Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Helian Jing leaned against the window frame, his posture relaxed and languid.

Xi Yueli stood there for three breaths, then turned around, poured herself a cup of cold tea, and took a sip. When she put down the teacup, the corner of her mouth curved slightly, but she suppressed it herself.

“Alright,” she said, “Your Highness, just do as you say. But if anyone brings this up again when we get back to Daying, Your Highness will have to cover for me.”

Helian Jing looked at the back of her head. The sunlight made the red string on her braid shine slightly. He smiled, a little more than he had expected, and then looked away and back out the window.

"Very well. I will cover for you."

That evening, while they were having dinner downstairs at the inn, the waiter brought up a bowl of hot soup, smiling and bowing to the two of them, saying, "Please enjoy your meal, sir and madam."

Helian Jing accepted the soup bowl and casually added a spoonful to Xi Yueli's bowl. The action was natural and effortless.

Xi Yueli lowered her eyes and took it, whispering "Thank you" in a very low voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

A few merchants at the next table glanced at them, then looked away. They were an ordinary young couple, the husband being considerate of his wife, which wasn't unusual in the north, and no one gave them a second look.

That night, in a guest room at the inn, Xi Yueli stood by the table, her gaze returning from the kang bed. There was only one quilt and one pillow.

"Your Highness, this room only has one kang (heated brick bed)."

Helian Jing turned around, and the light from the oil lamp shone from the side, revealing an indescribable softness to his usually aloof and indifferent face in the lamplight.

"You sleep on the kang (heated brick bed), I'll just sit on a chair all night."

He walked to the table and sat down opposite her. The two of them were separated by the oil lamp, each with their eyes downcast. The flame flickered slowly in the air between them, illuminating their faces in a dim, intermittent way.

Footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside the door, mixed with hushed laughter.

The waiter was ushering another group of customers upstairs. His laughter was rough and loud, clearly from a long-distance merchant, as if he were talking in his own backyard.

"Oh, this room is lit up. Are you having customers?"

"A couple, just checked in." The waiter's voice was cheerful as footsteps passed by the door and then faded into the distance.

Xi Yueli lowered her eyes, her fingertips tracing the rim of the teacup. She knew that the group of merchants might not have come for them, but in this small town on the border of Northern Shuo, the people staying in an inn all kept a degree of scrutiny towards each other.

Helian Jing suddenly stood up, walked around the square table, approached her, bent down, placed one hand on the edge of the table behind her, raised the other hand, and placed his fingertips behind her ear, slowly moving down to the side of her neck.

His face was very close, less than a hand's width apart. She could smell the cold, sturdy scent of his cypress tree, which lingered around her nose and wouldn't dissipate.

"Don't move," he said in a very low voice, his lips almost touching her earlobe, "There's someone under the door."

Xi Yueli's back tensed slightly. She glanced at the crack in the door out of the corner of her eye. There was indeed a very narrow gap between the door and the ground. At that moment, the light in that gap was blocked by something, dimming by half an inch.

She put down her teacup, leaned closer to him, and rested her chin on his shoulder, their posture incredibly intimate, like a young couple whispering sweet nothings to each other.

She brought her lips close to his ear, her voice barely a whisper, "Are you gone?"

Helian Jing's breath hitched for a moment. As she approached, her breath brushed against his neck, carrying the cool scent of tea and a hint of her own natural body fragrance.

He was almost a head taller than her. When she leaned against his shoulder, the top of her hair brushed against his chin, and the red string at the end of her braid hung down, swaying gently on his clothes.

"He didn't leave." His voice was half a octave lower than she had expected.

The shadow outside the crack in the door paused for a long time, as if trying to identify something.

Then the shadow slowly moved away, along with another almost inaudible breathing sound in the corridor, and the footsteps walked away into the distance.

After the shadows shifted, Xi Yueli lifted her head from his shoulder. Helian Jing's hand, which had been resting on the edge of the table, was still there, and he remained in the same bent-over, head-down posture.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered between the two people, and with a "pop," a small spark ignited.

"I'm leaving," she said.

Helian Jing's gaze fell on her face, sliding from her brow to the bridge of her nose, from the bridge of her nose to the line of her lips, and finally resting on the corners of her slightly pursed mouth.

When she leaned against his shoulder to speak, her lips almost brushed against the skin of his neck. The sensation still lingered there, like a small patch of skin that had been scorched by fire, slightly warm.

"Your Highness?" Xi Yueli called out, her voice rising slightly at the end, like a reminder.

Helian Jing raised his hand, his fingertips resting on her chin, gently lifting it to fix her slightly upturned face at an angle that allowed him to look down at her.

"The person outside the door is gone," he said, his voice even lower than before, "but there's still one lurking outside the window. I have to make it look more convincing."

Xi Yueli's eyebrows twitched. Before she could discern whether his words were true or false, Helian Jing's lips had already descended.

When his lips touched mine, they carried a hint of the cool night breeze, but that coolness lasted only half a breath before being replaced by a warm touch.

His kiss was light and restrained, his lips gently pressing against her upper lip. He paused for a moment, then slightly shifted the angle, deepening the touch by half an inch.

Xi Yueli's eyes widened in that instant, and the light from the oil lamp shone from the side, causing a small cluster of golden flames to explode deep within her pupils.

She could feel his fingertips, which were supporting her chin, tighten slightly, and she could hear their intertwined breaths amplified several times in the quiet room.

Helian Jing's lips lingered on hers for about three breaths before he pulled away, only half an inch, his forehead touching hers, their noses almost touching.

His breathing was a few degrees heavier than before, and his usually aloof and indifferent eyes were now very close to her, so close that she could see what he was suppressing deep in his pupils.

"The person outside the window," his voice was hoarse and low, "is gone."

Xi Yueli didn't speak. The tips of her ears had started to turn red since that touch. Meeting Helian Jing's gaze, which was so close to hers, she raised her hand and pressed it to her lips.

"Your Highness," she said, her voice more steady than she had expected, "your ears are red."

Helian Jing's lips twitched. He released his hand from her chin, straightened up, and took a half step back, widening the distance between them.

He turned and walked to the window, closing the window sash most of the way, leaving only a narrow crack for ventilation. "You can sleep on the kang. I have to go out later."

He walked to the armchair by the wall and sat down, bending one leg and crossing it over the other, resting his elbow on the armrest, and turning his head to look at the night light seeping in through the crack in the window.

The light from the oil lamp shone from his side, outlining his silhouette with a warm yellow line. His eyes were half-closed, as if he were looking at something very far away.

Xi Yueli walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat down. She took off her outer garment, folded it neatly, and placed it next to her pillow. She then pulled the quilt over her lower body.

But after she lay down, she turned over and faced him, looking at the outline of his profile through the dim light of most of the room.

"Your Highness just said there was someone outside the window. Was that true or made up?"

Helian Jing's voice came through, carrying a barely perceptible hint of amusement: "Guess."