Physician Li understood and silently left the room.
The Fourth Prince sat down beside Chu Xiyin's bed and gently brushed away the stray hairs that had fallen across her face.
Looking at the pale, bloodless woman before him, the Fourth Prince's melancholy eyes were instantly filled with deep guilt.
What kind of woman is she? So frail and thin, yet she risked everything to shield him from that deadly poisoned dart. What kind of woman is she? She made his cold heart tremble and become entangled in her affections in such a short time.
The Fourth Prince held her hand tightly; her hand was icy cold.
Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, Chu Xiyin was shivering uncontrollably under the covers.
"Are you cold?" The Fourth Prince could feel her hands trembling.
Chu Xiyin curled up, trembling uncontrollably, but was unable to respond to the Fourth Prince's question.
The Fourth Prince took a quilt from the cabinet and covered Chu Xiyin with it, but she still kept trembling, even more so than before.
After hesitating for a moment, the Fourth Prince slowly took off his official robes as if he had made up his mind, and gently slipped into the quilt.
He was a vigorous young man, his body warm and hot, which should be able to warm her up.
The warmth emanating from the Fourth Prince made Chu Xiyin's blood surge again. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, seeking the warmth of his body.
Her body pressed tightly against his chest; he could feel her soft breasts rising and falling rhythmically, and he could feel her gentle breath spreading across his neck…
He quietly felt her breath, but tried his best to suppress himself. He simply gently rested his head on hers, inhaling the fragrance of her hair, not daring to make any rash moves.
Chu Xiyin nestled obediently in the Fourth Prince's arms, her body gradually warming up, and she quietly fell asleep in his embrace.
When the Fourth Prince heard Chu Xiyin's sweet laughter, he thought she had woken up. He was embarrassed and didn't know what to do when he realized that the person in his arms was dreaming.
He affectionately ruffled her hair, a feeling of unprecedented happiness welling up inside him.
Yi Chuan's mother, Zheng, was once the most sought-after courtesan in the Ziling Dynasty, but unexpectedly, she fell in love with Yi Chuan's father, Yi Che. Yi Che was a dissolute man who soon found a new lover after marrying Zheng. Helpless, Zheng spent her days in tears, making her son Yi Chuan her only source of emotional support.
Witnessing his mother's suffering, Yi Chuan vowed from a young age to serve his mother, Zheng Shi, for the rest of his life and never to fall in love with any other woman.
But humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? How can a vow made in childhood remain unchanged and without regret for a lifetime?
Yi Chuan's psychological defenses, which he had maintained for twenty years, crumbled overnight after Chu Xi Yin appeared. His promise to his mother could never be fulfilled.
The Fourth Prince lowered his head and planted a deep kiss on Chu Xiyin's forehead. He secretly resolved that he would protect her for the rest of his life, even if it meant giving his life for her.
As dusk fell, the Fourth Prince unknowingly drifted off to sleep beside Chu Xiyin.
"No!" Chu Xiyin jolted awake, large beads of sweat forming on her forehead from the nightmare. The wound on her back ached terribly from the force of the tearing.
The Fourth Prince was startled awake by Chu Xiyin.
"What's wrong?"
Upon hearing the man's voice, Chu Xiyin instinctively shrank back in fright.
"Don't move around, or the wound will reopen," the Fourth Prince said worriedly to Chu Xiyin.
"Sichuan?"
The Fourth Prince sat up awkwardly. "You were shivering from the cold just now, so...so..." he explained hastily.
"I just dreamt that someone wanted to kill you," Chu Xiyin said, her long eyelashes slightly damp.
"Silly girl!" The Fourth Prince tenderly wiped away her tears and couldn't help but pull her into his arms.
"pain……"
It seems that the Fourth Prince accidentally touched the wound on Chu Xiyin's back, and she felt a burning pain on her back.
"I'm sorry, I forgot about your injury..." The Fourth Prince hurriedly released Chu Xiyin.
"It's okay!" Chu Xiyin bit her lip, enduring the pain in her back.
When the body aches, the heart doesn't. Compared to the pain of Yichuan leaving, this pain is nothing!
"It's getting late, you should get some rest. I'm going back to my room." The Fourth Prince got up and got out of bed.
"By the way, are you hungry? I'll have the servants prepare some food and bring it over," the Fourth Prince asked belatedly.
Chu Xiyin shook her head. She had no taste in her mouth and couldn't eat anything.
“Chunhua…” Chu Xiyin was worried that Chunhua would be punished because of her.
"Her?" The Fourth Prince asked Chu Xiyin in surprise.
"I want to see Chunhua." Chu Xiyin guessed that Chunhua had come up with some kind of trick to fool her again, and was afraid that she would cause trouble for Chunhua, so she just made up an excuse.
"I understand!" The Fourth Prince finished dressing and walked out the door.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Chunhua standing outside, trembling with fear and tears in her eyes.
This girl, could she have been waiting outside the door without eating anything? That's quite rare!
