Inside the desolate palace, the floor was covered in dust.

The palace, having been sealed off for too long, was completely uninhabitable.

Jiang Qingwan rummaged through several moldy quilts, tore off the outer fabric, and finally managed to tidy up a place where she could lie down.

She quickly returned to the courtyard. A gentle breeze blew by, and the man, covered in blood, sat on the stone steps, barely managing to stay conscious.

Fresh blood dripped, staining the dark clothes and falling onto the stone slab, its crimson color chilling.

He tilted his head slightly, looking at something.

His cold, aloof profile held an indescribable sense of loneliness.

Jiang Qingwan quickly stepped forward, bent down, and pulled his arm.

"Go inside and lie down, I'll try to heal your wounds."

Mo Yunhan didn't move. He raised his finger and pointed to a starfruit tree in the courtyard that was growing extremely lushly.

Before the fruiting season, there are only lush green leaves, which rustle softly in the wind.

"Unripe star fruit is very sour and astringent, but it's still quite juicy. As it ripens a little, the astringency decreases, but it remains very sour. Only when it's fully ripe does the fruit become sweet and juicy. But this fruit doesn't keep well. I've tried many methods: burying it in the soil, hiding it in a jar, wrapping it in a blanket, but it still spoils very quickly. Actually, spoiled star fruit isn't that bad; at least... it's better than going hungry."

In Jiang Qingwan's vision, she seemed to see a little boy covered in blood, stubbornly standing on tiptoe, holding a branch, desperately trying to reach for starfruit to fill his stomach.

It doesn't matter whether the fruit is raw, ripe, or rotten.

Her nose stung with tears, and she stubbornly tried again to pull the person up.

But she simply didn't have the strength to support herself.

"Mo Yunhan, stand up!"

He realized he was terribly hoarse and his voice was choked with sobs as he spoke.

Mo Yunhan finally turned to look at her.

"My injury is not your fault. It is you who are branded as a wicked woman because of me. I'm sorry."

"Mo Yunhan!"

Jiang Qingwan's eyes reddened with anger. "I told you to stand up."

Seeing her like this, Mo Yunhan chuckled softly.

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

He gripped her arm tightly and, with a little effort, stood up from the stone steps.

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, and he staggered, unable to support himself, and fell heavily onto Jiang Qingwan.

Fortunately, there were stone pillars behind it.

Jiang Qingwan's back bumped against it, barely managing to withstand the force of her fall. She hurriedly looked up to check, only to be met with a pair of deep, dark eyes.

After the heavy silence comes a burning desire.

Her heart was pounding, and she hastily looked away.

She helped him walk step by step into the hall. "This time I miscalculated. I didn't expect that besides the one in the palace, there was also a Xuanmen master in the capital. But did he throw the mummified corpse in the backyard of the Prince's mansion to harm me, or to use me to harm you?"

A weak response came from above.

"Jiang Qingwan, I don't like it here."

Jiang Qingwan thought he was disgusted by the dirt.

"You have to endure it even if you don't like it. These thirty lashes were delivered without any restraint. Your wounds have reached the bone. If you don't get proper treatment, you will die."

She kept muttering to herself, her mind racing as she tried to think of anything she could use.

But then Mo Yunhan's voice came from above again.

"If you're with me, it's not too bad."

Jiang Qingwan was stunned for a moment, her small face burning red.

"I think you're so injured you're confused."

Mo Yunhan's consciousness was somewhat blurred at this moment.

My whole body aches terribly, as if I've returned to my childhood when someone grabbed me and bled me.

That boundless fear, like a dark demon, devoured him.

Yet the warmth beside me carried a vibrant life force, like a ray of light that forcefully tore through the darkness and shone in.

It gave him a strange sense of peace.

He always felt that with her around, he no longer needed to be afraid.

"Jiang Qingwan..."

"Um?"

"How's your learning going? Want to practice with me?"

"What should we learn?"

"The art of the bedroom."

"Mo Yunhan!"

The angry outbursts mixed with muffled chuckles brought a touch of vibrancy to the desolate palace.

Jiang Qingwan helped the person lie face down on the bed and carefully removed the torn pieces of clothing stuck to the wound.

There was still a little bit of the wound medicine that Qinghui gave her last time, but with so many wounds, it was simply not enough.

The pain-relieving talisman wasn't very effective either, as she was currently expending too much spiritual energy. Otherwise, she could have used the talisman to shield Mo Yunhan from the torture he had suffered earlier.

Seeing that she hadn't moved for a long time, Mo Yunhan turned his head slightly to the side.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you supposed to get it bandaged?"

Jiang Qingwan held up the medicine bottle, which was only half full.

I felt a little guilty and wronged.

"That's not enough."

Mo Yunhan, who was already barely holding on to his senses, suddenly frowned, then strained to sit up a little more and turned to look at her.

"Your talisman... can't be used anymore?"

Jiang Qingwan pursed her lips and remained silent.

Mo Yunhan's gaze fell on the still-present marks on her neck from the pinching.

Suddenly, he understood why she had shaken her head when he asked her in the imperial study if there was any other way.

She must have done something extremely dangerous to save him in that dilapidated cave on Xuanling Mountain.

He lay back down, trying to sound relaxed.

"It's alright, just bandage it up. I've been training on the battlefield for many years, this little injury won't kill me. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"Thump!"

Suddenly, there was another sound of something heavy falling to the ground in the yard.

"Someone has come in?"

Jiang Qingwan immediately got up to check, but was grabbed by Mo Yunhan.

"I'll stay with you."

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