Chapter 137
The flowers in the imperial garden were in full bloom, but Gong Yinai had no time to admire them. A palace attendant brought her close to the sage, who gazed at the chessboard and asked leisurely, "What have you been up to lately, Crown Prince? You haven't been to the council hall to study or handle government affairs for three days. How can I trust you to leave the country to you in the future?"
Every time she heard the emperor say this before, Gong Yinai's blood would boil and her heart would be excited. But now, she felt terrified. How could this be a compliment? It was clearly a warning to her, telling her to do her duty.
Gong Yinai's momentum was suppressed, and he suddenly didn't know how to ask about Liu Yingzi.
Liu Yingzi was the daughter of a criminal. By taking her in, she was deceiving the emperor. How could she dare to question his will? If the emperor ordered his subject to die, the subject had to die. This had always been the case.
"Sit down." The sage saw Gong Yinai lowering his eyes, his expression changing. He nodded inwardly, thinking that the young man was teachable. Then he said, "This chess game was just discussed between me and Grand Tutor Wen. What can you see?"
Gong Yinai was a skilled chess player. She could see at a glance that the black player had been disrupted by the white dragon, and the black pieces were fragmented and shattered, unable to stand alone. But she wondered who was playing black, or white, between the sage and the Grand Tutor Wen?
"I hold the view of white." The sage answered the prince's doubts.
"The saint is very good at chess." Gong Yinai flattered him.
The saint shook his head, raised his hand and made another move, and the situation of the black and white chess pieces was reversed in an instant.
The sage laughed and said, "Wenxian is a very interesting person. He plays chess with me, and he wins and loses half of the time. He wins when I'm in a good mood, and loses when I'm in a bad mood. He acts and speaks without letting his heart guide him. You, sir, have something to learn from him."
Gong Yinai was frightened, feeling that all her secrets were seen through those eyes. She pursed her lips and didn't know whether she should talk about Liu Yingzi. While she was hesitating, the saint started the conversation first.
"I heard someone in your backyard is sick?"
Gong Yinai nodded hesitantly.
The sage asked, "Isn't that the woman named Li Qiu?" He said the most terrifying words with a smile, "She's the young lady from the Liu family, right? She's very pretty, no wonder your second brother asked me for her. But the matter of the Liu family is settled. You can keep her by your side if you want, but from now on, let her be Li Qiu, not Young Lady Liu. Liu Yingzi shouldn't be alive in this world, still in the Crown Prince's harem."
The saint was reminding her that if she wanted to survive, she must not let go of the Liu family's affairs.
This goes against Liu Yingzi's purpose.
Gong Yinai bit his tongue and thought of Liu Yingzi vomiting blood, and finally said, "Please, father, save her."
The saint's expression, which had been friendly, finally softened. His voice was dignified without anger: "You are good in every way, but you are easily soft-hearted. Gong Yinai, you are the crown prince. There are all kinds of women in the world, but you were bewitched by a mere woman!"
Gong Yinai hung her head in silence, her hands curled into fists in her lap. She asked, "Father, why did you drug her?"
The sage said calmly, "I just went down when I wanted to. There's no reason why."
"Since you've asked, I'll naturally give you the antidote to Man Haitang's poison. But you must listen carefully to what I'm saying. She can only be Li Qiu. If she's Liu Yingzi, she must die!"
Gong Yinai tilted his shoulders and replied softly, "Yes."
Gong Yinai did not feel happy after taking the antidote back.
The reason why Liu Yingzi came to her was for revenge. How difficult it would be for her to let go of revenge now.
Just as she would not give up the position of crown prince, Liu Yingzi would not give up revenge.
Back in Liu Yingzi's courtyard, dusk was falling and the silent twilight entered the room, turning the gauze curtains the color of lake water. Zhou Liping lay on the bed, breathing steadily.
After Gong Yinai left, she insisted on changing her clothes. After the palace maid made her bed, she fell asleep again. The imperial physician took her pulse and confirmed that she had fallen asleep again due to the poison of Man Haitang. An Qinan came in the middle of the night and saw that she was not awake, so he sat for a while and left again.
Gong Yinai didn't have time to deal with An Qinan's poisoning. She sat blankly beside Zhou Li's bed, looking at the sunset outside the window, which was slowly setting, holding Man Haitang's antidote tightly in her hand.
With Liu Yingzi's intelligence, once she wakes up, she will probably guess what she has done.
But Liu Yingzi will not become Li Qiu.
Gong Yinai had also thought that during those calm days, she thought Liu Yingzi would be more shaken by her current life, but no, not for a moment.
She hates the royal family and Master Wen. Will he hate her too?
