Chapter 321 Ghosts
As night fell, the streets in Anzhou City were brightly lit, and people were bustling about, laughing and talking happily.
Princess Ping's motorcade arrived at the gate of Prince Ping's Mansion on the west street of Anzhou Prefecture.
Su Mo opened the car window and was surprised to see that the gate of Prince Ping's Mansion was completely different from before.
In the past, two rows of lanterns hung at the gates of Prince Ping's mansion, their vibrant red lights burning brightly throughout the night. Fully dressed servants and maids waited at the gates. Whenever she returned from an outing, the servants would enthusiastically rush over, some leading the horses, others setting aside the stepping stools. The maids would open the carriage doors, beaming with joy as they helped her along, calling out, "Princess Ping has returned," filling her with joy.
The gates of Prince Ping's mansion were now shut tight. All the lanterns were extinguished, and the dark lanterns hanging above the gate swayed in the cold wind, like two rows of hanging heads, giving her the creeps.
The guards of the caravan were silent, as if some invisible force in the air prevented them from making any sound. Only the horses pulling the carts snorted heavily, their hooves clattering on the bluestone ground, making a sound like a monster cackling in the darkness.
All this made her uneasy.
As soon as the carriage stopped, she couldn't wait to open the door, got out, and walked towards the gate of the palace.
The palace gate creaked softly, opening a crack. A head poked out from the darkness, then the crack opened even wider. The figure stepped out sideways, approached Su Mo, and saluted, "Princess Ping is back."
Su Mo recognized the person as the maid Xiaoxiang, and was about to ask when a guard in the convoy took out a torch and tried to light it.
When Xiaoxiang saw the guard was about to light the torch, she quickly waved her hand and lowered her voice and said, "Don't light the torch, put it down." The guard had already pulled out the flint, but when he heard Xiaoxiang's serious words, he quickly put the torch down.
Su Mo was a little puzzled and pulled Xiaoxiang to her side, saying, "What's going on? Why aren't we allowed to light the torch?"
Xiaoxiang finally breathed a sigh of relief when the guards put down the torches. She whispered to Su Mo, "Princess, Prince Ping is not feeling well right now. He can't stand the light, saying it hurts his eyes. He can't stand loud noises either..."
Only then did Su Mo notice that the entrance to such a huge palace was dark and silent inside.
There are more than a thousand servants in Prince Ping's mansion, but now it seems that the entire mansion is deserted.
"Have you asked the doctor for any medicine?" she said to Xiaoxiang as they walked.
Xiaoxiang shook her head and said, "Prince Ping forbad us to send for a doctor, saying that medicine was useless... Fortunately, Princess, you are back. We servants would have no idea what to do."
Only then did Su Mo realize that Xiao Beiheng's condition was more serious than she had imagined.
Thinking that Xiao Beiheng had recovered, she decided to go to Shengjing to visit Shen Yuexi. Unexpectedly, Xiao Beiheng's condition became worse after the trip.
If people don’t get enough rest, their temper will become irritable.
The two entered the palace's front yard and, under the dim moonlight, walked toward the front hall. In the surrounding darkness, figures kept appearing and disappearing, silent and without the sound of footsteps, like ghosts.
Arriving at the front hall door, a group of figures emerged from the darkness of the adjacent wing and crept over. The leader approached Su Mo and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets the princess."
This group of people are soldiers responsible for the security of the palace, but now they are walking like a group of thieves.
Su Mo nodded and let the sergeant pass. She turned to Xiaoxiang and asked, "How many days has Prince Ping been like this? Have you always been like this?"
"It's been five or six days. It wasn't like this at the beginning," Xiaoxiang said. "After you left, Prince Ping got up that night and went to the back garden to practice sword and archery. We all stayed with him until midnight, and we still managed to sleep for two hours in total. Later, Prince Ping stayed up all night, and we servants couldn't stand it. The housekeeper arranged for half of us to sleep and the other half to serve Prince Ping, taking turns. But that day, Prince Ping called on a maid, and it happened to be her turn to sleep, but she arrived late. Prince Ping got angry and..."
When she spoke the last part, Xiaoxiang's voice trembled.
Su Mo knew that the maid was in great danger. She was anxious and stopped Xiaoxiang, saying, "Stop talking. Which room is Prince Ping in?"
"Practicing swordplay in the back garden."
"Has he eaten anything?" Su Mo walked towards the back garden.
Xiaoxiang followed closely behind him: "No, Prince Ping hasn't eaten all day today. He ate a little yesterday... We don't dare to go."
"Hurry up and ask the kitchen to prepare some of Prince Ping's favorite dishes and send them to the back garden."
Xiaoxiang was a little scared and asked, "Princess, we need to light a stove and make a fire to cook in the kitchen..."
"It's okay. I'll go see Prince Ping. You tell the kitchen what to do. Don't be afraid. I'm here. Just make sure it's delivered quickly."
After Su Mo gave Xiaoxiang instructions, she quickly came to the gate of the palace garden.
Two maids stood outside the door, their hands folded in front of them, standing straight in the darkness. Seeing her coming, they dared not even say a word, but only bowed and saluted, then opened the door for her.
Su Mo rushed into the garden, only to find the ground littered with broken branches and leaves; nearly every tree had been broken. Xiao Beiheng, holding the cold, gleaming Yanque sword, stood between two broken trees, slowly turning.
"Beiheng," Su Mo quickly stepped forward and hugged Xiao Beiheng, "I'm back."
The autumn night was chilly, and she could feel that Xiao Beiheng's entire body was icy, as if he had been standing there all day.
