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

Xiao Yanzhi sat up straight the moment the wine was spilled, then he laughed and leaned towards Xi Yueli, drunkenly pointing his finger at her.

"Well played! I've been at the border for five years and haven't heard such a... such a southern tune." He began to stutter, his tongue seemed to have grown larger, "You, you come here, sit closer, and play it for me again."

Tuoba Lie sat in the main seat. The result of his earlier probing had been interrupted by Xiao Yanzhi, but the precision with which she leaned back made him even more on edge.

A pipa player from a music troupe, when faced with a scalding hot wine jug, would only scream and stand up, not use a precise, half-inch backward lean to minimize the damage.

Xi Yueli, holding her pipa, stood up from the ground and moved to sit down again three feet away from Xiao Yan's desk.

But then Xiao Yanzhi slumped onto the table, pushing the wine cup far away, and mumbled an indistinct "One more cup..." before falling silent, leaving only the sound of his even, long breaths.

Tuoba Lie sat in the main seat, holding a wine cup in his hand, turning it halfway around and then putting it down. He originally had half a sentence to say to Xiao Yanzhi, but the other party was already so drunk that he was slumped over the table.

He remained silent for a few moments, then waved his hand behind him. Two servants came forward, helped Xiao Yanzhi up from the table, and carried him outside.

When Xiao Yanzhi was lifted up, his eyes were half-closed, and he was mumbling something incoherently. But as he passed by Xi Yueli, his drooping hand quickly brushed against the head of her pipa, and he was carried out of the flower hall.

While Xi Yueli was tuning the instrument with her head down, she silently slipped the piece of paper into her palm, then wiped the headstock of the instrument with her sleeve, as if she were wiping away a splash of wine.

Tuoba Lie sat in the main seat, watching Xiao Yanzhi's retreating figure being carried away, his brows furrowing and then relaxing.

He turned back to look at Xi Yueli, who was still sitting at the table. His gaze lingered on her lowered eyes for a moment, and his voice was a little deeper than before.

"Go with him. Da Ying is very drunk. You will serve him in the guest courtyard tonight, playing some calming tunes so that no one disturbs his rest."

Xi Yueli stood up, holding her pipa, and bowed. As she turned to leave, Tuoba Lie's gaze lingered on her back.

The moment she stepped out of the flower hall, the autumn night wind rushed in, causing the stray hairs on her forehead to flutter slightly. She gathered the pipa in her arms and followed the two servants who were carrying Xiao Yanzhi.

After Xiao Yanzhi was led inside, the door to the guest room was closed from the outside, and two servants withdrew, their footsteps fading into the distance along the corridor.

Xi Yueli stood inside the door, still holding the pipa in her arms, leaning against the door panel as she listened to the sounds outside gradually fading away. Then she turned her hand and unfolded the piece of paper stuck under the tuning peg.

There were only two words on the piece of paper, written hastily but clearly: "Cooperate".

Xiao Yanzhi lay sprawled on the couch, his breathing long and even. His eyes were closed, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow in the candlelight, making him appear to be sleeping without any guard.

Xi Yueli carried the pipa to the low stool by the couch and sat down, placing the pipa on her lap, her fingertips touching the strings but not plucking them.

She glanced at him sideways. The thin blush on the back of his ears had faded considerably, revealing his original skin tone underneath. After about ten breaths, the even breathing on the bed suddenly changed rhythm, becoming half a degree lighter, transitioning from a deep sleep to a light, alert state.

Xiao Yanzhi's eyelids did not move, but the hand he placed at his side slightly raised, and his index and middle fingers tapped twice towards the curtains along the edge of the bed, once heavily and twice lightly.

Xi Yueli looked down at his fingers, put the pipa on the ground, walked to the window and listened to the sounds outside, then turned around and walked back to the couch, her voice very low.

"Envoy Xiao got drunk quite quickly."

Xiao Yanzhi opened his eyes, the candlelight flickering deep within his pupils, but his gaze was as clear as the surface of a blade rising from deep water, the drunkenness from before completely gone.

