That night, Yu Jingchen held Nan Zhiyun as he fell asleep. Perhaps because of what happened during the day, he had a dream that night.
The scene in her dream was that hunting ground. Before heading there, Nan Zhiyun was overjoyed to learn that her name was included. She had been looking forward to it all along, and later even thought that her name wasn't included. But unexpectedly, Yu Jingchen still took her there, so she prepared every day for those few days.
To avoid being disliked by Yu Jingchen, she specially studied archery for half a month, and her hands were blistered from the effort.
But after arriving at the hunting grounds, Yu Jingchen seemed to have forgotten about her, not even asking a single question. Nan Zhiyun's palace was arranged in the most remote part of the imperial palace, where there was nothing at all. She went to look for people, but no one cared or paid any attention.
That night, she didn't even have a blanket and was freezing all night. The next day, people just said it was too late and they were careless and didn't pay attention, and no one was worried about it because everyone knew that Yu Jingchen wouldn't care about her.
When the hunt officially began, as a woman, she didn't need to go along, but some competition was inevitable. Someone deliberately challenged her to an archery contest, bringing up her identity as the daughter of a general and mentioning her recent intensive archery practice. Nan Zhiyun was caught in a dilemma and had no choice but to compete with the person.
However, her bow and arrow had been tampered with beforehand, and during the competition, someone secretly used underhanded tactics, causing the arrow to miss and injure a young lady from an official family.
At first glance, it didn't seem particularly serious, just a scratch. However, when the imperial physician examined her, he said the young lady's injuries were very severe, her life hanging by a thread. Therefore, Nan Zhiyun was punished by being forced to kneel for a day as a form of retribution.
Nan Zhiyun hadn't rested well the day before, and coupled with her weak constitution, she fainted several times. However, this didn't elicit any pity from Yu Jingchen; instead, she suffered greatly because of her fainting spells. The early spring weather, with several basins of cold water poured over her—that feeling was something Nan Zhiyun would likely never forget.
After the punishment ended, he developed a high fever, but they said the imperial physician had gone to take care of the young lady of the official family whom he had injured, so he couldn't come here.
There was nothing Nan Zhiyun could do but endure it on her own. Later, the imperial physician finally arrived, but his attitude was extremely perfunctory. He casually left a prescription and left.
Nan Zhiyun had been staying in her room because of her illness. Perhaps because the room was too secluded, a snake slithered in that night. Nan Zhiyun was so frightened that her whole body went weak, and she was even bitten by the snake. Fortunately, the snake was not venomous.
When she set off to return to the palace, she was placed in a very simple and cramped carriage. It was very bumpy, and she vomited the whole way, feeling extremely unwell.
However, Yu Jingchen continued to order the journey to be expedited. By the time they returned to the palace, Nan Zhiyun was nearly dead. It took her about two or three months to recover. During this time, Yu Jingchen didn't visit her even once, nor did he ask her a single question.
Yu Jingchen woke up suddenly, looking at everything in his dream. Looking at the little girl sleeping restlessly in his arms, he finally understood why Nan Zhiyun was so resistant to going on the spring hunt.
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