet, or this prince won’t be responsible if people are drawn here.”

Yu Lingxi was startled, and after a while relaxed into his arms, pulled down his hand, and turned around: “Why are you here?”

“I was confiscating property, passed by this familiar place, and thought of Lingxi.”

Ning Yin gently turned Yu Lingxi’s face, his ink-black eyes still holding a trace of frost, and smiled lightly, “So I came to see you.”

Going to confiscate property during the New Year?

Though he was the prestigious Prince Jing, why was he living a life even more solitary and cold than Wei Qi from before?

Yu Lingxi opened her mouth, a thousand words becoming just one sentence: “Do you have any money to ward off evil spirits?”

Ning Yin raised an eyebrow as if asking “What is that?”

Yu Lingxi lowered her head, took out two copper coins from her newly received money pouch, wrapped them in red paper, and placed them in Ning Yin’s hand.

“Don’t mind how little it is, it’s just for good luck anyway, and you’re not short of silver.”

Yu Lingxi explained, “These are coins to suppress evil spirits. Put them under your pillow when you sleep to ensure peace and safety throughout the year.”

In the dim light behind the curtain, Ning Yin rarely showed such curiosity, playing with the two copper coins wrapped in red paper in his palm, he asked: “Suppress what evil spirits?”

Yu Lingxi found a comfortable position, sat beside him, and whispered back: “Naturally, to suppress evil ghosts and spirits.”

Ning Yin laughed: “Isn’t this prince the greatest evil ghost and spirit in this world?”

Yu Lingxi blinked.

That statement… seemed not entirely wrong.

“In this prince’s view, it might as well be ‘pressing the year’.”

Ning Yin curled his fingers, holding the two copper coins in his palm, leaned forward, and lowered his voice, “The ‘year’ in years passing.”

After speaking, he wrapped his arm around Yu Lingxi’s waist and turned, pinning her beneath him.

A literal “pressing of the year.”

The movement of his robe brought a swift breeze, lifting the bed curtains like rippling waves. Ning Yin’s features became exceptionally blurred and profound, only his pair of lacquer-black eyes possessed a soul-captivating enchantment.

Strange, Yu Lingxi found Ning Yin’s gaze bewitching.

Yet he was someone with dulled senses and willpower so strong it bordered on self-torture.

“Miss, the warming pan is ready. Please wait until the bedding is warm before sleeping.”

Hu Tao entered the room carrying a copper warming pan wrapped in silk cloth, her voice crisp.

Yu Lingxi was startled and instinctively pulled up the quilt to cover and push Ning Yin into hiding in the bed, saying: “Put it on the table!”

Her voice was somewhat anxious, which startled Hu Tao: “Miss?”

Ning Yin narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch her waist.

Yu Lingxi made a sound, her heart nearly jumping out of her throat.

She quickly bit her lip and glared at the troublemaker, hastily fabricating: “I’m undressing, don’t come over.”

Fortunately, Hu Tao didn’t suspect anything. She placed the warm pan on the table and then quietly withdrew, closing the door behind her.

Yu Lingxi listened attentively, and only when Hu Tao’s footsteps faded into the distance did she finally heave a sigh of relief.

“Weren’t you undressing? Go ahead.”

Ning Yin lay on his side with his elbow bent, supporting his head with his hand. His other hand moved downward beneath the quilt as he licked his teeth and smiled, “I want to stamp my seal now.”

……

The festivity of fireworks didn’t quiet down until near dawn.

Yu Lingxi didn’t know when Ning Yin had left; when she awoke, the warmth of that person was no longer beside her.

If not for the deep red “seal” in a place others couldn’t see, she would almost have thought that last night’s brief meeting was just a dream.

The dream faded into emptiness, yet it was like having tasted a piece of candy, with a lingering aftertaste.

Fortunately, the Lantern Festival was coming soon, with lantern displays and night tours, which officials and commoners would enjoy together.

That night at the Hour of the Dog, the Emperor would lead the princes and nobles to ascend the Xuande Gate, observe the lanterns in the high market, and accept the homage of the people.

But because the Emperor was still recovering from illness in the Changyang Palace, this time, the seventh prince Ning Yin was chosen to perform the ceremony in his place.

Logically, Ning Yin would have no interest in such occasions and would not appear.

But everyone was speculating that whoever qualified to perform ceremonies in place of the Emperor was very likely to become the heir to the throne. If the seventh prince had any ambition at all, he could not refuse this honor.

So, did Ning Yin want to be the Crown Prince?

Yu Lingxi wasn’t sure.

At the Hour of the Dog, Yu Lingxi wore a festive red ceremonial dress, carrying a glass lantern, and ascended the west tower of the Xuande Gate with Yu Xinyi—that was where the imperial consorts and ladies observed the lanterns.

