Chapter 545 Warmth (Second Update)
The Emperor and Princess Ning'an rushed to the direction of Taiye Pond, and sure enough, they found Huangfu Xian covered in blood on the grass behind a rockery near Taiye Pond.
The scene was unforgettable for the emperor—Huangfu Xian's legs were not covered with a thick blanket as usual; his legs were covered in blood, his empty trouser legs fluttered in the cold wind, his hands were also covered in blood, and even his cheeks, the corners of his eyes, and his neck were covered in splattered blood.
A drop even trickled down the corner of his mouth.
His eyes were empty and sinister, and his figure was lonely and incomplete.
A strange feeling welled up in the emperor's heart, a feeling that seemed to be both disgust and horror.
One thought flashed through his mind: How could there be such a terrible child in the world?
Huangfu Xian was only thirteen years old, a year younger than Gu Xiaoshun, but the coldness he displayed was not something a normal person should possess.
The emperor's gaze fell on his empty trouser legs, and he suddenly choked up.
"Xian'er! What are you doing!"
Princess Ning'an rushed over, almost roaring. She grabbed Huangfu Xian's shoulders tightly and shook his thin body in despair. "What have you done!"
Huangfu Xian remained expressionless as she rocked him back and forth in the cold wheelchair.
Princess Ning'an, her eyes red-rimmed, said, "Speak! What have you done! Why did you do this!"
The emperor snapped out of his daze, stepped forward, and pulled Princess Ning'an away. Princess Ning'an covered her face, leaned against the emperor, and broke down in tears, crying, "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."
The emperor looked around but didn't see the dog's body. He wondered if the child had thrown the dog into Taiye Pond.
The emperor couldn't help but close his eyes and gasp at the thought that a thirteen-year-old child could be so cruel.
Because he was Ning An's son, he had to tolerate it.
Ning An has already suffered too much; he cannot let her suffer any more harm.
"Go back first, I'll talk to him," the Emperor said to Princess Ning'an.
Princess Ning'an glanced at Huangfu Xian with tears in her eyes. The emperor patted her shoulder reassuringly and said, "I won't do anything to him. I'll just have a few nice words with him."
With the emperor having said all that, it would be inappropriate for Princess Ning'an not to return.
Princess Ning'an choked back tears as she said to Huangfu Xian, "Don't make your uncle angry."
Huangfu Xian leaned back lazily in his wheelchair, looking like he didn't care about anyone.
Princess Ning'an turned around and went back to Bixia Palace.
The emperor looked at Huangfu Xian, hesitated for a moment, then took two steps toward him and stopped beside his wheelchair. The emperor then sighed deeply and said, "Xian'er, I know you are suffering. You have lost your legs and your father. I understand your sorrow."
"Heh." Huangfu Xian sneered disdainfully, clearly dismissing the emperor's words.
Since his ascension to the throne, no one except Empress Dowager Zhuang had dared to speak to him like this. He decided not to argue with a child for the time being and said, "Yes, I have never lost my legs, so I cannot fully understand all your pain. However, I have also lost my father, so I understand the pain of losing a father."
Huangfu Xian said sarcastically, "Your Majesty and I are not in the same situation. Your Majesty's father died of illness, while my father was murdered."
The emperor frowned and said, "Your father betrayed the court."
Huangfu Xian said calmly, "His court is the Dali Dynasty."
The emperor clenched his fists and gasped again.
You mustn't get angry with your own nephew, you mustn't get angry.
The emperor looked at him and said, "If you want to blame someone, blame me, not your mother. Don't do things that will make your mother angry."
Huangfu Xian didn't look at the emperor, but instead gazed at the calm surface of Taiye Pond not far away. He said in an icy tone, "She betrayed my father, and I will resent her. I will never forgive her in this lifetime. Of course, I will not forgive Your Majesty either. Your Majesty had better kill me as soon as possible, otherwise, once I have the power, I may continue my father's great cause of restoring the country!"
"you!"
"I am a member of the royal family of the Dali Dynasty. My father's blood flows in my veins. As long as I live, the Dali Dynasty will never perish!"
...
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Wei Gonggong's voice rang out from afar, growing louder as it approached.
The emperor regained his senses and realized that he had already returned to the imperial study and had been lost in thought for a long time.
He almost strangled the child; he almost killed him!
It was the child's striking resemblance to Ning An that brought him back to his senses.
He feared that if he stayed any longer, the emperor would order his execution, so he left him behind.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Eunuch Wei asked his emperor with concern.
The emperor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine. How is Xiao Qi?"
Eunuch Wei said awkwardly, "This servant sent the Seventh Prince to Kunning Palace and handed him over to the Empress. The Empress... seemed quite unhappy."
Who would be happy about this?
I was bullied once or twice, and by the same person.
Empress Xiao is not someone who is weak and easily bullied; it seems that Kunning Palace and Bixia Palace have formed a grudge.
The emperor rubbed his aching temples and said, "Have someone go to Kunning Palace and tell them that I will be dining there tonight."
This means they are going to appease Empress Xiao.
Eunuch Wei understood: "Yes."
Eunuch Wei has left.
The emperor's brow furrowed with worry, however, remained furrowed for a long time.
