"I’m here."

Ji Qingwu’s voice was soft and gentle.

The heat from Emperor Wu Su’s body was rising, warming her face and making her heart race.

The lamplight cast the shadow of their embrace onto the milky-white window paper.

Where she couldn’t see, the emotions in the man’s eyes finally erupted, a thousand times more intense than anything Ji Qingwu had ever witnessed before.

’If Ji Qingwu hadn’t rejected Wei Ting today...’

’They never would have been allowed to marry.’

’What he craved, what he wanted, he would never again surrender to another.’

An unknown amount of time passed, so long that Ji Qingwu’s eyelids grew heavy and she felt drowsy.

She opened her hazy eyes and saw that the candle within the lampshade on the table had already burned down by more than half.

Emperor Wu Su hadn’t moved an inch.

Even when she held Jiu Jiu, her arms and legs would go numb after a while, let alone him holding a full-grown person like her.

Ji Qingwu gave him a gentle push and whispered, "Your Majesty."

Emperor Wu Su’s closed eyes snapped open, his tone laced with irritation at being disturbed.

"Where are you going?"

Their eyes met, and Ji Qingwu’s drowsiness vanished in an instant.

His gaze made her feel like a criminal under strict guard. The arm around her waist tightened, as if to prevent her from escaping.

After that brief rest, the sparkle returned to Ji Qingwu’s eyes.

She blinked and said, "It’s getting late. It’s time to rest."

The implication was clear: Your Majesty should return to his palace, and she wanted to sleep.

Emperor Wu Su noticed the cloud patterns embroidered on his robes imprinted on her cheek, a charmingly playful sight. He pinched her face with his fingers.

"Are you trying to send me away?"

Ji Qingwu said, "Your Majesty has to attend court tomorrow. Returning to the palace too late will affect your rest."

He shook his head. "I will rest right here."

"Your Majesty, you must be joking, right?"

He had the grand Zhaoyang Hall to live in, yet he wanted to squeeze into her tiny little space.

But Emperor Wu Su simply continued talking to himself as he carried her into the inner room. "Last time, didn’t you borrow my attic in Handan Hall for a night? Now it’s time you repay me with a night."

’Did I *want* to stay the night?’

’Li Yuzong practically forced me to go. And while the Emperor did help me clean up the mess with Prince Yong, I already repaid that favor last time.’

The moment Ji Qingwu was placed on the bed, she scrambled to the far side, huddling at the foot of the bed and watching him warily as he stood before it.

Emperor Wu Su raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. Even with his hand partially covering his face, his furrowed brow clearly showed his exhaustion.

Because the serving girls were all fast asleep, she had only lit the lamp in the outer room after coming in.

Leaning against the foot of the bed, Ji Qingwu looked at him in the light filtering in from the outer room and thought she could see dark circles under his eyes.

The sense of desolation and weakness that had emanated from him under the parasol tree earlier was now being released once more.

She thought about how diligently the Emperor usually handled state affairs, often burning the midnight oil to review memorials, and how the Northern Border Army had been restless recently...

He must be mentally and physically exhausted. At the thought, Ji Qingwu’s heart tightened in sympathy.

Lin’an City was prosperous and beautiful, and Beili was spared the scourge of war, all because of him.

’What’s the harm in letting the exhausted Emperor rest here for one night?’ the high-minded Ji Qingwu thought to herself.

Emperor Wu Su secretly glanced at her. This time, he stopped pinching the bridge of his nose and instead began rubbing his forehead with a sigh.

His voice was dejected. "If you are so unwilling, Ah Wu, I will not force you."

As he spoke, he even coughed several times.

Ji Qingwu scooted forward a little, no longer huddled in the corner. She wanted to reach out and take his pulse to see if anything was seriously wrong.

The night air was cool, and the Emperor had waited outside for her for so long. The dew was heavy in the dead of night, and he still had to travel back in the darkness.

