The letter stated that Wei Yi had disappeared.

She quickly scanned through it once, her heart suddenly tightening.

After finishing, the letter slipped from between her fingers, fluttering lightly to the ground.

Her eyes became vacant and she froze. At this moment, her mind felt completely blank, with only the five words “Wei Yi has disappeared” buzzing in her ears.

“Yunshu.” Jingrong worried, grasping her ice-cold hand and comforting her. “Don’t worry. This prince won’t let anything happen to him. I’ve already sent people ahead to the capital and instructed Lu Jiang that no matter what, they will find him.”

Her scattered gaze gradually focused, meeting Jingrong’s eyes. “So you knew all along? And you know who captured him?”

He nodded!

“This letter was delivered the day after you were stabbed. If this prince’s guess is correct, Wei Yi was captured by Jing Yi.”

“Jing Yi?”

The name that came from her mouth was like meat between her teeth—she wished she could bite it to pieces!

She looked at the man before her with disbelief. “Since you knew all along, why didn’t you tell me?”

Jingrong had his considerations. “You were injured at the time. If I had told you, not only would you have worried, you definitely would have set out for the capital immediately. So this prince was selfish for once, taking it upon himself to conceal the matter, planning to tell you after finding Wei Yi. But…”

But you wanted to go to Jinjiang to see Wei Yi.

So he had no choice but to tell her!

Ji Yunshu’s face was full of worry and tension. Her chest felt like it was burning with fire, yet her entire body shivered with cold. She shook her head, her thoughts running wild.

“What if something really happened to Wei Yi? What if it wasn’t Prince Yi who captured him? Even if he did capture him, what if…”

“There are no ‘what ifs’!” Jingrong negated all her wild thoughts. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Wei Yi will definitely be fine, and this prince will definitely find him.”

Full of confidence!

She bit her lip tightly, forcibly restraining herself from thinking further.

Because every outcome she imagined was tragic.

And at this moment, the only person she could trust was the man before her eyes!

Her ice-cold hand was held by Jingrong. The coldness gradually dissipated in his warm palm, traveling through her fine blood vessels to warm her entire body, causing her anxious heart to slowly calm down as well.

Jingrong pulled her into his embrace. His eyes beneath his sharp brows revealed ruthlessness and killing intent. “If anyone dares to harm Wei Yi, this prince will take their life.”

And she could only desperately pray in her heart that heaven would show mercy to Wei Yi.

May he be safe and sound.

Soon, Jingrong gave the order to travel through the night back to the capital without further delay.

In another carriage.

Tang Si didn’t understand why they had suddenly accelerated their journey and complained, “Why the sudden rush?”

Muruo ignored him, holding a book and reading with a grave expression.

“What are you reading?”

Are you blind?!

“A book.” He uttered a single word indifferently.

“I know it’s a book. You’ve been reading books the entire journey. You’re not even drinking wine anymore—isn’t that strange?” After saying this, she tried to snatch the book from Muruo’s hands.

But Muruo shifted his hand, evading her claws.

“Stop fooling around.” He rebuked sternly.

Tang Si could only lean her head over. “What exactly are you reading?”

“Looking for medicine!”

“Medicine? What medicine?”

“Medicine for toad poison.”

Tang Si was taken aback, and her expression also darkened as she asked, “So there really is toad poison in A’Ji’s body?”

Muruo didn’t respond, continuing to flip through the medical text in his hands.

These past days, he had already gone through many medical texts, but apart from the toxicity of toad poison, almost nothing else was recorded. He had even gone through the medical texts his old man left behind that he carried with him, but they also had no records.

He closed the book and sighed.

“It seems I’ll have to wait until we return to Yuhua Pavilion to research further.”

Tang Si’s face was full of worry as she urged him, “A’Mo, you must find the antidote to save A’Ji. If there’s no way to neutralize the poison, she’ll suffer for the rest of her life.”

“I know.”

“Also, are you really not going to tell the prince about this?”

“What do you think will happen if I tell him?”

“He cares about A’Ji so much. If he finds out, he’ll definitely go crazy. You didn’t see how he looked that night when he was killing people—covered in blood, eyes red. Even I was frightened.”

Thinking about it now, the lingering fear hadn’t dissipated.

Muruo glanced at her. “Since you know he’ll go crazy, if I tell him, wouldn’t he want to kill everyone in the entire world?”

“That’s true.”

He sighed heavily. He was a divine physician, but he wasn’t omnipotent. When it came to toad poison, even the immortals would be helpless.

But—

He said resolutely, “I will definitely find a way to cure her.”

In the capital, at Zhangzhi Hall.

Ever since the day Sui’er died, the doors to Jing Xuan’s sleeping quarters had remained closed, with several large locks on the door. They were only opened when someone went in to deliver meals.

Duan’er carried in the meal tray and opened the door, walking in gently. When she reached the inner chamber, she saw Jing Xuan sitting on the bed, wearing a thin white dress, her long hair loose over her shoulders. Apart from having no jewelry on her body, her face had not a trace of makeup, pale and wan like a sheet of white paper.

Her entire person sat there at the edge of the bed, listless and dejected.

Not moving at all!

Duan’er set down the food and walked over, calling out with concern, “Princess?”

Still no reaction whatsoever.

“This servant knows the princess is suffering inside right now, but you can’t just starve yourself like this. It’s been two days now, and you haven’t eaten a single bite. If this continues, your body will break down. Princess, please just eat one bite. This servant begs you.”

“…”

Duan’er wiped her tears, choking up. “Why must the princess torment herself like this? It’s only your own body that suffers. Sui’er’s death had nothing to do with you, Princess. You needn’t blame yourself. This servant begs you, please eat something.”

Still no response.

Duan’er dropped to her knees with a thud, pleading, “Princess, this servant begs you…”

Jing Xuan’s expression was vacant, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

She hadn’t eaten anything for two days, hadn’t closed her eyes for two days, and had been sitting like this for two full days.

If this continued, even if she didn’t starve to death, she would die from exhaustion.

Duan’er didn’t know how many times she had tried to persuade her, pleading with her each time she entered.

But the result was the same every time.

Duan’er knelt for a while, pleaded for a while, then could only sigh and leave.

The moment the door closed, Duan’er couldn’t help but cry. Several palace maids outside consoled her, “Sister Duan’er, please don’t cry.”

“With the princess like this now, how can I not be heartbroken?”

“But what can be done? The princess won’t eat or drink, and refuses to rest, just sitting there like that. If this continues, surely…” The young palace maid didn’t continue.

Duan’er wiped away her tears, suddenly widening her eyes. “I’ll go find Her Ladyship.”

Ah!

Before everyone could finish their exclamations of surprise, she had already headed toward Consort Xiao’s sleeping quarters.