After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

The two servants immediately fell to the ground, clutching the arrows in their chests and writhing in pain. Liu Yunze reacted a little slower, lowering his head and staring blankly at his chest for a long time before realizing he had been hit by an arrow. His knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, grimacing and crying.

"What are you howling about? I'm not asking you to die, is it really that big of a deal?"

Xiao Jinghan rode up on horseback, handed his bow and arrows to Jiang Yue beside him, and stared down at Liu Yunze. "It's you again. Liu Yunze, have you been bored lately? Why are you always looking for trouble?"

Liu Yunze trembled as he gripped the long arrow to his chest, but dared not pull it out, and could only sob.

Amidst Liu Yunze's sobs, Xiao Jinghan calmly inquired, "I've already sent Sui'er away. From whom did you find out about Liu Yuansheng?"

Liu Yunze was in a state of panic, as if he had been shot in the chest and was about to die, and ignored Xiao Jinghan's question. Seeing this, Xiao Jinghan bent down slightly, reached out, and grasped the arrow in Liu Yunze's chest. "Speak up, are you deaf?"

As he spoke, he twisted his wrist, causing the sharp arrowhead to writhe and twist inside Liu Yunze's wound. Liu Yunze was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat. Looking at the blood gushing from his chest, he trembled and said, "It's Sui'er! Before Sui'er left the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, she bribed a nanny to pass on the message to me."

"I see." Xiao Jinghan clicked his tongue. "However, there are many matrons in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. Which one are you referring to?"

"Granny Zhao!" Liu Yunze was nearly frantic, drooling and tears welling in his eyes, "It's Granny Zhao from Chenxiang Courtyard!"

Xiao Jinghan then released his grip, straightened his back, and looked at Liu Yuansheng not far away.

Liu Yuansheng sat on the grass with her hair disheveled, her clothes torn and tattered, and bloodstains covering the places where she had been bound by ropes.

Her face was pale, her eyes were staring blankly into the distance, her whole body was trembling, and she was muttering to herself, looking like she was out of her mind.

Xiao Jinghan frowned slightly as he looked at Liu Yuansheng, and was about to dismount when Ying'er rushed over like a gust of wind, "Miss! Miss, what's wrong, Miss!"

Ying'er rushed to Liu Yuansheng and saw that he was covered in wounds and his face was ashen. She burst into tears.

"Miss! Who did this to you!" Ying'er hugged Liu Yuansheng. "It's all my fault! I failed to protect you!"

The mute servant who arrived with Ying'er draped a clean cloak over Liu Yuansheng and removed the withered leaves from her clothes. Ying'er wiped away her tears and looked at Liu Yunze and the two servants, saying, "It was you who bullied Miss! I will avenge her!"

Ying'er picked up a large rock and hurled it at the servants with all her might, not even sparing her former master, Liu Yunze. "I'll beat you all to death! I'll beat you all to death! How dare you bully my young lady!"

"Even if I want to die, I'll still avenge this young lady!"

Ying'er cried and smashed the object, the louder she cried, the harder she smashed, making the three of them howl in pain. Just as she was smashing the object with great enthusiasm, a scarred hand stopped her. Ying'er looked up and saw only an extremely handsome face, completely failing to recognize that the person was Jiang Yue, the bodyguard of Xiao Jinghan.

Ying'er glared at Jiang Yue with a fierce expression. "Why are you stopping me? Are you in cahoots with them? Then I'll beat you up too!"

Ying'er was about to hit him when she said she would, but Jiang Yue grabbed her wrist again and gestured for her to look behind him.

Ying'er looked closely and saw Xiao Jinghan walking over, heading straight for Liu Yuansheng.

Liu Yuansheng had been helped to her feet by two mute servants, but although she was standing, her soul had been shattered into pieces by the humiliation she had just suffered, and could never be pieced back together. Xiao Jinghan stared at Liu Yuansheng, and seeing that she remained silent and showed no intention of paying attention to her, he waved his hand and ordered the mute servants to help Liu Yuansheng into the carriage.

