Before long, a gatekeeper came to report that the Crown Prince's guards had arrived.

“Miss Shen!” The guard knelt on one knee, his voice filled with suppressed urgency and a barely perceptible tremor. “Your Highness… His Highness was ambushed while inspecting a river construction site! The attackers were well-prepared and ruthless. His Highness… His Highness was injured protecting important ledgers and witnesses! Although the attackers were repelled, His Highness's injuries are severe, and he has lost too much blood, leaving him unconscious! The accompanying imperial physician Zhang is doing his best to treat him, but… but His Highness keeps calling… calling your name while unconscious!” The guard raised his head, his eyes full of pleading. “His Highness’s last order before he lost consciousness was for me to protect your safety! But… but I dare to beg you… could you please go and see His Highness? Perhaps… perhaps with you by his side, His Highness can…”

Shen Yuewei felt a sudden buzzing in her head, as if she had gone deaf instantly! The warmth she had just felt from her eldest brother's wedding and her second brother's letter was instantly seized by a chilling fear! Assassination! Wounded! Unconscious! Excessive blood loss! These words were like poisoned ice picks, piercing her heart!

Was he injured? Was he calling her name even while unconscious?

In his past life, did he also experience such a life-or-death crisis in a place unknown to her? Behind those "busy official duties" that she overlooked, how much bloodshed and turmoil was hidden?

A wave of panic and a strange, sharp pain instantly overwhelmed her. She didn't even have time to ponder the deeper meaning of the guard's words; her body reacted before her mind could process it.

"Where is he? Take me there!" Shen Yuewei's voice trembled with urgency that she herself was unaware of. Her face was as pale as paper, and her hands tightly protected her lower abdomen, which was slightly tense due to her emotional excitement.

"Please come with me, young lady!" The guard immediately stood up, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

The carriage sped through the night, and Shen Yuewei's heart felt like it was being fried in oil. Never before had she realized so clearly that Xiao Chengjing, the strong, domineering, and sometimes infuriating man, had already occupied an important place in her heart. His safety tugged at her every nerve.

When Shen Yuewei, led by the guards, stepped into that heavily guarded, secluded residence filled with the heavy smell of blood and medicine, and saw the figure on the bed with a face as pale as paper, eyes closed, and a weak breath, all her strength crumbled instantly.

She staggered to the bedside, her trembling hand gently touching his cold cheek, tears streaming down her face without warning, dripping onto his bloodless lips.

"Xiao Chengjing..." she choked, her voice breaking, "Wake up... You promised to protect me and the child... You can't break your promise..."

Xiao Chengjing, who was unconscious, seemed to furrow his brows very slightly, as if responding to her call.

Physician Zhang whispered, "His Highness is wounded in the left chest, just a hair's breadth away from a vital organ. He has lost too much blood and is deficient in both qi and blood. He is currently only holding on by sheer willpower. If he can get through tonight, there will be a chance..."

That night, Shen Yuewei stayed by his bedside without leaving for a moment. She held his cold hand, calling his name softly over and over again, telling him about the movements of the child in her womb, about the drizzle and lotus fragrance of Jiangnan, about her eldest brother's wedding in the capital and the letter from her second brother... She tried everything she could to pull him back from the brink of death.

The night outside the window was as dark as ink, and the crisis in Jiangnan reached its peak at this moment. Shen Yuewei, amidst fear and waiting, finally understood her own feelings. Between her and him, there was no longer just the entanglement of their past lives and the child in her womb, but also an unbreakable bond and…emotion in this life. The Crown Prince's peril was like a thunderbolt, cleaving the final barrier between them.