“What are you laughing at?” Yin Gezhi glanced at her with disdain. “It’s none of your business.”

Feng Yue turned her head while munching on melon seeds. “Good deeds bring good rewards, and evil deeds bring retribution. Isn’t it satisfying to watch?”

Yin Gezhi let out a scornful laugh. “You think everyone in this world gets what they deserve?”

Feng Yue’s hand paused mid-seed crack, and she pouted unhappily. “Why must you spoil my joy, Your Highness?”

“Time to head back and prepare dinner,” Yin Gezhi said coldly as he stood up. “It’s time to eat.”

Feng Yue’s eyes widened as she instinctively grabbed the table. “I still have to cook?”

“What else?” Yin Gezhi replied calmly. “You helped me earlier, so I’m granting you the favor of returning to stay.”

Who wants that kind of favor? She had so much freedom at the Menghui House, who’d want to be someone’s maid? Feng Yue frowned. But when she turned back and saw the thick smell of blood on the bed, remembering how that madman had curled up in his bedding earlier, she retched. After a moment’s pause, she decided to accept the reward and express her gratitude.

“This servant will go prepare dinner right away, but there’s hardly any food in the courtyard. Shall we buy some ingredients on the way?”

“Buy groceries?” Yin Gezhi frowned, his face full of disgust. “You want me to go grocery shopping?”

“What else can we do?” Feng Yue glanced behind him. “You didn’t bring Guanzhi with you either!”

“…” The Crown Prince of Wei would not do something so mundane. He turned away with a flip of his sleeve! Whoever wanted to buy groceries could go themselves!

However, when they reached downstairs, the light rain had turned into a downpour. And he hadn’t brought an umbrella.

Yin Gezhi looked at the sky dejectedly, thinking he shouldn’t have come on a whim. He should have sent Guanzhi instead. Even idling in the courtyard would have been better than accompanying this woman’s madness.

“Let’s go!” Feng Yue opened a peach-colored oil-paper umbrella over his head, smiling as she pulled him into the rain.

“I am a prince of Great Wei,” Yin Gezhi said through gritted teeth, staring at the road ahead.

“Yes, yes, this servant knows,” Feng Yue nodded like a pecking chick. “You’re very impressive and powerful.”

“So?”

So how could he make such an impressive person go grocery shopping?

“So…” Feng Yue tiptoed through the puddles, suddenly turning to look at him with sparkling eyes. “So this servant likes you.”

His foot splashed into a puddle, creating ripples in the water.

Yin Gezhi turned his head and gave her a long, deep look.

“Do all the women at Menghui House receive training on how to sweet-talk customers before they’re listed?”

Swaying her hips and giggling, Feng Yue winked, saying proudly, “So I’ve made you happy? My, my, my skills are indeed improving.”

The umbrella above them wobbled as she held it, causing rainwater to drip onto his shoulders. Yin Gezhi frowned and grabbed her umbrella holding hand, pulling her closer to himself.

Feng Yue froze, looking up to see his long, thick eyelashes, and unconsciously swallowed.

This man was devastatingly handsome.

The rain pattered against the umbrella, creating a steady rhythm. Beneath it was like another world, quiet and intimate.

After a long while, Yin Gezhi turned his head away and said, “I’ll hold the umbrella.”

“Alright.” Feng Yue lowered her eyes and obediently nestled against him as they headed toward the market.

The rainy market was almost empty, with vegetable vendors huddled under the eaves of nearby shops, packed so tightly that a frown appeared between the Crown Prince’s brows.

Feng Yue bounced ahead, shopping with evident joy. Perhaps because the vendors in Bu Yin City were simple folk, the prices for vegetables and meat were very low. Some middle-aged women even blushed as they gave her an extra cabbage. Young girls stammered and eventually refused to take her money, giving her a jin of beans for free.

“The vegetables here are such a bargain!” Hugging a large pile of goods, Feng Yue didn’t dare ask the lord behind her for help. Only after they left the crowd did she turn back to show him her purchases proudly: “Less than one qian of silver for all this!”

Yin Gezhi glared at her with a dark expression, saying nothing as he walked on with the umbrella.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Feng Yue hurried after him, struggling with her armful of goods, pleading pitifully, “Even if you won’t help, don’t walk so fast. This is all for us to eat!”

His jawline tightened as Yin Gezhi turned to look at her, asking condescendingly, “Too heavy?”

Feng Yue nodded immediately, blinking her eyes. “Would Your Highness… design to help?”

With a light snort, Yin Gezhi muttered “troublesome” under his breath, then reached out.

Feng Yue brightened, about to hand him the goods, when she saw him reach past her offered items, stick the umbrella into her pile of vegetables, bend down, and simply lift her in his arms!

Water from her shoes traced an arc in the air, and all the meat and vegetables that had been about to fall were now safely cradled in her arms. Feng Yue was stunned, managing to grab the umbrella handle with her free hand, blinking in confusion.

The Crown Prince’s face remained expressionless as he carried her like a basket of vegetables, heading straight for the envoy’s mansion.

Guanzhi was idly watching the rain at the gate when he unexpectedly saw his master return carrying a huge pile of goods, and upon closer look, there was even a person underneath all that.

