Chapter 88 Wounded
Good boy?
Xiao Yuxuan didn't know why she could still be distracted by this title.
So the Crown Prince was treating her as a junior?
Suddenly, all that attention and care from before made sense.
The Crown Prince's feelings towards her were indeed similar to those towards the Eldest Princess; both had a sense of affection and care.
Her tense nerves slowly relaxed.
As those in positions of power, they had no need to ask anything of her. These days, they were probably just being kind and casually rescuing stray cats and dogs soaked to the bone in the rain.
With her burden lifted, her gaze towards the Crown Prince held a newfound respect and affection, and her earlier panic and fear vanished completely.
How wonderful! Besides the eldest princess, the crown prince can also be her backer.
"Your Highness!"
Sun Miao hurriedly ran over from a short distance away, with his grooms and attendants following closely behind.
The incident happened suddenly, and they were quite far away. Before they could react, Xueyun was frightened and ran away. The Crown Prince was so close; if anything happened to him, all of them would be killed!
"Your Highness, are you alright? Your Highness, what about your hand?!"
When Sun Miao saw the bloodstains on the reins, he felt a wave of dizziness and cried out in alarm:
"Quickly! Summon the imperial physician! His Highness has injured his hand!"
The Crown Prince's hands are meant for handling state affairs; they cannot be wasted on such matters!
Xiao Yuxuan had already jumped down from the Crown Prince's arms in a hurry, not forgetting to say:
"Your Highness, how is your hand?!"
She had just witnessed the Crown Prince grab the reins of the running Xueyun with his bare hands. Xueyun leaped high in his hands, neighing and raising its front hooves before reluctantly stopping.
The force with which they pulled on the reins was so great that it made her palms ache just watching it.
She rushed over to see, and noticed that Qi Jun's palms and fingers had developed thick calluses from years of martial arts training, which contrasted sharply with the pale skin and delicate bone structure on the back of his hands.
However, at this moment, there was indeed a fresh bloodstain on it, caused by the rough reins.
"I have nothing to do."
This injury was nothing to him, but he was afraid of scaring the child, so he quietly withdrew his hand and looked at Qi Minying, who was standing to the side with a concerned expression but dared not go forward.
"Brother, Sister Yuxuan, I know I was wrong..."
Qi Minying twisted her fingers, feeling extremely guilty because she saw that although Xiao Yuxuan was not seriously injured, her elder brother, the Crown Prince, had injured his hand.
"It's good that you know you're wrong. Go back and copy the 'Record of Relief' ten times, and hand it to me in three days."
Qi Minying didn't dare to refute, and nodded in agreement. Then she went to ask Xiao Yuxuan how it was.
The imperial physician rushed over and applied medicine and bandaged Qi Jun's hand wound.
"Your Highness, why don't you go back and rest? You're injured, and you need to rest and recuperate properly to heal quickly!"
Seeing that Qi Jun had no intention of leaving, Sun Miao earnestly persuaded him.
Xiao Yuxuan recognized the voice immediately and looked in the direction of the sound, her eyes widening slightly.
Isn't this the same eunuch who kindly offered an umbrella at the palace banquet that day?
So that umbrella was also lent to her by the Crown Prince?
She couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings at that moment; she only felt a warm yet suffocating sensation in her chest.
"It's just a minor injury, you can step back now."
Qi Jun's expression remained unchanged, but those who had served him for a long time could tell that he was already getting impatient.
Sun Miao instinctively shut his mouth and reluctantly agreed.
The Crown Prince is good in every way, except for one thing: once he makes a decision, no one can change it. Since he has decided to teach Miss Xiao how to ride a horse today, nothing, no matter how important, can be interrupted before it is completed.
The palace servants followed at a distance. Qi Jun was about to start talking to Xiao Yuxuan about the habits of horses and the common sense of riding when he was interrupted by the little girl.
"Your Highness is injured. I am terrified and dare not trouble Your Highness with your instruction today."
Xueyun was startled; this was something no one wanted to happen. Seeing the injury on the Crown Prince's hand, she felt uneasy.
After much thought, I've decided that today is not the time to imitate Ma.
"Teaching you is not difficult."
"But I am uneasy. It would be too much to continue learning. It would be better to choose another time."
After Xiao Yuxuan finished speaking, she realized that her words had been a bit too harsh. Just as she was about to explain in a more tactful way, she heard the Crown Prince nod thoughtfully.
"What you said makes sense."
He put his injured hand behind his back, as if he didn't want Xiao Yuxuan to see it again, and said:
"Have you read the letter I sent you?"
It would have been better if the Crown Prince hadn't brought it up, but once he did, Xiao Yuxuan became somewhat troubled.
On the one hand, she didn't want to owe the Crown Prince any more favors. After all, favors are the hardest to repay, and she wasn't the kind of person who would be ungrateful. Keeping it in her heart would only be a burden.
On the other hand, if she didn't ask, she couldn't explain how she knew about Xiao Yuyao's background.
This puts them in a dilemma.
"The Crown Prince has been so kind to me; I fear I have no way to repay him."
Qi Jun was somewhat surprised.
He knew this little girl; at such a young age, she was always thinking about these random things.
"I am temporarily in charge of the Qilin Guard, and I have the duty to restore order and uphold justice. I do not need your repayment."
"His Highness the Crown Prince has already been very kind to me. Those words are enough. Anything more can be helped when I am able to repay him someday."
Her words were resolute, and a hint of pride appeared on her face, as if she was certain that she would be able to repay Qi Jun in the future. This little appearance was somewhat similar to Qi Minying when she was a child.
Qi Jun smiled, his sharp eyebrows relaxed, his eyes curved upwards, and his gaze was shimmering.
Xiao Yuxuan was stunned; it was the first time she had ever seen Qi Jun laugh so heartily.
The boy couldn't resist and, for the first time, did something particularly outrageous: he reached out and ruffled the child's hair.
"Alright, then I'll be waiting for you."
A blush rose to Xiao Yuxuan's face. She wasn't really a child anymore; she was much older than Minying.
The crown prince has left.
Everyone at the horse farm breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The Crown Prince himself came to teach the people how to ride horses, and they were already extremely nervous. In the end, something still went wrong. Although the Crown Prince did not blame them, it was even more suffocating than if he had made things difficult for them.
Qi Minying and Xiao Yuxuan comforted Ta Yue and Xue Yun for a while, and then the two girls went to rest in the palace next door, hand in hand.
"Sister Yuxuan, has Xiao Yuyao been quiet these past few days? After what happened at the palace banquet, has your mother made things difficult for you?"
Xiao Yuxuan slowly shook her head. In the past few days, Xiao Yuyao had fallen ill again and had not gone to the girls' school.
But this time, he must be really sick.
Doctor Pei is much better now, and Pei Xing'er occasionally comes to Lanting Pavilion to work. She is quite suspicious, checking here and sniffing here and there, looking worried that Xiao Yuxuan has been poisoned.
"Don't worry, I'm doing very well at the Xiao residence now, and I'll take good care of myself. How about you?"
Qi Minying looked a little melancholy. She rested her chin on one hand and poked at the pastries on the plate with the other.
"I am the only princess in the palace. My eldest sister got married a long time ago. I don't even have any playmates in the palace. It would be great if you could come to the palace to keep me company more often."
"I wanted to ask my mother to let you enter the palace to be my study companion, but she refused no matter what..."
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