Her tone made Yin Gezhi frown.

Feng Yue came to her senses and immediately softened her approach, speaking as if in jest: “This servant means to say, that acknowledging one’s mistakes is a great virtue. Since you know where you went wrong, why not make amends?”

Lowering his gaze, the First Prince spoke with displeasure: “It’s not certain that I was wrong. At the time, circumstances were pressing, and I had no opportunity to investigate personally, so I left others to handle it. Who would have thought… they would deal with it so carelessly.”

There must be some hidden circumstances. Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep having nightmares. But everyone involved was already dead, and no one cared about this matter anymore. If he kept dwelling on it, he seemed somewhat foolish.

If truly… if he truly was wrong, how could he repay the loyalty and sacrifice of an entire family?

His heart heavy, Yin Gezhi shook his head, his expression terrible as he said: “Enough.”

Enough? Feng Yue sneered. Who would let this matter rest with him? He might escape for now, but he couldn’t escape forever.

After arranging his clothes, Feng Yue looked up and sincerely praised him: “Your Highness truly has the bearing of a jade tree in the wind. So graceful and distinguished.”

Letting out a light snort, Yin Gezhi casually brushed his robe, suddenly feeling something different. He looked down.

It was still the white robe style he usually wore, but the material was lighter and different from his usual clothing.

“Your Highness is so observant.” The person before him smiled alluringly: “This is a summer garment I made by hand. It suits Your Highness well.”

Narrowing his eyes, Yin Gezhi suddenly recalled that she had been sewing something in the evenings recently. He had asked about it once, and she had said it was clothing for Ling Shu.

So it was made for him?

He felt somewhat pleased inside, but couldn’t show it too obviously, so the cold First Prince maintained his stern expression and criticized: “The stitching is crude.”

You’re not happy even though it’s wearable? Feng Yue’s face fell: “Then take it off, and I’ll get you another one.”

Turning aside to avoid her hand, Yin Gezhi headed straight for the door, his robes floating behind him. A flash of white brushed past Feng Yue’s fingers, carrying a hint of soap fragrance, leaving her momentarily stunned.

She had never seen someone who could wear both white robes and dark garments so well. In white, he was like a refined gentleman amid the mortal world. In black, he became a bloodthirsty demon lord from the depths of hell. The extremes of good and evil seemed to find a delicate balance in him – one thought could make him Buddha, another could make him a demon.

Ah, Yin Gezhi…

Shaking her head, Feng Yue came back to her senses, lifted her skirts with a smile, and followed him out.

Yin Gezhi was heading to the General’s mansion. Even if Feng Yue hadn’t gone, he had planned to seek an explanation from General Yi about the incident where his people had seized Feng Yue.

Feng Yue stood at the doorway watching him leave. After he was far away, she gave Ling Shu one tael of silver: “Good girl, go buy some mung bean cakes again.”

Ling Shu nodded and rushed out without a word. Feng Yue looked up at the clear sky after the rain and thought how worthy this was of being called the City of No Shade – the sun shone brilliantly, and no matter what storms raged in the night, the daylight could dry away all traces of moisture from the ground.

Yang Fengpeng’s sudden custody under Feng Chuang’s supervision made General Yi very uneasy. With thunder and lightning the previous night, he hadn’t slept at all. Today when Yin Gezhi arrived, he had little energy.

“General,” Yin Gezhi clasped his hands: “May I ask why you sought my household maid?”

After a slight pause, Yi Guoru gave a light laugh, his eyes shifting left and right as he spoke kindly: “We seem to have disturbed you unnecessarily. I heard from Zhu’er that you had acquired a beautiful new maid, and she was somewhat unhappy about it, so she wanted to invite her over for a chat.”

“General,” his expression slightly displeased, Yin Gezhi looked at him and said: “Although I greatly admire Miss Yi, given my status, there likely isn’t any future with the young lady.”

The implication is: why do you care what maids I have? It’s not like I’m going to marry your daughter!

Patting his knee, Yi Guoru smiled: “My daughter also greatly admires Your Highness. If one day Your Highness returns to Wei, and diplomatic relations remain, it might not be impossible.”

That was thinking quite far ahead.

Yin Gezhi lowered his eyes. Just as he was thinking of what excuse to use to stay, Yi Guoru said: “Well, whatever staff you have, I won’t inquire further. But Your Highness, there’s been much unrest outside lately. Why don’t you stay at the mansion for a few days? It would be good to avoid the turmoil.”

