A cervical spine injury — if the surrounding blood vessels began to bleed, without proper treatment and with no capacity for self-recovery, it could only end in death.
Yan Yunning tilted her head back and looked up at the harsh glare of the sun. 【Why does my elder sister have a cervical spine injury?】
Fafa: 【Your Crown Prince kicked her!!】
Yan Yunning: 【……??】
Fafa: 【Yan Shiyao grabbed Xuan Yanyu’s sleeve trying to make a scene, and she grazed the back of his hand. Xuan Yanyu instinctively kicked her, and she landed hard on the ground.】
Yan Yunning’s eyes grew heavy and still. 【You said you didn’t know anything — so why did you know about this from so far away? Have you been deceiving me all along?】
Even Fafa’s electronic voice pitched upward in urgency. 【Master, when it concerns the female lead’s life being in danger, how could I possibly not know?! The plot updates as events change!!】
Yan Yunning: 【……】
“Crown Princess, were you not saying you had urgent business and needed to leave the palace? Are we still going?” Xiao Wan, seeing Yan Yunning standing motionless where she was, asked in a small voice.
Yan Yunning bit her lip. “I…”
Fafa: 【Master, stop deliberating — going home is what matters!!】
【How do you expect me to hear that my elder sister is in danger and simply feel nothing?】 Yan Yunning’s thoughts were scattered and unsteady. 【Why did you tell me?】
Fafa’s electronic voice turned grave. 【Master, couldn’t you simply act as though you never knew? I told you because I want you to say your goodbyes to Xuan Yanyu! Ten years from now, Xuan Yanyu will be fine as well, and Xuanzhao will be unharmed. Master, let’s go home.】
【Say my goodbyes?】 Yan Yunning’s breath caught. For one fleeting instant, her thoughts went blank.
This day had come too suddenly, too swiftly — so fast she hadn’t even had time to take it in.
Fafa: 【Master…】
【Fafa, if I knowingly let my elder sister go without treatment at that clinic — if I keep silent and only think of going home for myself — isn’t that very selfish of me.】
Yan Yunning’s heart ached. It struck her all at once — if she simply left, what would happen to Xuan Yanyu?
How was she supposed to choose…
How was she supposed to choose…
Or would the original host return to this body after she was gone?
Fafa gave no answer. Yan Yunning pushed Xiao Wan aside and stumbled into a run toward the gates of the Palace of the Prince of Xuan.
“Crown Princess?” Xiao Wan was stunned. Why had the Crown Princess suddenly fallen into such low spirits?
Worried something might happen to her, Xiao Wan didn’t stop to think and ran after Yan Yunning.
Yan Yunning did not take a carriage. She ran the entire way to the first medical clinic on the east side of the main street. She circled around to the back of the clinic, and through the half-open window, she looked in at Yan Shiyao lying on the bed, her brow creased in pain.
Her eyes were half-open, half-closed, her body curled on the bed in pain, the rise and fall of her chest faint, her breathing barely a thread. Qi Qingchen crouched beside the bed, an expression of deep worry on his face as he spooned medicine into her mouth.
Yan Yunning watched for a while, then slid helplessly down the wall and sank to the ground. Could she simply pretend she didn’t know?
If she pretended not to know — was that too selfish of her?
Fafa: 【Master, Yan Shiyao grabbed Xuan Yanyu’s sleeve herself. Before that, Ye’an had already spoken to Yan Shiyao with great patience and kindness, and she refused to listen. She even went and grabbed His Highness the Crown Prince’s sleeve — that was already very improper conduct. She brought this on herself.】
Fafa: 【The clinic was one Qi Qingchen sought out himself, Master. You bear no responsibility for that. With so many clinics in Xuanzhao, he happened to choose this particular one. Perhaps this is the opportunity being given to you — if you let it pass, there may never be another.】
Yan Yunning lowered her eyes to the ground. After a long silence, she said quietly: 【Is this real? Are you certain you’re not deceiving me? I can really go home, can’t I?】
Fafa’s electronic voice rang out with certainty. 【Master, I am not deceiving you. You can go home.】
【I understand.】 Hearing that definitive answer, Yan Yunning did not feel particularly happy.
On the contrary, her heart felt oppressively heavy.
