The person in front of Lin Feilu just smiled as he embraced her tighter and gently patted the back of her head, “But I want to get closer to the Princess,” Before she could retort, he whispered again, “I haven’t seen you in a few years and since I was worried that the Princess would feel estranged from me, I truly couldn’t rest properly throughout the entire journey.”

Lin Feilu suspected that there was something wrong with her own ears. Otherwise, how was it actually possible for her to hear a sliver of sadness in his tone?

She moved her feet and adjusted her posture slightly so that she could bury herself in his arms more comfortably. Then, she said slowly, “Alright then, I will give you another half stick of incense time.”

Song Jinglan replied with a smile, “Thank you, Princess.”

However, their physical closeness helped to reduce the awkward gap in their relationship. She buried herself in his chest, listening to his deep and mighty heartbeat as all the embarrassment and tension she previously felt completely dissipated.

It was as if they had never been apart for that long.

It was as if they had always been this close.

It seemed like no matter whether he was a royal prisoner or an Emperor, she could act as recklessly as she wanted to in front of him.

She leaned closer against his chest, raised her hand to touch the dark red lines on his neckline and said in a completely relaxed tone, “Since you secretly came to pick me up, who’s handling the political affairs in the court? Will your subjects curse me for being a beauty of disaster?”

Song Jinglan pinched the back of her soft neck, smiling lazily as he replied, “They wouldn’t dare to.”

Lin Feilu sighed and acted out the scenario on her own, “Sigh, the ministers would think, ‘for a mere Princess, His Majesty has given up the chance to rule and unify the world in order to spoil her. The night of spring is bitterly short, so the Emperor will no longer attend the morning court(1); what a shame.”

(T/N: The phrase refers to the Emperor spending the night with a beauty/consort, and since the night passes by all too quickly, he would rather stay in bed till morning with her and ignore his responsibilities. I’m pretty proud about making the phrase rhyme to be honest, haha.)

Song Jinglan kneaded his fingers over the back of her neck, and after a while, he repeated her words with a soft smile, “The spring night is short, so I won’t go to court?”

Lin Feilu, “?”

Wait, did I recite the wrong poem?

Song Jinglan raised his hand to hold her fingers that were playing with his neckline. He placed them to his lips and kissed them as he spoke in a very gentle tone, “Since the Princess has made arrangements for our future, I can only be respectful of your wishes.”

Lin Feilu, who had practically dug a hole for herself through her words, “…”

She embarrassedly withdrew her hand, raised her leg and jumped off of him, “Time’s up!”

Song Jinglan looked at her with a tad of reluctance, “Can we not extend it?”

Lin Feilu placed her arms on the sides of her waist and answered, “No!”

Song Jinglan, “Okay then, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Lin Feilu, “?”

Pretty Boy has changed. No, he definitely was different from before.

He wasn’t this shameless before.

She ran to the corner angrily and picked up the unfinished book that lay on the carpet, eager to continue reading it. Song Jinglan didn’t stick to her this time as he sat across from her, smiling as he looked at her warmly. That gaze was very gentle, but she instead felt that it was scorching hot.

How could Lin Feilu continue reading in this sort of mood? She placed the book on her lap before actively declaring, “I want to ride a horse!”

Of course, she knew that as a Princess who was being wedded off, she couldn’t just show her face of her own accord while she was still being escorted to the Song Empire. She just wanted to test how far Little Pretty Boy was willing to tolerate her tantrums.