Chapter 31: Say “I Like You” First

Night had deepened. A full moon hung in the mirror-smooth sky, casting a pale glow over the palace.

Guards stood densely at every palace gate. The Forbidden Army, clad in dark armor, gripped their blades and spears, poised and alert.

On the Eldest Princess’s orders, lanterns blazed from poles throughout the palace, and all servants were confined to their quarters. Anyone stepping beyond their bedchambers would be treated as an assassin.

In an instant, the vast Imperial City fell as silent as a tomb. The only sounds of life came from Emperor Hongjing’s bedchamber.

The chamber blazed with light like midday. Imperial physicians hurried in and out, their brows furrowed and faces ashen.

In the outer room, on a rosewood arhat bed by the window, Xiao Liju watched another wave of physicians emerge, shaking their heads. Her heart plummeted.

“How is he?”

The head of the Imperial Medical Bureau had been off duty, dragged straight from his bed at home. Terror etched his face as he knelt before the furious Eldest Princess.

“I’m afraid it’s not good.”

Xiao Liju hurled the teacup from her hand. The milky porcelain shattered with a crash, shards scattering everywhere. The serving maids dropped to their knees in a wave.

“He was perfectly fine yesterday. How could he suddenly take such a turn?”

The physician prostrated himself, voice quavering. “Your Majesty’s health has been on its last legs since his days as Crown Prince. Today, rage struck his heart, and his heart meridian faltered. I’m afraid…”

Only a month or so remains, the physician thought to himself. He wouldn’t dare voice it aloud.

Xiao Liju listened with a cold expression as he stammered. Dull pain throbbed in her chest, her lips trembling. She drew a deep breath to steady herself. “Do everything in your power.”

“All of you, stand guard in the outer chamber tonight. You leave only when Your Majesty wakes.”

The physicians murmured their assent and retreated uneasily to deliberate over prescriptions.

Xiao Liju masked the grief in her eyes. Face wooden, she rose and entered the inner chamber. Gazing at her comatose brother on the bed, then thinking of Xie Zhaoran—whose fate remained unknown—another wave of dull pain gripped her heart.

They had been careless this time. No one had imagined Prince Yu would stoop so low as to collude with foreign enemies.

If Xie Zhaoran hadn’t arranged the Forbidden Army in advance, they might be facing a palace coup at this very moment.

Prince Yu had even schemed to hold the families of military officers hostage to cow the generals. Fortunately, neither Xie Zhaoran nor Shi Yuning had fallen into his clutches.

Yet the news Qiangdi had brought back—that Zhaoran and Yuning had plummeted from Xiuya Cliff, more likely dead than alive—felt like a chunk torn from her heart.

It was that very report that had overwhelmed Emperor Hongjing, sending him into a faint.

The shock had reignited ailments throughout his frail body, already riddled with weaknesses. Even a simple cold was a grave illness for him.

Anxiety burned in Xiao Liju’s eyes. He had to pull through. He had to wake soon.

Duke Xie had already led troops to surround Crane Cry Temple. The Empress Mother and the other ladies served as Prince Yu’s hostages. She couldn’t make the next move alone.

She needed Emperor Hongjing to awaken before any decisions could be made.

Xiao Liju summoned her trusted aide from the doorway. “Go to the Ministry of Works. Ask if they have any tools to reach the bottom of Xiuya Cliff.”

“Then inform Duke Xie and Marquis Shi about Xie Zhaoran and Shi Yuning.”

With their resources, a joint search would yield twice the results with half the effort, Xiao Liju thought.

She refused to believe Xie Zhaoran was gone.

Meanwhile, another heart pounded like a war drum amid the night’s shadows, gripped by desperate anxiety.

Gardenia scent drifted on the gentle breeze. Frogs croaked in waves outside the quiet room.

Shi Yuning swallowed hard, her hunched back frozen as if by an icy gale.

She stared at the beautiful silhouette lit by silvery moonlight, those deep eyes swirling with an otherworldly gleam.

Shi Yuning’s mouth opened, words of explanation dying on her tongue. How could she justify sneaking a kiss in the dead of night? It defied reason.

Regret gnawed at her. She silently cursed her lack of restraint in that fleeting moment of weakness. What was she to do now?

She had no idea how to face Xie Zhaoran.

From the moment it happened, Xie Zhaoran had watched her in silence. She must be stunned, at a loss for words.

Shi Yuning shot to her feet, guilt flooding her. She couldn’t meet Xie Zhaoran’s gaze, her eyes darting wildly. She wished for a hole to swallow her whole.

“S-sorry—” Kneeling backward, Shi Yuning edged away. She needed to flee, hide until her mind cleared, then explain.

One leg swung off the bed when her wrist was seized in a vise grip. A strong pull yanked her forward.

“Ah—” Shi Yuning tumbled onto Xie Zhaoran. In that electric instant, she recalled the injuries to her right leg and hand. She twisted mid-fall, bracing one palm beside Xie Zhaoran’s neck.

Those fathomless dark eyes loomed less than half an inch away. Shi Yuning’s heart lodged in her throat. The hand at Xie Zhaoran’s neck tensed, knuckles whitening as her fingers dug into the coarse, pale bedsheet.

Her breaths came quick and shallow, hot puffs dancing between lips that would brush at the slightest motion.

The frogs outside, whose chorus had begun to fade, erupted anew in shrill, escalating cries, throats straining.

Shi Yuning wanted to scream. Her heart teetered on the edge of her lips, ready to leap free.

Then a voice, hoarse beyond recognition, cut through the din and pierced her ears, blotting out the world.

