Illness
Liu Xu said, "Have you ever heard of the principle of 'reducing costs and increasing efficiency'?"
“I understand, but…”
This cost reduction and efficiency improvement is for the benefit of the people and their well-being. What does it matter if it puts petty officials and clerks through hardship?
Xie Lingxi didn't know how to speak. The noise subsided for a moment. She recalled the elusive person behind the curtain, glanced at Liu Xu, and said, "Never mind."
"The Grand Secretary has his reasons for taking this action."
She paused, then changed the subject, "I have long admired Lord Cui's demeanor, and I intend to visit him at his home tomorrow."
visit?
The "grand spectacle" he witnessed during his last visit to the Cui residence remained vivid in Liu Xu's memory, and the terrifying night of their stolen love was even more unforgettable...
From any logical or emotional standpoint, Xie Lingxi is now seven-tenths suspicious, and if she goes to the Cui family, nothing good will come of it.
Upon hearing this, his heart leaped into his throat. "What do you intend to do?"
His heart was pounding like thunder, but inside the pear-leaf tent, Xie Lingxi pulled him back onto the bed and gently fiddled with the sky-blue tassel beside him: "Why are you so nervous? I won't do anything."
Liu Xu sighed: "It's late, go to sleep."
...
The next day.
The clouds parted, the rain stopped, and the sun shone brightly.
After months of cold winds and frost, the heavens finally dispersed the dark clouds and snow that had shrouded Chang'an, and the god of spring descended upon the world, nourishing all things.
Xie Lingxi originally intended to go to the Cui residence, but fate had other plans—
She is sick.
This kind of severe illness had not struck for a long time, but her extremely weak and feeble body suddenly collapsed like a mountain collapsing and a flower withering, leaving her lying on her bed unable to move.
"Ah Xu," she called for someone, "I'm afraid my days are numbered..."
Liu Xu took leave today to take good care of his wife.
He had just been brewing medicine in the courtyard when he heard her call him. He rushed over like a swallow, and upon hearing her words, his brow furrowed: "Where does it hurt?"
Xie Lingxi said weakly, "My whole body aches."
How could this be?
She has been eating and dressing flawlessly these days.
Apart from the time he was frightened by Yan Ji and whipped, he hadn't even caught a slight cold. How could he suddenly have contracted such an illness?
Every part of her body ached, from skin to bone, so much so that cold sweat soaked her pillow and bedding, making her feel as if she had just been pulled out of an icy lake.
Xie Lingxi's face was pale and damp. As she spoke, a bright red appeared on her cheeks, making her look remarkably like a captivating female ghost.
She thought to herself: Even the imperial physicians can't diagnose it, could it really be some incurable disease?
In her past life, Liu Xu sacrificed his lifespan to give her a new life. If she were to truly die in this inexplicable suffering now, all her dreams would vanish and be in vain. Is this the consequence of defying fate...?
Thinking of this, Xie Lingxi was filled with sorrow, but she did not realize that she was biting her lip so hard that it broke the tender flesh inside and bled.
She tasted the metallic sweetness and suddenly came to her senses, only to see Liu Xu stuffing a delicate and charming cloth bag into her mouth, saying, "Breathe."
Xie Lingxi took a slow breath, smelling the aroma of Sichuan lovage and corydalis. The pain gradually subsided, and her chaotic mind calmed down a bit.
Beside the bed, Liu Xu lowered his eyes, holding a bowl of medicine and a spoon in his hands. "Are you feeling better?"
Xie Lingxi nodded.
Then, he suddenly shook his head.
Liu Xu was startled and asked softly, "What is it?"
The next moment, Xie Lingxi took out the medicine pouch, clenched it in her hand, propped herself up on the blanket with her elbows, and squeezed out two words: "The medicine is bitter."
"It's not bitter."
Liu Xu helped Xie Lingxi sit up, grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and pinched her chin with the other. As her rosy tongue emerged, he drank a mouthful of the medicinal soup and kissed her.
"Ugh—!"
The sticky, bitter medicine dripped down the corner of his lips.
