"The girl left three days ago."
Like a bolt from the blue, it exploded above Lu Yuan's head in an instant.
He suddenly grabbed the doctor's wrist tightly.
"What did you say?"
"The princess has left?"
Where did she go?
The female doctor looked at her wrist in surprise, then shook her head and said, "I don't know either."
Lu Yuan stared at her eyes questioningly and asked, "You don't know?"
The female healer recalled, speaking slowly.
"Three nights ago, the Crown Prince was worried and came to the clinic to look for the young lady. He found that she was missing and could not be found anywhere. So he took his men up the mountain and that's when he actually met you."
"At that time, it was pitch black all around, and the young lady had difficulty walking alone, yet she still had to support the young master, stumbling and falling all the way, which was very distressing to see..."
"Later, we finally met you. On the way, the young master fainted because of a sudden asthma attack. There was no medicine available, so we could only perform a cricothyroid membrane puncture for emergency treatment. However, I am still not very skilled, and the light was extremely dim at night. I could not get the position right and could accidentally hurt the young master's life."
"Because she had just lost her baby due to premature birth, the young woman was exhausted both physically and mentally, but she still insisted on personally performing first aid for you."
"After she came back, she was still worried and stayed by your side all night until noon the next day. She was supposed to leave early in the morning, but the First Prince came to urge her several times. Only after confirming that you were completely out of danger did she leave."
Upon hearing the physician's words, Lu Yuan was filled with remorse. He slammed his fist heavily against the pillar beside him and exclaimed, "Damn it, I've missed my chance with the princess just like that!"
The Western Qin Imperial Palace.
In an inconspicuous, desolate place, in a secluded corner, in front of the dilapidated courtyard called Chenxiang Pavilion.
Because it has been almost untouched for years, a thick layer of snow has now accumulated.
As Zhang Zhiyuan walked on it, it made a continuous crunching sound.
Arriving at the door, he had lost count of how many times he had habitually unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Suddenly, a cold wind swept past, and the courtyard was filled with flying snow.
With the arrival of winter and the baptism of wind and snow, only withered trees and old vines remain in the yard, hanging freely everywhere.
Even so, this is the only color here.
Apart from that, there was no sign of life or any other color; everything appeared so desolate and bleak.
In the center of the courtyard, the stagnant pool of water that once stood there has long since dried up.
Everything seemed to reflect Zhang Zhiyuan's current mood: desolate and suffocating.
It was as if even the last bit of breath left would be extinguished in the next moment.
Standing at the door, I mustered up the last bit of courage to push it open again.
Still in that cold, dark corner of the room.
Dingxiang sat on the ground, curled up tightly. There was no fire in the room, and she was only wrapped in a tattered cotton quilt. The musty and smelly odor emanating from her could be smelled from ten miles away.
At this moment, she was disheveled, with prominent cheekbones, dark circles under her eyes, and cloudy eyes. She was so thin that she was unrecognizable as a human being. She stared blankly at the only window in the room that let in a little light.
At times like these, Zhang Zhiyuan's heart was already bleeding with pain.
However, he could only secretly add a very small amount of detoxifying ingredients to her rice porridge to avoid being discovered during an inspection.
With heavy steps, Zhang Zhiyuan went in as usual to take the patient's pulse and examine him.
In the end, they all shook their heads and could only pick up the rice porridge they had brought themselves.
While feeding Dingxiang, he comforted and encouraged her: "If you count the days, she should be giving birth soon. In that case, she will be able to come back immediately! Just hold on for a little longer. No matter what, as long as you are alive, there is hope."
The spoon touched her lips, but Dingxiang remained silent, still gazing out the window, as if she were still eagerly awaiting the person she was waiting for. All she could do was mechanically open her mouth, swallow, open her mouth again, and swallow again...
After Zhang Zhiyuan finished feeding him the whole bowl of rice porridge, he pulled the blanket up a little tighter around him, and then stood up.
Suddenly, Dingxiang reached out and grabbed the hem of his robe, pleading weakly, "Your Excellency, please, help me! Let me end this inhuman life as soon as possible! I really can't take it anymore!"
Zhang Zhiyuan turned around and squatted down again, grabbed her shoulders, looked into her eyes and questioned her: "Dingxiang, what are you saying? We've already endured so many tough days, and the six-month deadline is almost up, but you're saying you're going to give up? If that's the case, then all the suffering we've endured will have been for nothing."
Dingxiang finally couldn't hold back her tears and said, "But I... Dingxiang is just an ant in this palace, a worthless life wherever I go, what's there to regret? But I can't implicate the Princess! If I hadn't met the Princess, who treated me like a teacher and a friend, my life would have been a muddled and meaningless existence. Now, how can I let that dog of an emperor use my life to threaten the Princess?!"
Zhang Zhiyuan was moved, heartbroken, and helpless by such deep affection.
