"Bang!" Shen Zhao slammed her brother's letter onto the desk, her almond-shaped eyes wide open. "I knew it! Brother Kang must be bewitched by that Xi Lingyuan! He'd even get involved in something so dangerous!" "No, I have to go find my sister-in-law and ask her if she knows anything about this!"

Lu Qi wrapped his arms around her increasingly rounded waist from behind, rested his chin on her shoulder, and said lazily, "Your brother isn't a three-year-old. He has to take responsibility for his own choices. Besides, your sister-in-law should be resting by now. But you..." He reached out and gently touched her protruding belly, "Don't startle me like that, you'll scare my daughter."

"Who said it was a girl? What if it's a boy?" Shen Zhao's attention was indeed diverted, and she turned to glare at him.

"A son is fine too," Lu Qi readily agreed, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss, "As long as it's our child, I'll love them."

Shen Zhao angrily pushed him away, picked up the letter again, and read it once more. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "Wait... Xiling Kingdom? Isn't that a place famous for snow lotus and ice silkworm silk?" She stroked her chin, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Lu Ziyi, what do you think... if I write to Brother Kang Kang and ask him to bring me some ice silkworm silk..."

Lu Qi sighed, "Madam, your brother went to help his future sister-in-law seize the throne, not to go sightseeing..."

"Oh, it's all the same!" Shen Zhao waved his hand and excitedly went to look for the letter. "Besides, if things work out, won't Xi Lingyuan be my future sister-in-law? What's wrong with my sister-in-law wanting a little gift?"

Lu Qi watched her back as she wrote furiously, shaking his head with a mixture of helplessness and affection. His gaze softened as he looked down at her rounded waistline. He walked over and gently placed his large hand on her belly: "Write, but don't sit for too long. The doctor said that twins require even more movement."

"Okay, okay!" Shen Zhao said without looking up. "Go and ask the kitchen to make me a bowl of white fungus soup. I'm hungry."

"Yes, madam." Lu Qi smiled, pinched her cheek, and turned to leave.

At this time, at the Prince Jing's residence.

On the eve of her departure, A-Yuan sat alone in the garden pavilion, lost in thought. The moonlight, like water, cast a long shadow of her.

"Can't sleep?" Xiao Chengkang's voice came from behind her. He was holding two cups of tea and sat down beside her.

Ah Yuan took the tea, its warmth seeping through the porcelain cup to her fingertips: "Brother Kang Kang...you really didn't need to..."

"Call me A-Kang," Xiao Chengkang interrupted her.

A-Yuan's face flushed, and she lowered her head to take a sip of tea. "A-Kang...A-Kang," she murmured, the two words tumbling over her tongue with a strange intimacy. "This is too dangerous..."

“I’ve seen things that are far more dangerous than this.” Xiao Chengkang looked at the lotus pond in the distance. “At twelve, I went to the plague zone with my master. At fifteen, I went into the mountains alone to collect herbs and encountered a pack of wolves…” He turned to look at her, his eyes filled with a smile. “Compared to that, accompanying a princess back to her country is nothing.”

Ah Yuan was amused by him, but tears welled up in her eyes: "I...I'm afraid of dragging you down with me."

"Nonsense," Xiao Chengkang reached out and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Have we been looking after each other all this time?"

In the moonlight, his features were exceptionally clear, his eyebrows and eyes like a painting. Ah Yuan suddenly remembered the gentle way he bandaged her in the cave, the patience with which he taught her to identify herbs on the boat, and the unwavering figure of him shielding her when they were attacked...

"Kang," she mustered her courage and grasped his hand, "If...if we can come back safely this time..."

“There are no ifs,” Xiao Chengkang said, gripping her hand tightly. “We will definitely come back safely, and then…” He paused, his eyes filled with tender moonlight, “I will take you to eat all the delicious pastries in Jiangnan.”

Ah Yuan stopped crying and smiled, nodding emphatically: "Yes!"

A night breeze, carrying the scents of lotus and tea, carried their whispered words into the moonlight. Tomorrow they would set off, the road ahead uncertain, but at this moment, at least they had each other's promises and the moonlight of this courtyard.