Chu Chu was momentarily taken aback. "What kind of help?"
"Guard Leng will explain shortly..." The Emperor glanced at Qing Ping, still unconscious in Chu Chu's arms. "Jing Yi, escort Prince Cheng back to Prince An Manor. Make haste."
"As you command."
"The rest of you ministers shall accompany me to the palace for deliberations." The Emperor looked apologetically at Xiao Jue, whose sickly pallor remained. "Prince of Wu Commandery, since you've assumed the post of Minister of War, I must trouble you to endure this hardship as well."
Xiao Jue gave a slight nod. "This subject obeys your decree..."
"Your Majesty, after you."
"Great Khan, after you."
By the time Xiao Jin Yu emerged from the palace, night had fully descended. Returning to Prince An Manor, he summoned Wu Jiang and several others, remaining occupied in the Hall of Ten Admonishments until late into the night. Before even entering his chambers, he detected an enticing aroma wafting through the air.
"Wang Ye, you're back."
Hearing the sound of wooden wheels rolling over the ground, Chu Chu hurried out. She welcomed Xiao Jin Yu inside, retrieved a clay pot from the small stove beneath the window, and ladled out a steaming bowl of Chinese yam and spare rib congee. Handing it to him, she sat opposite, watching with a beaming smile. "It's a bit hot, so eat slowly."
Xiao Jin Yu occasionally attended banquets at the palace for official business or celebrations. He would only drink a few unavoidable toasts and touch none of the food. If he didn't consume something warm upon returning, those few cups of wine would inevitably cause stomach pain lasting until the following evening. During such times, Chu Chu would always prepare a pot of congee or soup in advance, keeping it warm on the small stove in their room so he could eat immediately upon his return.
Xiao Jin Yu scooped half a spoonful into his mouth. The familiar savory flavor, combined with the equally familiar smiling face before him, gave him a fleeting illusion—as if all that had transpired earlier was merely a nightmare, and upon waking, peace and tranquility had returned.
Chu Chu propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin in one hand, her gaze fixed intently on him. She watched until Xiao Jin Yu grew too self-conscious to continue eating.
"Chu Chu..." Unwilling to abandon the congee, Xiao Jin Yu searched for casual conversation to divert her attention from watching him. "What did His Majesty have you do in the prison?"
"Nothing much," Chu Chu straightened up. "His Majesty was worried that Grand Tutor Xue might scheme again if left imprisoned, so he granted Guard Leng's request to execute him personally in that cell—as a way to avenge Prince of Wu Commandery... My task was to verify that Grand Tutor Xue was thoroughly dead."
Xiao Jin Yu nodded slightly. This matter had been discussed during the palace deliberations earlier. Xiao Jue had remained anxious until Leng Yan returned unharmed to report the completion of her mission, finally easing his furrowed brow.
"Actually, there was no need for verification..." Chu Chu absentmindedly let her gaze fall into the bowl in Xiao Jin Yu's hands. "Guard Leng chopped Grand Tutor Xue into several pieces, just like cutting spare ribs. How could he not be completely dead after that..."
Looking at the neatly chopped, delicate spare ribs in his bowl, Xiao Jin Yu hesitated.
"She certainly vented her fury, but then I had to piece Grand Tutor Xue back together, stitch him up, place him in a coffin, and deliver him to the Xue residence... If I hadn't already prepared the spare ribs earlier, returning so late would have made it impossible to cook this congee for you."
Without hesitation, Xiao Jin Yu set his spoon back into the bowl. "Chu Chu... you haven't eaten dinner yet, have you?"
Chu Chu shook her head, pointing to the clay pot on the table. "There's so much congee—you definitely can't finish it all. I'll just eat whatever's left.""Come here." Xiao Jin Yu called Chu Chu to his side, pulled her onto his lap, picked up a spoon to scoop a piece of spare rib from the congee bowl, and fed it to her mouth. "Don't do this again... While you're still not feeling too uncomfortable, eat as much as you can. If you feel worse in the coming days, you'll at least have the strength to endure it."
Chu Chu's small mouth was stuffed full by that piece of spare rib, leaving her only room to give Xiao Jin Yu a sweet smile.
Xiao Jin Yu fed her the remaining half bowl of congee spoonful by spoonful. Even after eating her fill, Chu Chu lingered in his embrace unwilling to get down, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting kiss after kiss on his pale face.
Xiao Jin Yu looked at her with mixed amusement and exasperation. Whenever she had some so-called unreasonable request, she would always cling to him like this, acting coquettish first. In truth, she only needed to speak up—Xiao Jin Yu usually wouldn't refuse her. "Just say what you want to say... I'm getting sleepy."
Sure enough, she had something to say. "Wang Ye, I want to discuss something with you."
"Hmm..."
"After I returned, I went to Mr. Gu's place to see Ping'er and Wulan. Wulan told me she misses her mother, and she asked me when her father would take her home..." Chu Chu pursed her lips, lightly furrowing her brows as she looked seriously at Xiao Jin Yu. "Wang Ye, Wulan is only four years old. It's too pitiful to separate her from her parents now. Could you speak with the Khan and let Wulan return to live with the Turkic people first? When both she and Ping'er grow up, we can have Ping'er marry her then?"
Xiao Jin Yu neither nodded nor shook his head immediately. What Chu Chu said was indeed reasonable, but it truly went against protocol. No dynasty had ever set a precedent for sending a princess who had already been given in marriage back to her maternal home to be raised.
Seeing Xiao Jin Yu's lack of response, Chu Chu grabbed his hand and placed it on her own stomach. "Wang Ye, if Wulan were our child, you definitely wouldn't be willing to leave her alone in someone else's home either."
Xiao Jin Yu stroked Chu Chu's stomach, which had just been filled by his feeding, and smiled wryly silently. Never mind leaving a child in someone else's home—even now, entrusting Qing Ping to Gu He Nian, though they lived just in the backyard, made him uneasy.
"Alright... I'll think of a way."
"Thank you, Wang Ye!" Only after exclaiming this did Chu Chu suddenly remember something. "Oh, right... Wang Ye, when I returned, Shi Niang and Mu Yao were already gone. Steward Zhao said Detective Tang took them away. I don't know where they went, and they didn't leave any message."
Xiao Jin Yu nodded gently. "It was the Emperor's intention... Too many people in the capital know Shi Niang, and her identity is special. To avoid further trouble, it's better for her to go far away... Mu Yao will take good care of her."
Hearing the words "identity," Chu Chu remembered a question she had long wanted to ask. Previously, she thought it unimportant, but now that everything had settled down, it seemed worth asking. "Wang Ye... Since you're no longer the Emperor's son, should we still call you Wang Ye in the future?"
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