T/N: It was a hectic holiday season, but I’m back on track! Updates should be more regular from now on.

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Situ Zhaoling stared in shock at the huge phantom god, and only returned to her senses when the phoenix placed her on the ground and soared away.

There was pure white all around, with clouds and mist to the left and right, and tall, unreachable coiled dragon jade pillars hidden among them.

A few steps in front of her was a long white jade table and a wide chair made of the same material.

A dozen feet farther ahead, clouds and mist flowed slowly like a gauze curtain, and a gust of wind carried the scent of wintersweets.

Situ Zhaling felt her mind become much clearer.

Chu Jiubian lowered his eyes to look at her.

When Jiang Shuoye entered the Divine Realm earlier, he’d worn the same clothes he was sleeping in. Due to this, Chu Jiubian was a little worried about what to do if the girl arrived wearing her sleeping clothes. Fortunately, the System said that it would automatically supply clothing for his Believers.

Whatever they wore during the day was what they would wear in the Divine Realm.

Presently, Situ Zhaoling was wearing the crimson-purple dress she’d been wearing during the day, which was very characteristic of Nanjiang. The top skirt was adorned with white tassels hanging at the hems, and a large silver collar hung around her neck, exquisitely crafted.

She had long, thick black hair, half of which was tied into a bun while the other half was left loose. Pale lavender pearls hung from the bun and her two silver hairpins, swaying slightly. 

When she realized that the huge godly image was looking down at her, Situ Zhaoling involuntarily clenched her fists. That gaze seemed to have substance, and the terrifying pressure caused her heart to tremble slightly.

A distant dragon let out a long, lingering roar.

She heard a cold male voice sound from the shadowy figure.

“Welcome to my Divine Realm.”

Divine Realm?

Countless thoughts flashed through Situ Zhaoling’s mind in an instant.

In ancient times, immortals appeared in dreams to instruct mortals. Could she have been chosen by a god?!

Her heart was beating like a drum.

She asked cautiously: “Are you a god?”

Her clear voice was full of awe.

Perhaps because she was aware from the start that she was dreaming and had been brought here by a mythical phoenix, or perhaps because the people of Nanjiang were more prone to believing in the supernatural, she was not as vigilant as Jiang Shuoye and very easily connected this situation to the gods.

This saved Chu Jiubian a lot of trouble. He was very satisfied with this believer.

“I know you’re in trouble, so I’ve come to help you.” His voice echoed all around.

Nanjiang was experiencing a severe drought, and it was fair to say that it was a disaster.

Situ Zhaoling instantly thought of the matter that had been bothering her for several days, and quickly straightened out her expression. 

She knelt right down on the ground, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and performed the salute of the Nanjiang people.

“This one is indeed in trouble right now.” Situ Zhaoling said sincerely, “There has been no rain in Nanjiang for many days, and the rivers are drying up. There is fear of a drought.”

“It’s just that the Imperial Court is doing nothing. My parents are honest people and haven’t been collecting much grain tax, so we cannot afford to donate sufficient food for disaster relief. Please help the common people of Nanjiang!”

Ever since her mother and father married, her maternal grandmother, the Stronghold Chieftain, had become inseparable from the Nanjiang palace, along with her relatives. 

They never exploited the common people under their rule.

Because Nanjiang always had good weather and hadn’t experienced any disasters in the past hundred years, the village chiefs and Nanjiang-wang had only collected half of the annual taxes to be paid to the court, with the remaining half never collected in full. In fact, there was more food and money in the hands of the common people themselves. 

This also meant that there was not much surplus grain in Nanjiang’s granaries. If food was distributed on a large scale, it wouldn’t last more than a few days. This wasn’t nearly enough to withstand a large-scale drought.

The grain merchants in Nanjiang were all aware of the situation. Grain prices were rising slowly, and when the people had eaten up all the old grain, prices would definitely rise even more. 

Bai Lihao could naturally use his power to suppress those grain merchants and prevent them from raising prices. 

But merchants were profit-driven, and there were other regions near Nanjiang that were also suffering from drought. Grain prices were also high there, so these grain merchants would definitely go elsewhere.

At that time, there would be nowhere to buy grain in Nanjiang even if they wanted to.

Although her mother had been praying for rain for several days, the crops were basically dead due to the current situation, and even a few days of heavy rain wouldn’t be able to save them.

