Chapter 64. Bathing together in the same hot spring.
While using these chains to restrict her movements, Gu Zhan also seemed to restrict Cuiwei's movements. The people who served her on a daily basis, apart from Danju, were all palace maids and eunuchs whose names she couldn't recall. These people were clearly acting on Gu Zhan's orders, addressing her as "Crown Princess" and "Your Majesty." However, whenever she asked about anything related to Gu Zhan, these people would pretend to be deaf and dumb.
Shen Mi could also see that Gu Zhan was determined not to let her know any news from the outside world.
If Gu Zhan hadn't deliberately kept things from her, she wouldn't have cared about his plans to seize the throne. But Gu Zhan's insistence on keeping everything from her made her suspicious.
What is it that Gu Zhan doesn't want her to know?
Her intuition told her that among the things Gu Zhan had been busy with lately, there must be something strange about it, or rather, something related to her.
But given her current situation, even if she wanted to ask, she couldn't. She couldn't get out on her own, and she couldn't get any information from the people around her. Even if she wanted to ask, she was powerless to do so.
Before long, the sound of conversation came from outside the hall. The room was too quiet, and Shen Mi couldn't help but look out the window.
Through the paper window, she couldn't see very clearly, but she could vaguely make out that someone had come from outside, wearing a blue robe and carrying a medicine box, and next to him was a person dressed as an eunuch.
The eunuch said to the palace servants on duty at Qingluan Palace, "Her Majesty the Empress is worried about the Crown Princess's health and has specially ordered Physician Huang from the Imperial Medical Bureau to come and examine her."
However, she was stopped by the palace servants on duty at Qingluan Palace. "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. His Highness the Crown Prince had already invited Physician Cheng from the Imperial Hospital to examine the Crown Princess earlier. She has taken her medicine and is now resting."
Shen Mi was far away and could only make out that the people were talking to each other. The newcomers did not seem to be Gu Zhan's people.
All she knew was that Gu Zhan's confidant in the Imperial Medical Bureau was Cheng Lin, and that Cheng Lin was the one she saw most often when the Crown Prince examined her. As for the imperial physician outside, even if she couldn't see his face clearly, she could tell at a glance that he wasn't Cheng Lin. Cheng Lin was rather thin, while the imperial physician who came was more robust than Cheng Lin.
If they weren't Gu Zhan's people, would she have a way to find out what was happening outside from them?
Shen Mi's heart stirred, and she turned her head to look at Danju, "Has someone come from the palace? Please come in."
Danju lowered her head and said, "Please, Your Highness, do not make things difficult for me. His Highness has instructed that you are not allowed to see outsiders."
Shen Mi knew that asking Danju again would be useless, so she pushed open the window, hoping to let the people in through the window. However, as soon as she opened the window, only wind and snow poured in. The two people from before had long since disappeared. She had no choice but to close the window again from the inside.
Seeing the disappointment on her face, Danju couldn't help but sigh and said, "Your Highness, even if you call out to them, the palace servants on duty outside won't let them in."
Shen Mi paused, her hand resting on the window frame.
That's right, how could she not have thought of that? The East Palace belongs to Gu Zhan, and all the palace servants should only listen to Gu Zhan's orders. How could they allow her to let outsiders in?
She leaned weakly against the soft couch, clutching the blanket. Danju stood guard in front of her without saying a word. Not wanting to be watched, she asked Danju to leave. Danju didn't insist, only saying that she could be called anytime if needed.
The room fell silent once more.
All she could hear was the howling wind and snow outside and the crackling of the burning charcoal in the stove inside the hall. Even a faint meow from a cat was enough to catch Shen Mi's attention.
Shen Mi looked in the direction of the sound and saw the docile white cat that Gu Zhan had given her to cheer her up. It had somehow slipped in and was now cautiously peering over the screen.
When Gu Zhan gave her this cat, she felt sorry for it and asked Cuiwei to take good care of it. At that time, she always felt that the cat was as pitiful as she was, and that it had to be tamed and stay in this small world. So she asked Cuiwei not to restrict its range of movement.
She liked the cat and felt sorry for it because it had always been domesticated, so she asked Cuiwei to feed it the finest food. However, the cat always preferred to eat bread crumbs and didn't eat much even steamed fish.
At first, she didn't think about naming the cat. Later, when Gu Zhan asked her what name she had given the cat, she remembered its little habit of only eating bread crumbs, so she casually replied "Little Man". Later, she simply kept calling it "Little Man".
It seems that Xiao Man's situation is actually better than hers now.
Shen Mi wanted to pick up Xiao Man, so she lifted the blanket, got off the soft couch, and slowly moved towards Xiao Man.
Although Xiao Man had been in the East Palace for some time, she still subconsciously backed away when Shen Mi approached.
Shen Mi initially thought Xiao Man was afraid of her, but later realized that it was because Xiao Man's movements would cause the thin chains dragging on the ground to rattle, and since she could not move any further than the position in front of the screen, she stopped, squatted down, and waved to Xiao Man.
Little Man tentatively stretched out its paws, then cautiously looked around inside. Seeing that there was no one else inside except Shen Mi, it slowly crawled to Shen Mi and rubbed against her.
Shen Mi chuckled at Xiao Man's antics, patted its head, picked it up, and gently walked towards the soft couch.
With Xiao Man keeping her company, Shen Mi felt that the boredom was somewhat alleviated. She stayed with Xiao Man, sometimes throwing small balls for it to catch, and sometimes asking Dan Ju to prepare some bread crumbs that Xiao Man liked to feed it.
