Chapter 124: Palace Changes She Doesn't Plan to Return to the Xie Family
After Su He returned to Rongdong after paying tribute to Bai Chen, she rarely saw Xie Wuhen. Even the person guarding outside Rongdong was replaced by Wu Sheng.
It’s better this way. Not meeting each other can avoid a lot of embarrassment and awkwardness.
During this time, Fang Yicheng had come to Rongdong to visit her once, bringing a bag of pyracantha berries. His tone was full of tenderness, "I saw that there wasn't much good food in these remote mountains, so I took advantage of the heavy snow to gather some pyracantha berries. Try them and see if you like them. If you do, I'll go to the mountains to gather some more."
Su He thanked him politely and said, "I usually have a light taste and don't like these wild fruits. Mr. Fang, you don't have to worry about it in the future." She tried her best to keep a proper distance from him.
There was a look of disappointment in Fang Yicheng's eyes, but he responded politely with "Okay".
Wu Sheng, who was outside the cave, had reached the limit of his patience and shouted, "Princess, it's going to snow heavily outside. The boss wants you to prepare to leave the mountain once you've rested. Otherwise, you'll be stranded here."
Su He responded: "Then let's go down the mountain."
After lunch that day, the group began to descend the mountain.
Zhang Xiuhua was still unconscious and had to be carried by two officers in turns.
Unfortunately, the snow was getting heavier, the wind was howling, the sky was dark, and the snow-covered mountain road was becoming more and more difficult to walk on. Su He was stumbling and was about to fall if he was not careful.
Wu Sheng, who was walking in front, reminded his master: "Boss, I see that this mountain road is difficult to walk on, and the princess is very fragile. How about... you carry her on your back?"
This is at least a good opportunity for the master and the princess to develop feelings.
Xie Wuhen neither nodded nor refused, but turned around and looked at Su He.
It was at this glance that he happened to see Fang Yicheng walking towards Su He, saying something to her against the cold wind, then bending down and carrying her on his back, walking on the mountain path as if it were flat ground.
He forbearingly withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.
Wu Sheng couldn't help cursing: "It seems that the wound on this bastard's body is not serious enough. I should have stabbed him two more times." After cursing, he sighed in annoyance and followed his master's pace.
The group spent most of the day and arrived at Lizhuang at the foot of the mountain at dusk.
The weather was freezing cold, and water turned into ice. Fortunately, Xie Wuhen had sent people to arrange an inn in advance, so the group was able to rest smoothly.
After a long journey, Su He was extremely tired. As soon as she arrived at the inn, she vomited several times and wished she could vomit out the bitter bile.
Fang Yicheng was very worried when he saw her like this. He stayed by her side, serving her tea and water. He even asked the waiter to bring her a plate of pickled cucumbers. "I heard that pregnant women like sour food. How about you try it?"
He added, "I will be guarding outside your room tonight. If you need anything, just call me."
Su He took a few bites of pickles and finally recovered.
She shook her head and said, "Don't bother Mr. Fang. I will sleep in my aunt's room next door tonight."
Fang Yicheng was puzzled: "Aunt is unconscious right now and doesn't need anyone to take care of her."
She smiled weakly and said, "I'm not going to take care of my aunt. I just want to stay with her. Please go back to your room and rest as soon as possible, Mr. Fang."
Fang Yicheng said "Oh" and said, "Okay." Then he left the house sadly.
As he walked out of the house, a pair of eyes in the darkness were staring at him - watching him walk across the corridor, return to his door, push the door open, and close the door.
Those eyes were as cold as Yama's, as if they could take someone's life at any time.
Those were Xie Wuhen's eyes.
Su He finished washing up and it was already past the hour of Xu.
She also opened the door and went to the next room.
At this time, the snow outside the house was falling silently, and the sky and the earth had been painted in a vast expanse of white.
The entire inn was almost occupied by people from the Dali Temple. There were two officers on duty at the door, but everything was quiet and silent. Only the gauze lanterns under the corridor swayed in the cold wind, making a comfortable sound.
Su He pushed open the door of the next door and lit a candle.
Zhang Xiuhua was lying quietly on the couch, her eyes closed, without a sound or movement.
