He Yuan and Cao Xiwang could barely walk with their stomachs extra full so as soon as the returned, they went straight to their courtyards without having dinner and had their servants prepare them for bed.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

He Yuan woke up in the middle of the night when he heard the steady knocking sounds coming from outside his closed window.

Alarmed, he wrapped a garment around himself and carefully moved away from the window. There was no way he would be stupid enough to go over there and open that window.

Whatever or whoever was there must not be of good intentions. He was about to sneak out of the room when the window was blasted open and a black clad figure flew into his room.

He Yuan's heart was moving at a thousand miles per minute. He cursed the system marketplace for selling the martial arts manuals so costly. How was he supposed to protect himself now?

Sure he knew street fighting but that was mere child's play in the presence of a martial arts practitioner.

The black robed figure finally straightened and He Yuan's eyes widened.

Yu... Ming?

What on earth was the first prince doing in his room? Did he mistake this courtyard with Cao Luomei's? That was impossible, Cao Luomei's courtyard was located at the other side of the Cao mansion, so far away!

He Yuan quickly plopped to the ground and greeted.

"There's no need to be so formal with me." When He Yuan remained face down on the ground, Yu Ming sighed. "You may rise."

He Yuan stood up and quickly opened the door to leave.

Yu Ming used qinggong and appeared before He Yuan, closing the door before he could escape.

He Yuan jumped back three steps, keeping distance between the both of them. Your Highness, what is the meaning of this? It is inappropriate for an unmarried male and female to be alone!"

Yu Ming chuckled. "So? If I say I want to be here, who can stop me?" Then he walked away and laid languidly on He Yuan's bed.

He Yuan did not answer, rather he used this opportunity to swing the door open and then he froze. Two of Yu Ming's subordinate's were right outside.

He Yuan's heart rate picked up. What was Yu Ming trying to do? He looked over to the drawer by the side of the bed. He thought of his paralysis dust and then he remembered he'd given all of it to Cao Xiwang in fear of Cao Long's threat earlier today.

He was planning on making some more tomorrow, now he felt regret but how could he have known that the first prince would suddenly appear in his room? "888?" He called out shakily.

[Don't panic. Even your breathing and listen to me. Go over to the place you keep your ingredients and squat close. I would try to use my energy to extract their essence and coat it on your silver needles. It might not be as effective as the paralysis dust but it should buy you some time to escape.]historical

"Isn't that against the rules?"

[Yes but I can find my way around it. Would you rather be taken advantage of by an arrogant pedophile?]

When He Yuan shook his head slowly, he continued. [Hopefully, the higher ups would not pay attention to this little bit of energy going out.]

He Yuan edged closer and closer to the reading table, a few medicinal ingredients were scattered on top. Hopefully, Yu Ming would not notice his weirdness.

Once he was successfully standing with his back to the reading table, he eyed Yu Ming warily. "Your Highness, what brings you to this lowly one's courtyard this late at night?"

"I already said you don't need to be so formal with me. Call me Ming."

He Yuan remained silent and when Yu Ming's frown deepened, he said, "Your Highness, this lowly one would not dare disrespect an imperial descendant by calling out his first name. It's a crime punishable by death and is against this one's proper upbringing."

Yu Ming chuckled coldly. "You're really different from Luomei, she is more lovable than you are."

He Yuan didn't argue. "Yes, Cao Luomei is more lovable than this lowly one. Your Highness should go over to the lovable Cao Luomei's courtyard."

Yu Ming glared. "Are you commanding this prince?"

He Yuan kneeled immediately. 888 had already selected the ingredients and converted them to data in order to extract their essence. "This lowly one would not dare."

Yu Ming was amused by He Yuan's formal nature. He had gotten so used to Cao Luomei's bold and unrestrained nature that he was beginning to think both sisters were the same. "I heard you know medicine."

"This lowly one likes to dabble, the knowledge is not concrete," He Yuan said quickly. 888 was almost done and the first needle had materialized in his fingers, well hidden by the sleeves of the garment he was wearing.

