When Zhao Xiheng woke up after being given the medicine, it was already dusk the next day. She sighed slightly, lay motionless on the bed, still savoring the dream.
When the maids saw that she had woken up, they surrounded her to take care of her, asking about her well-being and helping her sit up to give her warm water.
Zhao Xiheng's fever had just subsided, but her head still throbbed with pain, her body felt weak and limp, and her stomach was rumbling. The chattering and cheerful voices of the women around her only added to her irritation. While cursing Wei Li in her mind, Zhao Xiheng dismissed them, saying, "I'm hungry. I want to eat sugar-coated glutinous rice cakes, glutinous rice fish, and Dong'an chicken."
These are all dishes from Jinyang.
The maids exchanged hesitant glances and said nervously, "Young mistress, these things aren't available in Pingzhou, and it's difficult to find someone in your household who knows how to make them. Perhaps you could make do with these for now, we..."
Zhao Xiheng nodded slightly, "Alright, you can all go out now. I'll lie down quietly for a while."
The door was gently closed, and the room returned to silence, save for the crackling of the charcoal fire.
A short while later, a flurry of footsteps sounded. Xiao Tao, dressed in a thick, light pink coat and with lint applied to her hands to treat frostbite, rushed in, knelt down, and cried to Zhao Xiheng, "Your Highness! Your Highness! Waaah, please don't abandon me..."
Zhao Xiheng's head throbbed even more from her desperate, hoarse screams; she wished she could just throw her out.
"Are you mourning?" She moved her lips, her voice slightly hoarse.
"I'll cry 85 years from now. I want to live to be 100."
Even just a few simple words took a lot of effort from her. Fortunately, Xiao Tao was obedient and immediately swallowed her sobs.
Zhao Xiheng was surprised but not unexpected to see Xiao Tao by the bedside. This girl was stubborn and inflexible, and she wouldn't turn back even after hitting a wall. She didn't know how far the group had gone before she braved the cold wind to come back.
"Let me see your hands." She waved to Xiao Tao and muttered, "Are you crazy? It would be so much better to go back to Jinyang in the cold."
Xiao Tao obediently offered her hand, which was wrapped in gauze, and said weakly, "It doesn't hurt anymore, Your Highness."
Zhao Xiheng lifted her eyelids, and seeing that no one was around, asked in a low voice, "How did you get back?"
"When I woke up in the carriage, I didn't know where we were. I jumped off the carriage and ran away when no one was paying attention. I just didn't expect that I didn't know the way and accidentally entered the border of Goguryeo, and then they tied me up."
“Last night, Wei Li fought with the people of Goguryeo, and I was rescued. He knew I was His Highness’s man, so he sent me back ahead of time.”
Although Wei Li saved her, Xiao Tao still couldn't feel any affection for him whenever she thought about how Wei Li had taken her princess away, causing her to fall into the hands of the Goguryeo people while searching for the princess.
She started to cry as she spoke, and Zhao Xiheng hugged her, saying, "It's alright, it's alright."
Although Wei Li was a beast, Zhao Xiheng was still somewhat grateful for the fact that he brought Xiao Tao back.
"Your Highness, he's still in Pyongyang. We don't know when he'll be back. Let's run away!" Xiao Tao urged, her eyes red.
Zhao Xiheng flicked her forehead. "Although he's not here, the Ji'an Prefect's family is still here. I'm still weak. Let alone running away, I'm too tired to even get out of bed and walk a few steps. I'm afraid I'll be caught and taken back before I even leave the house."
"Oh..." Xiao Tao became even more depressed upon hearing this.
"Bang!"
Before the two could finish speaking, a heavy thud outside interrupted their conversation.
The door was then pushed open again, carrying with it a sweet, pungent smell of blood and a chilling, austere atmosphere.
"Heh, you're awake?" Wei Li raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zhao Xiheng. He then took off his cloak and hung it on a clothes rack before standing in front of the red-hot stove to warm his hands.
Zhao Xiheng narrowed her eyes, wishing she could shove his head into the fire.
Knock! Entering someone's room without knocking! Always knocking when leaving the house...
"vomit……"
You're bound to encounter a ghost if you go out!
Before Zhao Xiheng could finish cursing in her heart, she suddenly leaned against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and began to dry heave.
After being intercepted by Wei Li the day before yesterday, she only managed to eat a few chestnut cakes on the way to stave off hunger. Yesterday, she spent the whole day in bed, and her stomach was already empty. The smell of blood made her stomach acid churn, but she didn't vomit anything.
Wei Li's face turned green. He withdrew his hand from the stove fire, turned to look at Zhao Xiheng, and squeezed out each word through gritted teeth as if he wanted to devour her, "Zhao Xiheng, do you feel this disgusted by me?"
Zhao Xiheng looked up at him, her already watery eyes filled with tears from vomiting, making her look even more pitiful. She shook her head, her face pale, "My lord, I didn't, there was a strong smell of blood."
Speaking of this, Wei Li suddenly smiled and leaned closer. The smell of blood on him became even stronger. Zhao Xiheng's face turned pale, and she began to dry heave while holding onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
She then noticed that Wei Li's black clothes were stained with blood. They had frozen solid outside, but thawed once inside, and blood droplets were dripping onto the floor.
Xiao Tao clung to Zhao Xiheng's arm, trembling, and hid behind her.
“Didn’t you tell me, maid? I’ve killed a lot of people on the Goguryeo border. Zhao Xiheng, you should know that when I said I would kill you, I wasn’t just joking. You’d better behave.”
Perhaps stimulated by the blood, Wei Li seemed unusually excited tonight, like a hungry wolf baring its teeth, his bloodlust almost out of control.
