As the ink of the night bled away, the dawn in Zhanchuan arrived with a crisp, refreshing chill.
The previous night, after Ying Ren finished organizing the hidden sentries and patrolling details across the manor, it was already the depths of midnight by the time he returned to the main courtyard. He had no idea that the protagonist of those rumored "nightly revelries"—the real Prince of Zhan, Xiao Zhan—had actually spent the latter half of the night cooped up in his study.
With Xiao Zhan's return to the manor, Ying Ren could finally shed that heavy, suffocating disguise of "Prince Zhan." He changed back into his agile, charcoal-black tight-fitting guard attire, reclaiming his role as Xiao Zhan's most trusted shadow, blending seamlessly into the deepest darkness outside the master bedroom.
As day broke, the first rays of sunlight filtered through the pomegranate trees in the main courtyard, casting mottled silhouettes across the ground.
"Master Ying Ren, are you there?"
A soft call broke the silence of the early morning. Huo Xi stood at the courtyard gate, peeking her head in and looking around, cradling a delicate little bamboo basket. She wore a fresh, goose-yellow dress today, which complemented her radiant, rosy complexion.
With a fluid shift of his form, Ying Ren appeared behind Huo Xi as silently as a specter. Without alerting the other guards, he extended his long arm and, with a subtle hint of possessiveness he didn't even recognize himself, lightly brushed her shoulder and guided her under the secluded, quiet veranda.
"Master Ying Ren, I knew you'd be here." Huo Xi turned around, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at him, presenting the basket with both hands like a prized treasure. "These are pastries I just made, fresh out of the steamer. I brought them over while they're hot to satisfy your sweet tooth."
Looking at the pure, unadulterated sincerity in her eyes, Ying Ren accepted the basket. A warmth he wasn't even aware of softened his gaze, and he reached out to gently ruffle the fluffy crown of her hair.
"Why do you always like to pat my head? You're going to mess it up," Huo Xi protested, shrinking her neck back slightly with a tiny pout. Yet despite her words, a shallow flush of rosy clouds had already bloomed across her cheeks.
The morning sun slanted across the veranda, illuminating her lively, endearing little face. As Ying Ren looked down at her pouted lips—resembling a plump, enticing red cherry—the string named 'restraint' inside his heart snapped instantly.
His distinct knuckles, usually accustomed to gripping a blade, tightened slightly. Then, guided by some inexplicable impulse, he leaned down. Amidst the sharp, startled gasp of the young girl, his cool lips pressed gently against that cherry-like softness.
Huo Xi's eyes widened instantly. Her mind went utterly blank, her heart hammering so violently it felt ready to burst through her chest, while the roar of rushing blood filled her ears. She instinctively buried her face in her hands, the scorching heat radiating right through the gaps of her fingers.
"I... I'll go see if the Consort is awake!"
Like a startled fawn, she blurted out the incoherent sentence and turned to flee in sheer panic. The hem of her goose-yellow dress vanished around the corner of the veranda, leaving behind a trail of flurried, frantic footsteps.
Ying Ren stood rooted to the spot, his fingers instinctively brushing against his lips, where the faint fragrance of pastries and the lingering warmth of the girl still seemed to remain. Watching the direction Huo Xi had fled, the corners of his mouth finally curved upward, unable to suppress the smile any longer.
To hell with the cardinal taboos of a shadow guard. To hell with losing emotional control.
At this moment, he only wished for this morning tremor of the heart to remain frozen forever within this warm sunlight.
However, this incredibly pure yet burning scene under the morning veranda had fallen entirely into another pair of eyes—eyes as sharp and precise as a falcon's.
Lan Wu had been swaggering her way toward the main courtyard, casually tossing a green date she had just plucked from a tree. She had intended to find Chi Jiu (Chu Zhaoning) first thing in the morning to properly dissect the "battle report" of the previous night.
After all, she had witnessed with her own eyes the uncompromising authority Aunt Mei wielded last night, forcefully locking Chi Jiu and the Prince of Zhan into the room to "consummate their marriage." As a comrade-in-arms, Lan Wu's long-dormant gossip-loving heart had been utterly uncontainable; she had even pre-formulated her interrogation tactics, eager to see their cold-faced captain flush red.
Who would have thought that before she could scout out the main battle, she would stumble upon this completely unexpected "byproduct."
Crouched in the shadows behind a rockery, Lan Wu had witnessed Ying Ren's clumsy yet deeply affectionate kiss, as well as Huo Xi's panicked escape. With the green date still clamped in her teeth, her originally dashing smirk froze instantly, before twisting into a look of profound, worldly cynicism.
"Holy crap, these two are dating too?!"
Lan Wu muttered a low complaint and couldn't help but roll her eyes. The "siege plan" she had prepared now felt somewhat redundant. She had initially thought this Zhan Manor was a frozen military fortress where everyone fought solely for vengeance and power—but looking at it now, this place was practically a romance incubator.
