Qiu Yan lay down on her side, smiling as she watched Gu Qian's gentle movements.

Gu Qianyi took off his shoes and socks, lay down next to Qiu Yan, and put one arm around her waist.

"Yan Yan, let me spend more time with you."

"Mmm." Qiu Yan raised her head and rested it on Gu Qian's arm, lying in the crook of his arm.

Gu Qian held Qiu Yan in his arms, inhaling the scent of her vanilla-scented hair. All his reluctance to part was expressed in this embrace.

The air in the room smelled sweet and sour.

Feeling each other's warmth, the two fell asleep in each other's arms until sunset and moonrise.

Feng Hua gently knocked on the door, calling the two to get up and have their meal.

Dinner was the same as usual; Gu Qian, as always, served food to Qiu Yan.

He himself didn't eat much.

At the dinner table, he kept repeating these instructions.

"Yan Yan, if you encounter any difficulties while I am away, you may seek His Majesty's assistance. If you can avoid going out, please stay home and take good care of yourself during your pregnancy."

The reason he wanted to eliminate the Qin family before he left was because he knew...

Once I leave, Qin will definitely cause trouble for Yan Yan every now and then.

He knew this woman well; she was ruthless.

Besides, this woman should have died long ago!

As for the rest, like Qin Man and the like, they can't cause any big trouble.

"I'm sure I'll be even more comfortable now that you're gone than when you were here," Qiu Yan said with a smile.

"Alright, don't you know me yet?"

Gu Qian gently touched Qiu Yan's forehead with one hand, smoothing away the stray hairs at her temples.

"It's precisely because I know you so well that I'm worried." His Yan Yan, whenever she encounters difficulties, always handles things decisively and directly.

"I will restrain myself." Qiu Yan suddenly felt that Gu Qian had the illusion of being an old father.

Clearly, Gu Qian is the one who is most worrying.

After dinner, Gu Qian entered the palace.

Of course, he was telling us about his departure the next day.

At that time, He Lin was still guarding He Jinran's bedside.

No, it wasn't just him, it was two of them.

In addition, a royal physician was added.

"Jin'er, if you keep acting like this, your father will get angry." He Lin's patience was almost worn out, but Jin'er still covered herself with the quilt and refused to show herself.

He Jinran, hiding behind the palace, was caught in a dilemma: whether to leave or stay.

Honestly, he really wanted to turn around and leave.

But how will this matter be resolved?

Just as he was getting anxious and racking his brains for a solution, he heard a report from a palace attendant.

"Your Majesty, General Gu has arrived."

"Gu Qian? What's he doing here at this time?" He Lin sat up from the bed and asked, puzzled.

The eunuch replied, "General Gu has come to say goodbye."

He Lin paused for a moment, then a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

He was also worried that Gu Qian wouldn't go.

He glanced again at 'Jin'er,' who was wrapped tightly in the quilt, and his face darkened.

"Jin'er, your father will come to see you later."

Then, he said to the imperial physician beside him, "Since Jin'er doesn't want to see anyone, you shouldn't stand here either. Go to the Imperial Hospital and work on developing some medicine to treat smallpox. If anything happens to Jin'er, you'll have to pay with your head!"

"Your subject obeys!" The imperial physician immediately knelt down, his hands trembling slightly at He Lin's words.

Could he cure diseases like smallpox?

He really wasn't sure.

He Jinran, who had been hiding in the shadows, no longer wanted to remain in hiding after hearing about his father's departure.

After He Lin left, He Jinran appeared.

He didn't enter the inner hall, but instead quietly followed behind He Lin.

Gu Qian waited for a moment at He Lin's palace before He Lin arrived.

He looked at his cousin, whose back was turned to him, and solemnly said:

"Qian'er, when shall we depart?"

Gu Qian: "Yin hour (3-5 AM)."

He Lin: "At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), I will personally escort you."

"No need," Gu Qian said, then bowed deeply to He Lin.

"Cousin, protect Yan Yan!"

"Don't worry, I guarantee no one will dare to hurt her," He Lin said earnestly, supporting Gu Qian.

Gu Qian knew that He Lin was both devoted and fickle. "Also, you're not allowed to think about her anymore."

"..." He Lin still wanted to keep thinking about it, but he had long since lost his chance.

"With Jin'er here, aren't you at ease?"

"Yes, I'm worried." Gu Qian said this from the bottom of his heart. However, he felt that He Lin wouldn't be so shameless as to do that.

Fortunately, there's Xiaoran.

He Lin: "Qian'er, be careful in everything!"

"Okay." Gu Qian didn't linger and turned to leave.

From afar, He Jinran watched her father's figure disappear. After He Lin left, she suddenly ran after him.

"Father, I'll go with you!"

"Why are you going to join in the fun!" Gu Qian naturally refused.

"No, I have to go!" He Jinran insisted. "I'm worried about you, and Mother is worried about you too."

"Xiao Ran, stop fooling around." Gu Qian said, then turned and left.

He Jinran slunk away and returned to the East Palace.

Nineteen was still lying in bed.

Upon hearing footsteps outside the palace, he assumed it was His Majesty returning and quickly covered his head with the blanket again.

"It's me."

He Jinran couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the once cold-blooded assassin become adorable and innocent.

"Your Highness!"

He suddenly sat up in bed number nineteen.

Your Highness has finally returned.

The moment he saw He Jinran, he felt a secret joy.

He tried to get out of bed, but his body was too weak. He tried to get up several times but couldn't, and finally he knelt on the bed.

Outside the palace, Mu Bai, Mu Xiao... When did Your Highness leave?

How can it be nineteen when it's wrapped in a quilt?

They were completely dumbfounded.

They had long heard that His Highness was unconventional and eccentric, but now they had truly learned a thing or two from him.

At the same time, the two realized that they had just escaped death, and a chill ran down their spines.

Xuanming and Xuanying looked at Mu Bai and Mu Xiao as if they were idiots.

I seriously doubt how they acted as guards; His Highness has been missing for a whole day, and they still haven't noticed.

It's not their fault; without His Highness's order, they cannot enter the palace.

To put it bluntly, His Highness doesn't trust them, he only trusts Xuanming and Xuanying.

"You've been lying here all day." He Jinran stepped forward and said to Nineteen, "You must be feeling unwell."

"Your Highness, His Majesty just came by," the Nineteenth Prince said, kneeling. He was about to rise when...

But then suddenly a sound,

"His Majesty has arrived!"

This made him instinctively resist.

"It's too late!" He Jinran quickly crawled into the quilt, and didn't forget to press Nineteen to his inside.

"Lie still and don't move."

Poor Nineteen was thus passively covered under the covers by He Jinran.

He was having a really hard time breathing and felt extremely uncomfortable, so he stayed huddled under the covers, afraid to move.

Unbeknownst to them, He Jinran's head also burrowed into the blanket the next moment, making it even more difficult for Shijiu to breathe.

God knows how stiff his body was at that moment.

Upon noticing that Nineteen's breath was scalding hot and his entire body was burning hot, He Jinran realized that Nineteen had caught a severe cold.

Even assassins get sick? He Jinran felt that he was thinking about this question for the most sake of it.

Even suicide bombers are human!

The scene before his eyes was somewhat shocking to Xuanming and Xuanying.

Your Highness, we can't go down this path to the bitter end. Your father is counting on you to continue the family line.