He had truly taken great pains. For every single matter he could think of for her, he had already done it for her beforehand. Even now with Qing Luo and Han Yan, he had played the stern role and sent them to her side. After his combination of soft and hard tactics, the favor he had bestowed was already enough to bring these two maidservants, who were now practically like startled birds, under her command.

Song Chuyi suddenly felt somewhat flustered in her heart. This kind of panic was the same as when Second Young Master Ye had shown her goodwill before, making her unable to resist wanting to swat away what others offered and shrink backward.

She felt her thoughts were somewhat chaotic. She pulled her clothes together and sat on the bed without a trace of sleepiness, until Qing Luo brought in the freshly cooked milk and Job’s tears porridge—only then did she come back to her senses.

“We came here on short notice, and the station master and the others were all in a flurry, finding whatever they could to offer respectfully.” Qing Luo helped her down from the bed, then smiled. “Miss has been tired all day and might not be able to eat a proper meal, so I specially had someone milk some fresh milk and cooked Job’s tears porridge. Please try it and see if it’s acceptable, Miss.”

Once one put their heart into doing something, what couldn’t be done well? Song Chuyi took a sip and smiled in praise. “It’s both fragrant and sweet, very delicious. Did it give you much trouble?” After all, this was just a post station, not the Cui manor. Even if the ingredients were readily available, the charcoal and utensils definitely wouldn’t be convenient to use. To achieve this result in such a short time showed she had put her heart into it.

“It wasn’t difficult.” Qing Luo stood respectfully and solemnly to the side, mustering her courage to look up at Song Chuyi. “These are originally what we servants should do.” Seeing Song Chuyi’s face bearing a smile and her expression very gentle, she continued, “Miss, from now on we will certainly serve diligently. Please don’t harbor any grudges against us because of what happened before.”

She was a clever maidservant, knowing to pick open the abscess clearly and let it scab over, rather than allowing the pustule to continue growing and oozing pus and blood. Song Chuyi set down the bowl and smiled at her sincerely. “If I still harbored even a trace of resentment in my heart, I wouldn’t have kept you. I still understand the principle of trusting those you employ and not employing those you doubt. I won’t have any knots in my heart, and you and Han Yan must not overthink things either. As for other matters, time reveals a person’s heart—through our long association together, we’ll naturally come to understand each other.”

Qing Ying knocked on the door from outside, saying that Lord Lai, Lai Chenglong, had arrived and was currently bringing Imperial Physician Yan and Attendant Hu to the Crown Prince’s room, asking if she wanted to go over together to take a look.

Without hesitation, she stood up and glanced at Qing Luo. Qing Luo pulled out her sapphire blue brocade double-layered cloak and draped it over her shoulders, then stepped back a few paces to arrange the fur trim for her before following one step behind.

Although it was already mid-April, whenever the cool breeze blew in the early morning or evening it was still somewhat cold. Song Chuyi pulled her cloak tighter around herself, circled around the courtyard and crossed through the corridor, then caught sight of Ye Jingchuan.

Ye Jingchuan had already hurried over to meet her, but after approaching, he retreated a few steps backward himself, as if afraid of being too forward. After composing himself for quite a while, he finally asked her, “Are your injuries feeling better? Please also have Imperial Physician Yan and Attendant Hu examine you later. Falling from such a fast-moving carriage is not something to take lightly.”

Ye Jingchuan always involuntarily felt somewhat constrained when facing Song Chuyi. Perhaps it was because her eyes had always been excessively clear—under the scrutiny of those eyes, he often felt his thoughts and intentions had nowhere to hide and were seen through by her completely, which made him increasingly flustered in his heart. Once flustered, he lost his composure. Just like how Chang’an had to remind him earlier before he remembered that when young ladies said they were fine, it might not necessarily be true. If she was truly fine, why would Qing Ying have someone ask the station master for wound medicine?

He hung his head somewhat awkwardly, as if he felt he had done something terribly wrong. “I was too careless. How could falling from a carriage not result in injuries?”

Song Chuyi always felt at a loss when facing others’ goodwill. Now hearing him say this, she couldn’t help but take a step backward and shake her head. “I’m truly fine. Second Young Master needn’t blame yourself.”

Ye Jingchuan didn’t merely blame himself—he also felt quite distressed. It wasn’t him who had saved Song Chuyi, but rather the Crown Prince who was already injured and needed to recuperate. Although he knew these two people were open and aboveboard with each other, he still felt indignant in his heart.

Ye Jingchuan took two more steps forward and hastily called out to stop Song Chuyi. When Song Chuyi turned her head to look at him, he nervously lowered his head again. After a long while, he finally seemed to have made up his mind, mustering his courage to look up at Song Chuyi. “Sixth Miss, I…”

Song Chuyi waited patiently for a moment. Seeing him flushed red and opening his mouth as if about to speak, she slowly shook her head. “I appreciate Second Young Master’s goodwill, but I cannot accept unearned rewards. Moreover, men and women should maintain proper distance. Please don’t trouble yourself over my injuries, Second Young Master.”

No matter how foolish Ye Jingchuan was, he could hear the meaning in Song Chuyi’s words. He actually knew that Song Chuyi didn’t harbor the same feelings for him that he had for her, but he always thought that since their two families were well-matched in social status…

Song Chuyi turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. The fear, tension, and panic she felt just now when hearing how Zhou Weizhao had dealt with Qing Luo and Han Yan was identical to the fear she felt just now when about to hear Ye Jingchuan’s confession.

The panic and palpitations she had felt earlier when Zhou Weizhao’s face was deathly pale and he was continuously bleeding should also be the same as her feelings toward Ye Jingchuan—they had helped her too much and treated her too well. She was just afraid she had no way to repay this debt of gratitude, that was all.

Imperial Physician Yan and Attendant Hu were discussing administering medicine to Zhou Weizhao, both their expressions not looking very good. Lai Chenglong came out from the Crown Prince’s room and nodded at Song Chuyi. “I’ll go make arrangements. We’ll set out for Jinzhong first thing tomorrow morning—the earlier the better. His Highness’s injuries cannot be delayed. We must hurry back as quickly as possible.”

This place lacked medical care and medicine, and was awkwardly located right at the junction of two counties where security couldn’t be well guaranteed. Another assassination attempt wasn’t impossible. Song Chuyi understood Lai Chenglong’s meaning. She just suddenly felt anxious about Zhou Weizhao’s condition—previously Imperial Physician Yan and Attendant Hu had repeatedly instructed Zhou Weizhao to rest properly, but now with this incident, forget about rest—Zhou Weizhao had simply sustained injury upon injury. Now that Lai Chenglong was speaking this way, it was clear the injuries had worsened again.

She quickened her pace and entered the lamp-lit room. As soon as she raised her eyes, she met Zhou Weizhao’s smiling eyes. In that moment, she forgot that she had just moments ago breathed a sigh of relief thinking it was guilt that made her panic. Unconsciously, she met his gaze and smiled.