With such a great upheaval having come upon the Prime Minister’s residence, Pei Shu Rou feared the Prime Minister’s wife would hastily arrange her marriage to someone in an effort to forge useful connections for the household. After leaving the residence, she went directly to linger in the vicinity of the Minister of Justice’s estate.

She hoped to try her luck and see if she might happen to encounter Mu Heng.

Mu Heng had long been stationed at the border where Xuanzhao and Qilan adjoined, and had only returned to the capital not long ago. He had no wife, and was the legitimate son of the Minister of Justice, with a relationship to the Crown Prince that was anything but ordinary — she wanted to make a bid for herself.

She didn’t expect to become the principal wife — after all, she was a concubine-born daughter — but to be Mu Heng’s concubine would still be better than being married off at random by her mother.

Her luck was not bad. After waiting a little while, she spotted Mu Heng running out of the residence with a yawn, the Minister of Justice behind him wielding a wooden stick in pursuit, shouting as he ran, “You unfilial wretch!”

Pei Shu Rou pressed her lips together. Had she come at a bad time?

“Father, Father — you mustn’t strike me. I’m going to see the Crown Prince today. If you beat me to the point I can’t move, you’ll have to find someone to carry me there!” Mu Heng ran circles around the stone lions at the gate of the residence, one boot still in his hand.

“Nonsense! Not a day goes by you don’t say ten times or more that you’re going to see the Crown Prince — and that keeps your old man from laying a hand on you. Yet your old man has never once seen you actually go!” The Minister of Justice raised his hand to give him a knock.

“Father!” The boot in Mu Heng’s hand went flying and landed squarely on the Minister of Justice’s wooden stick. He pleaded desperately, “Father, I’m not lying today! If you beat me until I can’t move, you’ll genuinely have to have someone carry me to the Crown Prince’s residence!”

The Minister of Justice shook the stick in irritation — the boot hooked on it slipped off and landed neatly atop Mu Heng’s head. In the next instant, Mu Heng clutched his chest and retched.

How long had that little servant Xiao Ping gone without washing his feet?

Chased by his old man, he hadn’t had time to put on his shoes, and had been running in his bare feet over the uncomfortable ground. When he’d come across the household servant Xiao Ping, he’d snatched his boots — and now the stench had him on the verge of vomiting.

Pei Shu Rou bit her lip. It wasn’t as though Mu Heng was her only option…

“The Crown Prince is in the palace — he’s not at the Crown Prince’s residence at all. You think you can bluff your old man? You’re still talking about going to see the Crown Prince?” The Minister of Justice tapped Mu Heng’s shoulder with the wooden stick.

“Retch—!” Mu Heng pinched his nose, pulled the boot from atop his head, and tossed it aside — landing it squarely in Pei Shu Rou’s arms. Pei Shu Rou reflexively caught it.

The acrid, sour stench hit her nose, and Pei Shu Rou endured and endured — but ultimately couldn’t hold back a retch.

Mu Heng froze in place. “That… that isn’t my boot,” he explained.

He did have a reputation to maintain in front of young women.

Pei Shu Rou suppressed the nausea rising in her stomach, caught a glance at Mu Heng’s bare feet, and looked entirely unconvinced. Never mind — she would find a different target.

The Minister of Justice gave Mu Heng a long-suffering look and turned to go back inside the residence. What a disgrace — even his own face had been utterly lost in front of a young girl!

He’d deal thoroughly with this wretched boy once he came home!

“Young master, your shoe.” Pei Shu Rou said, her voice strained, holding the boot by its very edge and extending it toward Mu Heng.

Why the strained voice? Because if she didn’t strain it, she feared she might vomit right there on the street.

“Young lady, it’s not mine,” Mu Heng insisted.

If word of this got out, wouldn’t his reputation be ruined entirely?

Pei Shu Rou frowned, staring pointedly at his shoeless feet, and said nothing.

“…This is a misunderstanding!” Mu Heng said, his explanation growing more and more feeble.

Pei Shu Rou gritted her teeth, pinched her nose firmly shut, and said, “Young master, misunderstanding or not — could you either put on your shoe, or take it back from me? It’s suffocating.”

“It’s not—” Mu Heng grabbed the boot back and said once more, “It’s not my shoe.”

What did she mean by put on his shoe? This girl was quite pretty — how could her hearing be so poor?

