"Something must have happened to Miss! Something must have happened to her!" Yan'er said helplessly, tears streaming down her face.

The incessant, irritating sobs and cries seemed to have no effect on the deep thoughts of Yi Shangjun, who was riding in the same carriage with her.

Now, he was no longer the narrow-minded, dissolute youth who spent his days in the manor at odds with the legitimate daughter, Yi Shangyun. He was filled with endless hope and confidence for his future.

"To gallop across the battlefield, defend one's homeland, achieve great deeds, live a life of glory and triumph"—this is the magnificent life of a true man. And all of this was made possible by Yi Shangyun.

Therefore, a sense of gratitude and respect for Yi Shangyun had already quietly grown in his heart without him even realizing it. Perhaps, this feeling had even appeared earlier.

That must have existed as early as the night Yi Shangyun suddenly awoke from her year-long coma. That night, Yi Shangyun, dressed in black, appeared in the backyard of the Yi family mansion, where she was spotted by her mother and two children. Yi Shangxue, enraged, deliberately tried to bully and teach her a lesson, but to her surprise, for the first time in her life, Yi Shangyun tightly grabbed Yi Shangxue's wrist and resisted, fearlessly declaring to the mother and children, "If you want the status of the eldest daughter of the Yi family, you'll only be the eldest daughter of the Yi family if I die. If you have the ability, come and take my life, and you will be the eldest daughter of the Yi family. If you don't have that ability, you'd better behave yourself."

Later, when her family was at their wits' end, she single-handedly entered the palace to uncover the truth behind the Empress Dowager's coma and rescued her father. As a result, she was implicated and forced into the palace as a slave, yet she never complained. Furthermore, she overheard her cronies gossiping that in the palace, she had performed numerous feats, curing the Crown Prince's smallpox, gaining Princess Yue's deep trust, and remaining loyal to her mistress. She was even punished by being forced to kneel in the snow for personally advising the Emperor against Princess Yue's marriage to the Northern Lie prince…

At this moment, thinking about Yi Shangyun's perseverance, independence and courage after she regained consciousness, he couldn't help but sigh deeply, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a beautiful curve.

Suddenly, a doubt seemed to rise in her heart again, and she wanted to ask Yan'er, who served Yi Shangyun every day, perhaps she would know more.

Unexpectedly, when I looked up, I saw that Yan'er had fallen asleep leaning against the side of the carriage, tears welling up in her eyes. She must have been exhausted from traveling day and night for the past two days and searching for people without eating or sleeping. She must have cried herself to death.

Just as he was tiptoeing to pick up a light green cloak from the side, intending to put it on her to keep her warm, Yan'er suddenly woke up, reached out and tightly grabbed his hand, her eyes wide as she cried and pleaded, "Young Master, Young Master, something must have happened to Miss, something must have happened to her. Yan'er begs you, Young Master, save Miss, please save Miss!"

Seeing this, Yi Shangjun quickly grabbed Yan'er's hand and shook it, saying, "Yan'er, calm down and listen to me. We've been searching around Wanjiao Pavilion all day, but we haven't found anything, have we? 'A wild goose leaves a trace, the wind leaves a sound,' perhaps our elder sister never even came to Wanjiao Pavilion? Or maybe we just passed by her, and she's already safely returned home... By the way, wasn't it said that Wanjiao Pavilion was personally ordered to be sealed by His Highness Prince Qin? Our elder sister and His Highness have always been acquainted, so perhaps His Highness took our elder sister with him when he went back... So, right now, we should hurry back home."

Upon hearing this, Yan'er indeed gradually quieted down, silently withdrew her hand, sat up straight, wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, and composed herself before saying, "That's right, how could Yan'er forget? His Highness Prince Qin treats Miss very well, and has protected and helped Miss escape danger many times in the palace. If His Highness Prince Qin has ever been to Wanjiao Pavilion, he would definitely take care of Miss. Perhaps... perhaps Miss has really already returned to the manor with His Highness."

With this thought in mind, Yan'er quickly turned to Yi Shangjun again, grabbed his arm, and pleaded, "Young Master, let's hurry back immediately. Tonight is the annual Lantern Festival, and we must get back to the manor. Yan'er really misses Miss so much."

"Hmm." Yi Shangjun nodded heavily, then ordered his men to gallop through the pitch-black night.

With a loud "bang".

Suddenly, a dazzling firework exploded in the distance from the southeast corner, followed by a continuous series of fireworks that rose and fell, illuminating the tranquil night sky in an instant. Yan'er, having heard the words "King Qin," felt a sense of relief. She quickly lifted the curtain, gazing joyfully at the colorful fireworks blooming in the night sky.

