Chapter 24

The next day, Xiao Changyuan took his bow and arrows to go hunting in the mountains. Yun Pianpian picked up her bamboo basket, wanting to go up the mountain with him.
Xiao Changyuan refused, saying, “I can go alone today.”
Yun Pianpian blinked. “Didn't you always want me to accompany you up the mountain before?”
Xiao Changyuan said calmly, “Wife, you've just recovered and shouldn't overexert yourself.”
Hearing this, Yun Pianpian had no choice but to put down the bamboo basket.
“Alright then, husband, be careful on the road.”
Xiao Changyuan nodded, picked up his bow and arrows, and headed toward the mountain.
Yun Pianpian watched as Xiao Changyuan's figure gradually disappeared into the depths of the forest.
She returned to the house and took out a storybook to read.
Meanwhile, after Xiao Changyuan went up the mountain, he did not hunt. Instead, he took another small path, bypassed Jiangjia Village, and arrived at the county town.
While Xie Yu was setting up his stall in the county town, he caught sight of Xiao Changyuan.
Strangely, Yun Pianpian was not by Xiao Changyuan’s side.
This puzzled Xie Yu, the two had always been inseparable, so why was Xiao Changyuan alone today?
Just then, Mu Bai returned after buying roasted chicken and noticed Xie Yu standing in front of the stall, absentmindedly staring toward West Street.
“Your Highness, what are you looking at?”
Xie Yu turned around, his voice serious. “I saw Xiao Changyuan.”
Mu Bai didn’t think much of it. “What’s so strange about that? He and Miss Pianpian often come to the county town to buy things.”
Xie Yu lowered his voice. “This time, he didn’t bring Yun Pianpian with him.”
Mu Bai froze, his expression immediately turning serious.
“Why is that?”
Xie Yu said, “When something unusual happens, there must be a reason. He headed toward West Street. Go follow him and find out what’s going on.”
Upon receiving the order, Mu Bai straightened up instantly.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Mu Bai set down the roasted chicken in his hand and headed toward West Street.
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Mu Bai returned with a strange expression on his face.
Xie Yu was taken aback. “Why are you back so soon?”
Mu Bai looked somewhat embarrassed.
Xie Yu didn’t notice the odd look on Mu Bai’s face and only lowered his voice to ask about Xiao Changyuan’s whereabouts.
“Did you find Xiao Changyuan?”
Mu Bai replied, “I did.”
“Where did he go?”
“The pharmacy.”
Hearing this, Xie Yu furrowed his brow.
“What did he go to the pharmacy for?”
Mu Bai said awkwardly, “I saw Xiao Changyuan come out of the pharmacy and followed him, but he left the county town directly. I went back to the pharmacy and asked the physician what Xiao Changyuan had come for. The physician said…”
At this point, Mu Bai began to stammer, his eyes darting away, his handsome face slightly flushed.
Xie Yu found it strange. “Why are you hesitating? What did Xiao Changyuan ask at the pharmacy? Go on…”
Mu Bai’s face reddened further. He gritted his teeth and tightly closed his eyes.
“He went to ask the physician about women’s menstrual cycles.”
Xie Yu had expected to hear some earth, shattering conspiracy, but instead, he ended up hearing about such a private and trivial matter concerning a young woman.
His peach blossom eyes widened in disbelief.
“What did you say?!”
Startled, Xie Yu's voice rose sharply, almost cracking.
Passersby on the road turned to look at him curiously upon hearing his exclamation.
Xie Yu's face flushed with embarrassment as he pressed his lips together, his expression indescribably awkward.
“You mean Xiao Changyuan came all the way to the county just to ask about this?”
Mu Bai nodded sheepishly. “He asked the physician whether menstrual pain can be cured, how to recuperate properly, and what precautions to take.”
Xie Yu interrupted him, his face reddening. “Enough, I don't need to know the details.”
Both men simultaneously thought of Yun Pianpian, imagining her lying pale and weak on the bed, writhing in pain.
She must be suffering terribly for Xiao Changyuan to travel so far just to inquire about such matters.
At this thought, the already flushed faces of Xie Yu and Mu Bai grew even hotter and redder.
