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

A delicate hand snatched the face towel from Pei Jinxuan's hand, along with his thoughts.

Pei Jinxuan was as if in a dream. When she looked up, she saw Lin Ci gently pressing a handkerchief to her forehead. Her gaze was unfocused, as if she were saying to thin air, "I can handle this myself."

She pushed him away again.

Pei Jinxuan felt empty inside, and uneasy without anything in his hands, so he took the perfume from the dressing case and handed it over.

"You like the scent of jasmine."

He gazed at her, hoping she would smile. After a while, she finally raised the corners of her mouth, and he smiled too, but unfortunately, she couldn't see it.

"You've cleaned me up, but what about yourself?"

"I'll go back to my room in a bit."

"Your Highness... there's no need for that." Lin Ci applied a little balm to the back of her hand. "I'm just a physician. The food, clothing, and other necessities Your Highness provides are more than enough to cover my consultation fees."

As she spoke, she slowly spread the balm on the back of her hand. The delicate fragrance of jasmine wafted through the air, seeping into Pei Jinxuan's heart and causing him a pang of pain.

Pei Jinxuan dared not speak, fearing that if he opened his mouth, she would back down again, and the heart he had painstakingly opened up would be exposed to the world, left there to be left to be left unhidden and unrecovered.

He looked down and pondered, and when he saw her eyes, he found an excellent excuse.

"Your eyes are priceless; no amount of kindness from me is too much."

"But I don't blame you. If you continue to treat me like this, I will blame you." She smiled as she finished speaking.

If Pei Jinxuan continues to pester him, it will be somewhat undignified.

The word "love" has no origin, but once it arises, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven to extinguish it.

He pretended not to understand, and followed her wherever she went, like a shadow, becoming her eyes when she needed him.

Lin Ci was getting annoyed with him, but since she couldn't say it openly, she quietly told Song Xuan.

She hid alone in the cellar, leaning against the cold coffin, and recounted everything that had happened in the past few days, from the arson case to Xuanjing, and then to the absurd dream she had last night.

"The person in my dream is you." Lin Ci said firmly, her voice echoing in the empty ice cellar, over and over again, as if trying to convince something.

"That was the night Master came down the mountain, leaving just the two of us." She explained hastily, "Do you remember? You made a gesture and said, 'Never betray me,' right?"

Lin Ci's face grew hotter and hotter as she spoke, whether from shyness or guilt, she couldn't tell.

She tried her best to banish the image of another person from her mind, desperately recalling the past. Back then, she was young, her heart just beginning to stir with love, unaware of the world's dangers, especially since it was a sweltering night in the mountains, and she had just finished bathing and was dressed lightly.

Lin Ci couldn't remember who had been aroused first; she only felt unbearably hot. Ultimately, Song Xuan understood better than her, carefully considering her feelings by the lamplight. Then she broke out in a cold sweat, soaking the bedsheets. Seeing her bleeding, he hastily finished.

Fearing that her master would find out, she burned the blood-stained underpants and wiped the mat again and again.

From that night on, she transformed from a girl into a young woman. Heaven and earth knew, but her master did not. In his presence, she still wore her hair in double buns and carried a small medicine basket on her back all day, going up the mountain to collect herbs.

Song Xuan would often come along and carry her basket, a smile on his face, but there was a hint of something else in that smile.

Just like last night.

Lin Ci took a deep breath, suppressing the slight wavering in her heart. She firmly believed that the person in her dream was Song Xuan. She had not betrayed their vow.

Outside the wall, Pei Jinxuan stood by the door, roasted in the dim, silent light, as if he had entered a dead end, isolated and helpless.

Why did she take so long?

What would she say to him?

Will he mention me in his words?

If... it really can bring the dead back to life, then what about me?

Where should I go from here?

Pei Jinxuan lowered his head, looking at his shadow on the stone steps. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it. He shouldn't have agreed to place Lin Ci's deceased husband's coffin in the first place. Now it should still be possible to destroy it.

