“Alright, alright…” Feng Wu threw her hands up in the air. “I have spiritual essence now and I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I’m sorry, I really am.”

Jun Linyuan kept glaring at Feng Wu with a ferocious look in his eyes.

Feng Wu could tell that the guy was mad, and she didn’t blame him. She would be mad, too, if she were the one who had been kept in the dark.

However, over the past few months, Feng Wu had gained some experience in placating Jun Linyuan.

She wasn’t in a rush to leave anymore, for she had to straighten things out with him. Otherwise, she would be in more trouble if he learned it from someone else.

Sitting down on the bed, Feng Wu tugged at Jun Linyuan’s sleeve and said in a pitiful voice, “I didn’t mean to, I promise. It’s just… the people who did those things to me five years ago are still watching me now. If I exposed myself too early, they would be alarmed and I could have been killed. Right?”

Jun Linyuan’s eyes flickered and he looked even angrier.

Feng Wu sighed inwardly.

So, she went on. “Look, my secret was exposed only because I was trying to save you, and now, the whole world knows about it…”

“And that’s why you decided to tell me now?”

Instead of being soothed by those words, Jun Linyuan turned into a ferocious beast with glinting eyes!

Oh, no…

“So, you’re only telling me now because the whole world knows about it.”

Oh, no…

Feng Wu wanted to slap herself. She shouldn’t have put it that way, even if she had been telling the truth.

Seeing that Jun Linyuan was going to flare up again, Feng Wu took his hands and laughed awkwardly. “O- of course not! I’ve been meaning to tell you, but never got the chance!

“By the way, when did you find out about my cultivation ability? Were you aware when we fell over that cliff?” Feng Wu asked curiously.

The crown prince stared at Feng Wu. “Keep talking.”

About what? Feng Wu’s heart was pounding. Had Jun Linyuan connected the recovery of her cultivation to the loss of his Immortal Spiritual Fruit?

Feng Wu made a sour face. He would probably kill her if she confessed that to him!

“You don’t want to tell me?” Jun Linyuan gave her a crooked smile, which made her stomach turn. “Fine.”

Should she tell him or not…

Feng Wu cringed when she saw the frightening look on Jun Linyuan’s face and she blurted out, “I have nothing else to tell you! No more secrets!”

“Little Feng Wu, you had your chance.” Jun Linyuan narrowed his eyes.

Since Feng Wu had made up her mind, she decided to stick to it. “I’m telling the truth! I have nothing else to say!”

Jun Linyuan smirked.

Leaning back, he darted a knowing look at Feng Wu, which seemed to tell her that he knew everything.

Feng Wu’s heart sank…

She opened her mouth involuntarily, but something landed on her lap before she could speak.

Feng Wu was over the moon when she saw what it was.

The broken star piece!

She looked up at Jun Linyuan and cried out with joy. “My broken star piece!”

Finally, he had given it to her!

Jun Linyuan snorted. “Get out of my sight.”

That wasn’t very polite.

Biting her lip, Feng Wu gave Jun Linyuan another look before turning to leave.

Feng Wu could feel the intense gaze on her back, which gave her the creeps.

“No one ever lies to me,” Jun Linyuan said in a bone-chillingly calm voice. “Those who have are already dead!”

Feng Wu gritted her teeth. For a moment there, she wanted to tell Jun Linyuan that she was the one who had stolen that Immortal Spiritual Fruit. But… she still wanted to live. She would keep that secret for as long as she could.

Holding the broken star piece in her hand, Feng Wu quickly walked toward the door.

She opened the door —

And was met by two royal guards outside.

They stopped Feng Wu as soon as she tried to set foot outside.

“By Her Majesty the empress dowager’s edict, Miss Feng, you’re not allowed to leave Cining Palace.”

Feng Wu said, “His Royal Highness is fine now. I need to go home.”

However, the two guards wouldn’t budge.

With no other choice, Feng Wu started to fight her way out.

But —

The two guards were way more capable than she was, and she was defeated at the first blow.

Feng Wu: !!!

“Take me to Her Majesty. I’ll talk to her myself.” Feng Wu pouted.

But the two guards only stood straight like statues and told her “no.”

“When can I leave, then?!”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask His Royal Highness, Miss Feng.”

The guards shoved Feng Wu back into the room and closed the door from outside.