"Yan'er, you serve your elder sister every day. Have you noticed that she's different now that she's been in a coma for a year?" Yi Shangjun, who was sitting in the carriage with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed, suddenly spoke up.

Yan'er slowly wiped the smile off her face, turned her head to look at Yi Shangjun's profile, and asked again in puzzlement, "Miss is different from a year ago?"

Yi Shangjun kept his eyes closed, recalling quietly, "My eldest sister used to be timid and useless. Because of the birthmark on her face, she was extremely self-conscious and always stayed at home. I guess if she left the Yi family mansion, she wouldn't even be able to tell east from west. She would never fight back or talk back to Xue'er, who berated her as if it were a daily occurrence. Let alone dare to raise her head and say a word in front of my mother and father. She probably wouldn't even dare to look them in the eye. But now, how come..."

As Yi Shangjun spoke, Yan'er slowly lowered her head, then fell into a deep and complex contemplation.

After a long while, Yi Shangjun let out a sigh of relief, finally opened his eyes, looked at Yan'er's complicated expression, and said, "You know best what happened the night Eldest Sister woke up. Eldest Sister... is she really still herself?"

For some reason, when Yan'er heard this, she suddenly raised her head in surprise and stared at the questioning look in Yi Shangjun's eyes. For a long time, she was stunned and dared not move.

What Yi Shangjun suspected at this moment, Yan'er had also suspected.

When her little master regained consciousness, it completely overturned all her previous impressions of him. But undeniably, apart from his appearance, nothing about this little master was the same as before.

But what she can't deny is that she likes her current little master even more; she is so resilient, kind, and has a strong personality. Yes, she has a strong personality. Her current little master is bold in love and hate, more open-minded, responsible, and no longer timid or complaining.

But now, after being questioned by Yi Shangjun, Yan'er suddenly remembered a sentence that Yi Shangyun had once said to her with rare excitement, "Miss once said, once said..."

"What did you say?" Seeing Yan'er stammering, as if she really knew something, Yi Shangjun anxiously urged her to answer.

Yan'er pursed her lips, swallowed, and looked around with a troubled expression. However, she seemed unable to escape Yi Shangjun's determination to get to the bottom of things. So she frowned and said seriously, "Young Master, you promise that you will never tell anyone this before I dare to say it."

Yi Shangjun sighed, looked silently into Yan'er's eyes for a while, and said, "Now that things have come to this, do you still not believe me? It was my fault for living a muddled and aimless life before. But if it weren't for my elder sister, I, Yi Shangjun, would not have awakened today. I swear, in this life, I will never do anything to harm my elder sister."

Hearing this, Yan'er seemed somewhat relieved. She gritted her teeth and slowly recalled, "Miss once said, 'Actually... I'm not your mistress, and I will leave here sooner or later.'"

"Big sister, she really said that?" Upon hearing this, Yi Shangjun frowned and asked anxiously.

Yan'er nodded timidly at him.

Yi Shangjun lowered his head, closed his eyes, and pondered for a while. Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he opened his eyes, paused for a moment, and then asked Yan'er, "Have you heard people on the street talking about something?"

Yan'er looked around and asked, puzzled, "People on the street? What are they talking about?"

Yi Shangjun looked up at her with an extremely serious expression and said, "Many people are saying that on the night my eldest sister woke up, someone saw a dazzling light descending from the sky in the backyard of the mansion. This light was like a phantom of a seven-colored phoenix, and it finally landed on my eldest sister's pavilion."

"A phantom of a seven-colored phoenix? Miss's attic?... Impossible." Yan'er shook her head in disbelief and firmly denied it.

Although she had neither seen nor heard of it, upon hearing this seemingly mysterious and eerie phenomenon, she couldn't help but slowly hug her arms, feeling a chilly wind seep into her thin bones. She simply couldn't believe that her little master had been bewitched by some strange object.

For a long time afterward, both of them reached out and lifted the car curtains, gazing longingly at the silent night sky outside the car, each lost in thought and remaining silent.

Unexpectedly, when the carriage reached the bend of a small river, it suddenly braked hard. Yi Shangjun reacted quickly and grabbed the crossbar inside the carriage tightly, while Yan'er did not have time to grab anything and crashed into the carriage, immediately showing a face full of pain.

Upon seeing this, Yi Shangjun immediately roared at the driver in front, "What's going on?"

"Young master, two young ladies suddenly appeared in the dark and blocked our way," the driver hurriedly reported.

"Who dares to block my car?" With that, he lifted the car curtain and jumped out.

By the dim light handed to them by the driver, the two women hurriedly stepped forward, bowed to Yi Shangjun, and apologized, "Young master, we are so sorry. We sisters were looking for someone in this area and were late. Could you please give us a ride to the market ahead?"