Xie Ziyin was rolling back and forth on the tatami, making it utterly impossible for Hua Manting to examine him. "Where exactly did you hit yourself? Your back?" she asked, at a loss.
Xie Ziyin bit down hard on his lower lip and refused to utter a sound, yet his expression was grotesquely twisted with pain, veins standing out starkly at his temples.
"Hey, you—where on earth did you…" A sudden flash of insight struck Hua Manting. "…It hurts."
Xie Ziyin spared her a fleeting, murderous glare.
That single look confirmed her suspicion. Hua Manting tried valiantly to stifle her laughter, but failed spectacularly, collapsing onto the couch and laughing shamelessly until she rolled across it.
It took Xie Ziyin quite some time to recover. That blow had landed hard—far harder than expected—and the damned culprit was still laughing with unrestrained delight!
Feeling as though he had suffered a grievous injury, all strength drained from his body. Xie Ziyin lay limp on the couch, too weary even to lift his eyelids, yet he still summoned every ounce of remaining force to kick Hua Manting.
For all that "full-bodied effort," it amounted to little more than a light brush against her calf.
Hua Manting withdrew her leg, suddenly a little embarrassed. "Well… um…" She stalled for a long while, but the words never quite came.
"Do you know what 'too much joy turns to sorrow' means?" Xie Ziyin muttered bitterly.
"Huh?" Hua Manting hadn't heard clearly and leaned closer. "What do you want? Some water?"
"What water!" Xie Ziyin was practically beside himself with rage. "Do you really enjoy watching me writhe in pain on the floor? You were laughing so happily!"
"I wasn't—I…"
"Wasn't!" Xie Ziyin waved his hand as though shooing flies, refusing to let her touch him. "Hmph! That thing isn't just my lifeline—it's yours too! If it's ruined, you'll be a widow in all but name for the rest of your life, growing old without a single child to your name!"
Though Hua Manting didn't fully understand, she grasped enough to flush bright red. She kicked him in irritation. "You scoundrel! If you really hurt that badly, you wouldn't have the energy to run your mouth!"
"Hey, you—!" A wave of grievance rose in Xie Ziyin's chest. His eyes stung, and he turned over, presenting her with his back.
Hearing the faint tremor at the end of his words, Hua Manting felt a twinge of guilt. She lightly tapped her own lips, then poked his shoulder. "Hey… are you really all right? Is it serious?"
"How would I know," Xie Ziyin whined pitifully. "We'll find out in a few days. Even if it stops working, you can't return the goods! Reap what you've sown!"
A moment ago, Hua Manting had been ready to open her arms and offer him a hug. The next, she wanted nothing more than to kick him straight off the couch.
"I think…" She stood up, circled around to face him, and flexed her hands and feet.
Xie Ziyin shrank back. "What are you planning to do?"
"Why not just cripple it completely right now and be done with it?" Hua Manting said with a wicked grin.
Xie Ziyin jolted in terror and instantly curled into himself. "Th-that's not something you joke about!"
Pampered by the Immortal Leader couple and that crown prince of a brother, Hua Manting could be dangerously impulsive. He genuinely feared she might act on a whim and strike without restraint.
"I'm kidding—look how scared you are!" Seeing that he had taken it seriously, Hua Manting's mood dipped. She kicked his calf lightly and sat back down. "Once we get out, I'll have a physician from my estate examine you."
Xie Ziyin turned his head and stole a glance at her. Seeing her subdued expression, he realized he might have overreacted. After all this time together, his understanding of Hua Manting went far beyond the words "willful and reckless."
And even her willfulness had its limits. She was not truly an unreasonable, arrogant princess.
Xie Ziyin rolled upright and scooted over to sit beside her. "I'm fine. The pain's passed."
Even for someone as straightforward as Hua Manting, discussing this face to face was embarrassing—especially given their peculiar relationship. She turned her head away. "That's good."
"That half-grown boy," Xie Ziyin said, eager to steer away from the awkward, inflammatory topic, "something about him doesn't sit right with me."
"Mhm." Hua Manting turned back and nodded. "Earlier, when we were trapped by the spell—during that moment—I was able to snap awake because he pricked my calf with a hairpin." She jerked her chin toward the study.
"Now that you mention it, I remember," Xie Ziyin said. "I did see a hairpin in his hand, with what looked like a red flower at the end."
"The fact that he knows how to break free from such powerful magic is deeply suspicious," Hua Manting said.
