An Youyou wasn’t the kind of person who liked to cling to anyone either, so she simply threw herself back into Fu Xingyi’s arms.

"Have you all eaten yet?" An Ning asked.

"Not yet. Father said we had to wait and eat with you." An Youyou said with some displeasure.

"I had the children eat a little dim sum to pad their stomachs." Fu Xingyi smiled, then added, "Then I kept Luming company playing chess the whole time, with Anqi and Youyou watching from the side, so it wasn’t that hard to endure."

"Let’s eat, I’m a bit hungry too." An Ning smiled back and called for the Palace Attendants.

The Palace Attendants hurried to obey.

Everyone sat down around the square table.

Dish after dish of homestyle food that An Ning had personally prepared and kept warm over the fire was brought out.

An Youyou’s eyes sparkled like stars when she saw the food.

Anqi smiled.

She’d been so worried about Youyou being in a bad mood, but now that the child saw meat, wasn’t she perfectly normal?!

"How is it?" Fu Xingyi casually put a piece of meat into An Ning’s bowl as he spoke.

An Ning froze for a moment and looked at Fu Xingyi.

"I mean, how did it go with Guard Lin?" Fu Xingyi asked.

An Youyou had been gnawing on a drumstick.

At the mention of Guard Lin’s name, she immediately turned her head.

She looked at An Ning and Fu Xingyi with big, hopeful eyes.

An Ning shot Fu Xingyi a look.

Fu Xingyi nodded and didn’t ask further.

But An Youyou wanted to say more.

An Ning directly stuffed the drumstick back into An Youyou’s mouth and said, "Eat properly."

An Youyou felt a little wronged.

But seeing that her mother seemed a bit angry, she obediently went back to gnawing on her drumstick.

The dinner table was relatively quiet.

There was even an inexplicable sense of stiffness in the air.

This should have been the moment the three children looked forward to the most.

After all, it had been a long time since they’d eaten with Father and Mother.

Yet for some reason, there wasn’t a trace of the old joy tonight.

After supper, since it was already very late, the three children left Fengqi Palace and returned to their own bedchambers.

Fu Xingyi did not leave.

The two of them sat on the soft couch while the Palace Attendants served tea.

"I didn’t see him." An Ning said to Fu Xingyi.

She was answering the question he’d asked at the dinner table.

Fu Xingyi was surprised.

"I went out of the city tonight and didn’t see Lin Zichan." An Ning murmured.

Her mood was very low, though she appeared rather indifferent.

"Hm?"

"I asked his servant. He said he’s already left." An Ning took a sip of tea.

Fu Xingyi studied the expression on An Ning’s face.

"Forget it." An Ning set down her teacup. "Since he chose to leave, that’s his decision. There’s nothing I can do to change it."

"Do you want me to help you look for him?"

"No need. Everyone has their own path." An Ning’s tone was cold.

Fu Xingyi looked at An Ning.

He looked at her indifferent expression, and in her eyes there was also a trace of sorrow, just very carefully hidden.

"I’m a bit tired." An Ning looked at Fu Xingyi. "You should head back. Don’t you have morning court tomorrow? Don’t let me delay your rest."

"You really don’t need me to stay with you a bit longer?"

"I’d like to calm down by myself."

"Alright." Fu Xingyi’s face was full of tenderness. "If you need me to keep you company, come to me anytime."

"Mm."

Fu Xingyi left, still worried.

An Ning watched Fu Xingyi’s departing back.

To be honest.

She really found it hard to believe this was all done by Fu Xingyi.

That Fu Xingyi would actually do something like this behind her back.

...

Outside Fengqi Palace.

Fu Xingyi returned to his own palace hall.

An Inner Palace Expert knelt before him.

Fu Xingyi made a gesture.

The Palace Attendants behind him all withdrew.

"Well?" Fu Xingyi asked.

He hadn’t originally planned to kill Lin Zichan.

But then word came back that An Ning might have seen Lin Zichan being taken hostage.

If that were true, then Lin Zichan had to die. He couldn’t leave any evidence for An Ning to suspect him.

