“Miss Jiu’er!” Long Yi’s voice sounded utterly anxious.

“Miss Jiu’er, it’s really you — you’ve finally come back!” In truth, even Long Yi didn’t know why he was so on edge. If Feng Jiu’er hadn’t returned, the Prince would surely have gone out to look for her himself — wasn’t that exactly the outcome they wanted?

But now, seeing Feng Jiu’er return, it felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his chest — he truly breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever the case, Miss Jiu’er was the woman the Prince cared about most, and Long Yi had genuinely feared she might suffer out there, or that something might happen to her.

Whatever the Prince cared about, they cared about too — it was as simple as that.

“Miss Jiu’er, come with me to the Prince at once, so he can see for himself that you’re safe.”

Long Yi simply couldn’t wait any longer today — he’d originally planned to go to the Imperial Academy himself, to see if there was any chance of bringing Feng Jiu’er back.

But as it turned out, by the time night fell and he was about to set off, he found that Feng Jiu’er had already made her own way back.

What fortune!

At least she’d returned safely — that was all that mattered.

When Jiu’er walked into the stone chamber, Zhan Qingcheng was still channeling his energy into Mu Mu.

Seeing Feng Jiu’er enter, the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s gaze flickered, despite himself. Though his expression remained calm and composed, a hint of agitation was still visible.

Few in this world could move the Ninth Prince, and Feng Jiu’er was undoubtedly one of them.

Long Yi sighed inwardly — thankfully Miss Jiu’er had returned. Otherwise, the Prince would surely have gone searching for her like a madman, heedless even of his own life.

Only when Miss Jiu’er was well could the Prince be at ease — that much, Long Yi had taken to heart.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, I’m back.” Jiu’er walked over and gently tugged at the corner of his robe. “I only went back to fetch something — something very important.”

“Mm.” Zhan Qingcheng simply gave a quiet acknowledgment, saying nothing more.

Jiu’er was moved. She’d been away so long that everyone here must have been worried sick, and yet upon her return, the Ninth Imperial Uncle hadn’t said a single word of reproach, nor had he even pressed her about what exactly she’d gone to fetch.

Jiu’er let out a breath and cast a lingering glance at the Ninth Imperial Uncle before washing her hands clean with the disinfecting alcohol she’d made herself, then took Mu Mu’s pulse.

With her slender fingers resting on Mu Mu’s wrist, it wasn’t long before a hint of joy appeared between Feng Jiu’er’s brows.

Hearing that Feng Jiu’er had returned, Ye Luocha and Elder Shi hurried over as well, arriving just as Jiu’er was checking Mu Mu’s pulse.

The trace of joy now visible in Jiu’er’s eyes immediately set Ye Luocha’s heart racing. “Jiu’er, how is it? Mu’er… what’s his condition now?”

“It’s looking very good!” Feng Jiu’er was excited too — she hadn’t expected the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s true energy to have such a powerful effect on Mu Mu!

She said, “Given his current condition, if I administer acupuncture three times a day and medicine three times a day, he should gradually recover.”

“Are you saying…”

“Yes. Even without continuing to channel energy to sustain his life, he should still be able to recover.”

The need to keep channeling energy to sustain his life had truly been a glaring weakness for all of them, and their greatest burden.

If they no longer had to channel energy at all, the situation would be entirely different.

“But…” Ye Luocha still looked a little worried. “Are you afraid that Mu’er might…”

“That’s why the Ninth Imperial Uncle and I will try it out first. If it doesn’t work, the Ninth Imperial Uncle will immediately resume channeling energy to sustain his life.”

Jiu’er took out all her tools and set them aside. “Ye Luocha, the Ninth Imperial Uncle and I will stay here for a while to keep close watch. As for…”

She turned to glance at her, her eyes complicated.

Ye Luocha wanted to say something too — somehow she sensed that whatever Jiu’er was about to say was important, yet she also felt, inexplicably, that she didn’t dare speak first.

Feng Jiu’er finally said, “Come to the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s room in two hours. There’s something I need to say.”

Ye Luocha’s lips parted slightly. She glanced once more at Zhan Qingcheng and Mu Mu, then finally nodded and left with Elder Shi.

Once the stone door was closed, Jiu’er looked at Zhan Qingcheng, fine beads of sweat still forming at his temples. “Ninth Imperial Uncle, I’ll administer the acupuncture now. After a while, slowly withdraw your energy, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Over the next two hours, as long as they kept close watch on Mu Mu’s breath, they would be able to confirm whether he could survive without someone else’s true energy sustaining his life.

If he could manage without it, then things would at least have taken a turn for the better.

…

In the early hours of the morning, Mu Mu was moved to another, more comfortable room.

This was the first time he had been moved since being brought here.

If Feng Jiu’er hadn’t been present, who would have dared take such a risk?

By now, Feng Jiu’er had practically become the embodiment of a miracle doctor — when it came to treatment, no one dared contradict a single word she said.

After all, Mu Mu’s injuries had been so severe at first that everyone had believed there was simply no hope of saving him.

Yet, unexpectedly, Jiu’er’s miraculous skill had healed his wounds with astonishing speed — she’d performed incisions, stitched him up, applied medicine, given transfusions, many things the others had never even heard of.

But the results proved it — they truly worked miracles!

Now Mu Mu lay sleeping in the bed inside, while Jiu’er attended to the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s late-night meal.

Over these past few days, Zhan Qingcheng’s daily food intake had grown alarmingly large — his internal energy reserves had been so depleted that without proper nourishment, even he might not be able to hold out.

Now that Mu Mu could finally do without his true energy, though the Ninth Prince never said anything about it, he had truly let out a breath of relief.

Inside the room, Jiu’er was tending to the Ninth Imperial Uncle, who in her presence always seemed too lazy to so much as lift a finger; outside, however, two groups of people had crossed paths.

“What are you here for?” Seeing Ye Luocha appear outside Zhan Qingcheng’s door, Emperor Ji’s eyes filled with wariness.

Ye Luocha had kept asking whether he had been the one who’d taken the Crown Prince away back then, but Emperor Ji had no intention of speaking plainly about it just yet.

Ye Luocha herself had also taken the Second Prince away back then, yet she had never said a single word about his whereabouts.

In truth, each of them already harbored certain suspicions toward the other — even Emperor Ji had his own doubts; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been willing to expend his own true energy to keep Mu Mu alive.

In fact, the two of them felt much the same way about many things, but neither had taken that one step forward, so many matters had simply remained stalled, going nowhere.

Ye Luocha’s gaze drifted, without her meaning it to, toward his legs.

Every time she saw Emperor Ji’s ruined legs now, she always felt a pang of sorrow.

She remembered how, back when he was still a prince, Emperor Ji had been so full of spirit and ambition. Though he hadn’t been as outstanding as his elder brother, he had certainly been a brave and skilled warrior.

And yet now he’d been injured like this — had these legs never been able to stand since that battle?

Emperor Ji disliked nothing more than people looking at his legs, especially this woman standing before him.

Back then… never mind. What was the point of dwelling on the past again now, when he’d already thought it all through long ago?

Since it hadn’t been her fault, why dwell on it any further?

“Jiu’er asked me to come.” Ye Luocha withdrew her gaze and said, expressionless, “I don’t know what it’s about either.”