The carriage rolled away, kicking up a gust of wind.
A faint scent of blood drifted with the breeze.
Li Bo’s eyes darkened. He immediately gathered his qi and gave chase.
The carriage screeched to a sudden halt.
Inside, Si Nan, who had just managed to put some distance between herself and Xiahou Jin, was thrown forward once again.
Her forehead slammed hard against Xiahou Jin’s lips.
A sharp pain shot through her forehead.
Clutching it, she gingerly felt the spot with her fingers—only to discover that Xiahou Jin had somehow left a deep bite mark there.
She shot him an indignant glare.
Surprisingly, Xiahou Jin wasn’t angry at her disrespect. Instead, his cold eyes held a trace of helplessness as he pointed at his own lips.
Only then did Si Nan notice the split in his thin lips where blood was slowly seeping out. Judging by the wound, he hadn’t fared any better than she had.
Her anger instantly dissolved into guilt.
She gave him an awkward, sheepish smile.
Outside the carriage, Shou Yi’s voice rang out coldly.
“Young Master Li, what else do you want?”
Li Bo answered solemnly, “I suspect an assassin has taken His Highness the Third Prince hostage.”
He once again insisted on lifting the carriage curtain to inspect inside.
Shou Yi’s sword was already halfway out of its sheath.
A battle was moments away from breaking out.
Just then, Xiahou Jin’s cold, detached voice came from within the carriage, tinged with impatience.
“Let him look.”
Si Nan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Had Xiahou Jin lost his mind?
Or was he planning to hand her over?
Seeing her ready to bolt, Xiahou Jin tightened his grip, trapping her firmly in his embrace.
She squirmed and wriggled like a restless cat, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t escape his hold.
Li Bo stepped onto the carriage.
Only a single curtain separated them now.
As his slender hand slowly pulled the curtain aside, Si Nan’s racing heart nearly leaped into her throat.
A martial artist’s senses were exceptionally keen.
The moment he had boarded the carriage, Li Bo had already detected another person’s breathing besides the Third Prince’s.
Combined with the faint scent of blood lingering in the air, he was convinced the black-clad assassin was hiding inside.
Certain of himself, Li Bo pulled the curtain open.
The confidence in his eyes instantly gave way to complete bewilderment.
How…?
Inside the carriage sat only the Third Prince.
Li Bo’s composed, scholarly demeanor cracked.
“How is that possible?!”
“I clearly smelled blood…”
Xiahou Jin pointed indifferently at the cut on his lips.
“You mean this?”
“Or perhaps…”
“…the wound on my back that hasn’t fully healed yet?”
“Your Highness! There was clearly someone inside the carriage just now—”
“Hm?”
Xiahou Jin merely cast him a half-lidded glance.
He couldn’t even be bothered to spare Li Bo a full look.
That single indifferent sound was enough to make cold sweat bead on Li Bo’s forehead.
“Your Highness, please forgive me! I have offended you today. Another day I shall personally bring Master Liu’s original painting, Birdsong in the Empty Mountains, to apologize. Please forgive my rashness!”
Xiahou Jin casually waved a hand.
Li Bo immediately bowed in thanks, jumped off the carriage, and disappeared from sight moments later.
The carriage continued steadily along the stone-paved road.
Inside, Si Nan crawled out from a hidden compartment behind Xiahou Jin’s legs.
The cramped space had been tiny and suffocating. After only a short while inside, her back and legs were sore from curling up.
Fortunately, she had finally shaken off Li Bo.
“Move.”
She patted Xiahou Jin’s leg and pushed him aside as she crawled out inch by inch in an awkward, almost monstrous posture.
Xiahou Jin’s calm eyes flickered ever so slightly.
For the first time in a long while, genuine surprise appeared in his normally impassive gaze.
Si Nan…
She truly never failed to surprise him.
Stretching out across the soft fur blanket lining the carriage floor, Si Nan inhaled several deep breaths of fresh air before finally feeling alive again.
That hidden compartment had nearly suffocated her.
Even the strands of hair clinging to her temples and forehead were damp with sweat.
A faint pear blossom fragrance gradually filled the carriage.
