Chapter 19: Kneeling in the Ancestral Hall, Relapse of Old Illness

The ancestral hall door creaked open, and a cold wind mingled with the smell of incense ash and mildew blew in, making Yun Zhi shiver. She stood before the mottled ancestral tablets in a plain, washed-out dress, looking down at Lin Wanru, who stood condescendingly on the steps, clutching a half-broken piece of the incense burner in her hand, her eyes filled with calculating harshness.

"The prayer ceremony is so solemn, yet you dared to accidentally overturn the incense burner in front of our ancestors and disrupt the spirit tablet!" Lin Wanru's voice was shrill, echoing in the empty ancestral hall. "Yunzhi, do you know how great a sin this is? If it weren't for the prince's face, I would cripple your hands today for disrespecting our ancestors!"

Yun Zhi lowered her eyes, her fingertips tightly gripping the edge of her clothes. It had clearly been Lin Wanru's maid who had deliberately bumped into her, causing her to knock over the incense burner, but now, the crime was being pinned on her. She opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it again—in this palace, her defense was always futile and would only bring about a heavier punishment.

"Your Highness, I didn't..." She couldn't help herself in the end, her voice was as soft as a mosquito's, with a trace of lingering unwillingness.

"No?" Lin Wanru sneered and threw the broken pieces of the incense burner at Yun Zhi's feet. The scattered incense ash landed on her shoes. "There are witnesses and evidence, and you still dare to quibble? It seems that if I don't teach you a lesson, you don't know how to spell the word 'rules'!"

She raised her hand and ordered the maid behind her, "Drag her down and make her kneel at the entrance of the ancestral hall for three days! Reflect on your sins and get up again when you've figured it out! If she dares to slack off, splash her with cold water to wake her up!"

"Yes!" Two strong maids immediately stepped forward, twisted Yun Zhi's arms, and tried to drag her out.

"Princess, my shoulder isn't healed yet. Kneeling for three days... I'm afraid I can't endure..." Yun Zhi struggled, a hint of pleading in her voice. The arrow wound on her shoulder had only just healed. If she knelt for three days in this cold ancestral hall, the old injury would surely relapse, and perhaps even leave a permanent problem.

But Lin Wanru didn't care about her life or death. All she wanted was to make Yun Zhi suffer, so that Yun Zhi would no longer be an eyesore in front of Xiao Jin.

"You have to hold on even if you can't!" Lin Wanru's eyes were icy. "Who told you to be so restless and offend our ancestors? This is the punishment you deserve! If you die kneeling, it's just your bad luck, you can't blame anyone else!"

Without hesitation, the maids dragged Yunzhi to the entrance of the ancestral hall and pressed her down on the cold bluestone slab. As soon as her knees touched the ground, a piercing chill shot up her knees, pulling at her old injuries and causing her to gasp in pain.

"Kneel down properly and don't try to play tricks!" The old woman said harshly, turned around and left with Lin Wanru.

The entrance to the ancestral hall was deserted, save for a few withered trees swaying in the cold wind, making a humming sound that sounded like howling. Yun Zhi knelt on the ground, her hands supporting the ground, trying to relieve the pressure on her knees. The arrow wound in her shoulder ached dully, and every breath strained the wound, causing a layer of cold sweat to seep onto her forehead.

She looked up towards the depths of the palace. Xiao Jin's study was in that direction. Did he know she was being punished to kneel? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But even if he did, would he care?

Thinking of the words he'd said in the paddock—"torture," "wishful thinking," "slave of sin," Yun Zhi's heart felt like it was being stabbed by an ice spike, the pain numb. She shouldn't have had any expectations of him, right?

The wind grew stronger, making her plain clothes rustle. The thin fabric was no match for the chill. Her body began to tremble, not from fear, but from the cold and pain. Her knees had lost all feeling, and the wound on her shoulder felt like it was being gnawed, the pain growing worse.

She knelt for an unknown amount of time until the sky gradually darkened. The moon hid behind the clouds, shedding only a faint glimmer of light. The entrance to the ancestral hall was pitch black, and she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Yun Zhi's consciousness began to blur, and fragments flashed before her eyes from time to time—the peach blossoms at the Taifu Mansion, her mother's warm hands, and the image of Xiao Jin as a young man in silver armor...

"Cold..." She murmured unconsciously, her voice as thin as a mosquito, "Mom... is cold..."

