As soon as Shen Suifeng spoke, the Qi couple tensed. Even the usually composed Song Lian couldn’t help asking anxiously through the gauze curtain, “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just a brief episode, nothing serious,” Shen Suifeng concluded the pulse reading, gazing thoughtfully at the person before him. “The young shizi must’ve caught a chill these past few days.”
The young man lowered his eyes and coughed. The page beside him quickly said, “He caught a cold draft the night before last.”
“Outrageous! You know full well the young shizi cannot be exposed to the wind. How could you have failed to take better care of him?” Qi Zhen exploded in anger.
The page immediately knelt. “This servant knows his mistake, this servant knows his mistake…”
Qi Zhen was about to continue scolding when a slightly hoarse voice slowly interrupted, “This son was greedy for the cold air and snuck out to get some fresh air while Qi An wasn’t paying attention. It’s not their fault.”
It was the first time Feng Lezhen had heard him speak, and she realized his voice had completely changed from childhood. If she didn’t already know only Qi Jingqing could refer to himself as “son” in front of Qi Zhen, she wouldn’t have dared believe the speaker was him.
“You… You’re always so disobedient.” Qi Zhen lost all his anger the moment he faced this son of his.
Qi Jingqing was clearly exhausted. The group had come in a rush and left in a rush. As Feng Lezhen reached the door, she had a faint sense someone was watching her. She turned back instinctively, but saw only the semi-transparent screen and gauze curtain.
“Your Highness?” Shen Suifeng called when he saw her stop.
Feng Lezhen came back to herself and walked out gracefully.
The door to the bedchamber closed again, fully cutting off the view.
Once they left the courtyard, Shen Suifeng finally spoke in a low voice, “It’s not a big issue, just a case of wind chill. Keep him warm and away from drafts for a few days, and have him take a few doses of medicine—he’ll be fine.”
“If so, I’ll trouble Dr. Shen for the next few days,” Qi Zhen said. Compared to half an hour earlier, his tone had softened quite a bit.
Shen Suifeng paused and instinctively looked toward Feng Lezhen. As soon as their eyes met, hers turned cold.
“Since Your Highness has made the effort to come all this way, why not stay at the manor for a few days? Let us play host properly,” Song Lian quickly offered.
Feng Lezhen gave a faint smile. “Madam is too polite. Yingguan is my fief—if anyone should play host, it ought to be me.”
Her words were a bit aggressive, but unfortunately, Song Lian didn’t dare contradict her—after all, her son still needed Shen Suifeng’s treatment, and Shen Suifeng now clearly stood on Feng Lezhen’s side. Yet saying nothing would be tantamount to admitting she was right.
Song Lian hesitated because of Qi Jingqing, but Qi Zhen was less cautious. He was just about to retort when Shen Suifeng suddenly spoke: “I’ve already given the young shizi acupuncture and had medicine prepared. He should break the fever within the hour. As long as he takes his medication regularly, it doesn’t really matter if I stay or not…”
“Better if you stay,” Feng Lezhen cut him off. “With you here, the Marquis and Madam will be more at ease.”
Just after he’d said there was no need to stay, she said to stay—as if deliberately contradicting him. Shen Suifeng frowned slightly as their eyes met.
“Yes, do stay the night,” Song Lian chimed in hastily.
“Since Her Highness insists, I’ll stay one night then,” Shen Suifeng said to Song Lian, though his eyes remained fixed on Feng Lezhen’s face.
“Your Highness should stay as well,” Song Lian added quickly, afraid she might change her mind. “Our chef is very skilled in vegetarian dishes. Please try his cooking.”
“In that case, it would be rude to decline.” Feng Lezhen smiled.
Once she agreed, Song Lian immediately sent people to prepare two guest rooms. Perhaps to make it easier for Shen Suifeng to attend to Qi Jingqing, the rooms were only about a hundred paces from the main courtyard—so close that a single shout could be heard clearly from one end to the other.
Once the rooms were prepared and the floor heating started, dinner was served. Feng Lezhen and Shen Suifeng both had their own thoughts, but neither showed anything in front of the Qi couple. Only once they returned to the side courtyard and were alone did the air grow heavy with silence.
Feng Lezhen didn’t look at him. She walked straight ahead, and once inside her room, moved to shut the door. But a hand suddenly stopped it.