So Situ Zhaoling was not asking Chu Jiubian to bring rain, but to help them overcome the drought, whether it was giving advice, donating food, or anything else — anything that could save the common people.

“This one is willing to serve you, My Lord. I only ask you to bestow upon us your blessings.”

As a god, it would be too cheap to demand something without giving something in return.

If he didn’t lay a good foundation at the beginning, and then tried to use Situ Zhaoling to make money and expand his reputation, he might have to trade something else in order to make a deal.

This wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted Believers to volunteer to serve him, and work without asking for more in return.

The Faith Value from Nanjiang couldn’t be relied on for the time being, and the Faith Value in the capital wasn’t sufficient no matter how hard he tried, so the only place left was the Northern Desert.

Jiang Shuoye should also fulfill some of his obligations as a Believer, such as helping with “missionary work.”

With some plans in mind, Chu Jiubian said to Situ Zhaoling: “I will call upon you again in fifteen days to help you overcome this difficulty.”

Situ Zhaoling’s bright eyes flashed with pleasant surprise, and she quickly bowed: “Many thanks, My Lord!”

Then she hastened to ask: “What is your name?”

Her vision was suddenly flooded with white mist, and it felt like her body was floating slightly.

Bright moonlight streamed into her bedroom, illuminating the beautiful sleeping face of the young girl.

Her long eyelashes trembled, and she abruptly opened her eyes.

Situ Zhaoling jumped out of bed and cast her gaze around.

She was perfectly awake, her eyes bright and clear, without a trace of the usual sleepiness that came with waking.

The god’s deep voice echoed in her ears: “I am the High Priest.”

“High Priest.” She whispered the title, and her heart trembled for a long while.

Wait, she had to go find her mother!

She hurriedly dressed herself and, heedless of the fact that it was the middle of the night, ran straight to her parents’ courtyard.

The maid on night duty scrambled to catch up, but Situ Zhaoling stopped her: “Go and sleep. I’m going to find my mother.”

The princess had been having constant nightmares during this period, and after waking, she would go find her mother and stay in her courtyard.

The little maidservant was worried, so she followed the princess all the way until she saw that she had indeed entered the main courtyard. Only then did she feel at ease and go back.

Situ Anli and Bai Lihao couldn’t sleep well, so they simply gave up and snuggled at the head of the bed, talking in low voices.

They had previously thought that if the common people had more money and food, their lives would be more comfortable, but now they truly regretted not building larger public granaries and collecting more food from the people.

The people of Nanjiang were used to living good lives, and never treated themselves badly when it came to food. Because there hadn’t been any disasters in the past hundred years, they all relied on each season’s harvest and didn’t keep much old grain.

Now that they were watching the grain harvest fail, the common people only thought about saving money and food.

But even so, the surplus grain in their hands wouldn’t last long. They had now begun buying grain to eat, and the grain merchants had been slowly raising prices.

If this continued, they would soon have to open the granaries.

However, the grain in the granaries wouldn’t last long.

Bai Lihao had considered buying food from other places, but Guizhou, Sichuan, and Huguang, which were closest to them, were also suffering from the disaster.

If they wanted to have enough food, they would soon have to go to Henan or Jiangxi.

There were two or three regions in-between, and it was unknown how long the trip back and forth would take. The money and manpower spent would also be far more expensive than buying grain directly from the grain merchants.

“It would be great if the Imperial Court would send us food.” Situ Anli leaned against the headboard with a small emerald green snake coiled around her arm.

Frowning, she gently touched the little snake’s head.

Southern Zhili was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court. Not only had they not suffered any disasters this year, but it was even a rare year of bumper harvest. 

According to the news, their early rice harvest should have already started.

If the Imperial Court could transfer grain from Southern Zhili to Nanjiang, the grain prices would stabilize in just one month, thus solving their urgent needs.

Bai Lihao reached up to gently smooth away her frown, saying softly: “To send grain from Southern Zhili, it must pass through Huguang and Guizhou, only the latter of which is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court. Huguang-wang will never allow food to be transported safely from his territory to Jiangnan.”

Situ Anli said with a sneer: “His greed is insatiable.”

The region of Huguang had good harvests year after year, and the grain tax revenues were high, but the money was never enough when it was handed over to the court, and Huguang cried about being poor all day long.