Yu Ming adjusted his posture, showing his bloodied left side that had a long gash. He Yuan was more concerned about his stained beddings. "I encountered a mishap on my way, come and attend to my wound."

"With all due respect your highness, this lowly one can not. It is inappropriate for unmarried men and women to be in close contact." Did Yu Ming think he was a gullible maiden? That injury did not look life threatening at all!

Yu Ming narrowed his eyes dangerously. "So you would let an imperial descendant die in your courtyard?"

888 slipped four more needles in He Yuan's hands so his confidence increased exponentially. "Your highness, it would be good if you don't treat this lowly one like a fool. If that injury was as harmful as it looks, you wouldn't come to a person whose knowledge of medicine comes from books.

-Anyhow, you're an imperial descendant and potential heir to the throne, you wouldn't take your own life so lightly." He Yuan would've also pointed out how Yu Ming had done nothing but talk since he got here, hence he couldn't possibly be in danger of losing his life but he didn't want to trigger the prince too much.

Yu Ming laughed and stood up from the bed. "You're so interesting, you act all proper but you're even more fearless than a lot of the noble ladies in the capital, even your sister. You're also very intelligent too. Stand up."

He Yuan clenched the silver needles as he stood to his feet, watching warily as Yu Ming walked closer and closer to him.

"You must be doing all this to catch my attention. Fine... You've succeeded, " Yu Ming said as he came to a stop before He Yuan.

He Yuan was dumbfounded. Was something wrong with Yu Ming's brain? How did he come to such a conclusion?

Yu Ming brought his face closer to He Yuan's. "I know you want me, you don't have to pretend."

At this point, He Yuan forgot all propriety. "I don't. I don't at all!" He said as he jumped back, he couldn't even stop the look of pure disgust he gave Yu Ming.

Yu Ming's eyes widened and he looked as though he had received a heavy blow. He was the first prince, the dream man of every noble lady in the capital, which one of them would dare disdain him?

He grit his teeth at He Yuan. "I would make you take back your words. I would make sure you come back to me begging, you better not regret then!" And then he turned away and hopped out of the window.

As soon as Yu Ming left, He Yuan's legs softened and he plopped to the ground. He had been scared shitless. That Yu Ming was truly nothing good. Anyhow, he was already twenty four years old and yet he was acting so lewd with a thirteen year old.

He Yuan was well aware that a lot of girls in ancient times were engaged at fourteen, heck some were even married at that age but in the end, his origin realm was a modern one and the idea did not sit right with him.

Not to mention the idea of a twenty four year old man being so sexual with a thirteen year old girl, He Yuan had the urge to throw up. He soon found the strength to stand up and leave the room.

He couldn't stay in there any longer. It felt unsafe so he took a stool to the front of his courtyard and sat down, waiting for sunrise. From his position, he could see the guards at the entrance of his courtyard and even if they were no match for Yu Ming and his subordinates, he was still a little reassured.

888 materialized next to He Yuan to keep him company. Even if his host said nothing, he was aware of how frightening the situation was for him. He was glad the situation did not get to the point where He Yuan had to use the paralysis essence he'd made.

He'd lied earlier. If He Yuan had used it on Yu Ming, the higher ups would have most definitely found out and he would be punished severely. He quickly dissolved the paralysis essence and stored the silver needles away.

As soon as the sun rose, He Yuan sent for a blacksmith to create iron protectors to barricade his window with, he also made some bone weakening poison and streaked the outside of the window with it.

Wu Bai and Wu Hong closed his window from indoors. Anyone that would try to force his window open from outside was most definitely not a good person so he wasn't worried.

He wanted the Wu sisters to take turns sleeping in his room but even if he was in a woman's body, he was ultimately still a man so he gave up on that idea and settled for increasing the guards in his courtyard.

He also increased the security in Cao Xiwang's courtyard and when he was repeatedly asked for the reason for wanting extra protection, he attributed it to a nightmare that he had.