A child born between him and that little girl… he wondered what the child would look like. Surely it would be quite delightful.

In that moment, Yu Jingfeng was truly stunned — so stunned that his mind went completely blank.

His Highness had said he wanted to have a child with Miss Jiu’er…

No, no no — that wasn’t the key point. The key point was that His Highness was asking him… what one should do?

Yu Jingfeng’s expression shifted through several contortions, and very quickly his face turned a bright crimson.

Well… having followed His Highness for so many years, His Highness had never taken interest in anything beyond matters of governance and military affairs.

Although there was the Empress Dowager as a mother figure, the Empress Dowager had been ill for many years and rarely had time to look after His Highness.

On top of that, His Highness himself had suffered from a serious illness since childhood, and from a young age had disliked keeping company with others.

In his younger years, His Highness had only the handful of utterly loyal subordinates at his side. After coming of age, His Highness had devoted himself wholeheartedly to military strategy, with no time to concern himself with anything else.

His Highness had never grown close to young women, had never once visited any pleasure establishments — it seemed… there had truly never been an opportunity for him to learn certain things.

Now that he had thought to apply himself diligently to the subject, was it… ahem — too late? In truth, it wasn’t particularly late — wasn’t this just the right moment?

Right now, inside that room, there happened to be the most fitting candidate for His Highness to… ahem, practice with… why did the more he thought about it, the more indecent it seemed?

“Hmm?” Zhan Qingcheng’s sword-like brows drew together slightly, a faint trace of impatience.

Yu Jingfeng hurriedly bent forward and said in a low voice: “Well — Your Highness, this is… this subordinate has some books stored away in his room. Would you like… would you like this subordinate to bring them for Your Highness to look at?”

“Approved.”

…

That beautiful man, otherworldly as one untouched by mortal affairs, shut himself alone in the study for the length of time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

And then his tall, slender figure returned once more to the outside of his sleeping quarters.

Only this time upon his return, something felt subtly different about his presence — as though there was some kind of glow, flickering and shimmering in the depths of his eyes.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside. On the bed, the little girl was still sleeping deeply and soundly.

He stood by the bedside and simply stared at her, his gaze gradually drifting from her serene and peacefully sleeping expression downward, settling upon the blanket.

Beneath the blanket, her small frame was shapely and graceful, with curves that were pleasingly defined and anything but flat.

Zhan Qingcheng did not know what was going through his own mind. He simply stood there watching her, on and on, until the break of dawn.

Jiu’er felt, vaguely, as though in her dreams, there had always been someone staring at her.

That gaze was so scorching — so burning hot that she began to suspect she had somehow been placed in the middle of a sea of flames.

When she stirred groggily back to wakefulness, she never expected that the moment she opened her eyes, she would find the Ninth Imperial Uncle standing by the bedside, staring at her fixedly.

Could it be that the gaze that had clung to her throughout her dream last night had been real all along?

Feng Jiu’er jolted upright in a single motion. She looked up at him, her eyes full of suspicion.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle?” She rubbed her eyes, confirming she was not mistaken — the person standing by the bed was indeed the Ninth Imperial Uncle.

Only then did she furrow her brow, a trace of surprise in her voice: “What are you doing standing here?”

The Ninth Imperial Uncle’s robes were perfectly neat and composed. Had he risen early to dress, or had he gone without sleep the entire night?

“Ninth Imperial Uncle…”

“Nothing!” The man abruptly stepped back, spun around, and just like that — walked away, leaving her with only a stiff, rigid retreating figure.

But… what had she just seen? The Ninth Imperial Uncle… was blushing?