Reason told her she couldn’t let the Emperor stay the night in her room, but seeing his exhaustion, Ji Qingwu felt a pang of pity.

Just as she was hesitating, she heard the sound of someone in the outer room turning over, sitting up, and walking toward her room.

Ji Qingwu snapped to her senses. She quickly reached out, pulled Emperor Wu Su onto the bed, shoved him forcefully toward the inner side, and frantically lowered the bed curtains.

The series of actions was a single, fluid motion, made possible, of course, by the Emperor’s enthusiastic cooperation.

"Missy, are you asleep?" It was Lan Zhi’s groggy voice.

Ji Qingwu hadn’t expected her maid to wake up so quickly. It seemed that studying medicine with her these past days had improved Lan Zhi’s constitution quite a bit.

Lan Zhi walked into the inner room. She seemed to see a shadow move on the bed and asked in confusion, "Fifth Missy, how did I fall asleep in the outer room?"

Ji Qingwu tried to bluff her way through. "Lan Zhi, you must have been working too hard recently. It’s fine to sleep a little extra. Go on, go back to sleep."

She pulled the nearby stack of pinkish-blue brocade quilts over Emperor Wu Su, completely covering him. Then, afraid he might move, she pressed down on his body with her hand.

Through the thin gauze of the bed curtains, Lan Zhi saw Ji Qingwu leaning against the side of the bed. It was as if the overlapping shadows she thought she saw were just a hallucination.

Lan Zhi’s head was still heavy. Thinking she must have seen wrong, she asked, "Fifth Missy, why haven’t you lit a lamp?"

"There’s no need!"

Sensing her tone was too sharp, Ji Qingwu tried again in a calmer voice, "There’s no need to light it. I’m about to sleep. You should go rest too."

Lan Zhi’s head was still groggy, and she couldn’t figure out how she had ended up on the couch in the outer room.

She nodded. "Alright, Fifth Missy. I’ll keep watch outside. Just call me if you need anything."

Once Lan Zhi’s footsteps faded away, Ji Qingwu retracted her gaze from the bed curtains and let it fall on the lump under the quilts on the inner side of the bed.

Suddenly, Ji Qingwu felt a hand grab her waist. He gave a tug, and she slid under the brocade quilt with him.

Emperor Wu Su’s body was now half-pressing down on her.

They were both bundled under the quilt, so close they could feel each other’s breath.

Only then did Ji Qingwu remember what a ’great’ thing she had just done to His Majesty the Emperor. She forced a smile, not caring whether he could see it in the pitch-black space under the covers.

She whispered, "Your Majesty, once Lan Zhi is sound asleep, you can sneak out. I’ll keep watch for you."

Emperor Wu Su’s hand found her face with perfect accuracy, his well-defined fingers kneading her earlobe.

"Why must I sneak out? Am I so unfit to be seen?"

He didn’t lower his voice.

Ji Qingwu quickly raised her hands to pull the quilt tighter, leaving not a single gap, which only pressed the two of them even closer together.

Lan Zhi had been assigned to her by Mrs. Qiao. If she found out, Mrs. Qiao would most likely also learn of her relationship with the Emperor.

She tried to placate him by rubbing her cheek against his palm, whispering, "It’s not that Your Majesty is unfit to be seen. It’s that I’m afraid."

Feeling the smoothness of her skin against his palm, his tone softened as well.

"What are you afraid of?"

Huddled under a single quilt, this close to him, Ji Qingwu felt that their hearts had also drawn much nearer.

She answered honestly, "I’m afraid of my mother finding out. I’m afraid of causing trouble for her."

"*I’m* trouble?"

Ji Qingwu corrected him, "It’s the power in Your Majesty’s hands that could cause great trouble."

A glint flashed in Emperor Wu Su’s eyes. He hadn’t expected her to say something like that. ’So, she *is* teachable.’

Ji Qingwu was getting so stuffy she could barely breathe. She tried to poke her head out from under the quilt for some air, and had just managed to emerge a little.

But then he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back in.