“Prince, it’s all this subject’s daughter’s fault. I failed to watch over the Young Lord properly. Please punish this subject’s daughter.”

Second Miss Tan’s face was ashen, clearly frightened out of her wits.

As soon as she saw Prince Pingxi arrive, she hurried over, curtseying with her head lowered, her heart trembling with extreme unease.

On his way here, Chu Yi had already heard a full account of the entire incident. Although the servants didn’t dare state explicitly that the Young Lord had falsely accused Second Miss Tan.

But as the child’s father, how could he not understand just how unruly this child could be?

To achieve his goal, it wasn’t surprising at all that he would do such a thing.

Chu Yi spoke: “It should be this prince who apologizes on behalf of my unworthy son.”

Second Miss Tan was somewhat surprised.

Prince Pingxi had gone to the battlefield at fifteen and achieved illustrious military merits. People in the capital all said Prince Pingxi had an eccentric temperament, but why did he seem rather reasonable to her?

She had committed such a grave error, yet Prince Pingxi not only didn’t hold it against her but even apologized to her?

“Second Miss Tan, for delaying your time these past few days, I will compensate Lord Tan.” Chu Yi looked toward the servants beside him. “You few, escort Second Miss Tan safely back to her residence.”

“Yes!”

Two guards and two nannies stepped forward, simultaneously making gestures of invitation.

Second Miss Tan wasn’t someone without brains. Upon hearing Chu Yi’s words, she understood immediately. These past few days, she had been summoned repeatedly by the imperial family, but those summons had all been for nothing. No matter how satisfied the imperial family was with her, the Young Lord was unsatisfied. Moreover, she had also caused the Young Lord to fall into the water… This incident alone meant Prince Pingxi could absolutely never marry her into his household.

The only consolation was that Prince Pingxi said he would compensate her for the time wasted these past few days. She could only hope it might bring some benefit to Father’s official career.

“Then this subject’s daughter will take her leave first.”

Second Miss Tan curtseyed and turned to board the carriage.

While Chu Yi was speaking with Second Miss Tan, Yun Chu had already wrapped herself in Tingfeng’s clothing and stood up straight.

She glanced at the little one being carried away by Nanny Zheng. He still had the strength to speak, so he probably wasn’t seriously hurt.

She walked toward Chu Yi, maintaining a distance of five or six steps, and curtseyed: “Thank you, Prince, for the rescue. This subject’s wife will take her leave now.”

“It should be this prince thanking Madam Xie.” Chu Yi looked at her, able to see only her dripping wet hair. “If not for Madam Xie’s life-risking rescue, my unworthy son would probably already have… This place is half a shichen’s journey from the capital. Madam Xie would likely catch a chill traveling all the way back. As it happens, this prince has an estate nearby. Would Madam Xie consider changing into dry clothes before leaving?”

Yun Chu lowered her head, deliberating on how to refuse.

Earlier, when she was completely soaked and held in this man’s embrace—she, a married woman, shouldn’t have been that close to another man.

In her previous life, she would certainly have been deeply distressed over this matter and would even have felt she’d wronged Xie Jingyu.

But now? Her heart was like still water. She no longer cared about such things.

Of course, not caring didn’t mean she would be willing to follow him to Prince Pingxi’s estate.

Yun Chu was just about to speak.

She felt the hem of her dress being tugged.

Looking down, it was Chu Hongyu.

The little one had somehow jumped down from Nanny Zheng’s arms. Lifting his small head, he said: “Mother, Changsheng drew you a garment and had the servants make it overnight. She said next time she saw Mother, she’d give it to Mother as a gift. I’ll have someone go to the prince’s manor right now to fetch it for Mother to wear. It’ll definitely look especially beautiful.”

Before Yun Chu could say anything, he ordered Ah Mao to go quickly.

Ah Mao mounted a sweating-blood treasure horse and disappeared down the small path in the blink of an eye.

Hearing their young master call Yun Chu “Mother,” Nanny Zheng and her group were all stunned.

However, when they saw that the Prince didn’t seem to find anything wrong with this at all, they were shocked to the extreme…

Nanny Zheng’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could it be that their prince liked women like Madam Xie?

Heavens, no wonder the prince had never married. So that’s why…

She turned her head and gave a warning look to the group of maids and young servants beside her, signaling them not to reveal such a huge secret…

Yun Chu’s originally firm resolve to refuse instantly softened upon hearing Changsheng’s name.

Changsheng couldn’t speak, but she was very skilled at painting. She was actually quite eager to see what kind of dress she had drawn. She had never looked forward to a gift so much before.

With so many servants present, it wouldn’t be considered improper.

Chu Yi had someone lead over a carriage. Yun Chu and her two maids boarded it, with Yu Ke driving in front.

The estate was indeed close. Yun Chu felt she had barely sat down before they arrived. Lifting the curtain, she saw an estate that wasn’t particularly large.

The accompanying people had already come ahead to notify them. The servants were waiting at the estate entrance to greet them and pay respects, then led Yun Chu and her servants to the nearest courtyard. Hot water and everything else had been prepared.

Tingshuang was also completely soaked and went to the adjacent side room to bathe.

Tingfeng attended to Yun Chu’s bath.

Being on someone else’s property, it naturally wasn’t like being at home. After quickly washing the dirt from her body and hair, she immediately got out.

By this time, the servant who had gone to the prince’s manor to fetch clothes had also delivered them. A maid knocked and entered, standing outside the screen and respectfully saying: “Madam Xie, this servant will leave the clothing here for you.”

The maid set down the tray and quietly withdrew.

Tingfeng unfolded the garment and exclaimed in surprise: “Heavens, this dress is so beautiful! How is the Young Princess so talented?”

Yun Chu looked over. This was a long dress made of cloud brocade, embroidered all over with camellia flowers of various colors. Although there were many colors, they all used elegant, light-colored thread. It didn’t look messy at all, but rather gave a sense of pure and beautiful refinement.

On the sleeve cuff of the dress, she saw two characters: Yun Chu.

The Young Princess must have drawn it, and the embroiderer had embroidered it according to the design. At a glance, one could tell these were characters written by a child.

Besides this garment, there was also an outer robe on the tray. The color of this outer robe was exactly the same as her previous one—without close examination, one couldn’t tell she had changed clothes at all.

Tingfeng helped her dress and arranged her hair, finally draping the outer robe over her.

Chu Hongyu had been waiting impatiently at the door. Seeing Yun Chu emerge wearing the outer robe, he pouted: “Mother, let me see if that garment looks good, so I can tell Changsheng when I get home.”

Yun Chu lifted the outer robe slightly, revealing only the hem of the dress.

Chu Yi was sitting in the pavilion outside the side room. He couldn’t help but look over.

He saw a woman wearing a colorful dress standing at the doorway of the side room. The flowers on it were embroidered with gold and silver thread mixed in. As she walked out, sunlight fell upon her, and the hem of her dress seemed to glow. Her entire person seemed to be glowing as well.

As she drew closer, he could even smell the fragrance after her bath.

When he realized what he was doing, Chu Yi quickly averted his gaze. At the same time, he held his breath. Feeling uncomfortable, he looked into the distance and spoke: “The carriage is ready. This way please, Madam Xie.”

Yun Chu nodded and followed him out.

Suddenly, her dress seemed to be stepped on. Before she could check what happened, she felt something bump into her lower back. Her entire body fell forward out of control.

Chu Yi, walking in front of her, instinctively caught her falling body.