Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Heading South
After returning home, Li Cheng didn't even have time to change his clothes before he immediately sent for the imperial physician. The imperial physician didn't leave even when he arrived, but simply stood by and watched over him.
Liang Hanzhang pretended to cry all the way, her eyes nearly swollen. She sobbed and looked at him, her vision hazy. "Your Highness, I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to get some fresh air."
She spoke intermittently, pausing from time to time, "I didn't expect such an accident to happen. Your Highness, could you please not be angry with me..." She bit her lower lip and looked pitifully at the man standing opposite her who was as smooth as jade and as light as a pine tree.
She cried and felt a chill in her heart. She came to the Eastern Palace, and she probably shed all the tears and acted coquettishly in her life.
I don’t know if she will be able to do it if she is assigned to be a spy in some lord’s house in the future.
The prince stood beside the bed, afraid that the smell of his blood would disturb her. He stepped back a few steps and stood a little further away, turning back from time to time to see if the imperial physician had arrived.
In order to save time, he carried her directly into the carriage and rode back all the way. Although he was an expert rider and the official road was very smooth, when he saw the woman's pale face without a trace of blood, his heart seemed to be hit several times with a hammer.
He seemed a little absent-minded as he listened to the other party's explanation.
Seeing the prince's reaction, Liang Hanzhang's breathing became tight and his heart sank heavily.
Prince, have you started to doubt?
The imperial physician had been staying in the Eastern Palace, but it would take him some time to get to Zhilan Residence. He finally arrived, but before he could even catch his breath, the Crown Prince, who was standing inside, pulled him over to take Empress Liangyuan's pulse in the bed.
The imperial physician looked at His Highness's gloomy face and the Empress, who was curled up in the quilt like a quail and dared not say a word, and felt that today's matter was a bit tricky.
"Liang Yuan was frightened today, please take a close look at her body to see if there is anything wrong with her." After saying this, he did not leave, but stood beside her like a plague god, which put a lot of pressure on the imperial physician.
He took the prince's pulse while stroking his beard carefully and nodded from time to time. The prince couldn't understand what was going on and didn't dare to relax.
After about an incense stick of time, the imperial physician stood up and said, "Your Highness, the Queen's mind has been disturbed, and her liver cannot store the soul. She is suffering from fear of falling qi. But it's okay. I will prescribe some new tranquilizing prescriptions to harmonize the Queen's liver qi and calm her soul. After the Queen takes a few medicines and rests well for a few days, she will surely recover as before."
Seeing the prince's brow gradually relaxing, he held back and continued, "But the queen is already weak. This one or two times is okay. If she is often so frightened, I am afraid that the dragon heir in the queen's belly" - he paused and adjusted his breathing, "will have miscarriage."
The prince's heart had barely settled down for long when it was suddenly lifted up again. He seemed stunned for a moment, then quickly grabbed the doctor's collar and asked, "Is there any way to ensure the queen's pregnancy is safe?"
The Crown Prince's sudden approach nearly startled the Imperial Physician. He cautiously observed the Crown Prince's gloomy face and patiently counseled, "Your Highness, please do not worry too much. As long as Your Majesty rests well, the little prince in your belly will be safe."
Li Cheng looked at the other person for a long time with sharp eyes, and finally let go of his hand and ordered: "Since that's the case, don't let me down."
He also instructed Li Gui beside him, "Notify everyone in the mansion that the queen needs to rest and no outsiders are allowed to see her. Take good care of the queen and don't let her leave the mansion. If she needs anything, just arrange for someone to get it for her."
Unlike Li Fu, Li Gui hadn't served the Crown Prince for as long, so this was the first time he had seen the Crown Prince look so cold and terrifying. He nodded and retreated, trembling.
When Liang Hanzhang heard the words "forbidden from leaving the house," she felt as if the sky had fallen. If she wasn't allowed to leave the house, judging by the current situation, there would surely be more people guarding her. What would happen to the child in her belly?
If you delay any further, your belly will get bigger day by day. Not only will it be difficult to deliver the fetus, but even if it is delivered, I'm afraid it will result in two deaths.
"Your Highness," she struggled out of bed and called him softly.
The prince turned his head away and didn't want to look anymore, but ordered Chunfen beside him: "Go and support your master, don't let anyone move."
Chunfen and the others had been punished by His Highness several times, and seeing the Crown Prince from afar made their legs tremble with fear. Upon hearing the order, he hurried over and tucked the quilt carefully into her, and placed a soft pillow behind her back.
"Your Highness, what if the princess comes looking for you?" She couldn't say directly that she wanted to go out, so she could only go around it in a roundabout way under the guise of the princess.
Li Cheng had thought of this the second before she said it, and after a moment's thought, he said, "She can come to the East Palace, but you can't go out with her." He believed that with such a big thing happening, even if he didn't say it, Luo Hua would know what was more important, and would not take her out to make trouble.
