As Li Qingchen spoke, he gently channeled his inner energy into his palm, melting the Snow Jade Pill little by little at Wei Shuwan's ankle.

In Wei Shuwan's eyes, this behavior was simply outrageous! If it weren't for that marriage contract, he would have been forcibly taking a woman from the people.

Wei Shuwan resisted for a moment, but eventually returned to calm.

Li Qingchen's palm was burning hot, but Xue Yudan had a bone-chilling cold. The two intertwined at Wei Shuwan's ankle, creating a very stimulating sensation of both ice and fire, making her feel tingly and numb all over her body.

Seeing her face turn increasingly red, as red as a ripe plum, Li Qingchen found it both amusing and perplexing. For some unknown reason, he reminded her, "This isn't the first time I've applied medicine for you."

Wei Shuwan was not forgetful; she naturally remembered that on the night she was punished by her grandmother to stay in the meditation room at the Wei family mansion, he personally applied medicine to her.

Li Qingchen brought up the old matter now, intending only to advise her that there was no need for her to be so shy. However, his words made Wei Shuwan feel somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, and she blurted out the words that had been bottled up in her heart for a long time: "Young Prince, although we are engaged, it's not like we're mutually in love and things just naturally fall into place. Even if we live under the same roof from now on, can you... can you give me some time to accept some things? But don't worry, now that I'm on your side—no, now that I'm on your ship—I won't betray you!"

Although Wei Shuwan was extremely annoyed before speaking her mind, she spoke with utmost sincerity, and her final vow made Li Qingchen unable to suppress a smile.

He pressed further, "What are you referring to when you say 'some things'?"

Wei Shuwan looked down at her feet, and when her gaze met his large hands that were constantly rubbing and massaging them, she nervously looked away.

Before she could speak, Li Qingchen understood: "Just this?"

"There are... there are some others," Wei Shuwan said cautiously.

"The bridal chamber?"

Li Qingchen made his point clear, and after uttering those two words, he saw the answer on her face. His hand paused, and he asked incredulously, "So you want to be a fake couple with me?"

"No, it's just that I wanted to ask Your Highness for some time... Besides, Your Highness only married me to ensure that no one would sabotage your grand plan, not because you truly wanted me, right?"

Wei Shuwan originally intended to say these words on their wedding night. If she were so clueless about romance on their wedding night, Li Qingchen would surely feel disappointed and have no desire to do anything more.

But waiting until then to talk about it always felt like having tricked someone and then regretting it. So Wei Shuwan thought it would be better to take this opportunity to discuss the matter first. If Li Qingchen agreed, then she wouldn't have to live in constant anxiety like a lamb to the slaughter for the next few months.

Li Qingchen withdrew his hand, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Alright, I can be a fake couple with you, loving each other in public and respectful to each other in private, until you get past your own hurdle. However, after we get married, we still need to sleep in the same room, and we must not let the servants in the palace see through our act."

Wei Shuwan was surprised that he agreed so readily, and immediately nodded emphatically like pounding garlic: "Don't worry, I will definitely not let anyone find out!"

Her plan was that once Li Qingchen's great cause was about to be accomplished, she would have to leave him anyway, so by becoming a fake couple, she could avoid feeling reluctant to part with him later.

Now that the matter was settled, Wei Shuwan finally felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Eager to move on from this awkward topic, she made conversation by asking, "By the way, how did the young prince know that I was the one who wanted to book the hunting grounds that day?"

“The people from the Prince’s mansion just came to collect the account books and recognized your maid.”

After the topic of the wedding night came up, Wei Shuwan looked relaxed and happy, but Li Qingchen seemed a little different from before. His expression seemed to have become much colder and more somber, and there was a sense of estrangement in their conversation.

Wei Shuwan wanted to break the deadlock, so she said playfully, "Since you know I'm going to book the whole place, why did you still ask the owner to accept the money as is, without even reducing the amount for the sake of saving face?"

"Then I'll have him return the money to you later," Li Qingchen said calmly, with a completely businesslike attitude. Even if he were to return the money, it would be because the two of them would nominally become a family in the future.

Wei Shuwan was taken aback, realizing that Li Qingchen's mood had really soured, and said with an awkward smile, "No need, I was just saying it casually, how could I possibly care about that little bit of money?"

Now that the medicine had been applied, Wei Shuwan saw no need to stay in Li Qingchen's tent any longer, especially since he was so aloof; she felt awkward staying even a moment longer.

Therefore, Wei Shuwan carefully got off the daybed from the other side, picked up her wooden cane again, and said, "It's getting late, I'll go back now."

She had just turned around when she heard Li Qingchen say, "Wait a moment."

Wei Shuwan turned back to look at him again and saw him walk to the table, casually take out a long and delicate wooden box from the drawer, and walk back to hand it to her.

Her words were also casual, as if the gift was merely a formality, devoid of any sentiment: "This hairpin is a token of our love that I'm giving you in return. You can wear it if you want, or put it away if you don't. I won't mind."

Wei Shuwan was taken aback: "Didn't you already give me a token of our love?"

"That was just a joke. A token should be a carefully chosen personal item, not a gold medal."

While Wei Shuwan was hesitating, she heard Li Qingchen say again, "If you really don't like it, just consider it payment for your venue rental fee."

After saying this, Li Qingchen stuffed the wooden box into Wei Shuwan's hand without further ado, then put his hands behind his back, making a gesture to invite her out of the tent.

Receiving a gift should have been a happy occasion, but Wei Shuwan felt no joy whatsoever in this situation. However, since he adopted a businesslike attitude, she couldn't very well refuse it, so she could only nod stiffly and then leave Li Qingchen's tent, leaning on her wooden cane.

At this moment, in front of the fire pit, facing Sun Xingjian who hadn't uttered a word for a long time, Pan Wenjun hesitated for a long time, but still decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity tonight to make things clearer.

“Brother Sun, there’s something I want to ask you.” Pan Wenjun spoke while scrutinizing Sun Xingjian’s expression, noticing that he suddenly looked up at her.

"What is it?" Sun Xingjian asked, looking bewildered.

Pan Wenjun bit her lower lip and mustered her courage to speak: "When we encountered that black bear in the mountains, why did you risk everything to stand in front of me?"

In the past, when she tested his feelings, he always brushed it off with a laugh. But today, he had almost risked his life for her; he couldn't just dismiss it so easily. Thinking this, Pan Wenjun fixed her eyes intently on Sun Xingjian, awaiting his answer.