Shen Yunjiao lay on his back, the warmth from his palms and abdomen making her body stiffen.

Yelü Qi seemed to sense her embarrassment and broke the silence, "Now that you're here, you have to go out and gather herbs yourself?"

When Shen Yunjiao thought of the cassia seeds she hadn't finished harvesting, she quickly nodded and said, "My harvested herbs are still nearby."

"Don't worry, it's in this deep mountain forest, it won't be stolen." Yelü Zhong was quite happy, and his tone became very cheerful.

Shen Yunjiao was light-bodied, and Yelü Qi carried her on his back with ease and without any effort.

But he couldn't help but secretly slow down his pace and enjoy this rare tranquility.

Shen Yunjiao was oblivious to Yelü Qi's ulterior motives; her mind was entirely focused on her pile of wild cassia seeds.

Then, suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Yelü Qi, what are you doing here?"

Yelü Qi paused, then gave a wry smile and said, "Why are you only asking this now?"

Shen Yunjiao chuckled awkwardly twice, "I wasn't... thinking about something else the whole time."

"We've arrived." Yelü Qi placed her beside the pile of cut herbs. The Daoist nun, who had been anxiously waiting, rushed forward and asked, "Benefactor Shen, are you alright?"

“There’s no need to worry, sir,” Shen Yunjiao replied politely.

The Taoist nun glanced at the tall man beside Shen Yunjiao, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Yelü Qi leaned lazily against the tree trunk with his arms crossed, raised his chin at the Taoist nun, and shouted, "Little Taoist nun, I just saved your life by killing that snake."

He pointed to the huge, flower-armed snake corpse not far away and said, "For this favor alone, you have to let me into Qingxin Pavilion for a while."

"This—" The nun looked troubled. "The temple has already been very lenient with Benefactor Shen. If we let you in again, the abbot will probably punish me."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunjiao quickly declined, saying, "Then there's no need, lest the Master be punished because of us later."

After glancing at them for a moment, the young nun reluctantly said, "However, this humble nun allows you two to speak here for a while." With that, she pretended to brush the dirt off her knees and gradually moved away from them.

Seeing the snake corpse in the distance, Shen Yunjiao frowned in disgust and quickly picked up the basket to put the cassia seeds into it. Yelü Qi helped her and said, "You asked me why I was here. Now I'll tell you the answer. Actually, I came here specifically to find you."

"And you? Why did you come here?"

Shen Yunjiao picked up a handful of grass and carefully shook off the soil from the roots. When she heard his question, her movements slowed. After a moment of silence, Shen Yunjiao straightened up and said to Yelü Qi, "You already know, so why are you asking me?"

Yelü Qi gazed intently at Shen Yunjiao and said softly, "I just don't understand, how could Xiao Huaijin change his mind so quickly?"

“Yelü Qi, he just has amnesia.” Shen Yunjiao looked up at the man in front of her. “He has amnesia and doesn’t remember me, which is why he had his grandmother send me to this place.”

Yelü Qi was slightly taken aback, and asked in return, "If he never regains his memory, are you going to stay here for the rest of your life?"

Shen Yunjiao choked, unsure of what to say for a moment.

She pursed her lips and said awkwardly, "I made a bet with the Empress Dowager. If he doesn't remember me within a month, I will remove the Gu worm from his body and then stop bothering him."

After hearing this, Yelü Qi relaxed his brows and smiled, "Shen Yunjiao, you are really stupid. The Empress Dowager is obviously not going to let you be with Xiao Huaijin."

"How do you know he won't remember me?" Shen Yunjiao said softly, glancing at the Daoist nun lingering in the distance before adding, "I should go."

She pressed the herbs in the basket down with her hands, intending to carry it on her back, but unexpectedly Yelü Qi grabbed her and put her on his back instead.

"I'll help you."

Seeing that Shen Yunjiao was somewhat disappointed, Yelü Qi thought it best not to mention that matter.

He simply extended his arm and clenched his fist, saying, "Hold on, try not to put too much pressure on yourself since your foot is injured."

"Okay." Shen Yunjiao was a little sullen. After today's experience, she would never dare to go out to collect herbs again.

How am I going to kill time from now on...?

Seeing that they were starting to walk back, the Taoist nun in front also stepped forward, keeping a certain distance from them.

Yelü Qi carefully placed one hand behind Shen Yunjiao's back while letting her support him with the other, bringing the two very close together.

From Yelü Qi's perspective, one can see Shen Yunjiao's damp temples and the slight blush rising on her cheeks due to the heat.

Yelü Qi's heart beat even faster.

Shen Yunjiao took a few steps on one leg, but got tired and slowed down even more.

But she didn't want to trouble Yelü Qi any further. After weighing the pros and cons, she finally managed to say, "I need to rest for a while."

Yelü Qi naturally found her a large rock to sit on and rest, and even took out a water bag from his waist and handed it to Shen Yunjiao to quench her thirst.

Shen Yunjiao obediently drank a few sips of water and then handed it to Yelü Qi.

"Thank you," she replied softly.

It was rare to see Shen Yunjiao so well-behaved and sensible, so Yelü Qi couldn't help but laugh. "How strange, Miss Shen actually knows how to thank people."

Shen Yunjiao couldn't help but roll her eyes, thinking to herself, "Am I such a rude person?"

She was now destitute, while Yelü Qi, having lived in Dayong for a long time, had adopted the style of scholars and gentlemen, dressed in a simple, elegant manner, and appeared quite refined and cultured.

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask you, were the assassins from your Northern Hu tribe that day? I heard from that Right Protector that they were sent by the Northern Hu Crown Prince?"

Yelü Qi's originally relaxed expression suddenly turned somewhat gloomy.

Shen Yunjiao immediately realized that she might have asked something she shouldn't have, so she quickly said, "It's okay, you don't have to say if you don't want to."

Yelü Qi sneered and said, "Those assassins were indeed from the Northern Hu. My imperial brother specially sent them to capture me and take me back."

“I am now a criminal who has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.”

Shen Yunjiao was taken aback. "Then what should we do?"

“My elder brother has always been wary of me. Sending me to Dayong was just a ploy to lure me away from my prey. He thought that by framing me for ‘rebellion,’ he could easily take back the tiger tally from me.”

"Unfortunately, he doesn't know that I saw through his scheme long ago. I didn't fight for the throne before because I preferred to charge into battle and be a brave general, but the current situation forces me to go back and take back everything that belongs to me."

This was the agreement he made with Xiao Huaijin at the beginning: he would deliberately hurt Xiao Huaijin, make him disliked by the emperor, lower the guard of Xiao Huaijin's enemies, and then use his own identity to help Xiao Huaijin ascend the throne.

Similarly, Xiao Huaijin also had to provide him with military support.

Yelü Qi looked down at Shen Yunjiao, his eyes gleaming. "Shen Yunjiao, come back to Beihu with me?"