Long Yang clenched his fingers.

He had not carried any of his children since they were born. He had carried the little princess, but with that child, he had nearly…

Stabs of pain struck his heart.

“I haven’t learned how to carry a child yet and Grandmother does not trust me with them. She won’t let me carry them.”

Lu Liangwei almost laughed when she heard the sorrow in his voice.

“That’s fine. I don’t know how to carry them properly either. We can learn together.” She tried her best not to laugh out loud.

Long Yang felt a bit more relaxed as he laid down next to her.

Lu Liangwei snuggled against his arms.

Long Yang hugged her tightly. “You’re still weak. You should sleep a little longer.”

“Alright.” Lu Liangwei found a comfortable spot in his embrace and closed her eyes.

Soon, Lu Liangwei drifted off to sleep, her breathing calm and peaceful.

Long Yang lowered his head to look at her. He slowly bent down to kiss her gently on the forehead.

He had lost and found her again, which made Long Yang cherish her all the more.

…

Zhu Yu was leaning against the corridor wall. She had forced herself not to cry in front of her mistress; now that there was no one around, her tears flowed freely.

She sobbed quietly. She had let her mistress down, she had let the little princess down.

She rammed her head against the corridor pillar over and over, punishing herself.

Zhu Yu felt so drowned in guilt that she did not notice a man coming toward her from the opposite direction.

Just as she was about to smash her head on the pillar once more, a warm palm abruptly reached out to stop her.

Zhu Yu raised her head in a daze. When she saw that it was Chu Yi, she quickly lowered it again. A thought crossed her mind and she quickly looked up at him hopefully. “When did you return? Is there news?”

Chu Yi did not want to crush her hopes, but he did not want to lie to her either.

He shook his head with conflicted emotions. “There’s no news. Master sent me and Chu Jiu back first in case Her Highness suspected something.”

He was equally crestfallen with the abduction of the little princess.

On top of that, Chu Qi had gone missing too. Chu Yi felt frustrated and helpless, but he tried to suppress those emotions.

Zhu Yu lowered her gaze in disappointment at those words.

“This is all my fault. I’m to blame…” she mumbled as she blamed herself, her mind full of hate and regret.

Chu Yi looked at her red and puffy eyes, as well as her damaged forehead, and his heart went out to her for what she was going through. Without warning, he reached out to pull her into an embrace.

“Listen to me, Zhu Yu. This had nothing to do with you and it isn’t your fault. Stop torturing yourself. No one wanted this to happen, but it did nevertheless. What has it got to do with you? Listen, Her Highness still needs your care and you can’t afford to be doing anything silly now. You know how smart Her Highness is. She can easily notice if something is wrong and you can’t allow her to suspect anything, or you would truly be letting her down.”

As Zhu Yu allowed herself to rest in his embrace, listening to urgent words, a thought crossed her mind. She quickly pushed him away and fished out her handkerchief, wiping away her tears hastily.

After that, she asked Chu Yi, “How do I look right now? Would Miss suspect anything?”

Chu Yi sighed and gave her a suggestion. “You’ve hurt your forehead. If Her Highness asks about it, just say that you haven’t been sleeping well the last few days and bumped your head because you were distracted.”

“Alright.” Zhu Yu applied pressure to the wound on her forehead with her handkerchief. She suddenly thought about something else and said to him, “Thank you, Brother Chu Yi.”

Chu Yi held her hand. “I’m your fiancé, you silly girl. There’s no need to be so formal. Come on, let’s go get you some medicine so you’ll heal faster.”

Zhu Yu had already mentally strained herself to the limit and did not resist at all as Chu Yi led her away by the hand.