Fu Quan knew he had messed up the Crown Prince’s plans, so he came in with an awkward smile, daring not to get too close to the dragon bed.

He stood in the middle of the room, bowing and greeting respectfully.

“You better have a good reason for this,” the Crown Prince said coldly.

“Indeed, I have a matter to report,” Fu Quan, seeing that the Crown Prince’s anger wasn’t too intense, moved a little closer and said in detail, “The assassin has agreed to confess.”

“So quickly? He seemed like a tough nut to crack, but now he’s willing to talk?”

Fu Quan felt uneasy.

The assassin was indeed tough, and it had taken the whole night of interrogation with An Yue to finally break him.

It wasn’t until morning that they managed to extract a confession by dragging out a woman from a sewing shop.

“Yes, but he wants to speak to you personally.”

“Tell him he’s the one begging me, not the other way around. He can talk when he realizes that. I’ve been waiting for four years; I’m not in a hurry to wait a few more days. I’m determined to root them out completely.”

Fu Quan was surprised but quickly nodded, “I’ll have him understand. I’ll help you get dressed now.”

“No need. Just help me sit up.”

“Understood.” Fu Quan helped the Crown Prince sit up and said, “Your Highness, you were burning up so much last night; I was really worried. Miss Rong Rong had a solution, and now you feel almost as good as before you fell ill.”

After sweating all night, the Crown Prince did feel lighter, though still a bit weak.

“Once she has finished her breakfast, arrange for a carriage to take her back. I’m worried about Yuan Bao being alone last night.”

“Understood. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”

…

Rong Rong ran to the kitchen, feeling less anxious.

It was odd; even though they had been more intimate before, she was now nervous just from a glance.

Her face turned red, and she took a while to calm down.

“Miss, Master Fu Quan said that after you have breakfast, you should be sent back to the East Palace.”

“Thank you.” With the arrival of someone in the kitchen, Rong Rong stopped overthinking and began preparing breakfast.

The kitchen didn’t have many ingredients, so she made some simple home-cooked dishes: white porridge with bamboo shoots and lean meat, stir-fried cabbage with scallions, shrimp tofu, and sweet and sour ribs.

Since he was the only one eating, three dishes and some meat buns bought by the guards from outside were enough.

When Rong Rong brought the food in, he had already finished changing and washing with Fu Quan’s assistance and was sitting properly, waiting to eat.

Rong Rong approached, bowed to him, and set the three dishes, porridge, and buns in front of him.

With his hands injured, he couldn’t move, so Fu Quan quickly said, “I’ll go arrange a carriage for Miss Rong Rong,” and left in a hurry.

Rong Rong had no choice but to step forward and feed him.

Today’s meal was completely different from last night’s.

Last night, he was so feverish and dazed that Rongrong had fed him and he had just opened his mouth to eat, with no exchange of glances between them.

However, it was entirely different now.

Though his mouth kept eating bite after bite, his deep, dark eyes remained fixed on her.

Because they were so close, his gaze felt like countless fine needles, surrounding Rongrong from all directions.

Rongrong had torn apart half a bun to feed him, but she could no longer continue.

“Your Highness, about this morning, I unintentionally offended you in my dream. Please forgive me.”

“This morning? What happened?” he said nonchalantly.

Rongrong knew he was pretending not to know and was irritated with him, but she couldn’t bring herself to confront him.

If he chose not to talk about it, then fine—she would just pretend it never happened.

Seeing Rongrong silent, he continued leisurely, “This morning… When I opened my eyes, someone hugged my face and kissed me twice.”

Hugged his face… and kissed him twice…

This, this, this was exactly what she dreamt of!

But if it was a dream, how could he know it was two kisses?

This could only mean it was not a dream but real.

She had actually taken the initiative to hug his face and kiss him?

No, this was unacceptable!

Overcome with embarrassment and anger, Rongrong could no longer stay in front of him.

She abandoned the half-eaten bun and ran out.

The Crown Prince frowned.

She ran off before finishing her meal?

---

After escaping the main courtyard, Rongrong refused to listen to anything Fuquan said and demanded to be immediately sent back to the Eastern Palace.

Fuquan knew that she was not someone to be trifled with right now and quickly arranged for her to be sent back.

Even after getting into the carriage, Rongrong felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

Before this morning, her relationship with him had been strictly defined by the roles of servant and master, even if they were honest with each other, they had maintained that boundary.

But this morning’s kisses had thoroughly muddied their relationship.

Rongrong was both embarrassed and angry—embarrassed by his unabashed gaze and angry that she herself had muddled their relationship.

She silently hoped that he would not make a big deal out of it, though she knew that was unlikely.

How long had Yuanbao’s mother been gone?

He had been waiting for an opportunity, and now that he had one, could he let it slip away?

Nervously, Rongrong returned to the East Palace.

Before she even reached Yuhua Palace, Wang An greeted her as if she were his own daughter.

“Miss, you’re finally back!”

