Chapter 16 – The Heat Between Them

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what is this about?” Yun Jingfei asked, showing off her new dress.

 

They stood beside a modest basin, its rim adorned with three stones: one a deep ocean blue, another blazing red, and the last as shadowy as midnight.

 

As soon as Qin Yun touched the blue stone with his fingertip, water began to flow, gradually filling the basin. He sensed the faint currents of Etra gathering, streaming into the stone.

 

The stone shimmered with radiant light, water appearing to spring from its heart. In truth, Etra was being reshaped by a secret formula etched deep within.

 

To any onlooker, it might seem miraculous, but Qin Yun saw through the illusion. The truth was plain—he simply needed to acknowledge it.

 

The formula was slowly being worn away.

 

After a few more dozen uses, a hundred at most, the stone would have to be replaced.

 

It was a cheap one, after all.

 

When the basin was full, Qin Yun pressed the red one next. A flame burned inside, but was surprisingly cool to the touch. Instead, its heat flowed through the water, raising its temperature substantially, enough to be of use.

 

With practiced ease, Qin Yun washed their bowls and his cooking tools, all under Yun Jingfei’s watchful gaze.

 

“Don’t you like it?” Qin Yun asked.

 

“I mean… It’s nice. Can’t say I like showing that much skin, though…”

 

“Oh? I thought women found it empowering.”

 

“What kind of women are you talking to? Your perspective seems off.”

 

“So is yours. Nobody is unbiased.”

 

“Fair enough, but where did you get it? I don’t believe you had enough time to order it custom, not one this well fitted.”

 

“What if I said I made it? Would you believe me?”

 

“Would you?” Yun Jingfei said doubtfully. “Since when are spies also talented seamstresses?”

 

“I’m a man of many talents,” Qin Yun smiled.

 

“You don’t say?” Yun Jingfei replied, eyes slightly narrowed. “But no, really. Where did you get it?”

 

“I told you. I made it.”

 

“How come I don’t believe you? When could you have possibly found the time?”

 

“Time isn’t something you find. You make it. I had a few hours when you slept, and I thought you’d be in need of a change.”

 

“Is a few hours enough for this?”

 

Yun Jingfei spun, her long skirt catching the breeze and swirling around her legs.

 

“Where there is a will, there is a way. People usually think something is impossible without even trying. I have no such limitation.”

 

“Good for you… You like to brag about yourself, don’t you?”

 

“I’m just pointing out the obvious. Reality will do the rest.”

 

Qin Yun flashed his wife a mischievous grin, prompting Yun Jingfei to avert her gaze as a blush crept across her cheeks.

 

Somehow, she couldn’t hate such a man. She had heard many men brag about their exploits, but it was only the first time she found that they rang true.

 

“You’ve asked me what I intended to do, but honestly, I have no idea,” Yun Jingfei finally added. “I know what you want to hear: No. The Cloud Empire didn’t give me any mission.”

 

“Sure,” Qin Yun replied absently, finishing his task.

 

He then pressed the black stone, and as if by magic, the water began to recede, as if a portal had appeared at the bottom of the vat, transporting it elsewhere.

 

Of course, no such portal was visible. This wasn’t some sort of teleportation, much less a distortion in space and time. The energy that the blue jewel had gathered and transformed into water had merely been scattered, returned to its most basic form.

 

It simply vanished, merging back into the atmosphere where it belonged.

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“Could you be any less condescending? Just say so if you don’t believe me,” Yun Jingfei replied, exasperated.

 

“Oh, I do believe you. I just find you are quite naive.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Let me ask you this,” Qin Yun began, wiping his hands on a nearby towel as he let the dishes air dry on a rack, a slight wind coming from a green stone located above. “Did your father, uncle, or whoever say whether you were their first choice for this arranged marriage?”

 

“Is this relevant?” Yun Jingfei asked, unconvinced.

 

Qin Yun knew her doubts, but didn’t relent.

 

“Just answer the question, please,” he pressed further.

 

She had to burrow back into her memories, looking as far back as two months ago to find the answer.

 

In her father’s case, ever since she had returned to the empire, she had never seen a glimpse of his face, not even on the day of her departure.

 

As for her uncle, even if he was opposed to this union, he wasn’t one to let anything slip, not when it could be used against the imperial family. His loyalty was without question.

 

But her siblings were another matter entirely. Whispers and rumours drifted endlessly through the imperial palace.

 

She remembered hearing from the maids in charge of cleaning a barely used, remote wing, that one of her distant relatives, one that could hardly be called a princess, was slated for the role.

 

That was, until the choice shifted to her—without anyone asking her opinion.

 

She’d wondered what caused the change, but assumed they simply wanted a more prominent princess, someone nearer the throne, to fill the role.

 

It was the only explanation that made sense to her at the time.

 

Yet now, after meeting Qin Yun, she found herself questioning that logic.