"Your seventh aunt is seriously ill, come back quickly."

This short sentence caused a huge wave of shock in Yuan Xi's heart. The Seventh Aunt was as kind to her as a mother, and was the person she relied on the most when she was in the Prime Minister's Mansion. How could she suddenly fall ill, and what disease did she have?

Yuan Xi's hand holding the letter slowly dropped, and worry, fear and doubt crept into her heart. She understood that although the mansion looked peaceful now, it was actually on the verge of collapse and full of crises. The moment Xiao Du knew his life experience, he was looking for a solution every day to find a way out for Xiao Jiajun and the mansion.

But why did Daddy send me such a letter at this time? He knew too well the position of Seventh Aunt in his heart. No matter whether the disease was real or not, she would definitely go back to see her. But what if this was just a trap? Would he use me to deal with Xiao Du?

Xiao Du saw the doubt in her eyes, and looked at the letter again. He held her shoulders and said, "It's okay. I'll go with you."

Yuan Xi turned around abruptly and said, "No, you can't go!"

Xiao Du rested her head on his shoulder and said softly, "You once told me that Aunt Seven has treated you like her own daughter since you were a child. I think she must want to see what kind of person your husband is."

Yuan Xi felt her eyes warm up immediately, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart. She had indeed thought of this before. The Seventh Aunt was always worried that she would not have a good life in the Marquis' Mansion. If she could see with her own eyes how Xiao Du treated her, she would probably feel more at ease. But what kind of place is the Left Prime Minister's Mansion? How could he just go there casually? Moreover, he was now of a special status, and he could not make any mistakes at every step.

Xiao Du saw through her thoughts, gently wiped away the tears that were falling from her cheeks, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, that's your home, not a den of dragons and tigers. If I walk in so openly, your father will not be able to eat me."

Yuan Xi leaned her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, and suddenly felt a little proud. This was her husband. He was not a prince, but a man who held her at the top of his heart, regarded the people she cared about most as his relatives, and thought of her in every way.

On the second day, the two of them made some arrangements and went to the Left Prime Minister's Residence together. When Xiao Du's tall figure appeared in the flower hall with Yuan Xi, Du Guangping, the Prime Minister's General Manager, was really surprised. He had only received news that the young lady might return home, but who knew that there would be such a man following her.

As an excellent steward of the Prime Minister's residence, Du Guangping was most proud of who was at odds with whom in the court, who was a close friend of whom, and he had a complete account in his mind, so he never made any mistakes in entertaining guests or hosting banquets. But this time, he was a little dumbfounded. This Xuanyuan Marquis had always been at odds with his own Prime Minister, but he was the Prime Minister's aunt, and his status was also extremely noble. What kind of etiquette should he use to receive him? As he thought about it, he couldn't help but secretly glance up, and saw that the man had a dignified figure and a noble temperament. He secretly made a decision: since the Prime Minister was not here anyway, it would be right to be more attentive.

He then bowed respectfully and said, "I am honored to see you, Your Excellency. It is my great honor to meet you today."

Xiao Du seemed to be in a good mood. He looked at him with a smile and said, "I have heard of your name for a long time. I am sorry that you had a lot of trouble when I was in the Prime Minister's Mansion the other night."

Du Guangping thought about the troubles of the past few days and always felt that the smile on this person's face was a bit malicious, so he bit his tongue secretly and was about to say a few more flattering words when he suddenly felt a gust of cold wind coming from behind. He turned around and saw that the flattering smile on his face was frozen there. He didn't know whether to hang up or close it. He swallowed his saliva secretly and said with a wry smile, "Prime Minister, how come you are here so quickly?"

Xia Mingyuan raised his eyebrows coldly, and Du Guangping immediately realized that he had said something wrong. He wanted to slap himself a few times, why did he accidentally say what was in his heart. He looked at the two men who looked at each other like two gods, one with a dark face and the other with a dagger hidden in his smile. He felt that he could not do this job anymore, so he quickly found an excuse and sneaked away.

Xia Mingyuan glanced at Xiao Du with a sinister look. He didn't expect that he would dare to enter his residence so brazenly, and even smiled with a relaxed face, as if he was really just visiting his father-in-law's house. Then he set his eyes on Yuan Xi, who was standing beside him with a worried look on her face, and snorted coldly, "You're here just now, I'm afraid your seventh aunt won't last long, go and see her."

Yuan Xi's eyes widened, and his hand shook so much that the teacup fell to the ground.

What she didn't expect was that Seventh Aunt was really ill, and very ill.

It was still the familiar room, but now it was filled with the bitter smell of medicine. The man who had watched her grow up and given her the most warmth was now lying weakly on the bed. After only a few months of not seeing him, he was already as thin as a stick, with his cheeks sunken and only a pair of empty eyes looking upwards.

Yuan Xi felt as if her chest had been hit hard. She covered her mouth and cried out in pain. She rushed to the bedside of Seventh Aunt and called out in a trembling voice, "Seventh Aunt, Xi'er is here."

The Seventh Aunt moved her cloudy eyes towards her, and then they glowed with a strange light. Tears flowed down the fine lines on her face. She held her wrist with trembling hands and said, "Xi'er, you are finally here. I never thought that I could really see you again."

Yuan Xi was already sobbing and shaking her head, saying, "I'm sorry, it's Xi'er who is unfilial. I only came to see you now."

