I'll Tie a Rope for You to Hold

Getting used to being held by him again, Grace looked up and asked, "Have you forgiven me?"

"From now on, you can't keep anything from me!" Evan Xiao's low, deep voice sounded above her head.

"Okay." Grace grinned.

"Who took your Spirit Root?" Evan Xiao asked.

Grace's expression grew serious. "...It should be Aunt Wan from our house."

"How do you know?" Evan Xiao asked her.

Given Aunt Wan's status in the Zhu family, Zhu Minghan and the others definitely don't know about this.

And the Spirit Root can only be transplanted successfully within the first year of life, so she couldn't possibly remember it.

So how does she know?

"I... overheard her talking about it by accident," Grace said. "So I did a divination, and then... I went to find you..."

"But she's just a concubine in the Prime Minister's mansion. How could she possibly know such secret arts?"

"I don't know," Grace shook her head.

Evan Xiao frowned. "Then you need to be careful."

Those kinds of secret arts are only known by a handful of people from ancient noble families.

And those ancient families aren't the kind that the Zhu family could afford to offend.

She was exhausted after running around all day. Cozy in his arms, she drifted off mid-conversation, not even realizing when sleep took her.

As she slept, she suddenly felt something was off.

Someone was kissing her!

And not just anywhere—on her lips!

His passionate, possessive kiss deepened, overwhelming her senses with his presence...

"Mmm!" Grace struggled to push him away. "What are you doing?"

But Evan Xiao just pulled her back into his arms, trapping her, sealing her lips again, savoring her taste...

He'd been dreaming of this every day, and now his wish had finally come true.

...

The carriage sped along and soon reached the Eastern Wilderness Forest.

The Eastern Wilderness Forest stretched endlessly for tens of thousands of miles, spanning from Blue Moon Kingdom, to Fengqi Kingdom, and all the way to Vermilion Bird Empire, bordering each realm.

As soon as they got close, a wild, ancient aura washed over them.

Occasionally, the cries of birds and roars of beasts pierced the sky, making people hesitate to go further.

But Evan Xiao seemed very familiar with this forest. Knowing she was looking for Ironbone Grass, he led her straight up a mountain.

He'd seen Ironbone Grass on that mountain before.

Sure enough, as soon as they got up there, Grace excitedly pointed to the crack below the cliff and shouted, "Ironbone Grass! There's a whole big cluster!"

"Mm." Evan Xiao said. "I'll go pick it for you."

"No need, I can do it myself." She pulled out a coil of rope from her bag, getting ready to tie it and go down.

She was actually pretty experienced at gathering herbs.

But Evan Xiao just leapt straight down.

Grace was startled. Looking down, she saw him land right beside the cluster of Ironbone Grass in the crack, and with a strong pull, he uprooted the whole bunch.

That move was incredibly dangerous. If he slipped even a little, he'd be smashed to pieces at the bottom.

Grace watched, heart pounding with fear.

Thankfully, his cultivation truly was unmatched in the Blue Moon Kingdom. With a few effortless leaps, he landed beside her and handed her the Ironbone Grass. "Here you go."

But Grace didn't take the grass. Instead, she rushed over and hugged his waist.

Evan Xiao froze, looking down at her.

"You scared me to death," Grace said. "That cliff is so high—why didn't you even use a rope!"

Evan Xiao's lips curved into a smile. "Worried about me?"

Grace nodded.

Evan Xiao reached out his finger, playfully brushing her cheek and smiling, "Next time I'll tie a rope, so you can hold onto me."