Keep your voice down. Are you trying to look glamorous dressed as a forced lover?

When Song Qinian looked up and saw Li Qingyan's frustrated expression, he guessed what had happened. This was a surprise she had prepared for him, but he had rejected her during their conversation today. So, her use of the Buddhist scriptures was a pretext to take back the bookmark.

Bookmarks can be easily taken back, but feelings cannot be easily taken back.

"Your Highness, weren't you borrowing Buddhist scriptures? Why did you snatch my bookmark?"

"That's not your bookmark, it's mine."

Song Qinian pursed his lips: "You gave it to me, and you wrote my name on it."

He won't return it; he finally got her gift.

This may be his last thought.

Li Qingyan gritted her teeth: "I haven't actually given it to you yet, and I don't want to give it to you anymore. I want to take it back."

"Since you gave it to me, why take it back?"

"Since you're leaving the palace and you despise me, why leave me a gift? Besides, I said I wouldn't give you one."

Li Qingyan really couldn't understand Song Qinian. If you hate someone, just hate them; if you like someone, just like them. If you hate her, why are you so insistent on leaving a bookmark?

Song Qinian didn't understand either. It was just a bookmark. Since she would lose it anyway if she took it back, why did she have to go back? Couldn't she just leave it for him as a keepsake?

"I saw it. You gave it to me. Since you gave it to me, it's mine."

"you……"

Li Qingyan was about to scold him, but she suddenly saw his eyes and was certain that she saw his feelings for her in them.

"Song Qinian, what exactly do you mean? Can't you just tell me directly?"

She asked him directly, offering him another chance, and also offering herself another chance.

"What you give me, is mine."

Song Qinian gripped the bookmark tightly, looking down at it.

Li Qingyan did not get to hear Song Qinian change his mind.

She gave him a deep look, as if she had misread the emotions in his eyes.

Let's just say she was being narcissistic, after all, he had just said those hurtful things.

Even though his whole body seemed to be saying that he was in pain, and that his whole body was trying to keep her.

But he didn't say anything.

She thought, "He's doing this again."

Perhaps she wasn't entirely narcissistic just now, but so what? She doesn't like people who don't talk; feelings need to be expressed. She dislikes people who are all bark and no bite. If it's a knife, then it's a knife.

She is a human being too; she can get cut by a knife.

She wouldn't and didn't need to risk getting scratched to get close to him and warm him, nor would she have to guess what he was thinking every day.

It's really tiring; each level is already enough to give her a headache.

Li Qingyan left behind Buddhist scriptures and departed.

Watching her resolute back, Song Qinian stood for a moment. Looking at the words on the bamboo stick, he couldn't help himself and lost his composure, quickly chasing after her.

He regretted it; she had given him a chance, and he shouldn't have been so stubborn.

But he didn't see Li Qingyan. She hadn't been gone long, but he couldn't catch up with her. In the end, he chased her all the way to Jingchen Palace, but he still couldn't find her.

He stood in Jingchen Palace, covered in sweat, waiting for her return.

But she didn't come back even after a long time.

His body temperature, which had risen due to running, gradually decreased. When he heard the palace servants reply that His Highness was in the Pillow Star Pavilion and asked if he needed to deliver a message, he calmed down completely.

"No need." He shook his head, clutching the bookmark tightly.

He calmed down completely.

-

When Li Qingyan came out of Ninghui Palace, she was angry and walked very fast with her head down. When she turned the corner, she almost bumped into Ji Mingzheng.

Seeing Ji Mingzheng alone, Li Qingyan inexplicably felt that he was acting somewhat guilty and furtively.

The moment I saw her, I braced myself against the wheelchair, and my body was lifted into the air.

Li Qingyan was certain that if his leg had been alright, he probably would have taken off long ago.

"Your Highness."

Ji Mingzheng, who couldn't fly away, bowed. The trace of guilt he had felt earlier had disappeared, and he showed no signs of anything amiss. It was as if his guilt and desire to escape just now were merely Li Qingyan's illusion.