“This… Miss Feng Yue?”

Forcing a laugh, Feng Yue said weakly, “Lord Guanzhi, if you don’t come help soon, I’m going to be crushed to death!”

Coming to his senses, Guanzhi hurried to help carry things, and as he took the banana leaves one by one, he discovered – hey, these were meat and vegetables?

Looking at his master in shock, Guanzhi asked, “Are you so happy because this is your first time at the market? How novel!”

Brushing off the rain from his clothes, Yin Gezhi ignored him and walked into the house with an aloof expression.

Feng Yue watched his retreating figure and elbowed Guanzhi, asking, “Where did you see that your master was happy? His eyes were like thunder and lightning the whole way! Scarier than this thunderstorm!”

Guanzhi shook his head with a light laugh, “My master is indeed happy, not angry. Please don’t worry, Miss.”

Really? Such a contradiction between appearance and reality? Feng Yue pouted and shook her head. She divided the goods with him, and they carried the ingredients to the kitchen together.

The sky was terrifyingly dark. After Duanxian delivered Li Xun to the Li family gate, she stopped. Li Xun shouted and screamed in the rain, and soon someone came out from the courtyard. Looking at the scene in bewilderment, they asked quietly, “What happened to the master?”

Li Xun had no proper wife, and the women in his courtyard were either prisoners of war or forcibly taken civilian women.

Duanxian smiled and beckoned the girl to come help carry him inside. Then she said, “The master had a little accident. I’m here to take care of him.”

Still howling, Li Xun stared at the girl with wide eyes and shouted, “Quick, drive her away! She’s a ghost, a ghost!”

The voice was truly terrifying. The frightened girl turned and ran, screaming as she fled, startling all the surrounding doors that had opened to quickly close again.

Not a single person came to see what had happened to him.

Li Xun felt somewhat desperate, his gaze becoming unfocused as he looked at Duanxian and said, “Just kill me.”

With a coquettish laugh, Duanxian asked, “My lord doesn’t want to live anymore?”

Li Xun closed his eyes in agony, tears streaming down his face.

Letting out a contemptuous laugh, Duanxian released the wheelchair and turned to look around the residence. The house wasn’t large – five bedrooms, one front hall, one study. She found Li Xun’s seal in the study almost effortlessly, took out the letter Feng Yue had given her, carefully stamped it, then went out and said with a smile, “Since my lord is in such distress, I shall send this letter requesting help on your behalf. Perhaps someone will come to save you from this predicament.”

Looking at her in terror, Li Xun broke down: “Can’t you just disappear?!”

“No,” Duanxian reached out to pinch his bandaged wrist, curling her lips. “This servant will take very good care of my lord.”

A thunderclap boomed, and the heavy rain poured down, wildly washing over Bu Yin City.

Candlelight flickered in the envoy’s mansion, seemingly shutting out all the city’s rain and mist. Feng Yue had finished preparing dinner, and Yin Gezhi put down his book, looking at the fully laden table with an inexplicable sense of contentment.

But content as he was, he couldn’t help but criticize: “So slow.”

Pointing at her hand, Feng Yue said, “The doctor told me to be careful on rainy days, it hurts. I endured the pain of cooking for you, and you still complain about me being slow?”

His brows furrowed slightly. Yin Gezhi glanced at her hand, stood up, and retrieved something from a nearby cabinet: “Use this.”

Taking the small porcelain bottle in both hands, she felt its smooth texture and opened the stopper to smell it. The medicinal fragrance wafted out – it was top-quality medicine.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Shamelessly accepting it, Feng Yue brazenly asked, “The weather is so bad today, can I sleep beside you?”

“What?” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Are you afraid of thunder?”

Feng Yue shrugged: “Perhaps I am.”

The Crown Prince of Wei, Yin Gezhi, stood tall and mighty, with illustrious military achievements, seemingly without weakness. But Feng Yue knew he had a secret that would be embarrassing if revealed – he was afraid of thunder.

When she had slept with him before, they had encountered a thunderstorm once, and he had held onto her stiffly, refusing to let go. When she asked afterward if he was afraid, His Highness had made up a terrible excuse: “No, I was just cold.”

The memory made Feng Yue want to laugh out loud, but Yin Gezhi was extremely concerned with saving face, and most people who didn’t give him face ended up dead. Keeping this in mind, Feng Yue had to pretend she knew nothing, looking pitiful as she asked, “May I?”

Yin Gezhi’s face remained expressionless, and after a while, he reluctantly agreed: “You may.”

Struggling to hold back her laughter, Feng Yue quickly ate three bowls of rice, cleaned up the dishes, told Guanzhi to go receive Ling Shu, and then honestly went to bed to warm it for him.

Thunder roared, and Yin Gezhi’s face turned slightly pale. He waved his sleeve to extinguish the lamp, got into bed, and immediately wrapped Feng Yue in his arms.

Pressed against him, with each thunderclap, Feng Yue would cry out, “Oh my! How frightening!”

The person holding her would then justifiably tighten his grip, holding her firmly.

Grinning, Feng Yue asked, “Is Your Highness also afraid of thunder?”

“No.”

“Crack—BOOM—” Just as the words left his mouth, massive thunder exploded directly above their room!