Avoid turmoil? Yin Gezhi laughed coldly inside. Yi Guoru must have received word about his suspicious behavior and wanted to keep him under soft detention at the General’s mansion.

As it happened, he also wanted to stay here for a while.

“I have no objection to the General’s decision.”

Yi Guoru was quite pleased with his cooperation. His expression softened considerably as he spoke more gently: “Consider it keeping my daughter company. She hasn’t been in the best spirits lately.”

Yin Gezhi nodded, and after rising to bow, walked out indifferently.

“General,” Xue Liang watched from the side and couldn’t help muttering: “Prince Yin truly seems to have no issues. I wonder why the other officials suspect him.”

“We’ll see,” said Yi Guoru. “In these times, few can be trusted easily.”

Xue Liang paused, silently sighed, and then respectfully withdrew to the side.

Yin Gezhi quietly followed the servant through the General’s mansion, carefully observing everything he passed, comparing it with what Feng Yue had given him.

It matched exactly.

He felt inexplicably anxious inside. He found Feng Yue hard to understand and wondered how she had such extraordinary abilities. If she was a bit more capable, would she even know the palace layout?

There was something questionable about her – her identity was suspicious, her motives unclear, but he dared not act rashly before discovering her true identity. Yet if he didn’t act, that person was like wild grass, stubbornly taking root in his heart. He feared that by the time he discovered she was poisonous, pulling her out would pain his entire being.

The First Prince, who had navigated battlefields for years, had never worried so much about matters of the heart. Even when someone had vanished without a trace three years ago, leaving him heartsick, he hadn’t been troubled to this extent!

“Brother Yin,” Yi Zhuozhu’s voice came from afar. He looked up to see her smiling properly as she curtsied: “You’ve finally come.”

Pausing briefly, Yin Gezhi stopped and carefully examined her face.

Isn’t this how a young lady’s face should look? An oval face, eyebrows like distant mountains, bright almond eyes. Surrounded by floral fragrance, she appeared proper and elegant in every way. How had he come to fancy someone like Feng Yue? Fox-like eyes, red lips, covered in powder fragrance, smiling seductively and alluringly. Vulgar and lowborn.

It must be because he had kept her by his side too long and grown accustomed to her. The ancients’ saying “familiarity breeds affection” wasn’t without reason.

Taking a deep breath, Yin Gezhi came back to his senses and looked at her: “I’ll be staying for a couple of days.”

“To keep Zhu’er company?” Yi Zhuozhu asked with a smile.

Yin Gezhi nodded.

Light flickered in her eyes as Yi Zhuozhu fidgeted with her handkerchief. After thinking for a long while, she suddenly blushed: “Actually… Zhu’er has something to tell Brother Yin.”

“Oh?” He responded absent-mindedly as he walked forward with her.

Yi Zhuozhu hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage to speak: “I won’t marry the Crown Prince.”

“Oh?” This time he was alert, raising an eyebrow: “Why?”

Or rather, when had she decided to marry him? The Crown Prince’s proposal had been blocked by General Yi, and she had personally rejected it.

“He wants to go against Father.” Biting her lip, Yi Zhuozhu’s eyes reddened: “His previous doting on me was all false. I asked him to spare Official Yang, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“…You asked him to spare Official Yang?” Yin Gezhi was shocked: “You spoke to him directly?”

Yi Zhuozhu nodded: “Yes, he seemed very angry and said I was meddling too much, then he just left.”

Recalling the Crown Prince’s attitude that day, she still felt some lingering anger: “Even if I shouldn’t interfere so much, couldn’t he have said it nicely? He was so fierce and left me alone in the street! In his eyes, these state affairs must be more important than me.”

They are indeed more important than you! Yin Gezhi lowered his eyes.

Sometimes he really couldn’t understand what Yi Zhuozhu was thinking. Her actions often exceeded his expectations. What he found absurd, she considered perfectly reasonable.

Were all women this hard to understand? No, Feng Yue always seemed to think along the same lines as him and could even help him strategize.

So what was the issue?

Shaking his head, Yin Gezhi said: “Since you feel he doesn’t care for you, then indeed you shouldn’t marry him.”

“But…” Yi Zhuozhu glanced at him with a blush: “Zhu’er has also reached the age for marriage.”