Qing Luo obediently stopped kowtowing and raised her eyes to look at Song Chuyi, who was lying on the bed platform. The red marks on her face from being whipped by the wind had not yet faded, but her pair of eyes shone with an extraordinary brightness. When she smiled, her upturned eye corners seemed to curve into crescents, appearing to hold the stars of the entire sky within them.

No wonder His Highness treated her so specially, and Second Young Master Ye also liked her so much. Such a calm, intelligent girl who was also this beautiful—you probably couldn’t find another one like her anywhere. This uniqueness alone was enough to attract people.

She recalled His Highness’s rare outburst of temper at them earlier, and her expression grew dejected again. His Highness was truly angry. From childhood to now, this was the first time she had ever seen His Highness this angry—so angry that he didn’t even bother to maintain his usual smile, coldly and indifferently telling them to pack their things and return to Longhu Mountain.

Remembering Zhou Weizhao’s cold expression and attitude at that time, all her hopes instantly turned to ashes. Before they descended the mountain previously, Master and Master’s wife had warned them many times that they must always remember their proper place and do well every task Zhou Weizhao assigned them.

But the tasks Zhou Weizhao assigned them were truly different from what they had imagined. He hadn’t even given them time to process it before sending them to serve Miss Song the Sixth. Although they knew in their hearts this was also an order, although they knew they had changed to a new master, that thread of longing still constantly coiled around their hearts—after all, they still harbored feelings for their original master.

This time when Zhou Weizhao became angry, she had already understood where she and Han Yan had gone wrong. Perhaps they had been away from His Highness for too long, so long that they had forgotten His Highness’s temperament. Since His Highness said to treat Song Chuyi as their master from then on, he would never entertain the thought of taking them back. Yet this time they had wavered, choosing His Highness between him and Miss Song the Sixth who knew no martial arts, nearly causing Miss Song the Sixth’s death—they had already crossed His Highness’s bottom line.

Zhou Weizhao might be merciful, but he had always been principled and had his temper. Otherwise, he couldn’t have stepped from Longhu Mountain into the capital, standing firmly in his current position, and coming to Yangquan to quell the rebellion despite the Crown Prince’s displeasure and the Dowager Consort Fan’s pressure.

She knew Zhou Weizhao wasn’t joking with them, so she had kowtowed and admitted her mistake immediately. Zhou Weizhao told them to return and speak with Song Chuyi—since they were now Song Chuyi’s people, there was no reason for him to discipline them on her behalf.

The meaning in these words was already very clear. If Song Chuyi didn’t forgive them, they had no other path but to return to Longhu Mountain.

She bowed her head deeply again, tears seeping through the cracks between the floor tiles and quickly disappearing without a trace. “We have wronged you, Miss. Please punish us.”

Song Chuyi actually understood Qing Luo and Han Yan’s feelings very well. The two of them were originally Dao soldiers carefully trained on Longhu Mountain in preparation to serve Zhou Weizhao. One could imagine they had always identified with Zhou Weizhao. When Zhou Weizhao sent them to serve her, it was originally a kind of difficulty and torment for them.

She had never planned to keep Qing Luo and Han Yan by her side permanently—in her understanding, she thought at most it would only be until they finished this busy period in Jinzhong, and once they returned to the capital, Zhou Weizhao would take them back. But now it seemed this was not the case. She raised her eyelids to look at these two girls kowtowing repeatedly like pounding garlic, having put down their usual pride, and sighed softly. “Stand up. You haven’t wronged me. I should thank you.”

She couldn’t explain why she didn’t have a trace of resentment toward Qing Luo and Han Yan’s choice—she only felt grateful. After a slight hesitation, she asked them, “Did His Highness say something?”

Both Qing Luo and Han Yan’s movements froze, and their tears also stopped. Qing Luo bit her lip, holding back her sobs and making her voice as calm as possible as she nodded. “His Highness said that you are our master. If you say you forgive us for betraying our master and forgetting our debt of gratitude today, he has nothing to say. But if you find us distasteful, he’ll send us back to Longhu Mountain.” As she spoke, she recalled the awkward and shameful scene at that time, her face involuntarily flushing red, tears falling again.

Qing Ying, however, standing to the side, let out a soft snort. It wasn’t that Qing Luo and Han Yan hadn’t been dedicated in their service, but when it came to the critical moment, they had unhesitatingly abandoned Song Chuyi to look after Zhou Weizhao, nearly causing Song Chuyi’s death. This point had always weighed on her mind, and whatever surface-level rapport they’d had before was now completely gone.

He had actually said that? When he first sent Qing Luo and Han Yan to her, he had never intended to take them back. He truly believed that two skilled maidservants should be at her side to protect her safety.

No one had ever treated her this way, planning everything thoroughly for her—things she thought of and things she didn’t think of, he had considered everything. Song Chuyi found this kindness both overwhelming and felt she was truly being foolish, taking so long to even realize someone’s good intentions, and having accepted them with a clear conscience for so long before.

Her heart was somewhat flustered. She stared blankly for a long while before finally coming to her senses, turning to look at Qing Luo and Han Yan with a smile. “Then do you want to continue staying by my side, or return to Longhu Mountain?”

Qing Luo and Han Yan exchanged a glance, respectfully kowtowing to Song Chuyi again. This time they didn’t cry, but said decisively that they wanted to stay by her side. “From now on, we will only be your maidservants, Miss.”

She indeed needed two maidservants who knew martial arts by her side. These two before her had practiced martial arts since childhood, and what was rare was that they also understood the rules of aristocratic families very well. They could prepare medicinal cuisine and were moreover Zhou Weizhao’s people. Song Chuyi nodded without hesitation. “In that case, then you may stay.”

Both Qing Luo and Han Yan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, the heavy stone in their hearts finally falling as they stood up with both lingering fear and joy and retreated to the side.

Qing Ying also understood Song Chuyi’s intentions. Having followed Song Chuyi for so long, she could more or less gauge her temperament. Seeing Song Chuyi speak this way, she unceremoniously instructed Qing Luo and Han Yan to go prepare some rice porridge for Song Chuyi. After being tossed about for so long, she still hadn’t eaten anything—even an iron person couldn’t withstand this.

After Qing Luo and Han Yan left, she continued patiently applying medicine to Song Chuyi while sighing softly. “His Highness has truly taken great pains. If Qing Luo and Han Yan can truly stay steadfastly by your side, Miss, you’ll have two more capable helpers.” After all, having martial arts skills was already extremely rare—even among the granddaughters of the old generals from the Earl’s manor back in the day, not one could be found who knew martial arts.