Everyone would part ways the next day, and the mood was, more or less, a little heavy.

Unexpectedly, as soon as day broke, something big happened.

When Yu Jingfeng woke up, he saw a girl sitting beside him.

She was lovely to look at, her skin fair and luminous, her eyes big and round, her slightly tousled long hair giving her a delicate, affecting charm.

Yu Jingfeng admired her for a while before he seemed to remember something very important.

He shot upright, nearly screaming.

Yu Jingfeng looked again at Leng Xuepiao, then immediately lifted the blanket to check.

His eyes, usually deep and unreadable, were now wide open, filled with shock and disbelief.

Compared to him, the woman beside him was far calmer.

Yu Jingfeng looked over his own state, and when he lifted his gaze, he noticed the little girl’s clothes were loose and dishevelled, looking rather suspicious.

He lunged closer and, with trembling hands, straightened her robe and tied the loosened sash.

He wasn’t such a beast as to have done *that* to her before they were even married…

Big Yu’s mind was in a jumble; he could not remember at all what had happened the night before.

“Why are you here?” Leng Xuepiao looked up at Yu Jingfeng, blinking.

Once Yu Jingfeng finally managed to straighten her clothes, he looked up and met a gaze purer than a little white rabbit’s.

The wolf’s tail gave a twitch, itching to pounce on the little white rabbit and devour it whole.

“I…” The words that came out of Yu Jingfeng were hoarse to the extreme.

Had anything happened last night? Had it? Why couldn’t he remember? Surely not — but then why were her clothes like that?

Yu Jingfeng was both agitated and worried.

Getting no answer, Leng Xuepiao glanced outside and got out of bed.

“Knock, knock, knock…” A knocking sound came from outside.

“Lord Yu, Xuepiao is missing — have you seen her?”

“Knock, knock, knock…”

“Lord Yu, didn’t Xuepiao leave with you last night? She never came back all night, Lord Yu.”

Before Qingqing finished speaking, the door was pulled open from inside.

“Qingqing, you’re looking for me?” Leng Xuepiao, not even wearing shoes, padded barefoot over and pulled the door open.

Sitting on the bed, Yu Jingfeng finally remembered.

This was his chamber. Xuepiao had come back with him last night.

Afterward he had asked her — if he never came back, what would she do — he had only wanted her to see her own heart clearly, to see whether he had a place in it.

He hadn’t expected his words to frighten her.

Little Xuepiao cared about him so much that the mere thought of him not returning made her babble anxiously.

Then, after she’d said her piece, she said she was very tired, lay down, and fell asleep.

He had spent the whole night sleeping beside her.

But had anything happened in between — had it, or hadn’t it?

“Ah…”

A soft scream pulled Yu Jingfeng’s mind back.

He looked up to see his own wife-to-be in thin, scanty clothing, her feet still bare.

“Xuepiao.” Yu Jingfeng shot to his feet, threw on a cloak, and strode toward the door.

His own clothes were in disarray too, not yet put right.

As he stepped forward, the robe slipped off one shoulder, revealing half of his unwounded chest.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

Qingqing and Xiaotian, standing outside the door, both covered their eyes at once.

Standing behind them, Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao also turned their heads aside.

Leaving his robe behind, Yu Jingfeng went over and swept Leng Xuepiao up into his arms.

“The floor is too cold — you’ll catch a chill.”

Disaster! Miss Jiu’er had come too — how was he supposed to explain this now?

Yu Jingfeng didn’t dare think further; he simply carried his wife-to-be back to the bed and draped clothes over her.

“From now on, no more running around barefoot.”

After that faintly commanding remark, he knelt on one knee and slipped riding boots onto the feet dangling over the edge of the bed.

Inside the chamber, every move the man made fell under the eyes of the four people outside.

Qingqing and Xiaotian shared a room with Xuepiao.

They had long trusted Yu Jingfeng’s character, so when he’d taken Leng Xuepiao away last night, they hadn’t thought much of it.

Only, they never imagined that when they woke, Leng Xuepiao’s bed would be empty, the covers exactly as they’d left them.

Qingqing and Xiaotian suspected Yu Jingfeng, but he was, after all, their senior — the best they could do was seek help from Feng Jiu’er.

Xiao Yingtao, who happened to be heading out at the time, heard the news and came along as well.

Watching Yu Jingfeng’s back, Xiao Yingtao could hardly believe her eyes.

“What do you all think — who pushed who down last night?”

By the look of things, Xuepiao seemed far calmer than Yu Jingfeng — could it be that…

“Impossible!” Qingqing shook her head.

“Right.” Xiaotian shook her head, then nodded, then shook her head again. “No, it couldn’t be Xuepiao — she wouldn’t dare.”

The two of them, almost in unison, were consoling themselves that Xuepiao would never push Yu Jingfeng down, yet in their hearts they thought much the same as Xiao Yingtao.

Even though Xuepiao was as slight and small as a little white rabbit, and Lord Yu as fearsome as a wolf, they still felt the situation was probably not what it appeared.

Little Miss Xuepiao’s gaze was remarkably calm, while Big Yu looked rather flustered.

It was almost as if Big Yu was the one who had been taken advantage of.

How could that be?

Yu Jingfeng finished putting Leng Xuepiao’s shoes on, turned, and knelt.

“Miss Jiu’er.”

Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow, strode in on her long legs.

The other three followed her inside.

“What’s going on here?” Feng Jiu’er asked, still fairly composed.

Feng Jiu’er had no doubts about Yu Jingfeng’s character.

But he was still a man.

In the dead of night, alone with a woman — had he truly not been able to hold back?

“Miss Jiu’er.” Yu Jingfeng looked up at Feng Jiu’er. “I want to marry Xuepiao — please grant your blessing!”

“I will be good to her for the rest of my life, guard her for the rest of my life, and never let her suffer any wrong!”

“If I break this vow, may heaven and earth destroy me!”

“How clichéd!” Feng Jiu’er glanced at Yu Jingfeng and stopped beside him, looking at Leng Xuepiao on the bed.

“Xuepiao, what do you think?”

Leng Xuepiao looked at Feng Jiu’er and blinked.

“Jiu’er, I’m ill — can someone like me be a wife?”

At this moment, Leng Xuepiao was uncharacteristically serious.

Feng Jiu’er looked at her and frowned slightly. “Didn’t I already tell you, your condition isn’t an illness?”

“You’re just too reserved, not fond of talking, and besides, your condition has already improved — completely improved.”

“Improved?” Leng Xuepiao’s eyes went wide.

She knew her condition wasn’t truly an illness; Jiu’er had explained it to her many times.

But no matter what anyone said, she knew she was different from other people.

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded in response. “Completely recovered — and it’s thanks to Yu Jingfeng.”

“So on that account, you have nothing to worry about!”

Yu Jingfeng stood, came to the bedside, and knelt on one knee again, taking Leng Xuepiao’s hand.

“Xuepiao, you heard her — Jiu’er says you’re fine, so you really are fine.”

“Last night you asked me something. I’ve long wanted to tell you — don’t say you’re not ill; even if you were, I would never think less of you for it.”

“Xuepiao, marry me, will you?”

Yu Jingfeng bent his other leg, kneeling before Leng Xuepiao, holding both her hands.

“Marry me. From now on, let me protect you.”

—