"Then use your Qi to stabilise the pot," Yichen countered, his eyes flashing with stubborn, petulant demand. "My throat feels parched, and your little parasite is making the air in here foul."
For the next day and a half, Ji'an functioned as a triage nurse, a hostage negotiator, and an exhausted parent.
She brewed tea while balancing a pot on her knee, held Xuan's hair back while he was sick into the bucket.
She physically batted Yichen's fan away every time the Prince tried to "accidentally" strike the stray girl's knuckles to make her let go.
By the time the towering, majestic obsidian walls of the Azure Empire's capital city came into view, Ji'an was running on fumes, spite, and the residual adrenaline from the dungeon raid.
The imperial carriage did not slow down as it breached the massive city gates.
The royal crest blazoned on the doors ensured that the bustling crowds, merchant caravans, and city guards violently parted like the Red Sea, clearing the main road.
