However, there was more shame and indignation.
Just as his scars were repeatedly exposed to Su Wanyan, even the right to secretly lick them in the shadows was taken away from him.
His dignity was repeatedly thrown to the ground by her, as if it could never be picked up again.
He opened his eyes, propped himself up, and turned around coldly, intending to kick Su Wanyan out. However, he hesitated before he could finish speaking.
Su Wanyan had fallen asleep by the bedside at some point, her slightly open mouth drooling, looking utterly exhausted.
Yu Nanqing frowned. Just a moment ago she felt extremely humiliated, but now her anger had vanished without a trace.
He clenched his fists, then finally lay back down with his back to Su Wanyan, without saying a word.
A moment later, Yu Nanqing grabbed the sheet and swung it around, the corner of the sheet steadily covering Su Wanyan.
The next day, early in the morning, Su Wanyan went to the kitchen.
As she lifted one of the pot lids to get something to eat, her hand was suddenly grabbed.
The pot lid that had just been lifted was slammed back down with a "smack".
"Your Highness, I'm sorry, but none of the food prepared in the kitchen today is for the main courtyard." Xu Si smiled sarcastically, his words full of contempt and mockery.
As they spoke, people gathered around them.
Su Wanyan looked around warily, frowning: "What do you mean?"
"That's exactly what I meant." He then turned fierce.
The people around her were about to rush forward and grab Su Wanyan.
Su Wanyan reacted quickly, pulling a torch from the stove and waving it sharply: "Don't come any closer!"
The people around were startled, and even Xu Si took a step back.
"Your Highness, I told you yesterday that it would be too late to beg for mercy after this happened!" Xu Si shouted. "That's right, today is the day to deliver the Prince's meal. People have probably already gone to the main courtyard. Hehe, so Your Highness doesn't need to do the meal delivery yourself."
Judging from Xu Si's tone, it was clear that this meal delivery was not a good thing.
"Pah, you utterly arrogant lackey!" Su Wanyan spat and threw the torch at him.
"Hey hey hey... Ah ah..." Xu Si hurriedly dodged, but his sleeves were still burned by the fire. In a panic, he patted the flames and shouted repeatedly, "Fire! Quick, put out the fire!"
Taking advantage of the chaos, Su Wanyan pulled out a few more pieces of firewood and threw them directly into the woodpile in the kitchen. In an instant, the fire started burning along the wall.
"Fire! Help! Fire!" someone in the kitchen shouted.
Before the fire could get going, Su Wanyan opened the steamer and stuffed several buns into her arms before hurriedly leaving the kitchen.
The kitchen of the Prince's mansion was in complete chaos. Su Wanyan didn't even turn her head and ran straight to the main courtyard.
Xu Si's words always made her uneasy.
Sure enough, before she even reached the main courtyard, she saw two soldiers standing at the courtyard gate in the distance. In addition to the courtyard gate, there were also two soldiers standing on either side of the door. Their armor clearly indicated that they came from the palace.
Su Wanyan slowed down when she reached the courtyard gate, and only started running again when she saw that the two soldiers did not intend to stop her.
Before even entering, a hoarse and sorrowful voice came from inside: "Your Highness, it is this sinful subject's incompetence that prevented me from saving you from this dire situation. This sinful subject is truly...ashamed beyond measure..."
Su Wanyan glanced at the two soldiers at the door before gently pushing the door open and going inside.
Passing through the main hall and a side room, Su Wanyan cautiously peered through the arched doorway and was startled to see a prisoner in chains on his hands and feet, kneeling before Yu Nanqing's bed, weeping bitterly.
His hair was gray and messy, piled on top of his head, making him look to be in his fifties or sixties.
His prison uniform was still stained with the blood from his torture. He said with deep regret, "This sinful subject truly wishes that I was the one who led the army there back then. If that were the case, Your Highness wouldn't have... wouldn't have..."
At this point, he trembled all over: "Your Highness... this sinner deserves to die!"
Yu Nanqing turned his eyes away, his eyes devoid of life: "The Battle of Xiaoshui was due to my incompetence, what does it have to do with you?"
"Your Highness, please don't say that..."
"Now, I can't even protect you all. The one who deserves to die the most... is me..."
"No, no... Your Highness, you must live, you must live." The prisoner's hands trembled as he suddenly picked up the bowl from the ground.
Su Wanyan frowned and tilted her head to look; the rice in the bowl seemed to have grown mold.
The prisoner picked up some rice with his chopsticks and said, "Your Highness, please eat something... If you don't eat, your body won't be able to take it..."
As soon as she finished speaking, tears streamed down her face again. Their prince had once been so glorious, but now he had fallen so low that he could only eat spoiled food. They had fought for the Great Jin Dynasty in the north and south, so why had they ended up like this?
Heaven is unjust!
Yu Nanqing sighed softly and finally opened her mouth.
Su Wanyan's heart skipped a beat, and she rushed over: "Don't eat!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a "smack" was slapped away from his hand, and the rice fell to the ground.
"Ah...?" The prisoner's voice trembled, and he subconsciously reached out to pick it up, his eyes filled with heartache and panic.
Seeing that it was too late to pick it up, she burst into tears again.
He knew that the prince could only eat this meal once every three days, and now, even this meal had been ruined. Was even God trying to kill them?
"Oh, don't cry. If you're crying because of this meal, I have some here." Su Wanyan squatted down, pulled out two large steamed buns from her bosom, and stuffed them into the prisoner's hands: "Here, have some."
After that, he took out two more from his bosom and placed them by the bedside, saying to Yu Nanqing, "Time is tight and the task is heavy, so I only took four. I'll give you one of these two."
After saying that, he reached out and tore off a piece and stuffed it into Yu Nanqing's mouth.
The prisoner's eyes widened in disbelief, completely focused: "You...who are you?"
"Su Wanyan, the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yuanning, just married into the family the day before yesterday." After saying that, she shook the prisoner's hand: "Nice to meet you."
"Ah...?" The prisoner trembled again: "That is... Her Highness the Princess!"
He hurriedly bowed and kowtowed, but Su Wanyan grabbed him and said, "No need, no need. It's inappropriate to kowtow at a time like this."
The prisoner looked somewhat bewildered and stared blankly at Yu Nanqing.
But Yu Nanqing had already slowly closed his eyes, seemingly unwilling to talk any further.
"Judging from your appearance, you must be some kind of prisoner, right? Why are you here? Did those soldiers escort you here?" Su Wanyan asked.
The prisoner bowed sadly: "This sinner's surname is Lü, given name Cezhong. I was originally the commander of the Dragon Cavalry Army, under the command of the Prince."
"Oh!" Su Wanyan's eyes widened: "He was a meritorious official, how could he be imprisoned?"
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