Xiao Beiheng stood there for a moment, stunned, as if his soul had left his body. Then he lowered his head and said, "Momo, is that you?"
His voice was hoarse and full of weariness.
"It's me... They wouldn't even let me turn on the lights. They couldn't even recognize me." Su Mo held Xiao Beiheng's face in her hands, looking at his messy hair, haggard face, and sunken eyes. She said with some heartache, "What's wrong? I'm obviously fine now."
"That thing has come back to find me. It's haunting me again..." Xiao Beiheng whispered, "I have nightmares every time I close my eyes. Later, I couldn't open my eyes when I saw the light. Your voice hurts my ears... Momo, have you gone to burn incense for the gods of Shengjing?"
Su Mo then remembered that she had forgotten about this matter.
She had promised Xiao Beiheng that she would go to the temple in Shengjing to burn incense and donate money. Before she could do any of these, Empress Wen sent her back. She was thinking about Xiao Beiheng all the way and didn't think about anything else.
But if he said he hadn't, Xiao Beiheng would be even more furious. His mental state was too bad right now, so he couldn't be provoked any further.
"God will bless you," Su Mo said with a smile, "I heard from Xiaoxiang that you haven't eaten for a whole day. That won't do. How can a person not eat? I asked the kitchen to make your favorite food."
"I'm not hungry. I can't eat anything." Xiao Beiheng turned around and walked towards the stone table not far away.
Su Mo came closer and saw that a corner of the stone table had been chopped off, leaving only half of the tabletop. She didn't care and sat down with Xiao Beiheng, saying, "Beiheng, I haven't eaten yet. Come eat something with me."
"Just eat it," Xiao Beiheng sheathed the Yanque Sword and asked, "Sister-in-law and Big Brother... do you know what the Emperor has ordered?"
Seeing that he was in the mood to ask, Su Mo briefly told him about her visit to Shen Yuexi.
After a few words, the maid Xiaoxiang led dozens of servants into the back garden. Some carried tables in the front, and others carried various dishes in the back.
No one dared to light a lamp and they all came in the dark. Fortunately, Su Mo was there, and everyone was much braver.
Su Mo was afraid that Xiao Beiheng wouldn't be able to bear the glare of the light, so she didn't ask for any lights to be turned on. The dim moonlight at least provided some light. She instructed the servants to set up the table and chairs around the stone table, put down the dishes, and prepare the wine cups and bowls. After having the servants retreat to the garden, she stood up and walked to the table, saying, "Beiheng, come and eat with me. We've never eaten like this before."
Xiao Beiheng shook his head and said, "I have no appetite."
Su Mo didn't force it. She picked up some food with her chopsticks and put it in her bowl. She said, "I talked to my sister-in-law about the crown prince. She said that my brother wouldn't compete with us for the position of crown prince..."
Xiao Beiheng had been sitting across from her listlessly. Upon hearing this, he suddenly raised his head and spoke in a much louder voice:
"What did you say?"
Su Mo said: "I said that big brother would not compete for the position of crown prince. My sister-in-law said it herself."
In fact, she wasn't sure if Shen Yuexi really thought so. But Shen Yuexi wasn't the type to tell lies all the time. Besides, she had to be the one to tell such a big thing as the crown prince, which showed that Shen Yuexi didn't care about the position of crown prince at all.
Xiao Beiheng put his hands in his hair, lowered his head for a while, raised his head, and reached for the chopsticks: "I suddenly feel a little hungry."
Su Mo had just picked up a piece of duck when she heard Xiao Beiheng say that. She placed the duck in his bowl and said with a smile, "Then eat quickly."
She could see that when she said that Xiao Zhuo would not compete for the position of crown prince, Xiao Beiheng's heavy body seemed to become light all of a sudden, and even his appetite returned.
If there really was an evil spirit haunting him, how could it leave Xiao Beiheng just because she said a word?
She originally believed that there was an evil spirit at work, but when she saw Xiao Beiheng regain his spirits and appetite after she finished talking about Shen Yuexi's attitude, she couldn't help but think that maybe there was no evil spirit at all.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Beiheng cared too much about the position of crown prince, but he could not bear the pressure, so he became like this.
After the two of them finished their meal, Xiao Beiheng was so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyes. Su Mo personally helped him back to his bedroom, undressed him, and let him go to bed to rest.
Xiao Beiheng fell into a deep sleep as soon as he touched the pillow. Su Mo was worried that he would have a nightmare and wake up again. Since she was not sleepy herself, she sat by the bed and watched in the dark. Until late at night, Xiao Beiheng still did not wake up, and Su Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as Xiao Beiheng gets a good night's sleep and rests, everything will be fine.
She went out and said to Xiaoxiang, "You all have worked hard taking care of Prince Ping these days. Now Prince Ping is asleep. Except for those who served Prince Ping, everyone else can go and rest."
Xiaoxiang whispered excitedly, "Thank goodness you're back, Princess. We really don't know what to do."
Su Mo smiled and said, "Let everyone go and rest. Everything will return to normal tomorrow. Don't make it so gloomy."
Just as Xiaoxiang was about to leave, a maid hurried over from outside the corridor and said, "Princess, there's news from Shengjing..."
Su Mo interrupted unhappily, "Prince Ping is resting. If there is any news, we will tell you tomorrow."
The maid said nervously, "But... this is about Princess An."
"Princess An? What happened to her?" Su Mo was about to turn around and go back into the house, but when she heard the maid mention Shen Yuexi in a panic, she turned around and asked.
"Princess An died of poisoning."
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