“Miss!”
Sai Xing screamed, startled.
Before the cry had fully left her throat, Yi Yuan’s reflexes had already taken over. He swept Ye Xi into his arms as if fearing she might slip away.
“Xiao Xi.” He fixed on her face, every line of his expression taut with fear. “What’s wrong?”
A strange flicker passed across Ye Xi’s features, then she steadied herself. Seeing Yi Yuan’s face pale, she put a calming hand on his arm and said in a soft, even tone, “I’m all right. I just felt a little off for a moment and almost lost my balance.”
Yi Yuan checked her pulse but found nothing unusual. He could only be cautious—help her into the carriage and order, “Back to the manor. Have the household physician see her.”
At the Shen residence—
Shen Zhou knelt in his shift, his spine rigid. The white shirt across his back was dotted with dark red, like plum blossoms on snow.
“Say it again,” Shen Zhai intoned from his seat above, his eyes hard even in shadow.
Shen Zhou bowed his head, teeth gritted against the pain. “Grandfather… I don’t want to marry Miss Yun.”
“Don’t want?” Disdain cut through Shen Zhai’s voice like a knife. Weathered lines added to his sneer. “How long have you been back in the Shen house and you already think you can make demands? Mind your place.”
“You are, after all, only the son of a courtesan. Had you not been born the Shen family’s legitimate heir, do you imagine anyone in the capital would listen to you?” He spat the words as if to taste the insult.
A coppery metallic smell hung in the air. Shame flashed across Shen Zhou’s face. “Your reprimand is deserved. Your grandson has never forgotten his station. But—”
He swallowed. “I only thought—either way the Yun girl will be married into our family. If my elder brother were chosen, then I could take the one Prince Yu’an prefers for myself. Given how much the prince admires Miss Xi, it would distract him completely—and he would have no time to pry into the Chi Xuan affair.”
A teacup shattered against the floor at Shen Zhai’s side, sent flying by an angry hand. Porcelain splintered in a scatter.
“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re planning,” Shen Zhai barked. “I saw you at the last Qingyun competition—don’t use your brother as an excuse. If he weren’t weak, you think this would be your chance? Hmph.”
He leaned back, cold. “In two months Yun Weisheng and his family will return to the capital with a report. You prepare yourself and make certain this marriage is fixed by the new year. Fail me again and you’ll know the consequences.”
He swept past without another glance.
Outside the door, Sheng Yu hurried in with a thick fox-fur cloak and wrapped it around Shen Zhou, who trembled from the cold that had nothing to do with the weather.
“Master,” Sheng Yu said, pity in his voice, “why go against Lord Shen’s wishes? Miss Xi isn’t the child she used to be—she doesn’t even remember Yingying. What are you gaining by making this difficult for yourself? We’ve fought so hard to get here; are you really ready to throw it away over a woman?”
“You don’t understand.” Shen Zhou rose with effort, his eyes blank of emotion. “Do you think I risked everything to drag myself out from those backwater people only to fulfill my mother’s dying wish and nothing more?”
Yingying—she was more than a promise. She had been the reason he kept going.
“But—” Sheng Yu started, then stopped when Shen Zhou waved him away. “Did you ever find anything out about my so-called ‘good brother’?”
Sheng Yu fell silent, then shook his head and spoke low. “Under Lord Shen and the eldest young master’s noses is hard to investigate. Still, we’ve put people in place over the years. A few days ago word came: the sickly eldest young master under Lord Shen’s watch is not the same man who is whispered about—the capable, plotting eldest young master he praises. The man advising Lord Shen may be of our bloodline, but he’s not on any family register. Perhaps he grew up elsewhere and clawed his way back on his own. Beyond that—there’s nothing concrete.”
A dark light kindled in Shen Zhou’s eyes. If this mysterious brother was like him, then why hide him so completely? Why keep the world in the dark? If not for that last mission his brother insisted he undertake, he would never have been suspicious.
His brother’s true identity, he thought, might be far more complicated than anyone guessed.
At Zhihong Garden—
“There’s nothing abnormal. No sign of poisoning.” The household physician, Dr. Ji, ran his salt-and-pepper fingers through his beard and sighed. “Your Highness, I’ve checked over her more than a dozen times. It’s only a chill. If you have doubts about my medicine, why did you pay so handsomely to bring me here?”
Yi Yuan flushed—rare for him—and a dozen amused smirks tried to surface among the onlookers.
He put down the ginger broth. Ye Xi forced a smile. “All right, Doctor Ji. You may go rest. Thank you.”
She slipped her hand into Yi Yuan’s. “Yiyuan, I really will be fine. It’s late—let’s all get some sleep. If you’re still worried, tomorrow we can summon Senior Brother and Lianyi and have them examine me, see if they notice anything else.”
Yi Yuan relaxed a fraction and waved dismissively. “Fine. Go on, then. Dismissed.”
Ye Xi glanced at him and froze—he hadn’t moved. Her words came out in a small stammer. “You’re not… leaving?”
He nodded as if it were obvious. “After everything that’s happened today, and with you suddenly feeling off, who can tell if there aren’t other fingers meddling? I’m staying tonight. You sleep; I’ll watch.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. They had already acknowledged their feelings and shared private intimacies, but sleeping in the same room—let alone the same bed—was new territory.
“I’ll have someone bring a small bed over,” she blurted, heart pounding, and clumsily rose to run.
His hand closed around her wrist and drew her back into his arms with a single smooth motion. “Going somewhere?”
He leaned in, deliberately naughty, the low timbre of his voice carrying a threat that was almost tender. “Afraid I’ll do something wicked?”
“N-no—of course not,” she stammered, face aflame. She averted her gaze, eyes darting around. When he smiled softly, he inched his face toward hers until their warm breaths mingled.
“Not afraid? Then that means—” He moved closer, and before he could finish, she lunged up and sealed his mouth with a quick, impulsive kiss.
For a second surprise flickered across his face, then delight took over. He tightened his arms around the soft warmth in his hold and deepened the kiss as if answering a silent invitation.
Regret pricked at Ye Xi—she’d been so nervous, she’d forgotten everything else in her haste. She’d blocked his mouth but hadn’t put a hand on him; now they were tangled in a flurry of breaths and racing pulses. Her fingers found an unfamiliar firmness beneath her palm and she twisted backward, startled.
Yi Yuan inhaled sharply, his voice rough. He pressed a hand to her back to steady her. “Don’t move, Xiao Xi.”
“Keep still—otherwise I really will do something wicked.”