Like this, the money and grain that should have been handed over to the Imperial Court went into Huguang-wang’s pockets. The local army was expanded again and again, and granaries were built one after another.

Everyone knew that he was extremely wealthy, his treasury overflowing.

Even if he gave out porridge every day, it would be easy for him to feed the common people in his territory for a year or two.

But everyone knew that with Bai Liyue’s personality, while he would give food to the soldiers without hesitation, he would be reluctant to give any to the ordinary commoners.

This was indeed the case.

When the drought began two months ago, Bai Liyue submitted a memorial to the court bemoaning his poverty, and requested money and food, as well as manpower to dig wells and dredge canals.

At that time, the late Emperor Yingzong was still in power. Apparently due to his fear of the more than 70,000-strong Huguang army, he actually sent over the requested money and food.

When he saw this, Bai Lihao also submitted a memorial. But the emperor had never been close to him, nor did he take this vassal king living in a remote region seriously, so he ignored it.

However, now that the new emperor had ascended the throne, the Imperial Court must be in a completely different situation.

Bai Lihao had been sent to Jiangnan by Emperor Chengzong before the late Emperor Yingzong came to power, so when the coup was launched in the capital, he was leisurely and comfortable far away in Nanjiang.

The Qin family had helped Emperor Yingzong ascend the throne. This family had been loyal for generations, and Bai Lihao had a good impression of them. He was just not very familiar with Qin Xiao.

He had only heard that the other party was the idle eldest son of the Qin family, but now, it seemed that Qin Xiao was definitely not a stupid person.

On the contrary, Qin Xiao was decisive and mighty, with ruthless methods. 

The fact that he was able to stand out amongst the twisted politics in the capital and push Bai Lihong, who carried Qin family blood, to the top was something that should not be underestimated.

Bai Lihao had sent a memorial just before, because he was unsure of the other party’s temperament. What if he actually sent them grain?

But this possibility was extremely low. Just as he had said, most of the grain from the Imperial Court would be stolen by the Huguang-wang on the way, and Nanjiang wouldn’t see even one grain of rice.

Bai Lihao did not have high expectations. He said: “The letter I sent to Fifth Brother should have arrived. I wonder if he will be able to provide the needed food.”

Pingxi-wang, Bai Lizheng, was the same age as Bai Lihao. The mothers of the two princes had similar backgrounds and personalities, so they had a good relationship in the palace and often visited one another, and the fifth and sixth princes grew up together.

Their relationship was much closer compared to the other brothers.

Afterward, they were separated to their fiefdoms, one in Nanjiang and the other in Sichuan, which were close in proximity. Therefore, although they didn’t see each other as often as they had in the palace, they still exchanged letters several times a year.

Now that Bai Lihao had taken the initiative to make the request, if Bai Lizheng had any surplus food, he would definitely share some with him.

It was only that Sichuan was also suffering from the disaster, and its population was much larger than that of Nanjiang. Bai Lihao could only ask for help as a last-ditch effort.

“I figure they’re also stretched to the limit over there.” Situ Anli let out a faint sigh and looked outside through the open window. The moonlight was like a gauzy veil.

“Madam, My Lord, the Princess is here,” a servant reported from outside the room.

“Ling’er?”

“Did she have a nightmare?”

The couple quickly got up, dressed themselves, and went out.

Their daughter rushed toward them as soon as they came out, and Situ Anli immediately embraced her.

The little snake coiled around her arm quickly slithered up to her shoulder, wrapping its tail around her neck. Its little head tilted, and its black, bean-like eyes peered at Situ Zhaoling curiously. Situ Zhaoling stepped back slightly, then took her mother’s warm hands and said excitedly: “Mom, I had a dream—”

Her throat suddenly seemed to be blocked, and she was unable to utter a single word that came to her lips.

She reached up and touched her throat in surprise: “What’s going on?”

Her voice returned.

“What’s wrong?” Situ Anli hurriedly inspected her daughter’s neck, asking anxiously, “Do you have a sore throat?”

“Call for the doctor.” Bai Lihao immediately ordered someone to fetch him.

“Dad, there’s no need. I’m fine,” Situ Zhaoling dissuaded him.