"And he crossed paths with us in one of our past lives, witnessed our wedding night, and then appeared here alongside us," Xie Ziyin added. "It's far too strange."
"If we asked him directly, I doubt he'd answer honestly," Hua Manting thought—promptly rejecting the idea herself.
"Almost certainly not," Xie Ziyin agreed. Then he nudged her with his elbow. "It's rare for us to have such a quiet moment to talk properly. Let's not dwell on him—we won't figure it out anyway."
"Then what should we talk about?" Hua Manting yawned, resting her head on her knees, eyes half-closed as a chill crept in. "In your previous life, did you also have the habit of keeping extra quilts?"
"You're seriously thinking of going in there to fetch quilts?" Xie Ziyin exclaimed. "You've got some nerve!"
"I'm just saying—it's cold." Hua Manting kept her eyes shut. "You're making such a fuss."
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
Suddenly, the two of them pointed at each other and burst into laughter, chanting "hey, hey, hey" more than a dozen times.
Moments ago, Hua Manting had been drowsy; now she was wide awake. She raised a hand and cast a pale pink, crystalline barrier over the couch, spreading it across the surface.
Xie Ziyin immediately felt warmth bloom beneath him, the air losing its former chill. He raised his thumb in praise. "Your Highness is truly gifted!"
"Who are you insulting?" Hua Manting smacked his arm. "In my household, 'gifted' is taboo!"
Xie Ziyin slapped his own mouth lightly. "My mistake! What I meant is—Your Highness's spells are exceptionally practical, truly considerate of the common people's hardships!"
"So down-to-earth!" He raised his thumb again.
As they spoke, the temperature within the barrier steadily rose, warm and deeply comforting.
The night was already far advanced. Warmth made drowsiness come easily, and after the nerve-wracking turmoil that had stretched past midnight, fatigue set in. Almost in unison, they began to yawn.
After a string of yawns, Hua Manting slumped forward onto her knees and fell asleep sitting upright.
Xie Ziyin had meant to have a heart-to-heart with her, but he lacked the strength. Gradually, he too lost consciousness.
Hua Manting was awakened by a pressing need to relieve herself. In her hazy state, she saw that the candlelight still flickered in the room, while outside the windows and doors remained pitch-black.
She had thought dawn was near; it felt as though she'd slept a long time. She wasn't one to wake at night, so it must have been from drinking too much water.
Just as she was about to get up, she suddenly realized something and turned her head to see what she was resting on.
A hand blocked her movement. "Don't turn around."
Seeing Xie Ziyin's face above her, Hua Manting instantly understood—she had been lying on his legs, most likely his thighs.
"Sorry, I fell asleep," she said, sitting up.
"It's fine," Xie Ziyin replied.
"I—I need to go," Hua Manting said, rubbing her neck. "I remember there was a curtain by the bed in your room. That should be the washroom, right?"
"Don't go in there! How awkward would that be?" Xie Ziyin said quickly. "Besides, this isn't even my room anymore—there might not be a washroom inside." He scanned the room, then pointed at a squat, wide-mouthed ceramic vase. "Just make do with that. I'll move the screen over for you."
Hua Manting hurriedly stopped him. "Oh, give it a rest! That'd be even more awkward. They should all be asleep by now. I'll go quietly and come back quietly." With that, she stepped off the couch.
"Hey, you—" Xie Ziyin called after her.
But he didn't catch her. Hua Manting had already withdrawn all the barriers and walked into the bedroom.
Xie Ziyin hesitated outside the screen, unsure whether to follow, when he heard a soft "Huh?" from inside.
Even that single syllable was unmistakably Hua Manting's voice. Without a second thought, he rushed in.
"Huh?" Xie Ziyin froze as well.
There was no one else in the room—only Hua Manting, standing there in a daze.
The bed bore only the traces of where the two of them had lain before, nothing more.
And yet…
"Why has it turned back into my room?" Xie Ziyin asked in confusion.
"What on earth is going on?" Hua Manting muttered as she headed toward the washroom. "Could it have all been an illusion?"
"No—it was far too real," Xie Ziyin said, walking to the bed and running a hand over it. "When we were outside, even the furniture had changed."
"I'm going to lie down for a bit." Finding nothing amiss, Xie Ziyin flopped onto the bed, sprawled out like a starfish.
He'd been sitting all night—his waist ached, his back was sore, his neck stiff, and his legs numb from serving as her pillow.