Finally, I could only continue to persuade her: "Dingxiang, you have to trust her. Since she can say that, she must have her own plan. Have you forgotten that she is a woman who always brings surprises and delights? Besides, I have already leaked the news of your imprisonment in Chenxiang Pavilion to the Qin Prince's spies. You and the Princess Consort have always been on good terms, so I believe His Highness the Qin Prince will definitely send someone to rescue you."
Upon hearing this, Dingxiang, who had been feeling disheartened, finally felt a glimmer of hope for life and was so grateful to Zhang Zhiyuan that she could hardly speak.
"Your Honor, we are so grateful to you these past few days..."
Zhang Zhiyuan disagreed, saying, "This was the only thing she asked me to do before she left. Unfortunately, I couldn't completely follow my own heart, and I didn't fulfill her request."
Just then.
Suddenly, a series of noisy shouts came from beside my ears.
"Fire!"
"Fire!"
"The Chenxiang Pavilion is on fire!"
"Help! Fire!"
...
The room was silent.
Upon hearing the sound, Dingxiang said nervously, "It sounds like... the Agarwood Pavilion is on fire?"
Zhang Zhiyuan repeated incredulously, "The Agarwood Pavilion is on fire?"
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Zhang Zhiyuan hurriedly stood up and went outside to check.
Dingxiang was already willing but unable to stand up. She struggled for a long time but still couldn't move.
At this moment, she could see smoke rising all around her and smell the pungent fumes. She was extremely anxious and muttered to herself.
"Fire?"
"what to do?"
"what do I do?"
The source of the fire is unknown, and in this dry season, in such a remote place, with very few people available for rescue, the fire quickly spread.
In no time at all, the raging fire had completely surrounded the pavilion where Dingxiang was.
After leaving the house, he joined the group of three or five people who were fighting the fire. Suddenly, Zhang Zhiyuan turned around and saw that Dingxiang was already trapped inside, with no chance of escape.
So he shouted loudly towards the attic.
"clove……"
"clove……"
"How are you?"
"Squat in the corner and don't move..."
"I'm coming to save you right now!"
Just as Zhang Zhiyuan rushed over, he finally found a gap and plunged in alone.
As soon as he grabbed Dingxiang and tried to quickly return and escape, a roof beam that suddenly fell from above blocked his way.
While struggling in his grasp, Dingxiang said with all her might, "Sir, hurry up and leave! The fire is too big. Don't worry about me, or we'll all die here."
While searching for an escape route, Zhang Zhiyuan stubbornly said, "No, I promised her, and I will take care of you to the end. We'll go together!"
Seeing Zhang Zhiyuan, who was usually so strict and sometimes even a bit cold-hearted, now protecting her like this, Dingxiang was deeply moved: "My lord..."
Just when the two seemed to have no way out, a masked man in black suddenly appeared in the sea of fire before them.
Before the two could react, the masked man was already beside them: "Come with me!"
In an instant, the masked man in black stretched out his two hands, each grabbing one of Dingxiang and Zhang Zhiyuan's arms, and flew across the sea of fire like lightning, carrying the two of them out.
As soon as they reached a safe area, Zhang Zhiyuan eagerly broke free from the masked man in black and ran to the side, coughing heavily from the thick smoke: "Cough cough cough..."
As soon as he caught his breath, he patted his chest and said with great relief, "I finally escaped!"
"How are you, Dingxiang? Are you alright?"
But when she turned around, Dingxiang and the masked man in black had already disappeared.
So he slowly sat down, pondering what had just happened.
"This dilapidated Agarwood Pavilion is completely empty, cleaner than my face. How could it suddenly catch fire? And why is the fire so large!"
"Could it be... that His Highness the Prince of Qin really sent someone to deliberately rescue Dingxiang while the water was flowing?"
"Thank God, Dingxiang is finally saved, and I have finally lived up to her expectations."
After figuring out what had happened, Zhang Zhiyuan got up and quietly left on his own.
Just as he returned to the Imperial Pharmacy, he bumped into Yi Shangkun, who was about to leave.
Looking at Zhang Zhiyuan's disheveled appearance, Yi Shangkun asked in confusion, "Your Excellency, what happened?"
Zhang Zhiyuan glanced at himself and then lied, "This is... I was boiling medicine when the fire was too high, and I accidentally got burned!"
Fearing exposure, Zhang Zhiyuan left abruptly after finishing his sentence.
Yi Shangkun silently expressed his surprise.
"Did I hear that right?"
"The magistrate himself prepared the medicine?"
"But it was just boiling medicine, how could it have caused such a big fire, making us all so smokey and disheveled!"
With that thought in mind, Yi Shangkun shook his head and left.
Inside the Imperial Study.
Soon, a guard came over hurriedly, looking disheveled, to report.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
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