After Jingrong heard what she said, a ripple stirred in the depths of his heart.

Yet he didn’t know what to say.

He remained silent for a long while.

Ji Yinshu hadn’t heard him speak for quite some time, so she raised her eyes to look at him. Then she gripped his arm even tighter and continued, “I’m saying all this to tell you that no matter how you push me away, no matter how you deny your feelings for me, I won’t give up! This time, I’ll hold onto you tightly no matter what. Don’t even think about shaking me off again.”

Jingrong said, “I’ll go where I want—you can’t stop me.”

“Yes, I know I can’t stop you, but I believe you won’t leave me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have stayed here.”

“That’s because you begged me to.”

Ji Yinshu couldn’t help but laugh. She propped up her head, her pair of beautiful dark eyes looking at him as she said, “You just said I couldn’t stop you, so why did you stay the moment I begged you? Clearly, you have feelings for me in your heart. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now, letting me stay this close to you.”

Jingrong’s expression suddenly stiffened!

It seemed… that was indeed the logic.

His brows knitted together as he denied and emphasized, “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re making excuses!”

“I’m not.”

“You are!” Ji Yinshu said.

Jingrong’s eyes suddenly darkened. He sighed softly, raised his arm to pull it away, saying, “Let go.”

“I won’t!” Disregarding the injury on her hand, she desperately clutched his arm, refusing to let go. At the same time, she softened her tone, saying, “Alright, alright, pretend I didn’t say what I just said. I’m the one begging you to stay. I’m the one shamelessly clinging to you and refusing to let go. It’s all me.”

“…”

“Besides, you can’t sleep now anyway, and neither can I. Wouldn’t it be better if we just sat here and talked to pass the time? Otherwise, if you leave like this, you’ll be alone again. Through the long night, how boring would that be!”

Jingrong had half-risen, but she held him firmly. Not knowing what would happen if he continued sitting, he turned his head and said, “It’s so late already. You should hurry and go rest.”

“I’m not sleepy. I just want to sit here with you and talk like this.”

“…”

“Please?” Her eyes held a glimmer of light with a trace of pleading—this appearance was just like a child.

When Jingrong met her eyes, he was instantly at a loss, as if that solid wall he had erected around himself had been effortlessly toppled.

This woman seemed to possess some kind of magic.

In the end, he sat back down.

Ji Yinshu’s heart leaped with joy, and the hand gripping his arm refused to let go anymore.

The cool wind whistled around them, blowing against their bodies with stinging sharpness. Ji Yinshu’s constitution was already weak, and as the cold wind blew, she burrowed even closer to him.

Jingrong imperceptibly shifted to the side, but she pressed closer to him again. This repeated back and forth until they had moved from the left side of the stone steps to the far left edge. Finally, he was too lazy to move anymore and simply sat quietly in place, allowing the slender-figured woman beside him to nestle close.

After quite a while, Ji Yinshu raised her head to look at him, staring at the half-mask on his face. “Actually, you look quite good wearing a mask too.”

“…”

Why was she suddenly talking about this?

“Do you remember? It was in Jinjiang when my face was injured. I bled so much—there was a scar from the corner of my eye down to my jaw. At that time, you looked at the scar on my face and said that even if I remained like that for the rest of my life, you would stay by my side and never leave. You also said that even so, I would still be the most beautiful in your heart. Do you remember?”

Jingrong frowned slightly and looked at her sideways.

Where on this woman’s face showed any sign of injury?

It was clearly fair and delicate.

Extremely beautiful!

He didn’t know what came over him, but he blurted out, “When was your face ever injured?”

She was secretly delighted and brought her face close to his, her finger gently pressing below the corner of her eye as she said, “Later, we went to the capital together. You found Muruo and threatened him to remove the scar from my face. Muruo truly went to great lengths to remove the scar from my face, but there’s still a faint scar mark in this spot at the corner of my eye. Look, right here.”

As she spoke, she brought her face even closer to Jingrong.

Jingrong also seriously narrowed his eyes and stared at the spot at the corner of her eye.

There was indeed a scar there.

Very faint!

