Chapter 53

"It's rumored to be malaria. Shuhu's place is hot and humid and full of mosquitoes. The general had trouble adapting there and may have contracted some disease. Alas... after being bedridden for half a month, he passed away like his brothers."

The old lady of the Yao family held the letter, shook her hands with tears in her eyes, and handed it to the maid beside her as if she could not bear it anymore. She took a handkerchief and kept wiping the tears on her face, over and over again, deliberately showing her regret for the death of the young man.

The eldest princess sat in the bright yellow curtains. Seeing the endless sobbing sounds from everyone present, she turned her eyes to the little girl who was sitting nearby on the bed with a dull face.

She neither cried nor spoke. She looked like a clay Buddha, standing at the head of the bed with an expressionless face. The noisy sounds behind her seemed to have not penetrated her ears at all.

Qingning's hope, which had just been ignited, was shattered with a snap.

It also took away the person she cherished.

She had been ill since the day she heard the news, and was only called out this time with reluctance by the eldest princess. The eldest princess knew that she was suffering from a mental illness. Given Qingning's self-blaming personality, she would definitely blame herself for General Cui's death.

The eldest princess stared into her eyes, without a ripple in them. Her dark pupils were like a deep well, dragging all hope down.

The sadness was so intense that it became difficult to even show it on my face.

Unable to bear listening to the nonsense any longer, the eldest princess rubbed her temples and told them to go first. At this point, Yao finally ended her endless crying, and having achieved her goal, she happily accepted the order and left.

But when she reached the door, she turned around and comforted the beautiful figure who was still trapped in her own little world.

"If the general is still alive, he wouldn't want the girl to be so sad. Qingning, please take care of yourself. Fortunately, you haven't gotten married yet, otherwise what would you do?"

After she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of the girl sitting on the stool. She shrugged slightly, then bent down, curled herself up into an almost inconspicuous thin shadow, covered her cheeks with her hands, and cried.

The eldest princess glanced at her, and she pursed her lips and walked out of the room awkwardly.

All that was heard was that the eldest daughter of the Yue family, who had just tried to restrain herself, was now crying out in sorrow. Her almost suffocating sobs seemed to strangle the throat of those who heard it.

Old Madam Yao shook her coat uncomfortably. She didn't have any deep hatred towards her, but since that person had given the order, she had to do as he said.

Seeing that the noise here could not be stopped for a while, she led the ladies out of the yard, trying to stay away from the mournful crying.

The maid bowed to the inside at the door. Seeing this, the princess helped the little girl who was curled up at the head of the bed.

Her tear-filled face was stained purple by her tears, and her clear eyes, like dewdrops, were now filled with turbid regret, becoming even more red and terrifying.

She was out of breath and kept reciting.

"It's all my fault! It's all my fault..."

The eldest princess couldn't bear to see her blaming herself like this, so she pulled her into her arms and patted her back gently.

"Silly child, how is this your fault? It's us who are guarding our brother that have this fate... You can't blame anyone else."

As she spoke, the eldest princess's voice trembled a little. She advised Qingning not to think too much, but she herself was already thinking more.

She wondered if she had been the one to manipulate Huger into getting involved between Ah Heng and the Crown Prince, and if the Crown Prince had planned to have him die in a foreign land in order to eliminate future threats.

She was becoming more and more anxious day by day. The eldest princess knew that she would never give up, but she regretted the price she would have to pay.

I didn't intend to sacrifice these children. It wasn't originally like this...

Yue Qingning lay in the eldest princess's arms, almost crying with grief. The eldest princess didn't know, and no one knew.

Cui Hu should be alive and well.

In his previous life, he was also defeated by the Holy Will and had to escort the silver to Shuhu. At that time, he clearly came back alive.

But why? They finally had a destiny in this life, but it ruined his life. Yue Qingning couldn't understand it, she couldn't understand it at all!

Could it be that she was determined to change her fate, making innocent people bear the consequences of her actions?

In this way, everything seemed to be explained. It was she who refused to believe in fate and did so many things, getting involved in the fight between the princes.

It was she who asked him to make a wish in the Guanyin Temple, to protect her for the rest of his life, and to swear that he would not have a good end.

It was all her fault! Why should punishment be bestowed upon someone who had nothing to do with her? She looked around in grief and indignation, but she didn't know who to blame for this unwarranted resentment.

The quiet air under the corridor was swept up by gusts of wind, which rose in clusters into the air. It was raining.

Someone passed by the corridor, and the wind created by their footsteps broke through the stagnant air, bringing a rare coolness.

Yue Qingning cried until she almost lost consciousness, and she didn't care who came. She was trapped in the quagmire of self-blame and unable to move. However, the person who came cast his tall figure on her, blocking all her unbearable pain.

The princess moved her fingers, patted the back of her hand, and motioned her to look back.

She turned around and saw the sky-blue collar right in front of her. She could smell the strong medicinal scent on him without even noticing.

"Don't cry."

He only said two words, which failed to comfort her and instead aroused greater grievances.

