The loud commotion quickly alerted Liu Ye, who was resting outside.

When Liu Ye came in and saw the situation, he immediately sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to summon an Imperial Physician.

"The Emperor has a fever," Sui Ziran stated confidently upon arrival. "He should have awoken by now, but he’s had two episodes of soul loss recently. I believe it is this soul loss that is delaying the Emperor’s awakening."

"Soul loss? My father, the Emperor... when did he develop soul loss?" Li Yan’s brows knitted tightly.

There were also students at the Imperial College with soul loss, especially those who lived in the college dormitories. These students, who only returned home for their ten-day breaks, had several people sleeping on one large communal bed. If someone were to suddenly get up and sleepwalk in the middle of the night, it would scare the wits out of everyone in the dormitory.

When Li Yan was at the Imperial College, he had heard stories about certain students with soul loss, who would, in the dead of night, squat on their beds without waking and count their roommates’ heads.

As a result, one of them got up in the middle of the night to use the latrine, and when he opened his eyes, his soul was nearly scared out of his body.

But he had never heard of his own father having this kind of soul loss.

Liu Ye glanced at Sui Ziran, then said carefully, "The Emperor never had it before, but these past two days, while staying in Taiji Palace, it has started..."

The first time he discovered the Emperor sleepwalking, he had also been startled.

Afterward, Liu Ye discovered that when the Emperor left Taiji Palace, he was heading in the direction of Kunning Palace.

He guessed it was likely because the Emperor had, over the years, grown accustomed to staying in Kunning Palace with the Empress. This sudden change of residence was probably why he was having trouble adapting.

But for this kind of soul loss, the root cause was always difficult to identify.

The only thing they could do was guide the Emperor back to his bed.

With the sleepwalking in the middle of the night and the fever, Li Yan barely closed his eyes the entire night.

When dawn was just breaking, he finally couldn’t hold on any longer. His head tilted to one side, and he fell asleep leaning against the edge of the bed.

The next morning, the backyard of Ming’s Restaurant in Huaided Fang was extremely quiet.

Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue were used to waking up early, but neither of them woke the still-sleeping Ming Lingyi. One went to the kitchen to cook, while the other practiced her skills in the courtyard.

Ming Lingyi slept for quite a long time. Back when she lived at home, her constitution wasn’t very good, and her family didn’t have many rules, so she could sleep in for as long as she wanted.

Later, after marrying Li Yun, she found that he wasn’t one for strict rules either. Li Yun had his own mansion, and the only masters of the house were the two of them.

In her own home, she could naturally do as she pleased and didn’t have to wake up early.

It was only recently that Ming Lingyi had been waking up early every day.

Now that she finally had a chance to sleep in, how could she possibly pass it up? Besides, Li Yun had appeared out of nowhere and woken her in the middle of the night. After driving him away, how could her mind possibly be at ease? She had tossed and turned for a long time before finally drifting off to sleep.

So, it was almost noon before Ming Lingyi finally opened her eyes.

The very first thing that appeared in Ming Lingyi’s mind upon opening her eyes was the image from last night: the man sitting on the edge of her bed, lowering his head to kiss her forcefully.

The image was so vivid that she couldn’t help but frown deeply, trying with all her might to banish the figure from her mind.

’I must be crazy to think of Li Yun the moment I wake up.’

In truth, even after Li Yun left last night, Ming Lingyi still had no idea what had gotten into the man.

She rubbed her temples, feeling as if she still hadn’t recovered from having her peaceful sleep disturbed last night.

But now her stomach was growling. Ming Lingyi decided to get up, wash, and eat first.

Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue had already prepared lunch. It was a simple, home-cooked meal, and the three of them—mistress and maids—ate their fill.

Ming Lingyi even praised them, remarking that their cooking skills had improved.

"That’s all because I watch you cook every day, Miss. I’ve picked up a thing or two," Xiao Chun said with a chuckle.

Shi Mingyue said, "I just help out on the side..."

She had a clear understanding of her own cooking abilities. ’For everyone’s sake,’ Shi Mingyue thought, ’it’s best if I don’t take charge of the cooking.’

"Oh, right, Miss, are we still going to the brokerage today?" Xiao Chun asked.

She had originally thought her miss would be up in the morning, but she hadn’t emerged from her room until noon.

’It seems my miss has been truly exhausted lately.’

Xiao Chun thought that if that was the case, she should let her miss rest for a few more days to fully recover her energy before going out again.

Ming Lingyi replied, "Let’s go take a look today. We might not find anyone suitable."

Xiao Chun nodded, then told Ming Lingyi that she had already paid a visit to Mr. Jiang that morning.

"But Lord Jiang said it’s alright. He said he’ll come patronize our shop after he gets off work in the future." Having gone to the Jiang Mansion today, Xiao Chun vaguely realized that Lord Jiang the official was different, so she switched to calling him "Lord."

Ming Lingyi nodded, not giving the matter much thought.

After lunch, the mistress and her two maids went to the brokerage.

Ming Lingyi didn’t have high hopes of finding the people she wanted on her first visit.

But today’s trip was unexpectedly successful.

She had just arrived at the brokerage when she saw new people had been brought in.

They appeared to be twins.

"Miss, this pair of twins has some real skills," the broker began, enthusiastically recommending them to Ming Lingyi. "Don’t be fooled by how quiet they are. These two used to train at a martial arts hall. If their family hadn’t gotten into trouble, they wouldn’t have been sold off. Plus, the price is a steal—only two taels of Silver for both of them."

And why wouldn’t he recommend them so enthusiastically?

These twins looked like slaves being bought and sold, but only he knew they were clearly two great deities.

For the past few days, he had been living in utter misery.

And yesterday, another one had been added.

Now he was serving three of these great deities; one wrong move, and he could lose his head.

Ming Lingyi asked, "Only two taels of Silver?"

’Young servants, strong and able-bodied, with no illnesses or injuries, trained to be guards... if there wasn’t some other reason, they wouldn’t be this cheap.’

The broker gave a dry laugh. "They themselves only cost that much, but... well, the two of them have a little sister, and they refuse to be separated from her under any circumstances. So, if you want to buy them, Miss, you’ll probably have to take a little maidservant as well."

Hearing this, Ming Lingyi actually felt much more at ease.

’See? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.’

"Then how much Silver for the little girl?" Ming Lingyi asked. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"AHEM, the little girl is two taels of Silver."

"What?! That expensive!" Xiao Chun was the first to protest. "How can a little maidservant be worth two taels of Silver? Are you joking?"

Shi Mingyue, on the other hand, stood to the side thinking, ’How much was I sold for back then?’

’I think it was just a few dozen copper coins?’

’Why is there such a huge difference between people?’

But on second thought, Shi Mingyue couldn’t help but feel a little happy.

’Look how much of a bargain I was! I saved Miss a whole lot of Silver!’