The servant glanced at Bai Lihao, who waved a hand for him to retreat.

Situ Zhaoling thought she had spoken too fast with a dry throat, so she slowed down as she continued: “I just dreamt that—”

Her voice caught in her throat again.

Situ Zhaoling realized that something was wrong.

She seemed to be unable to speak of the High Priest.

Was…..was this the work of the god?

Without his permission, she couldn’t even reveal his existence.

She had originally come to her mother for help performing a divination, but now she had skipped that step and directly confirmed the identity of the High Priest.

The other party must be a powerful god, and had come to help her through this difficult time!

In this case, the drought issue would be successfully resolved!

Bai Lihao watched his daughter’s strange reaction and shifting expression. He asked with a frown: “Ling-er, what did you dream about?”

He had only heard his daughter speak the word “dream.”

Situ Zhaoling had been having nightmares these days, and Bai Lihao was truly worried about her. It seemed his daughter had been dreaming again, but going by her excitement, it shouldn’t have been a nightmare.

This was a good thing.

But what kind of dream would warrant her coming here in the middle of the night specifically to tell them about it?

“I didn’t dream about anything.” Situ Zhaoling giggled. She looked at her parents with bright eyes and said in a light tone, “Dad, Mom, you go ahead and continue to rest. Ling’er will take her leave now.”

She reached out and gently stroked the little green snake’s head a couple of times. “See you later, Cuicui.”

The little snake flicked its tongue.

Smiling, Situ Zhaoling turned around and left the main courtyard like a gust of wind.

Bai Lihao chuckled: “That child. Did she have a sweet dream?”

“Perhaps.” Situ Anli watched her daughter hurry away, her eyes bright and her heart beating rapidly. Cuicui slowly slithered to the top of her head and curled into her hair.

The holy star she had divined just the day before had actually appeared in her daughter’s dream. 

Nanjiang was saved.

*

*

Situ Zhaoling was so excited that she couldn’t sleep. 

An immortal had appeared in her dream. She was the chosen one!

It was a pity that she had no way to show off and express her joy and pride. All she could do was excitedly pace around the room. 

This wasn’t working. Since she couldn’t sleep, she needed to find someone to talk to.

Chu Jiubian watched the card screen and saw his second Believer jump around like a rabbit, then speed off to another courtyard.

The moonlight in Nanjiang was very bright tonight.

Inside the courtyard, there was a grinding sound in the middle of the night, like a saw cutting through wood.

Following Situ Zhaoling’s figure, Chu Jiubian saw that there was indeed a young man in the courtyard who was sawing a block of wood with his sleeves rolled up.

“A-di,” Situ Zhaoling said with a smile. “You’re still awake.”

When her brother showed her the diagram of a waterwheel today, she knew he would definitely be unable to sleep and would stay up studying it.

“A-jie, why aren’t you asleep yet?” Situ Zhaoyao reached up to wipe his face.

Situ Zhaoling immediately handed him a handkerchief, saying: “There’s sawdust on your hands.”

Situ Zhaoyao took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

With the brother and sister standing together, it was obvious that the growing younger brother was now half a head taller. 

But when they sat down, Chu Jiubian noticed through the screen that the two of them really looked alike, as if they had been carved from the same mold.

But the boy’s bones were somewhat more robust, and the girl’s more delicate, although both were good-looking.

The brother and sister chatted for a while, and Situ Zhaoyao talked about the waterwheel he was making. He was distressed, because something wasn’t right – it felt like there was something missing.

Chu Jiubian could only glimpse some cut pieces of wood through the screen, but didn’t see a complete waterwheel. He also didn’t know if he was making a dragon-bone waterwheel, a barrel wheel, or something else.

But no matter what it was, anybody who could conceive of making a “waterwheel” was no ordinary talent.

Chu Jiubian opened the System Mall and searched inside, locating the books on agricultural tools.

There were dozens of books, with very different categories and contents.

And because they involved tool diagrams, the prices were very high.

Chu Jiubian’s heart hurt just looking at them. But he had never known how to make a waterwheel before, so he couldn’t even give Situ Zhaoyao any advice.

Chu Jiubian didn’t dare to spend his limited points recklessly, so he decided to wait until the next time he summoned Situ Zhaoling to buy one.

It was getting late, so he stopped eavesdropping on the siblings’ conversation, shut off the screen, and left the Divine Realm.

