Disregarding etiquette, he ran out, committing this base act of peeping. He knew what Qiu Shuzhi would think of him, but he just couldn’t help it. It was as if the rain was falling on his own body, invading him inch by inch.

“To see me?” Qiu Shuzhi chuckled softly. “There’s nothing worth seeing about me. Your Highness should return to the palace and rest early. If the palace servants discover you’re not in the palace, it could become a big issue.”

The rockery was pitch black, with only a faint orange glow from a stone lantern not far away.

“I know my behavior is improper. You must look down on me for this… I’m sorry.” He lowered his head, his voice as hoarse as if his throat had been damaged, the corners of his eyes red and wet.

“I’ve never thought that way. Your Highness, please don’t overthink.” She reached out her hand, brushing away the wet hair from the corner of his eye.

Unexpectedly, this movement caused the handkerchief hidden in her sleeve to slip out.

Qiu Shuzhi’s internal alarms blared. She tried to grab it, but forgot they were in the narrow crevice of the rockery. The sharp edge of the hard lake stone immediately cut her palm, and blood began to flow.

Meanwhile, the handkerchief floated lightly to the ground, landing at Yue Guanyi’s feet.

In the deep, impenetrable darkness of night, that white handkerchief was blindingly conspicuous.

Yue Guanyi reached out his hand, a pair of extremely beautiful hands with long, fair fingers.

“Don’t pick it up,” Qiu Shuzhi hurriedly said.

But she was still a step too late. Yue Guanyi had already picked up the handkerchief. A drop of rain fell on it, wetting the embroidered character.

The light handkerchief suddenly became unbearably heavy because of that single ‘Qing’ character.

Yue Guanyi’s eyes twisted with sour jealousy, his trembling wrist seeming unable to believe it.

“This is… Father Empress’s handkerchief… isn’t it?”

Such fine silk, such exquisite needlework, and a name that no one in the palace would dare to offend—who else could it belong to but Qin Qing?

Though there was clearly no other possibility, he still desperately asked:

“This isn’t Father Empress’s, right?” He asked, obsessive and agitated, almost crushing the handkerchief in his grip.

Qiu Shuzhi lowered her head, saying nothing.

Yue Guanyi staggered back a step in disbelief.

He had always known about Qin Qing’s filthy thoughts, but he naively believed that Qiu Shuzhi would never fall for an old, vicious widower.

But in the moment of Qiu Shuzhi’s silence, all his beliefs were shattered in an instant.

Even though he tried to control himself, the vicious fire of jealousy still engulfed his entire body in a moment, like countless dense worms burrowing into his flesh, gnawing at his heart bite by bite.

“Why?” The pain, as if his heart was being scorched, made his voice break, almost tearing.

“The Empress Dowager, he—” Qiu Shuzhi was about to explain the circumstances of the handkerchief to prevent Yue Guanyi from misunderstanding, but was interrupted by his continuous stream of words.

“Why? Why is Father Empress allowed, but I’m not?”

“Qiu Niang, please tell me, what’s wrong with me? How am I inferior to him?”

“What do you like about him?”

“His power? His appearance?”

“Qiu Niang… my Qiu Niang…”

“I’m clearly better than him in every way—why? Why?”

He pressed his head against Qiu Shuzhi’s neck, each suppressed word like the weak, sorrowful cry of a dying animal, tugging painfully at one’s heartstrings.

The corners of his eyes burned crimson, and he had so many more words left unsaid.

That old man’s figure and appearance were clearly inferior to his in every way. What right did he have?

Was it his bedroom skills?

He gritted his teeth, his throat burning with the taste of rust. He could learn, couldn’t he?

Qiu Shuzhi’s nerves were shocked by his continuous stream of words.

She hadn’t expected Yue Guanyi to misunderstand that she and Qin Qing were having an affair.

Being misunderstood as having an affair was one thing, but his first thought wasn’t to question why she would commit such a treasonous act, nor to expose the sordid affair between her and Qin Qing.

He was actually comparing himself to Qin Qing?

She was at a loss for words, all the explanations she had prepared suddenly seeming pale and weak.

Yue Guanyi… he truly seemed to like her.

