After everyone dispersed, only Xuan Yuanhao and Yi Shangyun remained in the bedchamber.
Yun Shen exhaled a breath of stale air, seemingly trying to cheer himself up. He then moved over to Xuan Yuanhao's side, bent down, and picked up the porcelain shards from the ground.
Despite Xuan Yuanhao's agitated state, she calmly picked up the broken pieces while saying, "Your Highness is displeased, so why take your anger out on these poor servants so unjustly?"
"Shut up, you liar! Get out of here right now! I never want to see you again!" Xuan Yuanhao shouted angrily at Yi Shangyun, still seething with rage.
Yi Shangyun then slowly rose to her feet and calmly said to him, "Your Highness has unfortunately contracted smallpox. But do you know that in this vast palace, only these servile people in the outer courtyard risk their lives every day to take meticulous care of Your Highness? They all eagerly await Your Highness's speedy recovery. As the saying goes, 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.' If Your Highness harbors resentment, how could you bear to vent it on these loyal people who have risked their lives for you?"
Seeing that Xuan Yuanhao had calmed down, Yi Shangyun thought to himself, "He's still just a child. How could he really want to take his anger out on others?"
Then she continued, "Since Your Highness is so disgusted by seeing my face, then I will leave immediately and arrange for a new maid to serve you. I hope Your Highness will not be angered and harm your health."
Having said that, Yi Shangyun picked up the porcelain shards from the ground and turned to leave the hall. Seeing this, Xuanyuan Hao hurriedly spoke up, but stammered, "No, this Crown Prince... as long as Lady Yi serves in the palace... this Crown Prince promises you he will not lose his temper again."
At this moment, Yi Shangyun, who had just turned around and had not yet taken a step, heard Xuan Yuanhao's words, pursed her lips slightly, narrowed her beautiful phoenix eyes, and then revealed a smile of great satisfaction.
Then, she turned around and slowly walked to Xuan Yuanhao's side, looking into his eyes with full confidence, and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will definitely not leave any marks on Your Highness's face. Please trust this servant, okay?"
Moved by her sincere and resolute words and actions, Xuanyuan Hao replied with unwavering confidence, "This Crown Prince believes in you, and has always believed in you."
The two looked at each other and smiled slightly. Yi Shangyun then advised, "Your Highness, you should rest in bed. Please don't scratch these rashes to prevent infection."
"That woman in the robe promised me that she would stay by my bedside. I don't want to lie alone in this empty and cold bedchamber. Sometimes I even worry and fear that if I fall asleep, I will never wake up again..." Xuan Yuanhao pleaded with Yi Shangyun with a melancholy expression.
"This servant will not leave. This servant will stay with Your Highness. Your Highness, please rest assured," Yi Shangyun gently agreed.
Xuanyuan Hao finally lay down quietly on the couch. Yi Shangyun gently tucked the blanket around him and then sat down as promised, staying by his side to keep him company.
At this moment, Xuan Yuanhao, who had been intently watching Yi Shangyun's face, suddenly said, "Actually, I wasn't truly angry just now. I only wanted to force you to leave because I was afraid of infecting you with the smallpox virus. You are very kind. I know that you, Yi Yaonu, deliberately shut out all the servants of Donghua Palace, risking infection to serve me diligently day and night. I was truly afraid you would be infected."
"Your Highness, although smallpox is highly contagious, I will take extra care. You can rest assured and focus on recovering," Yi Shangyun replied with surprise and relief. He was indeed a kind and gentle child, and all her efforts and care had not been in vain.
However, Xuan Yuanhao's next words surprised her even more: "This Crown Prince is afraid you'll get infected, but more importantly... for my Uncle Qin."
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun's eyes widened in surprise. She glanced at Xuan Yuanhao, then quickly lowered her head in a flustered panic, her cheeks flushed. She muttered to herself, "Could it be that His Highness the Prince of Qin forced himself on me... and this child saw it? But I just told him not long ago that I wasn't familiar with the Prince of Qin. How am I supposed to explain this now? This prince has really ruined my life."
Seeing Yi Shangyun's tension and panic, Xuanyuan Hao continued, "Do you know that my Uncle Qin was not originally such a cold and indifferent person? It's all because..."
Yi Shangyun suddenly interrupted Xuanyuan Hao, saying, "Your Highness, I am truly not very familiar with the Prince of Qin, much less dare to attempt to understand him. Our previous encounters were merely coincidences. My status is lowly, and I dare not harbor any thoughts of overstepping my bounds towards members of the royal family. Moreover, His Highness has just been married; if any rumors spread that are detrimental to him, I fear I would be condemned to death."
Seeing her speak so graciously, openly, frankly, and thoughtfully, Xuanyuan Hao said, "No wonder I, the all-powerful King of Western Qin, would care so much about a lowly maid like you. However, I truly hope you are not what I imagine, otherwise, I fear that Princess Dongning..."
Xuan Yuanhao hesitated, knowing full well that his royal uncle's residence already had an incomparably noble princess. Even if she were to be favored by his royal uncle and brought into the palace, she would still have to live under the thumb of the Dongning Kingdom's princess, who was a hundred or a thousand times more noble than her. The woman in front of him, who was very opinionated, was clearly not the kind of person who would submit to fate.
