"Y-Your Highness, Princess!" Cang Ling, who had chased after her, caught sight of this jaw-dropping scene and cried out, trembling.
Yue Tingyu's body stiffened for an instant, and the sword in his hand suddenly dropped to the ground with a crisp clang.
He reached out and moved the small hands crossed at his waist aside, then turned around to meet the girl's tender, water-like eyes. His gaze darkened a few shades, his voice low and cold—
"Sixth Princess, please behave yourself."
The girl's features were delicate and elegant with a touch of sweetness; when she wasn't speaking, she looked quite docile.
She was dressed thinly, a pale green outer robe not enough to ward off the chill. Her upturned little nose was red from the cold, yet those pure eyes looked at him stubbornly, shimmering with moisture like rippling water.
Anyone who didn't know better would think Yue Tingyu had done something to her.
Yue Tingyu truly had no idea what she was thinking at this moment. Those words—please behave yourself—echoed back and forth in Jun Suining's ears.
Faced with the cold, distant attitude of her husband from her previous life, Jun Suining felt as if she could hear the sound of her glass heart shattering. There was no love in A-Yu's eyes, no warmth… she was not yet the one he loved.
Jun Suining recalled her previous life. In the seventeenth year of Shunyuan, her father the Emperor passed away, and after the Third Prince ascended the throne, he planned to send his imperial brother to a remote frontier. She had married Yue Tingyu, the man whose power dominated the court, with a purpose—and successfully kept her brother in the capital.
For her sake, A-Yu had overcome all opposition to push her brother into power. For her sake, he had given up all his authority. For her sake… If not for her, he would not have died.
At first, Jun Suining had despised him. But in those three years, he treated her extremely well, and she gradually let go of the resentment and prejudice in her heart. She had even once asked him when he had fallen in love with her.
He said, very early.
Jun Suining hadn't pressed further—how early was "very early"?
Now it seemed "very early" wasn't so early after all—at least not now.
But even if his heart held no trace of her right now, so what?
This time, let her be the one to approach him, to protect him!
"I'm not heavy," Jun Suining said, flashing a brilliant smile. Her gaze shifted to the kneeling Hidden Guard, and when she got a clear look at his face, her expression turned stern and her tone grew cold. "Does the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord intend to kill someone here?"
Then she bent down and picked up the silver-white sword, her black hair spilling forward from over her shoulder.
Cang Ling's pupils contracted sharply. It's over—the Princess is angry, and she's going to attack the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord with a blade! How is this going to end?!
Yue Tingyu lowered his eyes to see her pick up the sword. Though he did not stop her, his gaze grew colder. "That is not a toy for Your Highness to play with."
The meaning behind his words was a warning not to do anything reckless.
Yet she was entirely unaffected. She lifted the sword—and handed the hilt to him, saying in a cheerful tone—
"Go ahead and kill him. Want me to help?"
Yue Tingyu did not take the sword, silently gazing at the Sixth Princess as if trying to see through her. But he saw nothing beyond what was there—only that burning heat in her eyes…
Before today, every time the Sixth Princess saw him, she would take a detour as if avoiding the plague, the seven parts disgust and three parts fear in her expression plain for all to see.
Today… perhaps she had taken the wrong medicine.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Guard Feng Ying, kneeling on the ground, could not stay calm and spoke up in his own defense, treating the Sixth Princess as his lifeline. "Princess, it was the Fifth Prince who sent me to quietly check whether you had woken up. I truly wasn't here to do anything bad!"
The young man begging for mercy before her had refined, handsome features—his face overlapping with that of the man who had slit her throat not long ago.
"What is the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord doing? He's my son's Hidden Guard—it's hardly your place to lay hands on him!" The woman, dressed as an imperial consort, was around thirty years old, covered in gold and jewels, with several golden hairpins stuck in her towering coiffure that jingled as she walked.
Concubine Shu came from a humble family and was shallow in her tastes. Jun Suining had cautioned her before, but Concubine Shu wouldn't listen, insisting on dressing like a parvenu.
Concubine Shu's eyes were shrewd. When her gaze fell on how closely Jun Suining and Yue Tingyu were standing, a mocking curve appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Ning'er, in front of so many people, do you not understand the propriety between men and women? Even if he is the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord… you cannot be ignorant of the rules."
