Xiao Yan peeled the last lychee and handed the intact fruit to Xiao Ran, flicking her forehead in the process.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Xiao Ran winced from the flick, rubbing her head with a hint of complaint.
“Fine, if you say it’s not, then it’s not!”
After a moment of rubbing, she couldn’t resist asking again, “Brother Crown Prince, do you really not like Zhaozhao? Why don’t you like her? Zhaozhao is beautiful, charming, and comes from a good family. She’s the perfect match for you. Or is it that Brother Crown Prince prefers the kind of delicate, clingy type who can’t stand on their own?”
Though Xiao Ran didn’t name names, it was clear who she was referring to as the “delicate, clingy type.”
She detested Liu Yiyi, who acted as if walking a few steps would be the death of her.
Despite her poor health, she never stayed still to recuperate, always trailing after Brother Crown Prince, calling him “Brother Yan” over and over like a clucking hen.
Yet, Brother Crown Prince doted on her, and even Zhaozhao treated her kindly, leaving Xiao Ran utterly perplexed.
Fortunately, she had heard that Zhaozhao had stopped paying attention to Liu Yiyi lately, which had made her eat two extra bowls of rice in celebration.
“Xiao Ran!”
The amusement in his dark eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp, warning glare.
“Yiyi saved This humble one’s life and is someone important to This humble one. This humble one does not wish to hear such words again.”
With that, Xiao Yan rose and left Qingyao Palace.
As soon as he stepped out of the palace, he heard a familiar voice.
“Brother Yan.”
He turned to see Liu Yiyi dressed in a thin white fox fur coat, the soft, snow-white collar encircling her graceful neck, making her skin appear exceptionally pale.
Though it was mid-spring, Liu Yiyi’s frail constitution couldn’t withstand the wind, so she still wore the fox fur.
Upon seeing him, the young girl hurried over with small, quick steps.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly and chided gently, “Your Heart Malady hasn’t fully recovered. Why are you out and about again?”
In truth, since Xiao Ran’s coming-of-age ceremony, Brother Yan hadn’t visited her.
Whenever she went to the Eastern Palace to see him, he was never there.
He only occasionally sent her gifts through others.
Today, he had sent her lychees again—sweet and delicious.
Today was a special day. Having learned that the Emperor had summoned him, she had been waiting outside the palace.
Though she knew Brother Yan was only concerned about her health and wasn’t truly scolding her, Liu Yiyi still felt wronged. Her eyes reddened.
“Brother Yan, have you forgotten what day it is today?”
Xiao Yan was momentarily taken aback, unable to recall.
These past few days, the assassination attempts and Black Market affairs had kept him endlessly busy, and last night’s dream had left him unsettled.
Seeing his expression, Liu Yiyi’s nose tingled, and tears began to fall like tiny pearls.
“Brother Yan, today is the day we met. Have you really forgotten, Brother Yan?”
The day they met was the day Liu Yiyi had saved him. He had promised to remember it forever, yet he had forgotten.
Xiao Yan still remembered waking up after being rescued and learning that Liu Yiyi had lost her way and stumbled upon him by chance.
With her small, inexperienced hands, she had clumsily bandaged his wounds while crying in a childish, tearful voice, saying that the two of them—one frail and the other blind—would starve to death in the mountains.
He usually found crying people irritating, but hearing her tearful, childish sobs, he had found it oddly endearing.
Xiao Yan was ten years old at the time, two years older than her. Having grown up in the Imperial Palace, he was much steadier than she was. So, while wiping away her little tears, he comforted her:
“Don’t worry, someone will come looking for us.”
“Really?”
Although Xiao Yan couldn’t see her, he could imagine Liu Yiyi tilting her little face upward, her big eyes blinking at him with tears hanging from them.
“Mhm.”
Liu Yiyi was easy to comfort. Back then, he had only nodded gently, and she stopped crying.
In truth, Xiao Yan wasn’t sure at the time whether his imperial father would find them before they starved to death.