Lowering his gaze, Xiahou Jin found himself looking at an unexpectedly alluring sight.
Her delicate face was flushed a lovely pink.
Her long black hair lay scattered beneath her.
Her small chin tilted upward, making her look irresistibly seductive.
Her bright eyes shimmered beneath a misty layer of moisture.
Her cherry-red lips parted as she breathed heavily from lack of air…
She looked remarkably…
…as though she had just been thoroughly ravished.
Deep within Xiahou Jin’s icy eyes, a tiny spark flickered to life.
The carriage suddenly seemed rather warm.
“Get up.”
Si Nan frowned and shot back sarcastically,
“Why are you suddenly so cold again? What did I do to offend Your Highness this time?”
“Your breathing is too loud.”
“As expected…”
The little cat exploded.
She immediately sat up, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to argue with him.
Xiahou Jin’s gaze swept briefly across her fair, slender wrist.
The carriage somehow became even hotter.
He remained as expressionless as an iceberg no matter how much she mocked him.
“Hmph. You’re no fun.”
She hugged her knees, turned away in a huff, and deliberately showed him only her angry back.
Watching her childish sulking, Xiahou Jin’s eyes softened.
Warmth bloomed between his brows.
His usually frigid gaze now resembled a tranquil spring filled with gentle affection.
When Si Nan dressed as a woman, she was indistinguishable from one.
Even her temperament was no different from a young lady’s.
Her unconscious little habits and gestures were exactly like those of a girl.
If anyone else had behaved this way before him, he would have long since thrown them out without another glance.
Yet with Si Nan…
He couldn’t summon even the slightest disgust.
Instead…
He found himself wanting to cherish and protect her.
Xiahou Jin had lived twenty-three years without ever experiencing love.
He had no idea what this unfamiliar feeling toward Si Nan actually meant.
“Come here.”
Si Nan immediately grew suspicious.
“When you call me, it’s never for anything good. What is it now?”
She remained seated on the blanket.
So Xiahou Jin moved instead.
Confused, she watched him step down from his seat and kneel on one knee beside her.
He took out a bottle of medicinal powder.
A pang of guilt surfaced within her.
Perhaps she had misunderstood him earlier.
“I can do it myself.”
“Ah!”
Her skirt was suddenly lifted.
Her smooth, jade-white calf was exposed to the air.
She instinctively cried out and hurriedly covered Xiahou Jin’s eyes with both hands.
“You pervert!”
His voice carried both amusement and helplessness.
“Why is it that whenever you’re flustered, you either cover someone’s mouth… or their eyes?”
“Because you keep bullying me!”
“Applying medicine counts as bullying?”
“You… you…”
His cool hand gently grasped hers and lowered it before she could explode again.
“I don’t want you staining my carriage with blood.”
“…”
She fell speechless.
She honestly couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t dirty the soft, immaculate blanket beneath her.
But allowing a man—
And of all people, Xiahou Jin, her sworn rival—
To treat her wounds…
It was simply too embarrassing.
“How about… I wait until we reach your residence before treating it?”
Xiahou Jin’s expression instantly turned icy.
“So you really don’t care about your own body?”
She puffed out her cheeks indignantly.
On the contrary—it was precisely because she cared that she couldn’t let him do it.
Ignoring her protests, Xiahou Jin lifted the pale pink skirt another few inches.
His gaze held such quiet authority that she forgot to resist.
The white medicinal powder fell onto the wound.
She immediately yelped in pain.
Xiahou Jin showed not the slightest hint of pity.
“So now you know it hurts.”
“Where was this caution when you were off causing trouble?”
Though his words were sharp, his hands noticeably gentled as he dressed the wound.
“It was an accident! I never imagined Li Bo’s martial arts were that good!”
When she saw Xiahou Jin reaching to tear apart his priceless moon-white brocade robe, she quickly grabbed his hand.
“What are you doing?!”
“You’re not actually tearing up such expensive fabric just to bandage my leg, are you?”
“Did you leave your brain at home before coming out today?!”
His movements were too quick for her to stop.
The priceless Shu brocade was ripped into strips in an instant.