On the surface it was concern and instruction, but in truth she was accusing her of failing in feminine virtue.
In her past life, Jun Suining had never once suspected her intentions. But in this life, if she still let this mother and son deceive her, then she would truly deserve it!
"Mother Consort is right," Jun Suining said, suppressing the resentment in her heart and feigning the appearance of a sensible, obedient daughter. Then, as if suddenly startled, she continued, "But Fifth Brother's Hidden Guard intruded into your daughter's palace. Who knows whether he saw something he shouldn't have? After all, he's a perfectly healthy man—if word got out, it would sound improper. Perhaps…"
"Perhaps we should castrate him. He could still remain by Fifth Brother's side as protection. What does Mother Consort think?" Jun Suining's eyes curved into crescent moons, as if she had thought of a brilliant idea.
Feng Ying deserved death, but letting him die just like that would be letting him off far too easily. In her past life, who knew how many knife wounds he had dealt her Ayu? Today, repaying him with just one was more than fair! Her Ayu had suffered that pain—why should Feng Ying be spared it!
Feng Ying felt a chill below and howled, his face ashen. "Your Highness! Your servant is utterly loyal! Your Highness…"
Concubine Shu's expression also turned rather ugly, inwardly wondering what had gotten into this girl. Normally she was the most filial and sensible child—why was she so extreme today? She was just about to refuse when she heard Jun Suining speak up on her own initiative.
"Mother Consort has always doted on me. Surely she's more concerned with protecting my reputation than anything—how could she refuse such an excellent plan of mine?" Jun Suining looked toward the silent yet impossible-to-ignore man standing to the side, smiling ingratiatingly. "Lord Nine-Thousand-Year, might I trouble you for a moment?"
"…Mm." Yue Tingyu, having no wish to linger, ordered his men to drag Feng Ying along behind and strode out of the courtyard himself.
Concubine Shu, choked with frustration, was momentarily at a loss for words. If it weren't for the fact that this wretched girl enjoyed the Emperor's favor and could help her and her imperial son, she wouldn't have bothered playing the loving mother!
Only after a good while did Concubine Shu recover. "Ning'er, you fell into the water—might there be any lingering effects?"
Jun Suining lowered her head, as if only just now noticing that her clothing was rather improper, and coquettishly wheedled at Concubine Shu just as she always had. "Mother Consort, I'm so cold."
"Dressed so thinly, how could you not be cold in this freezing weather? Hurry back and put on something warmer. Cang Ling! How could you fail to look after the Princess!" Concubine Shu, swallowing her anger, continued playing the good mother.
Only when she could no longer keep up the act did she depart back to Shuyang Palace.
…
Inside Chonghua Palace, Cang Ling watched as her Princess tried on several new gowns before the bronze mirror, dissatisfied with each one, and couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, all of these suit you beautifully. If none are to your liking, shall this servant have the Imperial Clothing Bureau make a few more?"
Jun Suining eyed the assortment of colorful, dopamine-style gowns before her, adding a note of vexation to her voice. "He wears nothing but black all day—none of these really go with it…"
"What? Who?" Cang Ling asked in astonishment. Thinking of everything the princess had done today, a vague answer formed in her mind, but she didn't dare think it through.
Cang Ling was utterly loyal, so Jun Suining didn't hide anything from her. "Cang Ling, I've decided to pursue the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord. But this is a secret for now, so you mustn't—"
Before she could finish, there was a "thud" as Cang Ling abruptly dropped to her knees, her face deathly pale, looking every bit like a court minister ready to die protesting—
"Your Highness! If you're making this decision just because of His Lordship saving your life today, then please, don't!!"
"Setting aside whether the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord is even a man—no, wait, that absolutely cannot be set aside! Your Highness mustn't be dazzled by appearances! Even if the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord is handsome, he's hardly the only handsome man in the world!"
"Besides, the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord is a descendant of a disgraced official. No matter how favored he is by the Emperor, no matter how great his power, he's still just a servant!"
Jun Suining set down the garment in her hands, her face full of helplessness. "Shout two more lines and the whole world will know."
…
Cang Ling fell speechless, praying inwardly that this was merely the princess's one-sided infatuation. Please, let it not be mutual!