Zhong Muyu felt that his behavior was a bit exaggerated, but she didn't know what to say. After returning to the palace, they immediately changed their clothes, took a bath, and asked the imperial physician to treat them.
Inside the room, looking at the scratches on Lu Ziyuan's body, Zhong Muyu felt a chill run down her spine.
I have so many injuries, big and small. I didn't feel them when they were frozen outside, but now that they've thawed, they're so itchy and painful, it's unbearable.
The imperial physician examined the wounds and found that although they varied in depth, they were all superficial injuries. Zhong Muyu felt that the medicine here was slow to take effect, so she dismissed the servants and the imperial physician and personally applied the medicine and bandaged Lu Ziyuan's wounds.
"Tsk! They've all been frostbitten. Once the wounds heal, we'll have to apply frostbite cream again."
As she spoke, she took out a tube of frostbite cream and placed it in Lu Ziyuan's hand: "I see your fingers are also frostbitten, put some of this on."
Lu Ziyuan comforted the distressed Zhong Muyu: "It's alright, we often encounter this situation during battles."
"You still need to be careful when applying the medicine! It must hurt and itch a lot, right?"
Lu Ziyuan nodded. His wounds were indeed painful and itchy, and the frostbite on his hands was also very itchy.
After everything was tidied up, Zhong Muyu wanted Lu Ziyuan to lie down and rest, but he was about to leave after getting dressed when Zhong Muyu quickly stopped him: "Where are you going again?"
"Go see Father, and also take a look around the stables. Something's fishy about this, and I'm worried."
"Strange?"
Lu Ziyuan said in a low voice, "The horse went berserk for no reason, and the hibernating bear took the opportunity to go berserk and attack people. I don't think this is a coincidence. We must take advantage of the fact that their attention is on the emperor to look for clues."
"But you can't go out and run around because of your injuries. If you catch a cold and get a fever, you definitely won't be able to get up!"
"It's alright, Father's safety is more important. Yu'er, please go and check on Father's condition, I'm still worried."
Seeing how serious he was, Zhong Muyu had no choice but to agree.
Lu Ziyuan sneaked out. Zhong Muyu told the servants that he was resting and not to disturb him. Then she put on her cloak and went to check on the Emperor's condition.
The room was filled with imperial physicians. Although the emperor had suffered multiple injuries, they were all superficial and did not affect his internal organs. However, due to extreme fatigue and exposure to cold, the emperor was currently running a high fever and was delirious.
Lu Ziying and his Crown Princess left the crowd. The Crown Princess asked, "What should we do now?"
"What else can we do? Since things have come to this, we should keep quiet. The Empress Dowager told us to wait and see."
The Crown Princess nodded. They couldn't be of much help just by standing there. After a while, everyone else left, leaving only Lu Ziying and a few imperial physicians who were there to take care of her.
Looking at the weakened emperor, he had a terrible idea, but his hands trembled with nervousness because he dared not carry it out.
Never mind, let's go ask Mother again.
Just as Lu Ziying was about to leave, she saw Zhong Muyu coming towards her.
"It's you? Instead of protecting the Seventh Prince, why are you here?"
Zhong Muyu said, "He has fallen asleep. Father Emperor's injuries are more serious than his, so I came to check on him."
"Father is resting now. The imperial physicians are doing their best to treat him. It is not appropriate to disturb him. You may go back now."
Lu Ziying blocked the doorway, showing no intention of letting her in.
Listening to the sounds inside, including footsteps and the whispers of the imperial physicians, Zhong Muyu was suspicious but dared not approach rashly, after all, Lu Ziying was still the Crown Prince.
"Okay, then I'll head back."
Zhong Muyu gave a slight curtsy, but Lu Ziying was still worried about her and kept watching her figure until it disappeared before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He rubbed his palms together, but on his way back, the Empress sent someone to look for him.
Lu Ziying arrived at the Empress's residence, where the Empress asked, "How is your father?"
"The injuries are not serious, but he has been running a high fever and is unconscious."
"Ah, thank God."
Although the empress said this, she did not show any sign of relaxation on the surface.
Lu Ziying said, "After this incident, Father will surely favor Lu Ziyuan even more. Mother, I..."
"What are you afraid of? With the Empress Dowager here, no one can take your position as Crown Prince away!"
Lu Ziying lowered his head. Although he was anxious, he dared not rashly carry out his treasonous plan.
A hush fell over the surroundings, the air seemed to freeze for a long time. After a while, the Empress lowered her voice and said, "Perhaps... we should go all the way..."
Lu Ziying immediately raised his head, but then hesitated and said, "But now all the princes and some ministers are here, and Father Emperor's personal guards are watching over us day and night, I'm afraid..."
It's difficult to make a move.
"It's alright, I've already made my decision."
...
The next morning, Zhong Muyu was changing Lu Ziyuan's dressing, complaining as she did so: "If you go out and travel again, your injury will be even harder to heal."
"My body isn't that delicate, but unfortunately we couldn't find any problems. The other party is more cunning than we imagined."
"It's too easy to do something secretly in a place like this; a heavy snowfall will leave no trace, but..."
Zhong Muyu paused, and Lu Ziyuan asked, "But what?"
"Yesterday, I was asking about the signal fireworks that were set off for you. When I came back, I saw the Crown Prince and his personal guards sneaking out."
"Hmm? Did you see where they went?"
"I did chase after her, but the Crown Princess discovered me. She seemed to think I didn't want to investigate further, so I had no choice but to give up."
Lu Ziyuan pondered, "Sneaking around like that, there's definitely something wrong."
But now, even if they have suspicions, they can't find any evidence.
Zhong Muyu said, "If it were them, it would be perfectly reasonable for them to frame you. They are truly vicious, not even caring about Father. Lu Ziyuan, Father is seriously ill right now, so let's end the hunt as soon as possible and go back, lest they try to play some tricks here."
"That's true, but what about Father Emperor..."
Lu Ziyuan was still worried about leaving just like that.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
After the servants opened the door, a young eunuch came in, bowed, and said, "Prince Ling, Princess Consort, Her Majesty the Empress has ordered that, due to the Emperor's serious illness, the temporary palace is not convenient for his recuperation. Therefore, she has specifically ordered everyone to pack their things and depart for the palace today."
"So fast?"
Zhong Muyu was very surprised. The Emperor was still not awake. Even if it was not convenient to recuperate here, they should not travel so far!
"Yes, Your Highness and Your Highness, please hurry up and pack."
After the eunuch finished giving the message, he left. Zhong Muyu asked Lu Ziyuan in confusion, "Is this really a good idea?"
"The imperial palace is indeed not a good place to recuperate, but it is not appropriate for Father to travel so much in his current condition."
"That's really troublesome..."
Zhong Muyu stood up and packed her things. The winter hunting trip hadn't even lasted a few days before these things started happening one after another.
They didn't bring much. After the servants finished packing, the two of them went to get on the carriage. The emperor was still unconscious and needed to be carried out, which took quite a while. The empress stayed by his side the whole time.
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