In truth, he'd woken long ago. Afraid of disturbing her, he'd stayed perfectly still.
He was utterly exhausted.
The moment his body touched the bed, a profound, tangible happiness washed over him.
Being able to sleep on a soft bed—this was happiness.
Hua Manting returned to the room and collapsed onto the other side of the bed, stretching lazily. "Beds really are the best."
Just as they each clutched a quilt and drifted back toward sleep, a thunderous pounding erupted at the door, as though the earth itself were shaking.
Startled awake, Hua Manting's morning temper flared instantly. She flung the quilt to the floor and sat up. "Who is it?! Is that any way to knock?!"
"The princess sleeps soundly indeed. It's time to rise—water has been brought for washing." The black-clad woman's cold voice drifted in.
"I'll get the door," Xie Ziyin said, rising and tidying his clothes before heading out.
Since their room was an actual room, he had bolted the door from inside and set defensive barriers on all sides.
But given what they'd experienced the day before, these precautions seemed of limited use. If the house itself could freely shift between ancient and modern forms, these barriers would likely only stop the black-clad women.
Xie Ziyin opened the door. The black-clad woman entered first, giving him a once-over. "Your Highness has dark circles beneath your eyes and a pallor of black qi on your face. Were you overexerted last night?"
"You—!" Xie Ziyin thought, I only sat and slept a little—how could I not look like this? Unwilling to trade words with this chatterbox of a corpse, he stepped aside. "I slept very well. No need for your concern."
"I understand, I understand," the black-clad woman said with an inscrutable smile. "A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Naturally, you slept well."
Xie Ziyin had always been thick-skinned around others. He chuckled. "Exactly—so don't you think coming this early is a bit inappropriate?"
"It's not early at all," the black-clad woman said, leading a line of maids inward. "In the Palace of Nine Deaths, there is no daytime—only eternal rainy night. You've already slept a full four hours."
"Four hours is hardly enough!" Xie Ziyin's roguish air surfaced. "A spring night deserves at least twelve."
"Oh my, Your Highness, do you really think this is your own princely manor, or the princess's residence?" The woman turned into the bedroom, saw Hua Manting still half-asleep on the bed, and raised her voice sharply. "Princess, you two really are birds of a feather! Still sleeping at a time like this—how very carefree!"
Hua Manting's irritation had mostly faded, but she kept her eyes closed and didn't move. "What else should we do—be scared to death, cry ourselves dry, or worry ourselves sick?"
"I won't waste words with the two of you. Get up and wash," the woman snapped.
"Can't argue back, can you?" Hua Manting murmured, her voice still soft and drowsy, lightly scratching at Xie Ziyin's heart.
"That little guard of Prince Kui's is still hovering between life and death," the black-clad woman said coldly, her tone steeped in authority. "Every moment you delay puts him in greater danger. Even if you don't care, you should consider Prince Kui's feelings. They grew up together—closer than brothers."
At that, Xie Ziyin's heart lurched. The heat that had just risen in his lower abdomen was instantly doused by a bucket of cold water.
Hua Manting sat up. "I don't need to wash. I'll go straight to the morning audience." She stood and headed for the door.
The black-clad woman raised an arm to block her. "Princess, even if you're anxious, you must wash and eat breakfast first."
Hua Manting turned and glared at her.
"How can a princess run out disheveled?" the woman said, averting her gaze as if intimidated. "My master would never allow it. And if you skip breakfast, you'll get a stomachache—that, too, he won't permit. Even if you force your way out, if my master is displeased, that boy will be in even greater danger!"
"Hah!" Hua Manting laughed despite herself. "Then I really must thank your master for his tender consideration!"
She walked over to a maid holding a bronze basin and splashed water on her face.
The black-clad woman strode over and smacked the maid on the head. "Have you no sense at all? How could you let the princess come to you!"
"Oh, spare me," Hua Manting snapped. "The ones with no sense are your master and you! You abducted us without explanation, toyed with us like a cat with a mouse—why not be straightforward instead!"
"You think I wanted this?" the woman shot back angrily. "I've been stuck here for centuries, just waiting for you to show up. I told him to be direct, but he insisted on all these tricks! Look at this—man proposes, heaven disposes!"
As she spoke, she cast a glance at Xie Ziyin washing his face nearby. "A wild Cheng Yaojin barged in halfway—I say someone else is about to reap the rewards!"
The implications hidden in her outburst were rich enough to set both Hua Manting's and Xie Ziyin's minds racing.