Upon seeing the Fourth Prince, Chunhua knelt on the ground with a thud, crying, "Chunhua deserves to die, Chunhua deserves to die! Chunhua failed to take good care of Miss Xiyin! Chunhua deserves to die! Chunhua deserves to die!"
"Alright! Death is unnecessary. I hereby punish you to take care of Miss Xiyin without leaving her side for the rest of the time until she recovers! There must be no mistakes during this period, understand?" The Fourth Prince glanced into the room.
Chunhua nodded, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Chu Xiyin in the room.
"Get up! Have the kitchen prepare some food for Miss later." After instructing Chunhua, the Fourth Prince turned and went back to his room.
"Chunhua?" Upon seeing Chunhua, Chu Xiyin tried her best to move her body towards the edge of the bed.
"Don't move!" Chunhua ran to Chu Xiyin's bedside and pressed her body down.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this now!" Chunhua threw herself into Chu Xiyin's arms and burst into tears.
"Are you trying to crush me to death? It hurts so much..." Chu Xiyin cried out. How could her slender body withstand such torment?
"By the way, what would you like to eat? I'll have Xiao Si make it for you." Chunhua slowly moved her heavy body aside, wiped away her tears, and said to Chu Xiyin.
"I don't want to eat anything, I just want to rest. You should go back to sleep early too! I'm relieved to see you're alright!" Chu Xiyin said with a smile.
"His Highness just said that I should take care of you every step of the way. I'll sleep here tonight," Chunhua said to Chu Xiyin, pointing to the ground.
"That won't do! The floor is too cold! Why don't you sleep on the bed?"
"You are the master, and I am the servant. This is unreasonable!"
"We are friends."
"It still doesn't work. Don't worry, I'm not afraid of the cold! I'll go back to my room to get a blanket and come right away!" With that, Chunhua ran out.
Chu Xiyin shook her head helplessly. The concept of hierarchy in ancient times was really serious!
A short while later, Chunhua came running back, panting, carrying the quilt.
After spreading out the blankets, Chunhua lay down heavily on the floor and said to Chu Xiyin, "Call me if you need anything!"
Before Chu Xiyin could respond, she heard a thunderous snoring and a series of teeth grinding sounds.
"Delicious, delicious! Xiyin's food is so good. Can you make it for Chunhua every day from now on?" Chunhua said in her sleep, chewing with great enthusiasm.
Chu Xiyin's heart was filled with a strange joy.
As the night deepened, the wound on her back no longer hurt so much, and similarly, the wound in her heart seemed to be gradually healing.
Chu Xiyin drifted off to sleep, vaguely hearing a man calling her name.
"Xiyin, Xiyin... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Again and again, each sound heavy and painful...
A chilling sensation ran through her left hand as a drop of icy liquid fell onto the back of her hand, and her heart ached once more.
She knew that the ghostly man was beside her, but she was so tired that she had no strength to open her eyes.
Is he heartbroken for her? Is he, like the Fourth Prince, deeply remorseful for not protecting her?
Don't cry, don't cry...
Xiyin isn't in pain anymore; she'll be fine after a nap, and she'll feel better when she wakes up...
Xiyin is very happy now. In that world, she couldn't get Yichuan's love or true friendship.
She had gained everything in this world, and even if she were to die at this moment, she would have no regrets...
Chapter 20: The Pursuit of the Assassin (Part 1)
"Your Highness, I deserve to die!" A young man in purple robes knelt before the Fourth Prince with a furrowed brow.
The Fourth Prince sighed softly, turned around, and faced away from the purple-clad youth.
“Yesterday, I chased the man in black to the vicinity of the Purple Dragon Inn, but he suddenly disappeared. So, I led my men to search the inn and the nearby houses carefully, but we did not find any trace of him,” the purple-clad youth said with a frown.
The Fourth Prince turned around, his eyes instantly filled with murderous intent.
Since following his father to the battlefield, he had never valued his own life. Battles on the battlefield and assassinations in the shadows were nothing new to him. He had long since disregarded his own life and death.
Born into this corrupt and chaotic world, raised in this indifferent royal family, his heart had long since turned cold and dead.
But now, his cold heart has been awakened by her, and he is no longer a person without any ties.
"Look at this!" The Fourth Prince threw something wrapped in blue cloth onto the table.
The boy in purple stepped forward and carefully opened the blue cloth package.
This... isn't this... the kind of throwing darts used by assassins?
"Look at the words on it!"
The boy in purple took the dart to his side and examined it carefully.
"Can you understand it?"
The purple-clad youth nodded and said, "The writing on this dart is from the Kingdom of Twilight. However..."
"But how?"
"But I don't understand why Mu Fei's name is engraved on it?"
The Fourth Prince smiled approvingly; he had indeed made the right choice.
The Twilight Kingdom was originally a small country surrounding the Ziling Dynasty, existing long before the establishment of the Ziling Dynasty.