When they returned to the banquet in the front courtyard, Mengshi had already drunk quite a lot of wine. His cheeks were flushed. Seeing only Shang Rong sit down beside him, he asked in a low voice, “Where is Young Master Zhe Zhu?”

“He said he wanted to go out for some air.”

In fact, what Zhe Zhu had told her was that he was going to sober up, but she remembered their agreement on Xingyun Mountain—not to tell anyone that he could only drink two cups of wine.

“Oh,” Mengshi nodded, not suspecting anything. He handed her the two pieces of candy he had just grabbed. “Susu, this candy is made of honey. It’s very sweet.”

Unable to refuse Mengshi’s urging, Shang Rong unwrapped the oiled paper and ate one piece.

It was indeed very fragrant and sweet.

Seeing her wrap up the remaining piece again, Mengshi’s face showed a faint smile. Though he knew the answer, he still asked, “Why not eat the other one?”

“For Zhe Zhu.”

Shang Rong looked at the oiled paper bundle in her hand and said softly.

Zhe Zhu did not return for a long time. Mengshi, meanwhile, drank too much while chatting and laughing at the banquet. His head was already feeling a little dizzy, so he staggered to his feet, wanting to go back.

Afraid he might fall, Shang Rong supported him as they walked.

“Susu, when I see these red silks, I think of Yaoyao’s mother…” Mengshi walked while unconsciously confiding his thoughts to her.

The two of them left the Zhou family courtyard, but Shang Rong did not see Zhe Zhu anywhere within the range of the lantern light under the eaves, so she could only continue forward while supporting Mengshi.

The road was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects.

Mengshi suddenly felt nauseous. He hurriedly shook off Shang Rong’s hand and staggered toward a tree where the lantern light could not reach.

Shang Rong stood where she was, still unable to find Zhe Zhu.

Could he have gotten drunk and collapsed somewhere?

Her gaze shifted. She saw a flash of silver glimmering at a distant corner. She thought of the silver snake soft sword at Zhe Zhu’s waist, and then heard Mengshi beneath the tree say, “Susu, I’ll go get a cup of water first.”

Mengshi had just vomited and was a bit more clear-headed. Saying this, he went back toward the Zhou family courtyard by himself.

Thinking about that flash of silver light, Shang Rong did not follow him back. Lifting her skirt hem to avoid puddles under the lanterns, she walked along the dim road.

At that corner was a narrow gap formed between two courtyards. Walking on the earthen village path, Shang Rong’s steps were very light. Before she reached the gap at the corner, she vaguely heard a voice:

“I already said, we go to Yezhou first.”

It seemed to be Zhe Zhu’s voice.

“But Protector Seventeen, the Tower Master has dispatched the First, Third, Sixth, and Fifteenth Protectors this time to bring you back to Zhifeng Tower. She must have something extremely urgent. She cannot possibly allow you to go to Yezhou first!”

Another unfamiliar voice, one Shang Rong had never heard before. She clearly caught the words “Zhifeng Tower.”

“Protector Seventeen! The situation is urgent now. You should know the Tower Master’s temperament. Once the Protectors arrive, the matter of Mingyue Princess being by your side will no longer be able to be concealed! Protector, if you keep her by your side any longer, you will harm yourself!”

“So I will send her to Shenxi Mountain.”

The boy’s voice was steady.

The night wind brushed lightly past the fine strands of hair by Shang Rong’s ear. Nearly dazed, she stood frozen where she was, her fingers tightly gripping the piece of candy wrapped in oiled paper.

He knew.

He actually knew everything.

Zhe Zhu stepped once more from the dim moonlight into the lantern glow. Before he even entered the Zhou family courtyard, he saw Mengshi walking unsteadily toward him. Upon seeing him, he called out, “Young Master Zhe Zhu?”

Zhe Zhu did not see Shang Rong behind him, so he asked, “Where is she?”

“Wasn’t Susu just…” Mengshi said, pointing with his hand, but the quiet path lay empty. His voice stopped abruptly.

“She came out just now?”

Zhe Zhu stared in the direction he pointed.

“I drank too much and came out to look for you so we could go back together. I vomited halfway, then came back to get some water,” Mengshi was much more clear-headed now. He held onto the doorframe. “Where did she go in such a short time?”

“Search.”

Zhe Zhu glanced at him, a chill in his eyes.

To find Shang Rong, Zhe Zhu even had Jiang Ying call out the Zhifeng Tower assassins hidden in the bamboo grove to search everywhere. She had not returned to the bamboo forest courtyard, nor was she on the small stone bridge. Mengshi ran all over the village with a lantern. After more than an hour, he was drenched in sweat, and the wine had completely worn off.