“Didn’t Your Highness say you wanted to talk?” Shen Suifeng looked her in the eyes and asked.
“Today’s not the right time. Let’s talk after we leave the Marquis manor tomorrow,” Feng Lezhen replied calmly, locking eyes with him as she resumed closing the door.
They had brought only eight guards, who were now stationed in the courtyard. Shen Suifeng didn’t want to make a scene in front of them. Seeing that she had no intention of letting him in, he silently withdrew his hand.
The door closed in front of him. Shen Suifeng stood there quietly for a while before turning back to his own room.
Feng Lezhen listened to his departing footsteps. She stood alone for a long moment before finally sitting down at the table.
Unnoticed, night had fallen. Candlelight flickered inside the room, casting her swaying shadow across the window. She still wasn’t sleepy and the floor heating had made the room stifling. Feeling uncomfortable, she threw on her cloak and went out for a walk.
The sound of the snow was muffled but couldn’t drown out the guards’ greetings. Shen Suifeng’s eyes moved slightly. After a moment of silence, he stepped outside as well.
Snow blanketed the world outside, falling in quiet, persistent flurries that made everything a hazy white. Feng Lezhen walked into the snow with an umbrella, and the biting damp wind blew away all the irritation in her heart.
She wandered aimlessly through the Marquis manor’s courtyards. It seemed the servants had been instructed not to disturb her. When they saw her, they simply saluted and stepped quietly aside. Feng Lezhen meandered until she reached a more secluded area, where she instinctively looked behind her.
Shen Suifeng, who had been quietly trailing her, quickly ducked onto a side path and hid behind a snow-covered pine tree.
Seeing no one around, Feng Lezhen tossed her umbrella aside and bent down to scoop up a large clump of snow.
She rolled the snow around in her slim hands until it became a smooth, round snowball. In the quiet night, with no one else present, she looked down at it and suddenly laughed out loud.
Behind the pine, Shen Suifeng caught this rare, childlike expression on her face and couldn’t help but smile himself.
“Dr. Shen?”
Song Lian’s voice suddenly rang out. Shen Suifeng turned around instinctively, and with his position and angle, completely blocked Feng Lezhen from view on the other path. “Madam.”
“Why haven’t you gone to rest yet?” Song Lian approached with a gentle expression.
Shen Suifeng stepped forward a couple of paces to stop her from coming any closer. “I couldn’t sleep, just out for a walk.”
“In such heavy snow, why aren’t you dressed warmer?” As she spoke, Song Lian handed him a hand warmer.
Shen Suifeng quickly declined. “Madam, there’s no need…”
“Be good. Take it.” Song Lian gently interrupted him.
Shen Suifeng paused, then silently accepted the warmer. “Thank you, Madam.”
Song Lian smiled and gave him a kindly once-over from head to toe. “You’ve lost a lot of weight since the start of the year. Have you been going through something difficult?”
Shen Suifeng looked puzzled. “What hardship could I possibly have?”
“You can’t fool me.” Song Lian sighed. “I may not be your elder by family, but I did watch you grow up. I understand your temperament. If not for encountering some difficulty, you would never willingly work under someone.”
Shen Suifeng paused, understanding what she was getting at. His smile turned polite. “I serve Her Highness of my own free will.”
“Willing to the point that you’d let her delay treating a patient for her own selfish reasons?” Song Lian countered.
Shen Suifeng fell silent immediately.
Song Lian looked as though she saw straight through him. “Suifeng, you’re the disciple of the Medicine Sage. Naturally, you’ve inherited his integrity. I don’t know why you’ve chosen to follow Feng Lezhen, but from my experience, you and she are completely different—one is indifferent to fame and fortune, the other burning with ambition. You walk different paths. It’s best not to walk them together.”
The wise need only a word; she didn’t say more and turned to leave with her maid. Clearly, her only purpose in coming here had been to say that.
Shen Suifeng stared steadily after her retreating figure. For a moment, his mind cleared. “Thank you, Madam!”
Song Lian stopped in her tracks and turned to meet his smiling eyes.
“Please rest assured, Madam. I will do my utmost to treat the young shizi, without the slightest reservation,” Shen Suifeng added.
Song Lian thought she had persuaded him and her eyes lit up, but before she could speak again, she heard him continue, “As for whether Her Highness and I walk the same path—that’s between her and me.”
