I started as a concubine, and I made the crown prince cry with my delicious food.

The air in the room seemed to have frozen.

The flickering candlelight cast long shadows of the two people on the wall, intertwining and creating an exceptionally ambiguous atmosphere.

Ye An'an felt like her heart was about to jump out of her throat.

She could clearly hear her own heart pounding and the equally rapid breathing of the man beside her.

What to do? What to do?

Although she is an open-minded modern person, when it really came down to it, she still... chickened out.

Her body was still that of a virgin, untouched by worldly affairs!

Moreover, the other party is a crown prince! He's her husband in name only!

So... are we getting straight to the point?

Isn't this a bit too fast? She's not mentally prepared yet!

Xiao Jingshi was equally nervous.

Although he was the crown prince, he received the strictest court education from a young age, and even the palace maids serving him kept a distance of three feet. Let alone being in the same room with a woman, he had never even properly held a woman's hand.

Today was the first time he had been alone with a woman at such close range.

He could smell the faint, pleasant scent emanating from her, a blend of the aroma of food and her natural feminine fragrance.

That taste, like an invisible little hand, kept tugging at his heartstrings, turning his usually calm and collected heart into a tangled mess.

Looking at her face, flushed red with nervousness, and her eyes darting around anxiously, he suddenly felt a strong urge to protect her.

He knew that she was just as nervous and scared as he was.

He couldn't scare her.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Um..." he began, his voice dry with nervousness, "It's getting late, let's... let's get some rest."

After he finished speaking, he walked stiffly to the bedside, took off his outer boots, and then, extremely awkwardly, lay down on the outermost side of the bed, his body as tense as a stone, not daring to move an inch.

Looking at his fearless expression, Ye An'an felt a great deal of tension dissipate.

Instead, I felt an urge to laugh.

So... so he was even more nervous than I was!

Judging from his expression, anyone who didn't know better would think they were about to do something bad to him.

This innocent and adorable Crown Prince.

Ye An'an's heart softened instantly.

She walked to the dressing table, dawdled as she removed the hairpins and ornaments from her head, and changed into a loose and comfortable nightgown.

Then, she took a deep breath and walked to the bedside.

She lifted the covers and carefully lay down on the innermost side of the bed, with a space between her and him large enough for another person to lie down.

Two people were lying on the bed.

No one spoke.

They could only hear each other's clearly audible, increasingly rapid heartbeats.

"Um..." After a long silence, Ye An'an, unable to bear the awkward silence any longer, asked, trying to make conversation, "You...you can sleep?"

"...I can't sleep." Xiao Jingshi's muffled voice came from beside him.

"Me too."

Then, silence again.

"Did you encounter a lot of danger in Jiangnan?" Ye An'an changed the subject again.

"It's alright." Xiao Jingshi paused, as if organizing his thoughts. "At first, it was indeed a bit tricky. Local officials were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, and the emotions of the disaster victims were also out of control for a time. Especially... when the signs of the plague appeared, I... was indeed a bit panicked."

This was the first time he had admitted his panic in front of a stranger.

Ye An'an's heart clenched. She could imagine the immense pressure he was under at that time.

"But then, after reading your letter," his voice suddenly softened, "I felt less afraid."

"Your methods, though...unheard of, I...trust you."

"As it turns out, I was right to trust you."

Hearing his words, Ye An'an felt a warm glow in her heart.

"What I said was just... theoretical talk," she said somewhat embarrassedly. "It was you who actually carried it out and faced those difficulties. You are... the real hero."

"You too." Xiao Jingshi suddenly turned over, turned his face to the side, and looked at her.

In the dim candlelight, his eyes shone with an astonishing light.

In my heart, you are a hero too.

Ye An'an's cheeks flushed and her heart began to race uncontrollably at his sudden and straightforward words of love.

She dared not look at him anymore, and quickly turned over, her back to him.

"Sleep...sleep!" She covered her head with the blanket, her voice muffled.

Looking at her adorable, ostrich-like behavior, Xiao Jingshi couldn't help but smile gently.

He turned over and faced away from her.

Silence fell over the room once again.

But this time, the silence was no longer awkward.

The air was filled with a warm and sweet atmosphere.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but just as Ye An'an was drifting off to sleep...

She suddenly felt her hand being gently grasped by a warm, dry, calloused large hand.

Her body stiffened instantly.

She tried to pull her hand back, but he held it even tighter.

His hands were warm and strong.

That warmth seemed to travel along her fingertips and all the way into her heart.

At this moment, her heart, which had been wandering for so long, finally found complete peace.

She stopped struggling.

She just let him hold her hand.

Neither of them spoke again.

In this quiet night, where only the sound of each other's heartbeats could be heard.

They lay on the same bed, covered with the same blanket, their hands clasped tightly together.

Nothing happened.