Chapter 103 (Three Fresh Rice Noodles + Rice Noodle Rolls...)
There is a lot of love over there.
On the other side, the team escorting King Xuan out of the capital was rushing back to Kyoto like crazy.
I just went out in the afternoon and didn’t walk far, but now I want to go back.
However, Luo Zhen, the cousin of King Xuan who was escorting him, was covered in cold sweat. He ran at the front of the team and roared to those behind him, "Don't walk too fast. You must not shake King Xuan. I'm going back to the capital to get the imperial physician. Everyone, cheer up! If there are any more assassins, I will kill you..."
The roars faded away as the horses galloped away, leaving behind a group of people with the same expression. The driver of the carriage used his driving skills to perfection at this moment. He couldn't go too fast, otherwise it would cause more pain to King Xuan, whose meridians were broken, and he couldn't go too slow, otherwise it would delay the treatment.
When he was trying his best, there were bursts of wailing in the carriage.
“Ouch! That hurts!”
Suddenly, the carriage seemed to have run over a stone, causing it to tremble and a wailing sound to be heard from inside.
The driver shuddered and became more focused.
Inside the carriage, King Xuan's face was twisted. "Ah! It hurts! It must be Xiao Huaiting! It must be him!"
"Your Highness, please calm down..." The palace maid kneeling beside him was trembling all over. Looking at the once invincible King Xuan lying in front of her like a corpse, her face turned frighteningly pale.
Even after being bandaged, King Xuan's limbs continued to bleed. The hand that once could have slapped her until she vomited blood, now didn't even have the strength to bend its fingertips.
Not only was his spine broken, but even his limbs were broken!
The palace maid was frightened, but suddenly she realized this and became a little braver.
It doesn’t seem that scary?
King Xuan had no idea what the palace people were thinking. He just stared at the roof of the car with hatred, as if that was Xiao Huaiting. Others did not recognize him, but he regarded Xiao Huaiting as a thorn in his side and was naturally very familiar with his appearance.
Xiao Huaiting first broke his spine, making him fall to the ground unable to move, and then he cut the tendons of his hands and feet like a doll. At that time, the person who did it said, "That scorpion is really delicious."
Xiao Huaiting was taking revenge on himself by deliberately sending the poisonous scorpion to harm Xiao Huaiqi!
He is definitely taking revenge!
At that moment, King Xuan felt as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Why did he have to take revenge before leaving, leading to his current situation?
But it's no use regretting. He has become like this now. The Xiao family is too terrible!
He was just angry about a small lesson, but he didn't expect to end up in his current situation. Now he is even worse off than Xiao Huaiqi. At least he can't walk with his legs, but he might even have difficulty raising his head in this life!
When King Xuan thought about the rest of his life, he felt a darkness before his eyes. He desperately wanted to stand up and go before his father to accuse Xiao Huaiting, but he couldn't move. At this moment, he seemed to feel Xiao Huaiqi's helplessness at that time.
He regretted it!
The convoy stopped moving forward until the imperial physician arrived to diagnose him. The physician then shook his head in front of him and said, "The spine and tendons are all rotten..."
Rotten...
King Xuan's heart seemed to be plucked and crushed at this moment, so heavy that he could hardly breathe. "I want to see the emperor! Take me to see the emperor quickly. It was Xiao Huaiting who hurt me. I want to see the emperor!"
The imperial physician was so frightened that he knelt before him and said tremblingly, "Your Highness, be careful what you say. The Prince of Zhennan was sent away from Kyoto by His Majesty a few days ago. He's heading south, and north of you. How could he possibly come here? The Prince of Zhennan has just returned from a successful mission. We can't let down the hearts of the millions of soldiers!"
King Xuan immediately stared at him with a pair of red eyes: "He is a liar! He is the one who harmed me, and I want him dead! Do you hear me?"
The imperial physician's breathing stagnated, and he kowtowed quickly, not daring to say a word.
