After the divorce, I was adorned in a phoenix robe, while my ex-husband's entire family dug up

It is very difficult to get into the academy in Meishan, and all the contracts are for eight years. If you cannot stay there for eight years, it will be a stain on your record and your eligibility for the imperial examination will be invalidated. No matter how big the relationship is, it cannot be changed.

Prince Rong will be able to descend the mountain in another year, so we should make plans as soon as possible.

When Pei Yi returned from the palace, he brought back pastries from the south of the city.

"I knew you liked it, so I bought it especially for you. Eat it while it's hot."

Wei Zhaoning: "Does my husband treat me like a pig? I just ate crab roe soup dumplings, how can I still eat this?"

"You're too thin. I want to fatten you up."

Wei Zhaoning chuckled and accepted the pastries. The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning what happened last night.

That night, Pei Yi still slept on a makeshift bed on the floor.

Wei Zhaoning felt somewhat embarrassed and curled up in bed pretending to be asleep.

In the darkness, a pair of strikingly bright eyes looked at Wei Zhaoning and chuckled softly.

Wei Zhaoning was not asleep. She was thinking about how to resolve the matter between the young Prince Rong and the Seventh Princess when she heard the Regent sneeze.

The sneeze completely roused Wei Zhaoning from her sleepiness.

Then he sneezed several more times.

Wei Zhaoning looked down at the ground; Pei Yi seemed very cold.

Although there was charcoal burning in the room, it was still on the floor and not as warm as a bed.

The regent turned over, his back to Wei Zhaoning.

Wei Zhaoning then remembered that the Regent still had many scars on his back, and he couldn't let him sleep on the ground anymore.

"Your Highness."

She called out, but the regent remained silent, still turning his back to her.

Realizing she might have said something wrong, she tentatively asked, "Husband..."

"Um?"

This is the response.

Pei Yi's voice was a little hoarse and had a nasal tone, clearly indicating that he had caught a cold, which made Wei Zhaoning feel even more guilty.

"Husband, why don't you come up and sleep here? I'll sleep on the floor. You still have injuries on your back; you can't keep neglecting your health like this."

Pei Yi frowned. "Did I marry you so you'd sleep on the floor?"

Wei Zhaoning was speechless. "How about this, I'll go sleep in the side room. It's a bed, so I won't catch a cold. You can come up and sleep here."

Pei Yi coldly replied, "Fine, but tomorrow everyone will be saying that you and I are having marital problems and are sleeping in separate rooms. Some people will even suspect that our relationship is fake."

Wei Zhaoning was truly speechless this time.

Pei Yi sniffed and sneezed. "Ningning, you should go to sleep early. I'm fine. It's just that I slept on the floor and caught a chill. I was fine no matter how cold it was in the army. Even if I caught a chill, I could just take some medicine tomorrow. I can handle it."

After he finished speaking, he lifted his eyelids to glance at Wei Zhaoning, and then sneezed loudly.

Wei Zhaoning is now filled with guilt and feels like she's caught in the middle.

To avoid being exposed, would the Regent sleep on the ground every day? Even a slight cold, if he doesn't take care of his health for a long time, will worsen into a difficult-to-treat illness, and all of this is because of her.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally made up her mind and said, "Then how about..."

Pei Yi's eyes lit up. "What?"

Wei Zhaoning was taken aback, and Pei Yi coughed a few more times as if to indicate it.

"How about...you, you come up here, and we...sleep together."

After saying that, her ears turned bright red, and she wished she could disappear into the ground. She regretted it; how could she have said such a shameless thing...?

Pei Yi scrambled to his feet. "Really?"

Wei Zhaoning's heart pounded like a drum. She wanted to ask, "You really like men, don't you?" But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to ask.

"Um."

Pei Yi noticed her discomfort and assured her, "I... I won't do anything."

Wei Zhaoning was mortified. "I didn't say anything. You...you come up here."

Pei Yi visibly cheered and climbed into bed.

The two of them spread out to the sides, both with their backs to each other. Wei Zhaoning huddled in the corner, trying hard to fall asleep, but she just couldn't.

The atmosphere remained awkward for a long time before Pei Yi murmured, "It's still so cold."

Wei Zhaoning's heart clenched, but she didn't speak and held her breath.

Pei Yi then asked, "Ningning, can I hold you while I sleep?"

"Like before..."

The voice was alluring, and Wei Zhaoning couldn't bring herself to refuse. Just hearing that voice was enough to make her lose control.

She realized that she might have some misunderstandings with the Regent.

How could this be...?

"Can."

"We sleep in each other's arms, like friends."

She kept warning herself that the regent was gay, that a hug was nothing, and that she shouldn't overthink it.

After a long silence, he gently pressed himself against her, wrapping his large arms around Wei Zhaoning and burying his head in the crook of her neck.

Wei Zhaoning felt numb all over.

She kept her back to Pei Yi the whole time, not daring to make a sound or any noise, for fear that Pei Yi would see her nervousness and look down on her.

Pei Yi held her like that, and they fell silent, the only sound in the air being their breathing.

The previous times she slept in the arms of the Regent, she was in a semi-conscious state and didn't feel much. She only woke up the next morning to find herself sleeping in Pei Yi's arms.

I feel very clear-headed today, and my feelings are somewhat different.

She felt that Pei Yi's body was very hot, so hot that it seemed like he was about to catch fire at any moment, and his breathing was unsteady.

At the same time, something was pressing against her lower back, making her feel a little uncomfortable.

She remembered that the Regent usually loved to wear his jade pendant, but she never expected him to sleep without taking it off. She could only try to move it gently.

No matter how she moved, she couldn't escape it; just how big was that jade pendant?

She couldn't hold back any longer. "Husband, why don't you take off your jade pendant when you sleep?"

Upon hearing these words, Pei Yi felt his blood rush to his head.

Just now, the desires within him were raging wildly, and he had to use all his strength to restrain them. These words were as if they had released the beast that had been kept locked up inside him.

His breathing grew heavier and heavier, and he dared not utter a word.

"Are you asleep?" Wei Zhaoning asked.

No one answered; only the sound of even breathing could be heard. Only Pei Yi himself knew how much effort he had put into adjusting his breathing to avoid this awkward situation. If he had gone any further, he would have lost control.

Wei Zhaoning smiled helplessly, "Such a big jade pendant, you don't even feel its weight when you sleep without taking it off..."

She felt uncomfortable if the jade pendant wasn't removed, and Pei Yi wouldn't be comfortable sleeping either. Since he was asleep, she decided to do it for him.

She didn't dare turn around for fear of waking Pei Yi, so she could only reach down and grab at things haphazardly.

That jade pendant was really big; I grabbed it in one go...

Wei Zhaoning's pupils contracted sharply. Why... was the jade pendant hot?