The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

She dried her undergarments with her internal energy, still retaining her body temperature.

Then, she reached out and took a purple robe.

The purple robe was loose, making her look like she was shrouded in mist, with sleeves reaching the ground.

She tightened her belt again and again, rolled up her sleeves, and tied her silver hair high in front of the bronze mirror, securing it with a jade hairpin she found at random.

Looking in the mirror, the person in the mirror had the same eyebrows and eyes, the same outline, but the overall aura, the unintentional curve of the lowered eyes, had seven or eight parts of Si Chen's usual demeanor.

However, he no longer possessed Si Chen's aloof and otherworldly air, but instead had a touch of bewitching allure tinged with poison, and a madness reminiscent of someone returning from hell.

She mimicked the way the person in her memory looked, slightly raising her chin, tiptoeing, and slowing her pace.

Step by step, we made our way to the observatory on the ninth floor.

Shirakawa stood with his head bowed at the entrance of the observatory, the twilight casting a hazy glow around his shoulders.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a familiar purple figure slowly approaching from the direction of the inner room.

—That walking posture, with its steady steps, as if each step had been measured, was unique to the Imperial Preceptor.

Moreover, who else could be wearing purple robes and having silver hair besides the Imperial Preceptor?

He bowed deeply, not daring to raise his head: "Your Excellency, the Princess has not yet awakened..."

"Oh?" A voice rang out, clear, calm, and perfectly measured in tone, just like the Grand Preceptor's usual manner.

"What do you remember about last night's events, and the solution the imperial physician described?"

Bai Chuan was puzzled: Wasn't the Grand Preceptor supposed to have a photographic memory? Why was he asking me? But he dared not say more, and only respectfully replied:

"Your Excellency, Attorney Zhou said that if channeling spiritual energy was ineffective, then the only way to save His Highness was to slowly warm him with the warmth of the human body."

The air went still for a moment.

Then he heard a very soft laugh, a laugh tinged with a kind of almost insane sweetness:

"Ah... I see... Si Chen, Si Chen, you actually used this method... to save me?"

A chill ran down Shirakawa's spine.

That tone of voice...

"Have you completed all the other tasks I instructed you to do?" the slightly indifferent voice pressed on.

Bai Chuan dared not doubt it, after all, in the entire Great Chu, who would dare to impersonate the Imperial Preceptor?

He respectfully replied, "Reporting to the Grand Preceptor, you have instructed your subordinate..." Shirakawa didn't finish his sentence.

"Shirakawa."

Another voice interrupted.

Equally cold and calm, yet with a deeper, more profound indifference than before, like a breeze sweeping across a snow-capped mountain peak, devoid of any emotion.

Shirakawa froze, maintaining his bowed posture, but his neck stiffly turned little by little toward the source of the sound.

On the other side of the observatory, beneath the starry sky backdrop, a tall figure stood.

She wore the same deep purple nebula-patterned robe, had the same dazzling silver hair flowing down to her waist, and carried an inconspicuous ebony food box in her hand.

That face was the one he followed day and night, the one he knew to the bone—Si Chen.

Shirakawa's breath caught in his throat.

He slowly, very slowly, turned his head back to where it was and looked up.

The person in the purple robe and silver hair had turned around at some point.

The wide purple robe, like clouds and mist, draped over her body, revealing a startling fragility, yet her deliberately straight back and slightly raised chin inexplicably exuded a captivating elegance.

Her silver hair was not tied up, but lay messily and alluringly over her shoulders and back, with a few strands sliding down to her chest and tangling with the dark purple fabric of her clothes.

And that face...

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains shrouded in mist, yet tinged with the intoxicating allure of a begonia in full bloom.

Her eyes, like autumn waters rippling across the surface, now revealed a mad, burning passion hidden beneath a layer of icy coldness.

His lips were pale, but the corners of his mouth curved upwards in a half-smile, a mocking smile as sharp as a knife, a madness as fiery as a flame.

If it's not Chu Qingyue, then who is it?

"Princess, Princess..." Shirakawa's Adam's apple bobbed violently as he forced out a few breathy sounds.

The cold sweat on my back instantly soaked through my inner shirt.

Seeing his terrified expression, Chu Qingyue's eerie fire intensified.

She approached step by step, her purple robe trailing on the ground, her silver hair gleaming coldly in the twilight.

Finally, it stopped in front of Shirakawa and bowed slightly:

"Guard Shirakawa," she said softly, yet every word was venomous, "why do you look at me like I'm a ghost? What are you afraid of? I'm not going to send you to be a eunuch."

"Come, look at me..."

She spread her arms, her wide sleeves cascading like butterfly wings, her smile alluring and maddening.

"...Doesn't he look like your imperial advisor?"

"I...I am your subordinate..." Shirakawa stammered, his legs going weak.

"Ah...right...Shirakawa," she licked her lower lip lightly with the tip of her tongue, as if savoring some bloody secret.

"According to what you just said... your noble and untainted imperial advisor, last night, personally 'warmed' me all night with his 'human warmth,' thus... snatching my life back from the jaws of death, is that right?"

Shirakawa's face turned deathly pale, and he couldn't utter a single word in response.

Chu Qingyue stopped looking at him.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Shirakawa's stiff shoulders and landing directly on the purple figure under the starry sky.

Eyes facing each other.

Si Chen stood there quietly, still holding the ebony food box in his hand, without moving an inch.

His face was expressionless, but Shirakawa, who had followed him for many years, saw for the first time the Grand Preceptor's fingertips, which never trembled when drawing talismans and setting up formations—and subtly twitched slightly.

"Step back."

Si Chen's voice remained calm, but it was three degrees lower than usual.

As if granted a pardon, Shirakawa bowed and retreated hastily, nearly tripping as he went downstairs.

Only two people remained on the observatory.

Chu Qingyue, wearing Si Chen's cloud-patterned shoes—which were obviously much too big for her to walk on, could only shuffle along—slowly strolled to the star chart instrument and raised her hand to touch the bronze ring of the armillary sphere.

"The Imperial Advisor's clothes are so warm to wear."

She turned her head, her silver hair cascading over her shoulder, and gently sniffed the air before smiling, "What incense are you using? Sandalwood? Or... cedar?"

Si Chen did not answer.

His gaze fell upon her, as if examining a complex array.

The purple robe looked excessively large on her, with the collar slightly open, revealing half of her collarbone and the faint edge of her own red undergarment.

Her robes trailed on the ground, and with each step she took, it was as if she were walking on a sea of ​​clouds.

"Did I grant you permission to touch the wardrobe?" he finally spoke, his voice calm and even.

Chu Qingyue chuckled and walked closer step by step until only an inch remained between them.

"Then I grant you permission to be on my bed?" Her voice was soft, yet every word was piercing.

"Did you grant me permission to remove my clothes?"

"May our skin touch, our essences intertwine, and inch by inch...warm me?"

"Chu, Qing, Yue." He called her by her full name, emphasizing each syllable.

Her smile was alluring: "Enough, Imperial Advisor, don't be angry." She feigned shrinking back, but her fingertips pressed against his chest.

"I'm... scared."

"Since the Imperial Advisor doesn't like me wearing this outfit..."

She slowly spread her arms, her wide sleeves drooping like butterfly wings, revealing half of her slender wrists.

"Then take them off for me yourself."

"Anyway, the Imperial Advisor already took his clothes off once last night. It's appropriate to..."

She tiptoed closer to his ear, her breath sweet as orchids, each word piercing his heart:

"You know this place well, don't you, Si Chen?"