The next day, before dawn.
Inside Yao Light Hall, the red candles had burned out, and the last wisp of pale smoke slowly dispersed.
Lu Changfeng opened his eyes to Li Lingyue's peaceful sleeping face.
She lay on her side, her long hair spilling across the pillow like a waterfall. One hand rested on his chest, while the other hugged his arm tightly, as though afraid he might run away. Her breathing was long and even, and a faint smile lingered at the corners of her mouth. Who knew what lovely dream she was having?
Moving carefully, Lu Changfeng eased his arm free and quietly rose.
Li Lingyue rolled over, hugged the pillow, and continued sleeping.
All that appetite, and so little stamina, Lu Changfeng thought. She's getting worse and worse. Every time, she talks a big game, only to start begging for mercy before long...
He shook his head and slipped quietly out of the bedchamber, through the corridor, and toward the Quiet Chamber prepared for him.
Dawn hovered just beyond the horizon. Morning mist lay like gauze over the pavilions and towers of the Princess's Residence.
In the distance, he faintly heard the footsteps of the Plum Blossom Guards changing shifts. Everything was in perfect order.
Everything inside the Quiet Chamber was already prepared.
A meditation cushion, a burner of sandalwood incense, and a pot of clear tea.
Three stalks of nine-jointed sweet flag lay neatly in the jade box before him, emerald-green as glazed glass, their nine joints distinct. Though the purple-gold, dragon-headed flowers at their tips had already withered, a crisp, unusual fragrance still lingered around them.
The fragrance seeped deep into his lungs, actually making the Shennong Qi within him circulate faster of its own accord.
He felt a faint hunger and thirst.
Rather than