Little Man seemed to be staring at the thin chain on her ankle, and finally couldn't resist trying to pry at the chain and bite it off. But after only one attempt, Little Man withdrew and let out a soft "meow" at her.
Shen Mi remembered Gu Zhan saying that the chain wasn't pure gold, but made of black iron. She quickly picked up Xiao Man and placed it on her lap, stroking its fur while softening her voice, "Did it hurt? We won't touch this chain anymore, okay?"
Little Man couldn't understand human speech, but after Shen Mi comforted him repeatedly, he raised his head and gently rubbed against her hand.
Shen Mi's attention was entirely focused on Xiao Man, so she didn't notice that Gu Zhan had been standing by the screen for quite some time. It wasn't until Xiao Man glanced unintentionally in the direction outside the screen, hurriedly turned back, and hid tightly in her arms without making a sound that she realized something was wrong. She turned around and saw Gu Zhan. The smile that was on her face disappeared, just like when Xiao Man saw Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan naturally noticed Shen Mi's obvious change in expression, and couldn't help but furrow his brows. He walked over to Shen Mi, sat down next to her, and softened his tone, asking, "Weren't you laughing very happily just now?"
Just as Shen Mi was about to reply, Xiao Man snuggled closer to her, as if she wanted to shrink into a snowball.
Looking at Xiaoman's tail, she knew without guessing that Xiaoman was afraid of Gu Zhan.
She had no time to pay attention to Gu Zhan, and just kept coaxing Xiao Man with great patience. When Xiao Man finally looked at her with those clear eyes, she breathed a sigh of relief, called Dan Ju, and asked Dan Ju to take Xiao Man away.
Gu Zhan saw Danju take the cat away before saying, "You have much more patience with this cat."
Shen Mi pushed the porcelain cup on the small table, which contained crumbs of steamed buns that Xiao Man had eaten, to the side and said, "Cats are very perceptive and know my feelings much better."
Gu Zhan was dealing with the Emperor and the Prince of Wei's faction regarding the Shen family case in the palace. When he returned to the East Palace, he saw Shen Mi holding the cat with a slight smile on her lips. He felt all his fatigue disappear, but seeing Shen Mi's cold attitude towards him, he couldn't help but feel displeased.
Seeing that he seemed inclined to move closer, Shen Mi shifted to the side, picking a white cat hair from her clothes. "Your Highness, I have cat hair on me," she said, glancing at the chain on her ankle. "I need to bathe and change. Surely Your Highness can't leave me with this chain on my ankle?"
“No rush, I expected this.” Gu Zhan said as he walked to the outside of the antique shelf and moved a vase on it. The wall on the side of the bedroom slowly opened, revealing a door leading to a secret room.
Gu Zhan circled around and said, “In this secret room, I also ordered someone to carve out a bath and bring in hot spring water from outside the palace. Zhi Niang doesn’t need to go to the bathhouse and then come back dressed. Of course, the chain you’re worried about is also enough to allow you to step into the hot spring water under the action of this mechanism.”
Shen Mi hadn't expected Gu Zhan to be so thorough in his preparations. Whether it was the chain controlled by a sophisticated mechanism or the hot spring in the secret chamber connected to the Qingluan Palace, neither of these were things that could be accomplished in a day, and she had been completely unaware of them for the past few months.
Gu Zhan leaned against the wall with one hand and turned to look at her. "Or does Zhi Niang want me to carry her over to bathe?"
Shen Mi felt a chill run down her spine. Knowing that she couldn't do anything to Gu Zhan, she could only reluctantly drag the chains toward the dark room.
There was only a hot spring in the dark room, with a clothes rack next to it. The room was shrouded in mist, suggesting that preparations had been made in advance.
But just as she took off her outer clothes and hung them on the hanger, she saw Gu Zhan follow her into the dark room. She froze, "Your Highness, what is this—"
Gu Zhan glanced at her with a smile, but the next moment he picked her up and whispered in her ear, "Of course, we'll bathe together."
Shen Mi felt that this person was utterly shameless, yet she couldn't move an inch in his arms.
Gu Zhan placed her on the edge of the hot spring, took off his own clothes, stepped into the hot spring to test the water temperature, and then removed her cloud-patterned stockings and undergarments.
Shen Mi pressed tightly to the last piece of clothing on her body, biting her lip and turning her head away.
Gu Zhan noticed a blush spreading across the woman's cheeks and chuckled softly, "What haven't I seen, Zhi Niang?"
Then he moved her hand away, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her into the hot spring.
A splash of water immediately rose from the hot spring.
Gu Zhan held her close, his fingertips tracing the woman's cheeks, neck, and collarbone...
It finally landed on her waist and abdomen.
Shen Mi refused to let him touch her anywhere else, but her hands were grabbed and she was pulled into someone's arms.
Gu Zhan embraced her from the side and pulled her close to his chest.
Shen Mi bit her lip tightly to keep the sound from leaking out.
Gu Zhan looked at the woman's flushed cheeks and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Zhi Niang, why bother? If you keep moving around, the chains will rub your ankles raw again."
No matter what he did next, Shen Mi resolutely refused to make a sound that he wanted to hear.
After what seemed like an eternity, Gu Zhan finally tidied her damp hair and remained by her side, saying, "Zhi Niang, let's have a child, a child that belongs only to us."
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Author's Note: This resentful husband is trying to use his child to climb the social ladder. [Yellow Heart]
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