She was still staring blankly at the direction where he was standing, her face almost wrinkled. The prince suppressed his emotions and said calmly, "I am dirty, I will go out and take a bath first. You rest well here." He then ordered Chunfen, who was standing beside him, to help the queen drink the medicine later.
After everything was settled, I finally felt at ease and headed for the bathing room. As I dismounted from the horse, I was so focused on the person in front of me that I accidentally got stepped on by the horse's hoof. I didn't feel anything at first, but when I took off the bloodstained clothes and started bathing, I felt the pain in my chest.
He stared at his blue chest, lost in thought.
After coming out of the room, she had her hair combed by the eunuchs. When everything was ready, Li Gui came in to report that Li Fu had returned.
Li Cheng's hand, which was tying his belt, paused, and he subconsciously glanced at the woman in the distance who was sipping medicine. He lowered his eyebrows and walked out behind the screen.
"How?" The prince's voice was cold and his emotions could not be discerned.
Li Fu was not as agile as His Highness, and he was also overweight. This chase had nearly cost him his life. His clothes were disheveled, and there was a red mark on his forehead from a bump. He panted and said:
"I sent someone to investigate, and it was just an accident. The waiter at the South City Inn was negligent and accidentally mixed croton seeds into the horse's fodder. Not only this horse, but all the horses in the stable went crazy."
Li Cheng straightened his clothes and sneered: "Accident?" Croton is not a very common thing. Who would carry it with them and accidentally put it in the fodder? It was clearly intentional.
Li Fu just came back, his mouth was dry and his brain suddenly stopped working and he couldn't think. He reacted for a long time and said in surprise: "Your Highness means..."
The prince's eyes were already cast on the potted pine in the distance, and his voice was filled with ice: "If I were them, I would know that the safest thing to do is to be absolutely safe. If someone finds out about it in the future, I will also have a plan to deal with it."
"You mean, this collective madness was caused by someone on purpose?" Li Cheng did not answer.
He only asked, "Are all the preparations for the trip south ready?"
Li Fu didn't expect His Highness to jump to such a topic. He was stunned for a while before replying: "Everything is ready, just waiting for Your Highness's order."
"Since this is the case, it's time to head south." After all, the people in the south of the Yangtze River are suffering, and the situation is so dire that any delay would be a torture to the people.
He stepped back into the house, not forgetting to order: "Make sure to thoroughly investigate this horse-scare incident." If he guessed correctly, the other party used the horse-scare incident to target Liang Yuan, but in fact they were targeting him.
Could it be that group of people hiding in the dark?
After the prince left, Liang Hanzhang drank the medicine and lay on the bed. He turned slightly to the side and secretly opened the note that Zanniang had stuffed into his hand while the palace maid who was standing not far away was not paying attention.
The moment she saw it clearly, her whole body trembled, and her skin felt as if it had been rolled in hot oil. She was full of disbelief.
The letter told her to give birth to the prince's child, or else her brother would be spared. It also said that the recent hot weather had shown a slight improvement in her brother's health. If she disobeyed, her brother's corpse would be waiting for her.
Liang Hanzhang clutched the note tightly. They had a pretty good plan, intending to force her to give birth and then threaten her with the child's life.
But what had her child done wrong to deserve such an unprovoked disaster?
Her emotions told her she didn't want to hear it, she wanted to abandon the child. But her mind told her she couldn't. If her brother lost his life because of this child, all her efforts in coming to the Eastern Palace would have been in vain.
It's just a matter of giving birth, so she can just give birth. As the child's father, the prince should spare the child for the sake of their blood relationship.
After all, the child also has his blood flowing in his body.
Things seemed to have reached a dead end, and Liang Hanzhang had no other way to comfort her except in this way.
Only a few people know that the crown prince will go south tomorrow. The public news is that the crown prince is ill and is recuperating in the East Palace.
In order to prevent this incident from happening again and to better protect Liang Yuan's safety, Li Cheng assigned two female guards with advanced martial arts skills to serve him, one named Mingyue and the other named Yuhu.
Liang Hanzhang saw the two girls standing nearby, their eyes determined and their movements skillful, clearly martial artists, and finally realized the seriousness of the situation. She was afraid that during the time the Crown Prince was away in the south, she wouldn't even be able to leave Zhilan Residence easily.
The prince values this child so much. If he knew one day that she wanted to kill the child, who knows what kind of bloody storm would break out.
Unexpectedly, the prince, upon hearing that she was very fond of the vendor's hawk, sent someone to buy it for her to play with. However, hawks are naturally ferocious, so as a precaution, the bird was kept in a cage and not allowed to come out.
Liang Hanzhang looked at the man next to him with mixed emotions.
Li Cheng didn't say anything either. He handled official business for a while at a long table not far from her, then summoned Li Fu to explain some matters before getting up and walking towards the bed.
