Emboldened, Yan Qing twisted her fingers and said softly: “Your Highness the Crown Prince…”

“What is it?”

She gathered her courage, gazing at him with mist-filled eyes and murmuring in a low voice: “For the sake of our past connection, might Your Highness help Father?”

“Yan Qing is not greedy. I only hope Your Highness can rescue Father from Nanqing. He’s advanced in years now and truly cannot endure…”

Qin Rao’s torment.

But such disrespectful words, she dared not speak aloud.

Hearing this, Shen Qianyu said: “I already had such intentions. You need not worry.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

After speaking, Yan Qing covered her arm, her face showing embarrassment.

She hadn’t expected that Shen Qianyu still remembered her and cared so much for her and her father.

Seeing that Yan Qing showed no intention of leaving even after her wound was treated, Shen Qianyu frowned slightly, feeling vexed.

However, he couldn’t very well drive her out, so he could only sit there with a solemn expression.

When Yan Qing realized he had no intention of conversing with her, she couldn’t help but feel utterly disappointed and took her leave.

The moment she stepped out of Wan Xiao’s tent, Shen Qianyu ordered the camp struck and departure prepared. In barely an hour, the camp had been tidied up completely and properly.

When Qin Rao rose after her afternoon rest, not a single Dongning person remained.

“After meeting the Dongning Crown Prince just once, your courage has grown considerably—you actually dared to deceive this Princess?”

Yan Qing herself didn’t understand what had happened. Clearly Shen Qianyu had agreed with her to depart tomorrow. Who could have known that when she returned to her room to change clothes and came back out, the Dongning people had taken their camp and horses and vanished without a trace?

“This servant dares not deceive the Princess. The Dongning Crown Prince indeed told this servant that if the Princess didn’t wish to depart today, then departure would be tomorrow…”

Yan Qing clenched her teeth, trembling continuously from fear.

“Fool.”

She had thought she would suffer another round of torment, but unexpectedly, after cursing this single phrase, Qin Rao actually laughed coquettishly.

“Forget it. If departure is today, then it’s today. Go tell Huai Jue to set out immediately.”

“This… this servant understands.”

Yan Qing knelt and bowed. Just as she was preparing to withdraw, Qin Rao called her back.

“Wait. Raise your head.”

She stepped forward and grabbed Yan Qing’s jaw, examining her from left to right. After a cold sneer, she suddenly shoved her away. Sharp nails scraped across her face, quickly raising a bloody mark.

“Get lost.”

“This servant takes her leave.”

As she departed, low humming sounds came from behind her. Yan Qing only felt waves of cold sweat emerging on her back, her hands and feet growing weak and powerless.

In the palace in the past, she had done her utmost to avoid Qin Rao. Now on this journey there was no avoiding her, and she didn’t know how long she could preserve her life.

Thinking of Shen Qianyu, Yan Qing bit her lip and went to find her father.

Imperial Physician Yan truly had no standing at all in Nanqing’s Imperial Medical Academy. Though his medical skills were passable, his family background was undistinguished. Ordinarily he had no qualifications to seek audience with either Qin Zhan or Qin Rao, let alone treat noble persons in the palace.

If not for his early care of Shen Qianyu and the karmic connection between them, he probably would never have caught Qin Rao’s eye in this lifetime.

Speaking of which, being hauled out from Nanqing by Qin Rao now could be considered suffering as an innocent bystander.

However, Imperial Physician Yan was easygoing by nature and lacked ambition. During this period in the Nanqing delegation, he had eaten and slept well, utterly unaffected.

When Yan Qing came looking for him, Imperial Physician Yan was drinking in his room. Having drunk to great spirits, he was loudly reciting poetry at the copper basin in the courier station.

“Father, you’ve been drinking again? The Princess has ordered departure. Please wake up quickly.”

Five or six watchers still stood outside the door, yet her father remained unresponsive, truly vexing Yan Qing.

Taking a cloth from the washing stand and soaking it through, Yan Qing plastered the ice-cold cloth on Imperial Physician Yan’s face.

“Aiya… good daughter, what are you doing?”

Yan Qing said in a low voice with reddened eyes: “The Princess has ordered departure, and Father is still drunk?”

