Nightmare
"Wei Shu?" Jiang Jin rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she looked at the snow-white mourning hall. She stumbled to the coffin and saw Wei Shu's bloodless face.
"Wei Shu, Wei Shu!" Jiang Jin reached out to shake Wei Shu awake, only to find her fingers passing right through Wei Shu's body.
The body of Wei Shu in the coffin was disheveled, as if it had just been retrieved from a mass grave. Jiang Jin looked around and realized that this was not the Wei residence she knew at all.
"What bad luck, even in death you cause trouble for others." Jiang Jin watched as the palace maid casually found a basin, stuffed a few pieces of yellow paper into it, and then hid to the side to doze off.
"How could you do this to him!" Jiang Jin had just touched the palace maid when she was thrown back by an invisible force, staggering several steps backward.
"What is that?" Jiang Jin straightened up and poked the palace maid in disbelief. The next second, pain spread throughout her body.
"Aren't you afraid of being punished by your superiors for slacking off here?" A eunuch carefully walked to the maid's side and shook her awake.
"What's there to be afraid of? Could he possibly come to me in a dream and complain about me?" The maid looked at the coffin with disgust. "If he hadn't saved Lady Jiang, do you think Princess Zhaoyang would have been so kind as to allow someone to collect his remains?"
"Alright, don't get too excited about the news that Madam Jiang will be coming to offer incense today. Just make sure she doesn't find out." Jiang Jin was about to listen further when she was shaken awake by a sudden force.
"Wife, wife!" Yi Yi looked anxiously at Jiang Jin, who was lying on the small couch, lost in a nightmare.
"Go and fetch a doctor!" Wei Shu, enduring the pain from his wound, instructed Zhou Cong.
"No need, I'm fine!" Jiang Jin was panting when her gaze met Yi Yi's, and then she saw Wei Shu's worried and anxious eyes. "Wei Shu, are you alright?"
Jiang Jin threw off the covers and rushed to the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch Wei Shu's face. "You're hot, I can touch you!"
Tears streamed down Jiang Jin's face as she spoke, "Don't save me, never save me again!" The others were startled by Jiang Jin's actions. Wei Shu gripped Jiang Jin's hand tightly.
"Don't be afraid, Ah Jin, I'm here. I'm alright. Ah Jin just had a nightmare." Wei Shu gently patted Jiang Jin's back with his other hand.
"Yes, my lady, General Wei will be fully recovered after a few days of rest," Yi Yi added, offering timely words of comfort.
"Yi Yi, what do you think the palace maids should call me?" Jiang Jin asked, raising her slightly red and swollen eyes.
"Recorder Jiang?" Yi Yi asked tentatively, not understanding why Jiang Jin would ask such a question.
"What if I stop being an official? What will the palace maids call me?" Jiang Jin grabbed Wei Shu's sleeve, looking at the three of them with some panic.
“Of course it’s Lady Wei. Even if you weren’t an official, you would still be the General’s wife. If you were to enter the palace, you should be addressed as Lady Wei,” Zhou Cong replied to Jiang Jin with difficulty.
"So unless I quit my official post and Wei Shu and I divorce, you won't call me Lady Jiang." Jiang Jin breathed a sigh of relief; she realized it was just a dream.
"My lady, perhaps we should ask someone to come and take a look at you?" Yi Yi couldn't help but worry, seeing Jiang Jin's somewhat pale face.
"I'm fine, I just had a nightmare. It must have been too dangerous today and I was frightened." Jiang Jin took a few breaths before she could feel the warmth in Wei Shu's hand.
"Go and get some chicken soup." Wei Shu felt a little guilty seeing Jiang Jin still looking somewhat lost in thought. "Don't worry, I won't get hurt again."
"I'm fine too." Jiang Jin smiled slightly. "You guys go out first, I'll take care of Wei Shu."
Yi Yi hesitated for a moment, looking at Jiang Jin, but Zhou Cong pulled her away. Watching the two of them shove and push each other as they left and closed the door, Jiang Jin looked at Wei Shu again.
"It's really good to see you alive." Wei Shu raised his hand and poked Jiang Jin's cheek. "It seems that nightmare really scared you. You've never said anything like that to me before."
"Yes, it was a terrible nightmare." Jiang Jin sat next to Wei Shu and looked at his face slowly regaining its color. She suddenly felt a little fortunate. "Luckily I went then, otherwise I would really have been a widow for you."
"Why wouldn't you want to?" Wei Shu joked, unintentionally aggravating his wound, causing the entire room to hear him gasp.
"Serves you right for moving around!" Jiang Jin bent down and blew on Wei Shu's wound. "I don't want to be a widow for you."
"Are you going to report today's events to Princess Zhaoyang?" Wei Shu asked, propping his head up and looking at the gentle-looking Jiang Jin.
“Well, since we can’t hide it anyway, we might as well confess sooner.” Jiang Jin straightened up and placed a soft pillow under Wei Shu’s head. “You have a soft pillow, but you still have to use your hands to support yourself. I really don’t know if you’re strong or if you’re not afraid of pain.”
"Who do you think is more likely to be the person behind it all?" Wei Shu naturally enjoyed Jiang Jin's care.