The next day
Even without the sunlight shining through the window, the brightness was still dazzling.
Yan Qiushu turned over to avoid the glaring sunlight.
Suddenly remembering something, she quickly sat up and opened the curtains. She saw a young man wearing pajamas and a coat, reading a book on the soft couch near the window.
Yan Qiushu felt relieved and rubbed her eyes.
"Are you awake?" Xiao Huaiting asked when he heard the noise.
Yan Qiushu hummed, observing his expression. Seeing that although his face was pale, he looked energetic and in good spirits, she felt relieved. She stepped forward and tried to pull open his clothes to check his wounds. "Are you feeling any discomfort anywhere else?"
Xiao Huaiting subconsciously broke away, his face flushed a little.
Yan Qiushu frowned unhappily.
He explained: "No, Zhuo Ning just came over to change my medicine."
Yan Qiushu said expressionlessly: "Oh."
Xiao Huaiting tugged at her sleeve, his eyes showing a hint of flattery: "I can only stay here for the next two days. I'll have to trouble Ah Shu to bring me food."
Yan Qiushu looked at him coldly. If he could go out and ask Zhuo Ning to apply medicine for him, why would he need to send him food? However, seeing his expression, she softened: "If I want you to send me food, then don't move. Let me see the wound."
Her hand had already reached his collar, but Xiao Huaiting still resisted. He simply held her hand and squeezed it: "Don't look at it, it's scary."
It was different from night. At night, the light was poor and there was blood, so it wasn't necessarily scary. But it was not necessarily the same during the day. The light was just right and everything was visible clearly. The centipedes on the back were clearly visible, and the scars were so ugly that he was afraid of scaring her.
Yan Qiushu was a little annoyed. Isn't it just a wound? She thought for a moment, reached out and pinched his ear, and said angrily, "You have to be obedient! The first condition for the fiancé I asked my aunt to find is obedience!"
Xiao Huaiting's somewhat dark skin turned dark red, and the blood color came up easily. He was scared, but also felt a little happy. He let go of the hand that was holding her wrist and reminded her: "It's very scary, just one look is enough."
"I know." Yan Qiushu reached out to unbutton his collar with disgust.
Xiao Huaiting wanted to untie it himself, but she refused. He could only sit there and let her do it. She took off her loose pajamas, revealing the blood-stained gauze inside.
There was no suturing technology at that time, so we could only let it heal. Fortunately, it was bandaged.
The wound on the back was bleeding a little, staining the white gauze red, but the wound on the arm was fine.
His back was actually not scary, but the scars from before were a little hideous, even more hideous than under candlelight. Just by looking at it, Yan Qiushu felt that she could imagine the scene when he was injured.
She sighed and asked, "There's some bleeding on your back. Should I ask Zhuo Ning to come over and bandage you?"
"No, it should only be a little bit, don't worry about it." Xiao Huaiting shook his head: "Others don't know I'm here, it's inconvenient for him to come over."
"It's enough for you to know." Yan Qiushu smiled, pulled his clothes up, and went out.
After a while, Zhuo Ning came over to bandage him, but she didn't go to see him. She brushed her teeth and washed her face outside, and asked Shui Yan to help her tie her hair.
When everything was done, Zhuo Ning also came out with a bunch of red things. He wiped the sweat off his face and smiled at Yan Qiushu: "Xiang Jun, he has lost a lot of blood. Could you please make more blood-replenishing food these days?"
"I will." Yan Qiushu nodded, glanced inside the house, and asked again, "What's the situation outside?"
It seemed that the group of people last night left after a short while, all thanks to Zhuo Ning. Yan Qiushu now felt a little guilty and did not dare to send anyone to Kyoto to inquire about the situation, so she could only ask others.
Zhuo Ning said calmly, "Nothing's wrong. His Royal Highness Prince Xuan was assassinated and has been rushed back to Kyoto for treatment. His Majesty is extremely worried and vomited blood during the morning court session. The Imperial Hospital is in a mess. His Royal Highness Prince Huai is very angry and is sending people to find the murderer. Anyway, it's a mess, so it's okay."