Then, staring at the three men lying on the ground, their heads smashed by Ying'er, he said, "Who gave you the audacity to touch someone from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!"

The servant who drugged Liu Yuansheng covered his head and said, "Young Master, this has nothing to do with us! We are servants of the Prime Minister's residence and can only obey the Second Young Master's orders!"

"Yes! Otherwise, even if I had a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare to touch the Third Miss!" another servant said.

"You still remember that Liu Yuansheng is the third young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion? How dare you bully your master like this? You must have a death wish!"

As soon as Xiao Jinghan finished speaking, guards stepped forward and placed knives against the necks of the three men.

Liu Yunze convulsed with fear, repeatedly kowtowing to Xiao Jinghan, "Your Highness! Please let me explain! I didn't bully Liu Yuansheng, I only wanted to scare her, I didn't mean to really hurt her! It's her fault for refusing to help me!"

"Hmm." Xiao Jinghan nodded understandingly. "Then I won't kill the three of you. How about this: didn't you want those two to rape Liu Yuansheng? Well, I'll give them a taste of their own medicine and let them rape you, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yunze was greatly shocked, and even the two servants were too frightened to speak. "No, no!" Liu Yunze said, "If word gets out, how can I face anyone? Your Highness! Your Highness, please have mercy on me! I'll never dare to do it again! I'll never dare to provoke you and Liu Yuansheng again!"

"No way! I'm a very fair person. You bullied Liu Yuansheng, so I have to bully her back the same way!" Xiao Jinghan shrugged. "Give the three of them some medicine to liven things up, and have someone keep a close eye on them. Once the sun sets, notify the Prime Minister's residence to come and pick them up."

"yes!"

The guards agreed. Jiang Yue took out a bottle of medicine powder from her bosom and forced Liu Yunze and the other two to drink it.

The powder was sprinkled all over Liu Yunze's face. He coughed in a sorry state and tried to run away, but was pulled back by two servants.

The medicinal powder prepared by Xiao Jinghan was highly effective and had already taken effect in the servant's body.

The two men were like walking corpses, devoid of consciousness and unable to feel pain. They pulled out long arrows from their chests, bleeding as they lunged at Liu Yunze, tearing at his clothes like madmen.

Soon, the entire village echoed with Liu Yunze's pitiful cries, but Xiao Jinghan ignored them, leaped onto his horse, and left the woods.

-

Everything at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was as usual.

Inside the Agarwood Courtyard, several mute servants went in and out, while the maids and nannies stayed in their own rooms, not daring to go into Liu Yuansheng's room.

News of Sui'er's death has reached Chenxiang Courtyard. Her sudden death has put everyone in Chenxiang Courtyard on edge. Although they guessed that something had happened to Liu Yuansheng, they dared not ask or say anything. Even when Yuan sent people to question them, they did not reveal a single word.

Inside the bedroom, Ying'er was trying to feed Liu Yuansheng the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician.

"Miss, the physician says you experienced quite a shock, which has damaged your heart and spleen. You need to rest for a few days. This medicine is bitter, but it's not suitable for your body. Would you please take it?"

Ying'er carefully brought the spoon to Liu Yuansheng's lips, but Liu Yuansheng was unmoved, staring blankly at a point in the air. He seemed to have been drained of all his energy, leaving only an empty shell.

Ever since she brought Liu Yuansheng back from Xitou Village, she has become like this.

Even though she had bathed, changed into a clean white nightgown, and let her fragrant, smooth hair fall loose, she still looked like a ghost trapped in a pile of mud, ethereal and as if she were about to vanish from this world.

"Miss, drink your medicine! Don't scare me, Miss!" Ying'er's tears fell in a torrent. "It's all my fault! It's all my fault. If I had known, I would have stayed by your side every step of the way."

"You stayed by her side every step of the way, and the result was that you both got caught, and things wouldn't be much better than they are now."

