An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

In the evening, wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen. Xiaoyu arrived on time, and Ayue followed, but sensibly did not go in. She just sat under the persimmon tree in the yard waiting for Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu knocked on the door gently and called out cautiously, "Miss, Xiaoyu is here. The maid has started cooking."

No one in the room responded.

She called a few more times, her voice gradually trembling: "Miss, the sun is already at the top of the tree...Is the rain coming too early?"

Still no one answered.

Xiaoyu pushed open the door carefully, and the afternoon sun shone through the window lattice onto the bed - the curtains were not drawn, and Jing Chunxi lay quietly with a pale face.

The smile on Xiaoyu's face gradually froze, and her steps became slower and slower, until -

"Sister?" Her eyes suddenly widened, and the pebbles in her hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

--Blood.

On the bed, dark red bloodstains soaked the bedding, and a blood-stained dagger lay quietly beside Jing Chunxi.

"Oh no! Someone's murdered! The young lady has been killed!" Xiaoyu screamed, stumbling out of the room and rushing towards Ayue. "Miss Ayue, call for help! There's so much blood... Sister, the young lady can't move!"

Ah Yue's face turned pale instantly, and she grabbed Xiao Yu's arm tightly. "What did you say? Killed? Impossible!" She dragged her tears and desperately dragged Xiao Yu into the house. "I want to go and see!"

"No! Go find my wife quickly!" Xiaoyu struggled, tears streaming down her face as the two of them pulled each other.

The September fruit on the persimmon tree had already fallen to the ground. Her heart sank, and she didn't bother to comfort the two children. She said sternly, "Miss, is something wrong?" She didn't hear any extra sounds. "How is that possible?"

"Don't come into the house! I'm going to find the master!" Before he finished speaking, he rushed to the front yard like an arrow.

-

Xu Zize had just finished discussing his return to the capital and was heading to the backyard, wanting to see Jing Chunxi before going to dinner. Unexpectedly, he ran into Jiu Yue, who was running towards him. She hurriedly said, "Your Highness! Something's happened to the young lady!"

His pupils suddenly shrank, and before Jiu Yue could finish her words, he had already passed her like a gust of wind and rushed straight towards Jing Chunxi's courtyard.

Jiu Yue didn't dare delay and ran all the way to the front yard. He grabbed a servant and shouted, "Quick! Tell Uncle Kuaijiao and Qingfeng to go to the young lady's courtyard! And the madam! Everyone, go over there!"

At the same time, Xiaoyu and Ayue also stumbled towards Aunt Wei's yard. Their faces were pale, their lips were trembling, and they couldn't even cry.

When Xu Zize rushed into the house, his breathing almost stopped.

——Jing Chunxi lay quietly on the bed, the dark red bloodstains under his body were shocking, and the bloodstains on the dagger made his eyes go black.

"Xier!" He roared, almost falling to his knees in front of the bed, and picked her up with trembling hands, holding her tightly in his arms.

Her body was a little cold, her cheeks as pale as paper. His heart almost exploded, and his voice broke: "Xi'er... don't scare me, wake up... please wake up..."

His fingers clasped her shoulders tightly, as if this could retain her warmth, and his forehead rested against the top of her head.

He trembled all over, countless terrible thoughts flashing through his mind - who hurt her? Where were the secret guards? Why didn't anyone notice?! If anything happened to her...

He didn't know when Aunt Wei came into the room and sniffed Jing Chunxi's breath.

"Xiaokang, get up! Let the doctor take a look!" Aunt Wei's voice came, but Xu Zize still turned a deaf ear to it. He just hugged the person in his arms tighter, and his knuckles turned white due to the force.

It was not until the doctor stepped forward tremblingly and Aunt Wei forcibly pried his hands apart that he relaxed his grip as if awakened from a dream.

-

"This..." After a careful examination, the doctor's expression was subtle, and he whispered, "Young Master, Madam, and Miss are all fine. It's just... her menarche. She's just grown up."

The room suddenly became silent.

