"Awake? Drink some honey water to soothe your throat."

The young man who came in was carrying a food tray.

He seemed to have just taken a bath; his loose, dark hair was still damp, and the slightly open collar of his snow-white undergarment revealed a clear glimpse of his collarbone, which, combined with his gentle eyebrows and eyes, made him appear somewhat frail.

The faint light of the setting sun cast a soft glow on his profile, creating a striking contrast of light and shadow, giving him a slightly melancholic and gentle appearance.

When that adjective popped into her head, Zhan Xinjia was startled and immediately felt extremely uncomfortable.

Shen Suqing had no idea what the little girl was thinking. He sat on the edge of the bed, lowered his eyes, blew on the spoon, and then gently rubbed the spoon against her lips.

"Besides your throat, is there anything else that's bothering you?"

He frowned.

She cried for so long, her voice must be hoarse, but I wonder if she has any other injuries.

Obediently, she drank the warm, sweet honey water from the spoon offered to her lips. Her dry, sore throat finally felt a little soothed. The honey water went down her esophagus, and even her stomach felt warm and comfortable.

Zhan Xinjia lowered her head and silently touched her stomach with her palm.

When she spoke, she drew out the last syllable, and her voice was a little hoarse and muffled, like she was being coquettish.

"Waaaa, my ribs hurt so much..."

Shen Suqing: "..."

Shen Suqing: "Those are ribs."

He was initially worried about Azhi, thinking about how to subtly get information out of her to find out what had happened, but then this silly girl suddenly told him that her ribs hurt, leaving him speechless.

The little girl, curled up on the bed, let out an "oh," listlessly tugged at the tail of her dog, looking utterly bored.

After feeding him half a bowl of honey water, Shen Suqing was about to leave with the bowl when she suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

He turned around.

Her dark hair was tousled and messy from sleeping, and a silly smile appeared on her thin, fair face, revealing shallow dimples and slightly pointed canine teeth.

It looks like a messy little fox.

"Hehe, Master Shen... what were you doing outside so late the day you found me?!"

Why did you suddenly think of asking this?

"It just suddenly occurred to me, because Lord Shen rarely goes out, and when he does, it's usually only to the Imperial Academy, the Eastern Palace, or the Imperial Palace. That night, with such heavy rain and so late, it was strange that Lord Shen was still wandering around outside."

Hearing her words, Shen Suqing was also stunned.

His gaze shifted to the lazy orange cat in the little girl's arms, and his tone was quite helpless.

"Ask it."

"Um???"

Under the little girl's curious gaze, Shen Suqing temporarily put down the bowl, sat down on the edge of the bed, and raised his finger to touch his forehead.

"That day I was organizing official documents. After I finished, I was about to wash up and go to bed when the cat grabbed the file I had just finished organizing and ran away..."

"So, Lord Shen was actually chasing a cat that night?"

Overjoyed, Zhan Xin pinched Jide's little fleshy paw.

Shen Suqing nodded, his thin lips curving into a faint smile in the afterglow of the setting sun. His eyes were as gentle as if they were filled with warm-toned maple syrup, and the edges of his dark pupils shimmered with an amber hue.

"Luckily, we managed to chase after them."

If no one takes her back, the incredibly foolish Ah Zhi might get her brain fried from the rain and become an idiot.

Although she's not exactly smart anymore.

Zhan Xinjia had no idea he was thinking about her in his mind. She hugged Jide and pressed her cheek against his, then suddenly remembered something very important and quickly flipped Jide over like a pancake—

Is it male or female?

However, after searching for a long time, Zhan Xinjia came to a conclusion that shocked her for the rest of her life.

She raised the accumulating merit high in disbelief.

"Why don't you have double-breasted buttons or bells?!"

Good heavens, this thing isn't a normal kitten at all; it's just some unknown creature posing as a kitten!

