Though the Imperial Guard Academy was not the department Feng Jiu’er had most wanted to enter, she decided to make the best of the situation.

Zhan Yuheng had intended to use his connections to get her admitted directly without going through selection — but to avoid giving others grounds to criticize, Feng Jiu’er insisted on participating in the selection process herself.

When she set her mind stubbornly on something, that air about her — that smile brimming with quiet confidence — made Zhan Yuheng lose himself for a few moments.

There was always a kind of illusion — that his little Jiu’er had truly come back to him.

Yet every time she turned to him with that simple-minded, vacant grin, that feeling of enchantment was dispelled without a trace in an instant.

Because his little Jiu’er had never once smiled in such a foolish, blank way…

The selection criteria were straightforward. The first round: a martial examination.

As the saying goes, in scholarship there is no definitive first, but in martial arts there is no second. A test of combat skill was the most direct and effective means of selection.

“Jiu’er, it does not matter if you lose in a moment. I will find a way — just be sure not to hurt yourself.”

Before Feng Jiu’er went forward to draw her lot, Zhan Yuheng reminded her.

Feng Jiu’er turned back to look at him and smiled like someone without a care: “I understand — if I can’t win, I’ll just run.”

Not that she had any desire to stay close to Zhan Yuheng right now. She needed to take part in the selection, and she could neither afford to lose nor afford to reveal the full extent of her true abilities in front of him.

With Zhan Yuheng here, it was terribly inconvenient — at any moment she might be seen through.

“Brother Heng, I noticed just now that Sister Qingyin’s complexion looked very pale — she looked as though she might vomit blood at any moment.”

Since he cared so much about Feng Qingyin anyway, he might as well go check on her and stop getting in the way.

“It is nothing to worry about. She has her maidservant with her. If anything truly happens, every academy has a medical hall — there is no need for concern.”

Zhan Yuheng looked out at the training grounds ahead, where everyone was already drawing lots to determine their opponents. He felt a little uneasy.

If she drew an especially formidable opponent by bad luck, losing would be the least of it — he feared she might truly get hurt.

Feng Jiu’er was beginning to feel impatient. He was nowhere to be found when she actually needed him, yet now that she had no need of him, here he was, hovering around constantly.

Just then, a small maidservant suddenly came running in, her expression frantic and alarmed.

Because the guards at the gate recognized her as one of the maidservants who had accompanied Feng Qingyin, they did not stop her. Everyone knew that Feng Qingyin had been brought here by the Crown Prince himself.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Crown Prince — our Young Miss has vomited blood! Your Highness the Crown Prince, please, I beg of you, go and see the Young Miss!”

Qin Xue ran up to Zhan Yuheng, bowing hurriedly in a fluster: “This servant pays her respects to the Crown Prince.”

Then immediately: “Your Highness the Crown Prince, this servant is guilty — this servant should not have come here to seek out the Crown Prince. But Your Highness, the Young Miss has suffered a relapse of her old illness, and this servant fears that she…”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, please, I beg of you — go and see the Young Miss. When she fainted, she kept calling out for Your Highness.”

At this point, Zhan Yuheng truly did not want to leave. The Faith Academy had a medical hall. He was not a physician — seeking him out was of no practical use, as he could not treat illness.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, when the Young Miss was small, she was once stabbed by an assassin. The physician said that although the wound had healed on the surface, the internal injury could never fully recover.”

“This time, the Young Miss was injured again — new wounds compounding old ones. She…”

“This Crown Prince will go have a look.” Zhan Yuheng glanced at his personal attendant, Qing Yun.

Qing Yun immediately said: “Your Highness, this subordinate will remain here and watch over her. Miss Jiu’er will not come to any harm.”

Only then did Zhan Yuheng look at Feng Jiu’er and say: “I am going to look in on Qingyin. I will be back shortly.”

His manner toward Feng Jiu’er was, in truth, genuinely warm — and this had not gone unnoticed by both Qing Yun and Qin Xue.

In Feng Jiu’er’s presence, he did not call himself “this Crown Prince” in the royal manner, but instead used the personal “I” — a sign that he wished to set aside the distinction of rank. Did His Highness the Crown Prince truly still harbor such deep feelings for Feng Jiu’er?