"Ah—"
The world spun as Xie Lin flipped Jiang Yunshu over, pinning her wrists firmly against the embroidered quilt.
Jiang Yunshu jolted awake from a nightmare, her eyes snapping open to this scene. Xie Lin’s face was mere inches from hers, his flawless, pale skin nearly brushing against her cheek, his breath warm against her neck, sending tingles down her spine.
She tried to pull away, but Xie Lin had her completely trapped, leaving her no room to move.
"Master Xie?" Jiang Yunshu stared at him in bewilderment. In the dead of night, she had been sound asleep… Had Xie Lin suddenly taken an interest in her?
Her face flushed with discomfort. "What are you doing, Master Xie?"
Xie Lin let out a cold laugh. "Perhaps you should ask yourself what you were doing."
A haze of confusion clouded Jiang Yunshu’s eyes. "Me? I was sleeping… I was dreaming…"
She had just had a terrifying nightmare—Concubine Qiao lying in a pool of blood, lifeless.
In her dream, she had desperately performed CPR and rescue breaths on Concubine Qiao.
Wait… Now that she thought about it, before Xie Lin flipped her over, hadn’t their positions been reversed?
Had she been on top of Xie Lin? Had she mistaken him for Concubine Qiao?
Xie Lin watched her realization dawn, his voice icy. "Remember now?"
He had been asleep when Jiang Yunshu suddenly threw herself onto him, pressing her hands against his waist with alarming force.
Her head had buried into his shoulder, her hot breath fanning over his neck.
Xie Lin stiffened. For over a decade, he had forbidden anyone from touching him. He bathed and dressed himself, and even the servants who attended to him were only allowed to tidy his bed. No one was permitted such intimate contact.
He kept his body meticulously concealed beneath layers of clothing, even in the sweltering summer heat—not that it mattered, given the endless supply of ice that kept his palace cool.
Yet now, Jiang Yunshu was this close to him.
Her cool fingers brushed against his burning skin, sending an involuntary shiver through him.
He couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched him like this. He might have never experienced such skin-to-skin contact in his life—or if he had, it would have been in infancy, long before his memory began.
Xie Lin wanted to kick her away, or seize her by the throat and toss her out!
But somehow, his outstretched hand changed course. Instead, he flipped her over and pinned her down, rendering her immobile.
Jiang Yunshu shrank under Xie Lin’s murderous gaze.
She had reenacted her dream rescue efforts—on Xie Lin.
"It was just a dream," she hurriedly explained.
Xie Lin studied her with a knowing look. "So Her Highness is so… passionate in her dreams. This servant will remember Her Highness’s preferences."
Jiang Yunshu’s face burned. "No! That’s not—"
How could she make him believe her dream wasn’t what he thought it was?
For the rest of the night, sleep eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Concubine Qiao covered in blood resurfaced.
In her half-asleep daze, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Xie Lin taking her back to the Marquis's Mansion to save Concubine Qiao had been nothing but a beautiful dream.
That day, when the spies reported Concubine Qiao’s torture to Xie Lin, Jiang Yunshu had fallen to her knees and begged him.
To her shock, Xie Lin hadn’t hesitated. He immediately summoned imperial physicians and guards, rushing to the Marquis's Mansion and saving Concubine Qiao’s life.
The physicians said that if they had arrived even a quarter-hour later, Concubine Qiao would have been beyond saving.
It had been far too close.
After returning to Weiyang Palace, Jiang Yunshu couldn’t stop trembling with fear.
Though the physicians assured her Concubine Qiao was out of danger…
Jiang Yunshu wouldn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. Every time she closed them, she saw Concubine Qiao—emaciated, drenched in blood, barely clinging to life.
Tonight, after waking from the nightmare, her unease only grew.
Each time she drifted toward sleep, a horrifying thought clawed its way into her mind—
What if Concubine Qiao’s survival was the dream?
What if, when she woke, she would find Concubine Qiao already dead?
The thought jolted her awake every time, her breath ragged as she struggled to separate illusion from reality.
After several repetitions, Xie Lin’s voice drifted from behind her, eerily calm. "What are you doing?"
Jiang Yunshu startled. "Forgive me, Master Xie. I didn’t mean to disturb your rest."
Xie Lin hadn’t slept at all—he could never rest if someone else was awake beside him.
"I had a nightmare," Jiang Yunshu explained. "I keep worrying about Concubine Qiao…" She hesitated before adding tentatively, "Could you… let me see her again? Just once?"
