Shocking! The actress was dragged to the regent's bedchamber every night.

Su Wuli's face flushed instantly, and she bounced away from his chest, taking two steps back.

But he reached out and pulled her back, holding her close to his chest.

"Why are you running?"

"you--"

"Um."

She glared at him again.

He looked down at her, and half of her face flushed red from his gaze.

She lowered her head and buried her face in his chest, refusing to look into his eyes.

Yu Chen didn't say anything more.

Su Wuli leaned against her and hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but speak.

"What...will they do?"

"Once they've soaked long enough, someone will naturally come to their rescue."

"Oh." Su Wuli paused, then asked, "In the past... did people always send you beautiful women?"

"Yes, I have," Yu Chen stated frankly.

"When?"

"Before you," he said, pausing for a moment.

Su Wuli suddenly remembered the days when she first met him.

He even suspected she was a spy and pressed her for details about her background.

Those eyes always looked at her with scrutiny, as if examining a suspicious object.

Su Wuli was really afraid of him back then.

I'm afraid I'll actually be strangled to death in my dream, just disappearing silently like that.

"You were very fierce back then," her voice trailed off, her hand clutching the fabric of his shirt, "I was so afraid of you, afraid that one day you would strangle me."

He gently pressed his large hand on her head.

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "Everything happened so unbelievably back then."

Su Wuli lifted her head from his chest, looked into his eyes, and asked the question that had been hidden in her heart for a long time.

"Then why keep me here?"

Yu Chen looked at her, a calm light flickering in his eyes.

I remember her helpless look, like a young deer that had wandered into the territory of a wild beast.

He watched her relaxed brows as she curled up asleep beside him, and heard her even, peaceful breathing.

"You have cured my insomnia."

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli was stunned.

She looked up at him, puzzled.

The man's face was expressionless.

Su Wuli's expression went from blank to shocked, and from shocked to incredulous.

He remembered those nights when he held her in his arms.

I never imagined he couldn't sleep, especially that time at the hunting grounds.

She fell asleep almost instantly, which surprised her at the time.

"You have insomnia?"

"Um."

"How long has it been?"

Yu Chen did not answer, but his silence was the answer.

He reached out and picked up a strand of her hair, slowly winding it around his fingers, wrapping it twice before unwinding and winding it again.

His mother died when he was young, and he has been pretending to be insane for so many years.

He went to the battlefield and killed people at the age of sixteen.

How did he get through those years?

She tightened her arms around his waist. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Even the imperial physicians in the palace can't cure me..." Yu Chen said slowly, "I fell asleep the first time you appeared. I can't sleep when you're not around."

He looked into her eyes, his gaze moving from her eyelashes to the tip of her nose, and from the tip of her nose to her lips.

"You are my medicine."

Su Wuli opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

The words were stuck in my throat, unable to come up or down, and something in my chest was throbbing painfully.

Do you know why you can't sleep?

Yu Chen's fingers paused on her back for a moment. "Perhaps... it's because you've killed too many people."

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Wuli raised her hand and gently massaged his brow.

She smoothed out the frown lines between her brows.

"You're killing your own enemies." Her voice was soft, but comforting. "If you don't kill them, they'll kill you."

Yu Chen frowned again, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"I'm the villain here," he said in a deep voice. "The people I killed were all righteous, just like Xiao Junyi."

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli stopped pointing.

Speechless for a moment, she moved her hand away from his brow and onto his face.

I watched him for a long time.

"Is your insomnia any better now?" she asked, her voice slightly strained. "When I'm not around, can you fall asleep?"

After all, she can't come to his place every night.

"Hmm." His gaze fell on her face.

Su Wuli looked into his eyes to determine if he was lying.

There was no evasion or hesitation in his eyes.

She believed it.

Yu Chen didn't say anything; he was indeed able to fall asleep.

She would only remember that she wasn't there when she woke up in the middle of the night and reached out to touch the cold mattress beside her.

I feel a little unaccustomed to not being able to hug her.

Just then, Shadow Falcon's voice came from outside the door, through a door panel.

"Your Highness, the person has been retrieved."

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli lifted her head from his chest and glanced in the direction of the door.

"They've already been sent away," Shadow Falcon said again.

"Mm," Yu Chen replied.

The Shadow Falcon stood outside, showing no sign of leaving.

"I have to go out again later," Yu Chen told him.

"Mm." Su Wuli nodded.

He pinched her chin and lowered his head to kiss her forehead.

"I'll take you to a hot spring in a couple of days." His lips brushed against her skin, his breath warm against her skin.

Su Wuli was stunned for a moment.

In a couple of days?

I wonder how long she'll be able to stay this time.

"Don't you want to go?"

"No." She shook her head.

The door opened.

Chuhe and Qiaosheng also stood in the courtyard.

The two of them had their heads down and their shoulders slightly hunched.

Hearing the door open, he lowered his head even further, not daring to breathe.

The fearless spirit he had shown when he knelt in the pavilion speaking up for Su Wuli had now turned into suppressed breathing.

Yu Chen glanced at them indifferently.

Chuhe noticed the gaze and clenched her fingers inside her sleeve.

Qiaosheng also held her breath.

"You two go to the accounting office to collect your reward," the master's deep voice rang out.

Chu He was stunned, and for a moment she didn't know what to do.

Qiaosheng didn't react either, thinking she had misheard.

Chuhe was the first to come to her senses, and although she didn't know why, she still tugged at Qiaosheng's sleeve.

Qiaosheng snapped out of her daze and quickly lowered her head, bowing with Chuhe, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Yu Chen had already walked past, and Ying Falcon followed.

The two left one after the other.

Only then did the two dare to raise their heads.

"A reward?" Qiaosheng asked incredulously.

Chu He also looked surprised.

In fact, they had already prepared for the worst today.

Qiaosheng turned to look at her, their eyes met, and then looked away at the same time, landing in the direction where Yu Chen had disappeared.

Qiaosheng murmured, "Why the sudden tip?"