The next day, Yan Chaoxi had just woken up and stayed in bed for a while before calling Bichun in.
The Crown Princess has suffered quite a bit these past few days, but she doesn't have to go to Ping An today.
Bichun brought in warm water and saw that Yan Chaoxi had just woken up. Her long, black, and smooth hair was casually draped behind her head. She was still sleepy and her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, which made Bichun lose herself in thought.
Her princess seems even more beautiful now.
If the princess were born to the empress or a high-ranking concubine, she would not be sent here for a political marriage. Instead, she would marry a man from a distinguished family in Dongqi and be cherished by him, instead of fighting with a group of women in the backyard of the Crown Prince's residence in Daliang.
Thinking of this, Bichun couldn't help but sigh.
She was the only one among all the palace maids who had served Yan Chaoxi since childhood, and she always put her heart and soul into caring for her.
Yan Chaoxi asked with a smile, "Why are you sighing?"
Bichun pouted, then, remembering that the princess was unaware of what was happening outside, she quickly perked up and shared it with Yan Chaoxi.
"Princess, guess what happened last night?"
"How should I know? Just say it if you want to. If you keep beating around the bush, I'll punish you by making you only eat steamed buns for lunch today."
Bichun said mysteriously and cautiously, "Two things happened last night. First, Xu Liangdi, who was just confined to her home yesterday, was found today to have committed suicide by cutting her wrists in her room."
Yan Chaoxi raised her eyebrows in surprise. Xu Liangdi looked like she wanted to kill her to vent her anger just yesterday. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would despair and commit suicide.
However, Yan Chaoxi did not raise any doubts. It was better that she was dead, so that she wouldn't have to take action later.
"what else?"
"And another thing, yesterday was the fifteenth. According to the rules, the Crown Prince should have stayed overnight at the Crown Princess's place. But I don't know what method Consort Chen used, but she managed to call him away from Jinhua Garden in the middle of the night. The Crown Princess was so angry that she didn't sleep all night, and she sent someone to summon Consort Chen early this morning to give her a good scolding."
Yan Chaoxi thought to herself that the Crown Princess wasn't unable to sleep because she was angry, but rather because she simply couldn't sleep in the first place.
"Chen Fengyi is not someone to be trifled with. She secretly sent someone to summon the Crown Prince. As soon as the Crown Prince arrived, Chen Fengyi weakly complained to him. Now the two sides are in a huge stalemate!"
"I sighed just now because I felt sorry for the princess. It's bad enough that she came to Dongqi, but all the women in the Crown Prince's harem are scheming and fighting for his favor every day. Even Qingmei is a traitor; she climbed into the Crown Prince's bed as soon as she arrived!" Qingmei complained incessantly.
Yan Chaoxi said gently, "Please calm down. I am here for the purpose of a marriage alliance between our two countries, and I do not want any favor. I have other plans. Remember this: no matter what happens in the future, if you have any doubts, you can come and ask me directly, but you must not say anything to the Crown Prince."
Bichun was her personal maid, and she couldn't keep her relationship with Yan Wu a secret forever, so she had to give Bichun a heads-up.
Bichun didn't know why the princess said that, so she nodded and replied, "Yes."
...
As noon approached, a nimble figure swiftly scaled the wall of the Crown Prince's residence and slipped into Yan Wu's room with practiced ease.
"I'm back." Ji Suizhou found a seat, poured himself a glass of water, gulped it down, and then looked at the silent person in the room. "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you have anything to say when you see me come back?"
Yan Wu: "How did things go?"
"Half and half, I guess." Ji Suizhou rummaged in his sleeve and pulled out two small bottles, tossing them to him. Then he rummaged in his sleeve again and pulled out a bag of food.
"One good news, one bad news. The good news is that I went to the Western Regions and found the poison that afflicted you, and brought it back with me."
"The bad news is that I can't get the antidote. I heard from the locals that this poison is called Nine Poison Pill, which is made up of nine different poisons from the Western Regions. The antidote is different for each of the nine poisons depending on the proportions. Only the person who made the medicine for the Crown Prince back then can make the antidote for this poison."
Ji Suizhou sighed. The difficulty lies in this: who knows where the Crown Prince obtained this medicine back then?
Ji Suizhou was the only son of General Ji. Although the Ji family was not as powerful as the Crown Princess's family or General Weiwu, they still controlled a portion of the military power in Liang.
The Crown Prince volunteered to follow General Ji on the expedition, but when they arrived at the battlefield, he didn't dare to actually go, so he asked Yan Wu to go in his place.
Ji Suizhou received his father's order to protect the Crown Prince on the battlefield. After a few days, he noticed something strange: the decisive and ruthless Crown Prince on the battlefield was quite different from the indecisive Crown Prince he had met in private.
On the battlefield, the crown prince ignored him, but in private, he always tried to win him over.
Ji Suizhou found it strange until one day, he bumped into two crown princes passing by him. He was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth and felt that the world had gone mad.
After returning to the capital, the audacious man secretly followed the Crown Prince, only to discover that there really were two Crown Princes in the world!
He ran back and told his father about it, but his father sternly warned him not to get involved in royal secrets. Only then did Ji Suizhou learn from his father that there was a rumor that the Empress had given birth to twins, but due to royal rules, one of them was killed.
It now appears that the twins are real, but instead of eliminating them, they were groomed to be the prince's stand-in.
General Ji told him not to concern himself with the matter anymore and to pretend he knew nothing. Ji Suizhou was young and arrogant, and as soon as he returned, he put his father's words out of his mind. When he learned that the Crown Prince was such a coward, he disdained to associate with the Crown Prince and instead became friends with the abandoned son of the royal family.
This trip to the Western Regions was specifically to find an antidote for Yan Wu.
"I never expected the Crown Prince to be so cruel to you. You are his own brother, born of the same mother!" Ji Suizhou said indignantly, looking down on the Crown Prince from the bottom of his heart.
She was just born into a good family, born a little earlier than her brother, and now she wants to control her brother's life.
Yan Wu, however, showed no expression as he poured the pills from the small porcelain bottle into his palm and examined them.
"One bottle contains the poison, and the other contains the antidote. You should have someone study it; perhaps they can concoct an antidote for what's in your body."
Yan Wu nodded, "Thank you. I have another way to deal with the antidote, but I'll keep this medicine for myself."
"What can you do? Did you find a miracle doctor who can cure the poison?"
"no."
Yan Wu didn't elaborate, but thinking of the little princess he'd given the medicine to yesterday, a slight smile crept onto his lips. Unfortunately, Ji Suizhou was busy eating and didn't notice.
"I heard that the Crown Prince has taken another concubine, a princess from Dongqi?" Ji Suizhou asked while eating.
Yan Wu hummed in response, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I heard that princess is very beautiful. Although she's not favored, she's one of the most beautiful women in Dongqi. Alas, it's a pity I wasn't in the capital those few days. If I had been, I would have gone to ask for her hand in marriage and competed with the Crown Prince. Maybe I would have been the one chosen for the marriage, saving that guy from getting a free ride!"
"Get out!" Yan Wu said, his face darkening.
Ji Suizhou was puzzled. "What's wrong? I'm already twenty-three and still not married. Can't I marry a princess?"
Just then, a head suddenly peeked out from outside the hut, and a clear, cheerful voice called out, "Yan Wu, are you there?"
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