You Yuji lifted her eyes and calmly looked at the Crown Prince. Her face showed little expression, which appeared as a composed and unflustered calmness to the Crown Prince. He nodded with satisfaction and praised, “Very good, very good, very good!”
He repeated his praise three times.
Zhenxu, standing pale-faced to the side, was extremely frightened. Hearing the Crown Prince’s praise only added to her confusion, not understanding the Crown Prince’s intentions.
You Yuji looked at the Crown Prince, who was close at hand, and asked, “Why me?”
“That’s something you don’t need to know,” the Crown Prince replied, stepping forward to pull a chair and sit down opposite You Yuji.
He looked at You Yuji and smiled, “I heard that my Yuji hasn’t had much of an appetite these past few days and has eaten very little. Is it because the cooks in the Eastern Palace aren’t to your liking?”
The Crown Prince paused, not waiting for You Yuji to respond, and quickly continued, “That can’t be right. Last time you were here, you said the cooks in the Eastern Palace were quite good.”
You Yuji remained silent for a while. She really disliked the Crown Prince staring at her from so close, so she had to speak, hoping to get rid of him sooner.
“I’ll have Baifu go out and buy some food tomorrow. Your Highness should allow that, right?”
“Of course,” the Crown Prince nodded with a smile. “Whatever you want, I can provide for you.”
As long as… you can protect me.
Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, You Yuji felt a stir in her heart. She scrutinized the Crown Prince’s eyes and couldn’t help but say, “I want to go home.”
The smile on the Crown Prince’s face faded. He withdrew his admiring gaze from You Yuji. He looked down, gently turning the jade thumb ring on his finger. After a long silence, he spoke again, “I just praised you, Yuji. How can you disappoint me so quickly? You are not my niece-in-law; you haven’t married into the Jinnan Prince’s Residence. That is not your home.”
He looked up again, his gaze at You Yuji carrying a hint of warning.
“I mean the You family.”
The Crown Prince was taken aback.
“Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. I want to go home and be with my mother,” You Yuji said softly.
“I see.” The Crown Prince nodded. “Filial piety is a good quality.”
He smiled again, increasingly satisfied with You Yuji, even thinking the astrologer’s words made sense, as he saw more and more of the Phoenix demeanor in her!
You Yuji observed his expression but gradually felt a creeping sense of horror. The powerlessness she felt constantly reminded her of her current predicament. She had to ask again, “So… can I go home?”
“Not for now,” the Crown Prince refused without hesitation.
You Yuji wasn’t too surprised. She lowered her eyes, watching the Crown Prince stand up. His tall figure cast a shadow over her.
The round bronze mirror on the dressing table reflected You Yuji’s slender, elegant neck. The Crown Prince squinted and looked at her a bit longer. He said, “Rest well and take care of yourself. I don’t want a pale and haggard Yuji. I know being confined here is inconvenient for you, but it won’t be long before you are sent out of the Eastern Palace.”
—He hadn’t yet decided whether to marry her into the Bai family or the Tu family.
When the Crown Prince was leaving, he couldn’t help but glance back at You Yuji. Her soft yet erect posture stirred his imagination. Had he been younger, he would have already embraced her for a moment of indulgence. However, being past forty, his desires for You Yuji were not merely driven by her beauty, and he wasn’t in a hurry to possess her.
This woman, blessed with a phoenix destiny, could help him secure his position as the Crown Prince and eventually ascend to the throne. How could he possibly force himself on the future Empress?
It was better to maintain some decorum.
The Crown Prince gave himself a justifiable reason for his restraint, but as soon as he left this secluded courtyard, he immediately instructed his trusted eunuch to fetch some medicine—one that older men often used.
With one hand behind his back, the Crown Prince walked forward with heavy steps. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a brooding expression. Initially, it was purely because of her phoenix destiny that he had brought You Yuji here. However, her allure was too great. Beyond her destined fate, from a man’s perspective of appreciating a woman, he couldn’t help but develop some instinctive feelings of desire.
Reflecting on this, he couldn’t help but regret not finding her sooner, before she got married. A slight unease crept into his heart. He was no longer in his prime; would she compare him to her former husband in bed? The Crown Prince couldn’t help but picture Chen Anzhi’s elegant face.
The Crown Prince frowned.
“It would be better if he died on the battlefield!”
No matter, he would make sure his Yuji understood the benefits of an older man.
The Crown Prince, confident in his plans, replaced his brooding expression with a radiant smile.
After the Crown Prince left, You Yuji’s body went limp. She had to use her elbows on the dressing table to support her weakening body.
The poison was taking effect; she could hardly sit upright. However, with the Crown Prince present, she didn’t want to show any weakness and had held on as much as she could.
“Madam…” Zhenxu hesitated to speak. It wasn’t that she thought what she wanted to say was inappropriate, but after calling out softly, her mind went blank, and she didn’t know what to say.
“It’s okay, don’t worry,” You Yuji said, her voice soft and weak.
Zhenxu, also feeling weak, sat on a nearby stool. After a long while, she finally mustered the strength to nod. The two didn’t say much. The poison made them easily fatigued, and soon they were lying on the bed to rest. Even the simple act of undoing their belts made their arms ache, so they didn’t change clothes and lay down in their daytime attire.