They shook their heads vigorously, trying to dispel the strange images from their minds.
But the more they tried to shake them off, the more persistently these scenes lingered.
Over the years, neither Xie Yu nor Mu Bai had ever been intimate with a woman and knew very little about women's matters. Xie Yu had only learned about menstruation as a child when his curiosity led him to ask a maidservant why she buried blood, stained cloth underground.
Young Xie Yu had been deeply embarrassed after discovering this and shared his awkwardness with his guard, Mu Bai.
Seeing Mu Bai's embarrassed face had somewhat alleviated Xie Yu's own discomfort.
Now, after all these years, that same awkward shame resurfaced.
With a flushed face, Xie Yu said to Mu Bai, “Let's never speak of this again.”
Mu Bai nodded fervently. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Amid swaying branches, Xiao Changyuan leaped through the treetops using his martial arts, hurrying back to Jiangjia Village.
His jade, like ears were slightly tinged with red.
Xiao Changyuan had gone to the pharmacy out of concern for Yun Pianpian's health.
He never expected that every word of his wife's outrageous claims had turned out to be true.
This world truly had a menstrual cycle that involved bleeding for seven days without stopping.
Fortunately, he had secretly gone to ask the physician today.
If his wife found out he had doubted her, he would be done for.
Yun Pianpian lay on a rattan chair, reading novels to pass the time. She had expected Xiao Changyuan to return quite early, but it was already night-time when he finally came home with game. She couldn't help asking, “Husband, why are you back so late today?”
Without changing his expression, Xiao Changyuan replied, “There are fewer animals in the mountains lately. I had to venture deeper to find prey.”
This was his first lie to Yun Pianpian, yet he showed no trace of deception.
Hearing this, Yun Pianpian immediately grew worried. “Autumn will soon be over. When winter comes, it will be even harder to find game.”
Xiao Changyuan comforted her, “Don't worry, wife. I'll handle everything.”
His words warmed Yun Pianpian's heart. Just as she was about to respond, the sound of an oxcart's wheels reached her ears.
She looked up toward the source and, spotting Xie Yu, waved at him with a smile.
“A Yu, Brother Mu, you're back.”
Yun Pianpian's house stood at the village entrance, and she always greeted Xie Yu whenever he returned.
Xie Yu caught sight of Yun Pianpian's smiling face and was suddenly reminded of the strange images in his mind. His grip on the reins tightened slightly.
His handsome face flushed a little as he curved his lips into a gentle, obedient smile.
“Hello, Sister Pianpian.”
Mu Bai, seated on the oxcart, nodded toward Yun Pianpian.
After the three exchanged greetings, Xie Yu drove the ox cart slowly past Yun Pianpian.
Xiao Changyuan frowned as he watched Xie Yu gradually disappear into the distance.
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed to him that the little nuisance Xie Yu was driving much faster than usual today, so fast, in fact, that it could almost be described as fleeing in panic.
Xiao Changyuan narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly.
A thousand miles away, in the Mo Kingdom’s imperial palace.
A woman of unparalleled grace and beauty sat gracefully in a pavilion by the lake, her delicate fingers gently strumming a zither. Her brows were lightly furrowed, and a trace of melancholy lingered at the corners of her eyes and brows.
A maid hurried forward and said, “My lady, Lord Chu requests an audience.”
The woman’s eyes brightened. “Quickly, bring him in.”
This woman of peerless elegance was the original female lead, Ye Suxin.
After Xiao Changyuan’s fall from the cliff, his fate remained unknown.
Although Prince Rui harbored ambitions to seize the throne, he dared not openly occupy the palace and declare himself emperor until Xiao Changyuan’s body was found.
Thus, everything in the palace remained exactly as it had been before Xiao Changyuan’s disappearance.
Xiao Changyuan had not yet taken an empress since ascending the throne, leaving the imperial harem virtually empty, not even any selected court ladies.
Now, with the palace empty and masterless, Ye Suxin, as a court singer, was the closest to being considered half a mistress.
Chu Yi entered, and Ye Suxin dismissed her attendants.
The two embraced each other tightly.
“Ah Yi, have you found him?”