But Li Qingyan wasn't so easily fooled. Her gaze landed precisely on his chest, her nose twitched, and she lowered her head to slowly get closer.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? You're still outside!"

Ji Mingzheng covered his chest and stepped back.

"Fried peanuts? And what kind of meat?"

She ran into Ji Mingzheng going to Wen Sheng's place for a free meal, and he ended up taking the leftovers with him.

She reached out to grab it, but Ji Mingzheng pleaded, "It's a fried grasshopper, Your Highness. Fried insects are terrifying, please don't look at it."

"I want to eat it." Li Qingyan had eaten it when she traveled before, and it was delicious.

When you're in a bad mood, it's time to eat delicious food.

Ji Mingzheng: "..."

Finally, he reluctantly took out the fried paper packet: "Here you go."

His reluctant expression instantly lifted Li Qingyan's spirits. As soon as she opened the package, she was greeted by a fragrant aroma that was both crisp and delicious.

Ji Mingzheng couldn't resist grabbing two to eat as well.

"If you want some, just ask Wen Sheng. Why are you taking mine?"

Ji Mingzheng paused, a look of confusion on his face: "Why did Your Highness suddenly bring up Consort Wen?"

Li Qingyan wrapped the paper package again and sniffed in the direction of Zhenxing Pavilion: "I know you are good friends, no need to act. I can't smell what delicious food you secretly ate."

Thinking of what she had eaten at Wen Sheng's place, her stomach immediately rumbled.

Ji Mingzheng looked surprised: "How did Your Highness know? Did Wen Sheng tell you?"

"No, but I just know you're good friends. I don't mind, I'm even happy about it, but it's not right for you to eat alone."

They're friends, so they shouldn't get jealous or have conflicts unnecessarily, right?

She was a little jealous, though.

They have a good relationship, but they exclude her from it.

Thinking it over, Li Qingyan immediately changed course and headed towards Zhenxing Pavilion.

"I want to eat too! I want to eat everything you've ever eaten!"

Ji Mingzheng: "..."

He watched Li Qingyan's retreating figure and helplessly maneuvered his wheelchair to follow.

The two quickly arrived at the entrance of Zhenxing Pavilion, where Li Qingyan discovered that the entrance had been discreetly modified to allow wheelchairs to enter and exit freely.

Before the two could even knock, they must have heard the sound of the wheelchair when Wen Sheng's cheerful voice came through.

"You forgot something again?"

Seeing the faint smile on Wen Sheng's face, Li Qingyan thought, "So he's not just a gentle man; he just doesn't show his true feelings to her."

The moment Wen Sheng saw Li Qingyan, everything inside the bed flashed through his mind. His smile froze instantly, a surge of heat rose in his eyes, and he didn't even dare to look at her.

Although it was just an accident, they didn't cross any lines. His Highness didn't contact him afterward or say anything, which meant they tacitly wanted to continue their cooperation.

His Highness said before that this was just a way of cooperating, like that kiss before.

His Highness had helped her, so he naturally had to follow her wishes.

Wen Sheng had thought it through clearly, but when he saw Li Qingyan again, all he could think of was the chaos in the cabin, that restrained yet unrestrained state of things. Just thinking about it made him panic.

Li Qingyan also thought of it.

She felt a pang of regret; she had been so angry with Song Qinian that she had lost her mind and almost forgotten what had happened before.

At that time, the effects of the drug kicked in, and with the arrival of a storm adding to the chaos, they had no choice but to release it.

It actually solved the problem, and we were both relieved, without delaying our business.

Both Li Qingyan and Wen Sheng tacitly agreed not to bring up the matter again.

The strange look in their eyes, and even the blush on their cheeks and ears, were immediately noticeable to Ji Mingzheng, who wasn't blind.

"What did you two do? Why do you look like that?"

His tone was somewhat fierce, and I felt a pang of betrayal, a slight bitterness in my heart.

When Wen Sheng heard Ji Mingzheng's voice, she looked up abruptly and realized that he was also there.

Why did they all come together?