Back at Moyuxuan, Shen Wan took a bath before going to sleep. When she woke up, it was already time for dinner.

I took a late nap, and when it was my usual bedtime, I wasn't sleepy at all. Besides, Xie Jingyan hadn't come back from the study.

Shen Wan waited for him while reading, glancing at the water clock several times. Yin Shuang noticed this and asked, "Should I go and invite the Prince?"

Shen Wan shook her head. "No need."

It's not that we don't need to invite them, but rather that we don't need to invite Yinshuang.

Shen Wan put down the book and then stood up.

Inside the study, Xie Jingyan was reading a military book when he heard Shen Wan's footsteps. He looked up and saw her walking in. He asked, "Why are you here?"

Shen Wan stepped forward and said, "It's too late, aren't you going to sleep?"

It's all that bastard's fault for instilling such bad habits in her.

She used to sleep so soundly when she was alone, but now she can't fall asleep unless she's being held. She needs to find a way to change this bad habit.

Xie Jingyan said, "There are only a few pages left in the military treatise. I'll go to sleep after I finish reading them."

Shen Jing was about to leave the capital to train the Iron Cavalry, and left him with many military books. He was so engrossed in reading them that he forgot the time.

Anyway, Shen Wan couldn't understand such dry military books. Her own father and elder brother could read them so much that they forgot to eat and sleep, and now there's Xie Jingyan too.

Not wanting to disturb his study of military strategy, Shen Wan prepared to go back to her room, but as she turned around, Xie Jingyan grabbed her hand, saying, "Stay with me for a while."

Shen Wan didn't refuse, but she was a little worried, "Won't my staying interfere with your reading of military books?"

There's no harm in reading more books, even though Shen Wan always felt that Xie Jingyan wouldn't need to use any more military books he read.

Xie Jingyan chuckled, not only not letting go of Shen Wan's hand, but also pulling her into his arms with a little force, "This won't cause any problems."

Shen Wan, "..."

Shen Wan struggled, "Leading troops into battle is a matter of life and death, you should look more carefully."

Xie Jingyan wholeheartedly agreed, "Then sit quietly and don't move around."

Shen Wan, "..."

That's infuriating!

He told her not to move around, but he should have just let her go, let her sit aside or even go back to her room. If she had known he was reading military books, she wouldn't have come. She thought he was busy with something important.

Sensing that the man's breathing had become heavier, Shen Wan didn't dare to move. However, Xie Jingyan only had two pages left, but he was reading them too slowly; she had already finished reading them.

Well, Shen Wan could understand each word individually, but putting them together felt like reading gibberish. She could understand a couple of sentences of her father's annotations, but only two.

After waiting for quite a while, until Shen Wan was almost numb, Xie Jingyan finally closed the military book. Shen Wan breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Finished reading?"

Xie Jingyan put down the military treatise and Chen Wan said, "Let's go back inside."

She tried to stand up, but Xie Jingyan, who had been holding the book, wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Don't go back to the room."

Shen Wan looked at him, and the man bit her rounded earlobe, his voice low and husky, "Tonight, in the study, okay?"

The image of what Xie Jingyan had done in the study, on this very table, after she and Xie Jingyan had resolved their differences flashed through Shen Wan's mind. Her face immediately burned with embarrassment; she didn't want to go through that again.

Shen Wan wanted to shake her head and refuse, but that bastard asked her, but didn't give her a chance to refuse. Before she could say anything, he blocked her mouth.

The person was somehow lifted and placed on the table.

It's no wonder that bastard gets stressed every few days.

This is a desk!

A proper place for reading and writing, but he wanted to...

I don't believe he won't get distracted or daydream while reading.

Shen Wan's body went weak from his kisses, unable to resist. Her clothes were thin, and his hands roamed like a furnace. Just as her waistband was ripped open—

Bang bang bang!

There was a sudden knock on the window.

The sudden sound startled Shen Wan.

Xie Jingyan was used to the guards suddenly knocking on the window and was much calmer than Shen Wan, but his good time was interrupted, and his expression was not good.

The guard, unaware that he had interrupted someone's plans, called out again when no one answered, "Master?"

Chen Yu stayed in the tree and covered his eyes. He had wanted to stop the guards from coming to the study, but he had been in one position for too long and his legs were a little numb, so he was a little slow to react. The guards went to the window and banged on it.

I'm usually in a bad mood, and you ruined my good time by making me stand in a horse stance until my legs cramped up.

Inside the study, Shen Wan pushed Xie Jingyan away and quickly got off the desk. She didn't go out, but went behind the screen.

Xie Jingyan said with a dark face, "Come in."

He was curious to know what was so important that he needed to be informed so late at night.

The guard pushed open the window and jumped inside.

The guard had just realized that the princess was also in the study, but since the window had been knocked on, he didn't dare to run away.

Upon entering and seeing the displeased expression on the face of a certain gentleman, the guard's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly composed himself.

Xie Jingyan asked, "What do you want to report?"

The guard hurriedly replied, "Just now, Young Master Tang and the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Xuanping were on night patrol near the Prince's residence. They climbed over the wall and asked me to convey a message to the Prince: when they patrolled the residence of Grand Tutor Yan, they smelled the scent of burning paper money inside, so they went in to take a look and found someone burning paper money inside..."

The residence of Grand Tutor Yan was the maternal family of Consort Chen and the maternal grandfather's family of Xie Jingyan.

After Consort Chen's incident, the entire Yan family was executed, with no one left alive.

That's why Tang Ze and Lu Cheng found it strange that someone was burning paper money at Old Master Yan's residence late at night.

The Yan family mansion was Xie Jingyan's maternal grandfather's home. Tang Ze and Lu Cheng felt it was necessary for Xie Jingyan to know about this, so they took advantage of passing by the Ling Prince's mansion to come in. They thought Xie Jingyan was asleep, so they told the secret guards about it and asked them to pass on the message.

The guards also thought Xie Jingyan was asleep, but when they came to Moyuxuan and saw that the study was still lit, they came over and knocked on the window.

Thinking of the Yan family, and of his maternal grandfather, uncle, and cousins, Xie Jingyan felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if being pricked by needles. He murmured, "Why would someone be burning paper money there?"

The guard said, "This incident also frightened Young Master Tang and the heir of the Marquis of Xuanping. The two of them mustered their courage and climbed over the wall. There was indeed someone burning paper money, and the fire was still burning. It seems that the person burning the paper money discovered them and hid inside..."

Behind the screen, Shen Wan had already tied her waistband, which she also found strange.

After Consort Chen's incident, everyone in Grand Tutor Yan's household, including the infant in swaddling clothes, was not spared. At that time, the Emperor was furious and demoted Xie Jingyan to guard the imperial mausoleum. Not a single civil or military official dared to plead for Grand Tutor Yan's household. So how could someone secretly go to the Yan residence to burn paper money?

Moreover, the memorial days for Consort Chen and the entire Yan family are still a few days away, so burning paper money at this time is a bit early.

Through the screen, Shen Wan saw Xie Jingyan stand up, look in her direction, and say to her, "I'll go take a look."

The Yan residence has been ransacked for six or seven years, and it must be overgrown with weeds. Going there late at night, you probably won't see anything.

Shen Wan wanted to persuade Xie Jingyan to go tomorrow during the day, saying it wouldn't be too late.

But when she stepped out from behind the screen, Xie Jingyan was nowhere to be seen in the study.

Only a crescent moon remains outside the window.