Shen Suifeng curved his lips into a lazy smile. “What others say doesn’t count.”
Song Lian was briefly stunned by his blunt words. She forced a smile and left without saying more.
Shen Suifeng exhaled a white puff of breath. As soon as she was gone, he eagerly stepped around the pine tree. “Your Highness!”
But the spot where Feng Lezhen had been was now empty, only a lone umbrella lying forlornly on the snow-covered ground.
…Could it be that she heard someone coming and quietly slipped away? Shen Suifeng searched the area but couldn’t find her figure anywhere. After some thought, he decided to check the guest quarters.
Feng Lezhen had indeed heard Song Lian’s voice and had planned to head straight back to her room. Unfortunately, it was dark and the ground was slippery—and she didn’t know the way. She had successfully gotten herself lost in the vast courtyard.
“Did I pass by here earlier… yes, I did.”
There were no lamps lit in the courtyard. Though the snow illuminated the path somewhat, the scenery was hard to distinguish. After walking past the same spot three times, Feng Lezhen nearly laughed out of frustration. Worse still, there wasn’t a single person around. Even if she wanted help, there was no one to ask.
She couldn’t possibly call for help at the top of her lungs, could she? She was the dignified Eldest Princess—shouting her head off in someone else’s courtyard? Just imagining it was mortifying. But if she kept wandering like this, only two outcomes awaited her: either she’d get lucky and find the way or someone who could guide her… or she’d freeze to death in the Marquis’s estate on a snowy night.
Winters in Yingguan were no joke.
Feng Lezhen silently pulled her cloak tighter, weighing which was more embarrassing—shouting for help or freezing to death. Just as her thoughts spiraled, a flicker of light caught her eye.
A lantern.
Her eyes lit up. She took a few quick steps around a corner and came upon a pavilion, a stone table, a lantern, a brazier—and someone sitting in the pavilion with their back to her.
Her pace instinctively slowed, yet she continued walking toward the pavilion. As she got closer, she finally saw that the person was not sitting on a stone bench, but in a finely crafted wheelchair.
Standing in the snow, she gazed curiously at the figure before her. The person seemed to sense her presence too, and the hand resting in his sleeve moved to the wheel.
What a hand it was—slender and pale, with clearly visible veins. More delicate and beautiful than a woman’s, yet unmistakably a man’s.
Feng Lezhen had never thought herself to have any peculiar preferences, but in this moment, looking at that hand, she was briefly dazed.
Then the wheelchair slowly turned, and its owner gradually came into view.
The moment she met those otherworldly eyes, time seemed to freeze. The wind stopped. The snow halted. All of existence fell silent.
“Your Highness?” he said, voice slightly hoarse, like an immortal touched by the mortal world.
Then the wind blew again, the snow fell once more, and everything returned to normal.
Feng Lezhen met his eyes for a long while before finally speaking calmly, “Young Shizi, it’s been a long time.”
“Twelve years,” Qi Jingqing’s lips curved faintly.
Feng Lezhen hadn’t fully come back to her senses. “…Hm?”
“Twelve years,” Qi Jingqing repeated.
It finally clicked for Feng Lezhen, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You actually remembered?”
Seeing the laughter in her eyes, a touch of warmth appeared in Qi Jingqing’s as well. “If Your Highness doesn’t come in soon, you’ll turn into an old lady.”
“Old—” Feng Lezhen lowered her head and saw the snow on her hair. She laughed. “Not quite there yet.”
Though she said it wasn’t that bad, she still stepped into the pavilion. While brushing the snow off her cloak, she accidentally met his gaze and quickly took two steps back, afraid of shaking snow onto him.
Qi Jingqing sat quietly. Once she finished brushing off the snow, he handed her a cup of hot tea. Feng Lezhen thanked him and reached out—her fingers brushing his cold fingertips by accident.
Both of them paused at the same time. Before Feng Lezhen could react, he had already withdrawn his hand back into his sleeve.
Feng Lezhen gave a small smile and downed the tea in her cup in one go, finally feeling some warmth return to her: “After all these years, you still recognized me?”
“Didn’t Your Highness recognize me too?” Qi Jingqing’s voice was hoarse, yet carried a kind of unworldly clarity.
