“No, it’s not your fault.” Xuan Yanyu pried open her hands and held them in his palms.

“Xuan Xixi… Xuan Xixi, you should blame me. Blame me — if I hadn’t been so stupid and run off… run off near the Cold Palace, the baby wouldn’t have had anything happen to him. He would have been fine…”

The girl’s voice was filled with anguish. She bit her lip in self-reproach, tears falling in great, heavy drops.

“It’s… it’s my fault.” Yan Yunning’s gaze shattered, and she sobbed until she could no longer speak. “I’m sorry… it’s all my fault…”

“Ningning, it’s not your fault,” the man’s voice was both hoarse and pained. His eyes were rimmed red as he said, “We will have children again in the future.”

Yan Yunning’s emotions collapsed entirely, and she wept loudly. There wouldn’t be another… in the future… there would never be another…

How was she supposed to tell him that she was going home?

There would be no more baby…

In such a short span of time, he would lose both their child and her. What would he do…

Outside the palace hall doors, the Xuan Empress felt a sting in her eyes. She tilted her head back, holding in her tears. After a moment, she still did not step inside.

She should, by rights, have blamed Ningning for this — what had she been doing wandering near the Cold Palace for no reason? But in the end, it was Pei Shi’s fault. Even if Ningning had gone to the Cold Palace, if Pei Shi had harbored no ill intentions, nothing would have happened to Ningning.

Ningning still didn’t understand the intrigues and politics of the palace. Inside these walls, she should have understood that caution was required at every moment.

“I want to eat. I… I want to eat.” Yan Yunning wiped her tears away and worked to steady her breathing.

To eat well, to recover her body — only then could she spend a few more days with him…

“Alright.”

Xuan Yanyu glanced to the side and instructed the maidservants to bring the food.

Yan Yunning picked up the soup bowl. Tears fell one by one into the bowl. She tilted her head back and forced down a large mouthful of soup, willing herself to swallow it.

“Ugh…”

“Stop eating for now. Don’t eat anymore.” The man wiped the corner of her mouth and pressed her head to rest against his shoulder, consoling her. “It’s alright. This lord wasn’t ready to be a father either. The child was upset with us, so he left.”

Yan Yunning sobbed silently. She clutched the man’s robes tightly, her heart in such pain she could barely breathe.

His voice was clearly laced with his own choked grief, and yet it was undeniably her fault. He was still suppressing his own sorrow to comfort her.

From his perspective, it was she who had stubbornly refused to let her maidservants accompany her and insisted on going to see the scholar tree blossoms — that was what led to the baby’s misfortune. He… he should have scolded her soundly for it…

A single teardrop fell on her face. Yan Yunning’s lashes trembled.

“Qi Qingchen is about to cry. Xuan Xixi, when are you going to cry in front of me?”

No — she didn’t want that anymore. She didn’t want Xuan Xixi to cry in front of her…

Yan Yunning’s tears surged forth again. Her heart was being wrung tight, her emotions on the verge of complete collapse.

——

In the days that followed, though Yan Yunning ate her meals diligently and obediently drank her herbal medicine, she could not stop her body from growing worse by the day.

She was growing more and more drowsy, frequently vomiting after meals, utterly lacking in energy, and exhausted at the slightest effort.

“Crown Princess, it’s time to take your medicine.” Qiuci’s hands trembled as she held the bowl of herbal medicine.

These past few days, whenever the Crown Prince stayed by the Crown Princess’s side, her mood remained tolerable. But whenever he left, the Crown Princess would hold Xuetuán and weep.

“Qiuci…” Yan Yunning murmured softly. “You don’t know how much I had been looking forward to Xuan Yanyu’s baby.”

Xuetuán, sensing Yan Yunning’s low spirits, clumsily nudged closer into her arms and let out two soft calls, attempting to comfort her.

Qiuci wiped Yan Yunning’s tears. “Miss, don’t be sad anymore. You and His Highness the Crown Prince will have another child.”

“There won’t be… there won’t be…” Yan Yunning clutched Xuetuán tighter, her voice reduced to a broken, hoarse whisper.

“There will be. How could there not?” Qiuci sniffled. “You can’t keep tormenting yourself like this. You need to take care of your health.”

“I hate myself so much. If it weren’t for me… the baby would have been fine.” Tears she had barely kept at bay spilled from her eyes again.