Yue Qingning only felt that as she sobbed, her head became dizzy and her vision went dark, as if she was about to faint from crying.

During these few swaying moments, Prince Shou naturally supported the back of her head, guided her to the side of her neck, and then leaned over to pick her up.

He didn't know what to say at the moment, so he could only nod at his aunt.

The eldest princess immediately waved her hand and told him not to worry about her, and quickly sent the person to another bedroom and called a doctor.

Prince Shou nodded, turned around, led the man out of the room, and anxiously called Wang Xuan to go and call for help immediately.

Putting the person on the bed, seeing her face, which had just been flushed, suddenly turn pale, Prince Shou felt as if he had returned to that day, the day when his father had just taken him out of the Zen temple.

In order to teach him a lesson that day, Xiao Yan ordered people to find a random crime and chop off the limbs of the nanny and tutor who raised him, intending to give him a warning and warn him of the consequences if he rebelled.

The blood mist of that day was still in his dreams. Every time he recalled the past, those bloody people rolling and crying on the ground would peel off a layer of his skin again. They appeared again and again, just to tell him not to forget the grudge of the past, and not to forget how Xiao Yan killed the people around him whom he regarded as his family.

Looking at her pale face, Prince Shou couldn't help but think of his husband lying in a pool of blood. He didn't struggle, but just looked at him quietly with infinite love and worry. The bloodshot in his eyes gradually lost its color, and his pupils became almost transparent.

The scene at that time seemed to reappear in his life. Prince Shou grabbed her hand in panic, wanting her not to fall asleep like this, and not to become a dead body like her husband, unable to respond to him.

He rubbed the back of her hand vigorously, pulled it under his lips and exhaled hot air again and again, hoping that she would not become so cold. However, perhaps the heavy rain outside brought the cold, and her hands became colder and whiter.

Finally, the doctor ran in surrounded by a group of people. Before she could get up, he picked her up and took her to check her condition.

The pulse is steady and the complexion is serene. This should be due to the stagnation of qi and blood due to great sorrow and grief. He will wake up soon.

Although the doctor said so, he still wrote a prescription and gave it to the nobleman. Just now, the way Prince Shou stared at him looked like he wanted to eat him, so he couldn't say for sure that the girl was fine and would wake up soon.

After the people gathered in the room left, Prince Shou felt relieved and finally had the mind to look at the tear marks on her face.

She clearly didn't like him, but she was mourning for him so much. He wiped the remaining tears on her face helplessly, and couldn't help comparing her with Cui Hu in his heart.

If he was the one who died, I wonder if she would feel any pity for him...

But soon, he put those useless thoughts behind his mind, and gently scratched her brow with his thumb, smoothing out the bulges of sorrow and resentment one by one.

Qingning seemed to have heard some bad news in her dream. Her lips trembled, she let out a breath, and soon tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.

She really blamed him. If he hadn't insisted on sending her away, she wouldn't have to face the tragic situation today.

For the first time, Prince Shou softened his heart. The helpless situation finally gave rise to a little pity. He thought, since things have come to this, why not exclude her and not let her deal with danger.

If it were better to find someone trustworthy to take her away from the capital, even if the prince was unreasonable, would he still pursue information about a girl who was thousands of miles away and had nothing to do with the situation?

Prince Shou lifted the curtain and sat beside her bed. In the dim light, her small cheeks and delicate features were all in his eyes. She was as quiet as a jade-faced Guanyin, but because she was influenced by the seven emotions and six desires, her face became approachable.

He looked at her silently for a long time, then took out a black jade from his bosom and put it in her palm.

This was a secret token of communication between him and his men. Seeing it was like seeing him in person. Given his current situation, he had nothing to offer her as compensation, so he could only give her this, hoping it would protect her from now on.

This way, he could feel a little more at ease.

Pressing the jade into her palm, Prince Shou seemed to be torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay for a while. After seeing her frown gradually relax, he waited for a while, and only got up and left after she fell completely asleep.

The eldest princess was extremely worried. When she saw Ah Heng finally coming back, she wanted to get down from the ground and grab him, and asked him hurriedly.

"How's Qingning? I saw she wasn't looking too good when she came. I was afraid she'd lost her mind and gotten stuck in a rut! It's all because of that old woman from the Yao family. I knew she'd never been friendly with me, so why is she here looking for trouble? It turns out she's waiting to make fun of Qingning!"

As she spoke, she could faintly hear a cry in her voice. Prince Shou could not bear to see his aunt suffer sore, so he quickly helped her to lean against the bed frame.

"Aunt, don't worry. Qingning is fine. She just needs some time to recuperate."

His eyes were gloomy and intimidating, and he uttered two words as if breathing out cold air from his lungs.

"As for the others...don't worry! Ah Heng won't keep them happy for long."

The eldest princess closed her eyes tightly, and many wet marks appeared under her eyelashes. Prince Shou held his aunt in his arms and comforted her softly, but his eyes were more vicious and cruel than ever before.

Xiao Yan was so reckless and cruel, so don't blame him for resorting to any means necessary next time.