“Fourth Imperial Uncle, what have you done?” The moment she saw the welling blood, Feng Jiu’er’s eyes went red with alarm.

She slid off the bed, pressing her hands against Feng Li’s shoulders — so gently she barely dared apply any force at all.

“Lie down, lie down now! Stop moving! Quickly!”

“Jiu’er…”

“Don’t speak. Fourth Imperial Uncle, lie down — let me look at your wound.”

The wound itself was not large, but the sword qi had driven in deep, coming frighteningly close to the heart.

This was only the second day after the injury. Instead of lying properly in bed, he had gone and… carried her up?

This Fourth Imperial Uncle who needed a thorough scolding — he simply would not behave!

“What is wrong with you? Did you not know Fourth Imperial Uncle was gravely hurt? And you let him do as he pleased?”

Even as she worked to unwrap Feng Li’s bandages, Feng Jiu’er turned her anger on Feng Jiang: “What is even the point of leaving you here? When it truly mattered, you were completely useless. You’ve made me furious!”

“I…” Feng Jiang felt genuinely wronged — wholly without fault and deeply aggrieved.

He had tried to stop it just now. But Fourth Imperial Uncle had declared he would not allow him to touch her.

Though — why was Fourth Imperial Uncle permitted to carry her, while he, her own older imperial brother, was not?

Fourth Imperial Uncle’s logic was truly baffling. Anyone who did not know better would think Jiu’er was his daughter.

Feng Jiu’er had no patience left for him. “Have someone bring in hot water. I need to see how badly the wound has torn.”

“Understood.” Feng Jiang went to fetch the hot water himself, not even delegating it to anyone else.

Feng Li, however, caught her hand just as Jiu’er was nearly done unwrapping the bandages: “There is no need to rush. It’s all right now.”

“It is not all right — it is bleeding. I have to look.”

Jiu’er pulled her hand free and said urgently, “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful — I won’t hurt you.”

Feng Li felt no fear whatsoever of being hurt by her. When his little Jiu’er was at his side, even if she took a blade and carved her name into his skin for sport, it would still feel sweet to him.

“There are… too many scars on Fourth Imperial Uncle’s body. I was afraid they might frighten Jiu’er.”

“I have already seen them.” He should not have said that — because the moment he did, Jiu’er’s heart ached again.

So many wounds, large and small. Another person, faced with the same, would have found it nearly impossible to survive.

All these years — how had he endured it?

Resting his hand back on the bed, she then worked with utmost care to undo the knot in the bandage, removing the gauze layer by layer.

The wound had indeed torn open again — but mercifully, the split was not large.

Jiu’er applied medicine, took clean gauze, and re-dressed it.

As Feng Jiang helped Feng Li sit up, Jiu’er wrapped the fresh bandages around him. Throughout the whole of it, Feng Li yearned to gather this little one into his arms and hold her close — to press her into himself, as though she were a part of him.

His little treasure…

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, you must promise me — for the next several days, nothing requiring exertion. Absolutely nothing. And especially not what you just did.”

Feng Jiu’er delivered her warning with full gravity, and only when Feng Li nodded in agreement did she finally let out a breath.

A young eunuch carried in a bowl of light broth-porridge, which Feng Jiang took and set to one side.

Jiu’er helped Feng Li settle into a half-reclined position against the bed’s headboard, then took up the bowl, sat at the bedside, scooped out a spoonful, and brought it to her lips to blow it cool.

Feng Li simply looked at her. Whatever she did, every movement, every expression — he burned each one indelibly into his heart.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, it’s cooled down now. Try a taste.” Jiu’er lifted the spoon to Feng Li’s lips.

Feng Li opened his mouth and drank it down in one swallow.

A tremor passed through his heart — so moved that even his fingertips shook.

His little Jiu’er was feeding him porridge. This was something he could not have imagined even in his dreams.

He had thought that even if she returned to him one day, all he would ever be able to do was hide at a distance and watch her from afar.

It had never once occurred to him that the two of them could draw this close — that his little Jiu’er would be right here, within arm’s reach.

He had only to lift his hand, and he could touch her.

He had only to stretch out his arms, and he could hold her.

He wanted so dearly to hold her. Since she was small, he had never held her — and in the blink of an eye, she had grown this much.

But he did not dare. He feared his own impulse, feared it would frighten her, feared it would make her despise him forever.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, what is it? Why do you keep staring at me?” Jiu’er asked the question that Feng Jiang had also been wanting answered.

Feng Li quickly lowered his gaze, afraid of displeasing her with such a fixed look.

“Forgive me…”

“You are my own imperial uncle.” Jiu’er smiled at him. “You don’t need to be so restrained with me. We are family.”

She scooped up another spoonful of porridge, blew it cool, and lifted it to Feng Li’s lips. “Fourth Imperial Uncle, come — let’s have some porridge first.”

Feng Li said nothing. He obeyed and drank his porridge.

Plain as it was, without much flavor — anything fed to him by Jiu’er was sweet beyond measure.

His spirits rose, and in one sitting, he finished three full large bowls.

It was only when Jiu’er told him not to eat too much so soon after waking that he stopped.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, you keep looking at Jiu’er like that — aren’t you afraid of making her feel embarrassed?”

In the end, even Feng Jiang could not bear to watch any further, and felt compelled to offer a timely reminder.

Feng Li snapped his gaze back at once, then cast him a sideways look.

Feng Jiang had already averted his eyes before Feng Li’s icy stare could land on him properly — choosing to see nothing, for fear of being frightened senseless.

Fourth Imperial Uncle was blatantly partial. With Jiu’er, he was so tender you could nearly wring water from his gentleness. With him, he was fierce as a wild beast.

It was only now that Feng Li had the presence of mind to take in his surroundings. When he recognized the building around him, his gaze darkened, and despite himself, his expression shifted.

“I am inside the palace?”

“This is my bedchamber.” Feng Jiang replied at once.

Feng Li reached out and threw back the covers, moving to get out of bed.

Feng Jiu’er startled and quickly pressed down on both his arms: “Fourth Imperial Uncle, where are you going? Don’t do anything rash.”

“Jiu’er…” He did not want to frighten her. But with his status, he had no business remaining in the palace.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, last night Jiu’er and I brought you back here and begged Imperial Father to channel qi to help you heal. After that, Imperial Father agreed and allowed you to convalesce here with me.”

Feng Jiang understood palace customs far better than Jiu’er. Seeing Fourth Imperial Uncle react this way, he grasped at once what was going through his mind.

He had simply not expected that Fourth Imperial Uncle — who normally did not even deign to hold the Emperor in regard — would feel unsettled over something as small as remaining in the palace.

“It was truly His Majesty who permitted me to stay?” Feng Li fixed his gaze on Feng Jiang. “Do not jest or speak nonsense.”

It was not his own situation he feared. What he feared was that his affairs might bring trouble down upon Jiu’er.

Feng Jiang nodded with solemn sincerity. “It truly was. Imperial Father permitted it.”

“You petitioned His Majesty to channel his qi and heal me?”

Seeing Feng Jiang nod, Feng Li looked to Jiu’er. He was reluctant to reprimand her, but his expression grew somewhat grave all the same.

“From now on — do not petition His Majesty on my behalf. For anything. Understood?”

“Why?” Was this somehow connected to what her Imperial Father had asked her — about what Fourth Imperial Uncle had said to her?

Why did she have the feeling there was a great deal hidden between the two of them?

And were those secrets… related to her?