Yan Qiushu nodded and also felt that chaos was better.
It would be better if the old emperor died quickly. Now the Xiao family controls most of the military power. After the old emperor dies, the Xiao family will support Prince Chang, and no matter how much the other princes jump around, it will be of no avail.
But... she looked at Zhuo Ning: "I thought you came here because of the Fifth Miss."
But after what happened last night, that’s not necessarily the case. If it hadn’t been agreed upon in advance, would Zhuo Ning have been able to cooperate so well in stopping those people from coming?
Zhuo Ning, who was under suspicion, coughed awkwardly. Seeing that Xiao Huaiya was not there, he muttered softly: "Of course I have to listen to what my future brother-in-law says. Of course, it's mainly because I chose this place."
"Zhuo Ning! What nonsense are you talking about!" Xiao Huaiya shouted.
Zhuo Ning was so frightened that he saw the person he had not seen just now appeared at the gate of the yard. His face suddenly changed and he ran out quickly.
"Come back!" Xiao Huaiya shouted, but the other party ran away, so she followed him. A wooden sword appeared in her hand and she stabbed at him.
The two of them left, fighting and quarreling. Zhao Shuhong came up behind them and patted her chest with lingering fear. "I was so scared just now. When did the Fifth Miss make a wooden sword? This fight is really scary."
She was almost affected just now, but luckily she dodged quickly enough.
Yan Qiushu pursed her lips and smiled, then shook her head: "I don't know, I'm hungry, let's eat!"
"I've prepared it for you a long time ago." Zhao Shuhong said gently, "I was just about to ask you if you want to bring it over or eat it in your own room. I also made you some ginger and brown sugar water, so you can drink some later."
Yan Qiushu was speechless, thinking that she knew.
Yes, for a major event like the assassination of King Xuan, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Shui Yu was a slave of the Xiao family, but Zhao Shuhong was different.
She nodded and said, "Just eat in the house. There are no other guests these two days, so Sister Zhao can have fun by herself. If you want to go to the city, there are carriages available. Remember not to go out alone."
"I know, I'm older than you, don't worry." Zhao Shuhong smiled and turned to leave.
Shui Yu went to bring breakfast to Yan Qiushu and brought it to her room.
Yan Qiushu's room was quite large, and was designed according to the layout of the Xiao family's courtyard. Originally, there should have been a soft couch for Shui Yu to keep watch at night, but since she came here, the number of maids had decreased, so Yan Qiushu let her sleep in a room by herself.
At this moment, Xiao Huaiting is sitting on the couch.
There was a round table in the middle of the room, which was just right for eating. After putting the things down, Shui Yu closed the door, but there was light in the room. Yan Qiushu saw the breakfast on the table at a glance and immediately felt hungry.
"Come and eat, we're having rice noodles and rice rolls today!" Yan Qiushu said cheerfully, coming over to support Xiao Huaiting.
The person who was about to say that he could walk silently shut his mouth, leaned a small part of his weight over, and was helped to sit on the stool. Yan Qiushu first used a small bowl to scoop some rice noodles for herself, and put the rest in front of Xiao Huaiting.
Neither of these two dishes was too strong, and probably because they were afraid she couldn't finish them, they put two kinds of sauces and a portion of chili powder in a small dish.
She had just put down her bowl when Xiao Huaiting took a spoon and added two more spoonfuls of soup to her bowl, reminding her, "Give some more to others, there's so much!"
Yan Qiushu saw the same and saw that Shui Yu was using a large bowl this time and filled it to the brim.
There were still quite a few rice rolls on the side, and she was afraid that he would not be able to finish them, so she gave him some more and filled up her own small bowl.
"Can you eat?" Yan Qiushu asked before eating, "How about I feed you?"