"Of course it's not what the Crown Prince thinks," Yi Shangyun hurriedly affirmed, afraid of being misunderstood.
Inside the Qin Prince's Mansion in the east of the city.
Upon seeing Xuan Yuanhan return to the residence, Mei Xiyuan hurried over and asked softly with concern, "Your Highness is back. I wonder how the Crown Prince's condition is now?"
Xuanyuan Han didn't look at her, only heading towards Chenghua Palace. Cheng Liang, who was behind him, quickly bowed and replied, "Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince's condition has been brought under control. Your Highness need not worry."
"That's good then. His Highness, what is he..." Mei Xiyuan hesitated, thinking that Xuan Yuanhan was still angry with her for what she had done before, but she didn't know that she meant nothing to Xuan Yuanhan at all.
Cheng Liang simply smiled faintly, looking helpless and unwilling to comment.
After Cheng Liang helped his master deal with the mistress, when he arrived at the main hall, Xuan Yuanhan was already sitting at his desk, opening and reviewing the secret letters one by one. Seeing Cheng Liang enter, he handed him the secret letters.
Upon seeing the contents of the secret letter, Cheng Liang's face immediately darkened as he read, "The eldest prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom, Tuoba Ze, has successfully infiltrated the streets of our Western Qin and has received assistance from a master of poison and witchcraft. Your Highness..."
Before Cheng Liang could finish speaking, Xuan Yuanhan interjected, "Judging from this, if I'm not mistaken, the Crown Prince's smallpox is probably... not a natural disaster, but a man-made one."
"Man-made disaster... What exactly is this person's intention? If he knows the operation has failed, will he still target other people in Western Qin?" Cheng Liang asked anxiously.
"Search the entire city, proceed with caution, and do not alert the enemy," Xuan Yuanhan ordered with a worried expression. He muttered, "A master of poison and Gu techniques..."
Cheng Liang accepted the order but did not leave. Xuan Yuanhan suddenly looked up and noticed that he was still standing in the main hall. He then asked, "Is there anything else?"
Cheng Liang then looked at Xuan Yuanhan and cautiously asked, "Since Your Highness went to the palace, why didn't you take Yi Yao Nu out of Donghua Palace? It's very dangerous there right now. If she gets infected, then..."
Cheng Liang stopped talking as he was thinking about it, not daring to continue.
Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Han sat up, exhaled a deep breath, and slowly said, "I believe in her. She will definitely not break her promise to me. After the Lantern Festival, she will surely enter the Qin Prince's mansion safely."
"Does Your Highness truly intend for the female medicine maker to enter the palace to serve the Princess Consort?" Cheng Liang asked with concern, but Xuan Yuanhan remained silent, only gazing out the window with his deep, unfathomable eyes. Seeing this, Cheng Liang gave up and quietly withdrew, closing the door behind him.
Xuan Yuanhan thought to himself that Mei Xiyuan was clearly just a spy planted in Western Qin by the wealthy Dongning Kingdom, but in everyone's eyes, she was simply the Princess Consort of the Qin Prince's Mansion. And Yi Shangyun...
That night, the Chenghua Palace was silent, but Xuanyuan Han's thoughts grew longer and longer.
......
Time flies like an arrow, and the days pass like a shuttle.
Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and the New Year is just around the corner. People are busy preparing for the New Year both in the countryside and in the Western Qin Imperial Palace, and the atmosphere is lively and festive everywhere.
Inside Donghua Palace, the scabs on Xuanyuan Hao's smallpox had begun to fall off naturally. Although he felt extremely itchy and it was hard to bear, he bravely endured it under Yi Shangyun's persuasion. The blisters all over his body were indeed shocking to behold, but fortunately, only Yi Shangyun saw them in the bedchamber.
Ever since Xuanyuan Hao saw his terrifying reflection in the bronze mirror, Yi Shangyun has covered up all the bronze mirrors and had them put away, preventing him from having any further opportunities to touch them and damage his confidence.
As the year draws to a close, the weather grows increasingly cold, yet the Donghua Palace remains warm and spring-like.
Yi Shangyun tirelessly and meticulously took care of Xuan Yuanhao's daily life day and night. Due to the lack of rest, her leg ailment began to ache again, and she was currently sitting on the couch, laboriously massaging her extremely sore knees.
"What happened to your legs? Why are you in such a state at such a young age?" Xuan Yuanhao asked, puzzled.
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun quickly straightened her clothes, got up, and went to Xuanyuan Hao's side. She covered him with the brocade quilt and said with a smile, "This servant is fine. It's late, Your Highness, please go to bed early."
"Woman Yi, tell me some more stories, I don't want to go to bed yet," Xuan Yuanhao said somewhat willfully.
Yi Shangyun sighed upon hearing this, then asked helplessly, "What kind of story would Your Highness like to hear this time?"
Xuanyuan Hao suddenly heard a sound coming from outside that made him feel a slight itch...
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