As the two groups were at a standstill, the sound of galloping hooves came rushing over.

More than ten horses stopped in front of the carriage. Leading them was a Ferghana horse, and on it sat a man wearing a black cloak with an imposing and majestic bearing.

Yun Chu looked up and recognized him—the arrival was none other than Prince Pingxi, Chu Yi.

Chu Yi dismounted and walked to the carriage. Standing in place without advancing further, he said, “So it’s Madam Xie.”

Yun Chu came down from the carriage holding the child and spoke, “Greetings to Prince Pingxi. This subject’s wife wishes to ask Prince Pingxi—in such a vast princely mansion with countless servants, how could such a small child be allowed to leave the residence late at night?”

She knew that the affairs of Prince Pingxi’s mansion had nothing to do with her.

But thinking of how Yu geer had slept at the Xie residence for several nights with no one coming to find him, thinking of such a small girl getting lost late at night, she felt sad for both children.

Moreover, with the biological father right before her, the little girl in her arms was completely unmoved—this was absolutely abnormal.

Once her emotions rose, she couldn’t help questioning him.

Even if the other party was the renowned Prince Pingxi, she wasn’t afraid in the slightest.

Chu Yi met her eyes, his voice somewhat hoarse, “Recently busy with official duties, I’ve neglected the children. This is indeed a father’s oversight.”

Prince Pingxi’s mansion attendants were shocked, their eyes wide with astonishment.

They had followed the prince for quite some years, and in all this time, they had never seen the prince bow his head and apologize to anyone. This Madam Xie was the first.

Yun Chu also hadn’t expected this prince to be so amiable and pleasant.

She looked down at the child in her arms, “Your father has come to find you. Go home with your father.”

The little girl didn’t even glance at Chu Yi. She lay on Yun Chu’s shoulder, clinging to her with both hands and feet—one could tell at a glance she was unwilling to go back.

“Changsheng, Father Prince will take you home.” Though Chu Yi tried his best to soften his tone, it still sounded quite heavy. “You said you wanted to raise a cat. Will Father Prince agree to it?”

The little girl immediately lifted herself from Yun Chu’s shoulder, slowly looking toward Chu Yi, her dark eyes showing some disbelief.

Chu Yi nodded, “Father Prince won’t deceive you. Be good, Father Prince will hold you.”

The little girl seemed to ponder for a long time before finally extending her arms and reluctantly entering Chu Yi’s embrace.

Yun Chu’s arms suddenly felt somewhat empty.

The little girl loosely hugged her father’s neck, looking at Yun Chu with great reluctance, her large eyes slowly filling with misty moisture.

Yun Chu smiled and stroked her head, “There are many bad people outside at night. Don’t be so willful and run out again in the future.”

The little girl pressed her lips together and gently nodded.

Chu Yi looked at Yun Chu and said, “Thanks to Madam Xie. If Madam Xie needs help with anything, feel free to speak up.”

Yun Chu curtsied, “Just a small effort, no need for excessive thanks.”

Chu Yi nodded to her, holding the child as he mounted his horse.

The little girl hugged Chu Yi’s neck, her eyes wide as she watched Yun Chu, until Yun Chu’s figure slowly disappeared into the night. Only then did she disappointedly withdraw her gaze and nestle in Chu Yi’s embrace.

Upon returning to the mansion, Chu Yi had all the servants gather in the front courtyard. Dozens of people trembled in fear.

He sat in a chair, naturally commanding without anger, and said coldly, “Speak. How did the princess leave the mansion late at night?”

When he was interrogating mountain bandits overnight at the Capital Magistrate’s office, someone from the mansion suddenly came to tell him that Changsheng was missing. His heart felt as if it had been thrown into a pot of boiling oil, suffering in ten thousand ways.

He immediately called a team of guards to search the entire city and finally found the child. Fortunately, nothing had happened.

Changsheng had wanted to raise a cat for a long time, but because her body was weak and she would break out in red rashes upon contact with cats, he had never agreed. Tonight, Changsheng absolutely insisted on clinging to that Madam Xie, so he had no choice but to use the promise of raising a cat to get Changsheng back into his arms. However, this didn’t mean that Changsheng had left the mansion because of a cat.

The servants stood trembling in the courtyard.

Chu Yi’s gaze fell on the matron who personally attended to the child.

