Quinn Shepherd slept fitfully, half-awake, and felt someone climbing over him. He gets cranky when disturbed in his sleep, so he kicked out twice, sending the intruder tumbling off the bed.
That person, also half-asleep, dragged the blanket and climbed back onto the bed, burrowing into Quinn's arms, only to be kicked off again. In the end, the three girls ended up sleeping together, leaving him alone on the side.
After these exhausting days, both Quinn and Lynn Ling slept deeply. It was only at dawn the next day that Quinn woke up, finding Lynn tucked under his arm. He carefully shifted his arm, afraid to wake her.
In fact, Lynn was already awake. After all, as a girl, she was a bit shy and dreaded the awkwardness of waking up, so she pretended to be asleep. Peeking open her eyes, she saw Quinn tiptoeing out, clutching his shoes.
Only after Quinn left the room did he breathe a sigh of relief. The twin palace maids had woken early and were chatting in the courtyard. One said, "Young Master Quinn likes to throw punches in his sleep—he kicked me so hard my eye's swollen. Look!"
"Tell me about it! He kicked me too—right in the chest, sent me flying off the bed. You didn't get taken advantage of, did you?"
"Not at all. But with the princess and Young Master Quinn sleeping together, and us on the bed too, all under one blanket—how are we supposed to report this when we go back?"
The two girls fell silent for a moment, then spoke in unison: "If we don't say anything, neither will the young master or the princess. So let's just keep quiet!"
This concerned the royal family's reputation—saying too much could get them killed, and they knew it well.
Quinn put on his shoes, coughed, and walked out.
The two palace maids quickly bowed in greeting. "Young Master, you're awake? We sisters were reckless yesterday—if not for your help, we'd have died at the hands of the Little Poison Prince."
Quinn returned the greeting. "It was lucky you two were there as well—you injured the Little Poison Prince and kept him from going too far."
The two maids exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing. "Young Master, don't call us 'sisters.' We serve the Dowager Empress—we don't even have surnames, just given names. I'm Sword Qi, she's Zither Qi."
Quinn glanced back and forth, trying to tell which was Sword Qi and which was Zither Qi, making them laugh again. With that, he noticed: Sword Qi had a small canine tooth on the left, Zither Qi on the right.
"Young Master, we didn't return all night. We must get back to the palace and report in early," said Zither Qi.
Quinn nodded. "You all got some rest, so the lingering poison is gone—nothing serious. Here, take a few detox pills just in case."
The two maids thanked him, accepted the detox pills, and were about to leave when Lynn Ling's voice called from inside, "Wait for me! I'll go back with you!"
The two girls stopped and looked back, just in time to see Lynn Ling rush out, her clothes disheveled, wearing only white undergarments, hair messy, clutching her outer robe and dragging her shoes. She kicked off a shoe in her hurry, tried to pick it up, but her black hair finally came completely undone, cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall.
Lynn tried to fix her hair, but her outer robe slipped off again—she was a complete mess.
Quinn glanced at her—her ample chest was about to spill out of her clothes. The boy hesitated, unsure whether to warn her or step in and help tuck her back in.
Sword Qi and Zither Qi exchanged a look, then stepped forward and ushered the princess back into the room to help her dress and fix her hair.
Lynn Ling's cheeks flushed red. Gathering her courage, she whispered, "Will I get pregnant?"
The two maids stared wide-eyed in shock. "Princess, what makes you say that?"
"I heard people in the palace say that if a man and a woman sleep together, the woman gets pregnant."
Lynn said seriously, "We slept together for almost a whole day and night—maybe I'm pregnant already."
Sword Qi burst out laughing. "Princess, you've got it all wrong! That's not how it works. Ah, it's hard to explain, but Young Master Quinn is a divine doctor—he must have ways to prevent pregnancy."
Lynn's eyes widened. "Really? That's possible?"
"Of course! I've heard some noble ladies who don't want children go to apothecaries for special remedies—they won't get pregnant that way."
...
After seeing the three girls off, Quinn noticed that the pear blossoms on the yellow pear tree were now in full bloom, covering the entire tree.
"Spring has finally arrived."
Quinn thought to himself, "Once the first grain harvest comes in, this disaster year will finally be over."
He freshened up, and with only the Dragon-Qilin for company at home, decided not to cook. Instead, he headed down the mountain to eat. Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw Libationer Barrett striding up, coat draped over his shoulders, booming, "I just saw the princess and two palace maids carrying lanterns down the mountain. Did they come from your room?"
"Nonsense, Senior Brother, don't go spreading rumors."
Quinn replied calmly, "Did you come looking for me about Ben Coates? Have you had breakfast yet?"
Libationer Barrett was always loud, no less than State Duke Wei. If word got out that Lynn Ling and two palace maids had spent the night in Quinn's room, the whole capital would know.
To Quinn, emotions should be restrained by propriety—he hadn't done anything out of line. But in the eyes of the world, sleeping with the princess was a huge deal; if the rumor spread, the emperor might have his head. Best to keep it quiet.
"I just ate at the foot of the mountain. I knew you'd just come back from the palace, probably exhausted and hungry, so I brought you something to eat."
Barrett handed him several oiled paper packets. Quinn quickly thanked him and opened them to find a basket of buns, another packet with some kind of exotic beast meat boiled in clear water, red sauce mixed with shredded scallions, and another packet of pickled vegetables.
Quinn invited Barrett inside, sat down, and started eating.