Her anger and resentment had subsided, and now Su Yushan felt only guilt.
She thought Hongli still doubted her, but little did she know that he had been considering her interests all along and had been doing so many things for her in secret.
Overwhelmed by guilt, she did not flinch. When his lips moved to hers and he tried to pry open her teeth with his soft tongue, she finally stopped resisting. She slowly opened her lips, acquiescing to his invasion of her territory, and even began to entwine her lips and tongue with his, their breaths mingling.
Later, she became breathless and sobbed helplessly. To Hongli's ears, the sound was like a seductive melody. He had intended to stop after a brief kiss, but he couldn't help but deepen the kiss.
He held her so tightly that he completely forgot she had just given birth and was still recovering. It wasn't until a cry of pain escaped her lips that Hongli jolted and immediately released her.
"Did it aggravate the wound?"
Su Yushan frowned, bowed slightly, and nodded with difficulty. Hongli secretly scoffed at his own foolishness, and quickly picked her up and carried her back to the tent.
He wanted to call a doctor, but she grabbed his wrist. "Oh, no need to make a fuss. I'm fine. I just need to lie down and rest."
In that instant, she could clearly feel his pulse beating, and he could feel the warmth of her palm on his wrist.
The moment he lowered his gaze, Su Yushan seemed to sense something amiss and hastily withdrew her hand. Her shy demeanor perfectly captured the nervousness and embarrassment of a young woman experiencing her first love.
Hongli chuckled, "Alright, you rest first. Tell me if you feel unwell, don't force yourself."
He sat there beside her bed, and from the angle from which she lay, she could clearly see the unusual thing beneath his robe. Embarrassed, she immediately looked away.
"Why are you having impure thoughts again? You'd better just bear with it! I'm still in my postpartum period!"
Of course he knew, otherwise why would he have let her go so quickly? Silently calculating, Hongli couldn't help but sigh:
"I have endured it for eight months. I never thought that I would be so detached from worldly desires at such a young age, living a life like a monk."
Su Yushan blushed and muttered softly, "Didn't I help you before?"
Her hands must have worked so hard. Hongli gently squeezed her palm and whispered hoarsely, "It's not enough. I want to feel the real you."
"Then I'll just have to ask you to be patient and wait another month. If you really can't stand it..."
Hongli, thinking she had some good idea, looked at her expectantly and asked, "How about it?"
Her ears gradually turned red, and her voice was barely audible, "I'll help you one more time!"
He did want to, but seeing how badly she looked, he really couldn't bear to hurt her. "Never mind! You still need to rest, so I won't trouble you. I'll take good care of you after you finish your postpartum period."
Upon hearing this, Su Yushan blushed even more, and shrank back into the quilt in embarrassment, not daring to reply.
In reality, Hongli could sense that her heart had been unlocked, but she might still have some reservations. The lock was still hanging there, and he wouldn't break in. He would continue to wait until she completely let down her guard and took the lock down herself.
After clearing their minds, both of them felt relieved. Thinking back to that incident, Su Yushan casually asked, "Has the matter of the midwife been investigated?"
Hongli had just relaxed a little when he heard this, and his heartstrings tightened again. He then nodded and said, "It's been found out. It was my mother's idea. That pill... is used to induce labor. It's extremely harmful to the body. It would not be used unless absolutely necessary. My mother only cares about the offspring and has neglected you, which is why she instructed the midwife to use that pill."
This is why he dared not promise to always tell her the truth, simply because she was his mother. He dared not tell Su Yushan that it was poison, and dared not let her know that his mother actually wanted to take the opportunity to kill her.
He was afraid that Yu Shan would be hurt, and even more afraid that the conflict between the two of them would deepen and become difficult to resolve. If the two of them met in the future, how should they get along?
After hearing this, Su Yushan lowered her eyes and remained silent. Although Hongli did not continue speaking, she understood that this matter was very thorny and that he could not treat Consort Xi the same way he had treated Jin Minjing.
It seems this matter can only be left unresolved.
She didn't accuse or blame him, she just sighed and then fell silent, probably because she didn't want to put him in a difficult position.
Seeing this, Hongli felt even more guilty. "Mother's actions have gone too far. This is no small matter. I will definitely find a solution and will never let Mother hurt you again."
As a mere maid, she had no right to enter the palace and could not possibly see Consort Xi. This matter could only be handled by Hongli.
If he could persuade Consort Xi to let go of her prejudice against her, it wouldn't be a bad thing. Even if he couldn't, she wouldn't blame him. After all, he had already tried his best. Right now, he was just a prince under someone else's control. He had to abide by palace rules and be filial to his parents. The whole world was watching! She couldn't possibly make him turn against his mother for her sake, could she?
She no longer cared about the outcome; as long as he was on her side, her and her child's lives would be easier.
Hongli took this matter very seriously. This time his mother dared to use poison, and who knows if she would dare to use other methods next time. Therefore, he had to deal with it as soon as possible to prevent Yushan from being harmed again.
Two days later, one morning, after Hongli finished his court session, it was still early, so he took the opportunity to go to Jingren Palace to pay his respects to his mother and present her with the medicine.
The old woman took it, opened her palm, and Consort Xi glanced at it, her heart tightening, but her face remained calm. She neither asked nor denied anything, leaning nonchalantly against the soft couch, stroking the gold-inlaid jade nail guard between her little fingers, and lazily said:
What are you trying to say?
He had so much to say, but he had to hold back because the other person was his mother.
Taking a deep breath, Hongli reminded himself to calm down, to be careful with his words, and to consider his mother's feelings.
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