"I can last a night without eating. It's not like I will die immediately." Lin Ning didn't want to take food from someone who did not have anything to eat.

"I'll be fine. It's not like I will starve either. I have money that I can use to buy food. Also, it wouldn't be nice for me to leave a woman to starve." Tai Yuqing offered his lunchbox once more.

Lin Ning faced him; he held the lunchbox out for her to take. 'He will never leave me alone.' She held out one of her hands towards him, feeling him pass his lunchbox over to her. "Thank you. I hope that you are not lying." She said.

"I won't ever tell a lie. I will tell you something else."

"???" Lin Ning didn't know what else he planned to tell her now.

"The second prince plans to take you back to the Zhao Palace tomorrow. It will be a bit of a trip, so be sure not to sleep late." Tai Yuqing left after, allowing Lin Ning to eat the food while he figured out who was trying to poison her.

Lin Ning knew that they were going to leave soon, feeling.

Her heart aches with the thought of Cao Peizhi. Thinking that if she was going to return to the Zhao Palace, she needed to have one companion she could fully put her trust in. 'It seems like the only one I could trust is Tai Yuqing.' Keeping that in mind, she started to open unwrap the cloth around the lunchbox. Opening the box, she felt the chopsticks on the side and caught the scent of the food. Smelling the sweet and sour sauce with freshly fried chicken, steamed rice, sliced-up green onions, and cilantro. Capturing the smell of the food, there was saliva that drooped down from her lips. 'I feel like I have been craving something like this.' She had eaten simple food like tofu soup and fish, but she hadn't eaten much rice and chicken. She started eating the food that had an exquisite taste that day.

***

"You said that Lin Ning was pregnant?!" Cao Peizhi had held onto one of Chun Yunchen's shoulders; he wanted an answer from the boy who mentioned it.

"I-I-It..." Chun Yunchen didn't know what to exactly say to Cao Peizhi, who held a murderous look on his face.

"Peizhi, calm down. Let this boy breathe first." had to get Cao Peizhi to lift the murderous aura first before he killed the innocent boy. Cao Peizhi had released Chun Yunchen, taking a step back after trying to calm down.

Chun Yunchen took a deep breath, "Ning is pregnant, but I am still hesitant to say too soon." Chun Yunchen calmly told them.

"How do you know that she is pregnant then?!" Cao Peizhi shouted, startling Chun Yunchen with his terrifying voice.

"I had held her wrist before she was taken!" Chun Yunchen didn't know how else to explain it all. "Xia Ling is pregnant, and Hun Cuifen allowed me to know how it felt for a pregnant woman's pulse. It was similar to how Ning's pulse felt that time." Trying his best not to lose focus and be filled with fear.

"If that is the case, why don't you send me to the Zhao Palace to stay by Lin Ning's side and tell you all that I can in there?" Hun Cuifen entered the tent, seeing the men there. "It is a pleasure to meet you again, Duan Fa. I hope you have been taking care of my sister while I am away." Hun Cuifen said to him.

"You're sister is doing well. She is a grown woman, so she does not need me to take care of her." Duan Fa replied.

"Going back to the main topic. I can enter the Zhao Palace." She repeated.

"Hun Cuifen, the emperor takes almost anyone he sees to his taste. You will end up becoming one of his concubines if you carelessly enter into the Zhao Palace." Yi Changpu warned her.

"Who said that you were going to go there, beautiful?" Hun Cuifen had them all a little confused. "As long as I am hideous but clever, I doubt the emperor will come for me. Also, since the second prince is the one who is crazy over the miss, then it would not affect him if I were to go there as a hideous female physician." Hun Cuifen pointed out to them, thinking that the second prince would much rather prefer a female physician over a male to avoid Lin Ning from meeting or getting into contact with other men.

"You do have a point there." Yi Changpu started to ponder, thinking that it was a good idea now.

"Let me go too!" Being assisted by Xia Ling, Xu Meili struggled to walk by herself due to the wound on her back.

"No, sending more than one will cause suspicion, and you will have no purpose there." Yi Changpu told her.

"Ning is like my sister! I can't simply abandon her like she was a stranger!" Xu Meili grunted, holding onto her shoulder while staring at Yi Changpu.

Yi Changpu went up to Xu Meili, "I don't want to lose you." He said without feeling any embarrassment or shame in his words.

"This isn't the time for you to tell me all of this! Just because you have such affection for me does not mean you should stop me!" Xu Meili didn't want to keep sitting around.

Yi Changpu had let out a sigh, going up to Xu Meili. Everyone was a little lost about why he had gone closer to her. "Excuse us."

"Hey! Let me down! Let me down!" Xu Meili was confused why he went ahead and carried her in front of everyone there. "I don't want to miss out on any information about Ning! Let me down!"

"You all can start talking and discussing this case. I need to talk to Meili ALONE." Yi Changpu mentioned the last word in a warning tone which Cao Peizhi knew from experience that he did not want to be disturbed.

Cao Peizhi took over from there while the couple left the tent, "Hun Cuifen, will you really be able to do this?" Cao Peizhi knew that Lin Ning would not allow any of her people to get hurt because of her, but they were willing to get hurt regardless of what she said to them.