The night grew deeper and deeper.

Yun Chu couldn’t sleep at all. She simply draped a robe over herself, got up, and took a book to read in the hall.

Reading made her somewhat drowsy, her mind feeling fuzzy.

She simply had a maidservant bring out the account books and began examining them seriously. The more she read, the more alert she became.

Yet the hour grew later and later. Soon midnight passed, and it would soon be over entirely.

The worry in her heart grew thicker and thicker.

She had thought that in this lifetime, aside from worrying about the Yun family and the two children, she would never care about anyone else again.

Yet because of one person, she found it difficult to sleep.

It must be because she feared that if Yu’er and Changsheng lost their father, they would be heartbroken—just as they had once been without a mother…

“Miss, there’s movement next door!”

As soon as Tingxue heard the sound, she hurried over to report.

Yun Chu set down the account book, stood up, and walked to the doorway. Soon she heard the door of the neighboring courtyard being opened.

She saw two guards hurriedly carrying a stretcher toward the inner chamber. The person on the stretcher was none other than the children’s father, Prince Pingxi.

Her heart couldn’t help but constrict.

She restrained herself and waited until only a few loyal attendants remained inside before stepping over.

“Miss Yun.”

Upon seeing her approach, Steward Cheng quickly bowed in greeting.

Before Yun Chu could ask anything, Chu Yi’s voice came from the inner chamber: “Steward Cheng, who’s here?”

He seemed to have heard Miss Yun’s voice.

This doorway had been open for so many days, but aside from the day they moved when Yun Chu had come to his courtyard, she had never set foot there again.

Moreover, at this hour—midnight had already passed—she and the two children should have long been asleep. How could she possibly come to his place?

Chu Yi thought it must be that he had just taken medicine and was having inappropriate thoughts.

“It’s me.”

A clear female voice came from outside.

Chu Yi suddenly sat up from the bed, but accidentally pulled at his wound and gasped in pain.

Steward Cheng was anxious and pushed open the bedroom door in one motion.

Yun Chu saw Chu Yi lying just like that on the couch.

The man wasn’t wearing any upper garments, his chest wrapped round and round with gauze. The white cloth that had just been wrapped was already dyed bright red.

She immediately averted her gaze, turned her body to the side, and inquired: “Is Your Highness alright?”

“Nothing serious.” Chu Yi forced himself to sit up. “I’ve troubled Miss Yun with her concern.”

Steward Cheng quickly supported him: “Your Highness, the imperial physician said you cannot get up. Quickly lie down—don’t let the wound burst open…”

“No harm.”

Chu Yi sat up straight coldly.

He felt he was really quite embarrassing.

First getting beaten with boards.

Then being slapped across the face.

Now stabbed by bandits.

Yun Chu must think he was a useless man.

“Miss Yun, please persuade His Highness.” Steward Cheng’s beard had turned white with worry. “The imperial physician said the blade came just short of piercing his heart. If he doesn’t lie down properly, his chest will ache in the future…”

Yun Chu felt her heart jump with alarm and immediately said: “Your Highness, you should listen to the imperial physician. Rest well and recover quickly, otherwise Yu’er and Changsheng will worry.”

Her voice left Chu Yi completely unable to resist.

He very obediently lay back down.

“There’s still a bowl of medicine here that His Highness refused to drink earlier.” Steward Cheng picked up a bowl of dark medicinal liquid from the low table and placed it in Yun Chu’s hands. “This medicine reduces the pain from the wound. His Highness feels it’s unnecessary. Miss Yun, please persuade him. This old servant must go to the front courtyard to check on Chengxu—that child was injured quite badly and has no one to care for him…”

As Steward Cheng spoke, he immediately left, even thoughtfully closing the courtyard gate.

Yun Chu looked at the medicine bowl in her hands, paused for a moment, then slowly turned her body. Raising her head with a composed expression, she ascended the steps and entered the room.

She held out the medicine bowl: “Your Highness is injured and should rest well. Drinking this medicine will help you fall asleep sooner.”

Chu Yi braced his hand against the bed to get up.

Yun Chu frowned: “The imperial physician said you cannot sit up.”

