Do You Like Me or Not?

Yu Qingyan got up and returned to her room. Chu Yuchuan followed her inside, sat down on his own couch, and picked up a book from beside him.

"Qingyan."

Yu Qingyan looked up. That exquisite face took on a soft halo in the candlelight. "What is it?"

"..."

"Qingyan."

"What's the matter?"

"It's too quiet. I just wanted to call your name a few times."

"..." Yu Qingyan gave him an annoyed look and turned back to make her bed. "What are you staring at me for?"

"Why were you so happy today after going to see Chu Yufeng?"

Yu Qingyan looked at him in surprise. He had seen her?

"What? Even when you're with your Yao'er, you still have the attention to spare for others? Actually, with your constant 'Yao'er this' and 'Rou'er that', there is completely no need for you to come here. They are both eagerly waiting and longing for you to go to them."

"Yao'er?" Chu Yuchuan frowned, then got up and moved in front of her. "Qingyan."

"What are you doing again?" His delicate face was right before her eyes. His smooth, tender skin emitted a translucent, fair glow under the illumination of the candlelight, and his amber pupils rippled with a mesmerizing light. Yu Qingyan instinctively shifted backward a little. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Yao'er—Chu Shiyao—is my younger sister."

Yu Qingyan was momentarily stunned.

"Qingyan, do you like me?"

His face magnified before her eyes, and a warm sensation touched her lips. Once again, Yu Qingyan heard the accelerated beating of her heart.

A trace of a smile overflowed from Chu Yuchuan's amber eyes. His long eyelashes dropped, and he gently deepened the kiss.

"Chu Yuchuan, get off my bed."

"Qingyan..."

"Are you going to get down yourself, or do you want me to help you!"

Chu Yuchuan pouting slightly, he got up from the bed with a hint of reluctance.

"Qingyan."

"What is it again?"

"I'm hungry."

"Serves you right! Who told you not to eat dinner."

"..."

With a bowl of plain porridge and some simple side dishes, Yu Qingyan watched as Chu Yuchuan swept away everything on the table clean.

"Are you really not going to eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You still haven't told me, what did you go looking for Chu Yufeng for?"

Yu Qingyan glared at him. "I simply went over to drink a bowl of his porridge. Why are you so suspicious?"

"What, were you that happy just seeing him?"

Yu Qingyan raised an eyebrow. "He's a nice person, why shouldn't I be happy?"

"You can't judge a book by its cover. He is not as simple as he looks on the surface!"

"If that's the case, there's no way the Emperor wouldn't know. Why has he kept him alive until now?" Yu Qingyan lowered her gaze. Chu Heng had no reason to keep a ticking time bomb by his side. She had noticed something was amiss with him within less than a month of arriving here, let alone these brothers who had grown up together.

"Chu Heng naturally wanted to get rid of him."

Yu Qingyan was somewhat puzzled. "If he is so formidable, why did the imperial throne fall into Chu Heng's hands?"

Chu Yuchuan frowned. "I don't know."

Yu Qingyan was startled. "Chu Yuchuan?"

Chu Yuchuan looked up and took her hand. A stir rippled through Yu Qingyan's heart as she listened to him say, "Back then, the ones contending for the throne were the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince. His Imperial Majesty intended to choose one of the two as the heir to the throne. I had no say before His Imperial Majesty, and I've never cared about these matters—a true idle prince in every sense. Yet in the end, the one who ascended the throne was the Third Prince, Chu Heng. The Second Prince died, while the Fifth Prince, Chu Yufeng, remained completely unharmed. I've sent people to investigate what happened behind this, but the information I obtained was limited. Now that Chu Heng is the Emperor, he has naturally wiped away everything that shouldn't exist."

"Are you suspecting that Chu Yufeng and Chu Heng..."

Chu Yuchuan lowered his gaze. "I don't know."