Fang Junqian couldn"t help making fun of him, "Your childe is right here! What"s wrong with him?"

"Alas, I don"t have time to talk with you! Childe, Miss Lin is here in the yard now!!"

"Yiyi?" Xiao Qingyu frowned, "What"s she doing here late at night?"

"I don"t know." The boy shook his head repeatedly.

Xiao Qingyu said calmly, "Tell her I"m sleeping."

"I said so! …" The boy looked pitiful, "but she said your room is still lit, meaning you"re not in bed obviously…"

It was all Duke Fang"s fault!

Fang Junqian forced a laughter, "I think I"d better hide myself. Let"s call it a day." As he said that, he already stepped onto the window and was about to leap out, when he looked down and immediately saw Miss. Lin walking to the pavilion!

Lin Yiyi unintentionally looked up and almost freaked Duke Fang off the window! "It"s too late. Borrow me your bed to hide myself!" Before getting a reply, Duke Fang instantly jumped into Xiao Qingyu"s bed and pulled down the curtains to hide his body.

"Childe! He…!" The boy stamped his feet out of anger!

"Fang Junqian! Don"t go too far!" Xiao Qingyu"s face frosted up. However, they had no time. Lin Yiyi broke in already! He had no other choice.

"Cousin…" Upon seeing Xiao Qingyu, she became docile and shy at once.

"Jinya, get out."

"Yes, My Childe." Zhang Jinya lowered his head, walked out of the room, and angrily cast a glare at the bed curtains before leaving.

"Yiyi, anything happened that made you come so late?" Xiao Qingyu asked her mildly.

Lin Yiyi flashed and gazed at her tiptoes, not talking.

Xiao Qingyu felt a little strange, "Uh?"

Lin Yiyi bowed her head even lower, bit her round tips, shy like a girl who had her first crash.

Silent.

Speechless.

Just as Duke Fang in the curtains felt a little impatient, Lin Yiyi slowly said, "I…I told father."

Xiao Qingyu was more confused, "Prime Minister Lin? What did you tell him?" Smart as Xiao Qingyu, he didn"t understand what she was talking about.

Lin Yiyi, "I told father that I like you. I want to marry you!"

Xiao Qingyu was stunned! And then he quickly resumed normal.

He still wasn"t moved.

Still inexorable.

— In fact, his mind was in a mess.

"Cousin, I like you for a long time." The girl confessed, face blus.h.i.+ngly red, her cheeks red as cinnabar. She smiled bashfully, bowing down again, her hair dropping down like a dark waterfall.

Under the light, Xiao Qingyu sat straight, quiet like a stone, already expressing his att.i.tude.

"Cousin…" The girl called him timidly.

"It"s too late. You should go back. Jinya—walk her to the door."

The girl"s face turned pale! She grabbed Xiao Qingyu by the sleeve and said anxiously, "You…you don"t agree? …"

Xiao Qingyu slowly, resolutely, cruelly pushed away the hand on his sleeve, "Yiyi, you know my condition. I don"t want to ruin any girl"s life. There are so many healthy men in the world."

"I don"t want others! Cousin…cousin…I don"t care! I"ve made up my mind! I"ll take care of you for a lifetime! … Are you fearing that my father wouldn"t approve? It doesn"t matter. I can elope with you. Even to die, I want to die together with you…"

"It"s not Prime Minister Lin"s problem."

Her lips trembled like frosted petals, "Then why…"

"Because… I only regard you as my sister." He stayed still like the snow at the peak of a thousand-year mountain. Each and every word of his was cold, sharp and merciless, "I don"t like you."

I don"t like you.

I don"t like you.

I don"t like you—

Lin Yiyi felt her strength drained away and feebly collapsed to the ground.

Zhang Jinya was outside at the door, knocking gently, "Childe?"

Xiao Qingyu said calmly, "Sorry…"

Lin Yiyi made no reaction.

Xiao Qingyu looked out to the sky, promising, "Yiyi, I"ll love you and care about you as my sister for this life…at any cost…"

Lin Yiyi was sent away. When she left, her shoulders were squared, looking proud by the moonlight, without any discomfiture—which made Xiao Qingyu relieved.

Fang Junqian sat quietly in the curtains and couldn"t help sighing when hearing him resolutely refusing a girl who loved him so deeply. He subconsciously thought Xiao Qingyu too cruel and merciless! Also, he regretted for having heard their conversation…

There were things that shouldn"t be known to others. He"d rather not have heard forever.

Fang Junqian lifted the curtains and walked out.

"You could have said no in a gentler manner." He paced to him, pouring himself a cup of tea, "Women should be treated gently with sweet words, which is good to both of you."

Xiao Qingyu"s cold lips suddenly made an amused smile, like a sneer, "Isn"t it crueler to cheat her with sweet words and deceptive hope?"

Fang Junqian shrugged, "Maybe, but who knows?" Some people would rather live in a lie forever.

Xiao Qingyu understood his disapproval and sneered, "Besides, I never say "I like you" to others. I"ll never say that." He slanted his sculpted eyebrows, his delicate features in the candle light beautiful as illusion, "… I never said that, don"t say it, or will never say it."