Dressed in a black and gold robe, Xiao Jinghan walked silently to the bedside and looked at Liu Yuansheng, who was sitting on the canopy bed with her legs drawn up, lost in thought.

"Your Highness." Ying'er rose and bowed to Xiao Jinghan, "This servant greets Your Highness and offers my best wishes."

Xiao Jinghan scanned Liu Yuansheng's face, "Has she been like this ever since she came back?"

"Yes." Ying'er wiped away her tears. "Miss hasn't been eating, drinking, or speaking. She doesn't respond to anything we say to her."

"What's wrong with her?"

"The physician said that the young lady was frightened by the second young master and his group."

"Was she like this when she was in the Prime Minister's residence?"

"No," Ying'er said. "Even when the Second Young Master and the Fourth Young Master bullied me badly before, Miss, she would never ignore me. At most, she would shed tears in secret or silently endure it. She has never been so distraught."

Xiao Jinghan nodded, remained silent for a moment, and slowly walked towards Liu Yuansheng. But as soon as he approached, Liu Yuansheng suddenly raised her head, stared at Xiao Jinghan blankly for a few seconds, then waved her arms to avoid him, shouting, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

Xiao Jinghan paused. "It's me, Xiao Jinghan. Did you see me clearly?"

Liu Yuansheng seemed not to understand Xiao Jinghan's words, desperately dodging, "Don't come any closer, don't come any closer!"

Xiao Jinghan frowned. "I told you, I am Xiao Jinghan."

He reached out to grab Liu Yuansheng's arm, trying to pull her closer and make her see his face. However, this action only provoked Liu Yuansheng more. She screamed and broke free from Xiao Jinghan's grasp, covering her ears and screaming, "No! Don't come any closer! Get away! Get away from me!"

She screamed and struggled frantically, her clothes slipping down due to the violent movements, revealing a large expanse of her fair and smooth shoulders. Xiao Jinghan quickly looked away and said to the bewildered Ying'er, "Why aren't you going to serve your master!"

Ying'er quickly grabbed a quilt and covered Liu Yuansheng with it.

"Miss, Miss, please be good! Don't be scared, Miss! There are no bad people here!"

Ying'er held Liu Yuansheng in her arms, gently comforting her. Liu Yuansheng leaned against Ying'er's chest, her whole body tense, still very nervous.

"Stop giving her medicine. She's emotionally unstable and won't be able to take it. Let her get some sleep first," Xiao Jinghan said.

"Yes." Ying'er then helped Liu Yuansheng lie down, covered her with a quilt, and sang folk songs from her hometown to coax her.

"Moon boat, moon boat, drifting on the sea..."

Ying'er's singing was as off-key as she was. Xiao Jinghan couldn't stand it after listening for more than a couple of lines. "What are you singing?"

"A lullaby," Ying'er explained earnestly, "When I was little, my mother would sing it to me when I couldn't sleep. Young Master, may I sing it for Miss?"

Xiao Jinghan: "Okay, but you have to promise you won't scare her."

Ying'er looked ashamed and indignant. "How could that be!"

To prove her strength to Xiao Jinghan, Ying'er sang even more diligently. Her voice was hoarse and unpredictable, like a demonic chant that lingered endlessly, making Xiao Jinghan's murderous intent subtly stir. However, as she sang, Liu Yuansheng slowly closed his eyes and actually fell asleep.

Ying'er was extremely proud. "Young Master, I've coaxed Miss to sleep!"

Xiao Jinghan clicked his tongue in amazement, "You're really amazing!"

After saying that, he walked to the bedside and looked at Liu Yuansheng, who was fast asleep.

To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen her completely asleep since they had been married for so long.

Her sleeping face was absolutely pleasing to the eye. When those eyes, which were sometimes empty and sometimes misty, were closed, her face was so beautiful, like a flawless piece of jade, radiating a soft and charming light.

"Let's try giving her the medicine again when she wakes up."

Xiao Jinghan gave Ying'er a few words of advice and was about to leave when he suddenly heard Liu Yuansheng murmur, "Jiang, Jiang Zhihuan..."