Her heart ached so terribly! The pain came on so suddenly that even drawing breath became difficult!

Feng Jiu’er’s complexion shifted dramatically. She pressed both hands hard against her chest, gasping in great heaving breaths.

Xiao Yingtao had just remembered something important and happened to turn back to find her. Pushing the door open, she saw Feng Jiu’er’s face twisted in agony.

Xiao Yingtao was frightened out of her wits. She didn’t even think to close the door behind her — she let out a low cry and rushed straight in: “Jiu’er, what’s wrong? Is it — is it the tea? Was there poison in it? Jiu’er, don’t frighten me!”

But before the echo of Xiao Yingtao’s cry had even faded, a figure clad in pure white burst through the window — arriving even before Xiao Yingtao could reach her — and caught Feng Jiu’er, steadying her: “What is it? Have you been poisoned?”

The moment Mu Mu heard Xiao Yingtao’s cry, how could he possibly have hesitated?

Feng Jiu’er shook her head at once. Even so, the ache in her chest had not subsided — no, it was her heart that was aching.

“It’s not that…”

“Then what…”

“It’s the Ninth Imperial Uncle. It must be him.” Feng Jiu’er closed her eyes and drew a long, slow breath.

She had no idea when it had begun — this inexplicable connection she seemed to share with the Ninth Imperial Uncle, so intimate it was almost like a heartbeat calling to a heartbeat.

But she believed it with absolute certainty: it was him. Something had happened to the Ninth Imperial Uncle.

Ninth Imperial Uncle — what had become of him right now?

——

The Ninth Prince had been coughing up blood throughout the entire night. Until the Old Venerable Lord arrived, the bleeding had not once stopped.

Afterward, the Old Venerable Lord pushed his own wheelchair inside the room, and even Yu Jingfeng was driven out.

Yu Jingfeng was burning with anxiety, yet there was nothing he could do. He could only order men to stand guard around the room, sealing off the entire courtyard under a tight watch.

“How could the Young Lord have suffered such grievous wounds?” Leng Yue stood watch outside alongside Yu Jingfeng, her face etched with urgent worry.

“The Young Lord, he…” Yu Jingfeng’s expression grew strained. This matter — he dared not speak of it.

“Was it because of Feng Jiu’er?” Leng Yue had known all along — that woman would surely bring ruin upon the Venerable Lord!

“Could it be… that the Young Lord’s true identity has genuinely been exposed?” They had been speculating endlessly the entire way here as they rushed to reach him.

Unable to hold back any longer, Leng Yue also told the Old Venerable Lord about the Venerable Lord bringing Feng Jiu’er back to the base.

She was not the sort of person who stirred up trouble. Though she had indeed felt displeased and uneasy when the Venerable Lord first brought a young woman back, she had not intended to act on it as long as nothing went wrong with the Venerable Lord. She had no wish to do anything that might displease him.

But now — the Venerable Lord had been wounded this severely, and they had been in such frantic pursuit that they had not yet had time to investigate what had actually happened.

What was more, very few people knew that the Ninth Prince had been injured — only the men of the Longqi Army, and the handful of those directly involved. The men of the Longqi Army would never carelessly leak anything concerning the Prince’s affairs; the guards stationed here were also Longqi Army men, and they had come here not in the capacity of members of the Tianzun Sect.

Yu Jingfeng shook his head, his voice calm: “I will explain this matter to the Elder Master in due course.”

Leng Yue’s expression remained one of dissatisfaction, but this was not the moment to press the issue.

When they had gone inside earlier, the Venerable Lord had been coughing up blood unceasingly — in all these years, she had never once seen him wounded so gravely.

Leng Yue’s heart was in agony now. All she wanted was for the Venerable Lord to recover quickly. As for everything else — for the time being, she could set it aside.

After roughly half an hour had passed, the Old Venerable Lord finally emerged from within. When he came out, the exhaustion on his face was unmistakable, and his complexion had gone a shade of pale that defied easy description.

“Elder Master!” Whenever it was inconvenient to address him as “Old Venerable Lord,” Yu Jingfeng always called him Elder Master. “Elder Master, how is the Young Lord now?”