Chapter 1110: Partiality
When the figure completely disappeared in the morning mist, Xiao Zhan was shocked to find that there were bloody marks on his palms.
He turned around and walked quickly through the triple moon gate, but moved lightly the moment he pushed open the carved door of the bedroom.
Jiang Xue was curled up in a soft peacock blue quilt, her loose black hair entangled with the soothing incense emanating from the gilded incense burner.
Hearing the noise, she hurriedly stuffed the bloodstained silk handkerchief under her pillow.
"What he said..."
She was choked and coughed before she could finish her words, and the silver bell on her wrist trembled and made a faint mournful sound.
Xiao Zhan used his body temperature to warm the medicine before handing it over: "We have to try the method of detoxification that Master Yang mentioned."
The crisp sound of the porcelain spoon hitting the edge of the bowl covered up the second half of the sentence, even though he was about to step into the trap set by the other party.
Seeing the other party remain silent, Jiang Xue smiled: "I used to laugh at the stupidity of the world, but now I feel that the theory of fate may not be completely false."
Ever since she received Jiang Ke's last letter, she has always been haunted by an inexplicable sense of fate.
Xiao Zhan stroked the beads hanging from her hair and said, "Life and death cannot be left to chance. When the political situation stabilizes, I will accompany you to the Western Regions to find Su Yili and resolve your doubts."
The slight trembling of his fingertips revealed his worry, but he quickly hid the emotion in his eyes.
Feeling the force on her shoulders tighten suddenly, Jiang Xue sighed softly: "I originally wanted to wait until Heng'er came of age before discussing the journey west, but now it seems..."
The unfinished words turned into a bitter smile. She knew better than anyone that if she wanted to protect her younger brother, she had to fight for a chance to survive.
"Xiaoxue, do you know what the most reassuring words are?"
Xiao Zhan suddenly pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on the top of her head and whispered, "It's the words 'I'm here'."
The warm breath brushed past her ears, smoothing out the wrinkles between Jiang Xue's brows.
Just as he was about to speak, he heard the clear sound of a silver bell outside.
Jiang Xue took a half step back to tidy up her appearance: "When Mr. Wu arrives in Beijing, he may be able to solve many mysteries.
I received a pigeon message three days ago, saying Jiang Xiaoan has been contacted by his master."
"The one from Medicine King Valley?"
Xiao Zhan's hand holding the sword suddenly tightened: "When did you start..."
His voice stopped abruptly. He looked at the dark shadow in his wife's eyes and suddenly realized that she had frequently summoned the imperial physician in the past half month to seek medical treatment secretly without telling him.
Jiang Xue stood on tiptoe and pinched his tense jaw: "This is the only one."
He begged for mercy but looked calm: "If Mr. Wu is helpless..."
Before she could finish her words, they were blocked between her lips and teeth. Xiao Zhan bit her lower lip as punishment, and when he turned around, his cloak brought up a strong wind.
Three days later, in the Zichen Palace, Jiang Heng was putting the tiger-head hat inlaid with oriental pearls into his arms when he suddenly heard the jingling of rings and pendants coming from down the corridor.
The young emperor and the eldest son of the Feng family rushed to the palace gate at the same time, and saw a delicate and pretty girl staggering towards them holding a string of candied haws.
"According to the Feng family tree..."
Feng Zhiming stretched out his hand to take it, but was stopped by the wide sleeves with apricot yellow dragon pattern.
Jiang Heng waved his sleeves to reveal the silver bell on his wrist: "In terms of relationship, I am Yaoyao's legitimate cousin."
While the two were arguing, the little princess suddenly grabbed the jade pendant on Xiao Zhan's waist and shouted incoherently, "Daddy, hold me!", which made everyone in the palace laugh.
Feng Zhiming couldn't help but smile when he heard this. His third uncle who doted on his wife excessively was indeed capable of such a partiality.
He picked up his niece in her arms, looked at the baby's grape-like eyes curved into crescents, and suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Jiang Heng:
"Didn't your majesty say that you would treat the young master of the Lan family well? Look how pitiful Lan Zheng is lying alone in the cradle."
"Of course I will treat the descendants of a general well, but men..."