“Awake, awake.”

Imperial Physician Yan carelessly wiped his face. Seeing this, Yan Qing snatched the cloth from his hand.

Keeping her head lowered, she said quietly: “Your daughter has seen the barbarian slave. He is now the Crown Prince of Dongning. He has already promised your daughter he will rescue Father from Nanqing.”

“Very good, very good.”

Seeing her father’s casual, unconcerned manner, as if he hadn’t taken it to heart at all, Yan Qing said through clenched teeth: “Father showed him grace. If we go to Dongning, you will certainly be valued highly.”

“No need, no need. This old man is fine as he is.”

Imperial Physician Yan stood up, mumbling confusedly: “The saying goes, ‘Accompanying the sovereign is like accompanying a tiger.’ If Nanqing is a tiger, how can Dongning not be one? Foolish daughter, you are still young, still so young.”

“Father!”

The wounds on her chin and cheeks still ached faintly, yet Yan Qing was so angered by Imperial Physician Yan that her eyes swelled red.

Her father was just like this—never daring to strive or fight for his entire life. Clearly a broad road lay before him, yet he absolutely refused to take even one more step forward.

Yan Qing clutched at her hem, so angry her teeth chattered: “What Father is unwilling to do, your daughter will do. Father need only muddle through this life carelessly. You need not concern yourself with whether I live or die.”

Imperial Physician Yan sighed deeply, casually waving his hand to indicate he needed to change clothes, then paid no more attention to anything else.

Yan Qing was furious to the extreme, yet had no way to deal with her own father. She could only hurriedly rush back to pack her own things.

When she saw Shen Qianyu again, it was three days later.

For these three days, Shen Qianyu had traveled without stopping. If not for Nanqing’s horses being many times stronger than Dongning’s, they probably wouldn’t have caught up even upon reaching the capital.

After such prolonged travel, even someone like Yan Qing who was accustomed to hardship could barely endure it, let alone Qin Rao who had always lived in pampered luxury.

The moment the two groups of people joined together, Qin Rao collapsed limply in Huai Jue’s embrace, lacking the strength to trouble anyone else.

Yan Qing took advantage of this opportunity to secretly seek out Shen Qianyu.

Before seeing Shen Qianyu, she removed the golden hairpin from her head and viciously jabbed it several times into her own arm.

Instantly several bloody holes appeared. Yan Qing endured the pain and lowered her sleeve.

“Excuse me, Eunuch, is His Highness here?”

Wan Xiao looked at the pale, weak, pitiful and delicate Yan Qing and smiled faintly: “His Highness went out today. Miss Yan may wait in the tent for His Highness.”

Yan Qing paused slightly, her eyes showing struggle, then supported her arm as she walked in.

Before long, Wan Xiao brought in the same physician who had bandaged Yan Qing before.

“Miss is injured again?”

That old physician also knew of Qin Rao’s reputation. After asking casually, he said nothing more and began efficiently treating her wound.

However, the moment the sleeve was rolled up, Wan Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at the golden hairpin Yan Qing wore in her hair.

“I wonder where His Highness went today?”

Neither Wan Xiao nor the physician answered. Yan Qing awkwardly closed her mouth.

Shen Qianyu still didn’t know someone was waiting for him. At this moment he was in the city selecting items for Song Wan.

But he didn’t know what sorts of things young ladies favored, so he bought some of every clever trinket he saw. It wasn’t until passing by a bookshop that he hesitated and stopped at the entrance.

He knew that Wan’er enjoyed reading books, but he had never given Wan’er books before.

Firstly, his own learning was limited—he truly didn’t know how to choose. Secondly, he also feared giving something too simple, reminding Wan’er of his lack of scholarly knowledge.

Shen Qianyu stood there pondering for a long while, until the bookshop proprietor emerged from within and beckoned to him: “Customer, I have everything you want here. Please come in and take a look.”

Upon entering the bookshop, Shen Qianyu asked in confusion: “You know what I want?”

The bookshop proprietor brought out from beneath the counter a bundle of volumes half a person’s height.

“Illustrated Guides to Conjugal Harmony, Spring Palace Albums, Mandarin Duck Books—this old man has them all. It just depends on what the customer needs.”