Lunchtime.

Lin Shuang was stunned to see Ji Fengyao and Hei Xiao, both covered in soot, emerge from the secret passage together: "Your Highness, Brother Xiao, what happened? How did you get like this?"

"It's nothing, I just had a fight," Ji Fengyao said casually as she walked, patting the medicine powder off her head.

"Needless to say, my young lady definitely won," Xi Que chimed in with a chuckle.

“That was because Master was being lenient with her,” Black Owl said, pulling up his sleeves to cover the needle marks on his wrist.

"If you dare not give way to my young lady, not only me, but also our head master, head lady, eldest young master, two young masters, and son-in-law will all beat you up. I'm afraid you'll be a hundred times worse off than you are now," Xi Que added bluntly.

Ji Fengyao laughed heartily upon hearing this, and triumphantly glared at Hei Xiao.

Black Owl: "..."

When bathing and grooming.

Black Owl soaked in the bathtub, raising his hand to touch the tiny needle marks on his arm.

Although Xiao Yao'er seemed to be playfully pricking him, he was a martial artist and could easily sense that each needle she inserted was actually aimed at specific acupoints. She simply used this method to prick him with acupuncture, just as there were some things she couldn't say aloud, like some things he never wanted to say.

His little Yao'er is always so intelligent and understanding, even her care for others is so subtle and gentle.

Black Owl gripped the edge of the bathtub with both hands, resting his forehead on the back of his hands, and silently murmured in his heart: "Little Nine, if you ever dare to treat Little Yao'er badly in the future, I will beat you up too."

My eyes felt inexplicably sore, but my heart felt warm and not as painful as I had imagined.

"Brother Xiao, are you ready? The Prince and Princess said they're waiting for you to come over for dinner," Lin Shuang's somewhat shy voice came through the door after it was knocked twice.

"Wait a moment," Black Owl replied, looking up as he stepped out of the bathtub.

Just as she finished putting on her undergarments, Lin Shuang said shyly from outside, "Brother Xiao, I... I have a set of clothes here..."

Black Owl wondered: Didn't Xiao Yao'er already have someone prepare clothes for him?

He still grabbed the brocade blue robe from the screen and put it on. Black Owl opened the door with his wet hair all over his face.

Outside the door, Lin Shuang was indeed holding a brand-new bright red light robe on a tray. It was faintly visible that the robe was embroidered with a tree full of blooming peach blossoms, and the fluttering petals were embroidered so lifelike that it was clear how much effort the person who made the robe had put into it.

Looking at Lin Shuang's blushing face, Hei Xiao immediately understood what this girl was thinking.

He slapped himself inwardly with self-mockery: Some girls are just too easy to flirt with;

He knew this principle all along, but he just wouldn't restrain himself, and now he's finally gotten himself into trouble!

Black Owl pretended not to know and pointed a finger at the clothes: "These clothes are quite exquisite, with skillful embroidery, which means the girl who made them must have a pair of skillful hands. However, the color is not suitable for the battlefield. Take them back to the princess and have her give them to someone else to wear first, so as not to waste them."

After saying that, they brushed past each other, and Hei Xiao, with his hair still wet, went to Ji Fengyao's room in the main courtyard.

Lin Shuang stood there, holding the clothes, stunned.

She had actually been working on this outfit for a long time; she started making it not long after she arrived in Tongyou.

She just hadn't found the right opportunity to give it to him.

She had just heard the prince and princess say that he was going to the northwest battlefield with Marquis Anping and the heir apparent, so she mustered up the courage to present the clothes in the princess's name.

She thought he would like it.

"This dress is unsuitable for anyone but you," Lin Shuang murmured, raising her head to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.