Seeing him like this, Rong Rong pushed her worries aside for the moment and asked, “Did something happen to Yuan Bao?”

“There’s no problem, but Prince Yuan Bao woke up over ten times last night, so it’s almost like he didn’t sleep at all.”

Hearing this from Wang An, Rong Rong felt both heartbroken and regretful.

If she had known, she would have stayed at the manor and rushed back to be with Yuan Bao, so nothing would have happened.

“By the way, Miss, Prince Yuan Bao doesn’t know that the Crown Prince was seriously injured. The Crown Prince has ordered that you must not let this slip.”

“I understand.” If she felt sorry for him, Yuan Bao would be even more distressed.

Rong Rong hurried back to Yuhua Palace. Inside the inner chamber, Yuan Bao was wrapped in a blanket and still had his eyes closed.

He seemed relatively calm at the moment.

However, as Rong Rong approached, Yuan Bao suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing her, he sat up excitedly and exclaimed, “Auntie, you’re back?”

The child truly had light sleep without the Crown Prince around.

Rong Rong’s heart softened, and she quickly took off her cloak and helped Yuan Bao lie back down.

“Wang Gonggong said you didn’t sleep well last night. How about I stay with you and you sleep a bit more?”

“Mm.” Yuan Bao nodded, pulling Rong Rong down beside him, his big eyes sparkling. “Auntie, Wang An said you slept with Father last night. Is that true?”

How could Wang An say such things to a child?

Rong Rong’s face turned red with embarrassment. “Did Wang Gonggong say that?”

“Your Highness misunderstood. I didn’t say that,” Wang An, who had come in with water, heard their conversation and smiled, “I said Miss Rong Rong was with the Crown Prince, but not… not sleeping together.”

The word “sleep”…

Yuan Bao looked at Rong Rong with innocent eyes. “But Auntie, didn’t you and Father sleep together last night?”

“Of course we need to sleep.”

“Then I wasn’t wrong!” Yuan Bao said proudly.

That understanding was indeed correct, and moreover, she and the Crown Prince… technically did sleep together…

Seeing Rong Rong and Yuan Bao lying down, Wang An placed the water basin down and left the room.

“Auntie, why aren’t you speaking?” Yuan Bao asked.

“Hmm, Yuan Bao, since you didn’t sleep well last night, let’s just get some more rest,” Rong Rong said, not daring to continue the conversation with the clever child.

She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Yuanbao looked at Rongrong, who was pretending to be asleep with her eyes closed, and smiled slightly, but he didn’t follow Rongrong’s example and keep her eyes closed.

“Auntie, did Father get injured?”

Rongrong’s heart sank.

Hadn’t Wang An said there was a strict order not to tell Yuanbao anything?

“No, Your Highness is not injured.”

“They’re lying to me, and you’re lying to me too.” Yuanbao pouted, “Actually, you don’t need to lie to me. When Dark Moon was carrying me out of the carriage, I saw Father bleeding.”

“That… that’s not His Highness’s blood,” Rongrong said, sticking to the lie.

“But I saw it.”

“It was the assassin’s blood. His Highness injured him, so some blood got on him.”

“Really?”

Seeing that Yuanbao was wavering, Rongrong seized the opportunity, “Of course, His Highness is so skilled. What assassin could hurt him?”

“Mm—” Yuanbao hummed for a long time before finally believing, “Auntie, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

“Of course not.” Rongrong, who wasn’t good at lying, pulled half the blanket over her face, afraid Yuanbao would notice something.

Yuanbao thought for a while and raised another question, “But if Father wasn’t injured, why isn’t he coming back to the East Palace?”

“Because His Highness needs to interrogate the assassin personally. It’s a serious matter, and it’s easier to keep it discreet outside the Eastern Palace.”

After Rongrong finished speaking, Yuanbao fell silent.

“Yuanbao, what’s wrong? Are you not happy?”

“Mm, not happy.”

“Why?”

Yuanbao said firmly, “Because Father likes Auntie and doesn’t like Yuanbao anymore.”

“Ah?” Rongrong was puzzled by Yuanbao’s conclusion and hurriedly pulled Yuanbao into her embrace, “Who said that? His Highness cares the most about our Yuanbao.”

“But Father took Auntie to interrogate the assassin.”

Rongrong couldn’t help but chuckle.

Could a child really think like this? “It wasn’t His Highness who took me; I met your Uncle Yuanchu, on the street. He took me. His Highness didn’t even know I was going!”

“Oh, I see!” Yuanbao finally smiled.

Seeing him smile, Rongrong felt happy as well.

For some reason, being with Yuanbao always made her feel warm and happy.

She enjoyed listening to Yuanbao talk and liked being by his side.

Perhaps, having taken her own child away, heaven had sent her to Yuanbao, a child without a mother, to provide warmth for each other.

At this thought, Rongrong suddenly felt a pang in her heart.

“Yuanbao, do you… do you know your mother’s name?”