Upon realizing this, Cheng Liang couldn't help but look at Xuan Yuanhan's face, and said in great surprise, "Could it be that something similar, so bizarre, has happened in the palace?"
But as soon as he finished speaking, he scratched the back of his head vigorously, denying his own guess: "But I have never heard of anyone in the palace falling into a coma!"
However, Xuanyuan Han remained gazing into the distance with a somber expression, muttering to himself with considerable confusion, "It's Changning Palace... why is it Changning Palace..."
Hearing his master's muttering, Cheng Liang asked, "What is Your Highness saying? What Changning Palace?"
Xuanyuan Han thought for a moment, then ordered, "Investigate who is currently residing in Changning Palace. Have any strangers moved in recently? Has anything happened in the last few days?"
Cheng Liang listened, seemingly understanding yet not quite, and replied, "Yes..."
Xuan Yuanhan silently affirmed in his heart, "This is absolutely not my imagination. Zhang Zhiyuan clearly told me that Yun'er was still alive when I was unconscious. But now that I've woken up, why is he denying everything? What is Zhang Zhiyuan... hiding?"
With this thought in mind, he took one last deep look at the palace, now bathed in the light of the moon after a heavy rain, and murmured, "Changning Palace..."
Zhang Mansion.
As soon as Zhang Zhiyuan raised his hand to knock on his own door and stepped into the mansion, the steward exclaimed with a mixture of surprise and joy, "Master is back! Master is finally back!"
For the past day and night, his wife, Madam Wang, had been feeling uneasy and anxious after hearing the steward's description of the night before Zhang Zhili left home.
So, ever since Zhang Zhiyuan left, she has been kneeling in the Buddhist hall praying for his well-being.
Suddenly hearing the butler's voice coming from the courtyard, he hurriedly got up, lifted the curtain, and went out to greet him.
While wiping away tears with a handkerchief, she said with barely suppressed emotion, "Thank God, we've been waiting for you to come back safely!"
Zhang Zhiyuan was also quite frightened this time.
Only when he truly grasped his wife's hand did he calm down and say with deep regret, "I have really caused my wife worry this time; it is all my fault."
"Why are we still saying these things? It's good that you're back safe and sound."
As she spoke, Madam Wang hurriedly instructed the steward, "Quickly have someone prepare a bath and change of clothes for the master."
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away." The butler hurriedly withdrew to prepare after receiving the order.
Then, Wang said to the maid who was following behind her, "Go and bring up the dishes and apricot milk that I just prepared for the master. Hurry up!"
The maid replied, "Yes, Madam, I will go right away."
"Wait..." Just as he was about to back away, he was called back again.
The maid turned around and asked again, "Does Madam have any other instructions?"
Madam Wang earnestly instructed, "Remember the wine, don't forget the wine, it must be the Master's favorite Qianlizui."
The maid nodded and said with a smile, "This servant understands."
They finally retreated.
As the saying goes, husband and wife are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyuan saw his wife busily arranging everything for him, showing him such tender care.
So he held her hand tightly, feeling very gratified, and said with emotion, "With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for!"
Under Wang's personal care, Zhang Zhiyuan bathed and changed him into a brand new set of robes, which made him feel refreshed.
At this moment, the candlelight inside the room was dim, and the couple sat around the table.
While serving him soup with a virtuous manner, Madam Wang said, "My lord, please try this. This is your favorite almond milk, which I made myself according to your method. I peeled the almonds, cooked them until soft, mashed them, added them to boiling water, filtered out the white liquid, removed the fine residue, added water again, mashed them again, filtered them again, and repeated this process three times. Finally, I discarded the almond powder and added a little honey to the thick liquid. My lord, please try it and see if it tastes good?"
Looking at the familiar apricot milk soup that Zhang Zhiyuan used to make for his wife in his spare time, now handed to him by Wang Shi herself, he suddenly burst into tears.
He suddenly lowered his eyes, trying to hide his tears of emotion, and put a spoonful of almond milk into his mouth, whereupon a warm current slowly flowed down his throat.
Even so, his observant wife still noticed the tears that were secretly streaming down his face.
Wang remained silent, only taking out a handkerchief to gently wipe away the tears.
Zhang Zhiyuan could no longer hold back. He put down the soup bowl in his hand and pulled his wife into his arms, holding her tightly.
He still seemed terrified as he said, "My wife, do you know how scared I am? I am so scared!"
Madam Wang was startled, then placed one hand on Zhang Zhiyuan's back, comforting him as she said, "It's alright, it's all over now, everything is over. Don't be afraid, sir. No matter what happens, I will always be with you."
After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Zhiyuan finally slowly released his grip.
He recounted to Wang everything that had happened during that day and night.
Upon hearing all this, Wang was deeply shocked.
Yet, filled with doubt, she asked, "Princess Qin, if she wasn't at the Prince Qin's residence, how did the Emperor bring her back to the palace?"
