Fu Ya. Ming froze for a beat, offering Gu Xiechen a similarly reserved smile. Yet, to her, Gu Xiechen’s smile felt like a searing electric furnace, instantly sending a hot, crimson blush across her cheeks. Flustered, she tucked both hands behind her back and chuckled, "Jin, wait here a moment. Elder Brother Xiechen and I will go down to the cellar to fetch the wine."

Gu Xiechen paused, then grinned cheerfully, fanning himself as he followed Fu Ya. Ming.

Jin stood rooted for a long while before suddenly leaping three feet in the air, shouting, "What, what, what is this! You two are going to the cellar together? Hey, that’s a chore a maid should do... If not, it should be you and me going, what business does he have with it? What business does he have!" Stamping her foot fiercely, Jin frantically chased after them, yelling and shrieking the whole way, nearly knocking over two maids who were delicately carrying crystal fruit platters.

Fu Ya. Ming hurried Gu Xiechen past two expansive mirrored hallways, leading him out to a patch of green lawn behind the palace. The grass was like velvet, dotted with small flowers between the blades. Two colossal, lion-like beasts with single horns were sprawling lazily on the ground, golden rings around their necks tethered by long chains to a thick stone pillar behind them. Hearing footsteps, the two strange beasts shook their heads and tails, standing up. They widened their eyes and looked at Fu Ya. Ming with a hint of bewilderment, before letting out a joyous roar and barreling towards them, their rolls of fat jiggling with every stride. After only a few steps, the beasts tripped, tumbling head over heels like giant, meaty spheres rolling their way.

Fu Ya. Ming immediately caught the head of one beast and shrieked in surprise, "How did you two get so fat? How long has it been since I last saw you?"

Vigorously pinching the drooping jowls of both strange beasts, Fu Ya. Ming laughed at Gu Xiechen, "These are my pets I’ve raised since I was small. I left them here when I went to study at the Star Alliance First Military Academy. When I returned, I hadn't had time to tend to them. I never imagined they’d become this enormous in just a few years."

Gu Xiechen smiled, reaching out to cup the head of one beast and rubbing it vigorously for a moment. He chuckled, "They are very cute."

Fu Ya. Ming’s eyes crinkled into crescents of delight. After playing with the two beasts for a while, she led Gu Xiechen over to the stone pillar. Tapping several spots on the pillar, a doorway materialized silently in the stone, and a wave of cold air mixed with an indescribable, warm fragrance washed over them. It was strange; the air beyond the door was cold, yet the scent was warm. The chill and the warmth blended without any jarring contrast, creating a feeling that this was how it was always meant to be.

Following Fu Ya. Ming through the doorway, they descended about a hundred meters down a flight of stone steps into a small cellar, barely ten meters wide and long. Two rows of wooden racks held sparse collections: just over two hundred wine bottles, each no larger than Gu Xiechen’s fist, and about thirty wooden casks standing nearly two feet high.

Fu Ya. Ming pursed her lips, gazing at the bottles and barrels with a distant air. "This is the Golden Lotus Wine I brewed in the most traditional way when I was little. But then, I focused entirely on applying to the Star Alliance First Military Academy, so I studied military skills and various war doctrines diligently. I just didn’t have time for these frivolous things anymore."

Smiling faintly, Fu Ya. Ming sighed softly, "For a woman to dedicate herself completely to becoming a professional soldier... is that a little... peculiar?"

He brushed a finger across a wine bottle; not a speck of dust clung to it. This cellar looked crude, but the control over air and temperature had reached an astonishingly high level. Tapping the small bottle, Gu Xiechen looked at Fu Ya. Ming’s profile and said with genuine sincerity, "Not peculiar at all. To be able to do that for your country... it’s very endearing!" "Endearing?" Fu Ya. Ming’s eyes snapped wide open in surprise. She spun around quickly, smiling radiantly at Gu Xiechen, "Are you talking about me?"

Nodding seriously, Gu Xiechen subtly swayed his fan, saying with a slight smile, "There is no other woman here quite so endearing."

A flush like burning sunset clouds swept over Fu Ya. Ming's face. She stammered and hesitated for a good while before suddenly turning away and frantically grabbing several bottles from the rack. She managed a strained laugh, "Well, then, could you give me a hand? I made these bottles myself when I was young too, but later I decided these little crafting skills were useless for Yafey, so..."

With a sweep of his large sleeve, Gu Xiechen gathered a dozen bottles and tucked them inside. He tucked his fan into his belt and effortlessly lifted two of the larger wine casks. He looked at Fu Ya. Ming, whose very nose tip was flushed red, and laughed, "If we’re talking about it, you had a very happy childhood. You had time to brew wine and craft bottles, unlike me..."

"Oh?" Fu Ya. Ming looked at Gu Xiechen curiously. "What was your childhood like? Look, I know you’re from the Earth Federation, that it has a population in the tens of billions, over a dozen administrative planets, and a technology level that isn’t exactly advanced. But what about the rest? For instance, your childhood? Your father and mother?"