Jide, woken up by her shaking, lazily opened one eye, meowed a few times, broke free from her grasp, ran back to the pillow, and curled up again. Finally, it impatiently wagged its tail back and forth.

Don't you understand the importance of respecting privacy?!

Greatly shocked, Zhan Xinjia was about to pull it back to look for it more carefully when, in the next second, the young man grabbed the hem of her coat.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jide jumped out of the window, slipped into the yard, and disappeared.

Zhan Xinjia, who was being grabbed by the back of his collar like a rabbit by the ears, turned around in a daze and met the eyes of Lord Shen, whose phoenix eyes were half-closed and upturned at the corners. Against the light, his eyes looked particularly gloomy and dark.

Shen Suqing pursed his lips, his tone subtly angry.

"A bell? What is that?"

"..."

Zhan Xinjia: "Haha..."

Holy crap, holy crap, what do I do?!

She now feels guilty, like she's pretending to be a good girl at home but actually being a wild child outside, only to be caught red-handed by her strict guardian...

How was she supposed to explain the bell to Lord Shen? For someone as upright as Lord Shen, such a word was definitely too vulgar; it was practically a desecration of him.

No, I can't let him figure it out!

Zhan Xinjia tried to feign madness to get away with it.

"Um... I mean, some people put bells around their cats' necks, and I was wondering why we don't, so I was a little shocked. Hahaha, it's nothing serious..."

She felt she looked perfectly round, but clearly Lord Shen didn't believe her at all, because his face darkened even more.

Feeling guilty, Zhan Xinjia shrank her neck and timidly looked up at him, giving him a flattering smile.

She decided to confess and receive leniency.

"Okay... I won't say it again next time. I know, I know, I can't swear, I can't talk nonsense. I won't dare to do it again next time. Please forgive me this time, Master Shen, okay?"

As she spoke, she simply scooted her knees to the edge of the bed, wrapped her arms around his narrow waist, and started shaking him wildly, becoming all sticky and coquettish.

When he looked down at her, she unreasonably closed her eyes and rubbed her head against his chest, making his already slightly open collar even more disheveled, and making his breathing unsteady.

He pressed his palm against her head, which was rubbing against him, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he awkwardly turned his face away.

His voice still carried anger.

"No matter where you learned those words, don't mention them again, and never learn bad things outside."

If he said that, Zhan Xinjia wouldn't be convinced.

Taking a deep breath of the pleasant scent of ink and books emanating from Lord Shen, she lifted her head from his embrace, her delicate brows furrowing.

"I haven't gone astray! And I only use some of the swear words casually. Like, I've always thought that Lord Shen has a melancholic and gentle husband vibe, but Lord Shen might not actually be—!!"

At this point, Zhan Xinjia suddenly realized what incoherent and lewd things he had been saying.

She nearly bit her tongue, hastily raising her hands to cover her mouth tightly. Her earlobes were bright red, and her eyes were misty and wet.

Before Master Shen could react, she turned around and quickly tried to crawl back into bed to play dead. However, just as she was halfway up to his waist, a hand wrapped around her waist.

That hand wrapped around her and forcibly dragged her into his arms again.

Sitting nervously on Master Shen's lap, Zhan Xinjia could even feel his body heat through the thin fabric of his clothes. Her face turned bright red, and she lowered her head, leaning on his shoulder.

"Young Master Shen... I want to rest."

"Um?"

Shen Suqing raised his other hand and supported her chin, forcing her to turn her head and look up at him directly.

The close proximity caused their breaths to mingle. His expression was sinister, and his gaze was extremely aggressive. Even when he wasn't smiling, his cold and solemn face exuded a chilling pressure that sent shivers down one's spine.

The glow of the sunset outside the window gradually faded, and the room became pitch black, with only a faint ray of light barely illuminating a corner.

His gaze grew darker, and his tone became increasingly strained.

"I'd really like to know what 'stomach-nourishing' means. Azhi is so knowledgeable, aren't you going to explain it to me?"