One disaster after another—why was her Cui family plagued by such endless misfortune?
Tang Qingwan shook her head. "I am fine. Right now, Yunchu is the most important. Yunfeng, take the doctor and bring Yunchu back to treat her injuries first. I will go to the temple to pick up our grandmother."
When Old Madam Cui heard the news, she could barely support herself and fainted several times. Even so, she insisted on coming to search for them personally. It was only because Tang Qingwan and Cui Yunfeng adamantly refused that she was left behind at the temple.
Cui Yunfeng agreed and left first with Cui Yunchu, while Prince An and his men escorted their carriage.
Along the way, Cui Yunfeng held Cui Yunchu, her heart aching for her sister while also worrying about Tang Qingwan. Her tears hardly stopped falling.
Xiao Yi handed her a brocade handkerchief, comforting her with a pained look in his eyes. "Stop crying. Haven't we brought her back safe and sound?"
Cui Yunfeng sniffled. "But I'm also worried about my cousin. From what that person from the Tang family just said, it seems the Liu family has been stirring up trouble again while she was away."
With all these incidents piling up one after another, how could anyone not feel frustrated?
Hearing this, Xiao Yi was unconcerned. A faint smile even touched his lips as he reached out to wipe the tears from her cheek. "With your little mind, you're still worrying about others?"
"Rest assured, that cousin of yours is not someone to be trifled with. Who is bringing bad luck to whom remains to be seen."
Cui Yunfeng suddenly looked up at Xiao Yi. "Do you know something?"
Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow and leaned his body closer to Cui Yunfeng. "Kiss me, and I'll tell you."
But just as he leaned in, a hand pressed against his head, forcefully pushing him aside.
"You're bumping into my eldest sister."
"..." Xiao Yi lowered his eyes, glancing at Cui Yunchu, who was barely breathing, and twitched his lips. "You worry too much. She didn't die from such a high fall; she has a tough life."
No matter how Cui Yunfeng listened to it, she felt that Xiao Yi's words were somewhat sarcastic.
"What do you mean? Are you unhappy that my eldest sister is safe and sound?"
"No." Xiao Yi leaned back, his peach-blossom eyes filled with a smiling glint. "How would I dare?"
Cui Yunfeng's expression finally improved a bit. She carefully protected the person in her arms as if she were cradling a rare treasure.
"My cousin is indeed formidable, so her marrying the Crown Prince is not a good thing for you..."
As soon as Cui Yunfeng said this, the smile in Xiao Yi's eyes froze, and his whole body tensed slightly. "Yunfeng..."
"But I know my own worth," Cui Yunfeng continued. "If I were to go up against my cousin, it would be like an ant trying to shake a tree. Therefore, I am not suited for the position of Princess An. You should find an outstanding woman who is equally matched with my cousin, so that you won't be at a disadvantage before the Crown Prince."
Xiao Yi lowered his gaze, feeling the heavy boulder that was about to crush him slowly lift, allowing him a breath of air. His tightly clenched hands also loosened slightly.
"What's wrong?" Cui Yunfeng frowned. "You're sweating a lot on your forehead."
Xiao Yi tried hard to return to normal and smiled faintly. "It's nothing. Perhaps it's just a bit stuffy in the carriage."
He turned his head, no longer meeting Cui Yunfeng's eyes, and looked at the swaying carriage curtain. After a long while, he said, "I don't need you to compare yourself with others. I only want you to be Princess An."
Because it didn't matter if she couldn't compare; she still had him.
If he lost to the Crown Prince, it would only prove his own lack of ability.
"Yunfeng." He suddenly turned back and raised a hand to stroke her cheek. "What you mean to me is different from the Crown Prince and your cousin."
The Crown Prince and Tang Qingwan had feelings for each other, but it was more of a mutual utilization. To him, however, she was salvation.
"Yunfeng, you are my scabbard. Without you, even if I became the emperor, I fear I would be a tyrant cursed for ten thousand years."
Cui Yunfeng looked into his eyes, only feeling that his fingertips were very cold, bone-chillingly cold.
She didn't dare say another word about him marrying someone else.
"Thank you for running around for my eldest sister these past two days."
Xiao Yi's fingertips paused, and he smiled slowly. "It's alright. It's... what I owe you."
He should be even more grateful to all the gods than Old Madam Cui that Cui Yunchu was alive.
Xiao Yi took out a hairpin from nowhere and showed it to Cui Yunfeng. "What do you think?"
Cui Yunfeng looked down at the magnolia wooden hairpin lying in his palm. Her face paled for a moment, and she suddenly looked up at Xiao Yi.
He knew. He knew about the hairpin Zhou Yuanmo had given her, which was why he was giving her an almost identical one.
Cui Yunfeng knew how crazy Xiao Yi could be in this regard. She pursed her red lips, fully prepared for his impending outburst of anger.
As long as he didn't kidnap her and take her to Prince An's estate, it would be fine.
