Returning to Prince Rong’s residence!

As soon as Jingrong entered, someone darted out before him, blocking his path.

“The punching bag is back.”

Wei Yi’s voice was very loud.

He was holding a large bunch of peach blossoms in his hand, waving them back and forth in front of Jingrong with a showing-off manner.

Lu Jiang at his side couldn’t hold him back no matter how hard he tried.

Wei Yi kept saying: “The peach blossoms here aren’t as pretty as the ones I picked. Look quickly.”

He waved them again.

Jingrong’s expression didn’t change as he glanced at him, reaching out to gently push aside the messy peach blossom branches before him.

Looking toward the back courtyard, he turned and asked Lu Jiang: “Where is she?”

Lu Jiang replied: “In the corridor of the back courtyard.”

“Watch Wei Yi carefully. Don’t let him come over.”

“Yes!”

Jingrong lifted his foot and headed toward the back courtyard.

But Wei Yi was like a sticky plaster, insisting on following. As a result, Lu Jiang pulled him back, speaking in a tone used to coax children: “Young Master Wei, I’ll take you to eat candied hawthorn.”

“Don’t want it.”

Pouting.

“What about sugar figurines?”

“Don’t want them.”

“What about kites?”

“Don’t want those either.”

Lu Jiang had a headache. This wasn’t a person at all!

He was clearly a living Buddha!

Patiently he asked: “Then what do you want?”

Wei Yi stroked his smooth chin, pondered for a while, his eyes brightening as he said: “I want to eat tofu pudding.”

Lu Jiang choked, swallowing several times: “Alright, then tofu pudding it is.”

He quickly went to prepare tofu pudding for this living Buddha…

When Jingrong arrived at the back courtyard, Ji Yunshu was standing in the pavilion waiting for him.

That petite frame standing in the corridor seemed to naturally carry a feeling that made people want to cherish her, making him unable to resist wanting to step forward and embrace her.

But in an instant, he still suppressed that impulse.

Because between them, there was now an invisible barrier.

Ji Yunshu turned to watch him walk toward her, her hands tightening involuntarily within her garment. Because Jingrong’s gaze, calm to an unreasonable degree, truly made her somewhat flustered.

Until he walked before her.

“Are the injuries on your body better?” she asked with concern.

Jingrong turned sideways toward her, looking at the bamboo in the courtyard, and nodded.

Ji Yunshu raised her hand, wanting to grasp his sleeve, but the hand she’d raised dropped down again without accomplishment.

Swallowing a breath, she continued asking: “How is Muruo?”

“Not very well.”

“What about you?”

Jingrong paused, turning his eyes to look at her face filled with worry, his heart hardening: “This prince is fine.”

At this moment, he still habitually acted tough!

Ji Yunshu only felt a pain in her chest.

She said nothing more!

And Jingrong got straight to the point: “I heard from Muruo that you went to see Old General Li?”

“Mm.”

“What did he say to you?”

She shook her head: “He didn’t say anything.”

“Then what did you say to him?”

“I told him that after leaving the capital, he shouldn’t return to the capital again.”

“What did you say to Kong Yu?”

“I didn’t say anything!”

Just like repeating her own words.

Jingrong asked again: “Then what about Kong Yu? What did she say to you?”

Ji Yunshu’s thoughts sank slightly.

She said softly: “She asked me to tell you that it was her own choice, that you need not feel guilty. If there’s a next life, she would make the same decision.”

Hearing this, Jingrong smiled slightly: “Since there are some things you don’t want to say, this prince won’t ask.” Pausing briefly, he continued: “I’ll ask you one last question. Does the Crown Prince’s rebellion have anything to do with you?”

She answered definitively: “No.”

“If you have no connection to the Crown Prince’s rebellion, then fine. Tell me, what exactly was the transaction between you and Jing Yi?”

Getting to the heart of the matter!

Jingrong looked at her seriously, hoping to see something in those beautiful eyes of hers.

But—

Ji Yunshu was just like him, calm to an unreasonable degree.

She asked in return: “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.”

No need for pretense, an honest answer.

He truly wanted to know.

Ji Yunshu drew in a breath, the words rolling in her throat for a long while.

Finally—

“Prince Yi said he could rescue you, and his method of rescuing you was to sacrifice the Crown Prince. He also guaranteed he would definitely preserve the Crown Prince’s life. But I had to promise him to leave you and follow him. If I didn’t agree, that day he would have killed you in the imperial prison. So aside from agreeing to him, I had no choice. I didn’t want you to die, much less watch you die helplessly before my eyes.”

Speaking, she choked up a bit: “Even more, I didn’t want… you to become a second Ji Pei, dying in front of me the same way.”

She was afraid!

Afraid of that feeling of loss!

That helpless feeling of watching a loved one die right before her eyes!

Jingrong was surprised, and also angry and heartbroken.

His brows tightened: “Would you really leave me?”

Ji Yunshu met his gaze and shook her head: “I said before, I can never leave you in this lifetime.”

“Then what are you afraid of?”

As soon as Jingrong’s question came out, Ji Yunshu’s nose stung.

The next moment, Jingrong spread his arms and domineeringly drew her into his embrace.

His chin resting lightly on top of her head, he said: “Yunshu, don’t be afraid. As long as this prince is here, you need not worry about anything. From today on, leave everything to this prince.”

Better than any pledge of eternal love!

He held her tightly, afraid this woman would truly disappear when he wasn’t paying attention.

His warm embrace was like a charging station. Ji Yunshu had thought she couldn’t hold on anymore, but this embrace gave her all her strength in an instant.

Yes!

What was she afraid of after all?

With Jingrong here, she didn’t need to be afraid!

The two embraced each other tightly, completely unaware that Wei Yi was standing not far from them.

He still held several peach blossoms in his hand. The once innocent and brilliant smile gradually disappeared from his lips, tinged with a trace of loss and sadness.

That feeling surged from his chest to his brain, transforming into a buzzing sound that made his head ache terribly. Biting his lip, his feet weakly retreated several steps backward until his back hit the wall. He raised his hands to hold his head as he slowly crouched down.

The peach blossoms in his hands also fell to the ground.

Lu Jiang, carrying a bowl of tofu pudding, searched for a long time before finally finding him.

But seeing the scene before him—

The tofu pudding fell and spilled on the ground.

“Young Master Wei, what’s wrong with you?”

“It hurts!”

“Where does it hurt?”

“My head hurts!”

“This…” Lu Jiang was somewhat flustered.

The commotion here alerted Jingrong and Ji Yunshu. Looking this way, Ji Yunshu immediately ran over anxiously.

Crouching beside Wei Yi.

“Wei Yi, what’s wrong with you?” Extremely worried.

Hearing Ji Yunshu’s voice, Wei Yi slowly raised his head, his pale lips trembling as he asked: “Shu’er, it hurts. Am I… going to die?”

“You won’t.”

“I…” Before he could finish speaking, he fainted from the pain.

Jingrong immediately ordered Lu Jiang: “Quickly go fetch a physician.”

As he spoke, he pulled the unconscious Wei Yi up from the ground, directly draping him over his own back, and carried him back to a room.