Duota carried the soaked Yuan Zhizhi in his arms and walked back to the main hall without stopping, his clothes still dripping with water.
The palace maids rushed forward, took Zhizhi, changed her wet clothes, and dried her small body bit by bit with soft cloth.
Yuan Zhizhi lay there lifeless with her eyes closed and her face as pale as paper.
Jin Wan rushed over with a group of imperial doctors and knelt on the ground.
Dota sat beside the bed, his back straight, staring coldly at the imperial doctors.
His hand gently rested on Yuan Zhizhi's small hand, his palm touching her cold skin, and the anger in his heart rolled in his chest like a burning flame.
The imperial physician stepped forward to check Yuan Zhizhi's pulse. As soon as his fingertips touched her little hand, he felt Duota's gaze falling on him like a knife.
He couldn't help but shiver, and even his voice was trembling.
"Your Majesty, the young lady fainted due to choking on water, exhaustion, and multiple injuries... I will prescribe several remedies for internal and external application, which will surely help her recover as soon as possible."
"Yeah." Duota responded softly, but did not relax at all. His eyes swept over Yuan Zhizhi's neck, arms and calves.
These places are covered with circles of purple marks, which are shocking to the eye.
A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he raised his hand and pointed at the wounds, "What's going on?"
The imperial physician hurriedly came closer to examine him, then picked up the wet clothes he had just changed and took a look at them, then answered cautiously:
"Your Majesty, this dress is too small and it constricted the girl's body. She struggled in the pond for a long time, leaving these marks."
Dota took the dress, bent down and touched the rough fabric, and his fingertips felt the stiffness and poor quality.
His face suddenly darkened and he suddenly looked up at Jin Wan.
Jin Wan was so frightened by that look that his legs went weak and he fell to his knees, kowtowed repeatedly:
"Your Majesty, it is my fault for failing in my duty! This is why the people below neglected Miss Zhizhi! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
Dota did not immediately respond.
His fingers slightly tightened the dress, then loosened and turned his gaze back to the little person sleeping soundly on the bed.
The little face was still pale, and the long eyelashes trembled slightly, but there was no sign of waking up.
His heart ached, and his thoughts were drawn back to that cold winter day in his childhood.
I was also thrown into the icy well water. The cold was biting and my body was numb from the cold. My ears were filled with ridicule and cold accusations.
That was a scene he didn't want to recall again in his life, but now, such a scene appeared to Yuan Zhizhi again.
He knew clearly that she must be scared being alone in the palace, but he still handed her over to the care of the palace maids.
If you don't pay attention, you will be bullied like this...
He stared down at the small figure lying on the bed, regret and anger swirling in his heart, and the knuckles of his clenched fists turned white.
I thought of how she struggled in the pond, and her weak cries and calls for help.
If something happened to her, how would he explain it to Ah Chao?
His heart suddenly tightened, and he ordered in a deep voice: "Go, bring Qingzhi here."
The Eagle Guards withdrew as ordered. Jin Wan then approached cautiously and said,
"Your Majesty, your clothes are wet too. Why don't you change into clean clothes before accompanying Miss Zhizhi?"
Dota glanced at him coldly, then stood up and left.
The palace maids kneeling in the hall lowered their heads and held their breath, no one dared to look up.
Soon, Duota came back with a change of clean clothes, sat back down beside the bed, and continued to guard the unconscious Yuan Zhizhi.
His expression was stern and there was a look of majesty between his brows.
No one dared to stand up.
The entire main hall was dead silent, with crowds of people kneeling on the ground.
Everyone understood that if Yuan Zhizhi didn't wake up, no one in the room would be able to get up again.
…
Qingzhi was brought here by the Eagle Guards, and was a little confused.
According to the king's previous methods, she should have been executed long ago.
But after locking her up that day, there was no more action.
Are we finally going to take action now?
She entered the hall and saw many people kneeling inside and outside the hall. The king was sitting beside the bed, seemingly guarding someone.
After she knelt, the Eagle Guard untied her.
"Your Majesty." She leaned forward without looking anywhere else.
Dota raised his eyes, looked at her dirty body, and said, "Take her downstairs and clean her up."
This time it wasn't the Eagle Guards who escorted her away, but Jin Wan stepped forward and said, "Miss Qingzhi, come with me."
Qingzhi stood up and caught a glimpse of a child lying on the bed.
Jin Wan took her to change back into a maid's clothes. Qingzhi didn't ask anything during the whole process, and Jin Wan didn't say anything either.
The rule of the Eagle Guard is not to ask too many questions or say too much.
But when she returned to the hall and saw the face of the little person on the bed, she suddenly understood why Dota asked her to come back.
It was a little face that was almost exactly the same as Yuan Zhao's.
Your Majesty, this is...
"From now on, you will be responsible for protecting her closely. This is your chance to redeem yourself." Duota kept his eyes on Yuan Zhizhi who was lying on the bed.
Qingzhi pursed her lips and kowtowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do my duty diligently."
Although Qingzhi was released, Duota did not leave.
Instead, he stayed by the bedside without moving a step.
In the middle of the night, Yuan Zhizhi developed a high fever and her body was as hot as a furnace.
Her tightly closed eyes and uneasy mumbling made everyone nervous.
The main hall was brightly lit, and palace maids were running back and forth carrying cold water and medicinal soup, hardly stopping for a moment.
"Hurry up, there's not enough water, change it!"
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