"Gao Yunge, but I always feel that it's related to the Fourth Prince, though I don't have concrete evidence, it's just a strange feeling." Jiang Jin didn't understand why she was so fixated on the Fourth Prince, whom she had only met a few times.
"These men in black seem to know a lot about Beizhou, and I think their target is you. They're not afraid of the consequences of killing you at all." Jiang Jin felt a cold sweat break out on his back as he recalled the scene in the alley.
"Back then, the Wang family head could have easily framed Wang Juesong, but what was Gao Yunge planning? Was he going to frame the already deceased Prefect Qu?" Jiang Jin felt that the more he investigated, the more mysteries surrounding him became.
"Aren't there enough people in the court to frame him?" Wei Shu sneered. "I've already had people keeping an eye on Gao Yunge and the Fourth Prince. As long as they have any involvement, they will definitely leave some clues."
"You mean the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the Fifth Prince are all involved? His Majesty's offspring are quite numerous!" Jiang Jin felt a headache just thinking about those princes who had grown up and each had their own power base.
"You forgot to include your Princess Zhaoyang," Wei Shu exposed Jiang Jin's little scheme.
"It's normal for the court to be treacherous and for soldiers to take risky moves. The second, third, and fourth princes haven't been granted titles yet. Once they enter the court, things will be different."
Wei Shu watched as Jiang Jin, barely seventeen, had to face those old foxes in the court, and he couldn't protect her every moment.
"It's more fun to fish in troubled waters. That's what happened with the tin mines; once everyone knows, it's no longer a secret." Jiang Jin wasn't afraid of any of that; she and Lou Xuan had long since disregarded life and death.
"Your Majesty now needs to balance the court. When the Crown Prince rises, he is suppressed, and when the Third Prince falls, he is promoted. But once there are too many people, they will check and balance each other."
"In truth, His Majesty may not necessarily want the princes to live in harmony, but the allure of the throne is too great. Once a person has power, they no longer want to return to their former life of powerlessness." Wei Shu understood that in the royal family, only constant struggle could ensure survival.
"So I'm not at all surprised by any dirty tricks they might use."
Jiang Jin looked at Wei Shu on the bed and said, "The current court is just the calm before the storm. As soon as the surface calm is slightly broken, people will be drowned in the next moment."
"Any news about the Dou family lately?" Wei Shu turned his gaze to the Dou family. "The Crown Prince can't just sit idly by; that's not like him."
"The Crown Prince and the Third Prince are planning to join forces to suppress the Fifth Prince, but it's just a matter of each having their own agenda and using each other." Jiang Jin blurted out the news she had received, then immediately covered her mouth after realizing what she had said.
"Alright, it's not like I didn't have any information to give you. We're exchanging information on equal terms." Wei Shu teased Jiang Jin and then told him the news he had received: "The Third Prince contacted the Fifth Prince privately. The two of them may have made some deals."
"Why do you seem so unconcerned? On the surface, Princess Zhaoyang belongs to the Crown Prince's faction." Wei Shu watched as Jiang Jin got up to pour herself a cup of tea.
"Based on my understanding of the Crown Prince and the Dou family, they don't seem like the type to cooperate honestly. If they can't even think of such a small trick, it'll be difficult for them to fight the Third Prince on equal terms." However, just to be on the safe side, Jiang Jin still planned to send a message to Lou Xuan, letting her make the decision.
"So what kind of person do you think the Crown Prince is?" Wei Shu asked, somewhat curious about Jiang Jin's evaluation of the Crown Prince.
"A person who mistakes pearls for fish eyes." Jiang Jin's few words revealed her dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince.
"So, General Wei, what kind of person do you think the Third Prince is?" Jiang Jin didn't want to hear anything about the Crown Prince, so she changed her choice.
“It’s quite audacious of us to openly discuss the princes.” Wei Shu recalled what the Third Prince had done and cleared his mind. “The Third Prince is a ruthless person who will use anything.”
“He’s different from His Highness the Crown Prince. No matter what, the Dou family will only use Princess Zhaoyang’s marriage. If that doesn’t work, they’ll only target Chang Yi and won’t really harm Princess Zhaoyang. But the Third Prince is different. He might use different methods to achieve his goals.” Wei Shu didn’t explain clearly, but Jiang Jin could understand the Third Prince’s style of doing things.
"The assassins we encountered on the way to Yuezhou were carrying arrows from the Third Prince's residence, but their clothes were from the Crown Prince's residence. Actually, I suspected the Crown Prince at the time, but then I had someone check the fabric." Jiang Jin poured a cup of tea and held it to Wei Shu's lips.
"Although it was used by the Crown Prince's residence, the embroidery on the clothes doesn't seem to be the style of the embroiderers in the Crown Prince's residence. I even asked His Highness for a piece of clothing from the Crown Prince's residence, and it is indeed quite different."
"So, is someone trying to divert attention to the Crown Prince and the Third Prince?" Wei Shu recalled the information the Imperial Guards had gathered and felt there was something overlooked.
“If they want Governor Wu to step down, then they must have a successor in mind. This shows that they have the confidence and ability to control this person and make His Majesty comply with their wishes. Otherwise, all their efforts would be in vain.”
Jiang Jin dared not underestimate this person behind the scenes; perhaps, unbeknownst to her, many court officials had already turned against her.
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