With Lin Zichan dead, there would be no proof.

As long as he refused to admit it, even if An Ning suspected, it would be useless.

"Your Majesty, Lin Zichan escaped."

Fu Xingyi’s face darkened.

"Lin Zichan was gravely injured. We were about to successfully assassinate him when a group of men in black suddenly appeared and took him away. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Fu Xingyi’s eyes narrowed.

Who else would go save Lin Zichan?!

Lin Zichan was nothing but a solitary man now.

An Ning?!

But An Ning had already returned to the Imperial Palace.

And judging from how she was today, she didn’t seem to know he was hunting Lin Zichan down.

From what he knew of An Ning, she never hid her feelings. If she’d known Lin Zichan was being hunted, she would definitely have guessed it was his doing. And if she’d guessed, she would have come back at once to confront him, not be like she was now, completely in the dark.

So if it wasn’t An Ning, who else could it be?!

"Your Majesty?"

"Search for him!" Fu Xingyi ordered. "Since he’s badly injured, he must still be in the city. He can’t have gone far."

"Yes."

The Inner Palace Expert withdrew.

Fu Xingyi’s expression grew darker and darker.

Since things had already come to this... then there was no turning back!

...

General Mansion.

Lin Zichan was brought into the residence by Xie Ruotong.

At that time Lin Zichan was covered in wounds, his face ashen, on the verge of death.

Xie Ruotong hadn’t taken Lin Zichan too seriously at first, but because An Ning had specifically entrusted him to her, she’d gone all out.

Seeing Lin Zichan’s injuries now, she was worried, but not to the extent of... Song Yanqing.

She really felt that Song Yanqing looked like he was about to cry when he saw Lin Zichan like this.

"Hurry and call the house doctor, quickly!" Song Yanqing’s voice was trembling as he ordered the servants.

Xie Ruotong frowned.

She didn’t stop him, but she felt it was very strange.

Before long.

The house doctor rushed over.

"Quickly, you must save him, you must..." Song Yanqing’s voice was shaking.

The house doctor was startled by Song Yanqing and hurried over at once.

Song Yanqing stared at Lin Zichan nervously, not even blinking.

Xie Ruotong frowned but kept quiet.

The house doctor took Lin Zichan’s pulse and examined his wounds, then said, "General, Lord Song, don’t worry. Though his injuries are severe, none are fatal. As long as we bandage the wounds and he rests quietly for a time, he will recover."

"Then hurry." Song Yanqing urged again.

The house doctor didn’t dare delay and started treating Lin Zichan at once.

Song Yanqing just stared at him, eyes fixed, not blinking.

Xie Ruotong was a bit tired from going out and left halfway through; when she came back, Song Yanqing still had the same rigid expression.

This was probably worse than if his wife had died!

It took a full two hours.

The house doctor finally finished treating Lin Zichan’s wounds and wrote out a prescription.

Once everything was done.

The house doctor withdrew.

Seeing that Lin Zichan had already fallen unconscious asleep, Xie Ruotong couldn’t ask any of the questions she wanted to, so she turned to leave.

There were servants left to look after him anyway.

But then she noticed Song Yanqing still standing there motionless.

"Song Yanqing!" Xie Ruotong’s voice sank a little.

Song Yanqing seemed to finally come back to himself and quickly said, "I’ll look after him tonight."

"..." Xie Ruotong stared at Song Yanqing.

"He’s very important. When he wakes up tomorrow, I’ll explain it to you." Song Yanqing said hurriedly.

"Don’t tell me you have some... special fetish."

"...Don’t you know better than anyone whether I do or not?"

The servants couldn’t help but stifle a few laughs when they heard that.

Xie Ruotong felt a bit embarrassed.

She glared at Song Yanqing and left.

In fact, she knew that An Ning must have spoken to Song Yanqing alone.

Otherwise, Song Yanqing wouldn’t be this nervous.

After Xie Ruotong left, Song Yanqing walked to the bedside and looked at Lin Zichan’s deathly pale face.

In that moment, he couldn’t help but marvel at how on earth such earth-shattering events had come to pass?!