"Don't cry, I don't have time. Smile. I want to cross the Bridge of Helplessness with your image and smile in my heart. Legend says the flowers on the other side of the river are extremely beautiful, but unfortunately I can't go with you to see them. I'll go see them first. If they're beautiful, I'll appear in your dream. If they're not, then let it be. Don't go so easily." He said calmly.
"Okay." Besides repeating this word, Zhao Shu didn't know what else to say.
"I want to see the Empress Dowager," he said with difficulty, as if he had reached his final moment.
Zhao Shu nodded sadly. The Empress Dowager stood outside and was soon invited in. "My dear minister, speak less. Don't worry, I will make sure the imperial physician cures you."
"Your Majesty, I am unable to perform the proper rites," he said apologetically.
"My dear minister, you are an unparalleled contributor to Dayong, there is no need for such formalities." After saying this, the Empress Dowager sat down in the chair where Wei Tingsi had just been sitting.
"Your Majesty, I have a request that I cannot make," he pleaded, looking at the Empress Dowager with hopeful eyes.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to give the Huo family some face."
The Empress Dowager choked up upon hearing this. Despite her iron-willed life, she was deeply moved by Huo Baichuan's words.
"Alright, I agree."
What else could he not agree to? He was determined to save face for the Huo family even in death. Huo Danlan raised her gun and aimed it at the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army, and fired. Huo Baichuan was on the verge of death and could not escape being beheaded in the market. But for the sake of the Huo family, he was willing to die. Huo Danlan would not become the first noblewoman of a prominent family to be beheaded in the market.
Zhao Shu didn't want to ask him if it was worth it; she would do anything for him as long as he wanted to.
"Zhao Shu, I'm a little cold," he said softly. His voice was so soft that if the Empress Dowager were standing outside, she probably wouldn't have heard him.
With tears in her eyes, Zhao Shu covered him with a blanket, saying, "It's autumn, it's cold, but it's alright, I'll warm you up by covering you with a blanket."
"Okay." He tried to force a smile, but he couldn't manage it anymore. "Zhao Shu, I love you. I'm sorry." With that, his eyes slowly closed and never opened again.
“Bai Chuan…” Zhao Shu grabbed his hand and shouted.
As she shouted, a chorus of cries erupted outside the door.
A group of imperial physicians rushed in, led by Physician Peng. He immediately took Huo Baichuan's pulse and exclaimed with delight, "Empress Dowager, Princess, you still have a pulse!"
"Really?" Zhao Shu immediately took Huo Baichuan's pulse, then smiled through her tears. "He still has a pulse! Quick, go and prepare the medicine."
The old physician, Dr. Peng, smiled and stroked his beard. "The pulse is weak, but it hasn't stopped yet. There's still hope."
"Imperial Physician, when will Lord Huo wake up?" the Empress Dowager asked.
Physician Peng was taken aback. He was stumped by the question, and the joy on his face immediately faded. "Your Majesty, this humble physician's medical skills are not proficient, and I cannot predict when Lord Huo will wake up."
"I have encountered such situations before. The chances of waking up are slim. They may wake up in a few days, or they may never wake up at all," a royal physician said, fearlessly sharing his experience.
Immediately, the Empress Dowager and Zhao Shu looked at him coldly, and the imperial physician immediately knelt down, saying, "Every word I said is true. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Take him away and give him thirty lashes!" The Empress Dowager's tone was icy. After giving the order, she said to Physician Peng, "Save every effort to cure Minister Huo. Send the best physicians from the Imperial Hospital to care for him. If he cannot be cured, I will have his entire family executed immediately!"
“Physician Peng…” a physician immediately said.
Physician Peng wiped away a bead of sweat, then knelt down without hesitation and said, "Your subject will do everything in his power to save Lord Huo."
"Very well, move Lord Huo to Jiangying Garden in a few days. I will send people to keep an eye on him, and he must not be neglected." The Empress Dowager's tone was stern, and her authority was unmistakable.
Zhao Shu stayed by his bedside for three days, even going so far as to attend Zhao Yi's coronation ceremony, but he didn't see her sincerity and remained unconscious.
After the coronation ceremony, Zhao Yi officially issued an edict granting amnesty to the world. At the same time, he also issued an imperial edict for immediate execution. Yi De, Zhao Bi, and others were sentenced to immediate execution, to be carried out in the autumn. Zhao Shu specially went to request an imperial decree to supervise the execution, accompanied by Liu Huan and Xie Yun.
The day after the imperial decree for her immediate execution was issued, Chu Chun came and said, "Princess, Miss Huo has woken up and says she wants to see you."
Zhao Shu sneered, resenting the injustice of fate. Why had she woken up while Huo Baichuan hadn't?
"Take me there." She took a breath, her steps firm. Today she would ask them what they had done to wrong her!
Because of Huo Baichuan and out of consideration for the Huo family's reputation, Huo Danlan was not imprisoned, but kept in the Huo family's residence. When Zhao Shu went there, no one dared to stop her, and she easily met Huo Danlan. She looked much more haggard now, but she still couldn't hide her beautiful face.
"You've arrived." She said calmly when she saw Zhao Shu, her eyes fixed on the teapot on the table, lost in thought.
Zhao Shu sneered, "Let's see if you have even the slightest bit of remorse. It seems you don't."
"Is he awake?" Huo Danlan asked.
When asked about Huo Baichuan, Zhao Shu flew into a rage, glaring at her. "What right do you have to ask? What does it have to do with you whether he's good or bad!"
“I’m his older sister, of course I have the right to ask,” she replied to Zhao Shu, her tone perfectly natural.
Zhao Shu didn't know where she got the audacity. She had never disliked her so much before. "If you had any sense of being an elder sister, you wouldn't have hurt him like this!"
“I didn’t want to hurt him. He has feelings for you, but you’re flirting with Wei Tingsi. Did you ever have feelings for him?” Huo Danlan questioned.
"You knew I liked him, so you deliberately tried to kill him. Did you think Bai Chuan would be grateful to you for killing him? He's so proud, he'd be humiliated more than anything! He's a man of integrity, yet you defiled his character like this. Is this how an elder sister should behave?" Zhao Shu looked at Huo Danlan, her eyes filled with unfamiliarity.
"You don't know the pain of unrequited love, how can I bear to see him follow in my footsteps?" She cried, perhaps feeling that Huo Baichuan, like her, couldn't be proud.
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