Chapter 47 World 2 (Twenty-three)
Jinxiu tucked the red sandalwood bracelet back into her clothes, left the room, and washed her face with cold water several times before the dampness and heat gradually faded. As she regained consciousness, Jinxiu was startled: Where had Miss Deng found such a potent poison, and on whom would she use it? She was torn, but she didn't dare tell anyone about this. If there was any other hidden agenda, she would be labeled a servant with ulterior motives.
Since the birthday banquet, Miss Deng has been visiting Yuwen Xuan more and more frequently. She doesn't ask anyone else to do it for her, but cooks the medicine herself, and sends it to Yuwen Xuan's yard along with a few plates of small snacks.
The medicinal soup and snacks were all accepted. Everyone in the palace could see the change in Yuwen Xuan. It seemed that he no longer resisted Miss Deng's approach.
Everyone said: Miss Deng spent so much time coaxing and persuading, and finally made the iron tree bloom.
Jinxiu watched anxiously. She observed carefully: Miss Deng wore her red sandalwood bracelet all day long, and even the medicinal soup she brewed was filled with a lingering fragrance. Did Yuwen Xuan accept Miss Deng's feelings, or was he deceived by the strange aroma?
The Changming Sword was sent to the palace, and the guards in the courtyard were transferred elsewhere. The house is now empty, with only a treasure fan.
When Jinxiu opened the door, she saw Baoshan sitting upright on a round stool, holding an embroidery frame in her hand, her eyes softly staring at the silk threads weaving through it. The sunlight shone on her cascading black hair, her long skirt that trailed on the ground, and her porcelain-like face, casting a faint golden hue.
Just because the Changming Sword was missing, the room seemed extremely empty. It was so quiet that one could hear the sound of red and green threads piercing through cloth.
Jinxiu stopped in front of the precious fan and looked down at the pattern on the embroidery frame - a few small, bright white pear blossoms.
After embroidering the last line of the fan, she picked up the silver scissors on the table to cut off the excess silk thread, took down the embroidery frame, and a brand new embroidered handkerchief lay in the palm of her hand.
Baoshan raised her eyes and looked at Jinxiu tenderly: "You have some free time today, so you came to see me specially?"
Seeing her ignorant look, Jinxiu spoke with deep resentment, "The prince has been close to Miss Deng these days..."
Baoshan lowered his eyes, his voice as light as clouds and mist: "Really?"
"Of course, of course."
Knowing that there was no one else in the yard, Jinxiu was no longer cautious. She paced anxiously in the room, muttering to herself.
"The servants in the mansion usually say that if a woman throws herself into a man's arms, he should take her into his arms regardless of whether he likes her or not. I thought it was just nonsense, but now it seems that there is some truth to it.
Since the prince already has you, why is he still thinking about other women?
He is so greedy for women, but he is not afraid of damaging his spirit..."
Baoshan's cheeks flushed, and her eyes were filled with surprise: "Jinxiu, what nonsense are you talking about? How can you talk about the prince so carelessly..."
Besides, how could she be Yuwen Xuan's person? Jinxiu was so bold. She was clearly an unmarried girl, yet she even spoke so openly about the matter of spirit.
Jinxiu thought she was thin-skinned and didn't want to discuss it. She stopped arguing with Baoshan and stamped her feet lightly, muttering to herself, "You just need to tell me whether you have feelings for the prince or not.
If not, I think that Yunqi is barely worthy of you..."
Jinxiu thought: Although Yuwen Xuan had taken the treasured fan by force, his current behavior made people feel that he was not a good person. If the treasured fan had no feelings for Yuwen Xuan and was only committed to him out of fear of his power, it would be better to take this opportunity to find someone else.
Bao Shan hurriedly lowered her head, the tips of her ears blazing red, like the finest pigeon-blood gemstones, vibrant and tantalizing. She parted her cherry lips slightly, "Since the day I entered the palace, I have belonged solely to the prince. From now on, you must never mention anything else. If anyone else hears, it might just cause trouble."
Jinxiu clenched her fists and agreed silently.
The Changming Sword stayed in the palace for several days and caused many troubles.
First, the little prince had nightmares at night and was sweating profusely. Then, the rare birds and animals raised in the palace became agitated.