She let out a deep sigh, raised his face with her uninjured hand, and said word by word: “There is nothing between the Empress Dowager and me. This handkerchief was forced upon me by him. Don’t overthink it.”

Qiu Shuzhi watched as a flicker of uncertainty passed over Yue Guanyi’s pale face. His wet phoenix eyes blinked. “Really?”

Qiu Shuzhi nodded, her cool brow and eyes carrying a hint of warmth: “Really.”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes burst with joy, and also a sense of relief as if having survived a calamity.

The pallor of his face slowly turned to a rosy blush. Seeming to recall his earlier outrageous words, he quickly lowered his head. Even the fair skin at the nape of his neck was suffused with a light red. If not for witnessing his earlier state, one might truly believe he possessed a soft, delicate, and shy beauty at this moment.

“You say this handkerchief was given to you by Father Empress?”

Qiu Shuzhi made a sound of agreement. Strictly speaking, it was forcibly given to her.

“This is Father Empress’s personal item. If it stays with you, it might invite trouble. Why don’t I return it to Father Empress?” Yue Guanyi stared at the handkerchief in his hand, filled with hatred.

“That won’t do. The Empress Dowager doesn’t know about our relationship. If you return it, it would be too conspicuous.” She pulled back the handkerchief while wiping away the blood from her other hand.

This unintentional statement caused Yue Guanyi’s face to burn red… their relationship?

These words were too ambiguous, causing him to indulge in flights of fancy.

If that old widower could, if those little boy toys from the brothels could, why couldn’t he?

This identity was a burden, requiring him to maintain propriety and chastity while keeping his distance from her. Watching other beauties get close to her was like a knife twisting in his heart.

Why was he still carrying this burden?

Qiu Niang came from a Confucian background, practicing self-restraint and propriety. If he didn’t use some tactics, he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to get close to her.

Even though his reputation was tarnished and the outside world said he had lost his chastity, wasn’t what he wanted just to prostrate himself at her feet, to offer her his body and soul, to be her stepping stone, begging for her occasional gentle gaze?

Qiu Niang was kind-hearted. If he lowered himself and acted humbly and devoutly, perhaps she wouldn’t mind his past and would take him as her private male companion, Qiu Niang’s private male companion.

This phrase caught in his throat, swelling and bubbling, making him almost weep with happiness.

What else should he be concerned about?

He lowered his gaze, looking at the wound on Qiu Shuzhi’s hand caused by the lake stone, and made up his mind.

He knelt on the ground, reverently holding her hand like a devotee: “Your hand is bleeding.”

“It’s just a small flesh wound, nothing to worry about.” Qiu Shuzhi said dismissively, but Yue Guanyi kneeling before her made her feel somewhat undeserving. She tried to help him up from the ground.

Yue Guanyi didn’t move an inch. He had a pair of exquisitely beautiful hands. Even with calluses on his palms, it didn’t detract from their beauty at all, forming a stark contrast with her bleeding hand.

His phoenix eyes fixed intently on the wound, wiping it with his sleeve. Blood pearls seeped out one by one; as he wiped away a bit, more would emerge, instead staining his white clothes red, like the red dot on a crane’s head, beautifully ambiguous in the night.

“The wound from the lake stone is very blunt, so the bleeding won’t stop, but it’s not serious. When I return, I’ll use— mmph—”

Qiu Shuzhi drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening like a bolt from the blue.

Yue Guanyi actually…

She stared in shock at Yue Guanyi kneeling beneath her, too stunned to utter a single word.

A warm, moist sensation gently and lingeringly brushed across the wound on her palm. Fresh blood stained the corner of his lips, tinting his pale lips red.

“Your Highness… You… You can’t…” She stared blankly at the kneeling prince, her whole body as if electrified. He was a prince, after all.

Yue Guanyi looked up, and in an instant, his phoenix eyes brimmed with allure, a beauty that could devastate the world.

“There’s nothing that can’t be done.” He chuckled softly as he tore his own clothes. The nationally treasured East Sea white silk gauze became a bandage for her wound. “That’s better now.”

Qiu Shuzhi stood stiffly, taking a good while to recover from Yue Guanyi’s actions.

That warm sensation still made her palm burn even now.