Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Jiang Caiyue said, "Your Highness's fever has subsided considerably, and you are generally fine. However, you still need to rest for a few days and avoid moving around. Your Highness may not know, but when you were first brought here, you were burning up like a furnace."

Seeing this, Guo Ziyi finally felt somewhat relieved.

But he still said with a stern face, "Your Highness, please don't try to be brave. Your body is your own responsibility."

Li Mao nodded repeatedly, not intending to argue with Guo Ziyi at this time.

but……

He looked at the bitter medicine in his hand and asked Jiang Caiyue, "Can I not drink it?"

Li Mao hated the herbal medicine of this era the most. It had all sorts of strange and mixed flavors, and he had no idea what herbs Jiang Caiyue put in it. Sometimes, cockroaches and centipedes were even used as medicine.

Jiang Caiyue also imitated Guo Ziyi with a stern face: "No."

Li Mao: "..."

Alright, these guys are all going to turn the world upside down!

Li Mao seized the opportunity to pick up the medicine bowl, preparing to give himself a quick and painless end.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze upon him. He looked up towards the door and saw Ya Ru standing behind Jiang Caiyue, her face filled with remorse. Ya Ru's eyes were filled with self-blame and guilt, especially seeing everyone so concerned about Li Mao, while she could do nothing but cause trouble.

When Ya Ru saw Li Mao looking at her, she stammered, "I...I'll serve His Highness Prince Shou. I'll feed His Highness his medicine."

Jiang Caiyue glanced at Ya Ru and said, "Alright, with you watching over His Highness, there's no need to worry about him not taking his medicine properly. Remember to make sure he drinks it all. From now on, three times a day, without fail."

Ya Ru nodded emphatically, accepting the task of feeding Li Mao his medicine in the future.

Li Mao hurriedly said, "No, no, no, Ya Ru is now a princess. How can she condescend to feed medicine to someone like that? That's outrageous!"

“What’s the point of talking about status between us? Besides, you are a prince, and I am just a princess from another race.” Ya Ru resolutely refused: “Does Your Highness despise me? If you don’t despise me, you should allow me to feed Your Highness medicine.”

Li Mao was speechless again.

Well, he's a grown man, there's nothing he can't drink a bowl of medicine.

A few days later, Li Mao's health had greatly improved.

Although he still has scars on his shoulder, he is now able to walk.

Jiang Caiyue entered the room with the scar-removing ointment and said to Li Mao, "Your Highness, this is a scar-removing ointment that I specially formulated. Although it cannot completely eliminate scars, it can lighten them considerably."

Women love beauty and wouldn't allow themselves to have such obvious scars, so I think Li Mao would also care.

Unexpectedly, Li Mao shook his head and said with a smile, "Since it's just better than nothing, there's no need to use it. This is proof of my heroic rescue of the damsel in distress, how can it be easily erased? Let it stay!"

Ya Ru listened from the side, her face slightly flushed, and muttered softly, "It's all my fault..."

“It’s not your fault,” Li Mao said with a wave of his hand, “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be a hero and save the damsel in distress.”

Jiang Caiyue smiled slightly, put down the ointment, and turned to Ya Ru, saying, "Since Your Highness has said so, don't think about it anymore. Your Highness has been saying that he wants me to teach you some musical instruments, calligraphy, painting, singing, and dancing. I'm going to start today, what do you say?"

"This prince is truly ruthless. He just made me a doctor for so long, and now he's making me an instructor. He really knows how to squeeze every last drop out of someone!"

Seeing Jiang Caiyue express such sentiments, Li Mao quickly said, "The capable should do more, after all, you're the most capable among us."

Jiang Caiyue smiled but didn't answer, though her expression was pleasant.

Ya Ru pointed to herself, and said without much confidence, "Me...can I do it too?"

Jiang Caiyue nodded and smiled, "Of course. Look at you, you are beautiful, graceful, and very smart. You should be able to learn these things with ease. I have a family secret technique called 'Dance of the Startled Swan,' which I will teach you. Moreover, this is His Highness's wish. His Highness thinks highly of you, so you don't need to belittle yourself."

Ya Ru's eyes lit up, and she nodded quickly: "I will study hard!"

The next morning, Jiang Caiyue brought Ya Ru to Guo Ziyi's residence, to her own small courtyard. Now that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were spending all their time in the military camp, this huge residence had become her territory.

Aside from Li Mao, who was recuperating from her injuries, there was Ya Ru, who was naturally left to be placed however Jiang Caiyue wished to.

"Now I'll teach you the basic steps of the 'Dance of the Startled Swan.' You've sung and danced on the grasslands before, so you have a foundation. Follow me step by step, it'll be no problem." Jiang Caiyue moved gracefully, her dance steps were elegant and graceful.

Ya Ru tried her best to imitate Jiang Caiyue's movements, but inevitably she was clumsy.

Jiang Caiyue encouraged her, "Take it slow, things will get better and better."

When Li Mao entered the courtyard, this was the scene he saw.

—Ya Ru was trying hard to imitate Jiang Caiyue's movements. Although her movements were still a bit clumsy, it was clear that she was very serious. Jiang Caiyue patiently guided her from the side, correcting her posture from time to time.

Ya Ru's forehead was slightly sweaty, but she did not relax at all. She stared intently at Jiang Caiyue's every move, trying to memorize them completely and then reproduce them on herself little by little.

Seeing this, Li Mao became even more satisfied.

Ya Ru is humble, eager to learn, and obedient; such a person will succeed in whatever she learns.

"Your Highness, you've arrived." Jiang Caiyue looked up and saw Li Mao, stopping her dance to greet him.

Li Mao nodded and praised, "Ya Ru did a great job, she's very talented. Cai Yue, you've worked hard too."

Ya Ru blushed upon hearing Li Mao's praise: "Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness."

Jiang Caiyue was quite generous, saying frankly, "We are indeed tired. Since Your Highness has praised us, you certainly wouldn't mind if we rested for a while and had some water before we talked."

For several days in a row, in addition to teaching Jiang Caiyue the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, Li Mao also instructed Guo Ziyi to teach Ya Ru martial arts techniques. He claimed that if something like Shi Siming's private army invasion were to happen again in Chang'an, it would be good for a member of the royal family to know some martial arts skills.

Guo Ziyi was unwilling to do so, and complained, "I am a grown man, meant to fight on the battlefield, how can I be a tutor to a little girl?!"

Nevertheless, under Li Mao's insistence, he reluctantly agreed.

Half a day passed, and Guo Ziyi taught Ya Ru a few moves, but his expression was clearly not good: "How many times have I told you? Why are you always so slow?"

Ya Ru was startled and said timidly, "General Guo, I... I did my best."

Although she was a princess in name only, she never considered herself one. Especially when facing Tang generals like Guo Ziyi, she inevitably showed some timidity and her attitude was very soft.