With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

Lin Ci opened her eyes; it was already dawn.

The morning light slanted in through the window, and birds chirped and flitted past, their shadows disappearing in a flash.

Sparrow?

Lin Ci stared out the window for a moment, then suddenly sat up abruptly.

Where did the sparrows come from in the cellar?

She looked around. The carved bed and plain gauze screen were the room Pei Jinxuan had prepared for her. As for how she got back, she couldn't remember anything. She only remembered bringing a jar of wine to offer as a sacrifice to Song Xuan, spilling half of it and drinking the other half.

He must have drunk too much, stumbled back drunk, and doesn't remember anything. Lin Ci thought, rubbing her temples, the pain from being drunk rising faintly from the back of her head.

With a creak, the door opened.

Si Qi carefully carried the copper basin in. When he saw Lin Ci sitting there, he was taken aback at first, and then he smiled warmly.

"My lady is awake? The water is ready; let me help you wash up."

"No need, I can do it myself."

Lin Ci politely declined, as she was wary and not yet comfortable getting too close to the people in the Prince's mansion.

Siqi didn't linger, bowed, and left.

Lin Ci dressed and sat down in front of her dressing table, slowly combing her hair. Her hands moved unhurriedly, but her mind was preoccupied with the events of the previous night, and she couldn't come up with a solution for a long time.

After lingering like this for about half an hour, she walked around the white gauze screen and into the main room. She turned her head unintentionally and stopped in her tracks.

Pei Jinxuan was sitting at the table. A bowl of white fungus soup was in front of him, and he was eating it slowly and deliberately, as if he were in his own bedroom. Hearing the noise, he looked up, his peach blossom eyes curving slightly, his expression calm and composed.

Lin Ci was surprised, thinking she hadn't woken up yet, and looked left and right and it was real.

She exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"

"I was here last night." Pei Jinxuan slowly scooped up the white fungus soup with a spoon, speaking casually.

Lin Ci heard a buzzing sound in his ears.

She forced herself to remain calm, turned to look at the attendant standing at the door, and asked in a low voice, "What time did Your Highness arrive yesterday? I don't quite remember."

"I came with my wife again tonight."

"Where will he sleep?"

"Inside the room?" Siqi asked, his eyes wide, seemingly finding Lin Ci's question strange.

Lin Ci's mind went blank, and she turned to look at Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan just finished putting the last mouthful of white fungus soup into his mouth, took the teacup handed to him by Suwen to rinse his mouth, and then wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, making sure he ate it all up cleanly.

"You..." Lin Ci suppressed her anger, turning her face towards the door. "Get out."

The main room fell silent instantly.

Siqi and Suwen exchanged a glance and tacitly withdrew, even covering themselves completely with the curtains.

Only two people remained in the large main room.

Pei Jinxuan leaned back in his chair, looked up at her, and said, "I stayed with you all night. You didn't even say thank you?"

Lin Ci pursed her lips.

He added slowly, "You were the one who dragged me to stay."

Lin Ci's face burned from her ears all the way down to her neck.

She really couldn't remember. After thinking it over, she realized that she was very likely mistaking Pei Jinxuan for Song Xuan, since their faces were so similar.

Oh dear, drinking really leads to trouble!

Lin Ci took a deep breath and walked a few steps toward him without making a sound. Apart from a slight headache, she felt no other discomfort. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly settled back into place.

She breathed a sigh of relief and said very respectfully, "I really don't remember what happened last night, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me." As she spoke, she looked at Pei Jinxuan again, "I wonder if I did anything foolish that disturbed Your Highness."

"Foolish things..." he deliberately dragged out the last syllable, "There are so many. Where do you even begin?"

Lin Ci's face stiffened.

"Let's start from the beginning."

Pei Jinxuan narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "What good would it do me to tell you?"

Lin Ci remained silent.

He chuckled. "I don't do things that don't bring me any benefit."

"You..." Lin Ci was enraged by him, and pointed towards the door, "Get out!"

Pei Jinxuan raised his chin slightly, his smile vanished, and he stared straight at her.

This is the Prince's mansion, his territory.

"Okay, I'm going then."

Lin Ci gritted her teeth angrily, forcefully lifted the curtain and stepped out of the door. When she looked up and saw the garden, she was stunned again.