Su He sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to feel her pulse. Her pulse was steady and neither fast nor slow, and her life was indeed no longer in danger.
She breathed a sigh of relief and lay down beside Zhang Xiuhua.
She felt uneasy and could only find some peace by staying with Zhang Xiuhua.
She said, "Auntie hasn't woken up yet. She must have been frightened that day, right? But when she wakes up, the world will be a completely different place."
He added, "Perhaps we won't have to flee any further, nor will we have to find a farm to settle down. We might... be able to live in the mansion the emperor bestows upon us."
She paused, staring blankly at the Chengchen on the top of the bed: "But I feel so uneasy and can't really be happy. I don't know why."
She thought for a moment: "Maybe it's because of Xie Wuhen. My awkward relationship with him is ultimately uncomfortable."
After she finished speaking, she sighed deeply and leaned on Zhang Xiuhua's shoulder.
Zhang Xiuhua still had her eyes closed and was silent.
But the pair of eyes in the dark became increasingly cold. He clenched his fists secretly and turned away.
It turned out that his presence made her uncomfortable. So that's why.
The winter is harsh, but the truth is harsher than the winter.
Since she didn't want to see him, he would appear less often in front of her from now on, he thought.
But just after breakfast the next day, Su He asked Wu Sheng about Xie Wuhen's room and came to find him alone.
After a night's rest, she seemed to be in much better spirits and her eyes became clearer.
She bowed as she entered the room.
He stopped her coldly and bowed to her instead.
There seemed to be more people and things between him and her.
She was further away from him.
Xie Wuhen asked, "What does the princess want to ask?"
Su He asked in return, "It's snowing heavily now, so we shouldn't rush back to Beijing, right?"
Xie Wuhen replied: "No rush, the key is to let the princess recover her health."
Su He smiled politely and said, "Can you please ask a doctor to take a look at my aunt? After all, she has been in a coma."
He was so angry that he bit his back teeth and asked, "Doesn't the princess also know medicine?"
She not only knows medicine, she also knows poison.
He remembered how she poisoned Du Yuting, Liu Dazhong, and even Wu Sheng that day.
Su He was stunned, and heard the sarcasm in his words.
It seemed as if a corner of her and his past was revealed by these sarcastic words.
This opened corner is like Pandora's box, and many memories are about to flood in.
She calmed herself down, fiercely suppressing the resurfacing memories, and replied calmly, "Excuse me, sir. I'm only good at poisons, not medicine."
He choked, as if he didn't expect that she would not be so shy.
After a moment, he replied, "Then I will ask Wu Sheng to find the doctor later."
Su He said, "Thank you, sir." Then a sense of determination arose in his heart.
Since he can touch the past, why can't she?
She asked tentatively, "I wonder... Is Chunlan okay now?"
This was something that had been worrying her, and it was also something she had always wanted to ask but had not been able to. Now that things had come to this point today, she might as well just ask directly.
He was silent for a few breaths, his expression growing colder.
She cares about everyone around her, but she doesn't really care about him.
He replied: "Chunlan is fine. Princess can continue to have her serve by your side after returning to the capital."
Su He smiled slightly: "I will trouble you to pass on the message then."
He replied, "You're welcome, Princess."
Su He nodded: "Then I will go to the room to wait for the doctor." After she said that, she turned and left.
She asked him to "pass on the message", that is, she did not plan to return to the Xie family.
He had clearly prepared himself mentally, but when faced with reality, he still couldn't bear it.
He looked at her back and clenched his fists again. Loss and grief surged in his chest like a tide...
While Su He was treating Zhang Xiuhua, Bai Jinan was also successfully brought to Changle Palace.
He was seriously injured and fell into a coma.
Concubine Shu also invited the imperial physician Miao Dajing to come and treat the patient.
When Concubine Shu was pregnant with the second prince Zhao Bo, she was repeatedly bullied by the Kunning Palace. Fortunately, her fellow villager Miao Dajing took good care of her, which enabled her to give birth to the prince smoothly. Therefore, she trusted him quite a bit.
Miao Dajing was stunned when he saw Bai Jinan's face, and couldn't understand why this person looked exactly like the emperor.