"No, I can do it." Xiao Huaiting shook his head quickly. Although his left hand was in the way, his right hand was often injured and was more skilled than the left hand of most people. He picked up a strand of rice noodles with chopsticks.
The rice noodles were stable and did not fall.
Then he lowered his head and took a big sip. The hot rice noodles were slurped into his mouth. The broth, which must have been made from chicken soup, was delicious. He ate it with pleasure. When he looked up, he saw the woman in front of him looking at him. He felt a little embarrassed and said, "You should eat it too. This is delicious."
"Yeah." Seeing that he could eat by himself, Yan Qiushu felt relieved and slurped the noodles from the small bowl.
Today's noodles are three-fresh flavored. The soup is chicken soup with shrimp in it. However, the third fresh ingredient was out of season, so it was changed to the white and soft shiitake mushrooms that Yan Qiushu liked. The soup was so fresh that it made your tongue tremble.
The soup is delicious, and the rice noodles cooked with it are also very tasty, crispy and smooth, and you can swallow them directly without chewing.
Yan Qiushu ate the soup and noodles very seriously.
Her eyes suddenly darkened and then brightened. Then, a shrimp appeared in her small bowl. Xiao Huaiting then brought another one. Seeing her looking at him, he smiled lightly: "Eat more."
Yan Qiushu's eyes curved as she picked up the shrimp and started eating.
The cooked shrimp meat is a little tougher than normal shrimp, but the taste is surprisingly sweet.
So sweet!
After eating, Yan Qiushu suddenly remembered the pork jerky she had given to Xiao Huaiting before he went to the battle. She was quite puzzled at the time. It was obviously not sweet, so why did he lick it while eating it?
But now, she suddenly realized where this sweetness came from.
Yan Qiushu ate the shrimp meat and drank the remaining soup in the small bowl. At this time, her stomach was already 70% full.
But I haven’t eaten the rice noodle rolls yet!
Yan Qiushu picked up a piece of rice noodle roll and put it into the bowl.
The one she picked up was filled with lean meat and drizzled with soy sauce. The white and tender rice rolls were dyed light brown. When she took a bite, the texture, softer than an egg, melted in her mouth, revealing the lean meat filling inside.
The lean meat was probably marinated in advance, so it was very tender and easy to chew. The rice rolls had a light overall taste, and there was a piece of green vegetable in it, which was probably just blanched and very crispy.
Yan Qiushu ate a palm-sized piece of rice noodle in two bites. After finishing the last bite, a drop of soy sauce slid down the corner of her lips. She subconsciously licked it with her tongue. The light salty taste made her want to continue eating!
The breakfast portion was really large, so she didn't skimp on it and reached for her chopsticks again.
In the end, Yan Qiushu ate two and a half rice rolls and a small bowl of three-fresh rice noodles by herself, while Xiao Huaiting ate a large bowl of rice noodles and the remaining rice rolls by herself.
Yan Qiushu was stunned. She had known for a long time that Xiao Huaiting had a big appetite, but it seemed that he ate even more than before?
Xiao Huaiting wiped his mouth and explained, "I didn't want to waste it, so I ate it all. I'm a little full."
"Then let's have a smaller amount at noon?" Yan Qiushu asked.
"Okay." Xiao Huaiting nodded.
The two of them are already discussing what to eat.
Everyone in the palace was thinking about what to do if the emperor died.
Concubine Lu, who had been under house arrest for three months, walked out of her palace openly to visit the emperor, and no one in the palace dared to stop her.
There is no empress dowager and no queen. Concubine Lu is the most powerful person in the harem. The previous dynasty cannot control the harem for the time being, so naturally no one objects to what she wants to do.
The old emperor lay weakly on the bed, his fat body pressing on his heart. After so many heart failures, his body had long been broken. He was unwilling to die even though he could hold on, but now it seemed that he was breathing in more than out.
Concubine Lu sobbed and dabbed some ginger water on her eyes. When she came over and saw the old emperor in such a state, she was shocked and knelt beside the bed. This time she really cried: "Your Majesty, you must not be in trouble! If you are in trouble, what will happen to us mother and son? What about the fifth child?"
