Chapter 1092: Even a small spark can start a prairie fire
Yun Zhen stared at the sky cut into diamond shapes outside the window: "To me, there is no difference between the four-sided sky and the eight-sided wind."
The chess pieces hit the sandalwood chessboard with a crisp sound, and Xiao Zhan stood up suddenly: "Let's stop here today..."
"Master Prime Minister, please stay!"
Yun Zhen suddenly reached out and pressed the edge of the chessboard, his fingertips showing a sickly paleness: "Your Highness, are you still awake?"
The air stagnated for a moment.
Xiao Zhan had his back to him, his hands clenched and unclenched under his wide sleeves: "The imperial physician said that His Highness suffers from panic attacks and vomiting blood every night, and he can't even take a cup of medicine."
"Let me see her."
Yun Zhen's fingers unconsciously stroked the wrinkles on his sleeves: "Maybe I can help her resolve her worries."
There was an undercurrent in his ebony eyes.
Xiao Zhan recalled the scene in the rainstorm that day when this man rushed into the Imperial Hospital, soaking wet, holding the unconscious Princess, and finally said, "Tomorrow at 5 a.m."
The night permeated the Lan family's mourning hall, and the wax from the burned-out white candles condensed on the copper table.
The sound of Lan Feng fastening the door bolt startled the crows from under the eaves, and he let the clock tick by three and five times.
"Major General!"
The old housekeeper put the swaddling clothes on the carved door panel: "The little master is looking for his father!"
Suddenly, in the dead silence, there was a sound of something heavy falling to the ground.
The sound of the door bolt breaking broke the silence, and everyone saw Lan Feng curled up on the cold floor tiles, his left hand still tightly holding the spirit tablet, his knuckles turning blue and white.
"Quickly call the military doctor! Bring Doctor Zhou from the camp outside the city here overnight!"
The old butler picked up the burning man, and when he touched the bloody bandage on his waist, his throat suddenly tightened.
Jiang Xue tossed and turned in her quilt, and finally called the wet nurse to bring the swaddling baby into the inner room.
The premature little princess was surprisingly well-behaved. As long as she was fed, she would fall asleep with her eyes closed. But her skinny body curled up in a ball always made people feel worried.
She raised her weak body and looked at the baby's hair shining with pearly light in the candlelight. Suddenly, she felt a warm touch on her palm - it turned out that Feng Zhige had rubbed his mother's fingers unconsciously.
"My lady, be careful not to catch a cold."
Xiao Zhan took off his black cloak and wrapped it around his wife's thin shoulders. His eyes fell on his daughter's relaxed brows: "The imperial physician said that you are suffering from a deficiency of both Qi and blood. You should take good care of yourself."
Jiang Xue gathered her loose hair, her fingertips still tracing the baby's curled eyelashes: "Yun Che, look, she was smiling in her dream just now."
Before he could finish his words, Feng Zhige suddenly burped, causing the couple to look at each other and smile.
Xiao Zhan noticed that his wife's wrist, hidden under the quilt, was so thin that light could penetrate it. His heart suddenly ached: "Xiaoxue, you are three points thinner than before giving birth."
"Mr. Yun Zhen is here."
The guard's report outside the door broke the warmth.
Jiang Xue looked at the man who hurried in and found that the hem of his blue shirt was stained with night dew, and it was obvious that he was invited overnight.
Yun Zhen's slightly trembling fingertips as he performed the ceremony revealed his true feelings. He stared at the woman on the couch who was as pale as paper. His Adam's apple rolled several times but he didn't utter a word.
"Please trouble Yun Che to get the black jade box from the secret cabinet in the study."
Jiang Xue suddenly held her husband's hand, and the cold touch made Xiao Zhan's pupils shrink slightly.
It was a relic of the former crown prince, and had been sealed since the fire in the East Palace. He looked deeply at Yun Zhen, who was standing by with his hands hanging down, and finally closed the door and left.
The remaining candle burst into sparks, casting the shadows of the three people on the red gauze window, just like the scene in the East Palace study back then.
As soon as Xiao Zhan's footsteps disappeared outside the door, Yun Zhen turned the celadon teacup in his hand and said, "Send the Prime Minister away. It seems that the princess needs someone to talk to in private."
Jiang Xue's wide sleeves brushed across the table, bringing with them a faint fragrance.
