The eunuch was immediately enraged and jumped up with one hand raised in a delicate gesture, shouting at him, "How dare you, Zhang Zhiyuan! How dare you deceive the emperor? Are you tired of living?"
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Zhiyuan did something completely unexpected. Ignoring their threat, he carefully took their pulse again.
Finally, he muttered to himself, "So that's how it is. I never expected that she was already pregnant! Since ancient times, it has been said that mothers and children are connected by heart. With this child, the mother's body will naturally not easily give up her own life."
Emperor Jing vaguely heard the murmurs he was making and asked, "Zhang Zhiyuan, what are you saying? What pregnancy?"
Zhang Zhiyuan came to his senses and said, "Your Majesty, this woman is about two months pregnant."
Upon hearing this, the eunuch standing nearby was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.
Emperor Jing couldn't believe his ears either, and asked again in utter astonishment, "What did you say? This woman... she... she's pregnant? Is that true?"
Zhang Zhiyuan nodded with absolute certainty, then pondered for a moment before continuing, "Her pulse is now no different from that of a normal person, but as for why she remains unconscious, sometimes the reason why some patients are unwilling to wake up is closely related to certain obsessions in their hearts. Judging from this, perhaps it is her consciousness that makes her unwilling to wake up."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing looked at the woman's face with some concern and said, "What should we do? If she remains unconscious like this, it will surely harm the fetus in her womb, won't it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan said confidently, "Your Majesty need not worry too much. I assure you that I will do everything in my power to protect the baby in her womb. As long as the child is safe, I believe that once she has thought things through, she will wake up one day."
Only then did Emperor Jing feel somewhat relieved, and he smiled and praised her, saying, "I knew I hadn't misjudged you more than a decade ago. Given time, your medical skills would surely improve and surpass those of the former Music Academy Judge. And you have indeed lived up to my expectations. This woman is of great importance, so I entrust her to you. You must make sure she wakes up as soon as possible."
Zhang Zhiyuan felt encouraged and clasped his hands in a fist, saying with conviction, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to help her wake up as soon as possible."
Emperor Jing nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, you've worked hard all night, you may leave now."
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."
Just as Zhang Zhiyuan was about to leave with his medicine box, Emperor Jing suddenly called out to him again: "Wait..."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan stopped and turned around, asking, "Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?"
Emperor Jing thought for a moment, and finally spoke up to remind him, saying, "You...you should personally visit the Prince of Qin's residence tomorrow to inquire about the Prince of Qin's condition?"
From the moment he first saw Emperor Jing tonight, Zhang Zhiyuan was terrified that he would hear anything about the Qin Prince's mansion.
At this moment, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. His previously steady heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment, then suddenly started beating again. He replied to Emperor Jing, "Yes!"
Finally, he took another step and crossed the threshold.
As soon as they stepped outside, the same guard who had been waiting outside the door blindfolded them again and led them away.
At this moment, the eunuch quietly asked Emperor Jing, "Your Majesty, is Zhang Zhiyuan really reliable?"
Emperor Jing thought for a while and said, "Over the years, Zhang Zhiyuan has always been a smart man. Back then, he witnessed the entire Music Bureau rise and fall overnight, and he knew what choice he should make!"
The room fell silent the moment those words were spoken.
Just then, a loud "bang" came from the side hall.
The eunuch hurriedly moved in the direction of the sound, shouting, "Who's hiding there? Get out here right now!"
Then a woman's soft, timid voice came through: "It is your servant."
The eunuch was stunned when a maid who looked no older than her coming-of-age ceremony appeared.
He immediately turned around and met Emperor Jing's gaze. He thought to himself, "Could it be that this woman overheard the entire conversation between the three of them here?"
The eunuch then raised his voice and angrily rebuked him, saying, "Who are you? What are you doing hiding here so furtively?"
The maid, lifting her skirt and hunching her shoulders, timidly took small steps and slowly moved forward to stand before the two men. She knelt down and bowed, saying, "This servant is Xing'er, the maid responsible for cleaning this bedchamber. Xing'er greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"Xing'er..."
The eunuch asked her nervously, "You're the maid who's responsible for cleaning this bedchamber... So, you heard everything that just happened here?"