But he was always tactful and never asked too many questions. After taking the patient's pulse, he clasped his fists and replied, "This patient is not in danger of death for the time being. Once he takes the medicine I have prescribed, he will wake up immediately."
Concubine Shu glanced at Bai Jinan's broken arm and asked, "What about his arm?"
Miao Dajing replied, "This arm... I am powerless to save it."
Concubine Shu looked gloomy: "Okay, you can prescribe the prescription first."
Miao Dajing acted as ordered.
After Miao Dajing left, Chuanzi glanced at the unconscious Bai Jinan with disdain, "My Lady, this man is already in poor physical condition and is probably useless."
Concubine Shu glanced at Bai Jinan hesitantly and said, "Let's wait until he wakes up. If he's really useless, we can always take his head."
Chuanzi lowered his head and replied "yes".
A quarter of an hour after Bai Jinan was fed the medicine, he slowly woke up.
He burst into tears and said sadly, "My queen, you must save me. I have lost all my power now. Only your kindness can keep me alive."
Concubine Shu asked coldly, "Which lunatic chopped off your arm?"
Bai Jinan replied, "Who else could it be? It must be Xie Wuhen, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple."
Concubine Shu asked again, "Why does he want to make things difficult for you?"
Bai Jinan naturally couldn't tell Xie Wuhen that he had caught him shaping his grandson's bones. After all, he also had his own selfish motives.
He replied sadly, "I don't understand what's going on either. I happened to meet him at Fuzi Mountain, and he brutally killed me."
Concubine Shu paused: "He actually appeared in Fuzi Mountain?"
Then he gritted his teeth and said, "This man is truly cunning. He designed to lure our people to the border, while he himself hid in Fuzi Mountain."
Chuanzi couldn't help but ask, "Is there any prince or princess following him?"
Bai Jinan shook his head: "I didn't notice it at all. I only saw a group of accompanying officers."
Seeing that Chuanzi didn't ask any key information, he was a little disappointed: "My queen, what should we do now?"
Concubine Shu sneered: "We don't need to care about whether he brings back a prince or princess."
She glanced at Bai Jinan and said, "Now that we have Master Bai here, what changes are there to be afraid of?"
As long as Bai Jin'an is made a puppet, he can issue an edict in the name of the emperor to appoint Zhao Bo as the crown prince. Then, Bai Jin'an can be killed and Zhao Bo can ascend the throne immediately.
Chuanzi was a little confused: "What about Bai Lao's missing arm?"
Concubine Shu was nonchalant: "Who would dare to pull the emperor's arm to take a closer look? Then you can ask a craftsman to make a prosthetic arm so that you can get away with it."
Chuanzi lowered his head and replied, "Your Majesty is wise."
Bai Jinan felt a little uneasy and a little bit incredulous: "Your Majesty, are you seriously planning to...help me ascend the throne?"
Concubine Shu said with a pleasant expression: "Of course I take it seriously. The most important thing for Mr. Bai right now is to take good care of his health."
Bai Jinan responded respectfully, “Yes.”
Concubine Shu then ordered Chuanzi: "The people we have placed next to Zhao Fu can start now."
Chuanzi smiled evilly: "I will arrange it right away."
Concubine Shu raised her eyes to look at the murals in the hall and smiled wickedly: "This gloomy sky needs a change."
At this time Li Zhuang.
Zhang Xiuhua has not yet woken up.
The medical officer took the patient's pulse and said, "Judging from the pulse, he is fine."
Su He asked: "Then why hasn't she woken up yet?"
The doctor replied: "Maybe he is mentally frightened and doesn't want to wake up."
Su He was anxious: "Then she will wake up eventually, right?"
The doctor's answer was abstract: "Maybe he'll wake up tomorrow, or maybe he'll never wake up."
After saying this, he clasped his fists and bowed, then picked up the medicine box and left.
Su He was in a depressed mood, but he had no intention of staying in Lizhuang for long.
After all, the New Year is approaching, and this group of people all have families and want to go back to reunite with their families. They can't stay for a long time just because of her.
So three days later, a group of people took the unconscious Zhang Xiuhua and set off back to Beijing.
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