The Empress's own chamber, so close to the Changming Sword's resting place, also felt a tightness in her chest. A palace maid informed the Empress of rumors that the Changming Sword held a strong ominous aura and might cause trouble. Frightened, the Empress considered returning the Changming Sword.
For the Queen, taking the Changming Sword from Yuwen Xuan was already a loss of face for Yuwen Xuan. Keeping the Changming Sword for a few more days would be useless, not to mention that it had caused so much unrest.
However, this statement did not please the Emperor. He felt that everyone in the palace, including the Empress, was making a fuss over nothing. Returning the Changming Sword to Yuwen Xuan over such a trivial matter would make it seem as if the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, was actually afraid of a sword.
The queen returned empty-handed and was still awake late at night. Instead, she heard that the emperor had rescued the imprisoned palace maid and the evil son and arranged separate accommodation for them.
The Queen was filled with shame and indignation. She felt that the Emperor's action had created a rift between her and was a deliberate warning to her.
The queen stayed awake all night and sat quietly in front of the Buddha statue.
The next day, the personal maid took the queen's token and went out of the palace.
Hua Qing has been in high spirits these days. Yuwen Xuan has never been so indulgent towards a woman. Giving Miss Deng such face inevitably makes people imagine when Miss Deng will become the mistress of the palace.
As the person closest to Miss Deng, Hua Qing was treated with extreme respect by everyone, and flattering words were sent to her ears in various forms.
Jinxiu was holding a basin of washed clothes. Seeing this, Hua Qing asked her to stop and looked at the clothes in the basin from left to right.
Jinxiu smiled but said, "If you want to accept this basin of clothes, take them all. There's no need to look through them one by one."
Hua Qing paused slightly. She was not willing to do such rough work. When Miss Deng became the real master in the future, she would have to rise in power and command a group of maids. How could she soak her hands in well water, rub her palms until they were red, and then hang these clothes to dry?
"Humph, you should do this kind of rough work."
Jinxiu's expression remained unchanged. She straightened her clothes and walked away carrying the wooden basin.
When she arrived at the well and saw that there was no one around, Jinxiu opened her clothes and took out a red sandalwood bracelet from the bottom.
She put the bracelet in her arms and went to the kitchen to find a small silver hammer used to crack walnuts. She hit the bracelet hard and cracked it.
Jinxiu raised the silver hammer and smashed it down again, and the round red sandalwood beads shattered into pieces, revealing fine sand-like powder in the center.
The fragrance of this powder was even stronger. Jinxiu didn't dare to smell it carefully. She wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it away hastily.
Jinxiu strung the remaining beads together with the gold thread that was originally connected, leaving a tiny gap between the two beads. When she put it on her wrist again, she couldn't even tell that one was missing.
When Jinxiu brought the clothes that had been hung out to dry back into the house, she met Miss Deng and Hua Qing who were looking for red sandalwood bracelets. She put the clothes in the cabinet and also placed the bracelets on the bottom floor of the cabinet.
Jinxiu came looking for the treasure fan anxiously, her eyes full of panic: "The kitchen has just made sweet soup, and Miss Deng insisted that I send it to the prince, but I——"
Jinxiu pointed to her carrot-sized fingers.
Bao Shan held her hand in his, only to find it unusually cold. He asked, "What's going on?"
"I was washing clothes for Miss Deng. Hua Qing said I didn't wash them clean enough, and she made me wash them again several times. My fingers were already cracked, and after soaking them in well water for several hours, they looked so ugly.
If the prince saw how ugly my fingers are, I'm afraid he would lose his appetite. Woohoo, precious fan, what should I do..."
Baoshan gently patted Jinxiu's shoulder, took out the ointment, and applied it to her fingers until her fingers felt warm.
"No problem, I'll take it for you."
Jinxiu threw herself into Baoshan's arms: "Baoshan, you treat me the best!"
Smelling the warm fragrance of the precious fan, Jinxiu felt more and more that her decision was correct.
Baoshan comforted Jinxiu and reminded her carefully to remember to apply the ointment so that there would be no scars in the future.
After Jinxiu responded one by one, Baoshan went to the kitchen and took away the sweet soup as Jinxiu asked.
