Chapter 294 This is Jiangdu Palace!
For a long time afterward, Shang Ruyi was trapped in a state of half-confusion and half-consciousness. She was rarely awake, and during the few brief moments of clarity, she could only see that the scenery around her seemed to be constantly changing. In this interplay of clarity and confusion, she managed to piece together a fact.
She was drugged and kidnapped.
This fact left her feeling somewhat powerless, yet within that powerlessness lay a subtle sense of relief that she herself could hardly perceive. Perhaps, leaving that man at this moment might not be such a bad thing after all.
But where is she going? And where can she go?
After a long period of darkness, Shang Ruyi finally regained some consciousness, a consciousness clearer than during her brief moments of lucidity these past few days. She felt weak all over, smelled a faint, elegant, cool fragrance in the air, and finally heard someone whispering, "Are you about to wake up?"
Then, the sound of footsteps seemed to fade into the distance.
Shang Ruyi gathered all her strength and finally opened her eyes at this moment.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a magnificent painting of the Penglai Wonderland, with auspicious clouds, flying phoenixes, and ethereal immortals. She was stunned for a moment, and then she looked more closely and realized that it was the pattern on the curtain hanging above her head. Looking further, she found herself lying on a large bed, with soft mattresses as soft as clouds. She was sleeping on it, almost as if she were sinking into a cloud.
Just as she was looking at everything around her, she heard the sound of water.
Shang Ruyi turned her neck with some effort and finally saw that she was in a huge room—or rather, it seemed to be inside a palace. Looking at the screen standing beside the bed, there seemed to be a vast space outside, so this must be the inner chamber of the palace. The surrounding furnishings were luxurious and exquisite, like a heavenly palace; a person stood by the window with his back to her, seemingly pouring water from a cup.
The person's back view looks somewhat familiar.
As Shang Ruyi was thinking, the man's elbow wobbled, accidentally knocking a cup off the table.
As the cup was about to fall and shatter, Shang Ruyi's heart instinctively jumped into her throat. But at that critical moment, the man quickly bent down, reached out, and steadily caught the cup.
Shang Ruyi opened her eyes wide in surprise, astonished by the man's skill.
Such quick movements.
What surprised her even more was that when the person turned around with the cup of water in hand, what was revealed was an incredibly familiar face.
Lying in the snow!
She looked up and found that Shang Ruyi on the bed was awake and looking at her. A hint of joy appeared on her face, and she hurriedly walked over: "Young Madam, you're finally awake."
"..."
Shang Ruyi looked at her without saying anything.
Indeed, her voice was terribly hoarse, and she had no strength left to speak. Fortunately, Wo Xue noticed her weakness and said softly, "You just woke up, so you must still be very weak. We've been giving you medicine and only some soup along the way. You need some time to recover your strength before you can move around freely."
As she spoke, she reached out to help Shang Ruyi to her feet and held the cup in her hand to her lips: "Drink some water first."
Shang Ruyi looked at her, then slowly lowered her head and took a sip.
The sip immediately made her shiver, and she began to drink the water in large gulps. The warm water moistened her lips and tongue, and brought her back to her senses. When her breathing finally calmed down and she regained all her senses, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wo Xue put the cup aside and immediately brought over a soft cushion to place behind her so that she could sit more comfortably.
After diligently completing all of this, she looked at Shang Ruyi again.
Their eyes met. Wo Xue's young and pretty face still held an almost innocent and frank expression, without the slightest evasion or guilt. On the contrary, Shang Ruyi, due to her weak breathing, seemed less resolute.
But it was Wo Xue who spoke first.
She said softly, "Young Madam... what do you want to say to me?"
Shang Ruyi looked at her for a while, then turned to look at the cup that she had caught and put back, and then smiled and said, "You've been by my side for so long, and I didn't even know you were so skilled."
"..."
"It seems I was too careless."
"..."
"However, if you didn't have such good skills, you wouldn't have been able to take a grown man like me away from that place."
Wo Xue blinked her big eyes and said, "Actually, there was never going to be a chance."
"oh?"
"Fortunately, the second young master lost blood and fell into a coma, and his life was hanging by a thread."
"..."
"The people on the estate were in complete chaos, which gave me the opportunity to take the young mistress away."
Shang Ruyi paused almost imperceptibly, but didn't ask any further questions. She simply smiled faintly and said in a nonchalant tone, "Is that so?"
Wo Xue tilted her head and looked at her for a while, finally unable to hold back and whispered, "Did the young mistress already know about me—"
Shang Ruyi looked up at her: "Hmm?"
Wo Xue said with a complicated expression, "Although I knew that I was a newcomer in the Yuwen family and could not get close to any secrets, I was always transferred away smoothly whenever there was something going on at home. Now that I think about it, it was all done by the young mistress."
