The princess stormed in, only to see the man she loved there. Her attitude immediately softened. "Why is Brother Xu here too?"

"Let me see what brings the princess here."

The princess was speechless for a moment. "I... I came to find Gu Yu. I was worried because she didn't go home all night."

Su Yi said with a stern face, "Her name is not Gu Yu, her name is Liu Huan."

Although the princess didn't quite understand what was going on, she knew that Gu Yu must be related to the person in front of her.

However, the thought of Gu Yu leaving her made her reluctant, so she forced herself to say, "I don't care, she's my maid now, and I'm going to take her back."

Xu Zijin stepped forward and pulled her aside, "What are you doing? Brother Su finally found his fiancée, how can you bear to separate them?"

"Fiancée?" The princess's eyes widened. She thought they were just old acquaintances at most, but she didn't expect there to be this relationship. "I don't care. My royal family has raised her for so many years. How can you take her away with just the word 'fiancée'?"

A flash of anger crossed Su Yi's eyes. "Then what do you want?"

"I……"

"Stone"

Before the princess could finish speaking, Liu Huan came out, her face almost bloodless, and she didn't look well overall.

The princess was heartbroken and walked up to her, saying, "Guyu, what happened? Why were you in that room?"

Liu Huan knew that the princess was simple-minded and unaware of many things, so she could only downplay the seriousness of the matter by saying, "That servant was drunk and tried to attack me, but it was nothing serious."

The princess suddenly realized, "No wonder, yesterday as soon as you left, my elder brother beat that servant to death with sticks. He deserved it."

He took her hand again and said, "Then come back with me. I'll have the kitchen prepare some delicious food to nourish you."

Liu Huan winced in pain, and the princess immediately released her. "What happened? Did I touch your wound? I'm so sorry."

Liu shook her head and said she was fine, but her sleeves were immediately soaked with blood. Su Yi's pupils widened in shock. "Go and call a doctor quickly."

Then he helped Liu Huan into the room, gently pushed up her sleeves, glanced at her, and frowned deeply. "Don't be afraid, I've already gone to call the doctor."

Liu Huan reached out her other hand to smooth his furrowed brows. "Don't frown, I'm fine."

The princess outside looked guilty. "Brother Xu, have I done something bad again?"

Xu Zijin comforted her, "It's okay, you didn't do it on purpose. You saw it yourself, she's fine here, and she's regained her memory."

The princess exclaimed in surprise, "That... what happened before..."

"I remember everything"

The princess was deflated. If she didn't remember, she could still try to salvage the situation, but now that the princess remembered, how could she possibly speak?

The doctor arrived quickly, and after performing some procedures, reminded him again, "You must not hurt this hand again, otherwise it may leave a scar."

Thank you.

The princess heard this from outside and said to Xu Zijing with her head down, "Then, then I'll go back first."

Xu Zijing nodded: "I'll take you."

The door behind her opened. "Wait, Princess, please go back first. I'll come back once I've recovered."

The princess's face lit up with joy. "Really? Then I'll wait for you at home."

Then he happily followed Xu Zijin.

Su Yi kept a stern face, clearly very unhappy.

Liu Huan looked at him with a smile, "Shi Tou, tell me what happened at home, I want to know."

Su Yi took her other hand and led her inside, helping her onto the bed, and then slowly told her about the changes in the family over the past few years.

"Mianmian is very naughty, and my sister-in-law can't control her. She says she's like a wild child, but Mom says she's like you."

"And there's Chengfeng from my eldest sister's family. He's the first grandson of the Guan family. Madam Guan dotes on him and gives him whatever he wants."

Liu Huan was delighted to hear this, "Then where did the young man go?"

Su Yi's face darkened even more at this, and Liu Huan, thinking something had happened to Xiao Shi, hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, little brother?"

Su Yi pulled her aside and said, "It's nothing. He just joined the army last year and only sent someone back with a message after he left, which scared his mother so much that she couldn't sleep at night."

Liu Huan breathed a sigh of relief, as long as nothing bad happened.

After Su Yi finished speaking, he asked her, "How about you? How have you been these past few years?"

Liu Huan smiled and said, "I'm doing very well. As you can see, the princess likes me very much, and we always eat together."

"I am very grateful to Your Highness for saving me back then, otherwise you would not be here to see me."

Having laid the groundwork, she added, "So, I'll still go back once I'm healed."

She took his hand and said, "Don't be angry, let me finish."

"The princess will be married by next year at the latest. How about I stay with her until her wedding? Consider it as repaying the Prince's Mansion for saving my life."

Su Yi looked at her without saying a word, and Liu Huan frowned, "Say something quickly, hurry up."

Su Yi reluctantly hummed in agreement, "You should rest first. We can talk about other things when you're better."

Liu Huan was satisfied: "Okay, good."

When the princess returned to the palace, the atmosphere was heavy. The maids were all very cautious around her, afraid to even speak to her.

What's wrong? "Gu Yu, you..."

Only after shouting did he realize that Gu Yu hadn't come back with him.

As soon as they entered the backyard, they heard the maids gossiping again, "This beating was too brutal, sigh!"

The princess appeared behind them. "Who got hit?"

The maidservant knelt on the ground in fear upon seeing the newcomer, saying, "Princess."

The county magistrate, her face grim and angry, demanded, "I'm asking you a question! Who got hit?"

"Yes, it's the Third Young Master..."

The princess ran quickly to the main courtyard, where sticks struck her with a clattering sound.

When she went inside, she saw two servants holding boards and beating Li Yu high on the body, leaving faint traces of blood on her buttocks.

Her mother watched coldly from the side, with a woman beside her who looked anxious—her newlywed sister-in-law.

"Mother, what are you doing? Why are you hitting Third Brother? Stop!"

The servants dared not stop without the princess's order, and the princess, in a fit of anger, ran over and lay on top of Li Yu.

The servant didn't have time to react, and although he held back a little, he still hit her.

"Ah!" the maidservant exclaimed, and the servant carrying out the execution knelt on the ground in fright.

The princess was heartbroken. "A bunch of idiots! Go and fetch the royal physician right now!"

"Jiaojiao, are you alright? Let Mom check on you."

The princess couldn't even bear one blow, and she couldn't imagine how much pain her third brother must be in. "If you hit my third brother again, hit me too."

The princess relented, "Alright, get up now, don't press down on your third brother."

The princess snorted, "You're feeling sorry for me now? Why didn't you do that earlier?"

Looking at her son's injuries, the princess said with heartache, "If he hadn't acted so foolishly, I wouldn't have hit him."

He didn't come home last night, leaving the bride waiting, and now that he's back, he shows no remorse, insisting that everything is her fault.

What could she have done wrong? She was only doing it for the good of the family.

If she didn't hit him, the Marquis's mansion would probably cause trouble. Rather than letting others discipline her son, she might as well take matters into her own hands and hit him first.

Before the imperial physician arrived, she had someone carry Li Yu into his courtyard, but he fainted en route.

He angrily scolded the servants, "Go see if the physician has arrived yet. What are you eating so slowly?"