Concubine Lu cried and shouted for a while, but when she found that her son really didn't show up, she immediately became anxious and turned around and yelled at the nanny: "Where is the old man Wu? Why don't you go and call him over?!"
The nanny quickly took the order and left. Concubine Lu, standing by, began to scold the imperial physician again: "Come here and see His Majesty! Why are there so few people?"
"Wouldn't it be enough to leave two with King Xuan? Your Majesty's place is more important!"
"If His Majesty doesn't get better, you won't be able to recover!"
After venting her anger, Concubine Lu finally felt a little relieved. She looked at the old emperor eagerly, thinking about the worst outcome. What if he died?
Now that Prince Chang is powerful, he must be killed first. Prince Huai does not love power, so he will probably not compete with her son.
We have to hurry...
Her hands were shaking, and her eyes looked more and more weak as she looked at the old emperor, with tears streaming down her face.
The old emperor had no idea what she was thinking. Instead, he was extremely relieved. He held the concubine's tender hand and said in a hoarse and unpleasant voice, "My beloved concubine, there is no need to panic. I am fine. I will not die like this!"
Who knows if I can become an emperor in my next life? I must live my life to the fullest.
Otherwise, why was he reluctant to appoint a crown prince?
The older he gets, the more he feels that everyone has ill intentions towards him. Everyone wants him dead and wants the position under his butt.
Even the second son, whom he once trusted so much, was like this.
The more capable they were, the more afraid he became.
The Xiao family, in particular, was his knot, an existence he dreamed of getting rid of! Six years ago, after the second brother discovered that the third and sixth brothers had colluded with foreign enemies and leaked military secrets, which led to the deaths of Xiao Huaian and his two brothers-in-law, he had been clamoring for him to punish the third and sixth brothers.
He refused, as he felt that his son was too upright. As a king, he should make use of all the forces he could, even if it was his own son. However, the second son did not understand and argued with him out of passion.
It just so happened that at that time he was a little worried that if the second son continued to be the crown prince, it would affect his reputation, so he took the opportunity to reveal that he had tacitly allowed the two children to do those things.
The second prince really couldn't stand it anymore, and broke down and blamed him for losing his composure in front of the palace maids and eunuchs. He then beat him with thirty sticks for the crime of rebellion and deposed him as the prince and imprisoned him.
When the old emperor did this, he actually regretted it. He also felt sorry for his child, so he imprisoned him so that he wouldn't have to see him and wouldn't be bothered by him, and ignored what he had done to consolidate his position.
Until half a year ago, he was soft-hearted for a moment, and now he has raised a tiger to harm him!
Now the third brother is gone, the sixth brother is disabled, only the fourth and fifth brothers are left. The fourth brother is a mild-mannered person. If he ascends the throne, he might be eaten by someone, and that person will be the fifth brother. Thinking of this, he looked at the imperial concubine with gentle eyes.
The imperial concubine's crying also reminded him that he had to accept his old age. His health was getting worse and worse. What would he do if he really passed away one day?
He suddenly looked at everyone in the room and said, "All of you go down. I have something to tell the imperial concubine."
"Yes." They just withdrew temporarily. Everyone cooperated very well and in a moment only the imperial concubine was left.
Concubine Lu was delighted and looked at him with tears in her eyes.
The old emperor exerted force on his hands, pulling the imperial concubine close to his ear, and whispered, "My private seal is hidden on the third row of the bookshelf in the imperial study. Take it and contact the State of Qi. I am willing to cede two cities in exchange for keeping Xiao Huaiting there! You tell the fifth brother to withhold the military pay after the Xiao family sends troops..."
Concubine Lu widened her eyes in horror, but when she realized what the old emperor was going to do, she covered her mouth and a look of joy slowly appeared in her eyes.
This look is definitely paving the way for her son!
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