Gong Yinai didn't know.
Her eyes finally fell on Zhou Li's face while the last bit of light was shining in the sky.
She is so well-behaved and adorable when she is asleep.
Gong Yinai murmured, "I wish I could be this well behaved when I wake up."
Her fingers flicked, touching Zhou Li's eyebrows, nose tip, and finally stopping on her lips.
One night, when they were together, she couldn't sleep because of the troubles she had during the day. Liu Yingzi told her a story about a princess who was cursed and no one could break the curse. Later, a man who loved her traveled across mountains and rivers to find an antidote for her. He found a master, who said that only a kiss of true love could save the princess. But the princess was unmarried. The desperate man returned to the palace, but the palace decided to bury her when they saw that they couldn't save her. The desperate man sneaked in at night to see the princess for the last time. Seeing that her face was lifelike, he couldn't help but kissed her. When the princess woke up, she found out that he had become the princess's antidote as early as when he was fighting for her.
Gong Yinai lowered her head, the moonlight filled the air, and a bright moon slowly climbed up the night sky. Zhou Li opened her eyes, and their eyes met. Gong Yinai stepped back in fright. She was even more frightened than the person who was kissed forcibly.
There was a sudden awkwardness in the room. Gong Yinai didn't expect that Liu Yingzi was actually woken up by her kiss. You know, the imperial physician said he didn't know when she would wake up.
Zhou Li felt her body go limp. She called out to Gong Yinai, her posture the same as before. However, Gong Yinai's heart was beating wildly. She stepped forward and helped Zhou Li up. Zhou Li asked, "How long have I been sleeping?"
"It won't take long, just two hours." Gong Yinai said softly.
"I thought I would sleep until tomorrow again." Zhou Li chuckled, and his laughter was like the fluttering of butterfly wings.
"I'm hungry." Zhou Li touched his stomach.
Gong Yinai whispered, "I'll go get dinner." She was about to leave, but Zhou Li grabbed her sleeve and asked, "Will you have dinner with me?"
"Of course." Gong Yinai looked down at his sleeve that was pulled and nodded, and Zhou Li let go of his sleeve.
The palace maid brought the food and Gong Yinai helped Zhou Li get out of bed.
Zhou Li looked down at Gong Yinai putting shoes on her and said with a smile, "I never thought there would be a scene where the prince would put shoes on me."
Gong Yinai lowered his head and said nothing, and helped her up.
The dishes on the table were all Zhou Li's favorites, but unfortunately she had a poor appetite. After all, she had drunk a stomach full of bitter medicine. She didn't know whether the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician was effective or not. Anyway, Zhou Li's stomach was full of bitter water, and she could hardly eat anything when she ate.
Gong Yinai didn't seem to have much appetite and was full of things on his mind.
Zhou Li picked up some food for her and said in a clear voice, "Everyone has their own destiny. Please eat, Prince. Don't worry about me."
How could he not be worried? Gong Yinai felt a little resentful of Liu Yingzi's radicalism.
Why force her like this?
The same goes for her father and Liu Yingzi. Although she is the crown prince, she is like a grasshopper trapped in a bowl, with someone holding a wooden stick and forcing her to fight with the grasshopper on the opposite side.
Two people are fighting a tiger from a distance.
Gong Yinai finished her meal in silence. Seeing Zhou Li's eyelids drooping again, her panic intensified. She said in a trembling voice, "Liu Yingzi, can you give me some time? Father will eventually die of old age, and sooner or later I will also deal with Master Wen. You, are you okay with being alive?"
Zhou Li said nothing. She fell asleep on the table. The bruises from the fall that day were still faintly visible between her eyebrows, but she would not answer Gong Yinai's words anymore.
Her condition worsened day by day and she vomited blood every day.
Gong Yinai had important things to do, so he could only come and sit with her for a while every day.
Zhou Li was sleeping all the time and vomiting blood when she woke up. She needed someone to watch her all the time, for fear that she would vomit blood in her sleep and suffocate from the blood.
Zhou Li gradually lost her appetite and her cheeks became sunken. Anyone who saw her would think that she would not live long. The imperial physician could not kneel down and ask the prince to punish her, but Gong Yinai looked at Zhou Li in a daze.
During these days, when she came, Liu Yingzi was sometimes awake and they would talk, but she never mentioned anything about the antidote. She looked calm, as if she had seen through the world and was quietly waiting for the day of death.
But Gong Yinai couldn't wait any longer.
This is not only torturing Liu Yingzi, but also torturing her.
Her nerves were tense every day. She couldn't do her work properly, let alone think about problems. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Liu Yingzi. She said that everyone has their own destiny, but Gong Yinai wanted to break the destiny she had given herself!
