"Are you alright?" Wei Huaixu asked anxiously, scanning the room from head to toe.
Qingying shivered from the cold and simply shook her head.
Wei Huaixu saw that she didn't have any obvious external injuries, and the bloodstains on her clothes were from that person. He breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright..."
"Why is His Highness the Crown Prince here?" Qingying asked.
Wei Huaixu didn't answer. He looked around and, after confirming it was safe, helped her up. "Let's take you home first."
Qingying resisted his touch, but after steadying herself, she brushed his hand away and said calmly, "I can walk by myself."
"You certainly know how to kick someone when they've used them." Wei Huaixu's tone was clearly displeased.
Qingying pretended not to understand and walked back on her own.
Along the way, there were still footprints she had left in the snow as she fled for her life. Perhaps it was too late, or perhaps the wind and snow were too loud, but the surroundings were quiet and no one was disturbed.
She knew that if Wei Huaixu hadn't come, she probably would have perished on this snowy night.
I'll just consider it as owing him a favor.
She thought to herself silently.
Wei Huaixu followed her back to her temporary room at a leisurely pace.
The door was wide open, and snow drifted in, already accumulating a thin layer at the entrance. Next to it lay the blankets she had thrown away earlier, now soaked with snow and unusable for the time being.
As soon as Qingying entered the door, she went straight to the charcoal brazier. She was extremely afraid of the cold, and after being outside in the heavy snow for so long, she felt like her bones were stiff.
Wei Huaixu walked in, considerately closed the door, glanced at the leaky window frame, and said, "He came in through here; the lock is broken."
"Hmm." Qingying rubbed her hands together and breathed on them.
Wei Huaixu closed the window tightly, took out a tinderbox to light a lamp, and turned to look at him. "Are you very afraid of the cold?"
"Yeah, it's a good thing I'm afraid of the cold, otherwise my body would probably be stiff by now."
"What nonsense are you talking about? You're perfectly fine." Wei Huaixu frowned, then suddenly stood up and walked inside. A moment later, he returned carrying a quilt with several tears in it.
"This is the only usable blanket you have here, make do with it for now." With that, he wrapped the blanket around Qingying.
Qingying didn't refuse; she was truly heartbroken. She whispered, "Thank you."
Wei Huaixu also moved a stool over and sat opposite her, looking at her and asking, "Do you know who that person was just now?"
"I don't know, I don't even know why he wanted to kill me."
"He is from the Brahma Temple."
It's the Brahma Hall again...
Qingying frowned. She had encountered an assassination attempt last autumn during the hunt. The group that came was also from the Brahma Palace. Because they couldn't find out the real culprit, they made Lu Xingli the scapegoat.
And with everything going smoothly for the past year, she had almost forgotten about it.
Who exactly is trying to kill her time and time again?
Qingying still has no clue.
"Have you offended someone?" Wei Huaixu asked.
Qingying glanced at him, then suddenly smiled. "Your Highness, who do you think I could possibly offend?"
He was stunned for a moment, "I...how should I know..."
"I don't know what kind of deep-seated hatred or grudge could make the other party willing to spend so much money to take my life."
She had researched this long ago and found that buying a human life at the Brahma Palace was not cheap; it usually started at a thousand taels of gold, and there weren't many people in the entire capital who could come up with a thousand taels of gold at once.
"I will investigate this thoroughly."
"Then I'll have to trouble Your Highness."
Qingying didn't actually expect him to find anything. The Brahma Palace always did things cleanly and without leaving a trace. Even if they found out the identity of the assassin from earlier, it would be difficult to find the person who hired him. But since he said he wanted to investigate, Qingying wouldn't stop him. After all, she wouldn't lose anything in this matter.
The candlelight flickered beside him, and Wei Huaixu stared at her delicate and beautiful face in the firelight, but couldn't help frowning. "Why are you so cold to me now?"
"Your Highness is too kind. I am merely being polite and would not dare to be indifferent."
"Even if the engagement is broken off, we can still be friends..."
Qingying interrupted him, "This humble woman is unworthy to be Your Highness's friend."
"How could you not be worthy?"
"My daughter is of lowly status and is naturally unworthy."
She seemed to be belittling herself, yet she wouldn't even look up at him. Wei Huaixu could only see her cold expression with her eyes downcast, and felt a dull ache in his heart.
That's not how it should be, it shouldn't be like this...
Qingying had no idea what he was thinking. She curled up in the blankets, hugging her knees, with only her head sticking out. She was starting to feel sleepy, but she couldn't ask Wei Huaixu to leave, so she could only wait it out with him.
After a long silence, just as her eyelids began to droop, Wei Huaixu suddenly spoke again: "Are you really going to marry Wei Dongchen?"
Her drowsiness was instantly dispelled. The night had been both thrilling and exhausting, and she was in a very bad mood, which naturally made her tone even worse: "What else can I do? I've already accepted the betrothal gifts and the betrothal letter. Who else can I marry if not him?"
"But you just broke off your engagement with me a little over a month ago, how can you marry him so soon?" He was so anxious that he forgot to refer to himself as "this palace".
"Your Highness, our marriage was originally decreed by His Majesty, but you obtained that decree yourself. You may have forgotten, but I remember. Although I later went to the palace to persuade His Majesty to annul the engagement, that too was obtained by you. Have you forgotten that, Your Highness?"
He was momentarily speechless, and said dryly, "I haven't forgotten."
"It's good that you haven't forgotten. Otherwise, I would really suggest that Your Highness have the imperial physician examine your brain. It's not a good thing for the crown prince to have such a bad memory."
She was indirectly insulting him, saying he was mentally ill.
"You..." Wei Huaixu suppressed her temper, suddenly becoming somewhat aggrieved, "But you can't marry someone else so quickly, where does that leave my dignity?"
"Does Your Highness expect me to observe three years of mourning for you? Please don't forget that we are not married yet. Moreover, this marriage was proposed by Wei Dongchen. I, an insignificant concubine's daughter, have no right to refuse, nor do I have any reason to refuse this opportunity to become the Crown Prince's wife."
“But…you…are not…” Wei Huaixu was not good with words to begin with, and for a moment he was speechless after being confronted by Qingying. His face turned red and he couldn’t utter a complete sentence.
Qingying didn't know what time it was. Afraid that it would be dawn if she kept him up any longer, she lazily yawned and said, "It's getting late. Does Your Highness intend to stay here overnight?"
"The snow outside is too heavy... No, I'm afraid you might encounter some danger if you're alone..."
"Okay, so you don't want to leave, I understand." Qingying stood up and walked into the house, saying as she went, "Then you can stay here. If you're not going to sleep, I'm going to go to sleep first."
Qingying was really sleepy and tired, and she fell asleep almost as soon as she climbed into bed.
At this moment, Wei Huaixu actually came to sit by her bedside with a charcoal brazier in his arms, which startled Qingying awake again.
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