The sweet soup on the tray was freshly made, and the heat was completely blocked by the porcelain bowl, so you couldn't smell it.
Baoshan lowered her beautiful eyes slightly. Jinxiu always knew that she was timid and afraid of Yuwen Xuan. Even if she looked for someone else in this situation, she would not come to herself to replace her.
Thinking of the evasive look in Jinxiu's eyes just now, Baoshan felt relieved: this matter must be related to Yuwen Xuan, but Jinxiu didn't want to say much, so she just pretended not to know.
Baoshan stopped, lowered her eyebrows, and said softly, "Miss Deng asked me to bring you sweet soup."
The guard opened the door and said, "Come in."
Baoshan placed the sweet soup on the table and opened the porcelain lid. A strange aroma filled the entire room, and Baoshan's body couldn't help but go weak.
Yuwen Xuan came over upon hearing the sound. He was familiar with the smell of the sweet soup. In the past, when the housekeeper brought in the sweet soup, he would say, "Miss Deng is very clever. There is a subtle fragrance hidden in her wrist, and the fragrance is even on the medicinal soup and snacks."
Yu Wenxuan had sharp senses and remembered the fragrance that did not belong to the medicinal soup.
Now this fragrance permeates the sweet soup, giving it a soft and rich sweetness.
Bao Shan's legs were weak as she reluctantly placed the soup spoon into the porcelain bowl and brought it to Yu Wenxuan. Yu Wenxuan's cold words fell over her head: "I don't like these sweet and greasy foods."
Bao Shan considered Yuwen Xuan's intentions. If he didn't like it, he wouldn't drink it. Yuwen Xuan wouldn't waste food, so this sweet soup definitely couldn't be thrown away. She said timidly, "Then I'll take the sweet soup down. Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."
“Use it here.”
Baoshan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he lowered his head in response, holding the sweet soup in his palm, and the heat seeped into his skin through the bottom of the bowl.
I don’t know what ingredients were added to this sweet soup, it just makes people dizzy and confused.
The rich aroma filled the air. Yuwen Xuan frowned as he watched Baoshan drink up the entire bowl of sweet soup. She was so obedient. When he told her to use it, she drank it up obediently, regardless of the strange taste of the sweet soup.
When drinking the sweet soup just now, Baoshan was still respecting the rules and stood there straight.
Now, after drinking the sweet soup, her legs were pressed against the round stool, her hands were placed on her knees very obediently, her eyes were hazy, a few drops of sweat oozed from the tip of her small nose, her rouge-red lips were tightly pursed, she looked like a little boy in school who was studying hard but couldn't understand the teacher's long talk.
Yuwen Xuan took a few steps closer, and his strong waist just blocked the view of the treasure fan.
"Treasure fan?"
His voice was extremely cold, but when it fell into Baoshan's ears, it was like a good medicine, driving away the unbearable dryness in her body.
Her gaze gradually focused on Yuwen Xuan's green jade belt. It was a piece of jade with extremely rich water content, polished to be smooth and delicate.
Baoshan leaned forward and, as expected, put her face against the green jade. Just as she had guessed, it was slightly cool and made her unable to let go.
Although the jade was large, it could only touch half of Baoshan's cheek. When the dryness on one cheek cooled down, she placed the other side against it, and a soft sigh came from her red lips.
Baoshan's expression was hazy, and she didn't notice at all that all the breath coming out of her red lips went to one place.
Yuwen Xuan's expression was as cold as snow. Under normal circumstances, Baoshan would have been trembling and kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, but she was unconscious at this time.
As Yuwen Xuan retreated, he reached out and grabbed the jade belt, rubbing it against his cheek, causing the owner of the belt to become even more stiff.
The fragrance gradually lingered around Yuwen Xuan, a touch of white and tender small shoulder, the mottled red marks left by bites, the woman's sobbing and crying...all kinds of scenes reappeared in Yuwen Xuan's mind.
His face instantly turned as black as iron. Although his body was affected by the fragrance, he was ultimately in control of it.
Until those tender and soft red lips, through the thin clothes, were imprinted with the scar on his waist.
Like a warm spring, it flowed into every part of his skin and finally gathered at his waist.
Unbearable.
How can I bear such a beautiful scenery?
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