Chapter 47: Entwined – Sudden Arrival

The scent of peach blossoms brushed over her cheeks like feathers, an unfamiliar aroma washing away the stale decay. The rustling leaves seemed to whisper—I’ve found you.

“Young Master Yan is drunk,” Zhao Huairen said as she shifted her gaze, her tone utterly flat. “Pretend you never heard those words from earlier.”

“Why pretend you didn’t hear them?”

They were clearly within arm’s reach.

Yet a self-imposed barrier stretched between them.

Zhao Huairen ignored her words, but Yan Yiqing wasn’t angry. Instead, she raised an eyebrow. “The Heir Apparent is upset.”

With a flick of her sleeve, Zhao Huairen sat up straight, not sparing her a single extra glance.

“Why is the Heir Apparent upset? May I take a guess?”

A few mischievous strands of hair dangled by her ear, fluffy and soft. Yan Yiqing propped her cheek on one hand and murmured to herself with keen interest, “No response? Then I’ll take that as agreement.”

“Has the Heir Apparent ever seen a cute little beast? Hard and soft at once, free to roam both water and land.”

“Except for one thing—”

“Are you using this to call me a turtle?” Zhao Huairen frowned at her.

Yan Yiqing gazed into her eyes, willingly sinking into those shallow brown pools. She curved her lips. “How could you say that? I’m no good person, but the Heir Apparent can’t just accuse me unjustly.”

Cute little beast, my foot. She’s clearly calling me a turtle hiding in its shell.

Zhao Huairen’s face showed no emotion. “Childish.”

“Childish?” Yan Yiqing echoed, suddenly leaning closer. “I’m drunk—would the Heir Apparent explain what makes it childish?”

She hadn’t named anyone specifically.

Denying it would only make her seem guilty.

Her long lashes cast faint shadows beneath her eyes, her thin lips pressed together. Zhao Huairen said coolly, “Just idle talk. Young Master Yan needn’t take it to heart.”

“The Heir Apparent isn’t a turtle.”

“The Heir Apparent’s temper is far better than a turtle’s.”

“Turtles bite when provoked, but the Heir Apparent never does.”

The only sound around the Ancestral Hall was the wind, making the word “turtle” from the woman’s mouth especially piercing—clear and sharp, like the endless chanting in a temple, lingering endlessly in Zhao Huairen’s ears.

Yan Yiqing rested her head on her wrist, her bright eyes fixed unabashedly on the woman beside her.

She had barged into the Ancestral Hall in red robes that offended the spirits, yet Zhao Huairen hadn’t immediately driven her out. This showed she held no reverence for the memorial tablets. No fear of gods or ghosts, yet her kneeling posture was impeccable, and she’d even changed into white robes especially.

Her Huairen is truly… hypocritically strange, wonderfully so.

The scorching gaze from beside her made Zhao Huairen furrow her brow involuntarily, but she refused to speak, unwilling to fall into Yan Yiqing’s silly traps again.

“The Heir Apparent keeps pretending,” Yan Yiqing said, her words twisting midway as she cleared her throat. “How much longer does the Heir Apparent plan to kneel?”

Her thin lips pressed into a straight line.

Staring ahead, Zhao Huairen said nothing.

The noisy, mischievous kitten suddenly fell silent, and the Ancestral Hall, which had just gained some life, was once more wrapped in familiar quiet.

Her long lashes drooped like trembling fallen leaves. A breeze passed, and Zhao Huairen’s lashes quivered almost imperceptibly. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally turned her head toward Yan Yiqing, intending to urge her to leave—

But before she could speak.

Her gaze landed on the other’s outstretched fingertip.

Seeing her stare at her finger, a sly glint flashed in Yan Yiqing’s dark eyes. Meeting her gaze, she gently tugged Zhao Huairen’s sleeve with her fingertip.

“What are you doing now?”

“Do you want me to go back?”

They spoke at the same time.

The Ancestral Hall fell quiet for a beat.

“Mm.” Zhao Huairen frowned. “Let go.”

The wicked kitten not only didn’t release her grip but appraised her expression while rubbing the sleeve mischievously with her “paw” twice. “I can let go, or go back.”

“Young Master Yan, do you think I’ll always—”

“I’m scared to go back alone.” Hearing her full name from Zhao Huairen’s lips for the first time stirred an inexplicable satisfaction in her. Blinking her watery, rippling peach-blossom eyes, Yan Yiqing pleaded softly, “Heir Apparent, come back with me? I’m afraid of the dark.”

Finally! I get to see Huairen angry.

Her heartbeat grew louder.

Lifting her eyes to meet Yan Yiqing’s expectant gaze, Zhao Huairen clenched her sleeve in silence. Suddenly, she yanked her sleeve free from the naughty cat’s grasp.

Her fingertip met empty air.

But the light in the woman’s eyes grew brighter.

“Let’s go.” Zhao Huairen rose, smoothing her knees.

Stunned by the abrupt words, as if her mind had been knocked blank, Yan Yiqing blinked dazedly and tilted her head up at the woman standing before her.

“Aren’t you afraid of the dark?” Helplessness tinged Zhao Huairen’s voice as she looked down at her.

Huh? She fell for it!?

Regret mingled with a surge of secret delight. Yan Yiqing pursed her lips and probed, “If I’m afraid of the dark, you’ll accompany me?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

Shrugging, Yan Yiqing patted her behind and stood.