Meanwhile, Ning Yin, Ning Zizhuo, and other princes and nobles stood on the east tower in place of the Emperor.

Looking out, the night sky was deep, and beneath the palace gates, the sound of people was deafening, with thousands of lanterns flowing like a river of light.

Yu Lingxi rested her hand on the balustrade of the palace tower, gazing from afar at Ning Yin who was slowly ascending the east tower, in his purple robe and jade belt, cold and peerless.

She couldn’t help but smile, but then saw Yu Xinyi walk up beside her and interrupt her gaze with an outstretched hand: “Do you want your sister to lend you her token to go find him?”

Yu Lingxi finally withdrew her gaze, smiling somewhat embarrassedly: “No need.”

She had arranged to meet Ning Yin after the lantern festival to go to the market to view lanterns and solve riddles.

Tonight was the Lantern Festival, free from the constraints of etiquette, where one could stay up all night enjoying the lanterns.

With a gust of wind, the lanterns all over the street swayed, like stars scattered across the human world.

Xue Chen stood in the crowded throng and spotted Yu Lingxi in the palace tower at once.

Among so many lavishly dressed noble ladies and official wives, only Yu Lingxi was as beautiful and eye-catching as a lotus emerging from the water, with a touch of crimson on her forehead blossoming brilliantly, making all the tower’s lights pale in comparison.

Her eyes were still beautiful and gentle, but they would never look at him again.

Xue Chen had come here with his elder brother.

The deposed Crown Prince was dead, his grandfather had retired home, and the marriage with the Yu family had been canceled, becoming a laughingstock throughout the capital. The Xue family had fallen into unprecedented decline.

Occasionally, when Xue Chen lay sleepless through the night, he would hear the sound of his elder brother hurriedly leaving the house in the dead of night.

In the entire Xue residence, the only one who seemed unaffected by the suppression was Xue Song.

Gradually, Xue Chen became suspicious.

The deposed Crown Prince supported by the Xue family was already dead; he didn’t know whom his brother was still toiling for… or perhaps, the one he had been secretly serving was never the deposed Crown Prince at all?

With growing doubts in his heart, Xue Chen followed his brother’s carriage to the palace gates.

He lost track of him but saw Yu Lingxi smiling sweetly on the palace tower.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, his heart burned with pain, yet he was irresistibly attracted.

Officials from the Imperial Kitchens and the Ministry of Rites led a group of acrobats and merchants up the tower. As the crowd became congested, Xue Chen was bumped by a young child behind him and stumbled. When he raised his head again, Yu Lingxi had disappeared from the tower.

His slightly reddened eyes dimmed, and he walked back against the crowd, lonely and isolated.

Flames shot up more than three feet high, eliciting cheers from the ladies on the west tower.

It was a troupe of folk acrobats selected by the Ministry of Rites performing for Ning Yin, symbolizing “celebrating with the people.”

The wind was strong on the palace walls, and Yu Lingxi had no interest in common acrobatics, so she moved to a sheltered spot, just wanting the lantern festival to end quickly so she could go night touring in the market with Ning Yin.

“Wow! The fire shoots so high!”

A girl of fourteen or fifteen, arm in arm with a woman, exclaimed excitedly, “Sister, look! It’s almost reaching Prince Jing’s face!”

“Shh! How dare you shout the name of Prince Jing so casually?”

The woman was more cautious, lowering her voice to explain, “This acrobatic troupe comes from the Northern Desert. They can sing and dance, and are skilled in hundreds of performances, naturally incomparable to Han people.”

Hearing the words “Northern Desert,” Yu Lingxi, who was drinking wine to warm herself, paused.

She stood up, followed the sound to find that woman, and gave a curtsy: “Madam, you just mentioned, where is this acrobatic troupe from?”

The woman must also have been the wife of an official, for she immediately returned the curtsy and answered: “They are from the Northern Desert. I heard my husband say that they were slaves captured when the late Emperor conquered the Northern Desert, and they are quite famous in the capital’s entertainment districts.”

Yu Lingxi leaned against the railing and squinted into the distance. The man who was currently performing fire-breathing toward Ning Yin looked increasingly familiar.

Northern Desert people, Lantern Festival, the Hongmen Banquet…

Her heart felt as if it had been firmly gripped by an invisible hand. The glass lantern in Yu Lingxi’s hand dropped to the ground with a crack, shattering into pieces.

She took a step back and turned to leave.

A year early!

If she wasn’t mistaken, because in this life the Yu family had not been destroyed, causing the Empress’s remnant faction to fear Ning Yin’s power, the bloody Hongmen Banquet meticulously prepared by them in alliance with the eunuchs had come a full year earlier than in her previous life’s memory!