Zhang Zhiyuan recalled for a moment and said, "It was by chance that I overheard a young pharmacist named Dingxiang in the Imperial Pharmacy saying that the Princess Consort of Qin had treated a group of disaster victims from Lu County at Yanfu Temple, and later even returned to Lu County with those disaster victims to control desertification."
Wang Shi could hardly believe her ears. She exclaimed in astonishment, "What? Since ancient times, even the late emperor couldn't deal with the endless yellow sand of Lu County. He led people to manage it for so many years, but in the end, it was just a waste of manpower and resources. Princess Qin, a weak woman, actually went to such a place to manage the sand?"
Zhang Zhiyuan admired her in his heart. During their brief time working together in the same court, he thought she was only highly skilled in medicine.
But now it seems that in many ways she is hundreds, even thousands of times better than men throughout history…
This woman is truly admirable.
Zhang Zhiyuan muttered to himself, "But ironically, in the end, it really was her who succeeded. I heard that the once-in-a-century hurricane and sandstorm in Lu County was brought down because of her. No one or no livestock in Lu County was harmed, but she was the only one who was swallowed up by the hurricane and sandstorm. I never thought that she would survive such a natural disaster..."
If she hadn't heard it from her husband himself, Wang would never have believed that a weak woman could accomplish such difficult things.
After thinking for a moment, Wang poured Zhang Zhiyuan a cup of wine and asked, "But Your Majesty, how could she not recognize her as the Princess Consort of Qin?"
Zhang Zhiyuan took a deep breath and continued, "The Emperor didn't recognize her, but instead protected her! Actually, it's not surprising! Princess Qin was originally a useless and ugly girl from the Yi family in the west of the city, known to everyone in the city. Later, in order to atone for her father's sins, she entered the palace as a slave. Because of her ugly appearance, she always covered her face with a veil, and very few people had seen her true face."
He paused here, silently admiring the extraordinary medical skills in the world: "Later, she somehow found a good remedy and regained her original appearance. On the day of the Prince of Qin's wedding, which was supposed to be the first time the Princess of Qin entered the palace to pay her respects, she was stabbed in the Imperial Pharmacy. Therefore, before she could even meet the Emperor, the Prince of Qin took her back to his residence to recuperate!"
After pausing for a moment, Zhang Zhiyuan downed the cup of Qianli Zui and suddenly said, "Thinking about it now, that stab back then actually helped her, turning misfortune into blessing!"
Wang, however, did not understand, and asked in bewilderment, "What do you mean by that, husband?"
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "There are rumors in the palace that although the Emperor issued an edict ordering His Highness Prince Qin to personally lead troops to support the sand control efforts in Lu County, in reality, no troops were dispatched."
Upon hearing this, Lady Wang immediately understood and exclaimed in astonishment, "Does my husband mean that His Majesty has finally decided to take action against the Prince of Qin?"
Zhang Zhiyuan gripped the wine cup in his hand tightly and said, "Your Majesty intends to eliminate the Prince of Qin, this thorn in your side, without firing a single shot, by taking advantage of natural disasters and man-made calamities."
Hearing this, Lady Wang said with lingering fear, "I heard that after the Prince of Qin returned from Lu County, he has been bedridden and unconscious... Your Majesty... almost succeeded... If it weren't for you waking the Prince of Qin today, I'm afraid..."
Zhang Zhiyuan sighed, "It's all fate. If the King of Qin hadn't fallen into a coma because of the Queen Consort, and if I had passed away and the King of Qin still hadn't woken up today, then my entire Zhang family... I'm afraid we wouldn't have survived until tomorrow..."
However, Madam Wang suddenly became incredibly determined and exclaimed, "This time, my husband did the right thing!"
Upon hearing these resolute words, Zhang Zhiyuan was instantly surprised and looked at her face, asking, "What did you say, Madam?"
Wang spoke with force and strength, saying, "The reason why the Princess Consort of Qin survived the calamity is because of her immeasurable merits. The Princess Consort and His Highness the Prince of Qin love the people like their own children and are a loving couple. If such good people should not live, what kind of world would this be! In recent years, the Emperor's evil deeds have already caused widespread resentment among the people."
Upon hearing these outrageous words, Zhang Zhiyuan quickly jumped up and covered Wang's mouth. He looked outside the door and, seeing no one, lowered his voice and said, "Madam, please keep your voice down, lest someone hear you."
Lady Wang slowly pulled his hand down, then grasped both of his hands, and said earnestly, "My husband, I know your concerns. I know that over the years, whether it's the debt you owe to the Yue family or the protection of the Zhang family, it's been difficult for you to be your true self. But today's action shows that your conscience is not entirely dead. In this life, if you know you've made a mistake, you should try your best to redeem yourself, instead of doing nothing and making the same mistake again! I also know in my heart that the current emperor is truly not a wise ruler!"
Zhang Zhiyuan slowly sat back down, pondering Wang's words...
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