Twelve twelve.

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Everything happened too quickly. Yue Zhi didn’t have time to get a clear look before the man collapsed against the wall, his nose twisted from the force of the stone’s impact, too pained to get up immediately.

She gasped for breath, scrambled to her feet, and fled through the half-open courtyard gate.

The other half of the gate was pushed open, and she was suddenly thrown against a chest that smelled faintly of soap. Startled by the unfamiliar man, she stepped back hastily, afraid it was another ill-intentioned stranger.

But the newcomer gently wrapped an arm around her back. The young man’s clear, soothing voice reassured her, “Don’t be afraid, it’s me.”

At the sound of his voice, Yue Zhi’s tense body relaxed instantly. Her eyes, swollen and red from the smoke, couldn’t make out his face clearly, but the blurred outline and tone were unmistakable.

“Pei Heng, inside there… I…” she stammered nervously, unable to finish her sentence. Pei Heng gently patted her back. “It’s alright. I’ll take care of it.”

His deadpan gaze fixed on the man beneath the wall as if looking at a corpse.

He had calculated Yue Zhi’s return time and prepared a hot meal, but it had nearly gone cold waiting for her. Guessing that the Wang family’s grain harvest had delayed her on the way, he left home to find her, only to come upon a familiar face within his uncle’s manor.

Pei Heng helped Yue Zhi out of the courtyard and had her sit on a haystack to catch her breath and clear the effects of the smoke. He called over the children playing nearby to watch over her.

Even the most mischievous children knew the reputation of the little scholar at the academy and immediately stopped their games, gathering quietly around Yue Zhi.

Pei Heng returned along the same path to the small courtyard. The man was already propped against the wall, struggling to stand.

Through bloodshot eyes, he looked at Pei Heng, then after a moment of recognition, chuckled bitterly.

“You? You’re still alive?”

When exiled to the northern lands, the bitter cold and heavy snow meant that over half of the male prisoners sentenced to hard labor perished that winter. Everyone presumed the missing, weak and young ex-crown prince had died long ago.

The man pondered further. “It was that maid? She kept you alive? No wonder people said she had a younger brother. I thought someone else had taken her in, but to think it would be you…”

Six years of hardship and servitude had turned the man cruel and vicious, his laughter laced with scorn.

Pei Heng regarded him coldly, his handsome face shadowed by a restless, unspoken turmoil.

The youth remained silent, while the man continued to vent.

“We’re both burdened with guilt. What makes you better than me? You just happened to have a loyal servant by your side, willing to support and provide for you. Look at how well off you are now.”

“We were both dragged into this by your mother and you. Don’t think you can wash your hands of it. The villagers avoid me; if they knew of your crimes of witchcraft and rebellion, do you think they’d treat you and your sister any better…”

Before he could finish, the youth flung a stone from his hand, shattering the weathered bricks on the wall. Half of it collapsed with a crash, burying the man beneath the rubble.

The dust was blown away by the wind, revealing the man’s battered, bloodied body and a half-covered, bleeding face.

Pei Heng stepped over the debris and approached him.

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Looking at him, it was as though he saw an alternate fate for himself.

Without Yue Zhi’s protection, alone in the world, he might have become this hysterical, ruthless, and cruel man.

He picked up another stone with one hand and smashed it mercilessly into the other half of the man’s face, turning the pile of stones into his grave.

By the time he left the courtyard, he had brushed the dust off his clothes. Returning to Yue Zhi, his face had regained its usual gentle smile.

Yue Zhi rubbed her still-swollen eyes and saw a vague figure approach and crouch before her.

Worried, she asked, “Why was it so loud in the courtyard? Did something happen? Are you hurt?”

Pei Heng caught her anxious, restless hands and placed them against his cheek, softly soothing, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

His cheek was soft beneath her palm, and a faint smile curved his lips, calming her flustered heart considerably.

Pei Heng sent the children away to eat dinner and turned his back to Yue Zhi, facing a different direction.

“Come up, I’ll carry you home.”

Yue Zhi blushed. “I already feel much better. You can just help me walk. How could someone my age be carried? People would laugh.”

“Who would laugh? I’ll say it’s because I insisted on carrying you.”

He said it so casually, as if coaxing her to try a new dish, making Yue Zhi feel that any further resistance would be just her being overly delicate.

She reached out to his back, resting her arms on his shoulders, and slowly leaned forward. Though a simple motion, her heart pounded like a drum.

She’d never been carried before. Usually, only children were carried, and she had never seen a girl her age being carried—she was sure she’d fall off.

“Hold tight,” Pei Heng murmured, wrapping his hands around her knees and effortlessly lifting her up.

Suspended in the air, Yue Zhi felt both nervous and intrigued. She instinctively tightened her arms around the young man’s neck, her breath lengthening.

He walked at an unhurried pace. Yue Zhi rested on his back, her blurred eyes gazing at the fiery clouds in the distance.

“Almost home. Put me down now.”

“Still a bit farther.”

“I think I hear someone talking.”

“It’s a group of old folks chatting under a tree.”

“Are they watching us? Pei Heng, please put me down. This is too strange.”

“It’s already dark. Their eyesight isn’t good. They’re not looking at us.”

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“Oh.” Yue Zhi was utterly at a loss.

Actually, being carried like this was quite comfortable. His back was warm and solid. The clothes he wore were all handmade by her; from the touch of the fabric, she knew he was wearing that familiar teal jacket.

She could imagine his silhouette carrying her, like a bamboo leaf bent slightly under the weight of morning dew in the mountain mist.

But just like that, lying on his back, her heart began to race again, pounding painfully in her chest.

Yue Zhi thought: Aunt Wang said I’m already of marriageable age. Maybe after marriage, this inexplicable fluttering feeling in my heart will go away.

She took a deep breath, the familiar scent of soap pods wafting through her nose.

“Yue Zhi,” Pei Heng called softly.

“Hm?” She snapped back to attention.

“Did that man say anything to you?”

Yue Zhi recalled the nonsense he’d babbled and replied gently, “Just a bunch of nonsense. I didn’t listen to a word. No matter what he said, don’t take it to heart.”

“Mm.” Pei Heng smiled in agreement. The restlessness within him, quelled by her murmured words at his ear, felt as insignificant as a breeze scattering the summer heat—soft and gentle.

“Why do you ask about him? Did you really do something to him?”

When Yue Zhi was sitting on the haystack, she heard the sound of the wall collapsing. Not just her, but the children nearby heard it, too, but fearing the little scholar inside, they restrained their curiosity and didn’t go look.

Now that they were gone, some mischievous child might sneak into the courtyard to have a peek. What if Pei Heng really did something…

“It’s not because of him.”

Pei Heng’s calm answer pulled Yue Zhi’s thoughts back. She listened quietly, sneaking a glance at his expression.

A faint smile played on his lips. “I just suddenly realized you’ve taken good care of me.”

That sentence warmed Yue Zhi’s heart.

She lowered her lashes. “You’ve always been a good person.”

“And you are good too.”

The young man’s voice seemed to be carried by the wind into her ear. Yue Zhi felt a tickling warmth, a flutter rising in her heart, and she couldn’t help but wiggle her suspended toes.

No one had ever praised her like that before.