Even the Regent who would shock the world in her previous life had been seriously injured in this assassination attempt and afterwards vented his anger by burning people alive as lanterns. Let alone…

Ning Yin wasn’t even the Regent yet!

“Sister!”

Yu Lingxi grabbed Yu Xinyi, who was arranging the patrol of the Mounted Guard, and said with a trembling voice, “Lend me your token!”

“What’s wrong, Suisui?”

Yu Xinyi was bewildered, “Why does your face look…”

“The performing acrobatic troupe are assassins from the Northern Desert. The Empress has set up the Lantern Festival banquet in collusion with the eunuchs to assassinate Prince Jing. Sister, quickly inform our brother to save him!”

With no time to explain further, Yu Lingxi untied the token from Yu Xinyi’s waist and pushed through the crowd, running desperately toward the east tower hall.

It was only after her sister’s figure disappeared into the surging crowd that Yu Xinyi reacted, gathering her subordinates: “The acrobatic troupe is suspicious, quickly report to the Imperial Guards!”

Boom——

A lantern tower over thirty feet tall rose from the ground, illuminating the city gate as bright as day, with the people’s cheers like an ocean.

The surging sound of the crowd drowned out Yu Lingxi’s cries.

“The east side of the palace wall is for princes and nobles, ladies may not enter without permission!”

The Imperial Guards crossed their halberds, blocking the breathless Yu Lingxi who had come running.

“I come on the orders of Commander Yu, with urgent matters to report to Prince Jing!”

Yu Lingxi produced her sister’s token.

The Imperial Guards still blocked the way, so Yu Lingxi simply pulled off the dragon jade pendant from her waist: “Whoever sees this jade, it is as if Prince Jing himself were here, who dares to obstruct!”

The dragon jade pendant was exclusive to imperial princes, and the Imperial Guards were indeed intimidated.

Yu Lingxi wasted no more time, taking advantage of the guards’ hesitation to walk toward the banquet where people were observing the lanterns.

The doors to the hall above were wide open, and when a beautiful lady in festive red rushed in breathlessly, everyone at the banquet was somewhat surprised.

“Isn’t that the second Miss Yu?”

“What is she doing here?”

Ning Yin put down his cup, with a very light sound, and immediately the slight murmurs around ceased.

Yu Lingxi’s gaze met Ning Yin’s, she steadied herself and stepped past the group of acrobatic performers toward Ning Yin.

“Your Highness dropped your jade pendant, and I have come to return it.”

Yu Lingxi struggled to steady her breathing, kneeling before Ning Yin and presenting the jade pendant with both hands.

She gave a meaningful look toward the acrobatic performers and certain officials, her urgent concern evident without words.

Sensing something amiss, Ning Yin’s eyes slowly narrowed.

He maintained his composure, even wearing an elegant smile, and said softly: “You shouldn’t have come, Suisui.”

Then he grabbed Yu Lingxi’s wrist with one hand, pulling her into his embrace while raising his empty cup with the other hand to shield them!

Almost simultaneously, a slender dagger pierced through the bottom of the cup, its cold gleam illuminating Ning Yin’s dark eyes.

A thunderous noise shook the ground as the gears of the lantern tower began to turn.

Sparks flew in all directions, like gold and silver fragments adorning the night sky, a scene of fire trees and silver flowers. The cheers of the people surged like waves, covering the commotion in the tower hall.

In the emergency, Yu Huanchen could mobilize a few people, and they were soon blocked at the base of the city tower by Cui An’s men.

The two forces faced off, with neither side daring to make a rash move.

“Superintendent Cui has brought out all his resources this time.”

Yu Huanchen pressed the blade at his waist, his silver armor and white robe fluttering in the wind. “I’ve been suspicious since you repeatedly targeted the Yu family. Are you in collusion with the Northern Desert?”

Hearing this, Cui An drawled slowly: “It’s a pity the one who came isn’t General Yu. But no matter, the son pays for the father’s debt all the same.”

“What do you mean?”

Yu Huanchen frowned, his fingers on the sword hilt discreetly tapping.

Yu Xinyi, hiding in the shadows, immediately understood and melted into the crowd.

“General Yu has seen me many times, but each time, he never remembered who I am.”

Cui An smiled grimly, “He seems to have forgotten those Northern Desert people he killed, forgotten that string of Northern Desert captives, shackled with grass ropes, stumbling barefoot into the capital, and among them, that small trembling boy.”

Note: As an idiom, “Hongmen Banquet” refers to a situation where someone is invited to a gathering that appears friendly on the surface but is a trap or an ambush. It’s used to describe a seemingly cordial meeting that has hidden dangerous intentions.