He bathed and changed into a bamboo-green robe. His tall figure made him look gentle and refined, a true gentleman. As he stood by, reading the memorial, he noticed the woman was uneasy, her eyes occasionally glancing at him.
Now that he was approaching, the woman lowered her head again, not daring to look at him. That was all the courage she had. He scoffed inwardly.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took out two blessings of peace wrapped in yellow cloth from his arms. There were scriptures printed on them that she could not understand. The man took them out carefully and held them in his hands.
He said: "This is the blessing and peace I prayed for at Huangjue Temple today. You and the baby in your belly should each have one. Wear them on you all the time, and evil spirits will not easily harm you."
Although he doesn't believe in ghosts and gods, it's okay to ask for a good omen.
Liang Hanzhang reached out from under the quilt, took the peace blessing he handed her, and nodded sullenly. Li Cheng's attention was completely focused on her. Seeing her red and swollen eyelids and pale lips, he thought she was still worried about the previous incident.
So he held her hand, placed it under his lips, kissed it gently, and comforted her: "My tone was a little harsh at that time. It was not intentional. It's just that the scene was really scary. I couldn't control my tone and was mean to you. Don't think too much about it."
Liang Hanzhang's eyes were fixed on the Ping An Fu in his hand. When he heard the man's humble words of comfort, he suddenly felt a surge of guilt. Aside from the initial scolding, he seemed to have no temper and was infinitely tolerant of him.
Was he just too good-tempered, or was he just tolerant of her? Liang Hanzhang didn't dare to think too deeply, fearing that if she fell into this man's tenderness, she would never be able to escape.
She had more important things to do, so how could she get caught up in a romantic relationship? Besides, the tolerance of those in power was, to put it nicely, affection; to put it bluntly, it was just a novelty. Once the novelty wore off, she didn't know how tragic the outcome would be.
Whether it is a bottomless abyss or a bright future, it all depends on the thoughts of the superior.
"I will be traveling south to Jiangnan in the next few months and will lie to others that I am recuperating in the Eastern Palace. You must take good care of yourself while I am away."
"Several imperial physicians who are good at gynecology in the Imperial Hospital are now living in the East Palace. If you feel unwell, you must tell the people around you immediately. I have arranged Mingyue and Yuhu to be by your side. They are both martial artists and have extraordinary skills. I can feel more at ease with them around."
Although there are secret guards throughout the Eastern Palace, they are mainly in the dark and cannot be as meticulous as the maids, and are more sensitive to the dangers faced by their masters.
He realized that he had been negligent in not arranging the right people around her, which led to such a big thing happening today.
After hearing the man's well-organized arrangements, Liang Hanzhang only paid attention to his previous words: "Your Highness is going to the south of the Yangtze River?" Why did he have to hide his identity and go south secretly?
Li Cheng pinched her face and found her wide-open eyes and puzzled expression adorable. He wouldn't have shared these court affairs with her before, but now that she was pregnant with his child, in his heart, she was already close to him. There was nothing he couldn't tell her.
"The waters of Jiangnan are deep, and three hundred thousand silver coins are missing. I feel uneasy, so I plan to go south myself." However, this round trip would take several months, and it was unknown how long he would stay in Jiangnan. It was estimated that by the time he returned, it would be almost the end of the year.
The court affairs were urgent and he was too busy to handle them, so he had to let her and the child down.
Liang Hanzhang seemed to see the tangled guilt in his eyes. She leaned against him and said sympathetically, "Your Highness, rest assured. Everything is fine in the Eastern Palace. Don't worry." Her fingers grasped the white jade belt around his waist, tugging at it intermittently.
With a beautiful girl in his arms, and this beautiful girl being the one he cherishes in his heart, the prince felt as if a feather was gently tickling his heart, but the other party was unaware and was even planning to take advantage of him.
Li Cheng grabbed her hands and held them tightly, trying hard to clear his mind: "While I'm away, no matter who invites you, you must not leave the East Palace."
Moreover, he specially sent someone to tell the emperor and empress. The emperor and empress knew that it was a turbulent time and would not let a weak pregnant woman like her enter the palace.
He held her head with his palm, and helped her to comb her hair from time to time, patiently explaining: "You don't know that the horse-scaring incident today was not an accident, but someone did it deliberately. The situation outside is turbulent, far from being as calm as it seems. I can only feel at ease if you stay in the East Palace obediently."
Afraid that she would be bored, he said, "If you want something, you can ask Li Gui to arrange for it. In short, don't go out. The Eastern Palace is safe, but outside the Eastern Palace, there are many potential dangers that are hard to guard against. I am doing this for the good of you and the baby in your belly."
The most important thing is that he is not in Beijing during this period. If something really happens, I am afraid he will be too far away to handle it.
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