Feng Wu was speechless.

Where had these two guards come from, anyway? They were as powerful as they were stubborn!

Feng Wu was almost thrown off balance. She had no choice but to go back in after she regained her balance.

She could only leave with Jun Linyuan’s permission… She wondered how everyone was doing back home or if her uncle was giving her mother a hard time again. She was so worried.

She quickly went back in.

Feng Wu slowed down the closer she got to Jun Linyuan’s bed.

She had been so determined to leave that it was embarrassing for her to ask him for a favor now. On second thought, however, Feng Wu realized that this wouldn’t be the first time she had given in to Jun Linyuan. Doing it one more time wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Hence, Feng Wu bit her lower lip, went up to the bed, and crouched down. She then looked up at Jun Linyuan.

The arrogant teenager’s face was emotionless. He looked away.

Feng Wu rose to her feet, went to the other side of the bed, crouched down, and looked up at him again.

Jun Linyuan snorted, then turned his head away again.

So, he was really mad…

Feng Wu scratched her head. What could she do to cheer him up now?

“Your Royal Highness… are you hungry? I can make you something to eat.

“Your Royal Highness… are you still not feeling well? Shall I give you a nice massage?

“Your Royal Highness… are you really mad at me?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Feng Wu gingerly studied Jun Linyuan’s face.

Jun Linyuan threw a dirty look at her. “I thought you left.”

Feng Wu pouted. “I couldn’t. So I came back.”

Jun Linyuan stared at the girl. Couldn’t she tell that he was mad?

“Jun Linyuan… can you write me an edict?” Feng Wu pleaded with her eyes.

The crown prince lay down and turned his back to Feng Wu.

Feng Wu bit her lower lip. So, talking nicely wouldn’t work on him now. What now?

Did she have to stay here in Cining Palace?

No way!

Staring at Jun Linyuan’s back, Feng Wu reached out before she realized what she was doing. She began to give Jun Linyuan a head massage, and instantly, the guy stiffened!

Feng Wu was on tenterhooks. She was convinced that Jun Linyuan would throw her hands off, but to her surprise —

The crown prince didn’t react at all.

Good. He had given his tacit consent.

Feng Wu’s face lit up. That was promising.

She then began to press various pressure points on Jun Linyuan’s head, massaging all the way from his head and back down to his waist, legs, and the bottom of his feet… all the way down his body.

Two hours had passed by the time Feng Wu was done.

Jun Linyuan had fallen asleep during the process.

It made sense. Jun Linyuan was physically worn out, and Feng Wu’s massage had cleared up his energy channels. Sleep was good for him.

Asleep, he looked less intimidating and more like what a teenager his age should.

His exquisite bone structure and deep-set features were almost too stunning to look at.

Feng Wu rose to her feet, but Jun Linyuan grabbed a corner of her clothes like a spoiled child.

“You came back voluntarily; you’re not going anywhere now!” Jun Linyuan grunted and wouldn’t let go of Feng Wu no matter what.

He had been pretending to sleep!

“Nature calls.” Feng Wu quickly came up with an excuse. However, Jun Linyuan bolted upright in bed the next moment.

“What are you doing?” Feng Wu stepped back involuntarily, but before she knew it, Jun Linyuan had picked her up in both arms.

“Y- you —” Feng Wu was nonplussed.

She had never been picked up like this, not once in both her lifetimes!

“Where are you taking me?” Feng Wu panicked a little and began to pound on his muscular shoulder.

Someone could walk through that door at any moment, and the empress dowager would be furious if she knew that her precious grandson, who had narrowly escaped death, was carrying a girl in his arms!

However, regardless of how narrowly he had escaped death, Jun Linyuan still had more than enough strength to handle a struggling Feng Wu.

Crash —

Still carrying Feng Wu, Jun Linyuan kicked the door.

It swung open.

Outside, the empress dowager and Lady Northern Feng were here to visit Jun Linyuan, and this was what they saw.

Feng Wu: !!!

Her worst fear had just come true. The empress dowager was the last person Feng Wu wanted to see her like this, and there she was… Could the day get any worse?

Feng Wu hardly ever lost her composure, but she was blushing so hard now that even her hands were pink.

This was so embarrassing…

The empress dowager stood there dazed as she watched in disbelief!