But Seventh Aunt cried sadly, "No, it's Aunt who is sorry for you, sorry for you..." She wanted to say something else, but suddenly caught a glimpse of Xia Mingyuan's tall figure blocking the door, and immediately stopped talking.

Yuan Xi was in grief and didn't notice her strange behavior. At this time, Xiao Du had already walked over, gently held the Seventh Aunt's hand, and said, "Seventh Aunt, I am Yuan Xi's husband. I came to see you today with her."

The Seventh Aunt was immediately excited. She had never expected that this person was the legendary Marquis Xuanyuan. She struggled to stand up and greet him, but Xiao Du held her down tightly and said, "Xi'er has always told me that you have taken care of her since she was a child, and your relationship is even better than that of a biological mother and daughter. Since she regards you as her mother, you are also my mother. Today I am only visiting you as a son-in-law. There is no need to be polite."

The Seventh Aunt was shaking with excitement. She could hear how much the legendary woman cherished Yuan Xi, and she could see the deep affection between the two when they looked at each other. Her heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally let go a little, but at the same time, another kind of fear became stronger. She turned her eyes to Xia Mingyuan and said in a hoarse voice: "Prime Minister, I want to have a private talk with Xi'er. I wonder if you can let her stay alone with me for a while."

Xia Mingyuan did not move at all, and said coldly: "Just say whatever you want to say, don't bother with me."

The light in the Seventh Aunt's eyes faded, and Yuan Xi talked to her for a long time, but she was not interested. Seeing her tired expression, Yuan Xi thought she was too tired, but she was unwilling to meet too hastily, so she boldly asked Xia Mingyuan to take the Seventh Aunt back to the Marquis' Mansion. However, Xia Mingyuan flatly refused, saying that the Seventh Aunt was from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and if she left the mansion due to serious illness, it would give people a chance to talk.

Yuan Xi showed disappointment in her eyes, but Xiao Du supported her shoulders, suggesting that she should not be too anxious and could slowly make plans. Yuan Xi nodded, knowing that this was the only way. At this time, Xia Mingyuan said, "Okay, your seventh aunt is not in good health and it is not suitable to talk too much now. We have already met, so you should leave first."

Yuan Xi held Seventh Aunt's hand and was reluctant to let go, but Seventh Aunt's eyes suddenly lit up in surprise. She reached out and grabbed Yuan Xi's collar and said, "Xi'er, don't forget Seventh Aunt, don't forget how you stayed in my room every day."

Yuan Xi couldn't stop her tears from flowing, and she felt heartbroken. Suddenly, she felt a foreign object stuffed into her clothes. She stared at Seventh Aunt in surprise, and saw sadness, expectation and despair in her eyes. She reached out and touched her face, and said in a very low voice: "Don't blame Seventh Aunt, don't blame me, Aunt has no choice."

"That's enough!" Xia Mingyuan finally lost his patience and stood beside the two of them, saying, "She won't be able to hold on any longer. If you don't mind, just have lunch in the mansion before leaving."

Yuan Xi was still immersed in the shock just now. At this moment, she found that the look that Seventh Aunt gave her father was full of hatred. Thinking of the thing in her arms, she naturally did not dare to delay. So she said goodbye to Xiao Du in a hurry and took the carriage back to the Marquis' Mansion.

In the carriage, Yuan Xi took out the thing in her arms and found it was a tightly wrapped medicine bag. She felt more and more strange. She opened the bag and found black medicine residue inside. She suddenly remembered what the Seventh Aunt said to her. When she was eight years old, she often stayed in the Seventh Aunt's room because she had to take medicine every day.

She exclaimed in surprise: "This! This seems to be the residue of medicine I took when I was a child."

Xiao Du frowned and asked, "What medicine? Why do you want to take medicine?"

Yuan Xi said, "I think I had a strange disease when I was eight years old. Dad found a doctor for me and he said that I could only be cured by taking this medicine when I reach the age of 15."

Xiao Du's heart was inexplicably shocked. Why did the Seventh Aunt leave the medicine residue behind, and why did she secretly give it to Yuan Xi at the last moment? So he held Yuan Xi's hand and soothed her, "It's okay. Go back and ask Doctor Zuo to take a look and you'll understand."

In the main room of the Marquis's Mansion, Zuo Qiao carefully examined the medicine residue for a long time. Suddenly, his face turned pale, and then he turned to Yuan Xi and asked, "May I ask, Madam, how long have you taken these medicines?"

Yuan Xi replied in a daze: "I have been eating it for about six years."

Doctor Zuo's expression became uglier and uglier. He quickly walked over to her and said, "Madam, please let me feel your pulse again."

He placed his finger on Yuan Xi's wrist for a moment, and suddenly the finger began to tremble. Seeing him like this, Xiao Du and Yuan Xi were both shocked and confused, and asked hurriedly, "What's going on?"

Who would have thought that Zuo Qiao would lift up his robe, stand up, and kneel down with a plop, but he was trembling and dared not speak. Xiao Du urged him with a dark face: "What's the matter? Tell me quickly!"

Zuo Qiao raised his head, his eyes hesitant, and after a while he trembled and said, "If I am not mistaken, this medicine contains all very cold substances. If a woman takes it for a long time, I am afraid it will...will..."

Xiao Du stood up suddenly and said, "What will happen? Tell me now!"

The experienced old doctor sighed helplessly and finally said, "If you take this medicine for a long time, it will cause uterine coldness that is difficult to cure. You can't... you can't get pregnant."