Xia Zhiqian turned and entered the carriage without looking back. The vermilion door closed, hiding her elegant and noble face. Two coachmen drove four white horses, turning towards the imperial palace. The red-clothed guards with weapons collected their arms and neatly followed the carriage.
I let out a breath, realizing I was covered in cold sweat. Yuan Qiu let out a low whimper and collapsed at my feet.
An Jin seemed to sigh. I thought he would blame me for causing trouble with Yuan Qiu, but he softly asked, “Were you scared?”
I first shook my head, then nodded.
He laughed. “You weren’t afraid when you made Yuan Qiu bite the horse.”
I defensively argued, “I originally wanted it to escape. Who knew it would misunderstand me?” Yuan Qiu protested with a couple of whimpers and continued playing dead.
He sighed again, tightening his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go home.”
I want to get lost in thought. An Jin didn’t speak again, just holding my hand and continuing to walk home. When we were almost at the bedroom, he stopped, letting go of my hand. “Get some rest early,” he was about to leave, but without thinking, I grabbed his arm.
He turned back, raising an eyebrow and looking at me. His beautifully shaped face seemed somewhat unreal under the moonlight.
“Stay,” I said, probably with an extremely earnest expression. “I’m afraid of the dark.”
This reason was incredibly shameless. However, An Jin did not expose it, calmly accepting my invitation, a composure I deeply admired.
We lay side by side, and I thought I would be too nervous to sleep, but the opposite was true. He slept on the outer side, breathing softly. I smelled the fresh soap fragrance of his hair, and my eyelids grew heavier. When he spoke, I was already drifting between half-sleep and half-wakefulness.
But when he mentioned the Seventh Princess, I immediately became alert.
“The Seventh Princess is usually arrogant and willful, using any means necessary. She deliberately humiliated you in front of me, just wanting to see my reaction,” his voice was soft, but I heard every word. “I wanted to pretend not to care, hoping she would stop targeting you. But who would have thought… I still couldn’t bear it.”
