When the prince is reborn, he will only hit me if he doesn't hit the wall!

Qin Lingruo poked the back of her hand and said angrily, "You were unconscious when you came back last night and couldn't be woken up even by shaking. I was really scared."

"Your attendant said you fell asleep. I was worried and wanted to stay awake to watch over you all night, but I didn't expect you to fall asleep too."

Qin Lingruo yawned as she was reciting the poem: "It's really strange. I never slept like this when I was taking care of Ah Leng in the past."

Xu Xinyue pretended to be aggrieved and said, "Alas, how can I be as caring as Ah Leng is to Ling'er——"

Qin Lingruo's eyes widened as she gently pinched her cheek: "Ha, Yueyue, what you said is so heartless! I was worried about you all night!"

"Yes, yes, it's my fault."

Xu Xinyue thought about what happened after she "gave up her body" last night. She was not completely unaware of it, but Hongyu was very emotional at that time, and Xu Xinyue was unable to succeed in taking her body back immediately. Fortunately, Xuan San was decisive and forced her to leave.

Last night, she seemed to have dreamed of Qin Yuechuan's voice again. Although she didn't see his face this time, she could vaguely feel that he seemed to be holding her hand and kept muttering something in her ear, and seemed to say "I'm sorry."

Xu Xinyue held her forehead with her hands. She couldn't understand why Qin Yuechuan had done anything "sorry" to her.

Dreams are just dreams after all.

Thinking of something, Xu Xinyue told Qin Lingruo, "Ling'er, before I left last night, I ask you to give the pills I gave you to His Majesty to take. Don't ask anyone else to do it. Now that you are the only one who goes to visit the palace, no one will be suspicious."

Qin Lingruo said sternly, without any ambiguity: "I know, leave this matter to me, Yueyue, you..."

Xu Xinyue smiled gently: "I'm fine. No matter what, I will hold on until the day when everything is accomplished."

Xu Xianyue looked out the window, gazing at the bright sunlight. Her dark eyes were filled with hope for the spring scenery, and she said softly:

"By then, everything will be over."

Her tone was gentle and firm, like a promise to herself and an expectation for the future.

Qin Lingruo agreed: "Yes, everything will end."

She held Xu Xinyue's arm, rubbed her head against it, and said with a smile: "Then Yueyue will be able to realize her ambition."

She looked up at Xu Xinyue again, uncertainly: "Tell me, my brother won't blame me, will he?... I..."

"Xu Xinyue patted her shoulder and said, "Ling'er is so capable, how could he blame you? He will definitely help you. With me here, you can do it with confidence."

Xu Xianyue stood up to change her clothes, but she saw that her sleeves were wet with water stains. She held them up to Qin Lingruo's eyes and said coquettishly, "Ling'er, look at you. The saliva from your mouth last night soaked my sleeves all over."

Qin Lingruo was unconvinced and retorted: "No, I never drool when I sleep! I'm so old!"

"With the evidence and witnesses, what else do you have to argue?"

"Okay, Xu Xinyue, if you dare to interrogate me, I will teach you a lesson--"

“Hahahaha—Qin Lingruo, you’re cheating. You can’t win an argument with me. What’s the point of tickling me? Hahahaha…”

"Winning is a skill! Do you dare?"

“Hahahahaha… I’ll dare to…”

The two were laughing and joking. Xuehe heard the sound and saw Xu Xinyue and Qin Lingruo had already stood up, leading two palace maids to bring in toiletries and clean clothes, then waved her hand to let them leave.

Xu Xinyue lay on the couch with her hair disheveled. She rubbed the corners of her eyes that were tearing up from laughing. She pushed Qin Lingruo who was leaning on top and muttered, "Alright, alright, I won't play around with you anymore. I need to change my clothes."

Qin Lingruo stood up, raised her head, and domineeringly threw the hair that was hanging on her chest behind her head, and said "kindly": "Okay, I will let you go today."

Xu Xinyue took the warm handkerchief from Xuehe and applied it to her cheek, asking, "Where is my bodyguard from last night? I have something to ask him."

Xue He kept moving his hands and replied respectfully, "It seems that the princess's escort was summoned by His Royal Highness Prince Qi early this morning."

Xu Xinyue's expression suddenly changed. She pulled off her scarf and looked at Xuehe with wide eyes: "What!? When?"

Xue He was shocked by her reaction: "Just, less than half an hour..."

Qin Lingruo also walked out from behind the screen and said, "Yueyue, could it be that you sneaked out of the palace yesterday and someone found out?"

Xu Xianyue's eyes were blank, and she clutched the soft handkerchief tightly with both hands, thinking carefully about every important detail of last night. Suddenly, she looked up and asked Xuehe: "Did you only call Ming Wu? Did you... call me to go?"

Xue He thought for a while and said, "I only called Ming Wu. However, when I came in just now, I seemed to have seen the Duke of Zhenguo..."

Xu Xinyue was even more surprised. When he stood up suddenly, he felt dizzy and his eyes went dark for a moment: "Duke Zhenguo!?"

Qin Lingruo steadied her body: "Yueyue? It's not the Duke of Zhenguo... I'll go check for you right now!"

Qin Lingruo raised her eyebrows, put on her coat and walked towards the palace entrance.

Xu Xinyue calmed down and hurriedly pulled Qin Lingruo: "I don't know what the situation is. Maybe it's not because of what happened last night."

Xu Xinyue didn't have time to ask Xuan San what happened after she fell into a coma.

She steadied her breath and said calmly to Qin Lingruo, "Don't act rashly."

"If it is because of what happened last night that Prince Qi called them but not me, it only means that Prince Qi cannot be sure whether I am the one who left the palace."

"In that case, there is one thing that is certain about last night. I have never been anywhere. I was only in the palace. The Duke of Zhenguo and Mingwu will definitely say the same thing. All we can do now is to stick to one statement."

Qin Lingruo turned around to look at her, stopped, and said to Xuehe seriously: "Did you hear clearly? Last night, I was with Princess Rong the whole time. If there are any questions, I will be the witness. Let them come and ask me for evidence!"

Xuehe nodded in agreement, took the copper basin and left Qingling Hall.

Xu Xinyue had already changed her clothes, and although she tried her best to remain calm, Qin Lingruo looked at her fixed, thoughtful eyes and her tightly clenched hands, and knew that she was still a little uneasy.

Qin Lingruo sat beside her and said softly, "It's okay, Yueyue. No matter what, my brother is not here now and you are the only one in the palace. Now we should help each other."

She held Xu Xinyue's hands and said, "No matter what, I won't let you get hurt in the slightest."

Xu Xinyue's heart softened. She looked at Qin Lingruo and said, "Ling'er never asked me what I was doing last night..."

Qin Lingruo locked eyes with hers and said seriously, "What does that matter? I know Yueyue's character. You must have a reason to go. I don't care why you go. I only care about you."

Qin Lingruo hugged Xu Xinyue and patted her back gently, just as Xu Xinyue had comforted her before: "No matter what, Yueyue just needs to know that I will always stand by your side. That's enough."

Xu Xinyue put her face against her shoulder and said "hmm" softly.

Xuehe left and came back, standing at the entrance of the palace and calling out, "Princess Rong, the Queen is calling you."

Xu Xianyue's gentle eyes suddenly turned cold, and she left Qin Lingruo's embrace, turned around and said, "I know, I'll be there later."

Qin Lingruo also stood up with her and wanted to go with her, but Xu Xinyue shook her head: "Not this time. If there are others present, the Queen will definitely ask about the cover-up. It is better for me to go alone and completely dispel her concerns."