Jiang Heng was interrupted before he could finish his words. Feng Zhiming had already stepped back three steps while holding the giggling Feng Zhige in his arms: "Since Your Majesty said that he would take care of the Lan family, you have to give some concrete proof, right?"
The gilded heater in the Zichen Hall was filled with the scent of sandalwood. Jiang Heng's eyes moved between the two babies.
The pink-ball-like daughter of the Feng family was playing with the tassel of Feng Zhiming's jade pendant, while the boy of the Lan family was lying in his brocade swaddling clothes, quietly blowing bubbles.
Thinking of General Lan Feng's achievements in guarding the border, the emperor finally reached out to take Lan Zheng.
"Wow……"
The childish cry suddenly broke the silence. Jiang Heng held his arms stiff as if he was holding a hot potato, and the wet nurse hurriedly took over the sobbing baby.
The emperor shook his wrinkled dragon-patterned sleeves and said angrily, "Why is a general so squeamish?"
A cold laugh came from behind the screen. Jiang Xue walked out holding the jade case and said, "Your Majesty, you are really wrong. You cried even harder in my arms back then. If it weren't for Yun Che..."
The eldest princess's gaze suddenly became distant, as if she had traveled through twenty years to see the helpless self she was now.
At the spring banquet in the twenty-third year of Jianzhao, Jiang Xue, who was still a young girl, looked coldly at the protagonist of the Hundred Days Banquet.
If the prince consort Feng Ziqing had not asked her to hold her younger brother in public, she would never have touched the baby who symbolized the royal family's disputes.
When Xiao Zhan handed the swaddling clothes to her, she clearly saw the tenderness reflected in the candlelight in the eyes of the powerful regent.
"Princess, look, the little prince's eyes are so much like yours."
Xiao Zhan's whisper was as bewitching as a spell, but when Jiang Heng touched her cold brocade palace dress, she immediately burst into earth-shaking tears.
Looking at the young emperor at this moment, Jiang Xue smiled and said, "If you don't believe me, ask your Prime Minister. He coaxed you for half an incense stick back then."
"Aunt, are you sure you remembered it correctly?"
Jiang Heng looked at Xiao Zhan suspiciously, and saw Xiao Zhan nodding with a smile.
The emperor's ears turned red, and he reached out and poked Lan Zheng who had fallen asleep again: "This kid is lucky enough to be coaxed by me personally."
After saying that, he secretly glanced at Feng Zhige in the wet nurse's arms, wondering when he could hold that smiling little girl in his arms.
Before he finished speaking, the young emperor cast an anxious look at Xiao Zhan: "Uncle, is what aunt said serious?"
After receiving the other party's nod of confirmation, Jiang Heng turned to Jiang Xue with red ears: "Don't blame me, aunt, I was still a baby at that time..."
Before he could finish his words, the woman tapped his forehead with a smiling fingertips: "When did Auntie not understand our Heng'er's feelings?"
She recalled the scene when she returned from the battlefield. She was still wearing her blood-stained armor, and her whole body was freezing cold. Not to mention the babies, even the old ministers in the court retreated away.
Feng Zhiming took a half step back quietly while holding the baby, but was caught by the sharp-eyed emperor: "It's my turn to hold Yaoyao!"
The young emperor confidently stretched out his hand, and when he took the delicate and graceful baby girl, he saw her smiling at him with a toothless smile, and immediately began to think with great joy:
When the little princess reaches adulthood, I will collect treasures from all over the world, select the best men of the time, and present all the beautiful things in the world to this child.
"Your Majesty's partiality is getting worse."
Jiang Xue teased the blue-eyed baby in her arms and looked up at her husband: "Look how well-behaved our Zheng'er is."
Xiao Zhan reached out and gently stroked the baby's curly hair: "Boys always have to endure more falls, it's normal for Heng'er and his friends to love their sister more."
Before he finished speaking, a eunuch outside the palace suddenly stepped in and said, "Your Majesty, an urgent military report from eight hundred miles away!"
The warmth in the room suddenly froze.
Jiang Xue tightened her knuckles unconsciously, and the baby in her arms hummed softly. She lowered her eyes to look at the face that looked increasingly like an old friend, and the bloody memories of the border crossing wrapped in wind and sand suddenly flooded into her mind.
Since that incident, there has been no spark in Lan Feng's eyes, only deep coldness...
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