A pounding headache and a burning sensation instantly washed over him. 

He opened his eyes and raised a hand to touch his forehead.

His hands were also hot, so he couldn’t really feel anything, but it was obvious that he had a fever – and a serious one at that.

His body was still too fragile.

Chu Jiubian had no choice but to buy a box of fever-reducing medicine from the System Mall. Then he struggled to sit up.

He rubbed his dry, burning eyes to clear his mind a little, then put on his boots and slowly walked to the outer room.

Xiao Xiangzi, who was supposed to be guarding the outer room, was not there. He’d probably just happened to go to the toilet.

Chu Jiubian took two cold medicine tablets with water.

Just as he was about to go back to sleep, the door opened from outside.

A cool breeze blew in along with drizzle. Chu Jiubian’s collar was a little loose, and the cold significantly cleared up his mind.

The person outside put away his umbrella and was startled when he turned around and saw Chu Jiubian: “Young Master!”

“En.” Chu Jiubian glanced at the person’s wet clothes and said: “Go change clothes and go to bed. There’s no need for you to remain here.”

Xiao Xiangzi immediately became anxious and explained in a rush: “No, Young Master, please don’t misunderstand me. Someone from Yangxin Hall came and called for me. I didn’t go far, just beyond the pavilion. I wasn’t purposely being lazy.”

The young master didn’t have a habit of getting up at night, so Xiao Xiangzi had gone out for a while and came back after exchanging only a few words. Unexpectedly, he was caught by the young master.

Chu Jiubian felt a dull pain at the back of his head, but he was used to hiding such things. Apart from a slight flush to his cheeks, there was no sign of anything unusual on his face.

“I’m not blaming you,” he said. “I really don’t need anyone to tend to me. It’s too much trouble for you all to take turns standing watch.”

Xiao Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief. Then he remembered something and said: “By the way, Young Master, the person from Yangxin Hall said that His Majesty has a high fever and won’t attend court tomorrow. His Lordship said that you can sleep in longer.”

“His Majesty has a high fever?” Chu Jiubian frowned.

“Yes, the Imperial Physician was called a shichen ago.” Xiao Xiangzi said with some concern, “But it’s said that since His Majesty is so young and his body is so precious, the medicines can’t be made too strong. His fever has yet to subside.”

As the male protagonist, there was no need to worry about minor illnesses and misfortunes.

But the child’s tender face seemed to appear before Chu Jiubian’s eyes, smiling with a mouthful of white teeth and obediently calling him “xiansheng.”

“I’ll go have a look.” Chu Jiubian walked out.

Xiao Xiangzi hurried into the inner room to fetch his coat. When he emerged again and saw that the young master had already left the house with an umbrella, he quickly chased after him and helped him put on his coat.

The strong smell of ancient medicine wafted from Yangxin Hall’s main room.

“My Lord, His Majesty spat out his medicine, this won’t work at all.” The Imperial Physician was sweating profusely with nerves. “His Majesty still must be forced to swallow it.”

Ancient Chinese medicine tasted bitter, and it was truly difficult for a three-year-old child who had been raised in a pampered environment to swallow it.

Moreover, the child had a fever and didn’t feel good. The grievance of losing his mother in recent days completely burst out, and he hugged Qin Xiao’s neck tightly, crying so hard that his voice grew hoarse.

Everyone in the hall had watched him grow up, and they all knew why he had lost his composure and refused to take the medicine.

He wanted his mother.

Everyone’s hearts hurt. Several palace maids and nannies were quietly wiping their tears, and Eunuch Hong’s eyes were also red.

Qin Xiao gently rubbed the child’s back as he carried him around the hall at a sedate pace. He didn’t attempt to comfort him, but simply let him cry.

On the day the late empress passed away, Bai Lihong had sobbed heart-wrenchingly. It had taken Qin Xiao an entire night to comfort him.

Since then, the child had often woken up crying at night, looking for his mother. But he had never cried so loudly before, and would only sniffle.

Today, he was finally crying again.

The child needed to vent, so Qin Xiao simply held his small form and slowly walked around.

He would feel better after crying.

Outside, rain continued to fall in a steady drizzle.

There was noise in the outer hall, and Qin Xiao looked through the bedroom door. In just two breaths, a light-clothed figure came into view.