Ethereal. Feng Lezhen found it hard to imagine using that word to describe a man—but for him, it somehow fit perfectly.
“I recognized this,” Feng Lezhen patted the wheelchair. “If I’m not mistaken, this should be the work of artisan Li Feizi. It’s worth a fortune. Not to mention, this pavilion even has a custom ramp built—clearly made with a wheelchair in mind. One can easily guess that the only person the Marquis and his wife would go to such lengths for is you.”
“I see. Your Highness is still as clever as ever.” Hearing that she’d deduced his identity from external clues, Qi Jingqing didn’t seem disappointed at all, only nodding in agreement.
“And you?” Feng Lezhen asked curiously. “How did you recognize me? Was it because of what I’m wearing?”
Before coming, she had carefully chosen her outfit—specifically to avoid being overpowered by the presence of the Marquis and his wife.
Qi Jingqing met her curious gaze, lips curving slightly: “Yes.”
“No wonder,” Feng Lezhen chuckled. But just as she looked into those otherworldly eyes again, she suddenly sensed something off. “Aren’t you still ill?”
“I am.”
“Then why aren’t you resting properly in your room? What are you doing out here?”
“Bored. Came out for a walk.”
He had barely finished speaking when anxious voices suddenly rang out in the distance.
“They’re looking for me,” Qi Jingqing said with surprising calm.
“…They sound pretty worried,” Feng Lezhen remarked.
“Mm. I snuck out.”
Feng Lezhen: “…”
“Shizi!”
“Shizi!”
The voices were getting closer. Feng Lezhen came back to her senses—this was no joke. She was already carrying the blame for pushing the Marquis’s son into a pond back then. If someone now saw her together with the sick and supposedly resting Shizi, both of them out in the cold wind—no matter how she tried to explain, she wouldn’t be able to make it clear.
She needed to knock the Marquis couple down a peg, but that didn’t mean she wanted to become enemies with them. If this situation wasn’t handled well today, how was she going to win them over later?
Feng Lezhen decisively turned to leave, but just as she looked up, the searchers’ torches were already coming down the very path she needed to take.
She looked over at Qi Jingqing—he was still sitting calmly in his wheelchair, thin and delicate like a porcelain doll that could shatter at the slightest touch.
“Why are you running, Your Highness?” he asked with a smile. That smile could topple cities, but in Feng Lezhen’s eyes, it was infuriating.
Seeing that the searchers were getting close, she decided to go in the other direction instead. But in the next instant, her clothing got caught on the wheelchair. She stumbled from the pull and nearly fell into his lap. By the time she steadied herself, she hadn’t yet untangled her robe—and those people were almost upon them.
If she didn’t go now, she really wouldn’t be able to leave.
“I can’t get it loose,” Qi Jingqing said quietly, eyes lowered, focusing on the fabric caught on the wheelchair.
Feng Lezhen gritted her teeth and simply pushed the wheelchair and ran.
The wind was strong, the snow heavy. Worried that Qi Jingqing might actually freeze to death, she unfastened her cloak as she ran and threw it over him, covering him tightly.
The thick cloak blocked out the wind entirely. Qi Jingqing’s vision went black; all he could sense was the faint scent of powder and lingering body heat.
Feng Lezhen was unfamiliar with the layout of the Marquis’s residence. At the first fork in the road, she didn’t know where to go. As she hesitated, a slightly raspy voice came from under the cloak: “Turn right, there’s a rock garden.”
Without hesitation, Feng Lezhen turned right and, seeing the rock formation, immediately ducked inside.
“Shizi!”
“Has anyone seen the Shizi?”
“No, but I thought I saw him just now!”
The servants quickly approached, the torchlight casting a reddish glow into the rock garden like a sunset.
Feng Lezhen had taken in too much cold air from running so fast. Now even her breathing hurt. She had to bend over and brace her knees to catch her breath. Qi Jingqing pulled the cloak off his head and, seeing her in such a disheveled state, couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you laughing at me?” Feng Lezhen narrowed her eyes at him in silent question, not daring to speak aloud with the servants still nearby.
Qi Jingqing blinked slowly and mimicked her silent response: “No.”
Feng Lezhen snorted and noticed that his collar was open. She reached out to help fix it.
The distance between them suddenly shrank. So close that one could see the fine hairs on her face. Qi Jingqing’s expression remained calm, but the hand resting on the wheelchair’s armrest clenched and released several times.
