She quickly closed the window, pursed her lips, and walked to the bedside.
"This window was open all night! How did you all serve your master?"
The two eunuchs were shocked and knelt down, shouting that they were innocent.
"I made sure to check before I left, and all the windows were closed!"
"Yes, yes! How could we dare to be careless?"
Dingxiang looked at them suspiciously: "If it wasn't you, could it be that your master got up in the middle of the night and opened the window himself? Who are you trying to fool? If it weren't for the cold wind blowing all night, your master wouldn't be so sick."
The young eunuchs were on the verge of tears.
"Ahem... This isn't their fault."
At this moment, King Han on the bed opened his eyes and defended the two of them.
He had just recovered from his fever, felt weak all over, and his throat felt like it was filled with a razor blade, causing him severe pain.
When Dingxiang saw that he was awake, she took his pulse again.
"The fever has subsided temporarily, but it may recur tonight. Lie down and don't get up. Eat something before the medicine from the Imperial Pharmacy arrives."
After saying that, she instructed the eunuch to fetch food from the imperial kitchen.
It wasn't noon yet, and it wasn't time to pick up lunch. The little eunuch went there nervously, but to his surprise, the people in the imperial kitchen were not as difficult as usual. They politely prepared the meal and even asked someone to go back to Side Pavilion with him.
King Han leaned against the headboard, drinking his porridge while cautiously gazing outside.
Dingxiang was watching as someone prepared the medicine.
He was somewhat annoyed.
I originally just wanted to get a minor illness so that she would come and visit me, but I never expected that being exposed to the wind all night would make me so sick.
Now I feel weak all over, my leg muscles are sore, my stomach is uncomfortable, and my throat hurts so much that I can't even swallow.
The King of Han regretted it.
But when he saw the figure outside the window, he felt a warm glow inside.
As long as I can see lilacs, any hardship is worth it.
It took King Han a full half month to recover from his illness.
During this time, the King of Wu sent a large number of gifts, and his other brothers also sent some things one after another. Yuan Shen even came to see him every other day, which made the King of Han feel very guilty.
These days, even a cold can be fatal, so Song Xibai paid special attention to it.
However, she couldn't come to visit herself, so she could only ask Dingxiang to make several trips.
Just when Song Xibai breathed a sigh of relief after the King of Han recovered from his illness, with only a few days left until the New Year, he suddenly received unexpected news.
The Crown Princess is dying.
After the Crown Princess was moved back to the East Palace, she remained untouched.
She was already nearing the end of her life; if Song Xibai hadn't instructed the imperial physicians to do their best to save her, she probably would have died long ago.
The imperial physicians have tried their best, but they can only delay until now.
Seeing that the person was about to die, the imperial physicians hurriedly reported to their superiors.
This originally had nothing to do with Song Xibai, but unexpectedly, after the Crown Princess woke up, she made a fuss and insisted on seeing her.
This is clearly a last gasp before death.
After thinking for a moment, Song Xibai took his people and went there.
Stepping into the East Palace again, looking at the desolate courtyard, Song Xibai felt rather complicated.
She remembered reading in some book in her past life that there was never a palace called the Cold Palace; any place the emperor didn't go to was the Cold Palace.
Isn't the Eastern Palace just like that now?
She sighed and walked into the central hall.
The furnishings in the central hall remained unchanged, just as luxurious as before.
However, in retrospect, this elaborate and luxurious furnishing, while magnificent, also gives off a sense of gloom and decadence.
The room was filled with a lingering smell of medicine, mixed with a faint stench of blood.
The Crown Princess has been coughing up blood for many days.
Song Xibai entered the inner room.
The Crown Princess had been helped up and dressed in her favorite bright red palace dress, embroidered with large patches of golden peonies.
However, she has lost a lot of weight, and her old clothes no longer fit her, hanging loosely on her body.
The Crown Princess raised her head, and an indescribable expression appeared on her gaunt face.
She opened her mouth, and the first thing she said surprised Song Xibai.
I didn't ask anyone to harm you.
Song Xibai stopped three meters away from her.
"What's the point of Your Majesty saying all this now?"
The Crown Princess squeezed the blanket: "Whether you believe it or not, I just wanted to hold a child on my lap, I never thought of leaving the child behind! His Highness doesn't believe me, he abandoned me in the Eastern Palace and ignored me... He doesn't believe me... I am his first wife, I was with him through the most difficult days, he became emperor, but he refused to make me empress... I should be empress! The position of empress is rightfully mine!"
She started speaking in a low voice.
But as he spoke, he became emotional and eventually even shouted it out.
"No one is trying to steal your Empress's throne," Song Xibai said, looking at her. "Can't you see I'm only a Noble Consort now?"
The Crown Princess suddenly laughed.
"Yes! No matter how much His Highness dotes on you, no matter how much he favors you, he can't make you Empress! There are things he can't do..."
She chuckled, a hint of satisfaction in her voice.
Song Xibai didn't argue with her. What's the point of arguing when someone is about to die?
As the laughter subsided, the Crown Princess waved to Yao Huang, who was standing to the side.
Yao Huang understood and brought out a box.
When the box was opened, inside was a bright yellow scroll, with a white jade axis and a brocade satin base, its surface embroidered with intricate patterns of auspicious clouds and dragons and phoenixes in gold and silver threads.
This is an imperial edict.
The Crown Princess took out the imperial edict, gently touched the patterns on it, and then looked up at Song Xibai.
"This is the imperial edict of marriage from back then, bearing the seals of the late emperor and empress."
Song Xibai frowned.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
The Crown Princess chuckled: "With this, even if His Highness is unwilling, I am still his first wife, and I will be buried with him after death, not you. Unless... he wants to be condemned by the world as unfilial!"
This era valued filial piety, and even the emperor valued it.
The idea of marriage arranged by parents and matchmakers is not just an empty phrase.
If Yuan Shen were to depose her, he would be disobeying his parents' wishes, and if he were to seriously consider it, he would be criticized by scholars.
Song Xibai suddenly understood why the Crown Princess had only summoned her and not Yuan Shen.
Yuan Shen didn't care about this; it was useless to him.
But it's different for Song Xibai.
If she doesn't care, when this gets to Yuan Shen's ears, he'll think she doesn't care about his reputation and doesn't love him enough.
But Song Xibai... cares.
The Crown Princess stared intently at Song Xibai.
“I can write a letter of apology and request to be deposed. In this way, the fault will be entirely mine and will have nothing to do with Your Highness.”
Song Xibai sighed.
What do you want?
The Crown Princess took a breath and said with difficulty.
"I have only one request: when your son comes of age, he must marry my daughter, a member of the Zhao family!"
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