Zhao Xiheng clutched her chest, forcing a smile. "Yes, my lord, I understand."
Her smile vanished the moment Wei Li stepped out the door. A trail of blood dripping from Wei Li's body covered the ground. She clutched the pillow behind her back to her chest, imagining it to be Wei Li, and slapped it hard several times.
Wei Li returned and sat down on the edge of her kang (heated brick bed). The blood on his body soaked her bedding. Zhao Xiheng felt a slight disgust, but she remained calm and composed. She casually tucked the pillow back behind her waist, pretending nothing had happened, and cleared her throat. "Is there anything else, my lord?"
A beautiful woman appears even more beautiful when viewed under the lamplight.
Zhao Xiheng's delicate and timid face appeared even more serene and exquisite under the dim light, and her slightly pale lips added to her fragility.
Wei Li pinched her chin and examined her for a while. Zhao Xiheng lowered her eyelashes, feigning shyness and fear, and dared not look him in the eye.
His hands were so rough; they stung her face.
"Once you're better, set off back to Buxian." Wei Li's lips curled into a smile.
Zhao Xiheng leaned against Xiao Tao's chest, coughing so hard she could barely breathe. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were filled with tears. She then looked weakly at Wei Li, demonstrating with her actions that her illness had come on fiercely and that she probably wouldn't recover anytime soon.
Wei Li's face fell. "Don't pretend with me. It's just a fever. If you don't get better within three days, all your health will be wasted. I might as well slit your throat and save you from suffering. We'll meet in the underworld after I'm gone."
He pinched Zhao Xiheng's cheek again, and then this time he really left. "Have some self-respect. I killed a lot of people today, but I don't want to kill you right now."
Grass (a type of plant)
Zhao Xiheng rubbed her face, her mind filled with a vast expanse of unease. She wondered why Wei Li had gone crazy and come over to scare her again.
After Wei Li left, Zhao Xiheng dry-heaved for a while, but still didn't vomit anything. Instead, her stomach burned with hunger.
Xiao Tao cleaned up the bloodstains and changed the bedding to make her more comfortable.
Dinner arrived half an hour later than expected.
Pingzhou cuisine isn't particularly refined, mostly consisting of stews, but they look steaming hot, making them perfect for winter.
"When our lord returned today, he hunted wild boar and deer. The kitchen made extra roasted deer meat and a pot of sauerkraut and pork rib soup. Princess, please try the soup; it's very warming in winter," the maids explained.
Jinyang also has pickled cabbage, but the ones from Pingzhou and Jinyang seem to be different. The color is lighter, and it turns golden yellow after cooking. The sour taste is not obvious. It is pickled cabbage.
Zhao Xiheng likes all kinds of dishes, including sweet, sour, salty, and spicy ones. She doesn't have to be picky about any particular cuisine, so she's relatively easy to take care of.
Just as they said, Pingzhou cuisine is very warming in winter. She drank half a bowl of soup, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. Then, as they said, she took the ribs apart, dipped them in sauce, and ate a bowl of rice with pickled cabbage.
Other dishes like the glossy stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and roasted roe deer leg are all very appetizing.
Zhao Xiheng had excellent mental fortitude, because the nausea from the smell of blood was only temporary and did not affect her appetite at all.
The prefect felt that the year was unlucky. He originally only wanted to stay away from Wei Li as much as possible, to get by and send this jinx away, but one thing after another happened.
He handed over the letter from Wang Zhiyao, the lord of Qingzhou City.
Wei Li felt a headache coming on as he looked at the several pages of black text, and kicked the prefect's leg, saying, "You read it."
The prefect dared not disobey.
Wang Zhiyao's letter can be roughly divided into two parts.
First, to congratulate Wei Li on capturing Pingzhou and becoming its new master; second, to discuss the matter of Princess Ming'an with him.
That's why Zhao Xiheng always says that Zhao Mingxin's head is full of tofu pudding.
After leaving Pingzhou unharmed, instead of rushing back to Jinyang, she stayed in Qingzhou, dragging Wang Zhiyao along and desperately begging him to avenge her. She claimed that Wei Li had killed her fiancé and humiliated her.
Zhao Mingxin was spoiled by the flattery in the palace and always felt that the Great Zhou Dynasty was still the Great Zhou Dynasty when her uncle was alive, with all the vassal kings submitting to her. Little did she know that the current emperor was just a figurehead, let alone a princess like her.
She was bossy and domineering towards Wang Zhiyao. Wang Zhiyao had been entrenched in Qingzhou for many years and could not tolerate this. He originally did not want to cause trouble and just wanted to send her away peacefully. But Zhao Mingxin really took him for granted.
So Wang Zhiyao said to Wei Li that since Princess Jingcheng, who was to be married off, had disappeared, in order to consolidate the friendly relations between the two countries, why not let Princess Ming'an marry into Goguryeo? Presumably, the princess would be very willing to contribute to the country.
"Missing?" Wang Zhiyao really knows how to lie through his teeth.
The prefect hesitated and looked at Wei Li. "My lord, Goguryeo attacked our deer farm just the other day. Are we really going to send Princess Ming'an to marry into the Goguryeo kingdom?"
"Send it, of course we'll send it! Our good neighbor, the King of Goguryeo, lost his wife in his old age; he's truly pitiful."
"Send a message to Wang Zhiyao, asking him to send the person to Pingzhou. I will personally escort Princess Ming'an to Goguryeo."
The prefect vaguely heard that the emperor, who was thousands of miles away, had his face slapped again from a distance, making it even more swollen.
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