The two had been brought up together, did everything together. Despite their different opinions and personalities, they never thought such a thing was dirty and never realised that men and women were different.

The seniors in the Residence knew that Pingting's identity wasn't even enough for the lowest rank for a concubine, so they turned a blind eye to their relationship.

The fragrance of Gui Le was the scent of the Jing-An Ducal Residence.

Pingting loved this scent, saying it was comforting. Its fragrance was often present in her Master's room too.

She had her own room, but her Master's room was hers too. She had touched all of the interesting things in the room and entered all the time.

"It's a little warmer if I hold you." A seven year old boy said, full of desire to protect like always.

"Open the window."

"But Mother will yell at me again." Even though He Xia said this, he didn't hesitate to jump out of the snug bed. He pushed open the window and agilely wriggled back in, hugging the pale-faced Pingting. "It's so cold!"

"Winter ought to be cold."

"Go on! Who was the one sick in bed two days ago?"

The two young children chattered on, the echoes ringing in the ear.

She groggily woke up and saw He Xia's familiar face jump into the corners of her eyes. Pingting shrinked back, widening her eyes.

It wasn't a dream.

"What's wrong?" He Xia opened his eyes, smiling as he asked.

Pingting sat up and turned away, "Why is Master sleeping here?"

"We used to..."

"The past is the past, the present is the present." Pingting stopped, fuming. "We've grown up."

He Xia had rarely seen Pingting angry and couldn't help feeling a little shocked. It was a while before he sneered, "True, we've grown up, and our hearts have changed too." He got off the bed, picking up his own clothes to put on.

Zuiju had curled up by the wall and slept through the night. She heard some muffled sounds and rubbed her eyes, standing up in the corner. The useless stone remained in her hand.

He Xia saw her and he turned back to Pingting. He lowered his voice, "No need to worry, your maid is even more worried than you are. The object in her hand has caught the light of the sun. No matter what I do, how could she possibly even begin to stop me?" He had always been a charismatic man, but after this night, even though he had no ill intentions, his charisma was completely shattered in their eyes until not a trace was left.

Pingting had known He Xia for all these years. The two had an unbreakable bond, but she had never put the feelings between man and woman into it. Even when she had heard about being taken as his wife, she had never thought too much about it. Hearing He Xia's words just then made her feel both scared and angry. Her face paled.

"Have I ever forced you at any time since we were young?" He Xia's heart had been engulfed by the fire of annoyance as he gritted his teeth. "Chu Beijie is the one that wants your body not your heart. Don't mistake me for him."

Pingting only felt that her heart had been cut with a sharp knife, causing it to no longer support her body. She began to sway.

Zuiju suddenly yelled, "Miss!"

He Xia was also alarmed by this and hurriedly went forwards to support her. He massaged her back, softening his voice, "I said the wrong thing, calm down." Whenever he had annoyed Pingting in the past, he had said the same thing. His words were more instinctive than anything else. It also helped calm himself down.

Zuiju brought up hot water and Pingting drank a sip. Pingting's eyes flickered towards He Xia and saw geniune concern in his eyes. She then remembered that she had to do every trick, tactic and plan to get away from this familiar person. Her heart was filled with sorrow. Not quite sure whether her tone should be happy or angry, she ended up whispering, "Is Master heading out today?" after a while.

"Anything wrong?"

Pingting saw that he was holding onto her wrist and was terrified that the effects from Zuiju's acupuncture had lifted, leading to He Xia's discovery of her plan. Her expression didn't change however, "Nothing much. If Master isn't heading out, then draw Pingting so that even if one day Pingting is gone, Master still has something to remember."

He Xia snorted, "What rubbish. Are you not here for me to see? If you're gone, I will go through the heavens and earth to retrieve you."

"What heavens and earth? Do you really take those words seriously?" Pingting faintly retorted back, thinking of the various vows she had made with Chu Beijie.

Through the heavens and earth, to the end of the earth and to its highest and lowest points.

For this lifetime and the following lives, vows lasted through life and death.

"Get on the horse. From then on, you will no longer be called Bai Pingting, you will be Chu."

Words not to be taken seriously, yet she had really believed in them.

How could she take them seriously? She had her good dream and woken from it.

The sour taste of grief welled up at the tip of her nose. While she was momentarily caught up, tears the size of beans began to fall.

He Xia however, did not realise that her thoughts had drifted faraway. He comforted her, "Every word I say is the truth. Don't cry, I won't go anywhere today and draw a very pretty picture of you, so you can display it in your room, okay?"

Pingting's expression was full of suffering and was even more upset when she heard He Xia's soft words of comfort. She put out all of her hatred against Chu Beijie.

She then remembered the fetus inside her and didn't cry out. She whimpered, gradually removing the sound until she stopped.

Although He Xia knew that the Princess was still waiting for him at the Royal Residence, the Princess was much easier to please. Pingting was wiser and more intelligent, making her much more difficult to persuade. He had been the one to set a trap to deeply crack her heart. Seeing the current Pingting so weak, He Xia naturally refused to let go of such an easy way to win her trust. He asked someone to pass on a message to the Royal Residence, quickly conjuring up a random excuse. He then took out a piece of paper and picked up the brush, carefully drawing Pingting.

Yaotian slept even worse than Zuiju that night.

When returning to the Royal Residence, she had looked around the brilliant halls of gold and the glittering bead curtains as well as the maids that attended her. The more she looked, the more uncomfortable she felt. She regretted the anger felt when marching away from the Prince Consort Residence.

He Xia sword dancing in the snow while Bai Pingting playing an extraordinary accompaniment on the qin was a satisfaction that Yaotian could never give to He Xia in her lifetime. She could only give and had given normal day to day actions, carrying out something like a flawless transaction.

Although unwilling to admit, she knew, deep down, what each other really wanted.

Yaotian could barely supress the sour taste in her heart and mind. She lay out on the bed, tossed and turned sleeplessly until it became the hour for her to get up.

A man's heart was never easy to capture, not to mention, from all of the people possible, she had chosen the famous Marquess of Jing-An.

Thinking of the words He Xia had said the night before sent Yaotian's heart sank, she got dressed and told Luyi to reject the other officials who tried to see her. She concentrated on He Xia's arrival.

Unexpectedly, after a long period of waiting, He Xia did not come. He sent a messenger who had said He Xia was carefully thinking about the frontlines and could not temporarily come to the Royal Resience today. Although the messenger followed He Xia's instructions and put in several good words for him, Yaotian sent him back with a cold expression. She stayed alone in the room, waiting for a long time before ordering Luyi. "Go bring the Senior Official here."

Gui Changqing immediately settled the documents he had been going through and hurried over as soon as he heard the command.