While Judge Qin and the others were still discussing what to do next, Gu Yuzhi on the bed suddenly stirred.

He first curled up into a ball, burrowing deeper into the blankets, muttering, "Mother, I'm so cold..."

"Chief Secretary Xie, Marshal Huo, please don't abandon me..."

His body stiffened, and he was covered in sweat, which soon soaked the quilt. Just as Xu Mama came in to change his clothes and quilt, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Gu Yuzhi was still a little confused because he couldn't see and couldn't tell what time it was. He only knew that he was being held in someone's arms and that the person holding him smelled very familiar.

He rested his head on the man's shoulder and said in a hoarse voice, "Granny Xu."

Xu Mama trembled, clearly not expecting him to wake up at this moment. Before she could even speak, tears streamed down her face, and her voice trembled so much it was almost inaudible: "Your Highness?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Dianyi and the other two immediately stood up and walked over, surrounding the two of them.

Just as Judge Qin reached out to take Gu Yuzhi's pulse, he heard Gu Yuzhi grunt and laboriously raise his arm to rub his eyes: "What time is it? Why aren't there any candles in the room?"

Judge Qin's hand froze on the spot, and he subconsciously looked up at the window.

The sun was shining brightly today, and the sunlight reflected off the snow, creating shimmering spots that made the room much brighter.

But His Highness said, "Why don't you light candles?"

The group was so shocked by Gu Yuzhi's words that they froze on the spot, their eyes unable to move.

Granny Xu gently placed Gu Yuzhi on the bed, her hands trembling as she stepped forward and waved lightly in front of his eyes.

His usually quick-witted and sharp eyes were now unfocused, staring blankly ahead.

Granny Xu grabbed her collar with one hand, gasping for breath. Her face turned red instantly, her limbs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

She couldn't make a sound; she just stiffened her neck and turned to look at Judge Qin, her mouth opening and closing, tears streaming down her face.

Judge Qin closed his eyes and didn't open them for a long time.

He thought the worst outcome would be that His Highness would remain in a coma for a long time, but to his surprise, His Highness woke up, but could not see!

The entire room seemed to be paused; apart from Granny Xu's tears falling, no one else moved, including Gu Yuzhi.

Gu Yuzhi also sensed something was wrong. After a while, he tilted his head and remembered what happened before he lost consciousness. Oh right, he couldn't see at that time.

He instinctively reached for his clothes, but realized that his hands had been re-bandaged. However, unlike before, the slightest movement caused a sharp, tingling pain in his palms, so he had no choice but to place them properly on his lap.

His chest still ached with every breath, but he couldn't tell if it was because he couldn't see or something else, but he could sense that there were other people in the room besides Granny Xu.

He hung his head, wanting to cry, but knew he couldn't, so he forced himself to hold it in and pursed his lips.

It's already a relief that he came back alive!

Gu Yuzhi suddenly raised his head, his head bobbing haphazardly, not knowing which direction he was looking in: "Granny Xu, who else is there? Is it Judge Qin? What about Chief Secretary Xie and Mr. Huo? Are they alright? And what about the city guards?"

Qin, the Imperial Physician, quickly stepped forward and knelt before Gu Yuzhi, gently touching his arm to let him know his direction: "Yes, Your Majesty. Chief Clerk Xie and Mr. Huo are still unconscious, as are the rest of the city guards..."

He paused for a long time: "All sacrificed."

These city guards were mostly selected from the people who had migrated to Xinliang. They had been trained by Qi Chenglang or Zhang Yuankai, but they were not trained in the same way as the army until the Huo family army entered Xinliang.

They hadn't practiced martial arts since childhood, so their skill level was naturally not high. But no one expected that none of them would surrender when facing the assassins; they all fought bravely to the very end.

The people who cleaned up the battlefield returned and reported that the guards of Xinliang City, with a huge advantage of twenty to one hundred, had killed seventy or eighty people.

Judge Qin glanced at Gu Yuzhi, and naturally knew that the young prince had killed someone with a bow and arrow and a dagger.

The injury on his palm was caused by pulling the bowstring too tightly.

Gu Yuzhi let out a soft "ah," his hands wanting to clench tightly, but they could only be folded together, leaving him feeling like he couldn't find a point of leverage, which was very uncomfortable. After a while, his eyes reddened as he asked, "Have you spoken to their families? Have they received any compensation?"

At the opportune moment, Chen Dianyi took two steps forward, knelt down like Qin Yuanpan, touched Gu Yuzhi's other side, and whispered, "Your Highness, I am Chen Rong. The compensation has been distributed, and the families have been comforted. They all understand and believe that the city guards protected Your Highness, which is something that makes their families proud."

Gu Yuzhi responded with an "oh," and then sat there without saying anything more.

Everyone in the room deliberately slowed their breathing, and no one dared to mention the things that Gu Yuzhi couldn't see, as if the matter didn't exist if it wasn't mentioned.

After a while, Gu Yuzhi suddenly realized and said "Oh," tilting his head slightly towards Chen Dianyi: "The person who ambushed us was Li Yanping. I heard someone call him 'Big Manager,' and when I asked him, he didn't deny it."

Just thinking about what happened that day made Gu Yuzhi's body tremble involuntarily. He touched the side with his hand and felt the body temperature of Chen Dianyi and Qin Yuanpan, which made him feel much more at ease.

He pursed his lips, and after a while, he tilted his chin up slightly as before, his expression smug: "After the snowy night comes, I will personally kill Li Yanping!"

Judge Qin and Consort Chen exchanged a glance, then looked at Gu Yuzhi, and both felt a sudden pang of sorrow in their hearts.

When the young prince used to make such an expression, his eyes would sparkle like stars, making people feel better just by looking at them.

But now...

Gu Yuzhi, however, failed to notice the change in their emotions. He simply turned his head to stare at Chen Dianyi and said in a hoarse voice, "Chen Dianyi, Chief Secretary Xie is still not awake. We need you to handle the matter of communicating with Prefect Qi."

Chen Dianyi looked up and glanced at Liu Dianyi, who then stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I am Liu Ying. Chen Dianyi is more familiar with the affairs of Xinliang, so I will handle the communication with Prefect Qi."

They had already suspected it was Li's Trading Company, but they never expected that Li Yanping would personally take action.

Gu Yuzhi immediately turned her head towards Liu Dianyi, her small face instantly lighting up with a smile: "Liu Dianyi, you're here too? It's freezing cold, are you alright traveling?"

Liu Dianyi's face turned pale instantly. Looking at Gu Yuzhi, his throat tightened, and he couldn't speak for a long time...