Her Baby Jun who was supposed to have zero interest in women… Not only wasn’t he interested, he would feel nauseated if women got too close…

But that same boy was now willingly carrying a girl in his arms!

Rumble…

The empress dowager felt as if thunderclaps were going off in her head. She couldn’t look away, and pointed at Feng Wu with a trembling finger.

Feng Wu had turned scarlet red in the face. Glaring at Jun Linyuan, she whispered, “Put me down! Now!”

Your grandmother looks like she’s going to have a stroke!

However, the crown prince ignored her and maintained his inflexible course. He marched on, still holding Feng Wu.

Feng Wu was flustered. The empress dowager was trying to kill her with her eyes!

Reaching out, she pinched Jun Linyuan’s waist!

But Jun Linyuan’s muscles were simply too hard, and Feng Wu felt as if she were pinching a piece of iron!

“Put me down now or I’ll never talk to you again!” Feng Wu whispered through gritted teeth!

That threat actually worked. Jun Linyuan darted an arrogant look at Feng Wu before putting her down.

She was barely back on her feet when the empress dowager, who had finally come back to herself, rushed over to Jun Linyuan’s side. “Baby Jun, how are you doing? Are you breathing alright? How do you feel? Are you in any pain?”

The old lady couldn’t stop worrying!

Her Baby Jun had just escaped death and he was covered in wounds. He had to be in so much pain! But that girl had let him carry her? Damn her!

At that thought, the empress dowager glared at Feng Wu with eyes that could spit fire! What a tart!

Feng Wu sighed inwardly.

She didn’t ask for this, okay? Jun Linyuan simply did what he wanted; she couldn’t control the guy.

Jun Linyuan glanced at her at that moment. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere?”

Feng Wu rubbed her head. He was right. She had made an excuse about going to the toilet so that she could use the chance to flee.

However, Jun Linyuan gave an order. “Granny Tao, take her to the lavatory.”

The lavatory?

Hearing that, everyone looked at Feng Wu strangely.

Feng Wu was so embarrassed she wished the ground would open up and swallow her now.

You just don’t talk about going to the toilet in front of everyone! Feng Wu screamed in her head.

Seeing the awkward and frustrated look on Feng Wu’s face, Granny Tao chuckled inwardly, but she was unperturbed and polite when she said, “Miss Feng, please come with me.”

Granny Tao was an influential figure in Cining Palace and the empress dowager’s most trusted maid. She could speak to Feng Wu like an equal.

She waited outside after showing Feng Wu to the lavatory.

Granny Tao pondered the situation in amazement while she waited. She had never seen the crown prince like this.

Everyone saw the crown prince as an indifferent figure. He never said any unnecessary words, and when he spoke, it was either an order or a verdict. He had never paid attention to petty things like this before.

But now, after he was severely injured, not only wouldn’t he allow Miss Feng Wu to leave his side, he even tried to carry her to the toilet…

Granny Tao was anything but foolish. To be able to rise to her current station was proof enough of her intelligence.

She could see things much more clearly than a lot of people.

Inside the lavatory, Feng Wu shook her head in embarrassment.

That Jun Linyuan was outrageous! How was she going to face the others now?!

But she couldn’t hide here forever. She would have to go back out eventually.

Meanwhile, the empress dowager was questioning Jun Linyuan. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you have any idea what condition you’re in? Why did you have to carry that girl? She’s not an invalid. She can walk on her own!”

In a word, the empress dowager doted on her grandson, and she had no intention to hide her bias.

Standing there, Jun Linyuan reminded one of a spectacular sculpture with his exquisite features and deep-set eyes. His beauty was breathtaking.

He snorted arrogantly.

The empress dowager poked his forehead with a finger affectionately. “If you really like that girl, make her a maid in your bedchamber. You don’t have to do all that.”

Lady Northern Feng stared at the old lady. “Your Majesty…”

The crown prince was a formidable figure alright, but Feng Wu wasn’t just some random common girl. She had once been a genius, and she had just gotten that ability back! What the empress dowager was saying was pure humiliation!

The empress dowager realized how insulting her suggestion was, but she went on stubbornly. “Fine, not a maid in the bedchamber. An official concubine, then.”

Lady Northern Feng frowned. Feng Wu wouldn’t say yes to that either.

Official or not, a concubine was a concubine; it was just a way to address the concubine with the highest status alongside the crown prince’s official wife. Feng Wu was too proud a girl to ever agree to that.