"Who would've thought? Aside from the Captain and the Prince trading high-level blows over there, even a ten-thousand-year block of ice like Ying Ren could be melted by Huo Xi."
Lan Wu leaned against the rockery, watching Ying Ren stand there like a fool, still caressing his own lips, which sent a sudden wave of goosebumps down her arms.
"Is this really the killing machine rumored to take heads from a thousand miles away? He's basically a high schooler experiencing his first awakening of love!"
She raised her hand and swatted at the air a few times, as if trying to clear away the invisible, sticky atmosphere. "The environment here... tsk tsk. What do you mean 'remote border fiefdom'? The amount of pink bubbles here is practically suffocating!"
She had half a mind to show herself and tease him a bit, but seeing how Ying Ren's face was flushed a brilliant red beneath his pale skin, she uncharacterfully found a shred of mercy. She decided to spare the pure, innocent couple. After all, compared to Ying Ren's first kiss, she cared far more about whether Chi Jiu had actually "eaten" the Prince last night.
Lan Wu spat out the date pit, tapped her toes lightly against the ground, and veered around the covered bridge like a swift swallow, heading straight for Chi Jiu's sleeping quarters.
"Captain, you're on your own. My soul of gossip is already ablaze!"
Lan Wu arrived at the doors of the sleeping quarters like a whirlwind. She extended a finger, knocking twice with a semblance of politeness, though her tone carried an excitement she couldn't mask.
"Captain~ Are you awake? The sun is already burning your backside!"
With a soft creak, the door swung open. However, the person appearing behind it was not Chi Jiu, but Huo Xi—who had just fled from that "accident" on the veranda, the crimson blush on her cheeks not yet fully faded.
"Miss Situ, good morning." Seeing Lan Wu, Huo Xi quickly suppressed the panic in her heart and curtsied properly. "The Consort is currently washing up in the inner chamber. Please come in and wait a moment."
Huo Xi led Lan Wu to sit by the table, meticulously pouring her a cup of steaming fresh tea. Lan Wu sat down with a grand, sweeping gesture, her fingers lightly tapping the table's surface while her eyes constantly darted toward the inner chamber.
A moment later, Chi Jiu brushed aside the beaded curtain and walked out. She wore a practical, plain-colored long dress, her dark hair loosely swept up with a single jade hairpin. That calm, ice-like countenance of hers showed not the slightest hint of exhaustion from a night of passion; instead, she looked exceptionally refreshed and clear-minded.
With a sudden thud, Lan Wu bolted upright. She covered the distance to Chi Jiu in a single stride, circling her like a radar scanner, examining her up and down with eyes so sharp they looked ready to pierce right through her.
"What are you looking at? What kind of madness is this so early in the morning?" Chi Jiu shot her a sidelong glance, her tone flat as she went about adjusting her cuffs.
"No way, Captain," Lan Wu lowered her voice, blocking her mouth with one hand while failing entirely to hide her mischievous smirk. "Aunt Mei personally deployed an assist last night. Did you and that Prince... did you not go 'like this, like this, and like that, like that'?"
As Lan Wu spoke, she waggled her brows provocatively, bringing her two thumbs together in the air in an awkward, suggestive motion. Her expression practically spelled out the words 'wild, impure fantasies' across her face.
Standing to the side and preparing to refill the tea, Huo Xi froze mid-motion upon hearing this. Her face was a picture of innocent bewilderment. "Miss Situ, what do you mean by... 'like this and like that'?"
The air instantly froze for a second.
The hand Chi Jiu used to lift her teacup paused slightly, the corner of her eye sweeping a freezing glare toward Lan Wu. Lan Wu, on the other hand, nearly choked on her own saliva. Looking into Huo Xi's clear, completely untainted eyes, she suddenly felt a profound surge of guilt, as if she had just "corrupted an innocent ancient maiden."
"Cough, well... this..." Lan Wu let out a couple of dry laughs, winking frantically at Chi Jiu. "Adorable little Huo Xi, this 'like this and like that'... it's a type of... academic discussion from our hometown. Yes, a deep exchange exploring human anatomy and the soul."
Chi Jiu set her teacup down and let out a cold snort. "She went sleepwalking to another planet last night, and her brain hasn't made the return trip yet. Xiao Xi, ignore her. Go check the kitchen and see if breakfast is ready."
"Oh, alright..." Huo Xi responded, her face still full of suspicion. As she turned to leave the room, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Human anatomy... deep exchange? Could it be that the Prince is so gravely ill, the Consort had to give him acupuncture all night long?"
Watching Huo Xi's departing back, Lan Wu finally couldn't hold it in any longer. She collapsed onto the table, letting out bursts of muffled, breathless laughter.