Xie Jinbai stood rooted to the spot, his gaze fixed on the private room.
For a fleeting moment, he even wanted to go inside and see.
To see those familiar eyes one more time.
But she was a strange girl under the influence of a seductive powder. He couldn't go in.
'Yaoyao would be unhappy.'
He had already let her depart with a misunderstanding of him. He couldn't make her unhappy again.
'Otherwise, what would I do if she really decided not to wait for me?'
Seeing their master looking as if he'd lost his soul, Li Yong and Li Feng exchanged a glance. Steeling themselves, they reminded him again, "Prince, Your Majesty is still waiting for you in the palace."
Inside the private room, Cui Mingrui asked the attendant behind him.
"He's left?"
After receiving a confirmation, he narrowed his eyes. "Tell me, don't you think he was acting a bit strange today?"
Three years ago, before Yaoyao's… incident, Xie Jinbai had never been the type to show any curiosity toward unfamiliar young women.
After Yaoyao's death, his disposition grew even colder.
For three years, he campaigned relentlessly. Other than a penchant for killing, he held nothing else in regard.
He seldom even returned to the Capital City.
It seemed not even the supreme dragon throne could merit a second glance from him.
If he hadn't been pierced through the chest by a Qiang arrow on the Northwest Battlefield, leaving him grievously wounded and on the verge of death, he wouldn't be in the Capital City for so long. The Emperor had to issue three golden medals in a row just to order him back to recuperate.
Though a man just in his early twenties, his eyes held a perennial, deathly stillness. He had long ceased to look like a living person.
In the words of Cui Mingrui's father, the man was likely already mad.
He looked normal on the surface, but inside, he was a madman who cared for nothing.
In these past three years, even Xie Jinbai himself had likely lost count of how many lives he had taken.
The aura of slaughter about him was so strong that a single glance was enough to chill one to the bone.
And yet, a man like that had fixed his gaze upon a strange young woman.
He had even asked her identity.
'Then again, my own behavior has been strange.'
'A girl pops out of nowhere, calls me "Brother," and clings to my arm like a little rogue, refusing to let me go… and I can't bring myself to be harsh with her.'
'I picked her up in front of all those people, heedless of the fact that she was under the influence of a seductive powder.'
'I even wanted to take her away.'
'To keep so many other men from seeing her in the throes of passion.'
'It's as if some deeper, subconscious instinct is telling me that I have to protect this girl.'
'Even though I've only just met her.'
Cui Pu, standing at his side, hesitated for a moment before reminding him in a low voice, "If my lady were to learn of today's events, I fear she would not let this young woman off lightly."
Princess Anning's reputation as a jealous wife was second to none in the entire Capital City.
Childless after four years of marriage, she not only refused to allow her husband to take a concubine, but she also handpicked only the brawniest, most unattractive servant women to attend them in their courtyard, terrified that a pretty maid might seduce her husband.
If she were to find out that her husband had gone to a banquet only to end up carrying a young woman affected by a seductive powder…
...the Changping Marquis Mansion would likely know no peace.
The master and servant deliberately kept their voices down, but the private room wasn't large, and Shen Tingyu heard every word.
He cupped his hands in a fist. "Today's events concern my cousin's reputation. I hope you will all remain discreet and not speak of this to anyone."
"Of course," Liu Qingping said with a wave of his hand. "Tingyu, you can rest assured. We are not the sort of men to make light of a young woman's reputation."
Zhou Yunyi nodded in agreement as well.
Only Cui Mingrui kept his eyes lowered, saying nothing, lost in his own thoughts.
Shen Tingyu didn't seem to mind. "I trust in Cui Shizi's character. If you have other matters to attend to, please feel free to leave first."
"No!" From the bed on the other side of a folding screen, Cui Lingyao heard this dismissal and cried out urgently, "Brother, don't go!"
Shen Tingyu: "..."
Cui Mingrui: "..."
Zhou Yunyi: "..."
Liu Qingping: "..."
The men fell silent in unison.
Had she become addicted to claiming brothers?
It was one thing to mistake someone while the drug was at its peak.
But to keep making the same mistake?
Did she really think one cry of "Brother" made her a young lady of the Changping Marquis Mansion?
Shen Tingyu simply assumed his cousin knew she wouldn't get her way with him and had decided to latch onto another man instead.
'Truly shameless.'
He took a deep breath, intending to enter the inner chamber and scold her, but Cui Mingrui stopped him as soon as he took a step.
"Miss Pei is under the influence of an aphrodisiac," Cui Mingrui said. "Even if she is your cousin, Mr. Shen, you shouldn't go in so rashly."
Who knew what state she was in.
What if...
Shen Tingyu paused, thinking Cui Mingrui was absolutely right.
"Brother?"
Inside, Cui Lingyao heard no reply and sat up anxiously. "Brother, are you still there?"
"..."
Cui Mingrui glanced at Shen Tingyu, her actual cousin, and seeing he had no intention of speaking, he parted his lips and replied, "I'm here."
'Her brother is still here.'
'He's right outside, watching over me.'
'He won't let anyone come in.'
'I'm safe.'
Her muddled mind latched onto that single piece of information.
Cui Lingyao completely lowered her guard and collapsed back onto the bed.
The room fell quiet.
From behind the screen, the young woman's somewhat ragged breathing was distinctly audible.
Cui Mingrui pressed his lips together. "All of you, leave."
"Yes."
Cui Pu was the first to withdraw.
Liu Qingping and Zhou Yunyi exchanged a look, then glanced at Shen Tingyu.
When he gave a nod, they too cupped their hands and departed.
The situation had become awkward for them as well, so they were more than happy to leave.
Soon, only two men remained in the room.
One was her actual cousin; the other, her mistaken brother.
Neither man left. They each took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs.
From the inner room, the drugged young woman would occasionally call out "Brother," as if to confirm she hadn't been abandoned.
She sounded like a lost, helpless child.
Cui Mingrui's brow furrowed slightly. He lifted his gaze to the man across from him and asked, "Who gave her the seductive powder?"
"..." Shen Tingyu was silent.
The fact that his own cousin had thrown herself at him, made eyes at him to no avail, begged to be his concubine only to be rejected, and then attempted to drug him, ultimately falling into her own trap...
...was something his refined upbringing made impossible for him to say aloud.
Even if it was the truth.
Since Shen Tingyu was unwilling to speak, Cui Mingrui didn't press the matter.
He lowered his gaze, lost in thought.
He was shocked by his own concern and protectiveness for a woman he'd never met.
They had only just met, and she had simply mistaken him for someone else.
Yet here he was, neglecting a mountain of duties just to stand guard.
'It's utterly baffling.'
'What's even more baffling is that Xie Jinbai also seemed to have an unusual interest in this girl who called me "Brother."'
'Even after we came into the room, he stood outside, staring in this direction for a long time.'
'None of his reactions were normal.'
But no matter how brilliant Cui Mingrui was, he couldn't fathom the deeper reason at that moment.
Things like a lifelong sibling bond or the natural affinity of a bloodline...
...or the idea that 'my heart recognized you before I did'—such thoughts never even crossed his mind.
Soon enough, he attributed it all to that long-unheard cry of "Brother" and her bright, almond-shaped eyes, which were just like his late sister's.
Ever since Yaoyao died, no one had tilted their head up to call him "Brother" with such absolute trust.
That was why he couldn't help but feel concerned and moved.