Well into the night, the Wei Family's door was crowded with leaving guests. While there were plenty of mouths, the night was unusually quiet. As everyone exited out of the manor, the Crown Prince turned around once more, and his grey eyes lingered on Hongyue's Dragon Glory. His eyes were slightly dark before he finally made his way to his royal carriage. His thoughts were unknown.

Hongyue clicked her tongue.

How surprising.

Crown Prince, you were the last one I had in mind.

The eldest miss turned back to face the banquet hall. The patterned lanterns and tables of full jars of wine, along with untouched food, filled her eyes. To her side, all the servants were oddly quiet, awaiting her orders. Hongyue smirked and ordered them to clean up the hall. The servants shuffled about without a word of complaint.

Hongyue turned her eyes to Qingyu. As her feet reached the spot where Qingyu still laid unconscious, Hongyue sighed.

Her eyes were deep and indecipherable. Hongyue lifted his small body up, hoisting him into her arms. Without another sound, the eldest miss disappeared into the night, unnoticed. The servants continued to rush about to clear up the banquet, their thoughts conflicting, yet not realizing the target of their thoughts were long gone.

Back in her room, Hongyue laid Qingyu down on her bed and stepped slightly away. Her shoes scraping the surface of rotting wood.

During the whole banquet, Hongyue had kept an eye on him and noticed the boy not reacting to the world at all. Hongyue frowned. Could she really have injured him that deeply? A slight flash of regret echoed in her eyes before the eldest miss turned away.

Hongyue hovered her left palm in front of her left eye and deeply breathed in. As her hand moved away, it revealed the pupil underneath had become faint violet. She planted her hand on top of Qingyu's chest. From the center of her palm spreading outward, was a peculiar burst of purple aura. The aura encircled the body of the boy before sinking into his body.

Hongyue frowned.

His body was in horribly bad shape. However, half the damage could be determined not to be from her. Hongyue hesitated for a minute before she slid the Dragon's Glory out of her hair and dropped a drop of her blood onto the sleek surface. While it was pretty, Hongyue had no use for the hair stick now. Her eyes drifted to Qingyu's pale face.

"Heal."

Her command echoed through the room, and the droplet of blood glowed bluish silver before it disappeared inside the hair stick. Unseen by Hongyue, a faint purple crescent moon branding also started to form on Qingyu's pale neck, slowly turning darker as each minute passed. Stroking the smooth hair stick one last time, Hongyue took Qingyu's hand and wrapped his fingers around the hair ornament.

"I've already received your gift," She paused quietly, "At that time I had nothing to give... this will be my token of truce."

Her heart wavered after she spoke. Giving him a gift meant Hongyue trusted him enough in her heart. However, just how much could she trust?

If it were before, she wouldn't have done this.

What changed this time?

The reason why she blocked Concubine Ruolan's attack for him remained unknown. Hongyue blamed it on herself being impulsive.

However, to allow her to attack him even though he knew her intentions were malicious. It was so bare and open.

Vulnerable.

How did he do it? Why did he indulge her to that extent? Did he trust her?

Trust. The word resounded inside her heart.

'I'll be the first you can trust.'

That was the last thing that the weak human told her. Hongyue had never taken it into consideration, but perhaps.

Just perhaps.

-------------

Meanwhile, at the second madam's residence, a series of shrill screams broke into the night. Articles of clothing, along with pieces of porcelain, were wildly thrown about the second madam's room, yet not a servant came forward to stop the wild second madam.

"Mother! Mother, please calm down. What happened?" ChunHua's voice shook frantically as she raced to stop her mother.

Concubine Ruolan's eyes stilled and suddenly froze, her hand loosened, and the flower jar slipped out of her hand onto the ground. The shards of china exploded onto the stone ground.

"I've lost."

Her mother's voice was so hollow, ChunHua felt cold.

The second miss tried to wrap her arms around her mother, hoping to calm her down. However, Concubine Ruolan ripped ChunHua's hands off her body. The madam's eyes were increasingly red while she panted frantically, waving her hands about.

"I lost! I never had the chance! It really was poison!" The second madam sounded madder by the second.

"No blood...No blood...I've really underestimated her! I lost," Concubine Ruolan's last words of sanity fell on deaf ears as no one truly understood her words. ChunHua scrunched up her nose unhappily, her heart ignorant of the truth of her mother's suffering. The second madam sunk to the floor, her mind was finally broken. Her head, a matted mess, and her face lacked color. The once elegant and prideful Concubine Ruolan was no longer to be found. On the hands of the concubine, there were deep cuts from the broken porcelain.

Yet, strangely not one cut had a drop of blood.