Everything Changed When My Yandere Harem Found the System - Chapter 6:

Chapter 6: Little Brat, You’re Lying~

Ji Hanyue recovered quickly from her illness.

But the winter didn’t pass so easily.

All across the land, the world was a vast stretch of white. Cold, merciless snowflakes drifted down from the dim gray sky, carried by piercing, icy winds. Just one glance could make anyone tremble inwardly and want nothing more than to stay curled up at home, huddled close to the fire for warmth.

Yet in such a landscape—this bitter, snow-covered world that looked like a lifeless forbidden zone—a solitary, delicate figure trudged further and further away, wrapped in loneliness and desolation.

Xu Fan looked at Ji Hanyue’s stubbornly departing back, then at the growing snow, and let out a soft sigh. “Dad, Mom, I’m heading out for a bit… to gather firewood!”

He took the dry rations he had been carefully saving over the past few days and quietly followed from a distance.

In truth, Xu Fan had already vaguely guessed what Ji Hanyue was thinking.

His system had provided him with some brief information on Ji Hanyue: once the Eldest Princess of the previous empire, reduced overnight to someone struggling just to survive. The sheer contrast was something no one could accept easily.

Yet even so, Ji Hanyue hadn’t harbored any malicious thoughts. She had even chosen to leave early, before this life-threatening winter had passed, afraid she’d bring trouble to his family.

That made Xu Fan feel a little conflicted.

Of course, not because he felt sorry for Ji Hanyue—he felt sorry for himself, being forced to follow her out into the freezing cold just to chase her down.

Snow blanketed the mountains, and icy wind howled past his ears, lifting swirling flurries into the sky like drifting willow fluff. The snow filled his vision and snapped away the signs that marked the path.

As expected, Ji Hanyue got lost.

When she realized it and tried to turn back, her footprints had long since been buried beneath the thick snow.

Now she panicked. She wandered aimlessly, lost in the white void—east a little, west a little—but the only thing greeting her was a flurry of snowflakes, now falling harder and finer like a violent storm. The icy particles lashed against her face, freezing her body until it was covered in goosebumps.

Eventually, when she realized she couldn’t find her way out of the vast snowy field, Ji Hanyue stopped walking.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to continue—she simply had no strength left.

Even her slender ankles were now swollen and red from the cold, making it nearly impossible to walk any farther.

Staggering, she leaned helplessly against a snow-laden tree. Her eyes, dazed and empty, stared up at the endless snowfall as she murmured, “Father… I miss you…”

She couldn’t help but recall how, in past winters at the palace, she would be pampered by her maids and enjoy steaming hot meals.

But now, all that had vanished overnight, leaving her alone, weary, and lost in the snow. “And now… I have nothing left…”

Ji Hanyue hugged her knees, curling up tight, trying to warm herself with her own dwindling body heat.

But she knew it was useless.

“Maybe… it’s time… for everything to end.”

Her consciousness began to fade. The outlines of the world blurred in her mind, as if she were being pulled into a layer of mist she couldn’t touch or see through.

But deep within her mind, one voice suddenly rang louder and clearer.

“Want a mantou?”

Was that… the little brat?

Ji Hanyue vaguely recalled that young boyish face—but she thought it was just a hallucination before death. She let out a bitter laugh.

How stupid, to be thinking about that little brat even now…

But in the next instant, when a warm, coarse mantou touched her icy lips, Ji Hanyue’s eyes snapped open in surprise.

A pair of clean, pure eyes like polished obsidian, a youthful face tinged with exhaustion—Xu Fan once again stumbled back into her field of vision.

At that moment, Ji Hanyue suddenly felt like the world had regained its color. Even her heartbeat paused for a moment.

The journey back was made with Xu Fan carrying her on his back.

Lying on his thin but strong back, Ji Hanyue could clearly feel the warmth radiating from his neck—gentle, steady, and strangely comforting.

But Ji Hanyue was someone who cared about appearances. So she deliberately turned her head away and muttered, her voice drifting through the biting wind, “Little brat… I’m not anyone to you. Why are you following me?”

Xu Fan, used to trekking through mountain roads since childhood, wasn’t fazed. He replied calmly, “Sister Hanyue, I’ve saved you twice already. Isn’t calling me ‘little brat’ kind of unfair?”

He couldn’t help it. 

In his past lives, he’d gotten used to being addressed as “sir,” “benefactor,” or “husband.” Being called “little brat” now felt hard to accept.

But Ji Hanyue just wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, letting out a happy little hum. Her deep, beautiful eyes shimmered with a mysterious light. “Hmph! I want to!”

“I’ll call you whatever I want! Little brat is little brat!”

Xu Fan twitched at the corner of his mouth and chose not to reply.

But Ji Hanyue was getting more playful. She leaned in closer to his neck and said, “Say something. You still haven’t told me—why were you following me this whole time?”

Finding her too persistent, Xu Fan casually threw out a line, “Because I like you.”

He thought this line would work. After all, in his previous lives, when the girls said that to him, he always froze like he’d swallowed something and didn’t know how to respond.

But Ji Hanyue just laughed—clear and bright like silver bells ringing through the snowy air.

She leaned closer to his ear, her breath soft and fragrant, teasing his cheek and making it itch. Her voice was sly, like a fox. “Little brat… you’re lying.”

Xu Fan raised an eyebrow. “How can you tell?”

Ji Hanyue’s long lashes fluttered slightly. She replied slowly, “Your breathing, your heartbeat, your speech… none of them changed when you said it. That didn’t sound like something you really meant.”

Xu Fan paused, genuinely surprised by how sharp she was.

Controlling his physical responses was a habit formed in his past lives—it had helped him avoid all kinds of unnecessary trouble. He didn’t expect it would end up betraying his intentions like this.

Seeing Ji Hanyue still unwilling to let it go, Xu Fan raised an eyebrow and came up with an idea. He exaggerated his tone and said dramatically, “Wow! I didn’t expect Sister Hanyue to be so smart! My admiration for you is like a river—endless and mighty!”

“Sister Hanyue is amazing~”

Silence.

Half of it was because his tone was just too ridiculous.

The other half… was because Ji Hanyue couldn’t help but remember that morning—when Xu Fan had told her she drooled in her sleep.

And then, she remembered waking up to find him curled up by her bedside, a little drool at the corner of his mouth, looking so obedient and clingy—like a little beast cub.

Ji Hanyue suddenly realized…

Maybe she wasn’t as alone as she thought.