Xie Lingxi was forced to swallow a whole bowl of medicine, which tasted extremely bitter and made her want to vomit.
So he hunched over and coughed for a long time, almost coughing up his heart, liver, spleen, and kidneys, but the medicine soup remained firmly in his stomach, without moving an inch.
She was covered in sweat and suddenly collapsed onto the embroidered pillowcase, accusingly saying, "Liu Chengzhi, you've really gone too far."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xu gently kissed her lips again, sucking the remaining brown medicine from the corner of her lips.
After these actions, he finally sat up straight, touched the forehead of the person on the bed, brushed away the snow melting on their face, and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
That's true.
After being teased by Liu Xu, her heart swayed, and she no longer focused on the excruciating pain of having her tendons and bones pulled out.
Xie Lingxi let out a soft breath, "What's wrong with me?"
Liu Xu shook his head.
He didn't know either—
This morning, His Majesty learned of this news. He probably still remembers what happened a few days ago and fears that this illness was caused by Yan Jiaojiao's flying whip that day.
So several imperial physicians were sent over, and after their diagnosis, they all remained silent with grim faces.
Thinking of this, he gazed at Xie Lingxi and said softly, "Besides the pain all over your body, is there anything else that's bothering you?"
Xie Lingxi replied, "No."
She shifted her position, leaning slightly over the couch, and after thinking for a moment, said, "I only collected a few drops of rainwater by the window last night, could it be that the rain was poisonous?"
How could poisonous rain fall in Chang'an?
After she finished speaking, she realized that she was really out of her mind, and gave a bitter laugh: "What am I saying... Ah Xu, just take it as me talking nonsense."
Liu Xu held his wife's hand tightly on the pillow.
It's cool and slippery.
Between their interlaced fingers, the skin covering their knuckles was exceptionally symmetrical and beautiful. Xie Lingxi touched Liu Xu's hand; it was warm and damp. "Don't tremble."
Liu Xu said, "I didn't."
lie.
The young man beside her trembled violently, like a willow catkin in the wind, unaware that his own eyes were slightly red, as if he wanted to cry but couldn't.
Seeing this, Xie Lingxi took a deep breath and smiled at him: "I've taken my medicine and feel much better. I can go to sleep right away. You have so many things to do at your office, are you really not going?"
Did Xie Lingxi truly care about the tedious paperwork? Liu Xu, however, did not think so.
He uttered what Xie Lingxi longed for: "The princess who was originally dead has returned to the world. Today, the court must be bustling with activity and full of discussion."
"Furthermore, after several months of His Majesty's arrival at court to address the Prince of Jin's outrageous behavior and repeated defeats on the battlefield, the people are dissatisfied with the edict reducing Lord Cui's salary..."
"Lingxi," he sighed, placing a basin of water on the low cabinet, "what muddy waters are you trying to wade into this time?"
He's right.
Xie Lingxi: "You don't agree?"
She wanted to find out the true face of the person who harmed her Xie family, and she was determined to do it even if the road ahead was fraught with danger.
Although the crisis has temporarily passed, keeping such a treacherous person around could be a ticking time bomb, and who knows when he might use another vicious scheme to render her immobile.
"Didn't Young Master Liu once tell me to establish a heart for all things and to speak out for the people? Now that he's encountered such a perilous situation, he's backing down?"
It wasn't that I was backing down, but I couldn't bear to see Xie Lingxi get involved.
But Liu Xu knew that his wife was stubborn; once Xie Lingxi made up her mind, not even eight old oxen could pull her back.
The doors and windows of the room were tightly closed. He gently lifted the blankets, took out the person who was soaking wet, and removed her outer garments, stripping her completely naked.
--"you!"
Xie Lingxi chewed on the pain-relieving herbal packet, and then Liu Xu forced her to drink another bowl of medicine. Now that the pain had subsided, she tightly gripped the last piece of cloth, her brows furrowed and her eyes blazing: "If you can't argue with me, you try to bully me with this humiliating method?"
However, the disparity in strength was too great, and they were ultimately no match for him. The eyesore of his clothes was taken away and piled on the ground.
