Jiang Yingcheng trembled, her entire body enveloped in the shadow falling over her from above.
[H-how strange, who's talking?!] Jiang Yingcheng turned her head in three different directions, stubbornly refusing to glance behind her. [Th-there's nobody here, so Chengcheng will head back now...]
System Bro: [...]
Jiang Yanchuan: "..."
Jiang Yanchuan ground his teeth and laughed in exasperation.
He crouched down and gave the little one's chubby cheek a slightly forceful pinch. "I told you-" To stay in the palace. Why couldn't you just listen?!
He had barely uttered those three words when Jiang Yanchuan suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Liaochen and the others, who always followed the little one around, had not immediately emerged to greet him. Nor did there seem to be any guards nearby. Although his low fever had left his mind less clear than usual, he should still have been able to pick up the breathing of the palace's shadow guards.
So...
A suspicion suddenly rose in his heart.
The little one had come alone.
Almost the instant that thought arose, Jiang Yanchuan's breath caught, and countless thoughts flooded his mind.
The palace was well over a thousand miles from here. How had she gotten here?
Jiang Tinghuai had repeatedly promised to look after her. What had prevented him from doing so?
Had Liaochen and the others never been with her, or had some unexpected incident forced them to separate along the way?
Had the little one suffered any mistreatment on the road?
The countless thoughts churning through his mind left his head even more muddled.
Moreover, perhaps because he had been apart from her for too long, he kept feeling that her cheeks had grown much thinner. They no longer felt as soft and plump as he remembered.
His gaze dropped to her trouser