Lu Xiaoyun's lips twitched, and she waved her hand: "Get up, all of you. That's not just a few rabble, but thousands of bandits."

Jiang Chuan said cautiously, "There are also people from the Five Cities Garrison. Liang Zhiyun, Liu Meng, and Guo Sheng actually tried to kill the Prince while we were dealing with the bandits."

Zhu Yu's expression changed, and he clenched his fists tightly: "Liang Zhiyun dares to kill you, he has some nerve!"

Jiang Chuan chuckled: "Don't worry, Your Highness, Wu Chuan killed them all and framed the bandits."

Zhu Yu snorted coldly: "They got off too easy."

In my opinion, Liang Zhiyun's legs should be broken, and he should be thrown into the Dali Temple or the Ministry of Justice. If he dares to kill Lu Xiaoyun, his entire family should be executed!

Lu Xiaoyun straightened her robes and said, "Go back and rest. I'm going to the palace for a bit and will be right back."

Zhu Yu leaned forward and grabbed Lu Xiaoyun's hand: "I'll go with you."

Lu Xiaoyun's brow twitched as she looked at Zhu Yu being carried away.

Jiang Chuan chuckled: "Your Highness, the Prince is going to the palace to report important matters to the Emperor. It's late at night, so it's not appropriate for him to bring his family along, is it?"

Zhu Yu glared at him, annoyed.

Jiang Chuan shrank back and immediately led everyone in the courtyard out.

But Zhu Yu was still happy to hear the word "family".

Although Jiang Chuan's words sounded awkward, he understood that he was indeed not suitable to enter the palace in his current state. He awkwardly let go of her and said softly, "Then come back soon, I'll wait for you."

"No need. I still need to go to Xizi Forest after the Emperor issues the decree, so I'm afraid I won't be able to rest tonight. You should rest and recover from your injuries as soon as possible."

She wanted to say that if we healed our injuries as soon as possible, we could get a divorce sooner.

Zhu Yu looked at Lu Xiaoyun, a small smile curving up at the corner of his mouth, which then grew wider and wider.

He thought that Lu Xiaoyun still cared about him and hoped that he would recover soon. He silently watched as Lu Xiaoyun led Wu Chuan and Xi Yi out of the mansion.

Li Feng carefully stayed by his side until the "Prince An" had been out of sight for quite some time before she said, "Miss, shall we return to Feixue Garden?"

Zhu Yu responded with a hoarse "hmm".

As they headed towards Feixue Garden, the road was deserted. Lu Xiaoyun wasn't in the mansion, and Zhu Yu felt that the Prince An's mansion was too big.

He suddenly didn't want to let Lu Xiaoyun leave. She cared about him so much now, so she definitely didn't want to leave him either.

He imagined how lively it would be if three or five more children were added to the mansion, each calling him "Father" and Lu Xiaoyun "Mother".

He looked up at the sky, where the moonlight, like a waterfall, generously filled the entire Prince An's mansion.

The palace gates were already locked, and in the silent night, the sound of three riders arriving was amplified infinitely.

The guards at the gate were startled awake. They quickly straightened their clothes and squinted to look over. When they saw that it was Prince An and his two guards, they immediately jogged forward a few steps and said, "Greetings, Prince An."

Lu Xiaoyun gave a faint "hmm": "Open the palace gates. I have important matters to report to my father."

"This..." It was already late at night, and the palace gates had long been locked. Unless it was an extremely urgent matter, they could not be opened easily.

Lu Xiaoyun swept her gaze over with an air of authority.

The man's legs went weak, and he could still smell the blood on his body. He knelt down with a thud, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Your Highness, why don’t we have this young eunuch make a trip to the Imperial Bedchamber and ask Eunuch Zhang first? If the Emperor hasn’t retired yet, then I can open the palace gates and you can go in. Is that alright?”

Lu Xiaoyun was unwilling to make things difficult for a mere Imperial Guard, so she waved her hand and said, "Then hurry up."

The imperial guard breathed a long sigh of relief and immediately ordered the eunuch standing guard to run in and take a look. The eunuch, of course, did not dare to delay and ran towards the emperor's bedroom.

The lights in the emperor's bedchamber were still on. The old emperor had been having trouble sleeping lately, and Zhang Zhongwei was exhausted. But since the emperor hadn't slept, how could he, as the chief eunuch, dare to go to sleep? He had also been working very hard lately.

The eunuchs around him suffered, spending their days either seeing Zhang Gonggong's sullen face or getting kicked by him every now and then.

"Zhang Zhongwei, has Liang Zhiyun returned to the city?" The old emperor's voice was filled with endless weariness and desolation.

After the fourth prince relinquished his military power at the morning court session, he had to recover from a serious illness and reclaim the power from Zhu Zhi and Zhu Chen.

Zhu Zhi and Zhu Chen hadn't even had a chance to warm their hands of power before they were forced to hand it over.

Zhang Zhongwei quickly became extremely alert: "Your Majesty, not yet. Your Majesty, please rest assured, those bandits are just a rabble. Lord Liang will surely wipe them all out. He will only come to the palace to report to Your Majesty after everything is settled. Besides, His Highness Prince An has also personally led people there, so there will be no problem."

"Hmm, how many people did he take with him?"

"At first, I only brought about twenty men. But when I heard that the number of bandits was quite large, I sent my trusted aide, An San, back to the manor and transferred all the secret guards and personal guards of the Prince An's manor. Your Majesty, think about it, there are several hundred people in the Prince An's manor. How could a few bandits possibly handle them?"

The old emperor nodded.

Zhang Zhongwei looked toward the dragon bed: "It's late, Your Majesty. This old servant will help you to rest."

The old emperor stood up and walked towards the dragon bed.

A young palace maid, dressed in a thin veil, knelt at the foot of the dragon bed and took off the old emperor's shoes and socks.

Her hands were soft and smooth, and her delicate fingers gently grasped the old emperor's ankles.

Zhang Zhongwei glanced silently at the palace maid.

The old emperor's body tensed, his gaze lingering for a moment on the palace maid's snow-white neck before shifting to the graceful figure vaguely visible beneath the thin veil.

The old emperor felt a heat in a certain area, beckoned to the palace maid, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "You, come here."

The little palace maid blushed deeply, touched the old emperor's legs under his nightgown, climbed up, and kissed him on the neck.

The old emperor grabbed the palace maid's slender white shoulder, his voice choked with a slurred laugh: "You've got quite the nerve."

The little palace maid scolded playfully, "Your Majesty~~"

That voice was as alluring as it could be.

Even Zhang Zhongwei, a eunuch, couldn't help but tremble.

The old emperor glanced at him.

Zhang Zhongwei quickly shrank back and quietly slipped out. The Third Prince always knew how to please the Emperor.

Before the bedroom door was fully closed, Zhang Zhongwei could hear the old emperor's heavy breathing and the woman's shy, sweet voice.

Then came the cries of pain from the young palace maid.

Zhang Zhongwei gave a bitter smile. He recognized the voice; the person had already gone inside. He didn't even seem to care about the loss of the person.

He was a rootless man, and didn't know what that felt like.

If there is an afterlife, he will never enter the palace to become a eunuch.

Zhang Zhongwei stood guard at the door, amplifying the sounds of the couple making love inside in the quiet night.

The Third Prince made the right choice this time; this little palace maid is quite capable.

He was itching to try it.

He also acquired a residence outside the palace.

The third prince said he would give him two beautiful concubines.

In the palace, eunuchs and maids were not allowed to have sexual relations, but it was different outside the palace. He was still the chief eunuch.

Zhang Zhongwei was somewhat tempted.