Pei Shu Rou gave Mu Heng a complicated look. “Young master, just wash your feet a few more times each day — then you won’t have to keep making excuses to everyone that it isn’t your shoe.”

Mu Heng: “…”

If he’d known, he would have sooner endured the rough ground on his bare feet than snatched those boots!

“Retch—!” Pei Shu Rou instinctively dabbed at the tip of her nose with her handkerchief, caught the stench on her hand, and nearly keeled over.

Mu Heng: “…??”

“Retch— retch—!” The harder Pei Shu Rou tried to hold it in, the more she dry-heaved.

“…” Mu Heng scratched his head. “Why don’t you come inside the residence and wash your hands?”

When he got back, he would give strict orders — anyone who dared not wash their feet would get beaten out of the residence with his old man’s wooden stick, which he’d steal for the occasion!

Pei Shu Rou pressed her lips together and gave a small nod.

——

The Crown Prince’s Residence.

After Xuan Yanyu had “recovered” from his “illness,” the two of them left the palace and returned to the residence.

The Qishan Dining Hall.

Yan Yunning looked at the chicken soup on the dining table, and for no particular reason, wanted it taken away.

The sight of the greasy broth floating on the surface killed any desire she had to pick up her chopsticks.

“What’s wrong?” Xuan Yanyu ladled a serving of chicken soup for Yan Yunning, his voice unhurried and languid. “She who is most eager to eat at every single meal — what has come over her today?”

Yan Yunning cast him a long sideways glance. “Crown Prince, today I loathe chicken soup above all else.”

“…” Xuan Yanyu quietly set down the bowl of soup he’d just ladled, glanced sideways at the maidservant, and said, “Take it away.”

“Yes, Crown Prince.” The maidservant stepped forward and removed the chicken soup.

“Anything else you dislike? Have the maidservant take those away too.” The man picked up a meatball with his chopsticks and held it to Yan Yunning’s lips. “Do you dislike this?”

“I don’t dislike it.” Yan Yunning pressed her lips together. “But I don’t want to eat it either.”

Xuan Yanyu: “…”

——

For more than ten days in a row, Yan Yunning ate very little, and kept drifting off to sleep at the slightest opportunity. Xuan Yanyu, thinking she was ill, had Ye Chen fetch Imperial Physician Wen from the palace to the Crown Prince’s residence.

He had Ye Chen fetch Imperial Physician Wen — and he truly did fetch him, literally — so that by the time Yan Yunning came to the main hall after her afternoon rest, she found Imperial Physician Wen flushed red and coughing.

“I pay— cough— I pay my respects to the Crown Princess.” Imperial Physician Wen managed to get out the full sentence in one breath before he couldn’t help but cough again.

Yan Yunning: “…?”

Ye Chen self-consciously rubbed the tip of his nose. Imperial Physician Wen had been walking too slowly — he had only carried him from the gate of the Crown Prince’s residence to the main hall, and somehow he’d ended up coughing without end!

“Are there any places you feel unwell today?” Xuan Yanyu drew Yan Yunning’s arm over and settled her onto his lap.

Yan Yunning lazily half-closed her eyes, her voice soft. “No.”

The man pressed his forehead to hers — her temperature wasn’t high, and she didn’t seem uncomfortable anywhere. So why had she lost her appetite?

“Have you finished coughing yet?” Xuan Yanyu’s patience ran out.

“Your Highness… cough… cough cough… cough — done,” Imperial Physician Wen said. He had half a mind to see Ye Chen done away with. The man had nearly dragged away his old bones entirely!

“…” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze turned dangerous as it landed on Ye Chen.

Ye Chen, terrified, didn’t dare lift his head.

Xiao Wan handed Imperial Physician Wen a cup of water. He drank it down and recovered for quite a while before the coughing finally subsided.

Xuan Yanyu rolled up Yan Yunning’s sleeve. The girl’s wrist was slender and delicate. The man casually raised two long fingers, curled them lightly, and encircled her wrist with ease.

Her skin was also very tender — when he loosened his grip, the two faint imprints of his fingers lingered on her wrist for a moment before gradually fading.

Once the Crown Prince released her hand, Xiaoyue placed a handkerchief across Yan Yunning’s wrist.

Yan Yunning’s heart inexplicably quickened. She had a faint, growing suspicion.