A voice in Ji Junye's heart tried to comfort him. He must have been overthinking. Qingqing couldn't possibly be here.
Yet, deep down, an unprecedented sense of panic welled up within him.
He began to search aimlessly. At this moment, he desperately wanted to find her, but at the same time, he was deathly afraid of finding her.
"Your Majesty..."
The people sent by Zhuiyun had arrived.
Ji Junye didn't care about anything else. "Search! Search for me!"
The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. What was His Majesty asking them to search for?
But seeing His Majesty's obvious distress, no one dared to ask. They had no choice but to start searching every inch of the place.
They searched from dawn till dusk, but they couldn't find the person Ji Junye was longing to see.
Finally, when night fell, Zhuiyun arrived.
The moment Ji Junye saw Zhuiyun, a new glimmer of hope ignited in his eyes.
"Where is she?"
As he said this, the corners of Ji Junye's eyes were red, his voice trembling slightly. He seemed on the verge of breaking down.
Zhuiyun hesitated for a moment. After some deliberation, he decided to tell the truth.
"Miss Shen is not in the Jin Prince's Mansion. Your subordinate interrogated the people in the mansion's dungeon. Miss Shen was taken away by the Jin Prince last night. And the Jin Prince..."
Just then, some people had found some bones and remains, as well as the Jin Prince's clothes.
Zhuiyun knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. In such a huge explosion, it's impossible for anyone to survive. Miss Shen..."
"Impossible!" Ji Junye waved his hand, sending a gust of energy that knocked Zhuiyun to the ground. But the next second, he couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood.
"Pfft!"
How could she be dead?
Impossible!
Impossible!
"Your Majesty!"
Zhuiyun was shocked. Ignoring his own internal injuries, he was about to step forward to check on Ji Junye when another gust of energy knocked him down.
Ji Junye's eyes were bloodshot. Clearly, he wasn't listening to anyone. Zhuiyun stared in shock. His Majesty's condition... It seemed like the poison had flared up again!
His Majesty hadn't suffered a poison attack for over a year. Especially after Shengmei used the Gu to counter the poison, his condition had improved. But now...
Shengmei also rushed over. She immediately went behind Zhuiyun. "What's going on?"
Zhuiyun covered his chest. "Miss Shen... His Majesty's poison has flared up again."
Zhuiyun ordered everyone to stay far away to prevent His Majesty from killing anyone in his out-of-control state. But this time, Ji Junye was different from before. He didn't go crazy or kill anyone. Instead, he stubbornly searched through the ruins...
He knew that it was impossible for anyone to survive in such a situation. But he seemed to be verifying something, verifying that she was still alive in this world.
Ji Junye searched all night, and everyone waited with him all night.
It wasn't until dawn the next day that he finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.
...
Ji Junye was bedridden for three days.
"How is His Majesty?"
Everyone in Tanzhou Prefecture looked at Shengmei, anxiously pacing back and forth. Now that the Jin Prince had been eliminated, it was a time of great rebuilding. With His Majesty still unconscious, they didn't know what to do.
Shengmei sighed. "He suffered a poison attack due to excessive anxiety. Fortunately, I've managed to control it..."
However, this would surely deteriorate his physical condition. If they couldn't find an antidote, he might not survive the next poison attack.
Of course, she didn't say this in front of everyone.
"Then why is His Majesty still unconscious?" the magistrate of Tanzhou Prefecture asked anxiously.
They had tried every method in the past few days, but His Majesty just wouldn't wake up. It was driving them crazy!
Shengmei said, "I've tried all the methods I can. Logically, His Majesty's condition shouldn't keep him unconscious. The current situation... It's very likely that he doesn't want to wake up himself."
"Try to find something he cares about. If we can awaken his consciousness, it will be easier."
Shengmei couldn't help but sigh. What kind of love could make a person lose the will to live?
She asked herself. Even if she liked Zhuiyun very much, she couldn't do this for him.
Love, what a heartbreaker!
Something he cared about?
Others didn't know, but Zhuiyun and Zhuxing did. His Majesty's most precious person was Miss Shen. But Miss Shen...
Just thinking about it, Zhuxing's tears welled up.
Miss Shen...
Sibaobao!
Right, there was still Sibaobao!
"I've got it!" Zhuxing's eyes lit up. "I've thought of a way to wake His Majesty up!"
Zhuxing ran out quickly. Not long after, she came back carrying Sibaobao in her arms.
Everyone's faces brightened.
Right, there was still the little princess!
His Majesty doted on the little princess so much. With the little princess here, His Majesty would surely wake up!
Sibaobao didn't know what had happened, but she could sense that the atmosphere was very strange. Especially when she saw Ji Junye pale as a sheet, her heart ached, and tears welled up in her eyes without warning.
"Daddy..."
Seeing this, the magistrate of Tanzhou Prefecture led the irrelevant people out.
Zhuxing and Zhuiyun also quietly retreated to the outer room.
"Daddy, what's wrong with you... Sibaobao misses Mommy so much, and she also misses Daddy. Why doesn't Daddy talk to Sibaobao after going out..."
"Daddy said before he left that he would bring Mommy back, and he would tell Sibaobao stories when he came back... But why didn't Mommy come back, and Daddy has been sleeping since he came back..."
"Daddy... You didn't keep your promise to Sibaobao... Daddy is bad!"
At first, Sibaobao was just shedding tears. Then she was sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, she burst into loud cries.
Tears dropped one by one on Ji Junye's hand.
But the person on the bed showed no reaction.
Hearing this in the outer room, Zhuxing's heart ached. Tears streamed down her face. Normally, she would have hugged Sibaobao and comforted her.
She couldn't bear to see Sibaobao cry like this. How could His Majesty bear it?
And Miss Shen, how could she die so easily?
Zhuxing's eyes were red. Suddenly, a handkerchief was handed to her. She looked up and saw that it was Zhuiyun.
"Wipe your tears. You look so ugly."
Zhuxing glared at him angrily and took the handkerchief to wipe her tears. "It's none of your business!"
After crying for a while, Sibaobao was exhausted. She laid her head on Ji Junye's hand and fell asleep.
Zhuxing had been observing the situation inside. Seeing Sibaobao fall asleep, she sighed. With red eyes, she said to the person on the bed:
"Your Majesty, your subordinate knows that you can't let go of Miss Shen. But you still have Sibaobao. How could you bear to let Sibaobao lose her mother at such a young age and then lose her father?"
"Your Majesty, for the sake of Sibaobao, the only bloodline of Miss Shen in this world, please wake up!"
The person on the bed still showed no sign of movement.
Zhuxing choked back a sob and was about to carry Sibaobao back.
But just as she picked Sibaobao up, she saw the person on the bed's finger twitch slightly.
Overjoyed, she quickly called Zhuiyun in.
"His Majesty is waking up!"