Although Ye Jingkuan had already secretly rushed toward Longhu Mountain day and night at that time, the journey there and back was extremely long. If they truly had to wait for Zhang Tianshi to return, who knew what state the Crown Prince would be in by then.

It must be known that before those medicinal powders were discovered, the imperial physicians had been completely helpless against the poison in the Crown Prince’s body—this poison was unique to the Shu region. Those in the north had never encountered it before, and the people at the Imperial Medical Bureau could only anxiously stand by helplessly.

Moreover, this time Song Chuyi had not only saved the Crown Prince, but had also incidentally brought down Empress Dowager Rongxian, who had been watching like a tiger eyeing its prey all along.

Once upon a time, Empress Dowager Rongxian, her grandmother, had always been her nightmare. From childhood, she had realized that her imperial grandmother not only couldn’t be said to like her parents, but could actually be considered to detest them.

Carrying her dissatisfaction with the Emperor and Empress, Empress Dowager Rongxian was consequently also exceptionally cold toward both her older brother and herself. Every time she and her brother went to Changning Hall, they felt it was an endless, boundless torture—facing Empress Dowager Rongxian’s frost-like countenance, they were both frightened and resentful.

When she grew to nine years old, a major incident occurred in her maternal family. Her uncle, who managed horse breeding in Shaanxi, died—and was later impeached by the then Shaanxi magistrate through a memorial to the throne, saying he had privately sold warhorses to the Tatars.

She no longer had any impression of how the matter was ultimately resolved. She only remembered that later, when Mother Empress threw that pile of so-called evidence in Changning Hall, the Empress Dowager’s somewhat twisted face full of disdain was still imprinted in her heart.

The Empress Dowager had sat high on the phoenix throne, embracing Wang Jinsi who was a few years older than herself at the time. Looking at Mother Empress and herself with a gaze that seemed ready to devour people, the words she spoke were bone-chilling: “Duke Chengguo’s manor’s yesterday is your Lu family’s today. This Dowager will wait and watch how you all die.”

She returned to her senses from the memories, and her interest in speaking suddenly diminished somewhat. With mixed feelings, she stroked Song Chuyi’s hair and removed an extremely dazzling gold-inlaid pearl bracelet with a seven-star linked moon pattern from her own wrist to put on Song Chuyi’s hand: “This was something Mother Empress gave me in the past. I’m giving it to you to wear and play with.”

Song Chuyi dared not refuse. She was still somewhat unaccustomed to the sudden goodwill and enthusiasm, and respectfully yet somewhat awkwardly bowed to her in thanks before turning to follow the princess’s female official out the door.

Just as she went out the door, she caught sight of Zhou Weizhao’s group approaching through the snow. She stopped and was about to bow when Zhou Weizhao waved his hand to stop her.

Ye Jingchuan poked his head out from behind him and smiled at her: “I heard there’s a barbecue gathering at Qixia Pavilion. The kitchen just sent over a lamb leg and half a deer. We came especially to find you to go together.”

Last time, Ye Jingchuan had stubbornly insisted on returning to the capital together with them, calling it escorting them along the way, and had even freeloaded a dinner at the Song household. Now he had popped up again. Song Chuyi furrowed her brow and held back but ultimately couldn’t resist: “How can you be so idle—”

Before she could finish speaking, Ye Jingchuan jumped up as if someone had stepped on his tail, hastily waving his hand for her to speak more quietly: “My sister-in-law is still inside. If she hears, she’ll tell my eldest brother again. Once eldest brother hears, I really won’t be able to get out. You usually seem quite clever—how are you being so foolish at a time like this?”

Zhou Weizhao found his words somewhat amusing and reached out to pat him once, indicating for Song Chuyi to walk together with them, then turned his head to tease Ye Jingchuan: “You should be kept busy so you won’t have time to run to Changning Earl’s manor every day.”

Ye Jingchuan touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly. He had only thought that Zhou Weizhao had no playmate while recuperating from illness. Finding others too troublesome, he had suddenly remembered that Song Chuyi was more interesting than others. After inquiring that Song Chuyi was going to Tongzhou, he had hoped something else would happen to provide some stimulation, which was why he had shamelessly waited early at Dingfu Manor. Now being teased by Zhou Weizhao this way, he couldn’t quite keep face and quickly ran off by himself, actually leaving Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi behind.

Zhou Weizhao smiled somewhat helplessly. Turning back to see Song Chuyi carefully following behind him step by step, he suddenly felt his mood greatly improve and asked in a gentle voice: “I heard Lianyi gave birth to a little daughter?”

Song Chuyi, walking with her head down behind him, couldn’t help but have the corners of her mouth curl up when An’an was mentioned: “Yes, very fortunate. Although her health hasn’t been very good all along, both mother and daughter are very safe.”

Zhou Weizhao carefully avoided places with accumulated water and broke into a smile: “When will the full-month celebration be held? I’d also like to join in the festivities. My master hasn’t left the capital yet—it would be good to trick him into drawing a talisman for An’an. I heard from Jingchuan that the child’s informal name has already been chosen—it’s An’an, right?”

Song Chuyi was so surprised she didn’t know how to respond. Hearing him mention drawing a talisman, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Zhang Tianshi’s talismans couldn’t be obtained even with a whole year’s effort, yet His Highness the Grand Prince spoke of his talismans as casually as if they were sold by fortune-telling masters at roadside stalls. Who knew whether the dignified Celestial Master would cough up a mouthful of blood in anger if he heard this.

“Has the residual poison in Your Highness’s body all been cleared out?” Song Chuyi, seeing Zhou Weizhao look over, asked with some concern: “Actually, the situation was far from dire enough to require Your Highness to personally take poison. Following the originally discussed plan and having a young eunuch test the poison would have achieved the same result.”

Taking personal risk, destroying to rebuild afterward—in her entire life, she had never seen anyone gamble with their life so decisively and straightforwardly. Especially when this person’s status was so special, it was truly bold to the extreme.

Zhou Weizhao’s jade-white face had become even paler due to his recent recovery from serious illness. Today he happened to be wearing moon-white garments as well, with light blue making him appear even more transcendent and ethereal.

He nodded straightforwardly: “It’s mostly better now. Speaking of which, I must thank you for following the trail to find that pouch from the Yun family. Only then did the imperial physicians find a clue and barely manage to prevent my father and me from dying from the poison before my master arrived.”

“How could you trust me so much?” Song Chuyi looked at him with a sigh, not knowing why he could so easily trust a person: “What if I had deceived you and that poison wasn’t at all the same kind the Crown Prince was poisoned with? You would have been in danger.”

Zhou Weizhao was indeed clever and meticulous to a frightening degree, utilizing the forces of the Chen family, Prince Zhennan’s manor, as well as Ye Jingkuan and the Song family with perfect precision, linking one element to another. Most terrifying was that he had accurately predicted Emperor Jianzhang’s every reaction—this was something even Song Chuyi, who had lived a second life, could only look up to in admiration. Yet at the same time, he was naive to an unbelievable degree—what if the Song family’s allegiance was false? What if that poison was fake?

Zhou Weizhao tilted his head to look at her, seeming to find her question strange: “You and I have no grievances or enmity. In your dream, I died early on and never offended you at all. Why would you deceive me?”

He paused, looking at her with some incomprehension: “I always thought you only had hostility toward those who harmed you in your dream. Could it actually not be so?”

Song Chuyi found herself somewhat unable to refute what he said—but if things in this world truly worked on the principle of you don’t harm me and I don’t harm you, then everything would be much simpler and quieter.