Di Jinghan hurriedly led his men towards Nanzhou City, with Prefect Liu following anxiously.
Because the group was in a great hurry, they traveled exceptionally fast and returned to the governor's mansion in Nanzhou in just two hours.
Inside the prefect's mansion, Cheng Yi had brought the unconscious Di Jingcheng back an hour ago. He summoned the accompanying imperial physician to treat Di Jingcheng. Cheng Yi, being a burly man, hadn't even noticed that Di Jingcheng was running a high fever the entire way back.
The moment the imperial physician stepped forward, he saw that Di Jingcheng was covered in a fine sweat and had a flushed face, and knew that he had a fever. Looking at Di Jingcheng lying on the bed, he could only suppress his confusion and carefully take his pulse.
Cheng Yi asked anxiously, "Imperial Physician, how is the Emperor?"
"Has Your Majesty suffered serious external injuries?" he asked doubtfully.
Cheng Yi stepped forward and carefully helped Di Jingcheng undress. Soon, his back, wrapped in blood-soaked gauze, was exposed to the imperial physician, who was shocked: "What is this?"
"These are whip marks, Imperial Physician, please take a look and see if they are serious."
The imperial physician quickly removed the gauze to check the wound. Seeing that it had been treated well and had not become inflamed or suppurated, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, the wound has been treated well. Right now, His Majesty only has a fever. I'll go and brew the medicine now. You stay here and wipe His Majesty's forehead and palms with a warm cloth." After giving the instructions, the imperial physician hurriedly left.
After feeding Di Jingcheng his medicine and reapplying the medicine and bandaging his wound, an hour had passed.
The imperial physician sat at a table to the side, propping his head up and dozing off. Cheng Yi stood in front of the bed, looking at the sleeping Emperor Jingcheng, and occasionally touched his forehead. It wasn't until half an hour later that the high fever slowly subsided.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was already dark when Di Jinghan returned in a flurry with her entourage, rushing straight to Di Jingcheng's room. The maid at the door immediately knelt down to greet her. She pushed open the door and went inside, followed by Prefect Liu, Cheng Er, and Chief Sun. The group was clearly in a great hurry.
"Chengyi! Chengyi! Your Majesty!" The voice arrived before the person.
The imperial physician, who was dozing off, was startled and quickly got up to greet her: "Your humble servant greets the Princess!"
Cheng Yi knelt down: "Greetings, Princess!" He kept his head very low. Madam Xu knew that her behavior was inappropriate, but she absolutely did not regret what had happened today.
The group approached the bedside and, seeing Emperor Jingcheng lying there, felt much relieved. Thankfully, the Emperor was unharmed; otherwise, ten heads wouldn't have been enough to atone for their crimes!
Prefect Liu, in particular, felt like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Fortunately, nothing happened to the emperor while he was here, otherwise he would have been guilty of a thousand deaths.
Di Jinghan glared at Cheng Yi with displeasure, then looked at the imperial physician who was still kneeling on the ground: "Imperial Physician, how is His Majesty?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor is unharmed."
"That's good, that's good..." She blinked nervously and waved to the crowd.
"You may all go down first and strengthen the guards in the mansion. Under no circumstances should anything go wrong, and you must not let any news leak out," Di Jinghan said sternly.
"Don't worry, Your Highness!"
Only Di Jinghan and Cheng Yi remained in the room, with Ning Hui standing to the side.
Enraged, Di Jinghan stepped forward and slapped Cheng Yi hard across the face, her hand going numb. Cheng Yi's face instantly swelled up, and he knelt on the floor with a sharp thud.
"Please punish me, Your Highness!" His lowered eyes made it impossible to discern his current emotions, and his indifferent voice was even colder.
Seeing his expression only fueled Di Jinghan's anger. Her chest heaved violently, her beautiful eyes widened slightly, and she breathed heavily. Ning Hui, seeing her face flushed with anger, stepped forward to support her swaying body.
"Princess, please take care of yourself."
Di Jinghan was furious and kicked Cheng Yi hard in the left shoulder. Cheng Yi turned his body slightly but remained kneeling there steadily.
"Princess! Don't hurt yourself." Ning Hui was terrified. Di Jinghan was mischievous, but this was the first time she had ever seen her hit someone, which showed how angry she was.
"By doing this, you have ruined all of my brother's previous efforts! His devotion to my sister-in-law was one-sided, yet you took him away while he was unconscious. What will my sister-in-law think? What will her family think?"
Cheng Yi kept his head down and didn't say a word. Di Jinghan was furious. She stepped forward and slapped him hard again: "Say something! Where did your previous arrogance go? You're overstepping your bounds and acting like a lawless person. This princess thinks you're completely out of control."
"Please punish me, Princess? You think this is so simple? I'll punish you properly when my brother wakes up! Get out! My brother doesn't need you here!" Di Jinghan was furious; she had completely lost all the elegance and grace of a royal princess.
Cheng Yi kowtowed three times, got up and walked out, his eyes filled with gloom.
Ning Hui poured her a glass of water and gently patted her back: "Princess, calm down first. Fortunately, the Emperor and the Empress are safe and sound. The Empress is being taken care of, but we must take good care of the Emperor."
Di Jinghan sat down by the bed, looked at his brother with his eyes tightly closed, and sighed softly: "Brother, you must wake up soon. Your sister-in-law and nephew are waiting for you to pick them up! Jinghan is also waiting for you to come home together."
——
Ranlayobu and Nalan Mingzhu were puzzled and dissatisfied when they discovered that Di Jingcheng and his subordinates had disappeared. His daughter was pregnant and unconscious, but they had vanished.
Moreover, the fact that the princess left with her entourage was even more controversial.
The elders witnessed the trials Di Jingcheng underwent and had no objections. The final decision rested with Ranlayob and his wife, but given what had transpired, they could no longer fully accept Di Jingcheng.
Nalan Mingzhu sat by Azi's bedside, staring blankly at her daughter's pale face. It was already dark outside, and the moonlight, like water, shone through the window, making Azi's already pale face appear even more translucent.
Qinghe brought over the medicine: "Madam, the medicine is here."
Nalan Mingzhu gently fed Azi the medicine, listening to her repeatedly calling Di Jingcheng's name in her sleep, and felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. Tears streamed down her face: "Azi, is that man truly someone you can entrust your life to?"
The only response she received was the girl's incessant murmurs, her heart filled with thoughts of Di Jingcheng.
Qinghe saw all this but couldn't do anything. After all, the Emperor had disappeared, and the Eldest Princess had disappeared too. She was the only one left in the entire village to accompany the Empress, and she didn't know what to think.
Everyone simply vanished without a word, disappearing without a trace. The frail queen, still pregnant, faced everything alone on her bed. She didn't know how this tribe treated a woman who was pregnant before marriage, and the father of her child was nowhere to be found.
Looking at Azi, she couldn't help but feel sympathy and deep worry. Gazing at the bright moon outside the window, she felt melancholy, hoping that the Emperor would come to fetch the Empress soon.
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