Having just woken up from his nap, Jinshi rubbed his eyes and yawned, before he slowly lifted his head from Maomao's belly and sat up in bed, looking into her face.

"Xiaomao?" he asked in a worried tone and leaned down to her in order to run his fingertips carefully over her cheek. "What happened? Why do you look so startled? You're so pale... Are you feeling unwell?"

The apothecary was still lying on her back in silence and with her eyes wide open and didn't seem to have any intention to answer his question. She looked as if hundreds of thoughts were racing through her mind at the same time.

"Xiaomao?" Slowly, Jinshi started to sound fearful. He cast a helpless gaze at Gaoshun, who was looking apologetically at them.

"I have just informed her about an order from the Emperor, sir. It's about..."