Chu Yi looked at her: “How can I drink medicine without sitting up?”

Lying down, he would need to be fed.

Only Yun Chu was here… some things, he didn’t even dare imagine.

Actually, tilting his head back to drink wouldn’t affect anything.

He continued struggling to sit up.

Yun Chu: “…”

She engaged in an internal struggle for a while, then sat down on the small stool beside the bed.

First, this courtyard had a connecting doorway. The people who could come here to serve were only those few, and they couldn’t come now anyway.

Second, this person was the children’s father. She couldn’t just watch the children’s father suffer.

Lastly, he had sustained such a serious injury protecting the common people. Someone who held the people in his heart deserved respect. Feeding him medicine was nothing.

After this round of mental preparation, she felt it was no big deal.

Yun Chu scooped up a spoonful of the dark medicinal liquid. Fortunately, the medicine wasn’t hot and didn’t need to be cooled—otherwise she really would have found it hard to maintain her composure.

She brought the spoon to the man’s lips.

Chu Yi was completely stunned.

If not for the pain in his body reminding him, he would truly think he was in a beautiful dream.

“Your Highness, open your mouth.”

Yun Chu reminded him.

Chu Yi suddenly came to his senses and opened his mouth to drink the medicinal liquid.

Very bitter medicine.

Yet somehow, he tasted sweetness.

His gaze moved to Yun Chu.

In the candlelight, her entire person appeared even more gentle, making one unable to resist wanting to draw closer.

He looked at Yun Chu just like that, without any concealment.

Yun Chu grew increasingly uncomfortable.

Although she had long been a married woman, to tell the truth, she and Xie Jingyu had never been this intimate.

On the contrary…

Yun Chu inexplicably thought of that night five years ago.

Although she couldn’t remember anything clearly, there were still some vague sensations…

She immediately bit her own tongue.

She must be crazy. At a time like this, how could she be thinking about such things?

“Your Highness, this is the last mouthful.”

After finishing feeding the medicine, Yun Chu breathed a deep sigh of relief. Setting down the medicine bowl, she stood up.

Chu Yi was reluctant to let her leave.

But he had no reason to keep her.

Yun Chu gently closed the door and turned to leave.

As soon as she left, Steward Cheng returned. Entering, he said in a low voice: “Your Highness, today Miss Yun and the two young masters went to the hot spring estate and encountered some trouble…”

A murderous look appeared in Chu Yi’s eyes.

An overnight north wind arose. When she got up the next morning, Yun Chu truly felt that winter had arrived.

She quickly had people bring thicker clothes for the two children to put on.

Chu Hongyu complained that the clothes were too thick and inconvenient for running and jumping, constantly twisting his body and refusing to wear them.

With great difficulty, after the little fellow finished fussing, he was sent through the doorway on that side, where someone would take him to study at the Imperial Academy.

After Yun Chu had also tidied up her little daughter, she finally learned why Prince Pingxi had been so seriously injured last night.

Qiutong reported: “Not long ago, after His Highness took over the Yun Family Army, the Emperor withdrew the eight thousand elite bandit-suppression troops. Therefore, when surrounding and suppressing the Bandit King this time, His Highness only brought Master Cheng. It was the two of them who captured the Bandit King Yang Hedong alive.”

Yun Chu knew that after the Yun Family Army returned to the capital, their duty was to guard the imperial city and await deployment at all times—they could not be sent elsewhere.

Therefore, even though Prince Pingxi had taken over the three thousand Yun Family Army troops, without the Emperor’s command, the Yun Family Army could not follow along to suppress bandits.

And after Prince Pingxi moved out of the Prince’s Mansion, he had also sent the several hundred mansion guards back to the imperial palace, truly becoming a bare-bones prince with only Chengxu remaining by his side.

The Bandit King Yang Hedong, relying on eighteen subordinates, had become a notorious bandit famous across the land. She found it somewhat hard to believe that Prince Pingxi had dared to go suppress bandits taking only Chengxu with him?

That this man had managed to pick up his life and return alive could only be attributed to the blessings of the imperial ancestors.