“What are you doing?” The words echoed relentlessly in her mind, demanding an answer with unyielding authority.

Shi Yuning’s heart thundered, her thoughts a hopeless slurry. No excuse formed.

Moonlight spilled across her face, illuminating the faint flush creeping up her ears in stark clarity.

Then it vanished.

Darkness fell. Heat bloomed on her lips, her swirling thoughts shattering like glass.

Lips met, breaths scorching.

Xie Zhaoran released her wrist and drew her neck close. Their lips ground together as they tumbled back onto the pillow.

The bed frame creaked, slicing through the thick, cloying air.

Shi Yuning drew a sharp breath—only for it to be stolen away before she could exhale.

The warm lips grew hotter, weaving an indescribable tenderness, like a release or a confession.

Shi Yuning sensed a thread of reproach woven in—playful resentment, yet achingly gentle.

As her senses reeled, a sting at her lip: the corner nipped lightly.

Xie Zhaoran freed her neck, her hand gliding along the smooth column of skin to cup Shi Yuning’s cheek. She gently tilted her face up.

Shi Yuning’s lips glistened from the friction, plump and juicy like a bitten berry, exuding temptation.

Xie Zhaoran’s thumb brushed away a glistening bead at the corner of her mouth. She exhaled roughly, then touched her nose tip to Shi Yuning’s.

The wetness at her lip corner wiped away, Shi Yuning clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in shock.

“Y-you… what are you doing?”

Xie Zhaoran let out a low chuckle. “Kissing you.”

Shi Yuning knew that much. Her face burned crimson. “Why… why kiss me?”

Xie Zhaoran smiled, utterly unapologetic. “I like you. Couldn’t help myself.”

Shi Yuning’s eyes quivered in the moonlight. “Ah?”

Had she misheard? Xie Zhaoran liked her? But she was the one who liked Xie Zhaoran. How—how could she like her back?

Xie Zhaoran muffled a laugh at Shi Yuning’s stunned expression, her gaze flitting everywhere but toward her.

“So, will you tell me what you were doing, sneaking around while I slept?”

The night’s seductive rasp returned, tempting her soul—or perhaps seeking solemn confirmation.

“Ah?” Shi Yuning froze. Why bring that up?

Xie Zhaoran held her gaze, eyes flickering. “Hm?”

Shi Yuning turned away awkwardly, unable to look at her, but her mouth betrayed the truth. “Stealing a kiss from you.”

After that unforeseen kiss, Shi Yuning dimly grasped it. The joy crashed over her too abruptly to process.

“Why steal a kiss from me?” Xie Zhaoran’s voice was husky, laced with lightness.

Shi Yuning’s heart lifted. She’d asked the very same question moments ago. She shot Xie Zhaoran a shy, annoyed glare.

She understood now why the kiss had come so suddenly. The laughter and gentle prompting in those eyes made her heart swell with sweet ache. She’d never seen such blatant telegraphing.

“Because I like you.”

Mist gathered in Shi Yuning’s eyes as she met Xie Zhaoran’s gaze, disbelief lingering. “You like me too? That kind of like? The way I like you?”

Xie Zhaoran’s smile bloomed fully, her gaze a moonlit lake dyed in deepest affection.

She caressed Shi Yuning’s fevered cheek with exquisite tenderness, every syllable brimming with joy.

“Even as you ask, all I see is you.”

Shi Yuning stilled, blinking. “What?”

Xie Zhaoran laughed softly. Meeting her bewildered stare, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to Shi Yuning’s fluttering lashes.

Her voice rasped by Shi Yuning’s ear. “Me too.”

In that moment, the hazy dream haunting Xie Zhaoran’s heart shed its shadows. Under the moonlight, it crystallized into a genuine spark.

Her light had burst into the darkness of Xie Zhaoran’s life, unbidden and radiant.

Joy overwhelmed her. Trembling lips brushed Shi Yuning’s soft earlobe as she laughed, repeating endlessly. “Me too. I like you so much. My heart delights in you. Only you.”

Moon shadows danced. Wind stirred outside, leaves whispering, frogs falling silent.

Shi Yuning’s eyes grew ever brighter. She had imagined countless reactions to Xie Zhaoran discovering her infatuation. None matched this delirious bliss.

This, she thought, was true deliverance from the jaws of death.

She wanted to ask when Xie Zhaoran had fallen for her—but a hand covered her lips.

“Though I’d love to go on, I truly can’t hold out any longer. Ningning, can you wait for me just one night?”

Shi Yuning’s eyes widened. She blinked rapidly, her flushed face burning hotter. The words dripped with such unintended implication.

She tugged Xie Zhaoran’s hand back to her abdomen. “Go to sleep. If you hadn’t woken, I’d have been asleep ages ago.”

Without waiting for a reply, she yanked the quilt over her head, rolling away to face the wall, hiding her flustered annoyance.

Xie Zhaoran chuckled muffled into the bedding for a moment, then slipped an arm beneath Shi Yuning’s pillow, drawing her closer. “Sleep.”

Before drifting off, Xie Zhaoran inwardly cursed her injured leg—so damn inconvenient.

Shi Yuning basked in the warmth at her back, muffling giggles behind her hand. Even breaths rose behind her. She turned, gently extracting the hand from beneath her neck and tucking it under the quilt.

Lying flat once more, she clasped that hand, fingers intertwining.

Even as sleep claimed her, those words echoed: my heart delights in you.

Perfect. Xie Zhaoran liked her too.

Tomorrow, she’d demand to know when it started. She hadn’t suspected a thing.

Please, let this not be a dream.