If Feng Wu was to be the official concubine, who did the empress dowager have in mind as Jun Linyuan’s wife?

Jun Linyuan narrowed his eyes. Raising his hand, he saw Feng Wu at the door.

She was sneering at him.

Jun Linyuan’s pupils contracted when he saw that smirk!

He cut the empress dowager off and said impatiently, “I’m going back to my residence.”

The empress dowager panicked!

“What’s wrong with staying in Cining Palace?”

“Too noisy.”

“How about your bedchamber in the palace…”

“I don’t like it.”

“But what if you fall ill again when I’m not around…”

Jun Linyuan asked, “Are you a doctor?”

That successfully shut the old lady up.

Lady Northern Feng sighed inwardly. Everyone would always be trounced by someone else. Little Feng Wu was Jun Linyuan’s weak point in the same way that Jun Linyuan was the empress dowager’s weak point and the empress dowager Emperor Wu’s weak point… Based on that logic, had Feng Wu become the most authoritative figure in the empire?!

No matter how hard the empress dowager tried, Jun Linyuan wouldn’t stay.

It was just what Jun Linyuan was like. He always got what he wanted and he wouldn’t be persuaded by anyone.

The empress dowager knew Jun Linyuan too well. In the end, she had to let Granny Tao pack Jun Linyuan’s things and see Jun Linyuan off at the gate.

She flared up again when she saw Jun Linyuan dragging Feng Wu along behind him.

Glaring at the girl, the empress dowager wanted to scold her, but she had to suppress her anger when she realized that the crown prince would need Feng Wu if he fell ill again.

“You, come over here!”

The empress dowager wanted to tell Feng Wu off in private.

However, Jun Linyuan wouldn’t let go of Feng Wu. He only glanced at the empress dowager and continued making his way toward the gate.

The empress dowager might be the most arrogant lady in the empire, but there was nothing she could do when Jun Linyuan decided to leave. She turned to Granny Tao in a haste. “Quickly, get the carriage ready! And fetch him his thick cape! And —”

She even wanted to go out to see him off herself, but Granny Tao stopped her.

“It’s chilly outside, and Your Majesty will need to do a lot in preparation before you go out, which will take too long. You can always visit His Royal Highness after he settles down at home. How about tomorrow?”

Granny Tao’s words carried weight, and the empress dowager was persuaded.

They stood in the long corridor as the carriage drove away… Then, the empress dowager saw the crown prince drag Feng Wu into the carriage with him!

“That’s the royal carriage!” The empress dowager lost her temper again.

Her grip on Granny Tao was so tight that her fingernails almost dug into the granny’s flesh.

The empress dowager bellowed, “What kind of girl is she?! How can she be so shameless?! She crawled into the crown prince’s carriage in broad daylight!”

Granny Tao sighed in resignation. She couldn’t help but vent her sarcasm inwardly. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that Miss Feng Wu had been forced, and the crown prince was the one forcing her.

However, she couldn’t say that to the empress dowager, for it would certainly set the old woman off.

Granny Tao smiled bitterly. “I think His Royal Highness was only trying to use her as a blanket to shield him from the draught.”

The empress dowager asked, “Is that so?”

Granny Tao said, “It’s very likely.”

The empress dowager grunted. “Hmph! That girl will bring us nothing but trouble!”

Granny Tao and Lady Northern Feng exchanged looks, and both saw resignation on each other’s faces.

Xiao Wu was such a wonderful girl. Why wouldn’t the empress dowager accept her?

The crown prince’s residence.

Jun Linyuan still wouldn’t let go of Feng Wu’s hand after they got out of the carriage. His grip was so tight that Feng Wu couldn’t break free from it.

She stared at Jun Linyuan in resignation.

Jun Linyuan said in a righteous tone, “You came back with me willingly!”

Feng Wu gritted her teeth!

Did she have a choice? His guards wouldn’t allow her to go anywhere else!

Vexed, Feng Wu bit Jun Linyuan’s hand.

However —

His hand might seem fair and smooth, but Feng Wu almost broke her teeth on it.

Feng Wu glared at Jun Linyuan!

The arrogant crown prince’s face softened, and he actually smiled.

“Are you a dog?”

Feng Wu wanted to stomp on Jun Linyuan’s foot, but —