Ming Lingyi didn’t even have time to observe the neighboring residence, which had at some point been transformed into a hidden paradise. Li Yun had already kicked open the door to the main room and set her on the edge of the bed.

"Let me see." Li Yun stood before Ming Lingyi, his towering, mountain-like presence somewhat oppressive. He spoke, his gaze heavy as he looked at her.

Ming Lingyi seemed to finally react to his series of actions. She placed her hands on his shoulders to brace herself. "See what? I already told you I’m fine." ’What was their relationship now? Even in the past, she would have only ever snuck a look by herself for something like this. How could she possibly ask Li Yun?’

"And what is all this?" Ming Lingyi glanced around at the room’s decor. Although it was supposedly a commoner’s house, one look at the furnishings made it clear that no ordinary person could afford to live here.

The walls were inlaid with fist-sized Luminous Pearls. Even though they hadn’t lit any candles upon entering, the room was perfectly bright.

The tables, chairs, and even the bed had all been replaced with precious woods far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Even the hooks holding back the bed curtains were dragon-headed clasps forged from pure gold.

Ming’s Restaurant was right next door, yet Ming Lingyi had no idea when her neighbor had been replaced by the impossibly noble and wealthy man standing before her.

Li Yun made no attempt to hide it. After all, from the moment he began planning all this, he never intended to keep it from Ming Lingyi.

"I bought it," Li Yun said. "So, this place is ours now."

Seeing the disbelief on Ming Lingyi’s face, Li Yun simply sat down beside her and said calmly, "Since you don’t want to go back, I had no choice but to come here."

Li Yun’s thinking was simple: if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.

After he finished, Ming Lingyi was at a loss for words.

She didn’t want to return to the palace, it was true. But she had no way of stopping Li Yun from leaving it, nor could she prevent him from buying the house next door to become her neighbor.

Li Yun said, "Alright. I’ve finished my explanation. Now let me see your injury."

His words instantly put Ming Lingyi on guard.

"I’m fine," she repeated, insisting she didn’t need his "inspection."

Li Yun didn’t look convinced. He gave Ming Lingyi a suspicious look. "If you’re fine, then why were you so displeased with me earlier?"

Ming Lingyi was speechless.

"Then something *is* wrong," Li Yun said, his eyes fixed on Ming Lingyi.

Ming Lingyi was truly a bit intimidated by his thoroughness. She had no choice but to loosen her outer robe and lift the hem of her undergarment. "See for yourself." As she spoke, she turned her head away in a fit of pique.

The moment she lifted the hem, a sliver of her slender, pearlescent-white waist was revealed.

But now, starkly visible on that slender, snow-white waist, was the dark, bluish-black print of five fingers.

One glance was enough to tell what had happened.

It almost looked as if she had been abused.

After a single glance, Li Yun snatched his eyes away as if he’d been scalded. But just as quickly, his gaze returned, and he reached out to place a hand on Ming Lingyi’s waist.

The man’s fingers were rough. From years of wielding both a brush and a sword, his palms and fingertips were covered in a thin layer of calluses.

When his large, dry hand touched the snowy skin of her waist, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but let out a shiver.

The soft flesh of her waist, where Li Yun touched it, seemed to suddenly give way in that instant.

A waist as supple as a willow, swaying in the wind.

It was like a pool of water, unbelievably soft.

Li Yun had looked away earlier because he felt like a beast.

’Upon seeing the mark, he did feel a pang of heartache, but stronger than that was a strange sense of satisfaction. He even felt an urge to place his hand over it, to cover the traces of last night with new ones of his own.’

Now, after steadying his mind, he finally let his gaze fall back to Ming Lingyi’s waist.

"I’m sorry," Li Yun said in a low voice. "I was too rough."

Last night, he had lost control, wanting to fiercely melt the woman in his arms into his very being. He hadn’t properly controlled the strength of his grip, which had led to this.

Ming Lingyi, however, was starting to feel uncomfortable. She didn’t even notice when the tips of her ears began to burn.

Li Yun’s presence was too overwhelming, and their current position seemed far too intimate and dangerous. Combined with the man’s hands currently resting on her waist, which were impossible to ignore, Ming Lingyi swallowed hard and struggled to maintain her composure. "I’m not blaming you... Alright, you’ve seen it, and I’m fine. Now, could you please get up..."

As she spoke, she reached out to push him away. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

But before Ming Lingyi could finish speaking, she felt a sudden tightening around her waist. The large hands that had just been tracing the bruises suddenly clenched, and with a single motion, he lifted her onto his lap.

Ming Lingyi gasped. "What are you doing?"

If their previous position had made her feel unsafe, this one—sitting on Li Yun’s lap—threw her into a panic.

Ming Lingyi’s instinctive struggling caused Li Yun’s breath to quicken.

Li Yun hadn’t intended to take advantage of her, but as she squirmed against him, the memory of last night—that first exquisite taste—seeped back into his bones. A tingling heat spread from deep within him, wave after wave.

"Don’t move," Li Yun ordered in a low voice, patting her slender waist as he spoke. "I just want to hold you."

Perhaps because the feeling of having lost her and then gotten her back was so unforgettable, Li Yun wanted to hold her like this at every opportunity.

Unfortunately, from the time they reunited until now, Ming Lingyi had given him practically no such chances.

His previous action had been almost entirely instinctual.

Once he had her in his arms, Li Yun took a deep, satisfied breath and rested his chin in the crook of Ming Lingyi’s shoulder.

It was a long-lost feeling of peace.

In that moment, all thoughts of fleeting affairs and Jiang Yuchuan vanished. Li Yun couldn’t help but tighten his arms around Ming Lingyi’s waist once more.

That night, Ming Lingyi didn’t make it back to the restaurant to explain the situation to the group in the rear courtyard.

Li Yun was a man of his word. If Ming Lingyi was unwilling, he would not force her.

For Li Yun, sleeping in each other’s arms brought him a greater sense of peace than even the most intimate physical union.

The group still at Ming’s Restaurant, however, could not feel at ease.

Shi Mingyue lay on her bed, her ears filled with the sound of Xiao Chun’s voice.

"Ming Yue, Ming Yue, you heard him earlier, didn’t you?" Xiao Chun poked her head over. The man she was referring to was Liu Ye, who had visited their restaurant several times and even used a silver needle to test for poison on his first visit—it was hard to forget him. "He said the Young Miss isn’t coming back tonight. And on top of that, Lord Jiang called that other person ’Emperor’! My heavens, what in the world is going on?!"

Shi Mingyue rolled over in bed and didn’t answer right away.