"..."
"Moreover, you weren't surprised at all when you woke up and saw me, and you weren't even angry."
"..."
"When did you start to think there was something wrong with me, young mistress?"
Shang Ruyi said calmly, "A Yue kiln cup."
"...?!"
Wo Xue was stunned, her wide eyes filled with astonishment. She lowered her head and thought carefully for a while, then looked up at Shang Ruyi: "What... what did I do?"
Shang Ruyi calmly said, "I told you to search Chang Wan's room, and you picked at the cracks in the wall."
After thinking about it carefully, Wo Xue realized that there was indeed such a thing, but she had found nothing after trying to pick at the crack in the wall. She asked in confusion, "Is there a problem with this?"
Shang Ruyi said, "Hiding stolen goods in loose bricks and sealing them up is something that thieves in wealthy and powerful families would do; however, such things are rare, and even rarer are exposed. It is a secret that only people who have worked in such large families for many years would know."
As she spoke, she looked up at Wo Xue and said, "You came to the Yuwen family because Aunt Hui was too lazy to play tricks on me, so she specially bought a new maid; moreover, she has a relatively clean background and has not worked in other noble families."
"..."
"The fact that you know this proves at least that you come from a place far more powerful than that of noble families."
"..."
“From that time on, I suspected that you came from the palace.”
Wo Xue took a deep breath and muttered to herself with some annoyance, "At that time, I was only thinking about making a good impression on you and making you trust me more, but I didn't expect that I would expose my true colors instead."
After saying that, she looked at Shang Ruyi and asked, "Then why didn't the young mistress punish me?"
Shang Ruyi said, "If you really are from the palace, then you were sent by the emperor. Who dares to deal with someone sent by the emperor?"
"..."
"In fact, which noble family or royal household doesn't have someone sent by the emperor? Everyone knows it, but no one wants to bring it up."
"..."
"But this time, I—"
At this point, she gave a wry smile.
All her long-standing vigilance had gone unpunished, but this time, because of Yuwen Ye, she was so distressed that she lost her guard, which allowed Wo Xue to take advantage of the situation.
Wo Xue seemed to be stunned by her composure and tranquil wisdom. She stared at her blankly for a while before letting out a long sigh and saying softly, "This servant is sorry, young mistress."
However, there wasn't much remorse in her words for betraying loyalty.
It seemed to be just a sigh for the owner in front of him.
Shang Ruyi looked at her again and said softly, "However, I'm also very curious. You were clearly sent to the Yuwen family, but for so long, you haven't done anything or done anything out of line. Apart from that incident, you've hardly given yourself away. Sometimes I even start to wonder if my suspicions are unnecessary."
"..."
"Wo Xue, what exactly are you doing here at the Yuwen family?"
Wo Xue looked at her with a flickering gaze and said softly, "Actually, this servant will not do anything."
"...?"
Shang Ruyi opened her eyes wide in surprise.
Wo Xue continued, "This servant is only here on orders to serve the Second Young Master Yuwen and the Young Mistress Yuwen."
"..."
"If there is any purpose, it is to find out whether the two of you are really husband and wife; and to find out whether the Second Young Master Yuwen really abandoned the Princess for the sake of the Young Madam."
Shang Ruyi stared at her blankly, then took a deep breath.
So that's how it is.
Only then did she realize why the emperor had condescended to appear before her, disguised as Yang Suiyi, accompanying her to enjoy the scenery and relax, and even doing many things that an emperor should never have done.
It was because Yuwen Ye agreed to marry her and rejected Princess Xinyue.
She couldn't help but chuckle softly.
If the people in front of them, including His Majesty the Emperor, knew why Yuwen Ye had rejected Princess Xinyue, they would be dumbfounded, and their expressions would certainly be quite amusing.
Seeing Shang Ruyi suddenly laugh, Wo Xue looked surprised and whispered, "Young Madam?"
Shang Ruyi waved her hand, but this movement immediately made her feel weak again. She went limp and almost collapsed, but Wo Xue caught her quickly.
Wo Xue said, "But later, the mission was different."
"oh?"
"Later, he just stayed by the young mistress's side."
"..."
"Later—that is, this time, my task was to take the young mistress away from the Yuwen family and bring her here."
Shang Ruyi took a couple of light breaths.
Looking up at the enormous room again, surrounded by its luxurious and exquisite furnishings, her heart pounded even harder than when she was weak: "Where...where is this?"
Wo Xue opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the large door between the inner and outer chambers was suddenly pushed open.
Shang Ruyi felt a gentle breeze carrying an indescribable, elegant fragrance. She subconsciously turned her head, but through the screen, she couldn't see who it was.
All that could be heard was that familiar voice, carrying its familiar arrogance and childlike smugness, saying—
"This is Jiangdu Palace!"
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