Xu Zize froze in place, the fear on his face still lingering, but already tinged with a hint of confusion.

At this moment, Jing Chunxi opened his eyes in a daze and looked at Xu Zize's face which was very close to him - his eyes were red, cold sweat was hanging on his forehead, and he looked like he had survived a disaster.

She looked around blankly and saw the doctor, Aunt Wei, Tang Shuang and Chun Tao standing in front of the bed. She looked down at her blood-stained dress and suddenly understood -

"..."

She grabbed the thin blanket and covered her head tightly with it.

For several consecutive days, Jing Chunxi was listless and was restricted from going out, not even leaving the room.

Except for going to the toilet, she spent most of the day lying in bed or on the couch, and she had no interest in anything.

She kept the quilt warm with a hot water bottle, but she couldn't help but feel a dull pain in her lower abdomen, so she curled up like a sick kitten. The occasional laughter of two little girls outside the window made the room even more quiet.

Xu Zize naturally didn't dare to come over again. That day, Jing Chunxi was so embarrassed that she covered her head with the quilt, and her whole face was as hot as a boiled shrimp.

He also fled in a hurry following the doctor, not even caring about the prince's etiquette that he usually paid the most attention to. The hem of his robe caught on the door sill and he almost stumbled.

Qingfeng, Luying and Kuaijiao, who had no idea what was going on and were still waiting at the gate of the courtyard, were completely bewildered. They looked at each other in bewilderment at their master's rare appearance of embarrassment.

Fortunately, there were not many people in the room at that time, and the two little guys were silenced in time, otherwise Jing Chunxi would not have had to go out.

Although he didn't understand why, Qingfeng cleverly closed the courtyard gate and kept the curious servants outside, so that the young lady's embarrassing situation would not be known to everyone in the house.

The two little guys, who were originally scared half to death, are now very happy. They run to their sister's room every day with their short legs. They always like to lie on the edge of the bed and use their chubby little hands to turn the rope to entertain Jing Chunxi.

But they couldn't stay long. To relieve their boredom and see Jing Chunxi's condition, they rolled their big eyes around and ran to the front yard like two happy little birds. Their silvery laughter could be heard as their skirts fluttered.

Chuntao and Tangshuang were ordered to stay and take care of the young lady, and they were replaced by Xiaoman and two guards.

Qingfeng brought over some freshly made candied fruit bought on the street, put it in a gilded lacquer box and placed it next to Jing Chunxi's pillow. His Highness said that it could suppress the bitterness of the medicine.

Zhengyue no longer followed his new master to the streets, and went to the front yard every two hours to bring food to Jing Chunxi.

Jing Chunxi didn't even realize she was so serious, and he used Aunt Wei's words to coerce and bribe her, insisting on watching the young lady finish eating those strange things before he would leave, and even checked the bottom of the bowl to make sure it was clean.

The snack after breakfast was red dates, white fungus and bird's nest. The crystal clear bird's nest strands floated in the amber syrup. The sweet taste was ok, but the ones served in the afternoon and evening gave Jing Chunxi a headache.

Especially the bowl of fish maw and black chicken soup. She could smell the strong fishy smell as soon as it was brought into the room, which made her wrinkle her nose unconsciously.

The soaked and stewed fish maw floated on the chicken soup, and the translucent gelatin trembled and swayed, making her think of things she shouldn't think about.

Jing Chunxi stirred the soup with a silver spoon, and a circle of oil immediately appeared on the surface. The black chicken soup she wanted to drink became difficult to swallow. Swallowing a mouthful of fish maw made her feel nauseous for a long time, so she quickly grabbed a candied fruit and put it in her mouth.

As for the indescribable smell of brown sugar and donkey-hide gelatin, the dark brown liquid in the white porcelain bowl was particularly glaring. Jing Chunxi always pinched his nose and gulped it down like medicine, then quickly held the osmanthus candy prepared by Chuntao in his mouth, fearing that the rusty taste would linger in his mouth for a moment longer.