With her delicate face and slender waist, the royal uncle lost control.

On the edge of despair, an unusual calmness arose from the deepest part of his heart.

Her violently heaving chest gradually calmed down.

She loosened her grip on the hairpin, letting it roll away.

"Brother..." She raised her tear-filled face, her voice weak and mournful, "Why...why did you frighten Nian'er like this?"

Yun Duan Tao paused.

"Although Nian'er and her brother are not blood relatives, they have a bond from growing up together."

She lowered her eyelashes, and a crystal tear rolled down her cheek at just the right moment. "Brother's domineering attitude really frightened Nian'er."

She turned her head slightly to the side. "Actually, Nian'er does have feelings of admiration for her brother..."

Yun Duantao's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh? Sister Nian'er, are you serious?"

"How can a young woman easily reveal her innermost thoughts?"

Yun Nian's voice grew softer and softer, tinged with shyness, "There are always some beautiful thoughts hidden in the depths of my heart."

"But... Nian'er is seriously injured right now. How can she serve her brother in this state? Wouldn't that spoil his mood?"

She let out a soft sob, her tears falling even more rapidly: "If my brother would have mercy on me, could I come back to find you once my injuries have healed?"

Her hesitant, half-hearted sobs, coupled with her tearful, pitiful appearance, acted like a potent aphrodisiac, instantly igniting all of Yun Duantao's vanity and lust.

It turned out to be the case.

It turns out that my usually aloof and distant sister had long harbored such feelings for him.

It's just that girls are shy and have been hurt, which is why they resist so much.

An overwhelming sense of satisfaction clouded his judgment.

"well!"

Overjoyed, he couldn't resist reaching out to touch Yun Nian's face. "So, Sister Nian'er has long harbored such feelings for me. I was just too hasty. Alright, alright, I'll do as you say. Once you're healed, we siblings can have a proper chat."

Seeing that he had relented, Yun Nian's tense nerves eased slightly, but she dared not relax in the slightest.

Yun Duantao considerately helped her to lie down comfortably on the bed.

"Come, let your brother take a look at your injury and apply some medicine first..."

The moment he touched Yun Nian's body, his hand restlessly reached for her sash.

Yun Nian's internal alarm bells rang wildly again. She barely managed to hold his hand down, her voice still soft and gentle, "Brother, this is such a small matter, Nian'er can handle it herself. Brother, would you like to go to the outer room for a cup of tea?"

At this moment, Yun Duantao was already floating on air with the fantasy that "his younger sister had a crush on him". He felt that since the prey was already in the cage, it would be his sooner or later, so there was no rush.

His gaze lingered greedily on her cheeks, her fragile and delicate beauty making him itch with desire.

"It's too inconvenient to do it myself."

He licked his lips, his eyes lingering. "How about this, little sister Nian'er, let your brother kiss you first, and then I'll leave?"

As he spoke, he impatiently leaned down and puckered his lips to kiss him.

The strong incense and the man's scent approached again, making Yun Nian's stomach churn.

She gasped and rolled to the inside of the bed.

Yun Duantao missed his target, his lips barely brushing against her hair.

"Hey, still hiding?"

He wasn't annoyed; on the contrary, he found this "fun" even more exciting. He raised an eyebrow with a lewd grin, "Is Nian'er playing hard to get with her brother?"

He simply climbed onto the bed using both hands and feet, his tall body pressing down on Yun Nian, who was curled up in the corner of the bed, with his hands on either side of her, completely trapping her in a small space.

"Now there's no escaping it, is there?"

He smiled smugly and lowered his head to kiss her fiercely.

Yun Nian closed her eyes in despair, her fingers digging deeply into her palms.

Sudden.

The lewd laughter of Yun Tao, who was pressing down on her, suddenly froze.

His eyes widened suddenly.

All movements froze for a moment.

Immediately afterward, before he could even utter a groan, he fell off the edge of the bed like a piece of flesh whose bones had been suddenly removed.

"Bang!"

The dull thud of the floor was particularly clear in the quiet room.

Yun Nian's heart stopped beating from the shock of this sudden turn of events.

She opened her eyes and saw Yun Duantao lying on the ground, his eyes closed, unconscious and motionless.

She sat up, still shaken, and looked up in bewilderment.

Only then did I notice that there was another person in the center of the room, someone I didn't know had appeared at some point.

A tall, straight figure stood silently at the boundary between the flickering candlelight and shadow.

He wore a simple blue robe, not fancy clothes, yet he exuded an air of aloofness and solitude.

His eyebrows and eyes were like distant mountains shrouded in mist, his nose was straight, his thin lips were slightly pursed, and his face was extremely handsome, yet it seemed to be carved from ice and snow that never melts, without the slightest warmth.

Qin Jiuchen's gaze swept lightly over Yun Duantao, who was lying paralyzed on the ground.

He stepped over the unconscious body and walked toward the bed.

Yun Nian curled up in the corner of the bed, her arms tightly hugging her bent knees, her whole body shrinking into a small ball.

Bloodstains were visible on the tattered clothes, and the wound on the neck had clotted, but a dark red stain was still glaring against the fair skin.

She buried her face in her arms, her thin shoulders trembling slightly uncontrollably.

The footsteps stopped beside the bed.

A cold voice came from above.

"It seems I have arrived at an inopportune time."

Qin Jiuchen paused for a moment, "Did I interrupt Miss Yun's good time?"

Yun Nian, who had been burying her head in her hands, stiffened for a moment.

After a moment, she slowly raised her head.

Her face was still wet with tears, and her eyes were red and swollen, but her eyes looked at him with a clear, bright gaze, like glass immersed in cold water.

She bit her lower lip and glanced at him sideways.

Then, without saying a word, she buried her head back down deeply.

Qin Jiuchen stood still for a moment, his gaze sweeping over her slightly trembling body and shocking wounds, a swift undercurrent flashing deep in his eyes.

He eventually sat down on the edge of the bed, neither too close nor too far from her.

The brocade sagged slightly.

He reached out, his long, slender fingers trying to brush away the messy hair on her forehead, damp with cold sweat.

Before his fingertips could even touch him, Yun Nian slapped his hand away with a loud "smack."

She turned to the side, trying to curl herself up even tighter, a clear gesture of resistance.

Qin Jiuchen looked at his hand that had been knocked off, and his knuckles curled slightly.

Are you angry?

These words suddenly broke through the dam that Yun Nian was trying so hard to hold on to.

Tears welled up again.

She bit her sleeve tightly, refusing to make a sound; only her thin shoulders and back heaved violently.

A silent breakdown is more suffocating than a loud wail.

Qin Jiuchen looked at the trembling figure, and his cold, hard brows seemed to soften for a moment.

He remained silent for a long while before he heard himself soften his tone:

"alright."

He paused, as if he was not used to speaking in such a tone.

"Come back to the palace with me."

After saying that, he stretched out his hand again, palm up, and offered it to her.