Xing'er was still a child after all, and she was frightened like never before. She first nodded, then shook her head, but finally nodded honestly again.
The eunuch glanced at his master's face, which had darkened considerably, and pressed Xing'er, "When did you get here?"
Xing'er knelt on the ground, not daring to raise her head even slightly, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly in her hands, and said, "Since this morning, while this young lady was still asleep, I came here to clean."
The eunuch was stunned: "You haven't gone out at all during this time?"
Xing'er nodded and recalled, "I caught a cold and had a fever these past few days. While wiping the vases in the side hall, I unknowingly fell asleep leaning against one of them. When I woke up, I realized it was already dark. At that time, I heard you arguing with the gatekeeper. Soon after, another man came in. They seemed to be very familiar friends, so I was trapped in the side hall and didn't dare to go out again."
Suddenly, the eunuch seemed to realize something and pressed Xing'er, "So, you heard what the man looked like and what their conversation was like?"
Xing'er shook her head and said, "I couldn't see the man's face clearly because of the distance. I was also a little confused from the fever, so I didn't hear very clearly either, but I clearly heard the man say..."
The eunuch looked at Xing'er's face expectantly and asked anxiously, "What did that man say?"
Xing'er tapped her forehead hard, thought for a moment, and said, "That man seems to know some secret about this girl?"
"A secret?" The eunuch thought for a moment, then asked, "What secret?"
Xing'er racked her brains for a while before she remembered: "It seems that the man said... this girl is a descendant of some kind of guardian. Yes, the man knew that this girl was a descendant of the guardian, and the girl seemed very surprised at the time!"
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch was utterly stunned and turned to look at Emperor Jing's face beside him.
Emperor Jing, however, turned his gaze to the screen.
The eunuch hurriedly pressed, "And what about that man? Who exactly is he?"
Xing'er thought for a moment and said, "I only heard you call that man the Second Prince, and that man called you... Wu Le!"
The eunuch seemed to be deep in thought, then silently repeated to him, "The Second Prince?"
Emperor Jing muttered to himself, "Wule... in the grasslands it refers to carefree clouds... clouds... could this woman's name be related to the character 'cloud'?"
Following this lead, Emperor Jing quickly made another connection: "Someone who understands the grassland script, could that second prince be Tuoba Hong...? He's not dead yet?!"
Just as the two, master and servant, were both lost in thought, Xing'er trembled and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "I have told the Emperor everything I know. Please forgive me this time. I will never dare to be lazy again."
The eunuch snapped out of his daze and said, "Alright, Xing'er, you can go now! Remember, whatever happened here today, you must never mention it to anyone else, or you will be killed. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I will keep my mouth shut and will never mention what happened here today to anyone," Xing'er agreed, then got up and headed outside.
However, he had only taken a few steps when a eunuch who was close behind him stabbed him in the left side of his heart from behind.
In a short while, the pink gauze dress was stained red with the blood of a young man, and a young life was frozen in that moment.
Immediately afterwards, there was a thud, and Xing'er collapsed to the ground before she even left the house.
At this moment, Emperor Jing strolled over the screen and returned to Yi Shangyun's bedside.
Looking at her sleeping face, he murmured to himself, "No wonder, such a weak woman who can't even kill a chicken has such magical power, able to lead those unruly people to repel the hurricane and sandstorm."
Lost in thought, he then ordered the eunuch outside, who still wore a ferocious expression, "Hurry up and call someone in to examine him!"
Soon, two of Emperor Jing's trusted maids entered.
He took the phoenix mark from Emperor Jing's hand, a mark that only the guardians of Western Qin possess, which had been prepared long ago and drawn by hand during countless sleepless nights.
Two maids dressed in light green dresses examined the drawing carefully for a while before handing it back to Emperor Jing. They then walked straight toward the cloud-like pattern on the fabric behind the screen.
Time ticked by, and the entire hall was filled with an atmosphere of extreme tension.
Even the usually composed Emperor Jing could no longer remain seated. Unable to contain his excitement, he involuntarily rose and paced back and forth in the hall.
Finally, the two maids finished examining the body and came out.
Upon reaching Emperor Jing, one of them held up a clean white handkerchief with both hands and presented it to him...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com