“Miss.” Qiuci set down the medicine bowl and pulled her into her arms, gently patting her on the back.

“Qiuci, I’m so reluctant to leave Xuan Yanyu…” Her sobbing voice was laced with suppressed grief and heartache. Those eyes that had once sparkled with spirit were now brimming with tears. Her pale little face was so heartbreakingly frail it made one ache with pity.

“Miss, His Highness the Crown Prince will be back shortly. If you miss him, this servant will send someone to call him back. Would that be alright?”

“No.” Yan Yunning pushed Qiuci away and unsteadily rose to her feet. Cradling Xuetuán, she walked to the edge of the sleeping couch. Her eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, slowly closed. She murmured softly, “Qiuci, I’m so tired. I want to sleep for a while.”

Her naturally beautiful face was curled up beneath the brocade blankets, her breathing barely a whisper. Qiuci’s heart ached so sharply that tears slipped down her cheeks. “Alright. This servant will step outside and come back in once you wake.”

“Mmm…”

Qiuci swallowed the bitterness in her throat and carried the medicine bowl back out.

“Wuu wuu…” Xuetuán let out a soft, gentle whimper and patted Yan Yunning’s arm with its tail in an uneven, distracted rhythm.

Yan Yunning rubbed its small head. “I’m fine.”

The little thing rested its head on her arm and nuzzled against her cheek.

[Master…] Fafa called out.

[Get lost.] Yan Yunning let out a low, uncontrolled growl. The emotions she had barely managed to suppress collapsed once again.

Fafa steeled itself and said, [Master, at most one more month, and we can go home. Drink a little less of the medicine, and it’ll be less than a month before we can return.]

[GET LOST!!]

The girl’s eyes were crimson as she shouted. She braced herself against the edge of the bed. Crimson blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, dropping one by one onto the floorboards — startlingly vivid.

Xuetuán let out a bark. Yan Yunning set it down on the floor, picked up a handkerchief, and carefully wiped away the bloodstains. She then got down from the bed, poured herself a cup of warm water, and rinsed her mouth.

After confirming in the bronze mirror that her face showed no trace of anything unusual, she hid the handkerchief under the bed.

——

The Imperial Prison.

Prince Xuan caught a distant glimpse of Xuan Yanyu’s imperial yellow robes, stained with blood, as he strode in the direction of the Crown Prince’s sleeping chambers.

Eunuch Feng let out a sigh. “His Highness the Crown Prince comes to the Imperial Prison once a day.”

Prince Xuan flexed his fingers. He looked up to see four guards carrying two corpses. He pressed his lips together. “Let us go.”

Pei Shi, along with the maidservant who had accepted her silver and exchanged garments with her, was already gone. There was no need for him to visit the Imperial Prison anymore. How few days had it even been, and already they were gone.

“Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is making a great fuss, saying that since Pei Shi has already been stripped of her rank to become a commoner, she has no connection to his Prime Minister’s household. He is displeased with Your Majesty’s decree to have the Prime Minister’s estate raided, his title and official rank stripped, and himself sent back to his hometown.”

Prince Xuan narrowed his eyes. “Inform the Prime Minister that if he says even one word more, his entire clan will be executed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Prince Xuan’s throat felt painfully constricted. This matter was his fault. Had he known it would come to this, he should have dealt with Pei Shi long ago.

“His Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess will return to the Crown Prince’s residence today. His Highness has a fierce temper, and it is very likely he will never enter the palace again,” Eunuch Feng said with great care.

When His Highness the Crown Prince had interrogated Pei Shi in the Imperial Prison and learned the reason she had been stripped of her rank to become a commoner, he had gotten into a furious quarrel with His Majesty, despising him intensely.

He despised His Majesty for knowing full well that Pei Shi harbored intentions to harm the Crown Princess, yet still allowing her to remain in the Cold Palace — such a great danger, without ever once informing him.

His Highness had thrown all the guards of the Cold Palace into the Imperial Prison for failing in their duty of surveillance.

And that greedy maidservant who had exchanged garments with Pei Shi for silver — she met the same fate as Pei Shi.

Even those attending the Crown Princess had nearly all been thrown into the Imperial Prison by His Highness…

Prince Xuan swallowed with great difficulty. “We know. Yanyu has always been like this since he was small.”

Once angered, he was very difficult to appease. This time, Yanyu was likely to carry this resentment against him for the rest of his life.

——