The rock garden blocked most of the wind and snow, but a few flakes still slipped through. As Feng Lezhen finished adjusting his clothes, she looked up just in time to see a snowflake land on his eyelashes.
Even though she had seen his face many times earlier, at this close distance, she still found herself dazed by his beauty.
She couldn’t tell whether heaven had favored him or not. If not, then why gift him such an ethereal face? Even if he did nothing, just standing there was enough to draw the attention of nearly everyone. But if it had favored him… Feng Lezhen glanced down at the wheelchair beneath him and sighed silently in her heart.
“When did you start needing this?” she asked in a low voice.
Qi Jingqing paused. “It’s been a few years now.”
Feng Lezhen’s brows knit gradually. She was about to ask more, when his cold fingertip suddenly touched her brow.
Startled by the chill, Feng Lezhen gave a small shiver. When she came back to her senses, she took his hand and tucked it back into the cloak.
“I’m not cold. Just my hands,” he explained.
“Oh,” Feng Lezhen replied.
Seeing she didn’t believe him, Qi Jingqing didn’t press the matter. Instead, he changed the subject: “Mr. Shen is working under Your Highness now?”
“You’ve heard the rumor that I’m monopolizing Shen Suifeng and keeping him from treating you?” Feng Lezhen raised her eyebrows slightly.
Qi Jingqing looked into her eyes. “If my parents refuse to compromise, will Your Highness continue to prevent Doctor Shen from coming?”
“Of course not,” Feng Lezhen denied it without even thinking.
Qi Jingqing got the answer he wanted, and those beautiful eyes curved into a smile. “That’s enough for me.”
“How generous of you,” Feng Lezhen said, looking into his eyes that seemed untouched by the dust of the world, and almost found herself dazed again.
The people outside seemed to have all left, and the rock garden grew quieter.
Feng Lezhen lowered her head and silently tried to untangle her sash, but a part of it was stuck in the wheel of the wheelchair and difficult to pull out. Just as she was getting more and more frustrated, a slender hand reached over—along with a small, delicate dagger.
Her: “……”
“Your Highness might want to try this?” Qi Jingqing lowered his voice.
Feng Lezhen: “…Why didn’t you bring that out earlier?”
“You didn’t ask me for it,” Qi Jingqing replied.
Feng Lezhen gave a short, incredulous laugh. “I’m not asking you now either.” How did you know to bring it out this time?
Qi Jingqing paused at her words and moved to withdraw the dagger.
Feng Lezhen moved quickly and snatched it before he could, looking up only to meet his smiling eyes. She was momentarily speechless. “Qi Jingqing, are you a child?”
“It’s been a long time since I heard Your Highness call me by name.” The corners of his lips lifted, his eyes innocent.
Feng Lezhen laughed as well. “If you didn’t provoke me, I wouldn’t be calling your name like that.”
Qi Jingqing’s gaze shifted subtly. Just as he was about to speak again, the servants outside suddenly exclaimed, “Wheel tracks! There are wheel tracks here!”
Feng Lezhen: “……”
After searching like headless chickens for so long—even the Marquis and his wife had been alarmed—they finally noticed the tracks in the snow and were about to rush into the rock garden. But Qi Jingqing calmly wheeled himself out.
“Sh-… Shizi, how did you end up here?” The servants looked at each other in confusion.
Qi Jingqing remained calm. “I was bored. Came out for a walk.”
Servants: “……”
Same answer as before—not even bothering to change it. In the shadows of the rock garden, Feng Lezhen laughed silently.
Although everyone was frustrated by Shizi’s rebelliousness, at least he’d been found. That was what mattered. They quickly wheeled him away, leaving Feng Lezhen alone in the rock garden.
The snow was still falling, seemingly without end. Feng Lezhen looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. “I forgot to ask Qi Jingqing how to get back.”
She was still lost.
Luckily, her luck wasn’t bad this time. After exiting the rock garden and walking a short while, she saw her courtyard. She had gone out heading east, but now returned from the west—she’d ended up circling the entire Marquis’s residence.
Feng Lezhen couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. She quickly walked into the courtyard. When the guards saw her, they hurried up to her. “Your Highness, why are you covered in snow? Where’s your umbrella?”
“Lost it.”