The poison made them quickly fall asleep, but the weight of their worries caused them to wake up intermittently. Throughout the long night, they alternated between sleep and wakefulness, neither of them getting a good rest. The next morning, they both felt even worse.
The next day was the Lantern Festival, and there was a grand celebration in the palace.
Early in the morning, palace eunuchs and maids were busy preparing for the festival. You Yuji’s small courtyard, located deep within the Eastern Palace, was a rather inconspicuous place. On ordinary days, there were already few maids left to serve You Yuji, and today, even those few were called away for various tasks, leaving only Baifu.
“Madam, the items you requested yesterday have already been bought and will be ready for your lunch,” Baifu said as she placed the last dish on the table. You Yuji’s breakfast was thus complete.
You Yuji sat at the table, lacking energy, staring at the few dishes in a daze. She suspected that the poison in her body not only weakened her limbs but also made her thoughts increasingly sluggish.
Baifu placed a small bowl of tangyuan respectfully in front of You Yuji.
You Yuji lowered her eyes, gazing at the small bowl of tangyuan in front of her, and suddenly thought of Si Que.
Today was the Lantern Festival. Last year, on this day, she had accidentally discovered a small, inconspicuous roadside stall that sold particularly delicious tangyuan—soft, sweet, but not overly cloying. She had originally planned to take Si Que to find that stall again today. If it was still there, it would have been perfect.
The tangyuan from that stall was very cheap, and one large bowl was enough for both her and Si Que to share…
She wondered where he was now and whether he was eating tangyuan.
She had been kidnapped. Would he think of her? Or would he simply smile indifferently, leaning lazily by the window and absentmindedly playing with his cat?
You Yuji’s eyes suddenly turned red.
She quickly realized and pressed her lips together hard, swallowing her emotions, then forced a gentle smile.
She picked up the spoon on the table with her weak hand, dipped it into the bowl, and scooped up a tangyuan, trembling as she brought it to her mouth.
The tangyuan was sticky and not at all tasty; it even made her choke a bit.
It made her throat uncomfortable.
She forced herself to swallow the tangyuan and then, with a normal expression, picked up the spoon again to scoop another tangyuan. She looked at her trembling hand, feeling irritated, and quickly put the tangyuan into her mouth.
Zhenxu watched You Yuji worriedly, placing her hand on the table to struggle to her feet and head to the washroom. The poison had left them both so weak that every task took a lot of time. This morning, after You Yuji had finished washing up, breakfast had been brought in. Thus, Zhenxu finally had time to go to the washroom herself.
When You Yuji tried to eat the third tangyuan, her trembling hand couldn’t hold the spoon properly, and it tilted to the side, causing the round tangyuan to roll off and land on her leg.
Seeing this, Baifu immediately took out a handkerchief from her waist and hurried over to help You Yuji clean it up.
This sense of helplessness made You Yuji feel extremely depressed. She moved to the side, avoiding Baifu’s hand, and said softly, “No need to wipe it. I’ll go change my clothes.”
“Yes,” Baifu replied. “This morning, some pears were also cooked. I’ll go to the kitchen to check if they’re ready.”
You Yuji didn’t respond. She supported herself on the table, stood up, and dragged her weak body slowly toward the inner room.
The courtyard had prepared a few sets of clothes for the master and servant to change into. Given their current situation, everything was kept simple. The clothes were not put away but left on the table.
You Yuji walked to the dressing table and immediately sat down to rest. Once her fatigue subsided a bit, she began to untie the belt at her waist.
She used to be very particular about dressing, always tying her belt neatly and as beautifully as possible.
Now, the belt at her waist was tied simply, and she found it hard to untie even that. Removing her outer garment took a lot of effort. Seeing that the inner garment was also stained with tangyuan, she had to take that off too.
Just as You Yuji picked up a new inner garment and was about to put it on, she heard the sound of the door opening and footsteps striding into the room.
A palace maid would not enter without announcing herself, and those footsteps did not belong to a maid.
You Yuji’s hand holding the inner garment trembled. She hurriedly spread it out and draped it over her shoulders. The left side of the garment fell over her shoulder, but due to her lack of strength, the right side barely touched her shoulder before slipping off. You Yuji quickly reached behind her to grab it but failed to catch the right side, causing the left side to also slip off her shoulder and fall to the ground.
She covered her ears and refused to look back, hastily picking up the inner garment that had fallen to the ground and draping it over herself again. One arm slipped into the sleeve, but the other arm missed the sleeve opening repeatedly.
The exposed skin felt a chill, as if pricked by countless tiny needles.
She finally managed to get her arm into the sleeve and immediately began to tie the belt at her waist in a panic. But her trembling hands failed to grasp the thin belt after three attempts.
The person who had entered was now standing behind You Yuji.
The next moment, the person behind her leaned in completely, a hand reaching around You Yuji’s slender waist, grasping the belt that had been lying quietly on her lap, which she had been unable to pick up.
The familiar scent enveloped her, causing You Yuji’s entire body to stiffen and forget to react.
After a long while, You Yuji lowered her eyes, silently staring at the cold, pale fingers tying the belt at her waist.
Her eyes reddened, and suddenly, tears fell heavily onto Si Que’s hand.
Si Que’s hands paused for a moment as he tied You Yuji’s belt.
