Best friends dressed up in ancient times to become mistresses? You run, I run too!

Liu Zhiyi quickly realized everyone's concerns. She pursed her lips and looked at Xia'er.

"Judging by the time, the emperor should be finishing his court session soon. Here's what you'll do: go and keep watch at the gate. If he returns, bring him here. Go quickly."

"Yes."

Xia'er curtsied and quickly left.

Liu Zhiyi sat back down at the table, carefully considering the prescription so that someone could prepare the necessary medicinal herbs.

A short while later, Song Hanchuan strode in, dressed in a bright red official robe.

"Does Xiaoyi call me husband?"

Liu Zhiyi smiled. "Yes, I need your help. Do you have time?"

A hint of doting affection filled Song Hanchuan's eyes as he nodded gently. "Between you and me, there's no need for questions. Whenever you say the word, I'll come running to you."

Her words, spoken with such deep affection, caused everyone in the room to chuckle, while casting envious and teasing glances at Liu Zhiyi.

Even Liu Zhiyi herself blushed inexplicably and couldn't help but give him a reproachful sidelong glance.

"What nonsense are you spouting in front of your servants?"

Seeing that Song Hanchuan was about to open his mouth, Liu Zhiyi was so frightened that she quickly gestured for him to come forward with her chin.

"You've come at the right time. Go help me lift Chu Xiong's blanket and take off his pants."

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Hanchuan's gentle expression froze, and he looked like he had seen a ghost. Chu Xiong and the others present were even more exaggerated, and they almost couldn't catch their breath.

It took Song Hanchuan a long time to find his voice.

"Xiao Yi, do you want to see his legs?"

Song Hanchuan understood Liu Zhiyi and naturally knew that she asked him to pull down someone's pants to examine him, not to be a pervert.

Knowing something is one thing, but actually facing it is another.

He originally intended to ask someone from the Imperial Medical Academy to treat Chu Xiong, but since Xiao Yi spoke up, he agreed.

Knowing she liked medicine, I thought I'd let her practice her skills, but I forgot that to treat a leg, I had to examine the injury first.

Song Hanchuan realized he had been careless.

Even though he was unwilling, things had come to this point, and he couldn't go against her wishes and disappoint her.

I had no choice but to comply.

However, for a man to take off another person's pants is an experience that is hard to describe.

The situation in Chuxiong is equally complicated.

Having come this far, he had no choice but to grit his teeth, close his eyes tightly, and let Song Hanchuan pull down his pants.

Even with his eyes closed, he could feel how cold Song Hanchuan's gaze was as he approached him and stood up after taking off his pants.

It was like ice crystals, staring at him so intently that he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Alright, please, Madam."

Liu Zhiyi suppressed a laugh, pretending not to see how jealous he was, but she also had to act indifferent.

They carefully pressed and examined Chu Xiong's legs.

He couldn't help but frown.

"It looks like the bone was broken more than two years ago. It wasn't set properly back then, and now the break has healed on its own. If you want treatment, the broken bone will need to be re-set."

"But it's not a big problem. You should stay here and rest for two months. Once you're back to normal, I'll come back to operate on your leg."

When Chu Xiong on the bed heard the words "reattach the broken leg," his pupils contracted.

The hand placed beside the bed clenched involuntarily.

Song Hanchuan glanced at him indifferently, then looked away. He gently took Liu Zhiyi's hand and carefully wiped it clean for her, finger by finger, with a pre-cleaned handkerchief.

He then casually tossed the handkerchief to the maid beside him.

His fingertips slipped through Liu Zhiyi's fingers, their fingers intertwined, and they slowly left Jianjia Garden.

On the way, Liu Zhiyi thought of the wild man brother she had brought back from the deserted island.

Suddenly, she realized that she hadn't seen him since she returned, and wondered how he was doing. So she asked Song Hanchuan about it.

Song Hanchuan's expression was somewhat complicated.

She pursed her lips slightly, then turned her gaze to Liu Zhiyi.

"The man's identity is unknown. After I brought him back, I took him into custody. But don't worry, I'm just letting him stay at the estate, where he's well-fed and cared for."

"We'll make a decision after we find out his exact identity."

Liu Zhiyi: "Oh, how's the investigation going?"

Song Hanchuan said, "I had someone wash him up and tidy his appearance, and I found that he didn't look like a Jiang person, but rather like a person from the Northern Kingdom."

"North?"

"Yes, the male members of the Northern Kingdom's royal family all have amber eyes, and that savage also has amber eyes."

However, no princes have been reported missing in the Northern Kingdom in recent years.

There is a rumor that twenty years ago, the late Empress of the Northern Kingdom was framed and died unjustly. Before her death, she was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl.

In terms of age, they are not that different.

"You suspect..."

Song Hanchuan nodded solemnly.

"However, when the late Empress of the Northern Kingdom was dying, her abdomen was swollen, indicating that she had not given birth."

That makes it not match up.

Liu Zhiyi asked, "How far along was she when she was pregnant?"

Song Hanchuan: "It is said that it has been more than seven months."

Liu Zhiyi gently stroked her smooth chin with her fingertips, narrowed her eyes, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Song Hanchuan was somewhat puzzled. "Why is Madam asking this? Since the master is dead, the child in her womb must not survive either, right?"

Liu Zhiyi shook her head slightly.

If nothing is done, the adult will die, and the child will surely die too. But if...

"Since the fetus is more than seven months old, it may survive if it is delivered via cesarean section. However, this is only possible if the fetus is delivered immediately after the mother's death; otherwise, it will not survive."

Song Hanchuan was shocked, never expecting such a thing to exist in the world; it was too unbelievable.

But he quickly denied it.

Because the late Empress of the Northern Kingdom ultimately died by setting herself on fire, which was witnessed by many people at the time, there is no doubt about it. At that time, the protrusion of her abdomen was very obvious.

It was summer then, and the clothes were light and thin, so it was impossible to fake it.

But Liu Zhiyi felt it was entirely possible to cut the baby out, stuff it with miscellaneous materials, and sew it up to create a fake pregnant belly. Then, she could light a fire and make it look like a baby bump when outsiders came.

It's not impossible that he could have used his own life, along with a fire to destroy the evidence, to successfully allow his two children to escape unscathed.

"A person will not die immediately after being cut open."

Song Hanchuan felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "If that's really the case, then that former Empress of the Northern Kingdom is truly admirable."

"Yes, I understand. I will investigate in this direction. If you are right, then I will protect this son of the late empress."

Liu Zhiyi looked at him in surprise.

"Why?"

Song Hanchuan took a deep breath and said solemnly,

"Let's do it... for that great mother."

She could endure the pain of cesarean section with her frail female body, and even burn out her last breath to give her child a chance at survival.

Such a woman deserves the admiration of the whole world.

Song Hanchuan couldn't bear to watch the child of such a great woman die under the oppression of power.