Seeing her bend down to hold her right calf with a pained expression, Jixiang hurriedly said, “Princess, what’s wrong?”

Yunyi shook her head, “It’s nothing. I probably stood too long earlier, so I have some cramps. It’ll be fine in a moment.”

Hearing this, Jixiang felt relieved and helped Yunyi walk to the nearby tent. Upon entering, she was surprised to find that besides Ruyi, Lady Zhangsun was also there, and the two were chatting and laughing.

Seeing her limp in, Lady Zhangsun stood up in surprise, “What happened? Is the Princess injured?”

“It’s nothing, just cramps. I’ll be fine after sitting for a while.” After sitting down with Jixiang’s help, Yunyi said, “But Second Young Madam, why have you come?”

In the ten-odd days since Yunyi had been here, Lady Zhangsun had visited several times, each time bringing something for her, so they were not unfamiliar with each other.

Hearing this, Lady Zhangsun remembered her purpose and took from Xiuzhu’s hands a sky-blue cloak trimmed with white fox fur, saying, “The weather grows colder by the day. The past two times I came, I noticed the Princess seemed to lack thick clothing, so I found this cloak to help the Princess keep warm. I wore it once before – please make do with it for now, Princess. I’m already rushing to make winter clothes for you and should finish them the day after tomorrow.”

Xiuzhu interjected, “Miss has been working until the third watch every night these past few days to finish the winter clothes quickly.”

“Don’t speak out of turn.” After lightly scolding, Lady Zhangsun said to Yunyi, “Princess, don’t listen to Xiuzhu’s nonsense. It’s just that my needlework is ordinary – I don’t know if the Princess will be comfortable wearing it. Please don’t disdain it when the time comes.”

Yunyi quickly said, “What words are these, Second Young Madam? I’m endlessly grateful for your care during this time.”

“I’m only doing what little I can.” Lady Zhangsun smiled slightly, then suddenly said, “The person who painted the snow lotus blossoms – that was the Princess, wasn’t it?”

Yunyi was stunned for a moment, then admitted, “That’s right. At the time, Second Young Master saw that I had some talent for painting and asked me to help him paint the snow lotus in bloom to send to Second Young Madam, to fulfill your wish. Unfortunately, my painting skills are ordinary – I only captured five or six-tenths of its beauty.”

Lady Zhangsun laughed, “That was already very difficult. If it were me, I probably couldn’t even paint two or three-tenths of it. Elder brother always laughs at me, saying I have no talent for painting.”

Yunyi smiled and said, “I’ve always heard Second Young Master mention Second Young Madam, and now I finally get to meet you.”

Lady Zhangsun smoothed her hair and said half-jokingly, “After seeing me, is the Princess very disappointed?” With her usual plain dress, if she went out alone without mentioning her status, no one would think that such a simply dressed woman was the legitimate wife of Li Shimin, who commanded over a hundred thousand troops.

Yunyi observed her for a long time, then smiled, “Quite the opposite. I finally understand why Second Young Master is so nervous about and cares for Second Young Madam. You really are wonderful.”

“What good does it do? There are still things I cannot measure up to.” Lady Zhangsun said this very quietly, and Yunyi didn’t hear clearly, asking in confusion, “What did Second Young Madam say?”

Lady Zhangsun came back to herself and smiled, “I said that hearing the Princess call me ‘Second Young Madam’ this and ‘Second Young Madam’ that sounds quite awkward. If the Princess doesn’t mind, please just call me Wugou.”

Yunyi genuinely liked her, so she didn’t stand on ceremony and said graciously, “Alright, from now on I’ll call you Wugou, and you shouldn’t call me Princess anymore, just…”

Before she could continue, Lady Zhangsun shook her head, “The Princess is after all of imperial blood. How could Wugou directly address the Princess by name? If word got out, people would say Wugou doesn’t understand propriety. Wugou understands the Princess’s kindness, and it won’t change anything because of a form of address.”

Yunyi was left speechless by her words and shook her head with a smile, “I can’t argue with you, so we’ll do as you say.”

After some laughter and conversation, Lady Zhangsun stood up, “It’s getting late. Wugou won’t disturb the Princess’s rest. I’ll come again after finishing the winter clothes.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Wugou.” After seeing Lady Zhangsun out, Yunyi returned to the tent to see Ruyi folding up the white fox fur cloak that had been brought, preparing to take it out. She asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

Ruyi said casually, “Taking it out to throw away.”

Yunyi frowned, “Why throw away something perfectly good? You girl, when did you become so wasteful?”

Ruyi wrinkled her small nose, “Though this Second Young Madam appears gentle and virtuous on the surface, who knows if she harbors evil intentions and is using the pretext of giving clothes to harm the Princess? When we were in the palace, we suffered plenty from Princess Xin’an.” At this point, she said somewhat gleefully, “But now Princess Xin’an is in the hands of Yuwen Huaji and his men, so she probably isn’t having good days. Heaven has eyes after all.”

Jixiang agreed deeply, “That’s right. It’s better to be careful about everything. If the Princess feels cold, this servant and Ruyi will go ask for some cotton right now and work through the night to make the Princess a padded jacket.”

Yunyi took the cloak from her hands, “Lady Zhangsun Wugou is different from Xin’an and the others. You can rest assured.”

“You know a person’s face but not their heart. We should still be careful.” No matter what Ruyi said, Yunyi continued to shake her head, “Enough, stop overthinking, all of you.” Seeing Yunyi’s insistence, the two had no choice but to remain secretly vigilant.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Yunyi was awakened by chaotic sounds outside. Opening her sleepy eyes, she said to Ruyi, who was already standing in the tent, “What’s happening outside?”

Ruyi helped her up while saying, “I heard something happened at the city tower, but this servant doesn’t know the details.”

“The city tower?” Yunyi murmured, repeating the words, then in the next moment showed a trace of alarm, “Could it be that the General began attacking the city today?”

Ruyi said in confusion, “Princess, when you returned yesterday, didn’t you say the General would wait a full seven days before attacking the city?”

Yunyi remained silent. By rights, with Li Yuan’s status, he would absolutely not break his word. But if it wasn’t an attack on the city, what could have happened at the city gates?

Unable to figure it out, she urged, “Change my clothes immediately.”

After hurriedly dressing and washing, Ruyi helped Yunyi walk toward the city gate. Shortly after they had returned yesterday, Li Yuan had ordered the army back to its original position, so walking there would take only about the time of one incense stick.

Before reaching there, she could see a mass of people standing in black crowds outside arrow range. Even Li Shimin and Li Yuan were there, all looking up at the city wall. Following their gaze, she saw a group of people bound hand and foot standing on the city wall – roughly counting, at least dozens of people, men, women, old and young, all with faces full of panic and fear. Some women and children were even crying mournfully.

Strange – who were these people, and why had they been brought to the city wall?