"If I see her with my own eyes, I’ll be at peace."
Xie Lin chuckled. "Is Her Highness treating this servant as a bodhisattva, making wishes to me?"
Caught, Jiang Yunshu flushed.
So far, every request she had made to Xie Lin, he had granted… Even as she reminded herself of his ruthlessness, she couldn’t help testing his limits.
Xie Lin toyed with the white jade beads on his wrist. "It’s not impossible…"
"But what will Her Highness offer in return?"
After a pause, he continued, "How about a wager? If Her Highness can keep her eyes closed for an entire day without opening them, I’ll allow you to see Concubine Qiao."
Jiang Yunshu’s face burned anew, recalling the three days and nights Xie Lin had tricked her into keeping her eyes shut, claiming he would "gouge them out."
Was he trying to recreate that scenario?
Still, the chance to see Concubine Qiao was too tempting. Face still flaming, she agreed softly, "Alright."
She obediently tilted her head up. "Will you blindfold me, Master Xie?"
Xie Lin shook his head. "No. A blindfold would make it too easy."
"This time, nothing will cover your eyes. You must keep them closed on your own."
"If you open them even once, you lose."
"Her Highness must resist the urge."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yunshu shut her eyes.
A full day and night—just twelve hours of keeping her eyes closed to see Concubine Qiao. At first, it seemed simple.
But she quickly realized how wrong she was.
No blindfold. No hands covering her eyes.
Just… gently closed.
Opening them would be effortless.
Keeping them shut went against every instinct.
And Xie Lin did everything in his power to make her fail.
Bang! A deafening explosion erupted beside her, making Jiang Yunshu leap in fright.
Her instincts screamed at her to open her eyes and flee, but she clenched them tighter.
At mealtime, unable to see, she relied on Xie Lin to feed her.
Then, she bit into something strange. Her face twisted. "What is this?"
Xie Lin laughed. "Fried insects."
Jiang Yunshu nearly shrieked, barely stopping herself from opening her eyes.
Undeterred, Xie Lin kept shoveling the fried insects into her mouth, his disappointment evident.
"Don’t you want to see what you’re eating?" His voice was a taunting whisper.
Jiang Yunshu tightly shut her eyes—as long as she didn’t look, what she had swallowed was just delicious protein!
For the entire day, Xie Lin had employed countless tactics.
As night fell, Xie Lin carried Jiang Yunshu into the bathing chamber, leaving her to wash herself with her eyes closed.
Once finished, Jiang Yunshu called out softly, "Master Xie."
The bathing chamber was eerily quiet, her voice echoing unanswered.
She was left alone in the pool—unable to open her eyes, without a stitch of clothing.
Jiang Yunshu fumbled along the edges of the pool, her hands tracing the same path over and over, finding nothing.
Finally, she retreated to a corner, sinking down with her knees drawn to her chest.
Restlessness gnawed at her, yet she kept her eyes sealed shut, not daring to peek.
"Master Xie, Master Xie…" she whispered.
The longer she soaked in the scalding water, the dizzier she grew, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
If she stayed any longer, she’d faint—Jiang Yunshu had no choice but to step out of the pool, eyes still closed.
She didn’t know if Xie Lin was there, watching silently from the shadows, taking in every trembling moment.
Burning with shame, she resisted the urge to open her eyes, her hands groping blindly through the chamber…
After what felt like endless circling, her fingers finally brushed against Xie Lin.
Her cold, trembling hands clutched his arm.
In that instant, the desire to look was stronger than ever. She bit her lip hard, holding back—but she couldn’t stop herself from clinging to him.
Xie Lin’s arm curled around her, lifting her effortlessly.
There was no time for garments—just a cloak thrown over her, shrouding her from head to toe as he carried her through the corridors, back to the bedchamber.
The sheer canopy of the bed lay half-tangled on the sheets, half-spilled onto the floor, swaying gently in the night breeze.
…
Xie Lin’s gaze was unlike anything she’d seen before.
The moment their eyes met, Jiang Yunshu jolted awake.
She’d opened them.
Xie Lin had seen.
She froze, vision blurring as tears spilled hot and heavy down her cheeks.
Xie Lin reached out, his fingers brushing her eyelids shut.
His scorching palm lingered over her eyes for a long, silent moment.
Then she heard his voice: "Time’s up."
"You won."