By noon the next day, Liu Yiyi fell ill, sometimes complaining of cold, sometimes of heat. He had no choice but to hold her, listening as she kept reciting the names of dishes: “Wine-steamed chicken, tender lamb four ways…”
He knew she must have been starving, so he coaxed her, promising to treat her to meals every day once they got out.
After that, she quieted down. In the deep of the night, the cold grew intense. Afraid she wouldn’t endure it, Xiao Yan cut his own wrist and fed her his blood.
Only later did he learn that she had tried wild mushrooms to find food for the two of them and had been poisoned.
The only non-poisonous mushroom, she had given to him.
On the third day, after she woke up, she started searching for food again. After a long while, she finally found a cherry tree halfway up the mountain. The two of them ate cherries for several days, but for some reason, his body began to itch, develop red patches, and his neck swelled painfully, even making it hard to breathe.
This terrified Liu Yiyi, who thought the cherries were poisonous.
So, they stopped eating them.
Liu Yiyi said her mother had told her that eating meat would make the body better and illnesses would fly away. She insisted on going hunting to see if she could catch a little rabbit or bird.
He disagreed, but she was stubborn, refusing to listen to anything he said, only telling him to wait where he was.
He waited for a long time that day. Even after his imperial father’s imperial guards found him, she still hadn’t returned.
He hadn’t panicked when they were being chased, nor when they fell off the cliff. But at that moment, he suddenly felt an overwhelming fear.
He mobilized all the imperial guards to search for her. When they finally found her, she was still clutching a few eggs in her arms, saying she had gotten lost again.
What a fool!
At the time, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he secretly vowed in his heart that someone so foolish needed to be protected for a lifetime.
However, on the way back, Liu Yiyi suddenly fainted. The imperial physician was summoned and diagnosed her with snake venom.
Combined with the few snake eggs she had been carrying, it was easy to piece together what had happened.
She had been bitten by a snake while trying to retrieve those eggs.
The snake venom was potent. Liu Yiyi remained unconscious for half a month before waking up, after which she developed Heart Malady—a lingering effect of the venom.
Whether it was due to the change in environment or her illness, after Liu Yiyi woke up, he always felt something was different about her.
Seeing Xiao Yan lost in thought, Liu Yiyi pursed her thin lips and called out:
“Yan gege.”
Xiao Yan snapped back to reality, his gaze toward Liu Yiyi now tinged with guilt.
Dreaming about killing her was one thing, but forgetting such an important day was another.
Xiao Yan reached out and wiped the little tears from her face:
“Yiyi, I’m sorry. It’s Yan gege’s fault for forgetting such an important day.”
Liu Yiyi shook her head:
“Yan gege has been busy with official duties lately. It’s normal not to remember. Yiyi doesn’t blame you.”
“Come, Yan gege will take Yiyi to Qianwei Tower for some delicious food…”
…
Lin Zhaoyue didn’t know what had suddenly come over her, going out to look for food in the middle of the night.
Even though she had eaten quite a lot during dinner, it felt as if a voice in her mind was urging her to go out, as if she had made an appointment with someone.
Qianwei Tower was the largest restaurant in the capital. Even though it was already Xu hour, it was still packed with people.
She had sneaked out to eat.
Booking a Private Room for just one person would be too wasteful and would cost extra, so Lin Zhaoyue casually found a seat in the main hall on the first floor. When the waiter asked her what she wanted to eat,
Lin Zhaoyue recited the dishes without thinking:
“Steamed Chicken in Wine, Four Soft Lamb Dishes, Cherry Pork, Stir-Fried Phoenix Tongue, … Drunken Spare Ribs.”
As soon as Xiao Yan entered Qianwei Tower, he heard the exact same dishes and order from his memory. His footsteps paused abruptly, and he looked up sharply.
In the main hall, Lin Zhaoyue sat upright in a water-colored dress.
Without time to think it through, Xiao Yan immediately strode over to Lin Zhaoyue, his expression solemn:
“Repeat the dishes you just ordered.”
Lin Zhaoyue:…
What madness had taken hold of Xiao Yan?