"What's wrong?" Seeing her staring at the wooden hairpin without speaking, Xiao Yi suddenly asked, "Do you not like it?"
"No," Cui Yunfeng immediately shook her head. "I like it very much, it's just... why did you suddenly think of giving me this?"
When Xiao Yi was crazy, he was extremely crazy. But when he was normal, he treated Cui Yunfeng better than anyone else could.
He opened his palm for Cui Yunfeng to see. "I carved it myself."
Cui Yunfeng lowered her eyes, looking at the crisscrossing small cuts on his palm, her vision blurring slightly.
"Didn't you say that the magnolia is the gentleman among flowers? You like gentlemen."
So over the years, he had always tried hard to restrain his emotions.
Cui Yunfeng slowly reached out, touching the cuts on his palm, biting her lip tightly.
"This kind of wooden hairpin is sold everywhere on the streets. You could have just bought one. Why did you, a prince, have to do it yourself?"
"How could that be the same?" Xiao Yi grasped her wrist. "You've been delicate and precious since childhood. What jewelry haven't you had? A wooden hairpin isn't worthy of you; what is worthy is my heartfelt sincerity."
Cui Yunfeng lowered her eyes and didn't speak, seeming to shed a tear.
She had been precious since childhood, raised by the Cui family, and even more so, raised by him.
She had a very willful temper, and it was only compared to Cui Yunchu's troublemaking that she appeared somewhat well-behaved in the Cui family.
Xiao Yi held the wooden hairpin and slipped it into Cui Yunfeng's hair. He examined it carefully for a moment and suddenly said, "Wait a few years, and I will definitely carve a phoenix hairpin with my own hands for you to wear."
Cui Yunfeng was startled and hurriedly covered his mouth. "What nonsense are you saying?"
How could such words be spoken aloud?
Xiao Yi smiled nonchalantly. "What do I need to hide in front of you?"
The driver had tried his best to keep the carriage steady, but bumps were still unavoidable.
Cui Yunfeng was extremely thankful that Xiao Yi hadn't mentioned Zhou Yuanmo to cause trouble.
Meanwhile, the unconscious Cui Yunchu was shaken so much that she felt dizzy and nauseous, and her consciousness gradually returned a little.
She barely opened her eyes a slit, and what greeted her sight was Prince An's face, looking as deep in love as the sea. His knife-like peach-blossom eyes were full of tender affection as he placed the wooden hairpin into Cui Yunfeng's hair.
"..."
Cui Yunchu immediately closed her eyes again. It was truly a sore sight for the eyes.
Faintly in her ears, the sickly sweet romantic words echoed.
She couldn't help but recall how Xiao Yi used to curse at her with a cold face, calling her a "disgusting fake" and other such things.
She let out a few dry chuckles from her throat.
The carriage instantly fell completely silent. Let alone speaking, even their breathing became shallower.
"Eldest Sister, you're awake?" Cui Yunfeng's eyes lit up.
Cui Yunchu forced her eyelids open and managed a weak smile at Cui Yunfeng. She then glanced at Prince An, who was sitting to the side. Her lips moved slightly before she spat out two muffled words, "Disgusting."
...
Cui Yunfeng looked thoroughly embarrassed.
Xiao Yi, on the other hand, furrowed his brows and shot Cui Yunchu a dark, gloomy look.
Cui Yunchu immediately withdrew her gaze and shrank further into Cui Yunfeng's embrace. "Yunfeng, I... feel so terrible."
"Eldest Sister," Cui Yunfeng said, shedding tears of heartache. "We will be back soon. Once we return to the estate, we will have a doctor tend to your wounds. Please bear with it for just a little longer."
Cui Yunchu nodded and added, "I am cold."
Cui Yunfeng looked around, but there were no extra clothes or blankets in the carriage to ward off the chill. Her gaze eventually fell upon Xiao Yi.
The corner of Xiao Yi's mouth twitched. With a cold expression, he took off his outer robe and handed it over.
Cui Yunfeng immediately draped it over Cui Yunchu.
"Much warmer," Cui Yunchu murmured.
Xiao Yi remained speechless.
Even at death's door, she still did not forget to be difficult. As expected of Cui Yunchu.
Cui Yunchu curled up her body and said hoarsely, "Tell him to be quiet. I want to sleep."
Cui Yunfeng nodded at once and shot Xiao Yi a meaningful look.
Xiao Yi's expression had been sour ever since Cui Yunchu woke up. He drawled slowly, "The doctor said that her injuries are too severe and this might just be a final burst of terminal lucidity. It is best if she does not sleep, otherwise she might never wake up again."
Cui Yunfeng was taken aback. "When did the doctor say that? Why didn't I know?"
Xiao Yi replied, "It is standard phrasing for all doctors."
You are the one having terminal lucidity! Your whole family is having terminal lucidity! At least that would save her entire family from suffering, Cui Yunchu cursed inwardly.