Qin Xiao paused, looking at the new arrival with some surprise.

Chu Jiubian was very disheveled. His clothes were untidy, his robes and boots were wet, and there were even water stains on his shoulders and hair.

However, his usually pale cheeks now had some color to them, making his complexion look much better than usual.

Bai Lihong’s eyes were swollen from crying. Coupled with the fever and not getting enough air, his whole person was in pain.

He only wanted to cry and vent, with no idea what was wrong with him.

“Send them out first.” A hoarse male voice rang out. Choking on a sob, Bai Lihong turned to find that it was Xiansheng.

It was Xiansheng. Xiansheng was a god, and knew about his mother. An inexplicable feeling of intimacy made him want to get closer to this person, so in full view of everyone, the child finally unlatched his small arms from Qin Xiao and twisted to reach out in Chu Jiubian’s direction.

Chu Jiubian had already walked closer. When he saw the child’s outstretched hands, he looked dazed for a moment.

“Xiansheng hold.” The child’s choked voice brought him back to his senses.

Chu Jiubian glanced at Qin Xiao. Seeing that he wasn’t going to stop him, he reached out and took the child into his arms.

Piping hot, tender, and damp, with the distinct scent of a child.

Chu Jiubian’s throat bobbed slightly.

Qin Xiao knew that Chu Jiubian had special pills, so when he heard him ask the others to leave, he didn’t hesitate to send everyone out, leaving only the three of them in the room.

On the way here, Chu Jiubian had already bought an electronic thermometer and fever medicine for children from the System Mall.

“Turn around first,” Chu Jiubian said to Qin Xiao.

He could show off some miracles in front of Qin Xiao from time to time, but it was better to hide things that were too advanced, such as the electronic thermometer.

Qin Xiao gave him a deep look, then turned his back to him.

He softly rubbed the ring on his thumb with his fingertips, and suddenly heard a very soft beep behind him.

Chu Jiubian looked at the thermometer. 38.3 degrees Celsius. Not too high, but still too high for a child.

He put the thermometer back into his Space, and when he lowered his eyes, the child looked stunned.

From the moment he took the thermometer out of thin air, Bai Lihong forgot to cry, staring blankly with red and swollen eyes at the thing that had appeared out of nowhere.

The thing tapped against his forehead gently and made a beeping sound.

And then Xiansheng made the thing disappear again!

Amazing! He was indeed Immortal Xiansheng!

Having forgotten to cry, Bai Lihong blinked and looked at Chu Jiubian, his shock gradually turning into admiration.

Chu Jiubian looked into the child’s red eyes and felt his own burning as well, as if he was about to burst into tears.

“Shh.” He gave the child a gentle smile without realizing it, his voice soft and tender. “This is a secret between us.”

Bai Lihong glanced at Qin Xiao’s back and said: “No telling Jiujiu either?”

“No telling,” Chu Jiubian said.

Bai Lihong hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded: “No telling.”

Qin Xiao listened to the open conversation between the two of them, and his heart, which had been suspended all night, finally settled.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

Chu Jiubian hummed in response, then carried the young emperor to the bedside and lay him down.

Bai Lihong’s underlayers were already soaked with sweat. Qin Xiao came over and sat down beside the bed, stripped him clean, and wrapped him in the quilt, leaving only his round, tender little face exposed.

Chu Jiubian brought over the water cup and saw the child sitting in a daze on the bed, wrapped up like a dumpling.

The corners of his lips curved up unconsciously. When he sat down on the edge of the bed, his knee accidentally bumped against Qin Xiao’s.

Qin Xiao’s muscles instantly tensed, and he looked downward.

Chu Jiubian adjusted his sitting position and pressed his knee directly against Qin Xiao’s.

Qin Xiao withdrew his gaze and said nothing. He didn’t move his leg.

Chu Jiubian had already poured the children’s fever-reducing medicine into the cup, measuring out a little less for worry that a child in ancient times wouldn’t be able to handle the full dose.

Just as he was about to coax the child to drink it, his cup-bearing left wrist was grabbed.

Taken aback, Chu Jiubian turned his head to look at Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao’s deep eyes gleamed in the light of the oil lamp, making him seem even more difficult to read than usual.

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Chapter 24 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 26