She suddenly leaned forward, her fingertips almost touching the back of Yun Zhen's hand resting on the table: "Should I call you Master Yun, or... my brother?"
Yun Zhen withdrew his hand without leaving a trace, and the tea soup rippled in the cup: "Your Highness asks even though you already know the answer."
"Just think of me as possessed by a demon." Jiang Xue stood up suddenly, and the restrained steps at her waist made a chaotic sound.
She turned her back to Yun Zhen and looked out the window at the Wutong tree:
"That year, I fell into an icy lake because I was playing around. It was my brother who wrapped me in a mink fur coat and kept me warm all night. Later, when the court was in turmoil, it was he who taught me how to review memorials."
Yun Zhen looked at her slightly trembling shoulders, his Adam's apple moving, "The late Crown Prince was kind and virtuous. The princess is truly lucky to have such a brother."
"But now he doesn't even have a decent corpse..."
Jiang Xue turned around suddenly, and the gilded armor made a sharp sound as it scratched the sandalwood table.
Her eyes were full of tears, but she was smiling: "Master Yun, do you know that my brother always likes to mess up my buns?"
The air stagnated for a moment, and Yun Zhen suddenly stood up and took off his cloak.
The dark brocade passed through the air, gently covering Jiang Xue's thin figure: "The frost is heavy in late autumn."
“That’s not the case!”
Jiang Xue suddenly grabbed his wrist, which had not yet been retracted, with amazing force: "He would put his right hand around my back and hold up the back of my head with his left hand..."
Yun Zhen froze in place, his breathing suddenly becoming irregular.
Jiang Xue's warm breath brushed his earlobe: "Brother, there is a crescent scar behind your ear. It was left when you blocked an assassin for me."
The candlelight on the table popped and burst into flames. Yun Zhen lowered his eyes and looked at the two people's folded sleeves: "Princess, it's time to call the imperial physician to change the calming incense."
Jiang Xue pinched her palm with her fingertips and propped up her weak body: "I know it very well."
She stared at the Adam's apple moving slightly under the other person's silver mask: "Brother, you can't hide."
Yun Zhen suddenly let go of the hand that was supporting her shoulder, and his black cloak rippled in the candlelight: "Your Highness has recognized the wrong person."
"Really?"
She leaned against the carved bedpost and chuckled, the shadow of the glass lamp flickering on her pale face: "Then I will just have a hysterical attack."
He coughed a few times before the last syllable was finished, and dark red blood seeped out from between his fingers.
The silk handkerchief in Yun Zhen's sleeve wrinkled, but his tone was as cold and hard as before: "I am ordered to heal your highness."
"Healing?"
Jiang Xue suddenly grabbed his wrist as he tried to pull it away, the cold gilded armor digging into his flesh: "Five years ago on Lantern Festival, when you taught me to fly river lanterns, you said 'even a tiny spark can start a prairie fire'."
She felt her pulse quicken suddenly. "When I was stabbed the other day, the assassin's sword was three inches away from my throat, and the first thing you blurted out was 'Xiaoxue'!"
The ticking sound of the copper clock suddenly rang between the two of them.
Yun Zhen suddenly turned his wrist, and his inner strength flowed into her meridians like a spring stream: "Your Highness, it's time to take the medicine."
"Brother Royal is afraid of my death?"
Jiang Xue let the warmth flow through her body, but her eyes were burning like fire: "Are you afraid that I will find out the truth about the bloody case in the thirteen cities of Northern Frontier while I am still alive?"
The candle wick burst into a lamp flower.
Yun Zhen lowered his eyes to avoid her gaze: "I heard that the princess couldn't tell the difference between reality and illusion since she fell into the water."
He took out the jade bottle and placed it on the table: "This is the Snow Toad Pill that Nanzhao presented as tribute."
Jiang Xue suddenly laughed out loud, and her laughter startled the birds sleeping outside the window.
She took off the golden phoenix hairpin from her temples and scratched a deep crack on the brocade quilt: "When I was 15 years old, you gave me the hairpin and said, 'Seeing the hairpin is like seeing a brother.'"
The night-shining pearl on the hairpin reflected the tears in her eyes: "Now the phoenix head is stained with blood, how long will my brother wear this mask?"
Yun Zhen clenched his hands into fists behind his back, his knuckles turning white.
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