Xu Nian wanted to shake her head, but she had no strength left.
"Who goes there?!" Just then, a dark figure suddenly jumped out of Fanghua Palace, bypassing several people and heading towards the Empress.
"ah!"
After two screams, the dark figure seemed to have been burned, clutching its hand and fleeing in panic.
The group rushed over, and Xu Nian propped herself up and wanted to chase after them. If it could be injured by the emperor's dragon jade pendant, it must be an evil thing!
But the moment she stood up, she felt a dizzying sensation, and amidst the gasps of the crowd, her consciousness faded into darkness, and she fell into a warm and familiar embrace.
When I woke up again, it was broad daylight.
It was in the room of the county princess's mansion. Da Bao and Er Bao were guarding by the bedside. When they saw her wake up, they put down their calligraphy brushes and rushed over. "Sister, you're finally awake! I'm going to find Brother Gu!"
Gu Zhan arrived carrying a bowl of medicine, and judging from the dark circles under his eyes, he hadn't slept all night again.
Xu Nian sighed, sent the two children off to school, and took the bitter medicine Gu Zhan handed her. "I'm just exhausted. You don't have to stay by my side every time."
General Gu didn't speak, but his gaze was stubborn. He clearly didn't take her words to heart. After he finished the bowl of medicine, a handkerchief was handed to him again.
[Excellent, excellent, General, you've become quite skilled with practice.]
[Host, you deserve to be single! The general is clearly worried about you, and you're not letting him come.]
Sigh, you two. When will you finally get married?
"Don't talk nonsense." Xu Nian's smile vanished as she remembered Liu Qingmei's words from yesterday. "Gu Zhan has someone he loves. We can't be the ones to take advantage of him."
She thought the matter was over, but she didn't expect that after returning her medicine bowl to the kitchen...
Gu Zhan, who had originally said he was leaving, turned around and returned to Furong Garden. "What about what I said yesterday? What have you thought about?"
Xu Nian almost doubted that she had misheard. Upon closer inspection, the person in front of her had flushed cheeks and avoided eye contact.
She appeared deeply moved, her eyes darkening slightly, and her hand, hidden under the covers, tightened slightly. "Gu Zhan, I think it's best if we keep our distance from now on. You already have a fiancée, and I can't let Wan Ting lose face. Besides, you and Miss Liu are childhood sweethearts, so it's best not to hurt her."
In ancient times, it was common to have multiple wives and concubines, but she did not want to share a husband with other women.
She didn't think Gu Zhan's actions were half-hearted; she just felt it was a common problem among people of that age—that they couldn't get over their own conscience. Besides, she would have to go back after her tribulation was over.
Gu Zhan was stunned, thinking she was angry because of Liu Qingmei's matter yesterday. "No, let me explain. I have no relationship with Miss Liu. You don't need to take what she said yesterday to heart. In my heart..."
Xu Nian couldn't listen anymore. Afraid that she would waver, she hurriedly interrupted, "Whether it's true or not, you are now engaged. For my sake, for your sake, and even more so for Wan Ting's sake, we should respect the proper boundaries between men and women and keep our distance from each other in the future."
"Is that really what you think?"
"yes."
The girl's resolute and unwavering words chilled Gu Zhan to the bone.
A nameless anger suddenly rose within him. He could tell that Xu Nian was hiding something from him. But, given their relationship at this stage, what couldn't they say?
He used his fiancée as an excuse, his expression slowly darkening, and the gentle and tender gaze he once held for Xu Nianshi gradually turned cold. "In that case, I'll be leaving now. Take care, Princess."
A sigh lingered in the air as the door slammed shut. Xu Nian knew she had hurt Gu Zhan's feelings.
Staring at the carved bed frame above her head, she turned over and closed her eyes again. A nameless sadness lingered in her heart, a sadness that even sleep couldn't dispel.
She didn't see Gu Zhan for about a day or two.
With the maid's meticulous care and the tonics that Su Wanting would send from time to time, Xu Nian's energy was almost fully restored in less than a week.
With no one around, she looked around and found a place in the mansion where neither yang nor yin energy was too strong. She pushed open the door and went inside, closing it tightly behind her.
[Why is your dog acting so suspiciously in your own home?]
[Haha, won't I get arrested like a thief if I do this?]
[Shocking! The Princess of Fu'an County actually embezzled from her post!]
Ignoring the joking comments on the screen, Xu Nian took out the Soul-Locking Pouch from her spatial storage. "Friendly reminder: those with weak hearts, please close your eyes."
As he spoke, he placed a yellow talisman on the table, then opened the soul-locking pouch and released the dying infant spirit from it.
Small, with a faint green glow tinged with red. Even in her weakened state, her face held a fierce quality, a defensive and wary ferocity reminiscent of a small animal, tinged with fear.
Xu Nian shook her head, fed it some magic, and stopped when it finally looked less pitiful. "Sigh, little guy. Can you talk?"
The infant spirit sensed that she meant no harm and nodded. Its mouth moved slightly, but no sound could be heard. However, Xu Nian felt that she understood what it meant.
She found it amusing and reached out to play with the little spirit's hair, which the spirit eventually removed in annoyance. She went back to it, only stopping when it seemed about to get angry.
"Let me ask you a question," Xu Nian said with a smile, after feeding the infant spirit some more and noticing that the red light in its eyes had dwindled to almost nothing. "Do you remember who captured you and turned you into the way you were before?"
The little creature's mouth moved, but Xu Nian tilted her head, not yet understanding what it meant, when a shrill scream rang out. Green flames suddenly ignited around the infant spirit.
It burned his soul, turning into starlight in this small room!
"All things in heaven and earth, may your spirit remain unbroken and unyielding, so be it, by the law, annihilate!"
Her reaction was quick; the moment the ghostly fire ignited, she formed a hand seal, and the talisman shone brightly. Seeing the flames on the infant spirit gradually extinguish, the little creature, which she had finally managed to restore a little strength to, was now on the verge of death again.
Xu Nian sighed; there was nothing more she could ask in this situation.
I can only put it back into the Soul Locking Pouch. I'll have something to do later, since spiritual energy is really not easy to find.
[Is the streamer trying to trick the infant spirit into revealing the secrets of the imperial concubine?]
"I don't want to know the secret of the Imperial Concubine; I want to know the purpose of the person behind it all."
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