A faint curve lifted the corner of Zhao Huairen’s lips. Glancing sidelong at her, she said, “If you’re afraid of the dark, you shouldn’t wander at night.”

Afraid of the dark, my ass. What a ridiculous lie.

“Mm.” The kitten mumbled in agreement.

Her steps leaving the Ancestral Hall were the lightest ever, a smile flowing in the woman’s eyes that she herself hadn’t noticed.

Afraid of the dark? As if Yan Yiqing would say such nonsense.

If she hadn’t accompanied her, Yan Yiqing would’ve kept making a racket in the hall. Besides, the night breeze was indeed chilly.

Just this once.

It couldn’t hurt.

The sensible night breeze swept thin clouds aside, leaving the bright moon floating lightly in the sky. Pale yellow moonlight gently enveloped the pair of beauties in the night.

How could Zhao Huairen believe that nonsense about being afraid of the dark?

Has she figured out I was deliberately trying to annoy her…

Tch, she definitely has.

Trailing half a step behind Zhao Huairen, Yan Yiqing stepped haphazardly on her shadow, replaying their earlier conversation in her mind.

This road she’d walked alone for seven years.

Suddenly, it echoed with another person’s footsteps.

Her dangling fingertips clenched unconsciously. Zhao Huairen’s phoenix eyes flickered as she glanced back without a trace.

Her dark hair gleamed softly under the moonlight.

Her perky nose wrinkled slightly, as if plotting some new mischief.

She had traveled this path from Linzhu Courtyard to the Ancestral Hall countless times, forgetting its length—until she stepped into Linzhu Courtyard and realized with a start how quickly they’d arrived.

In the blink of an eye.

They were back.

“Heir Apparent!” Surprised by Zhao Huairen’s early return, Zhichun snapped her storybook shut and jumped down from the steps.

Zhao Huairen’s voice carried the night’s chill. “Where’s Aqin? Why are you sitting alone in the courtyard?”

“Aqin and the others went out to play.”

“Mm,” Zhao Huairen replied.

Zhichun clutched her storybook curiously. “The Heir Apparent returned earlier than usual today. Was it the lady—”

Suddenly popping out from behind Zhao Huairen, Yan Yiqing lifted her chin smugly at Zhichun. “Because I went to fetch her.”

At that, suspicion flickered in Zhichun’s eyes.

“You don’t believe me?” Yan Yiqing arched a fine brow lazily. “Then explain why we’re back together.”

Zhichun gripped her book tighter, nearly convinced by her confident tone.

She stewed up mischief the whole way back just to tease Zhichun?

Calling her childish earlier was too kind.

Seeing Zhichun look to her for help, Zhao Huairen touched her lips and turned silently toward the study without a word.

The wordless turn seemed like tacit approval. Emboldened, Yan Yiqing’s voice grew surer. Seeing Zhichun still staring at Zhao Huairen’s back, she said, “Stop looking. Would I deceive you?”

Sour and helpless, Zhichun puffed her cheeks and huffed to the corner to sit.

“Isn’t it good that I brought the Heir Apparent back?” Yan Yiqing asked.

The dejected little bee drooped her head, drawing circles with her finger and muttering, “Damn it, I’ve gone so many times before, but it never worked…”

“What are you muttering?”

Zhichun looked up, startled by Yan Yiqing’s approach, a flash of honest admiration in her eyes.

“Hm?” Yan Yiqing tilted her head. “What did you say? Something about it not working?”

Hmph! So what if she’s pretty?

Zhichun turned away, biting her lip in silence.

“Want to discuss something?”

Seeing no immediate refusal, Yan Yiqing’s lips curved slightly as she sat beside her. “Tomorrow, how about I send you flowers again?”

“Young Master Yan needn’t waste effort on me. I’m just a lowly maid in the Duke Mansion, useless to a great lord like the Shaoqing.”

“Muziju’s new storybook.”

Zhichun, who had been listless, lit up instantly. “Muziju’s new storybook—are you serious?”

“Even I, a dignified Fourth-Rank Shaoqing, wouldn’t deceive a little Duke Mansion maid, right?” Yan Yiqing crossed her arms casually, her posture revealing a hint of the wildness from her days on the battlefield.

Her gaze wavering, Zhichun bit her lip and whispered, “What do you want me to do? Even for Muziju’s book, I…”

“Relax, I won’t harm her.”

Interrupting before she finished, and foreseeing her next words, Yan Yiqing added, “I want nothing—just accept my flowers every day.”

“You… you…” Zhichun scooted away warily.

Yan Yiqing noted her guarded move.

Pausing, she fell unexpectedly silent.

“It’s good to be cautious.” Yan Yiqing stood, stretching lazily. “But I already have someone in my heart.”

Yan Yiqing has someone?

She injured someone on the wedding night.

It can’t be our Heir Apparent.

So what is this…?

Stumbling on a shocking secret, more thrilling than any storybook, Zhichun covered her mouth.

“You,”—better to let the misunderstanding stand—Yan Yiqing swallowed her explanation and asked instead, “Has your Heir Apparent ever gotten angry?”

“The Heir Apparent angry?”

Yan Yiqing chose her words carefully. “Her temper feels too good.”

Zhichun thought back, then shook her head. She nearly nodded at a memory but caught sight of Yan Yiqing and held back—if Yan Yiqing learned she’d badmouthed her before…

“I’ve never seen the Heir Apparent angry.”

Lowering her eyes, Yan Yiqing’s expression grew complex. “Mm. I see.”