“Crown Princess, what is wrong?” Xiao Wan, who had come running after her, saw Yan Yunning sitting on the ground with a hollow, dimmed look in her eyes, and felt a tremor of fear go through her.
If something happened to the Crown Princess, His Highness the Crown Prince would never forgive her.
“Go back. Back to the residence.” Yan Yunning pressed down the turbulence welling inside her.
Xiao Wan dared not ask anything more. She stepped forward to help Yan Yunning up, and with a quick glance through the window out of the corner of her eye, caught a glimpse of the scene inside — a handsome young man pinching the jaw of a pale-faced woman lying on the bed, feeding her medicine.
Could it be that the Crown Princess had seen this and was so overcome with grief because of it?
What kind of connection did this woman have with the Crown Princess?
In silence, they made their way back to the Crown Prince’s residence. Yan Yunning stood at the gate and found that her feet would carry her no further. She looked up at the gilded plaque bearing the characters “Crown Prince’s Residence,” inscribed by the Prince of Xuan’s own royal hand, and her expression went distant and blank.
“Crown Princess, His Highness the Crown Prince returned to the residence just a moment ago. Please come in.” The guard at the gate, seeing Yan Yunning standing motionless at the entrance, spoke respectfully.
“Mm.” Yan Yunning nodded, but her feet still would not move.
“Crown Princess, will you not go in?” Xiao Wan hesitated before asking.
Yan Yunning opened her mouth. Not a single word came out.
Evening was drawing near, and the wind had grown strong. Yan Yunning felt it sweep through her, weightless and untethered. She lowered her head and let out a quiet, gentle laugh. She had chosen to go home — and that meant leaving Xuanxiaoxiao behind. She didn’t dare… didn’t dare go in to see him.
Xiao Wan had been watching Yan Yunning closely. She noticed the faint dampness at her lashes, and then tears traced down from the corner of Yan Yunning’s eyes. Her voice trembled slightly. “Crown Princess, what on earth is wrong with you?”
If His Highness the Crown Prince saw this, how was she supposed to explain it to him?
The guard was also beginning to panic. Noticing the dust clinging to Yan Yunning’s robes, he turned and sprinted into the residence to inform Xuan Yanyu.
A short while later, the man came striding out in long, rapid steps. Yan Yunning quickly wiped away her tears. Looking up, she saw that the man’s dark hair was still dripping with water, and he had come out wearing only a thin dark robe. Ye Chen, out of breath, came hurrying behind him with his brocade outer robe in hand.
It looked as though he had just finished bathing and hadn’t had time to dry his hair.
“Why are you crying? Did the Empress Mother make things difficult for you?” The man stepped close, and with him came a faint, cool drift of air carrying the scent of an expensive, unhurried fragrance — neither sweet nor cloying.
Yan Yunning’s nose ached. “It’s nothing. The evening wind is cold. From now on, after bathing, please dress properly and dry your hair before leaving your chambers. If you catch a chill, what then?”
“What did the Empress Mother say to you?” Xuan Yanyu cupped her face in his hands, the pads of his thumbs tracing the tears from her cheeks.
Yan Yunning pushed his hands away, took his brocade robe from Ye Chen, and said with reddened eyes, “Put your robe on. Go inside and dry your hair.”
Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together, accepted the robe, and glanced at Ye Chen without making it obvious.
The latter caught the meaning at once and gave a small nod.
Once Xuan Yanyu had put on his robe, Yan Yunning took his hand and led him to the inner chambers.
Taking a soft cloth from the wooden tray a maidservant was holding, she slowly dried the ends of his hair.
Xuan Yanyu drew her into his arms and said in a low, steady voice: “Ningning — if the Empress Mother is my mother, that is no reason for you to suffer in silence. In this prince’s eyes, regardless of whether you are right or wrong, this prince will always stand by you and protect you.”
Meeting the man’s unusually earnest gaze, Yan Yunning’s eyes grew redder. She looked down and tucked herself into his embrace. Her voice came out muffled. “Just now, I was sitting on the ground for a long while. My robes are dusty — let me down. I’ll dirty your clothes.”
“It doesn’t matter. This prince doesn’t mind.” The man furrowed his brow slightly and asked further, “Why were you sitting on the ground?”