Xia Yihan swallowed the remaining half of her yawn with difficulty, her face suddenly flushing red as if she had been caught in the act like a thief. She habitually bit her lip and said softly, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Ye, I won't do this again in the future.' Ye Zimo's gaze stared straight into her eyes, and she could hear her own fearful heartbeat, unusually loud. She lowered her head to avoid his strange look. His hand reached out towards her slightly, then clenched into a fist and withdrew, followed by a tightening of his lips as he turned and left. He just left like that? She thought he would make things difficult for her, or perhaps ask her to follow him into the room to keep watch or something. He didn't say anything, which was a great relief. After he left, Xia Yihan took a deep breath and silently prayed: Xiao Jun, please help me, let Chairman Ye arrive here sooner. She calmed herself down and continued to mop the floor until there wasn't a speck of dust on the white cloth. The security guard on duty locked the door and yawned his way back to sleep. Xia Yihan guessed that Ye Zimo must have gone to sleep as well, so she quietly went to the bathroom to take out all the hidden pieces of cloth and sewing supplies, spreading them out on the floor. Fortunately, they had been in a hurry when cutting the cloth, so it wasn't too fragmented, still in large pieces. She sorted the pieces of cloth into two separate piles for two dresses, first piecing together one of them, and then began to sew. The task was monumental, and she knew that if the stitches were too obvious, the butler would find fault, so she made the stitches particularly fine. She was grateful that she had done this kind of work as a child, and was still quite skilled at it.

The main lights in the hall had already been turned off, and the current lighting was somewhat dim, making it difficult for her to see clearly, thus straining her efforts. She didn't know how much time had passed when her drowsiness grew heavier. She propped up her stiff eyelids, and the needle pricked her hand many times. The pain would jolt her back to some semblance of wakefulness. After taking a bath and reading a book, Ye Zimo turned on the computer in his room and clicked on the surveillance feed from the hall, his gaze settling heavily on Xia Yihan, who was sitting on the floor. It was somewhat dark, and he couldn't quite see what she was doing, so he leaned closer to the screen for a better look. Upon seeing that she was mending clothes, his eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. Just then, Xia Yihan was feeling sleepy again, and the needle tip lodged precisely in the crease of her thumb, the sharp pain fully awakening her. She squeezed the tip of her finger hard, blood seeping out, and tears began to flow unnoticed. The night was so deep, perhaps only at this moment could she allow herself to cry. She had held back for too long, and once the tears started, they could no longer be contained. She dared not make a sound, so she bit her lip fiercely, letting the tears flow continuously, releasing her emotions. Ye Zimo stared blankly at the screen, his gaze becoming very complex. His fists gradually clenched, tightened, and then loosened. Picking up the phone on the coffee table, he skillfully dialed a few numbers, and soon the voice of the butler, respectful and deferential, came through. 'Mr. Ye!' 'Does our Ye family need a servant to mend their own clothes because we're so poor?' he asked coldly. The butler, who had been sleeping soundly, was momentarily confused. 'Mr. Ye, I, I don't understand.'

"Listen to me clearly now! Tomorrow, make Xia Yihan two new uniforms. Until the uniforms are ready, she can wear whatever she likes." Xia Yihan cried for a while, then put down everything in her hands and went to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water, washing away all her tears. "Han Han, don't cry, I'm by your side." She seemed to hear Mo Xiaojun's voice, very distant yet seemingly right in front of her. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, he would always soothe her like this, wiping away her tears and gently patting her back to comfort her. Facing the mirror, she curled up the corners of her mouth and whispered, "Xiaojun, I won't cry, don't worry, Han Han will not cry anymore." Thinking of Mo Xiaojun, it was as if all the grievances and exhaustion had vanished. Returning to the hall, she sat on the floor and continued to sew the first dress until dawn broke. When Ye Zimo got up and passed through the hall, he saw Xia Yihan clutching the scraps of the second dress, asleep against the wall. He stopped in his tracks, gazing at her sleeping face, her eyebrows tightly knitted in her dreams, as if she wasn't resting peacefully.

He squatted down and quietly picked up the dress she had mended from the floor, examining the stitches closely. It was indeed done with care; many parts could not be identified as having been patched without careful inspection. Was she afraid of being reprimanded by the butler, which made her so meticulous? He didn't know what prompted him, but he stood up with the dress and returned to the bedroom, hanging it in the wardrobe of his room. By the time Xia Yihan woke up, Ye Zimo had already gone to the gym. She intended to wear the dress she had mended, only to find a pile of scraps beside her hand; the intact dress had vanished. As she wanted to continue searching, the butler sent someone to call her to work at the gym, so she had no choice but to tell the person that she would go to the restroom first, then hid the scraps again. Upon seeing Xia Yihan, a look of displeasure flashed in the butler's eyes. He had figured out that the person who mended the clothes must be Xia Yihan. Before she entered the door, the Crown Prince rarely lost his temper with him.

Ever since she arrived, he had been plagued with misfortune, getting scolded several times a day. He was truly determined to drive her out, but she was neither afraid of hardship nor fatigue, and no tactics seemed to work on her. The Crown Prince appeared to dislike her on the surface, yet occasionally seemed to care about her presence, making him hesitant to be too harsh. After running, doing chest expansions, and push-ups for over an hour, Ye Zimo wiped his sweat with a towel that still belonged to Fang Lina, never once glancing towards Xia Yihan. Xia Yihan obediently kept her head down, her mind still preoccupied with the dress that had gone missing. After breakfast, Ye Zimo left the house, and the butler called Xia Yihan aside alone, his face stern as he said to her, 'Today the tailor will make you two new uniforms. Before the uniforms are ready, you may wear your own clothes. Hurry up and return someone else's! You have ten minutes to get back here!' 'Thank you! Thank you so much!' Xia Yihan thanked him repeatedly, feeling almost overwhelmed by this sudden kindness. The butler glanced at her impatiently and walked away. Xia Yihan hurried back to her room, quickly changing back into her white long dress, and then headed back. As she walked, she saw Zheng Hao approaching. The answer to the puzzle that had been eluding her seemed to have been found; he was the butler's nephew, and presumably, only he could influence the butler's decisions. 'Xia Yihan!' Zheng Hao called out her name cheerfully, and Xia Yihan, with a beaming smile, sincerely said to him, 'I am truly grateful to you, thank you for pleading with your uncle on my behalf!' Zheng Hao's face was one of confusion, and he asked her in bewilderment, 'Plead for what?'