The matron could only speak, “In the evening, this servant saw the princess painting. She painted a woman, wrote the two characters ‘Mother,’ and cried for a while. This servant guesses that the princess left the mansion at night because she wanted to find her mother…”

Chu Yi’s eyes became somewhat obscure.

He could satisfy any request from the children, except for this one.

He suppressed his emotions and said coldly, “The princess is a four-year-old child. Can she leave the mansion just because she wants to? From her courtyard, she must pass through at least five gates. You all tell me, what exactly happened here?”

While Chu Yi was interrogating the servants in the courtyard.

Chu Hongyu ran into his sister’s room, ordered the maid to withdraw, and directly climbed onto the little girl’s bed.

He pulled his sister into his embrace and began speaking in a low voice.

“Changsheng, I know you miss Mother too. Let me tell you a secret—actually, I’ve found Mother. It’s just a bit troublesome to go to Mother’s home, so I haven’t dared tell you…”

“But running out of the mansion secretly in the middle of the night is wrong. If you promise me you won’t do this again, I’ll take you to see Mother.”

The little girl’s long lashes fluttered, and her large pupils flashed with lively radiance.

She used both hands to make several gestures in succession.

Chu Hongyu smiled, “Brother won’t lie to you. I really found Mother. Mother is especially beautiful, very gentle, and particularly likes me. She’ll definitely like you too.”

The little girl gestured excitedly with her hands and feet.

“Father Prince agreed to let you raise a cat, that’s wonderful. But you can’t touch cats—you’ll get lots and lots of little rashes that are particularly itchy. When the time comes, we’ll keep the cat in my courtyard…”

The siblings talked and gradually fell asleep.

This night, however, Yun Chu didn’t sleep much. In her mind, sometimes it was Yu geer’s figure, sometimes it was the young princess’s figure. The two figures alternated—sometimes laughing loudly, sometimes crying loudly, and together calling her “Mother.”

Before dawn broke, Yun Chu was already awake.

She got up and picked up the wooden carving on the table, carefully caressing it all over. Her heart felt much more at peace.

After finishing her toilette, the people who came to pay morning respects had all arrived.

Xie Shi’an, dressed in new clothes, was waiting in the side hall. Only then did Yun Chu remember that the district examination was today.

She had been so busy with this and that every day that she had momentarily forgotten about this matter.

Thinking back, she had specially prepared many things for Xie Shi’an, such as success porridge, top scholar soup, first-rank feast, moon palace laurel wine…

Yun Chu picked up a cup of tea and personally handed it to Xie Shi’an, “After entering the examination hall, the most important thing is to be calm and composed. This is a cup of clear tea. After drinking it, you can cast aside impetuousness and win the top position.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

Xie Shi’an took the tea and drank it.

The other concubines in the room all spoke auspicious words, and the young masters and young ladies also wished him certain success as a scholar. The atmosphere was harmonious for a time.

He Shi secretly tucked a talisman she had obtained into Xie Shi’an’s hand.

Yun Chu said with a smile, “An geer, today your father and I will escort you to the examination hall. Your father should be waiting in the front courtyard already. Let’s go.”

Xie Shi’an nodded.

Just as the two were about to leave, a servant woman suddenly ran into Sheng Residence in great alarm, “Madam, this is terrible! Someone wants to jump into the well!”

He Shi said angrily, “Don’t you see the eldest young master is about to go to the district examination? Why are you saying such inauspicious things at this time? Leave!”

If these terrible matters affected her son’s imperial examination, she would slaughter this servant woman.

The servant woman said with a face full of anxiety, “Madam, we servants just pulled her back from the well’s edge, and she tried to bash her head against the wall. She’s also looking everywhere for scissors to end her life. What should we do?”

Yun Chu frowned, “Which one is seeking to end her life?”

The servant woman replied, “It’s Jiu’er from the second young master’s courtyard.”

With this statement, Yun Chu remembered. In her previous life, on this very day, a maid from Xie Shiwei’s courtyard had made a scene about seeking death. At that time, she was in a hurry to escort Xie Shi’an to the examination hall and had Tingshuang supervise the situation. However, she hadn’t expected them to fail to watch her properly—that maid had ultimately jumped into the lake and died.

In the end, she had taken it upon herself to give Jiu’er’s parents a large burial fee, but she had never investigated in detail why Jiu’er had wanted to end her life.