I don't know what strange wind blew last night, but the garden is full of red plum blossoms. The usually quiet corridor is now adorned with lanterns of all colors, crabapple blossoms, red-tailed goldfish, and small shrimp that sway in the wind. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet lanterns hang from one end of the corridor to the other, creating a colorful spectacle.

This was the first time Lin Ci had ever seen so many lanterns in her life; it was as lively as the Lantern Festival.

She stood under the lanterns lining the corridor, her anger suddenly dissipating. Footsteps approached slowly beside her.

Pei Jinxuan stood beside her, put his hands behind his back, looked up and admired the little shrimp lantern that swayed in the wind. After a moment, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Her surprised expression was exactly as he had expected.

He looked away out of the corner of his eye, and a slight smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

"I just brought you back last night. Don't overthink it."

Lin Ci blushed upon hearing this, and her ears burned.

"We're going to the palace later to take His Majesty's pulse. Tell Granny Qian what you need, and we'll leave once it's all ready." With that, Pei Jinxuan stepped down the jade steps and walked through the courtyard.

In the courtyard, red plum blossoms were in full bloom, and lanterns swayed gently. His figure disappeared into the shadows of the flowers, slowly vanishing from sight.

Lin Ci withdrew her gaze and looked up again at the lanterns filling the corridor.

The little shrimp lantern spun in the wind, round and round.

She smiled, turned around, and went back into the house.

After lunch, Lin Ci changed back into her previous men's clothing and rode in the same carriage with Pei Jinxuan into the palace.

The earlier embarrassment melted away along with the snow in the courtyard.

"Your Highness has gone to so much trouble, those lanterns..." She thought for a moment, seemingly searching for the right words, before finally managing to utter, "They're so beautiful."

"Hmm," Pei Jinxuan replied somewhat perfunctorily.

Lin Ci thought he had offended him again, so she secretly glanced at him. Pei Jinxuan's face was a little pale, and the light in his peach blossom eyes had dimmed. Although his posture was still upright when he sat, the occasional cough made him look less energetic than before.

Lin Ci didn't need to take his pulse to know that he must have caught a cold, and that he had been holding on all morning, only to have it come out now.

"Here you go." Lin Ci handed him her own hand warmer. "It'll be more comfortable to keep it close to your body."

Pei Jinxuan remained seated upright, his back ramrod straight.

He disdained the gilded bronze hand warmer, saying only, "It's not cold today, it's fine."

After he finished speaking, he coughed lightly twice, as if he didn't want Lin Ci to know.

Lin Ci put the hand warmer back into his pocket, sighed, and said, "I remember when I used to follow my master to treat patients. It was a wealthy family, and the head of the household was about your age. He went out and wandered for several days and had a high fever that wouldn't go down. My master said it was the plague, but he didn't believe it and even called my master a quack. He died a few days later. Later, my master taught me that it's foolish to tough it out when you're sick."

After he finished speaking, Pei Jinxuan's face turned slightly red, not because his complexion had improved, but because he felt hot and angry inside.

He raised his eyes and glanced lazily at Lin Ci. "If you want to scold me, just say so. No need to beat around the bush."

"Why am I scolding you? I'm just trying to reason with you. If Your Highness doesn't care about your own health, no one can stop you." After saying that, Lin Ci turned her face to the window, coldly, and stopped talking to him.

"Don't you take it seriously?"

Pei Jinxuan was so angry he laughed.

Didn't you catch a cold because you went to the cellar to look for her last night?

She's so drunk she forgot everything, and now she's complaining about him. If I'd known this would happen, I would have just let her freeze!

Pei Jinxuan held his breath, his throat itched, and he coughed violently.

Lin Ci saw Song Xuan's distressed expression through him again, and her heart softened. She insisted on putting the hand warmer into Pei Jinxuan's arms, stroking his back with one hand and pressing the acupoint between his thumb and forefinger with the other.

"Does this... make you feel better?"

Pei Jinxuan's anger subsided, but he still felt suffocated inside, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became.

He deliberately brushed her hand away and said coldly, "I don't need your concern."

Lin Ci was slightly taken aback.

She looked at Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan pursed her lips tightly, occasionally pursing them, like a wronged little child, seemingly arguing with someone.

Since they don't appreciate it, then forget it.

Lin Ci took the hand warmer from his arms and lifted the carriage curtain.

A cold wind howled in and rushed straight at Pei Jinxuan.

Aren't you not afraid of the cold? Then go ahead and freeze.

Lin Ci crossed her arms over her chest and hugged her small hand warmer tightly.