Liu Xu was lost in thought and couldn't find peace. He wrung out a towel and placed it on Xie Lingxi's forehead. "If it hurts, don't talk, Lingxi."
The soft touch made her both intoxicated and trembling—
Liu Xu was wiping her sweat-covered body.
Xie Lingxi stopped struggling and said, "So, what I just said, will you agree or not?"
"To gather information?"
"right."
She leaned over Liu Xu and whispered in his ear, "It's mainly Cui Wenying—see what he's done this time, and who he's associating with."
Liu Xu responded with a "good".
As he dipped his finger in water, he asked, "Does your family know about this?"
Xie Lingxi shook her head: "I don't want them to worry... Besides, the story of the previous life is really bizarre, and very few people believe it. My suspicion of the Cui family is actually unreasonable."
Xie Yuan and Cui Wenying were classmates and colleagues, both from prominent families, and grew up together since childhood. Although they had different political views, they could not be considered enemies.
Cui Jue's words that night made her suspicious.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xu felt a brief mixture of hidden satisfaction and anxiety.
Xie Lingxi only told him about this matter in broad daylight, without any concealment. But once you step into the mire, it's hard to get out.
He said, "So it turns out that my wife only torments me, while treating other people like precious princesses. That's really going too far."
"Oh dear, Ah Xu, aren't you my husband?"
What a wonderful "husband"!
Her husband carefully helped her change into her inner clothes. Seeing Xie Lingxi's tired face, he gently massaged her hair and the top of her head, asking, "Are you feeling better?"
Xie Lingxi closed her eyes: "You've asked this question three times today."
Liu Xu tapped her forehead. "Don't ask so many questions?"
Her words carried a faint hint of amusement, "So this is how you treat your husband..."
Liu Xu said these things naturally to make her feel more at ease and relieve her unbearable pain.
Xie Lingxi said she was telling people to leave, but having someone by her side during her illness was a truly joyful and fortunate thing, and even the sorrow brought from her past life almost disappeared...
Everything fell silent in the room.
Time stands still, flowers bloom forever, and she and her beloved stay here, never to leave again.
Liu Xu picked up the bronze mirror, intending to comb her hair.
The soft, black hair, like its owner, was serene and detached, and reluctantly slipped from Liu Xu's hand.
...
At dusk.
Liu Xu was still in the palace and had not yet returned, presumably because he was tied up with official duties. Xie Lingxi was waiting for Liu Lang to return home when, in the next instant, an uninvited guest suddenly barged into the house.
As soon as Xie Lingxi woke up, she turned her head slightly and was suddenly struck by a face that was "truly the most beautiful woman in the world"—
Princess Yan Ying, of unparalleled nobility in the palace, deigned to visit the Liu residence and sat down before her without a word.
The medicine pouch in her mouth seemed to be no longer effective. She felt a faint pain in her body again and said weakly, "This disease only causes severe pain in the skin, muscles and bones, but there is no skin ulceration or damage to the spleen and lungs. It seems to be harmless to health, but it is worse than death."
"Your Highness, I've been in pain all day. If you want to argue with me, please choose another time, okay?"
Ignoring these words, Yan Ying immediately asked, "How did you get yourself into this state?"
"Then may I ask Your Highness, what should I look like?"
These words were spoken weakly, yet they carried a sharp edge—the Princess Consort of the Marquis of Yongyi, though not a remarkable person, was described as a "sharp beauty," a rather accurate assessment.
Yan Ying suddenly laughed, her meaning ambiguous: "Everyone says that Third Sister is in excruciating pain, but I don't think so."
"What do you mean by 'seeing' or 'not seeing'..."
Xie Lingxi struggled to sit down, propping herself up against the bed curtains. "I heard that Your Highness was still worshipping Buddha at Fragrant Hills today. Why did you rush to my house? You didn't come here just to see me make a fool of myself, did you?"
"Special trip?" Yan Ying curled her lips. "You've got a lot of influence."
Before Xie Lingxi could react, she went straight for three inches from her neck and reached out to examine her. Xie Lingxi was startled, but her wrist was grabbed and she couldn't break free.
What are you doing?
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