Shan Yi laughed drily. "It's only Wei Liuying and not a stranger. Besides, you know that the two of them are close with each other, so I don't think there's any need to stop her."

Shi Lu Wen rolled her eyes and crossed her hands. "Do you think that you can get away if you say it like that?"

"Ah, have mercy!"

"Stop where you are! Come here!"

Shan Yi's men, who were hiding in the dark, could only watch helplessly as their leader played around with Shi Lu Wen. For the nth times in this year, they felt that they didn't know their leader anymore. He looked far more amicable and easy going when he was with Shi Lu Wen, totally unlike his stern image with them.

…

Inside the room, Wei Liuying sat down beside Yang Xian. She did hear the news regarding the Emperor's death, which was why she knew that Prince Ji Shu would make his move. The capital city was a foreign territory for them because the number of their allies was very limited.

They didn't have the strength to help others and could only try to save themselves.

"You better not die, Xian," Wei Liuying whispered in a low tone. She reached her hand out and touched the side of Yang Xian's face. His face felt cool to touch, yet there was still the warmth that belonged to a living person.

After a while, Wei Liuying retracted her hand. She quietly sat down while watching Yang Xian's face.

Time passed ever so slowly.

It was quiet inside the room that a drop of a pin would be able to be heard loudly. There was nothing that Wei Liuying did but to continue watching and observing. Based on Yang Xian's breathing, she could guess that he was sleeping peacefully.

At least, until recently.

"How long do you want to pretend sleeping?"

"You noticed?" Yang Xian opened his eyes. His dark eyes were looking straight at Wei Liuying, who was sitting on his bed. He smiled faintly.

"Your breathing changed for a moment."

"I thought that I covered it well." Yang Xian pressed his hand on the bed and pushed his body up. Almost immediately, Wei Liuying reached her hand out and helped him to sit down. "Thank you."

"You can just wake up normally."

"I can't possibly open my eyes so suddenly when you're watching so intently."

Wei Liuying pursed her lips. "I'm only watching because I want to know your condition. Prince Ji Sheng acted as if you're already at your death's door when he informed me that you are wounded."

"I'm fine. I won't die so easily," Yang Xian said with a laugh. He reached his hand out and lightly touched Wei Liuying's cheek. "I'm glad that you're fine. He's not that easy to handle."

Wei Liuying allowed him to do what he wanted as she looked at his complexion. Seeing his bright eyes did relief her to a certain degree. "It might be true, but I only come because of Prince Ji Sheng's order. If things end up badly, I'll just push the blame to him."

Yang Xian: "…" well, I can't say it's wrong.

Wei Liuying looked to the glass on top of the nearby table. "You must be thirsty. I'll take some water…."

Before she could stand up, Yang Xian pulled her arm and pressed her body close to him. Her body stiffened almost immediately. Staying by his chest, she could hear his rapid heartbeat.

"Xian?"

"Just let me stay like this for a while."

"You're going to reopen your wound."

"It's on my back, so I'll be fine," Yang Xian murmured in low voice. His voice sounded so close to her ear that Wei Liuying was not used to. She still kept the same expression as usual, but her ear had turned a bit red. This position was a bit unusual.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Yang Xian raised his head and glared at the door. He could sense Shi Yan and Prince Ji Sheng standing behind the door now that he focused his attention to it. The door was slightly open with Shi Yan's head peeked inside.

"What are you doing here, Yan?" Even though he was caught red handed, Yang Xian had no intention to let Wei Liuying go yet. If they wanted to watch, then they should just watch as much as they wanted.

Prince Ji Sheng pushed the door and looked at the two of them with straight expression. "How's your condition, Xian?"

"I'm good. I should be able to move properly tomorrow."

"Can you ride horse in your condition?"

Yang Xian nodded. "I can use my right hand and not my left one. It's not going to be a big problem."

Wei Liuying shifted her position so that she could look at the two of them. Now, her back was facing Yang Xian with his arm circling around her shoulder. She could feel that he was unwilling to let her go even though she was not totally sure what the reason was.

Shi Yan's face contorted when he watched the two of them. "Can't you sit down normally? I feel my eyes burn just from watching you two."

"That's good."

"WHAT?"

"I hope you can recover well from your burn. If you need medicine, you can ask some from your sister," Yang Xian rephrased his sentence and smiled.

Hearing that, Shi Yan felt like screaming. It was not his point, yet Yang Xian simply twisted his sentence. As he had thought, having tongue battles with Yang Xian would only resulted in his utter losses.

Wei Liuying paid no heed at Shi Yan's antics and looked at Prince Ji Sheng. "What is your plan for now, Your Highness?"

"That's what I want to discuss with the three of you," Prince Ji Sheng replied. "It'll take a few more days before they realize that I'm not at the frontline. At the same time, I'm sure my little brother will declare me as a traitor and speed up the inauguration ceremony."

Shi Yan's face contorted. "Can't we just interrupt their inauguration ceremony like what he did to his first brother?"

"Nice idea, but it's impossible since his inauguration is today."