Her heart ached.
All she could see was silver taels dissolving into thin air.
At that moment, she admitted she had developed an unhealthy attachment to other people’s wealth.
“Doesn’t it hurt your heart at all?”
“Or are you simply too rich to care?”
Xiahou Jin carefully finished wrapping the bandage.
His gaze lingered briefly on her snow-white leg before gently lowering the skirt back into place.
Si Nan was a woman after all.
Sensitive by nature.
Watching him focus so intently while handling her injury with such remarkable gentleness—as though afraid of hurting her—she couldn’t help staring.
She had never seen this side of Xiahou Jin before.
Just then, he looked up.
Their eyes met.
It felt as though an invisible whirlpool locked their gazes together.
Neither could look away.
Silence filled the carriage.
Sometimes silence spoke louder than words.
Only when the carriage finally came to a stop did they awkwardly avert their eyes.
Quickly regaining her composure, Si Nan leaned out curiously.
“Huh?”
“Why are we at your residence?”
Realizing it wasn’t the General’s Manor, she looked back at Xiahou Jin in confusion.
Her bright, innocent eyes searched his face for an explanation.
Xiahou Jin found himself once again trapped in those crystal-clear eyes.
“Hey!”
“I’m talking to you! Stop zoning out!”
“I want to go back to the General’s Manor. Tell Shou Yi to turn the carriage around.”
A rare smile tugged at Xiahou Jin’s lips.
His slightly raised brows and teasing eyes made his good mood obvious.
Si Nan hadn’t even realized how naturally her attitude toward him had changed.
Besides the Emperor himself, no one dared order him around like this.
Yet she had done so without the slightest hesitation.
For some reason…
It made Xiahou Jin feel that they had become closer.
And that pleased him immensely.
“You intend to return to the General’s Manor dressed like this?”
“So everyone in the capital can spend tomorrow gossiping that the Young General has an unusual hobby of dressing as a woman?”
Si Nan instantly withdrew her head back into the carriage.
“Then lend me a clean set of clothes.”
“I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”
Walking toward the carriage door, Xiahou Jin replied calmly,
“It’s safe here. You don’t need to worry.”
“Ah!”
With a short cry of surprise, Si Nan instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck as Xiahou Jin lifted her effortlessly into a bridal carry.
Standing below the carriage, Shou Yi’s jaw nearly hit the ground.
His Highness was actually carrying Young Master Si…
And in a princess carry, no less!
He knew it!
His master definitely treated Young Master Si differently!
“I can walk by myself…”
“Too noisy.”
Giving up, Si Nan resigned herself to being carried.
As they entered the residence, a few servants happened to pass through the outer courtyard.
Afraid someone might recognize her face, Si Nan buried herself as deeply as possible against Xiahou Jin’s collar.
Looking down at the fidgeting figure in his arms, the corners of Xiahou Jin’s eyes softened with warmth.
He understood exactly what she was worried about.
Truthfully…
He didn’t want anyone else seeing that breathtakingly beautiful face either.
His pace unconsciously quickened.
Soon, they disappeared into the inner courtyard.
The moment Xiahou Jin vanished from sight, the servants who had witnessed everything immediately huddled together in excitement.
“I’m not seeing things, right?!”
“You all saw that too, didn’t you?!”
“We all did!”
“His Highness carried a woman into the residence!”
“Does that mean we’re finally getting a mistress of the house?!”
“It has to!”
“Didn’t you see that expression on His Highness’s face? He looked so gentle! Nothing like his usual cold, distant self.”
“His Highness is already twenty-three.”
“He finally has someone he likes!”
Just then, Shou Yi returned after parking the carriage.
His expression darkened.
“You dare gossip about your master?”
“Are you all tired of living?”
Everyone instantly fell silent.
Only one servant, who was fairly close to Shou Yi, cautiously stepped forward.
“Captain Shou…”
“Just tell me a little.”
“Who exactly is our future mistress?”
Shou Yi punched him squarely on the shoulder.
“Oh?”
“You’re quite curious, aren’t you?”
“Mercy! Mercy!”
“I won’t ask anymore!”