The abstinent prince, practicing Buddhism, is seduced by a voluptuous beauty into breaking his vows.

Xiao Chenyuan didn't speak, he just looked at her.

"How could you, a high and mighty crown prince, have let yourself get into this state..."

Xiao Chenyuan's heart ached as he watched her cry.

"Slender and graceful..."

"If anything happens to you..." Su Yaoyao looked up with tearful eyes, "What will I do..."

Xiao Chenyuan felt as if his heart had been squeezed tightly.

pain.

It hurts even more than the knife I just had.

He lowered his head and kissed her.

The kiss was light and gentle, filled with a carefully cherished tenderness.

Kiss away her tears, kiss away her fear.

After a long while, he finally relaxed.

"Yaoyao." He stroked her tear tracks with his thumb, his voice low and hoarse, "I was wrong."

Su Yaoyao turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

"I shouldn't have kept it from you." He turned her face back to him. "I'm used to it."

I'm used to carrying it all alone.

They've gotten used to seeing themselves as targets.

I've gotten used to it... not taking my own life seriously.

"But I forgot." He looked at her, his phoenix eyes surging with a vulnerability he had never shown in front of others. "I have you now."

Su Yaoyao's tears flowed even more fiercely.

"Do you know how I felt when I heard you were attacked?" Her voice trembled. "Do you know how I felt when I saw you being carried back covered in blood, and my mind went completely blank?"

Xiao Chenyuan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"I know," he said. "I won't do it again."

Su Yaoyao shook her head: "You always say that."

"This time it's for real." Xiao Chenyuan held her hand and pressed it against his chest. "Feel it."

Beneath his palm, his heart pounded fast and deep.

"I used to be unafraid of death," he said. "If I died, I died. It wasn't a big deal."

He paused.

"But when I heard from my brother that you encountered assassins, I felt fear for the first time."

Su Yaoyao was stunned.

Xiao Chenyuan looked at her, his eyes so deep they seemed to want to suck her in.

"I'm afraid I haven't planned everything thoroughly enough, afraid those guards won't be able to protect you, afraid something might happen to you." His voice trailed off, "I'm even more afraid of..."

He was silent for a moment.

"What will you do if something really happens to me?"

Su Yaoyao's eyes stung, and the tears she had just stopped were about to well up again.

"You..." she bit her lip, "all you do is say nice things."

"It's not just a nice thing to say." Xiao Chenyuan pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. "It's the truth."

He tightened his arms, his voice muffled:

"I used to think that my life was my own, and I could use it however I wanted. But now..."

"How are things now?"

Xiao Chenyuan lowered his head and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"My life is yours now." He pressed his forehead against hers, his voice low and husky. "I promise you, I will tell you everything I do from now on. I will not hide anything from you, I will not lie to you, and I will not let you worry."

Su Yaoyao sniffed and said in a muffled voice, "That's more like it."

Xiao Chenyuan looked at her like this and the corners of his lips slightly lifted.

But Su Yaoyao didn't laugh.

She looked at him and said seriously, "Xiao Chenyuan, remember this."

"You have me," Su Yaoyao said. "From now on, whatever happens, we'll face it together. If you keep risking your life alone like this, I'll—"

She paused, then said fiercely, "I'll... I'll find someone else! I'll make you furious!"

Xiao Chenyuan's eyes darkened, and he hugged her even tighter.

"No."

"So, are you still going to hide it from me or not?"

To be honest.

"Are you still going to make yourself a target?"

"I won't take it."

Su Yaoyao then gave a satisfied hum.

Xiao Chenyuan looked down at her, his eyes filled with tenderness.

She leaned against him, listening to his steady heartbeat, and suddenly remembered something.

"Your Highness."

"Um?"

"You just said that those assassins were deliberately lured here?"

Xiao Chenyuan's eyes darkened slightly.

"Um."

"Who?"

Xiao Chenyuan remained silent for a moment.

"He Cong," he said, "He Qing's younger brother."

Su Yaoyao was startled.

"That Heqing..." She thought of that blood-stained crimson figure, and a complex mix of emotions welled up in her heart.

Xiao Chenyuan hugged her tightly.

"I will remember this kindness," he said, "but Yaoyao, you belong to me."

Su Yaoyao looked up at him.

Those phoenix eyes held an undeniable possessiveness, yet also a cautious probing.

"I know I shouldn't do this," he said, "but I can't change."

He paused, then lowered his voice: "Yaoyao, I can't live without you."

Su Yaoyao looked at him.

After a while, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

"I know," she said. "Me too."

The candlelight flickered, and the night was deep.

"High and mighty?" He repeated the word, a faint smile playing on his lips, tinged with an indescribable self-mockery.

But that smile only lasted for a moment before it vanished swiftly.

He looked down at her, his eyes returning to their usual calm.

"It's nothing."

Su Yaoyao looked at him.

She knew what he was avoiding, knew the past he hadn't spoken of, and knew the stories hidden behind his old wounds.

She didn't ask any further questions.

She simply leaned back into his arms and held his hand.

"A-Yuan," she called softly.

Xiao Chenyuan lowered his head.

"Um?"

"From now on," she said, "you'll have me."

Xiao Chenyuan looked at her, his Adam's apple bobbing.

After a while, he hugged her tightly.

"Yes," he said, "I have you now."

Outside the tent, snow began to fall again, seemingly out of nowhere.

One by one, they silently covered the hunting ground that had been bustling all day.

In the distance, a figure in crimson stood in the snow, gazing at the brightly lit imperial tent for a long time.

Then, he turned and disappeared into the vast snowy night.

The jade pendant with the epiphyllum flower that he held in his hand was never given away.

Su Yaoyao leaned against Xiao Chenyuan's chest, her fingertips idly drawing circles on his chest.

The man let her fuss, one hand around her waist, the other playing with the ends of her hair.

The blood-stained outer robe had been removed, and he was only wearing his inner garment, the collar slightly open, revealing his bandaged wounds and firm muscles.

Suddenly a commotion arose outside the tent.

"Get out of the way! I want to see the Crown Prince!"

Xiao Qiming's voice carried a hint of deliberate eagerness and an undisguised schadenfreude.

Su Yaoyao leaned against Xiao Chenyuan's chest, listened for a bit, and couldn't help but laugh.

"This idiot," she poked Xiao Chenyuan's chest, "came here to see if you're dead or not, didn't he?"

Xiao Chenyuan grasped her mischievous fingers, kissed them, and said, "He can't get in."

"Can Ling Feng stop him?"

"We can stop them."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an even louder sound came from outside—

"Second Prince? What are you doing here?"

Anar's voice was strong and clear, carrying an undisguised disdain.

"I've come to see His Highness the Crown Prince—"

"What are you looking at? The imperial physician said I need to rest! With that loud voice, are you here to see me or to hasten my death?"

"You—I am a prince!"

"What's wrong with the prince? I'm still the princess of the Northern Desert! Go away, go away, don't get in my way—"

Anar's voice came from outside again: "Hurry up and leave! If you don't leave, I'll have my brother come and have a talk with you!"

A series of shoving sounds, accompanied by Xiao Qiming's furious cry of "Let me go!", gradually faded into the distance.

Su Yaoyao laughed so hard her shoulders shook.

"Anar's mouth," she wiped away tears of laughter, "is really something."