Only Prince Lu Wei of Qian Rong stayed in Da Cheng. He was not allowed to travel too far due to his injury. As the Emperor has promised to provide Prince Lu Wei with security until he was strong enough to return to Qian Rong, Prince Lu Wei was arranged to stay at one of the guest houses outside the palace with guards patrolling the area all the time.

Princess Lingchen removed the binding around her wrist with Ying Yi beside her. She placed her hand on a small cus.h.i.+on and let Ying Yi take her pulse on both hands.

Since Mingyue was no longer around, Ying Yi was the one to look after the Crown Princess' health under Han Zhenting's guidance.

When Ying Yi finished with examining the Crown Princess' pulse, she moved her hands around to speak, but once she saw the puzzle on the Princess' expression, Ying Yi took out a piece of paper and charcoal from her knapsack and started to scribe her thought on the paper.

Princess Lingchen took the piece of paper from Ying Yi and read the contents. Then she looked up at Ying Yi with shock written on her face. "You're saying that they have found the last ingredients to prepare the medicine?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Once Ying Yi replied her question with a nod, Princess Lingchen placed the piece of paper into the brazier. The flame quickly caught the article, and soon, the paper turned to ashes.

Princess Lingchen was overjoyed. She has been suffering from the poison inside her body for years. She had endured every attack, and the treatment was agonizing. Soon, something crossed her mind. The Crown Princess stared at Ying Yi for a while before she asked, "The last herbs needed to concoct the potion, was it the one that Mingyue harvested before she disappeared?"

Ying Yi hesitated. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded.

The Princess had seen how excited Mingyue was when she found the herb. Who would have known that the gra.s.s she found during the eclipse that day was the herb they needed to cure the poison. That was probably why Yang Yun protected the herb as his life. It turned out that the gra.s.s was for her.

All along, the Princess had thought that Yang Yun had gone crazy when he decided to leave with her and headed towards the capital instead of staying to look for Mingyue. The Princess had thought that Yang Yun took his job seriously that he did not care much about Mingyue after she disappeared.

But once she found out the truth that the herb that Mingyue plucked that time was the Shadow Gra.s.s, Princess Lingchen quickly understood why Yang Yun chose to return.

Mingyue had spent most of her time to study the herbs. She had traveled here and there when she has time to gather the herbs needed to cure her poison. Thus, protecting the herbs and handed it safely to Grandfather was what he should do. It was all for Mingyue.

It looked like the Princess had misunderstood Yang Yun.

Princess Lingchen closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "When will we be able to start the treatment?"

Ying Yi moved her hands to speak and lifted her fingers. This time Princess Lingchen understood what Ying Yi was trying to say. The treatment will begin soon.

"Then how long will this treatment go on?" Princess Lingchen asked.

Ying Yi lifted her hands, showing her fingers.

"Five days?" Princess Lingchen watched Ying Yi shook her head and tried to make another guess,

"Five weeks?" Princess Lingchen frowned when Ying Yi gave her a negative answer. "Five months?"

This time, Ying Yi nodded.

Yang Yun followed a servant towards a pavilion and sat down as he waited for General Jiang Xiao Xian to show up. His gaze softened as he looked around the house where his wife grew up. He missed her so much as days pa.s.s. Yang Yun fished into his s.h.i.+rt and took out a string that hung around his neck. A jade thumb ring hung at the end of the string.

Mingyue's voice, complaining how hard it was to dig out the herbs while she was wearing the ring could still be heard.

Yang Yun immediately regretted that he had not bought a necklace for his wife so that she could hang the ring on her neck. If Mingyue were not wearing the ring, then, she would not slip away from his fingers and disappeared.

"I heard you were looking for me. What's the matter?"

Yang Yun snapped out of his thought as he heard a voice coming from behind him. Immediately, Yang Yun stood up and bowed. "General Jiang."

"Forget formalities," Jiang Xiao Xian waved a hand. "We're in the Jiang's household, and you are a family."

Yang Yun smiled weakly and stood up straight. "I heard that you would return to the border soon. I want to return to the border with you."