At this moment, a faint sound of footsteps came from a distance and stopped in front of her. Yun Zhi opened her eyes with great effort and saw a familiar green figure - it was Xie Heng.

"Miss Yun!" Xie Heng squatted down. Seeing her pale face and trembling body, his eyes were full of heartache. "Why are you kneeling here? And you have a high fever!"

He reached out and touched her forehead, the scorching heat making him frown. "It's so hot! If you kneel down again, your old injury will relapse and it will burn your brain!"

When Yun Zhi saw him, her eyes suddenly felt hot, but she still shook her head and said in a hoarse voice: "Thank you, Doctor. Please leave quickly. If the princess sees you, it will bring trouble to you."

"It's already this late, and you're still thinking about this!" Xie Heng took out a bottle of fever-reducing medicine and a clean handkerchief from the medicine box, poured out a few pills, and then took out a kettle from his arms and carefully fed her the medicine. "I heard Qinghe say that you were punished by the princess to kneel here, so I came here secretly. Don't worry, I've avoided everyone and won't be discovered."

The pills were bitter, but the warm water sliding down her throat brought a long-lost warmth. Yun Zhi leaned on Xie Heng's arm, her consciousness slightly clearer. She looked at Xie Heng's profile as he carefully fed her the medicine, and a trace of gratitude welled up in her heart, but also with a hint of guilt - every time she was in trouble, Xie Heng would secretly come to help her, while she could not give him anything, and might even bring trouble to him.

"Thank you, Doctor." She whispered, her voice choking with sobs, "I have to trouble you every time, I..."

"Don't say that." Xie Heng interrupted her and gently wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with a wet handkerchief, his movements as gentle as if he were treating a fragile treasure. "Back then at the Taifu Mansion, you helped me, and now I'm helping you. It's only right. Just hold on. After these three days, I'll find a way to help you recuperate."

He took out a small heater from the medicine box and put it in Yun Zhi's hand: "There's charcoal in here, it can warm your hands for a while. If you really can't hold on any longer, just breathe on the heater and don't let yourself get cold."

Yun Zhi held the heater, the warmth from her fingertips spreading throughout her body, making her eyes tear up. At the cold entrance of the ancestral hall, at this moment of despair, Xie Heng's appearance was like a glimmer of light, illuminating her gloomy world.

"Doctor Xie, please leave quickly. It will be troublesome if someone finds us." She urged, fearing that delaying too long would bring danger to Xie Heng.

Xie Heng nodded, and reminded them a few more times, "Take medicine on time" and "Don't force yourself", before he stood up, looked around vigilantly, and left quickly after confirming that there was no one around.

Yun Zhi watched him leave, clutching the heater tightly in her hands, her heart overflowing with gratitude. She leaned against the doorframe of the ancestral hall, closed her eyes, and tried to regain consciousness. The warmth of the heater made her feel a little more comfortable, but the dizziness from the high fever grew stronger, and the pain in her shoulder wound intensified.

Just as she was about to pass out, she caught a glimpse of a dark figure in the corridor opposite the ancestral hall. The figure stopped not far away, seemingly looking at her, or looking at the direction Xie Heng left.

Yun Zhi's heart tightened and she wanted to see clearly who that person was, but her consciousness became more and more blurred. Finally, her eyes went dark and she passed out.

After witnessing Xie Heng administering the medicine and plugging the heater, the black figure quietly retreated behind a pillar. Moonlight filtered through the cracks in the corridor, illuminating the hem of the man's clothing, revealing a small piece of dark fabric embroidered with subtle patterns. It was the secret guard Xiao Jin had sent to investigate the arrow wound in the enclosure.

The secret guard looked at the unconscious Yun Zhi, then glanced at the direction Xie Heng had left, his brows furrowed slightly. He didn't approach, but turned silently and walked towards Xiao Jin's study—he needed to report everything he had just seen to the prince.

At the entrance to the ancestral hall, only the unconscious Yun Zhi was left, and the heater she held in her hand, still emitting a faint warmth. The cold wind still blew, but Yun Zhi's face held a subtle, gentle warmth.

She didn't know that the figure's glimpse just now would soon trigger a bigger storm; she didn't know that Xie Heng's secret help this time would become evidence of "betrayal" in Xiao Jin's eyes, pushing her into a deeper abyss.

As the night deepened, the smell of incense ash and the cold wind in the ancestral hall intertwined, foreshadowing that a new crisis was quietly brewing.