Listening to Gesang saying he was also alone, the three people present all fell silent.
Yan Wanqing saw Ji Yuntai’s face as he turned away, looking as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed ten flies.
She couldn’t help but curl her lips into a slight smile.
Suddenly, someone grasped her neck from behind.
She raised her hand to strike back but was enveloped in an embrace from behind.
Just as Yan Wanqing was about to struggle, she heard his exhausted voice by her ear, "At first I thought you didn’t know and didn’t want to drag you into this, but unexpectedly the City Lord of Xiliang City told you immediately."
"So, are you going to be honest with me about your identity now?" she asked.
The person behind her held her tightly, as if trying to meld her into his very bones and blood: "Yan Wanqing, I am your Xiao Pingfeng, not Yizhi. Indeed, Yizhi exists, but he’s not me."
"Hmm," Yan Wanqing hummed softly.
"I’m really happy that you recognized me immediately, truly happy," the man’s voice softened slightly, then deepened the next second, "But the words you said tonight made me very unhappy. Who did you drink with today? Don’t you know you’re injured? Drinking so much, do you not care about your life?"
"Are you done talking?" Yan Wanqing spoke gently.
The arms holding her loosened slightly, indicating the owner’s hurt.
Yan Wanqing turned around, one hand curling around his neck while the other pressed his head towards her.
The moment their lips touched, she went completely weak and was tightly wrapped in Xiao Pingfeng’s embrace...
No one knew that under this densely foliaged tree, a pair of star-crossed lovers was rejoicing passionately.
After who knows how long, Yan Wanqing suddenly broke free, starting to breathe heavily.
Listening to the man’s soft laughter by her ear, she raised her fist and hit him.
Her hand was then caught in his palm.
"What’s the matter? You wanted to kiss, and now you want to hit me? Can’t take the heat?" Xiao Pingfeng teased with a crooked smile as he leaned in.
Yan Wanqing quickly pushed him away, "It’s too suffocating; I almost suffocated to death."
He was like a beast never satiated with its fill, seemingly desperate to chew her up and swallow her whole.
She was still injured; if this went on, they might end up creating a chaotic scene up in the tree.
"That’s my fault," Xiao Pingfeng said, embracing her into his arms. His wildly beating heart finally found a haven in her and calmed down at this moment.
Yan Wanqing touched his cheek, "What kind of face-changing technique are you using that it looks so real, I can’t even find the edges?"
"It’s a special kind of potion," Xiao Pingfeng said. "But it’s not on me right now. If you want it, I’ll get it for you later."
Yan Wanqing nodded; she was very much in need of such a thing.
"Tell me, instead of being in the North, what brought you to Xiliang City?" Yan Wanqing began to interrogate him.
A thoughtful gleam flickered in Xiao Pingfeng’s eyes.
He had actually stumbled upon a clue.
About Yan Li’an, the eldest legitimate son of the Yan Family.
Some people claimed they had seen him out West, and combined with the news of the Yan Family’s eldest son being unaccounted for after the Fall of Governor’s Office Pass, he decided to investigate in Xiliang City.
That’s how he discovered an organization called Radiant Church.
But so far, he hadn’t found more clues.
Xiao Pingfeng didn’t quite want to tell Yan Wanqing this unreliable information. If Yan Li’an was indeed dead, and he blurted it out now, it would only cause her needless worry.
Having this thought, Xiao Pingfeng spoke.
"Actually, I came directly from the Capital City, not from the North."
Yan Wanqing raised an eyebrow; she quickly thought of something.
Looking at Xiao Pingfeng’s face, her cheeks flushed with a wave of crimson, "Could it be that you are..."
"It’s me." Xiao Pingfeng nodded without hesitation, "I missed you so much that I risked being beheaded to go back and see you."
Hearing this from Xiao Pingfeng made Yan Wanqing’s heart uncontrollably speed up.
So that day, when there was no cure for her, it was he who had appeared to give her the antidote.
So, those indescribable images in her mind that day were actually real.
Xiao Pingfeng noticed her expression and chuckled, "What’s the matter, are you still reminiscing?"
"Shut up!" Yan Wanqing scolded in embarrassment and anger, "According to Zhuo Ma’s words, you only began your journey a few days before I set out."
"Yes." He had originally planned to follow Yan Wanqing, but he had set off earlier because he received news from the scouts about Yan Li’an.
"What about the northern battle? Are you really okay not overseeing it personally?" Yan Wanqing was somewhat worried.
Xiao Pingfeng confidently said, "It’s just minor skirmishes. If it wasn’t for my absolute disinterest in returning to the Capital City, I would have flattened the entire north by now. Currently, everyone up there is behaving, so I had time to go back and see you."
Tonight, every word Xiao Pingfeng said to Yan Wanqing was using ’I.’
It felt like the distance between the two of them had closed a bit.
Yan Wanqing shook her head helplessly, "You don’t know how arrogant Xiao Hongshen has been during the time you were away; he almost had all the court officials under his control."
"So what?" Xiao Pingfeng didn’t care at all, "The trivial Dawei, whoever wants it can have it. I dislike it. If I wanted to be Emperor, I’d directly conquer a country myself."
Yan Wanqing: "..." She really wanted to tell him not to boast, but undeniably his arrogance was because he truly had the capability.
And she had thought about going to help him.
Turned out he found the time to sneak back and see her.
Yan Wanqing felt that what she prided herself on seemed quite vulnerable in front of him.
"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Pingfeng rested his head on her shoulder and rubbed against it, "Haven’t you bathed in several days?"
"...Yes." She didn’t know how to respond—did she smell?!
Having been injured for so many days, she hadn’t been able to bathe or change clothes.
Xiao Pingfeng held the struggling person in his arms, "Your body smells of herbs, which is quite nice."
This sentence was completely making something out of nothing, a clandestine manoeuvre.
Yan Wanqing’s cheeks turned red with anger, but she couldn’t break free, "...Why aren’t you mad at me when you see me?"
She couldn’t help but ask.
Upon hearing her words, Xiao Pingfeng couldn’t help but smile and said, "I’m too happy to see you; I no longer hold any grudge."
He wasn’t that foolish. If Yan Wanqing hadn’t wanted that child from the start, she would have terminated the pregnancy early on; there would be no chance for him to find out.
This meant she truly wanted to keep the baby.
It was just a bond that wasn’t meant to be.
Yan Wanqing didn’t know why, but her nose tingled upon hearing these words.
"I want to apologize, to say I’m sorry... I’ve been hurting you all this time."
"And the child... I really wanted to keep him, but I was afflicted with the Thousand Mechanisms Poison at the time... Xiao Pingfeng, I really tried, but I just couldn’t keep him..." Yan Wanqing said, her voice choking up.
All she could see in her mind were the scenes in the bath, filled with blood.
That moment, the suffocating feeling of being hollowed out.
Xiao Pingfeng held her in his embrace, "I know, I understand, the one who should apologize is me. I should have been by your side at that time."
Xiao Pingfeng felt very self-reproachful.
He thought he had done much, but hadn’t realized that after all he had still left her alone in the darkness to suffer.