“Where’s your cloak?”
“Gone.”
“…Why is your sash torn?”
Feng Lezhen paused, then stopped to seriously explain: “I got carried away playing in the snow. That’s how I ended up like this.”
The guards felt that was a bit of a perfunctory answer, but seeing that she didn’t look like she’d been bullied, they didn’t press further. Feng Lezhen quietly let out a breath and pushed the door open—only to see someone walking out. She was startled and instinctively wanted to call for help, but froze when she met his gaze. “Why are you in my room?”
“Your Highness—how did you end up like this?” Shen Suifeng spoke at the same time.
“I… Never mind, not important. Let me go in and warm up first.” She hadn’t felt cold at all while walking earlier, but now, the warmth from the room made her whole body begin to tremble.
Seeing how cold she was, Shen Suifeng immediately pulled her inside. In the time it took to close the door, her hands had already reached into the hot water basin.
“Don’t move!” he snapped—a rare moment of raised voice.
Startled, Feng Lezhen looked up. Before she could react, he had already pulled her hands out.
“Your hands are frozen. If you plunge them into hot water too quickly, they’ll blister,” Shen Suifeng said as he guided her to sit on the footstool by the bed and took out a jar of frostbite ointment to apply to her hands.
Feng Lezhen looked at his focused expression, and her gaze softened a bit. “My face too.”
“Mm.”
Shen Suifeng finished applying the ointment to her hands and then started on her face. As their eyes met, his hand movements slowed slightly.
The floor heater was still burning, and the warmth in the room seemed to be rising. The two of them stared at each other in silence, the tension of the day faded.
After a while, Feng Lezhen asked, “Why did you suddenly show up?”
“When Your Highness left earlier, I followed,” Shen Suifeng replied.
Feng Lezhen’s eyes moved slightly. “I know. I heard you talking with the Marchioness.”
“Did Your Highness hear what was said?” Shen Suifeng asked.
Feng Lezhen chuckled. “Since she finally got a chance to talk to you alone, how could I not let her enjoy the moment?”
Once she confirmed that the Marquis’s family wouldn’t try to keep Shen Suifeng by force, she stopped having people tail him constantly. So even if Song Lian hadn’t talked to him today, she would’ve tried tomorrow.
“Would Your Highness like to know what she said to me?” Shen Suifeng insisted.
The smile on Feng Lezhen’s lips faded slightly. “Does it matter?”
“So Your Highness already guessed.” Shen Suifeng realized she minded, and the worry that had weighed on him all day finally lifted. “And I think I’ve figured out why you were upset.”
“I wasn’t—”
“The Marchioness said you and I aren’t the same kind of people—that our paths are different and shouldn’t align. Is that what Your Highness thinks too?” Shen Suifeng carefully applied ointment to her face. The snow and wind of Yingguan were indeed fierce. She hadn’t been out that long, yet her cheeks were already red with cold. He didn’t know if applying more would help it recover by morning.
“I don’t think that. But you—Mr. Shen, Doctor Shen, Divine Doctor Shen—do you think that?” Feng Lezhen tried to summon her imposing presence, but her face was being pinched and rubbed, so it was hard to muster any real authority.
Shen Suifeng said, “So Your Highness was upset because you thought I would think that way.”
“…What kind of nonsense is that?” Feng Lezhen frowned.
Shen Suifeng replied, “I’ve never thought that way.”
Feng Lezhen paused, then looked up and met his earnest gaze.
The two of them stared at each other silently for a moment before Feng Lezhen gave a light snort. “Trying to fool me? Back in my room earlier today, you stopped halfway through your sentence, saying ‘never mind’ and refused to explain. Clearly you thought it was pointless to talk to me. And now you’re trying to act like the good guy.”
“When did I ever think it was pointless to talk to Your Highness?” Shen Suifeng looked genuinely puzzled.
Feng Lezhen leaned back and pulled her face out of his hands, mimicking his tone with a sarcastic lilt: “That’s not what I meant, forget it, the Shizi’s not in any danger anyway, just leave it at that—you wouldn’t understand a physician’s heart to save lives.”
Hearing her mock him like that, Shen Suifeng was both amused and helpless. “That does sound a bit familiar, but are you sure I actually said it that way? And I definitely didn’t say the last part, did I?”