Creak... The cellar door opened.

Pei Jinxuan panicked, like a thief caught in the open, unable to escape.

He first saw Lin Ci's face, which was blurred in the darkness. Then he looked past her at the coffin, which was quiet and gleaming with a cold light, like a human eye.

Pei Jinxuan reached out and calmly supported Lin Ci's arm.

Lin Ci was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting him to be there.

Pei Jinxuan then said, "I followed your rules and didn't go in. There are many stone steps here, the ground is uneven, and there are hidden weapons, so it's not easy to walk."

He acted with righteous indignation, invading Song Xuan's territory.

Lin Ci gripped the bamboo stick firmly and tapped it twice on the ground. Pei Jinxuan in front of her was more frightening than any hidden weapon.

Pei Jinxuan then took her hand and said, "If your deceased husband has a spirit in heaven, he will surely bless you to see the light again."

He said this intentionally so that the person in the coffin could hear it.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ever-burning lamp flickered, like someone's sigh.

Ugh……

Ugh……

Ugh……

"What's wrong? I finally got back from the northern frontier, and I asked you out for a drink, but you're all sighing and complaining. What does that mean?"

Princess Yongle's elder brother, Marquis Xuanping, Xiao Jingyuan, waved his hand to summon a courtesan.

The courtesan, sensing his signal, half-concealed her face with her pipa, her slender waist swaying gently as she landed beside Pei Jinxuan like a wisp of smoke. She leaned softly against him, but Pei Jinxuan turned away without a word. The courtesan missed her target and fell to the ground with a soft, pitiful groan.

Xiao Jingyuan laughed heartily, pounding the table as he laughed, making the table, pots, pans, and bowls clang loudly.

The courtesan sat on the ground, refusing to get up, her cherry lips pouting, her eyes brimming with tears as she coquettishly complained, "I've hurt myself, and the Marquis is still laughing at me."

Xiao Jingyuan couldn't bear to see a beautiful woman shed tears. He lifted the woman's pointed chin with his fingers, and with his other hand, he twirled it in mid-air, magically producing a pair of gourd-shaped gold earrings.

"Here you go, get up quickly."

The courtesan stopped crying and smiled, quickly putting the pair of gold earrings into her pocket and attentively pouring him wine.

Xiao Jingyuan pointed at Pei Jinxuan, who was sitting opposite him, and slammed his hand on the table, saying, "Whoever can make him laugh tonight will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold!"

A swarm of beauties immediately rushed forward, red, yellow, pink, and purple, like spider demons in a spider's web, eyeing Tang Sanzang's flesh, several hands painted with nail polish all climbing onto him.

"Enough!" Pei Jinxuan was annoyed and immediately chased the fairies away.

He suddenly stood up, and when Xiao Jingyuan saw that he was about to leave, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him back onto the stool.

Xiao Jingyuan gave a signal, and the beautiful women, carrying pipa and xiao, quietly slipped out of the room. Only Xiao and Pei remained in the large private room, along with a table of untouched delicacies.

"Look at you, you're just a widow." Xiao Jingyuan said as he poured wine for Pei Jinxuan. He glanced at Pei Jinxuan and saw her glaring at him. He forced a smile and said, "Yongle told me everything. She told me before I even got back."

He added the second half of the sentence on purpose.

Pei Jinxuan took a swig of wine, gritted his teeth, and spat out three words: "Gossip."

"Hey, you can't talk about my own sister like that, I'll get angry!"

"It's good that you're back. Take your precious daughter back with you, don't let her stay at my house all the time."

"That's not quite right. The reason we let her stay with you was because we thought you'd taken a liking to my sister, and it would strengthen our family ties. Who knew..."

Xiao Jingyuan climbed onto Pei Jinxuan's shoulder, leaned close to his face, and squinted with a wicked smile. "Who would have thought you'd fall for a widow? What kind of woman is she that could make you so infatuated? Tell me the story."