He looked at the woman sitting on the edge of the couch three feet away, holding a pipa. Her hair was partially obscured by her hair, and her dark blue short jacket was bathed in a warm, dark blue light in the candlelight.

"The Imperial Preceptor did a good job as a pipa player tonight, but when she sat down, her center of gravity was too vertical, and she was half a beat faster than ordinary musicians. Tuoba Lie noticed that."

Xiao Yanzhi sat up and leaned back against the couch. He loosened the collar of his crimson python robe by half a foot, revealing the collar of his moon-white undergarment underneath.

Xi Yueli looked at him, simply put the piece of paper into her sleeve, picked up the pipa again, and gently plucked the string with her fingertips, producing a short, single note.

"So, how does Envoy Xiao plan to cooperate next?"

Xiao Yanzhi leaned back on the couch, the candlelight casting a warm, soft glow on his handsome face. He looked at her, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"You won't be able to leave tonight. The Regent's men are guarding outside the guest quarters, at least in two groups, one in the open and one in the shadows."

"If you climb out the window in the middle of the night, you will be captured by the Regent. If you don't leave, you will be taken back to the Regent's Palace as a 'maid' after dawn. At that time, you will fall into Tuoba Lie's hands, and it will be harder to get away than if you were in the guest courtyard."

He paused halfway through his sentence, then stepped back, clearing a space wide enough for one person to pass on the edge of the couch. He turned his head to look at the face half-hidden by stray hairs in the candlelight, his voice slightly softer than before.

"Therefore, the Imperial Advisor will have to stay here tonight. The Regent has bestowed the Imperial Advisor upon me; the Imperial Advisor must properly reward me..."

Although it was Xiao Yanzhi who provoked him with those frivolous words, he found himself unable to continue.

Xi Yueli looked at him. He had planned every step meticulously, from specifically asking for her in the flower hall to feigning drunkenness and leaving the banquet, to waiting on the couch for her to speak her mind. He had planned even more thoroughly than she had anticipated.

She was silent for a few moments, then placed the pipa on the low stool, stood up and walked to the empty side of the couch, sat down sideways. She didn't lie down, but leaned against the back of the couch, about an arm's length away from him.

The two men leaned against the back of the couch in the candlelight, neither of them having removed their outer robes. The air between them was slightly warmed by the candlelight. A breeze from outside seeped in through a crack in the wall, causing the lamplight to sway slightly. Neither of them spoke, nor did they turn their heads to look at the other.

"The tune the Imperial Preceptor just played was a southern melody, which I haven't heard in five years."

Xi Yueli didn't turn to look at him. She closed her eyes slightly. "Envoy Xiao should go to sleep. There are important matters to attend to tomorrow."

Xiao Yanzhi turned his head to look at her, the candlelight outlining half of her face as a warm yellow line, then he looked away and closed his eyes.

Just before dawn, the door to the guest room was gently knocked on three times from the outside.

Xi Yueli sat up straight on the edge of the couch quickly and silently. The instant her fingers touched the head of the pipa, she had already found the hilt of the thin blade in the hidden pouch.

At the same moment, Xiao Yanzhi beside him also opened his eyes. The arm's length distance between the two became slightly clearer in the hazy light of the first rays of dawn than it had been the night before.

The knocking stopped for two breaths, then the voice of the person who came in came through the crack in the door, very low.

"Your Highness, it is the hour of Mao (5-7 AM). The people from the Ministry of Rites are already waiting outside the guest quarters. They say there will be a formal ceremony for the presentation of official credentials at the hour of Si (9-11 AM) today."

They were Xiao Yan's own people.

He sat up, straightened his clothes, and glanced at the grayish-white daylight filtering through the window paper. Then he turned his head and looked at Xi Yueli.

She was putting the pipa back on the low stool when she stopped at the door, turned her head to the side, her wisps of hair covering half of her face, and her eyes were as clear and bright as ever in the morning light.

"When Envoy Xiao presented his credentials in the Hall of Diligent Governance today, could he have kept his men from speaking recklessly?"