At this moment, the main hall of Ganling Palace was as quiet as still water; you could probably hear a pin drop.
After the last imperial physician finished his diagnosis, the other physicians had time to discuss the case.
Finally, Zhang, the Imperial Physician, was recommended to report to Zhou Changling: "Your Majesty, the Empress's pulse is strong and stable, her body is as if reborn, without a trace of illness, which is due to the protection of the gods."
Ignoring the flattering words following Zhang Yuanpan's statement, Zhou Changling pondered, could it be due to the Heart-Connecting Gu?
"Is there anyone skilled in Gu poison in the southern borderlands?" To find out the answer to this question, one would have to ask someone skilled in Gu poison.
Unfortunately, not a single person in the entire Imperial Medical Academy came from the Southern Frontier. Imperial Physician Jing knew a little about the poisons of the Southern Frontier, but he knew nothing about Gu poison.
This is not surprising, as the art of Gu poison has been gradually lost in the Southern Frontier since the fall of the royal family.
Even if people from the southern border regions infiltrated the Central Plains, they could only hide their identities; otherwise, they would be treated as outcasts and unable to survive.
Bai Lingxi leaned against the bedside, listening to their conversation through the screen, feeling completely bewildered.
What? Could I have been poisoned by a Gu? How strange!
Meanwhile, Zhou Changling had already taken this into consideration and was re-investigating An Yi's whereabouts, just in case.
If something were to happen to Xi'er, even those useless people in the Imperial Hospital would be helpless.
"Go down." Zhou Changling waved his hand, dismissing everyone, and the hall returned to calm.
"What's wrong? Do I have some kind of Gu worm in my body? Why are you suddenly asking about the Southern Frontier?"
Bai Lingxi gestured for the wet nurse to bring the baby closer. It was inconvenient to take the baby's pulse earlier, but now that she had a moment, her eyes couldn't leave An'er for a second.
"It's nothing." Zhou Changling lowered his eyes, concealing the complexity in them, and did not intend to tell Bai Lingxi any news about that person.
"Xi'er, the coronation ceremony is still half a month away. For the sake of our An'er's right to become the crown prince, please don't refuse, okay?"
Zhou Changling originally wanted to ask her if she was willing, but he knew without a doubt that she was not.
Helpless, he had to change his tune, using An'er's future as an excuse. Even so, he was still not confident.
Zhou Changling was filled with unease. He harbored too many secrets, all driven by his own selfish motives, but he truly did not want to share Xi'er with anyone.
Even though Xi'er never truly belonged to him, and the relationship was something he had forced, he still wanted to force it again.
Bai Lingxi remained silent for a long time, her eyes lowered, seemingly lost in thought.
In the end, I replied with a simple "okay".
...
In the Peach Blossom Valley.
Despite the dead of winter outside, the valley is like spring all year round, with numerous peach blossoms in full bloom. Such a strange sight goes unappreciated.
An Yi carefully helped Zhou Jin up, fed him water, and then carefully changed his dressing and bandaged his wound.
Just as he was about to leave, Zhou Jin called out to him, "What's going on? Why am I still alive? Where's Xi'er?"
Zhou Jin's voice was a little hoarse because he hadn't spoken for a long time. When he woke up, he thought he had arrived in the underworld and didn't say a word.
But when he saw An Yi and saw that he had changed his wound dressing, he knew that he had not died.
Faced with Zhou Jin's question, An Yi was not surprised at all. His master was a pure love-struck fool. He suppressed his urge to complain and replied respectfully.
"My lord, I took it upon myself to place a love potion on you and the Empress. Now that you have awakened, the Empress should have awakened as well."
"The Heart-to-Heart Gu, what is that?" Zhou Jin didn't know much about Gu poison. He had been ambushed before, and the Gu poison had almost tormented him to the point of being emaciated.
Seeing his master's agitated expression, An knew that he was traumatized by the Gu poison because of the previous incident, so he quickly comforted him.
"The Heart-to-Heart Gu will not harm your body, and can even help alleviate your physical pain. The only problem is that the two of you will live and die together, but as long as you have a breath left, I can bring you back to life."
After listening, Zhou Jin remained silent for a long time. Seeing this, An Yi also left, leaving the room to him.
Zhou Jin experienced two brushes with death in her short life, but miraculously survived both times.
Since God has given him a second chance at life, he will definitely make good use of it.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jin's eyes rekindled with hope for life.
With Zhou Jin's active cooperation, the wound healed remarkably quickly. In less than ten days, he was able to walk easily again, though he still couldn't use his martial arts.
These past few days, he had been sending his men to gather information from the palace. Upon learning that Bai Lingxi's coronation ceremony was only five days away, he became increasingly anxious and wanted to recover as soon as possible.
...
On the day of the coronation ceremony.
The entire ceremony was solemn and dignified. Emperor Zhou Changling, dressed in auspicious robes with five-clawed golden dragons, with a handsome face and smiling phoenix eyes, watched Bai Lingxi walk towards him step by step.
The throne was placed in the center of the palace, where Zhou Changling and Bai Lingxi enjoyed the homage of the court officials, and the Bai family father and son were naturally among them.
They stole a glance at the Empress's face, only to see a face that was all too familiar. In just one glance, they were utterly horrified.
Not only them, but almost all the court officials sensed something was amiss, yet not a single one dared to speak out and request an audience. What a joke! The blood from the marketplace hadn't even dried yet; were they courting death?
Since no one dared to raise any objections, the ceremony proceeded as planned.
Next, Bai Lingxi will receive the crown ceremony, and then she and Zhou Changling will bow to heaven and earth together to show their respect to the gods. Only then will this grand ceremony be complete.
Zhou Changling only breathed a sigh of relief after the coronation ceremony was completely over, because Bai Lingxi remained expressionless throughout the entire ceremony. Despite being about to become the mother of the world, there was not a trace of joy on her face.
Zhou Changling had been holding his breath the whole time, and only when the two of them returned to Ganling Palace did he finally feel at ease.
Everything's going smoothly, isn't it?
Xi'er genuinely wanted to marry him; she loved herself.
Thinking this, Zhou Changling felt much happier.
Even after the two finished drinking the nuptial wine and all the servants had left, leaving the hall empty except for the two of them, Zhou Changling still had a smile on his face.
Unfortunately, the next second, a sharp pain shot through his chest, and a torrent of blood gushed out.
It was a gold hairpin, a phoenix hairpin that he had specially selected from the treasury yesterday. The phoenix was carved so lifelike, and now it was even more beautiful, as if the phoenix was weeping blood.
Zhou Changling didn't even glance at the bleeding wound; he just stared intently into Bai Lingxi's eyes.
His smile remained unchanged, even widening slightly: "Are you calm now?"
One sentence shattered Bai Lingxi's facade of strength...
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