As she asked, Fu Ya. Ming started walking back toward the stone steps they had entered through.

Gu Xiechen smiled, following her with the two heavy casks in hand. Without deliberately searching for ornate words, he recounted his story in the plainest language possible.

"In the end, my father and mother were buried together... and my brother and I defied his dying wish."

When they returned to the spot where they had separated from Jin, Gu Xiechen had just finished relating his experiences.

Fu Ya. Ming took a deep breath, looking at Gu Xiechen with mixed emotions. "Is that so? Then, you must have sufficient power now, correct? How do you plan to deal with your brother?"

After a brief silence, Gu Xiechen shrugged and smiled gently. "I will strip him of everything—power, status, money—and then send him to some remote place to live out his retirement. For someone with such a strong need for control, losing his authority might be harder for him to bear than actual death, wouldn't you agree?" Gu Xiechen smiled warmly at Fu Ya. Ming; his gentle gaze was like moonlight streaming through an open skylight on a summer night, bringing a sense of deep quiet, peace, and serenity to her heart... just as it had done for the first-time killer Gu Xiechen, allowing him to sleep soundly under that very moonlight.

Gu Xiechen’s smile was also gentle, perhaps even warm. Looking at it, Fu Ya. Ming felt a brief moment of dazed enchantment. She suddenly had an instinctive feeling: standing by this man, she wouldn't have to face all the raging storms entirely on her own. In the entire Yafey Kingdom, the entire Star Alliance, perhaps even the entire universe, only this man before her could give her that feeling.

"It feels very safe!" Fu Ya. Ming squinted, smiling. "But I’m not the kind of little woman who needs you to protect her, mind you!"

Squinting, Fu Ya. Ming suddenly cried out, "Hey? Where did Jin go? Oh no, I forgot, Jin has Congenital Spatial Dysorientation!"

"Congenital Spatial Dysorientation?" Gu Xiechen had never heard of such an ailment and asked in surprise, "What are the symptoms?"

Shrugging helplessly, Fu Ya. Ming pouted and gave a wry smile. "Put plainly, it means she gets lost anywhere, anytime, even in her own home."

Before the words had fully left her mouth, a disheveled and sweaty Jin burst out from an adjacent colonnade. She looked around in panic, her face contorted with frustrated anger as she shrieked, "How am I back here again? Huh? I don’t think I passed through here just now? Did I? I didn't, did I?"

Lost, Jin didn't even seem to notice Gu Xiechen and Fu Ya. Ming standing right near her. She frowned, pulled a Star Alliance gold coin from her sleeve, cupped it in her palm, muttered a quick prayer for divine guidance, and then tossed the coin high into the air. With a few 'clinks,' the coin landed and spun on the ground. The tip of the tree carved onto the coin pointed down the colonnade Jin had just run out of.

Heh heh, Jin chuckled foolishly, turned, and bolted down that colonnade. She laughed loudly, "This time I definitely won't be wrong! Hee hee, I’ll definitely catch up to them!"

Gu Xiechen looked blankly at Fu Ya. Ming—Congenital Spatial Dysorientation? That truly was a terrifying condition!

Fu Ya. Ming sighed in exasperation and shouted loudly, "Jin!"

Jin’s frantic run halted abruptly. She looked around vacantly, her body spinning 'round and 'round on the spot. Her unfocused eyes finally managed to spot Gu Xiechen and Fu Ya. Ming a few meters away. She let out a triumphant cheer, clapping her hands vigorously and laughing, "Sister Fu Ya, look! I found the way back much faster this time, didn't I?"

Fu Ya. Ming’s mouth twitched, and she gave Gu Xiechen a strained, dry laugh.

Gu Xiechen looked gently at Fu Ya. Ming. A few fine strands of grass were clinging to the white lion beasts from their affectionate reunion earlier. A single, delicate blade of grass was caught in Fu Ya. Ming’s hair. Without a moment’s thought, Gu Xiechen put down the wine cask he was holding in his right hand and reached out to gently remove that strand of grass from her hair.

Fu Ya. Ming naturally tilted her head, cooperating perfectly as Gu Xiechen plucked the strand away.

Their movements were so natural and fluid, as if they had coordinated them thousands of times before, without the slightest awkwardness or hesitation. After setting the grass down, Gu Xiechen even used his fingers to smooth down a few stray strands of Fu Ya. Ming’s slightly messy hair. Fu Ya. Ming squinted again and smiled at Gu Xiechen.

Hoo... Jin, who moments before had been beaming, suddenly deflated like a punctured ball, all her energy gone. She stared blankly at Gu Xiechen and Fu Ya. Ming, who stood together in such effortless harmony. She bit her lip lightly and muttered under her breath, "So annoying... This is the first man I've ever liked! Even if you two were plotting something scandalous, you don't have to put on such a performance right in front of me! Can't you at least consider a young girl’s self-respect? Is there anyone who acts like you two?"