“You didn’t say it, but the implication was clear,” Feng Lezhen shot him a sideways glance.
Shen Suifeng couldn’t argue against that. After a moment, he lowered his head and chuckled softly.
Feng Lezhen had already been displeased with him today, and seeing him laugh now made her even more annoyed. But before she could flare up, he suddenly pulled her into his arms, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on his lap.
“We’re having a fight here—be serious,” she said lazily, but didn’t resist.
“I, Shen Suifeng, swear on my life—what I said earlier was only because I didn’t think it needed explaining. Whatever Your Highness says, I will do. I had not the slightest ulterior motive.” As he spoke, Shen Suifeng wrapped one arm around her and raised three fingers with the other.
Feng Lezhen paused. “Not enough. Swear on your whole family’s lives.”
“I swear on the lives of all 327 members of the Shen family listed in our family records,” said Shen the dutiful filial son, dragging the whole clan in with him.
Feng Lezhen was finally satisfied, but still wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. “Then when Qi Zhen asked you to stay today, what did that look you gave me mean?”
“Naturally, I was waiting for Your Highness to make the decision.”
“Not because you thought I was despicable and shameless, willing to do anything to get my way, and so deliberately prompted Qi Zhen to appeal directly to me?” Feng Lezhen narrowed her eyes.
Shen Suifeng: “…”
“Not talking? Then I guessed right, didn’t I?” Feng Lezhen sneered. “In your eyes, I really—”
“I swear again on those same 327 lives, that look was only because I was waiting for Your Highness’s decision. Whether I stayed or not, I truly had no opinion,” Shen Suifeng cut in.
Feng Lezhen instantly fell silent.
Outside the window, the sound of wind and snow howled faintly, but inside the room all was still. The warm light of the candles and the floor heating made the bedchamber, with only the two of them in it, feel like a tiny spring.
After a long moment, Shen Suifeng sighed. “I didn’t expect Your Highness to overthink so much, just because of such a small matter.”
“Small matter?” Feng Lezhen’s lips curved. “All the world’s great matters are built up from small ones. When my mother first married my father, they were affectionate for a time too. But later, differences in their ways of doing things made them grow apart. That rift gave Consort Shu the chance to take advantage and become pregnant in the same year.”
“Shen Suifeng, I am indeed someone who seeks profit above all else, and I will use anyone I can to achieve my goals—including you. But you are not my subordinate. You don’t need to bend yourself at every turn. Like today—if you truly couldn’t accept it in your heart, then just tell me. I’ll come up with another way. There’s no need to silently endure it and act like you’ve sacrificed something for me.”
“I don’t feel wronged,” Shen Suifeng said, resting his head on her shoulder, voice slightly muffled.
Feng Lezhen chuckled quietly. “You don’t feel wronged today because your feelings are still strong. But in the future, when that affection fades, all the grievances you tolerated now will turn into arrows sharp enough to kill. I’ve seen it happen far too often.”
“Then Your Highness admits your feelings for me are strong now?” Shen Suifeng suddenly looked up at her.
Feng Lezhen: “…”
“There’s no need for Your Highness to worry. Since I’m willing, I don’t feel wronged,” Shen Suifeng said with a gentle smile.
Feng Lezhen, dissatisfied: “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I know what Your Highness meant—like today, when Zhenbian Marquis asked if I could stay, I shouldn’t have waited for your decision. I should’ve decided from a physician’s perspective whether or not I ought to stay.” Shen Suifeng had figured out exactly what was bothering her. “It was my own moment of confusion, wanting to follow Your Highness’s lead, and I almost forgot a doctor’s duty.”
As expected, when Feng Lezhen heard this, her stiff posture eased slightly.
Shen Suifeng smiled, resting his chin gently on her shoulder. “If there’s ever a misunderstanding in the future, we should be like today—say everything clearly. No more sulking.”
“…Mm.”
He held her tighter, his breath warming the skin at her neck, making her shiver slightly. “So this matter is resolved?”
“Mm, it’s resolved.” Feng Lezhen’s expression softened.
Shen Suifeng: “We’re not bringing it up again?”
“Not bringing it up.”
Shen Suifeng: “Then shall we talk about something else? Like how Your Highness went out for a stroll, and yet ended up with the scent of the Shizi’s medicine on your clothes?”
Feng Lezhen: “…”
