Inside the Eastern Palace, Su Youran sat on the edge of the bed with a bitter expression, looking at the Crown Prince whose face was as white as paper.

My wrist was already numb from his grip, and I still couldn't pull it free.

When I was taking off my clothes, I couldn't get the sleeves off, so I had to cut them off completely.

So for now, she could only close her eyes and tilt her head, refusing to look at the naked upper body presented before her.

What on earth is going on here?

Yueyue's silver needles flew swiftly across his body as she muttered, "Doesn't Crown Prince know his condition? Why don't you take care of yourself when the illness strikes?"

Su Youran asked with her eyes closed, "Sister Yueyue, can't you just prick his tiger's mouth with a needle and make him let go first?"

Yueyue said with difficulty, "No, that won't work. Right now, we're using acupuncture to help him drain toxins from his meridians. If we prick his hand at the base of his thumb, the meridians in his arm will flow backward, and the toxins will accumulate there, ruining his arm."

"Sister Yueyue, your ability to spout nonsense with a straight face is getting stronger and stronger," Su Youran said quietly.

"Hey, you know acupuncture too, turn around and look at yourself, isn't that the truth?" Yueyue's hands kept moving.

Su Youran opened her eyes slightly and quickly scanned the acupuncture points Yueyue had applied. She found that it was indeed as Yueyue had said, so she could only move her numb wrist and sigh.

She casually asked, "What kind of poison did this guy get?"

Yueyue sighed, "It's a poison I was born with."

Su Youran casually remarked, "What a coincidence, just like my senior brother."

She suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, where's my senior brother? I haven't seen him anywhere."

Yueyue shook her head, indicating she didn't know. "Perhaps the Crown Prince sent him elsewhere. They must have made preparations for something this important."

Su Youran then recalled how her senior brother had persuaded her to return to the Princess's residence early that morning, and she agreed with Yueyue's statement.

Not long after, Consort Zhou arrived at the East Palace with an anxious expression. Seeing that her son's condition was stable, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Concerned about the elders in the Princess's residence, Su Youran quickly asked, "How is the situation at the Princess's residence?"

Consort Zhou relaxed. "Don't worry, the culprit has been apprehended, and Princess Rong won't cause any more trouble. She only had a few attendants guard the gate of the Princess's residence. After your mother noticed something was wrong, she had the old lady of the Duke of Zhenguo send a message to the guards to strengthen the defenses, and she also sent your secret guards to the Yun residence to bring in more guards, which quickly brought the situation under control."

Su Youran felt somewhat relieved, raised her wrist which was being held, and said with a worried expression, "Your Highness, what do you think of His Highness the Crown Prince...?"

Consort Zhou sat down beside her, gently patted her reddened wrist, and said softly, "My dear You Ran, we've known each other for so many years, and I know you're a kind-hearted child. The Crown Prince is my child, and even if I say he's perfect, it's not as good as you looking at him once. I know that his rash marriage proposal to you must have frightened you. But in any case, given his current condition, I'm begging you, please help him and stabilize his illness."

Su Youran sighed, knowing what she meant. "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is the heir apparent, while I am a humble and unworthy woman from a merchant family. How could I possibly be worthy of His Highness? Please do not bring this up again."

As soon as I finished speaking, I felt my wrist tighten even more.

She subconsciously looked down at the Crown Prince, only to see that he was still unconscious with his eyes closed.

So, he could hear her?

She tentatively asked, "Your Highness? If Your Highness can hear me, would you please release my daughter?"

Sure enough, my wrist tightened again.

Su Youran: ……

I'm telling you to let me go, okay?

Consort Zhou, with tears in her eyes, said, "I entrust my son to you two."

Yueyue glanced at her quickly, "I will do my best, Aunt Consort. However, Master is more familiar with the Crown Prince's health. I will write a letter to Master in a little while and ask him to return as soon as possible."

"Your master...?"

"He went to a village in Liaozhou to study poisons. It's said that 70% of the villagers showed signs of mass poisoning..."

Consort Zhou inquired about her son's condition with great concern before leaving.

Su Youran sighed, "Sister Yueyue, does this mean I have to stay with her all night?"

Yueyue sighed, "You Ran, I actually think the Crown Prince is a good person, why do you dislike him so much?"

Su Youran seemed thoughtful. "Do I hate him? I wouldn't say that... It's just... we're not that close, and suddenly we're talking about marriage. If you were in his shoes, you wouldn't want to either!"

Yueyue continued inserting the needles, agreeing, "That's certainly true."

The two chatted casually for about half an hour. Yueyue quickly removed the needles from Chuheng's body and watched as he vomited two more mouthfuls of black blood. Then she had the palace servants dress him and left wearily.

Before leaving, she shed a tear of sympathy for Su Youran.

Su Youran watched helplessly as her best friend left, leaving her alone in the huge palace—or rather, Chu Heng, who was half-dead and lying on the enormous bed. She was truly heartbroken.

Moreover, with his wrist tightly gripping mine, I could only sit on the edge of the bed, which was really tiring!

We can't just sit here all night, can we?

She tried turning Chu Heng's arm in a different direction, and hey, this way, it seems like she can lie down now?

Overjoyed, she moved his arm down a little and lay down flat on her back.

Ah, that feels so good!

Although it's strange, it's better to lie down and stay up all night than to sit and wait in vain.

She tried to stay close to the edge of the bed, as far away from him as possible.

Even so, she could always catch a faint scent of agarwood wafting from him.

Has she been spending too much time with her senior brother? She's even picked up his scent.

She thought to herself.

It just feels strange. Everyone says that my senior brother and the crown prince are so close that they're practically inseparable, so why have I never seen them together in the same frame?

Lost in these thoughts, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

She was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night.

She was awakened by the heat from the burn on her wrist.

She turned her head and saw that in the dim candlelight, Chu Heng's pale, jade-like face was flushed with a blush.

She knew without even looking up that the person had a high fever.

She shouted, "Help! Help! His Highness the Crown Prince has a high fever!"

But for some reason, no one came for a long time.

What she didn't know was that before Yueyue left the East Palace, she specifically instructed the palace servants not to keep watch at night.

Fude, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, knew his master's feelings for this young princess from the Duke's mansion, and had long ago ordered the palace servants to stay far away.

He stood guard outside the hall and was initially startled by the calls from inside. But after understanding what the young county princess was saying, he calmly retreated back to the doorway.