The Zhou family’s wedding banquet ended, and the villagers gradually returned home. The village lights went out one by one, voices faded, and the whole village became silent.

Zhe Zhu carried a lantern, searching back and forth. He did not even overlook the ditches beneath the stone paths in the woods. The orange-yellow light illuminated the lush grass and plants on the ground. When he walked onto the small stone bridge, he heard the sound of water below.

He carefully recalled every word he had spoken with Jiang Ying earlier in the village.

Had she… heard it all?

Suddenly, as if he had sensed something, he quickly descended from the stone bridge, lantern in hand.

Stars gathered across the night sky. Moonlight silently shone over the eaves. Shang Rong hugged her knees, hiding in a narrow gap between two courtyards.

She heard two households that had attended the Zhou family banquet return one after the other. She heard several children happily running around in the courtyard. She heard their mother call them inside to wash and sleep, helpless yet gentle.

Then the courtyard lights went out, and there was not a single sound.

She curled up in a patch of deep shadow, not moving at all.

She did not know how long had passed when suddenly the light of a lantern approached, shining so brightly that her tear-filled eyes could hardly open.

She wiped her eyes. Within that warm yellow glow, she saw the boy’s calm face.

“Hiding in a place I once hid in,” She stared blankly as he walked closer and crouched in front of her. His clear, cool voice was so near. “You really are clever.”

“You know my identity.”

Her voice tightened. The tears clinging to her lashes made it hard for her to see him clearly.

She had intended to hide here until they could not find her, and then slip away quietly into the night.

“Because of this, you want to leave me?” The boy set the lantern aside, his clear, pitch-black eyes fixed on her.

Shang Rong shook her head. Her lips pressed together for a long time, the tears in her eyes surging more fiercely. “No… no…”

“Zhe Zhu, I have to go.”

Her tears finally fell one by one. Looking at him, she cried, “You know my identity. You know I’m trouble. I might very well get you killed, get Uncle Mengshi killed. I don’t want that—I really don’t want that. I want you to live well…”

Seeing the mask on her face bulging into little lumps, the boy simply reached out and removed it for her. After a moment, he said, “What if I won’t let you go?”

Unexpectedly, as soon as his words fell, her hands shot forward and seized the sword in his grip. The thin, sharp blade instantly cut open her palm, yet she clutched it tightly, pressing it across her own neck.

Crimson droplets of blood fell from her palm. His eyes widened slightly. The hand gripping the sword hilt did not dare move in the slightest, afraid of deepening the wound in her palm.

“Shang Rong…”

His tone suddenly turned cold, edged with agitation.

“These days I’ve spent with you,” her face streaked with tears, the sharp pain in her palm making her eyes ache even more, “have been the most beautiful dream I’ve ever had in my life. But if this dream must cost you, then I would rather wake up earlier.”

She said, “You clearly have your own troubles too, I heard everything. I can’t ignore your burdens just to indulge my own desire to escape.”

She thought of the taste of the longan he had fed her in the bridal chamber. She felt she would never forget it.

“Zhe Zhu,” she called to him, choking with sobs, “let me go, alright?”

On both sides, the two courtyards were silent. In that unknown narrow space, the boy said nothing. His gaze shifted from her face to the blood dripping from the blade, then back to her face again.

“Let go.”

He grasped her wrist and spoke softly.

Never had the eyes with which the boy looked at her been so gentle. She did not respond for a long time, so he spoke again, “Be good.”

But she was a stubborn snail.

She remained silent, confronting him. Though her shell was so hard, her tear-reddened eyes looked so pitiful.

He suddenly let out a soft sigh.

The lantern at the side illuminated the boy’s handsome brows and eyes. Stars flickered behind him. A dark strand of hair by his temple stirred lightly.

Suddenly—he leaned in. Without warning, his slightly cool lips pressed against hers.

His warm breath was close at hand. His unskilled kiss carried a faint, crisp scent of wine.

At that moment, the tears clinging to Shang Rong’s lashes fell. Her eyes widened uncontrollably, her breath held without awareness.

His hand still gripped the sword hilt, and her blood-stained hand still clutched his blade.

Blood had already soaked her sleeve.

Then she heard his voice again:

“Perhaps you don’t know—Susu… I actually like that name too, because it makes me feel that you are very close to me.”

“So, Susu—”

“What I am not afraid of, you should not be afraid of either.”