If one didn’t look carefully, it couldn’t be seen at all. But even so, it didn’t affect her beauty in the slightest.

Jingrong withdrew his gaze. As his head lowered slightly, his lips nearly touched Ji Yinshu’s nose bridge, and only then did he realize with alarm that the distance between them was mere fractions of an inch.

Any closer and they would be touching.

At this moment, he could clearly feel her breathing washing against his chin.

Ji Yinshu’s scheme had succeeded—a smile instantly bloomed at the corners of her mouth.

Then she tilted her head up and kissed his lower lip!

Light as a dragonfly touching water!

Quickly withdrawing!

A nameless emotion flashed through Jingrong’s eyes. Before he could react, Ji Yinshu once again firmly hooked his arm and rested her head on his shoulder, like a child who had done something wrong.

Everything around them suddenly froze!

Jingrong also froze…

The moonlight was cool and penetrating, the cold wind rustling.

Who knows how much time passed before Ji Yinshu, leaning on Jingrong’s shoulder, had fallen asleep.

In these past few years, she had never slept so soundly. Falling asleep breathing in the man’s inherent scent made her feel very safe, and her whole body relaxed.

Jingrong turned his head to look at her. Her long lashes trembled slightly in the cool breeze, like light, floating feathers. He couldn’t help but swallow, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down. After a long moment, he finally averted his gaze elsewhere. His body stiffened briefly. Seeing the cold wind around them growing stronger, his shoulder moved slightly. He turned and lifted Ji Yinshu into his arms.

This body was truly too light—absurdly light.

Ji Yinshu was like a boneless little cat, curled up entirely in his embrace. Her head also rubbed gently against his chest a few times, very endearing.

Jingrong’s heart melted at once, as if a warm current was surging through him.

It left him somewhat at a loss. He could only quicken his steps, carrying Ji Yinshu back to her room. He placed her on the bed, covered her with the quilt—his movements gentle yet efficient and neat—then prepared to leave…

Who knew that Ji Yinshu would grab his hand, softly calling out, “Jingrong, don’t go!”

She was still in her dream, lying on her side on the bed, reaching out to hold him and refusing to let go.

Jingrong wanted to pull his hand back, but seeing the injury on her palm, he immediately dismissed this thought, afraid of hurting her again. He could only resign himself to letting her hold on like this.

He sat silently at her bedside, motionless.

But Ji Yinshu slightly opened her eyes in her dream. Seeing Jingrong sitting with his back to her at the bedside, his arm held by her hand, a smile slowly spread across her lips, and she slept peacefully.

**The Next Day**

When Ji Yinshu woke up, she discovered her hand was empty. She sat up abruptly and looked around the room, but there was no sign of Jingrong.

“A’Yi.”

The maid A’Yi heard her call and came in, saying, “Miss, you’re awake.”

“Where is… Young Master A’Li?”

“He left early this morning.”

“Left?”

“Yes, he left just as dawn was breaking.”

Ji Yinshu got out of bed, putting on her clothes while asking, “Did he say anything when he left?”

A’Yi said, “He asked this servant to tell you that he’ll come over once he’s finished with his business.”

Business!

What business could he possibly have?

Now that the truth was out in the open and both their identities were clear, he no longer needed to work for Su Ziluo. What business could he possibly still have!

But now she couldn’t return to Yanjing City either. Her identity and Jingrong’s identity absolutely could not be exposed! If the Wen family or others found out, it would likely cause unnecessary trouble.

So now, she could only wait here.

If it were before, she definitely wouldn’t believe Jingrong would come back. But now, she believed it—believed he would return!

A’Yi saw her lost in thought and asked, “Miss, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Breakfast is ready. Miss can eat after washing up.”

“Alright.”

The weather at the end of October was always unpredictable. Before long, it began to rain.

Autumn rain fell, pattering down. The bamboo forest was enveloped in a sheet of white mist, like a fairyland.

Ji Yinshu sat under the corridor, raising her head to watch the water droplets continuously falling from under the eaves. Her thoughts wandered off who knows where, gradually losing focus…

Until a voice came from the front courtyard: “Let’s rest our feet here for a while.”

Hmm? It was a man’s rough, deep voice!