"This is the antidote." Gong Yinai took out the small white bottle given to her by the saint from his sleeve pocket, "You mix it in the medicine she used to drink."
I'm afraid Liu Yingzi won't eat it if I give it to her directly, and it's not convenient to feed her now.
The imperial physician excitedly took it and murmured, "Man Haitang actually has an antidote?"
Unfortunately, Gong Yinai was concentrating on looking at Zhou Li and did not hear what the imperial physician said.
Zhou Li woke up again. The sun was shining brightly and she felt relaxed all over, as if she had returned to the time before she was poisoned. She felt something in her heart and looked at Gong Yinai who was waiting at her bedside with a gentle smile on her cheeks.
"The prince didn't go to handle official business today?"
Gong Yinai's hands were shaking a little, but she steadied herself and took the hand Zhou Li offered her. She said softly, "I'm taking a day off today. I want to spend some time with you."
Zhou Li laughed, "It's like that every day, what good is there for me to keep you company?"
Gong Yinai remained silent.
Zhou Li looked at the display stand by the window and sighed, "It seems that I will never be able to finish displaying my peony." He originally learned this from others in his spare time, but now it has become Zhou Li's obsession.
Gong Yinai also looked over and said, "There will be plenty of time later."
Zhou Li shook her head and laughed. She had more energy today, so the two of them went for a walk in the Imperial Garden and ran into An Qinan. An Qinan looked jealous, but Zhou Li was the first to greet her: "Sister."
An Qinan: "Sister looks good today, she even has enough energy to walk around the garden."
Zhou Li smiled softly, "I haven't seen the magnificent view of the Imperial Garden in midsummer yet. I suddenly missed it today, so I saw it, and that fulfilled my wish."
Gong Yinai's heart tightened. "What nonsense are you talking about? There will be countless springs and autumns in the future."
An Qinan saw how weak she looked and didn't want to look at her anymore.
She looked at the prince again, but he ignored her. She was anxious, angry and aggrieved, her eyes red and she didn't want to look anymore, so fortunately she left.
Zhou Li sighed and did not argue with Gong Yinai.
Gong Yinai thought Zhou Li would get better after taking the medicine. She was very happy and stayed with Zhou Li for a whole day. Zhou Li didn't do anything that day, just repeated her past life.
In the evening, Gong Yinai was having dinner with Zhou Li when suddenly someone came in a hurry to find the prince.
Seeing that she had something to do, Zhou Li let her go. Then she finished her meal alone, went to bed to rest, and put on her favorite pajamas.
The moon was above the willows, and Gong Yinai felt a palpitation in his study.
The emperor asked her to handle the relationship between civil officials and military generals. At the morning court today, because the civil officials proposed to cut military spending, they almost got into a fight with the military generals. Gong Yinai was confused by the arguments from all sides, and the sudden palpitations made her face pale.
"Prince, are you okay?" The general was sharp-eyed and stopped shouting, looking at Gong Yinai worriedly.
Gong Yinai held onto the corner of the table and waved her hand, saying, "I'm a little tired. Let's talk about it tomorrow!" Without waiting for anyone to reply, she hurried back to Zhou Li's courtyard.
"Where is Concubine Li?!" Gong Yinai asked.
Seeing that it was the prince who had come late at night, the servant hurriedly replied, "The master is asleep."
Gong Yinai felt a little relieved, but her heart was still beating fast, not knowing whether it was because she walked too fast or what. She slowly pushed open Zhou Li's door. The room was dark and the lights had been turned off for a long time. Gong Yinai stood at the head of the bed in the moonlight and watched Zhou Li sleeping peacefully. She breathed a sigh of relief and asked him to wash up and go to bed.
Gong Yinai climbed onto the bed but didn't wake Zhou Li up. She didn't care and groped her way into Zhou Li's quilt, wanting to hug Zhou Li. But when she put her hand in, it was ice cold, without any warmth from a living being.
Her heart skipped a beat. She tentatively reached out to smell Zhou Li's breath. A chill crept up her back. Her face was filled with fear. She patted Zhou Li's shoulders: "Liu Yingzi! Liu Yingzi! Liu Yingzi... wake up... don't scare me..."
"Liu Yingzi! Liu Yingzi! Liu Yingzi!" Gong Yinai was almost crazy, and instantly startled the palace servants outside the room. The courtyard was lit up by torches. Gong Yinai hugged Zhou Li and cried, "Don't scare me..."
The cold corpse responded to Gong Yinai's cries. Gong Yinai would never be able to heal from this scene for the rest of his life.
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