Empress Xiao is easy to appease, but the hurdle in his heart is not so easy to overcome.
His mind was filled with Huangfu Xian's words: "As long as I live, the Dali Dynasty will not perish!"
The remnants of the previous dynasty were so capable of causing trouble that they left a terrifying shadow in the emperor's heart.
In reality, Huangfu Xian was just a thirteen-year-old cripple. How could he possibly restore the kingdom?
However, another voice floated into the emperor's mind—he had the blood of the previous dynasty's royal family flowing in his veins, and he had inherited his father's mind and methods.
He is a child without any compassion or pity; if he grows up, he will cause endless trouble.
On the table was a memorial requesting that Princess Ning'an be conferred the title of Protector of the Nation Princess.
The emperor had already made up his mind that no matter how much the court opposed it, he would definitely give Ning'an the title of princess.
But now he suddenly felt uncertain.
Is he really going to appoint Ning'an as a female vassal?
In that case, after Ning'an's death, her fiefdom and the power of a prince will be inherited by Huangfu Xian. Wouldn't Huangfu Xian, who holds real power, become the second Prince Yi or the consort?
He had two choices.
First, Ning'an is to be conferred the title of Princess Protector of the Nation, with a rank equivalent to that of a prince, but Huangfu Xian must be killed to prevent future troubles.
Second, do not bestow titles upon Ning'an. Let Ning'an remain an ordinary princess, and let Huangfu Xian remain an ordinary playboy, so that he will never have the means to restore the kingdom.
...
On the other side, Huangfu Xian pushed the wheelchair back to Bixia Palace.
Princess Ning'an was waiting for him in his room. When he arrived, she dismissed the servants.
Only the mother and son remained in the room. Princess Ning'an looked intently at his legs: "Where is your blanket?"
“It’s dirty, throw it away,” Huangfu Xian said casually.
Princess Ning'an took a deep breath: "Huangfu Xian..."
Huangfu Xian interrupted her with a smirk: "Don't you want to know what I said to His Majesty?"
"What did you say to His Majesty?" Princess Ning'an asked.
Huangfu Xian laughed and said, "I hate you, and I hate him too. You killed my father. I will avenge him one day. As long as I live, the Dali Dynasty will not perish!"
Snap!
Princess Ning'an slapped him hard across the face!
The slap was merciless; Huangfu Xian fell to the ground, wheelchair and all. He rolled out of the wheelchair, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He looked at her with a cold smile: "Is that all the strength your mother has?"
Princess Ning'an's chest heaved violently as she glared at him furiously, her body trembling with suppressed rage.
Huangfu Xian laughed so hard he was shaking. The dried blood on his cheeks blended with the fresh blood at the corner of his mouth, giving him a strangely eerie look: "Mother, guess what? With a son plotting a rebellion, will His Majesty still make you the eldest princess?"
Princess Ning'an's nails dug deeply into her flesh: "From today onwards, you are not allowed to step out of your room!"
After saying this, Princess Ning'an turned and left.
No one came into the house to help him up.
Huangfu Xian lay sprawled on the cold floor, staring blankly at the carved beams above.
The world seemed to fall silent, and a cold wind blew in through the cracks in the window.
Huangfu Xian was so cold that he lost all feeling in his body and his crippled legs. He didn't move or make a sound.
Suddenly, a cooing sound came from the windowsill, as if a large bird had landed there.
Huangfu Xian didn't pay attention.
He just lay there, waiting to die.
Then a cute little figure climbed in through the windowsill and fell to the ground with a thud.
Huangfu Xian did try to raise his eyes, but unfortunately, he was frozen stiff and his eyeballs had limited range of movement, so he couldn't see anything.
Until that little figure came running over, and stood face to face with him upside down above his head.
"Little brother."
Xiao Jingkong greeted him.
"What are you doing here?" Huangfu Xian asked curtly, his eyes closed. "Is this a place you can come to?"
Ignoring his coldness, Xiao Jingkong walked around to his side and asked curiously, "What are you doing lying on the ground?"
Huangfu Xian scoffed, "Ha, is this fun?"
"Oh." Xiao Jingkong also lay down next to him.
Huangfu Xian: "..."
Little Jingkong lay there for a while, his little hands folded on his tummy: "But I feel so cold."
Huangfu Xian: Isn't that obvious?
Xiao Jingkong sat up and took out a small porcelain bottle from his purse: "Here you go."
Huangfu Xian said calmly, "What?"
Xiao Jingkong explained, "It's a wound medicine, used to heal injuries."
Huangfu Xian said coldly, "The dog is dead."
Xiao Jingkong said, "It's for you. Wasn't your hand injured?"
Huangfu Xian's eyelashes trembled slightly.
His hand was indeed injured, but no one noticed.
They all assumed the blood on his hands was from the dog.
Seeing that he didn't reach out to take it, Xiao Jingkong simply grabbed his hand and intended to stuff the wound medicine into it.
But when Xiao Jingkong grabbed his hand, he realized it was frighteningly cold: "Your hands are so cold! You can't lie on the ground anymore!"
Huangfu Xian said, "None of your business!"
Xiao Jingkong looked around and saw that his wheelchair had also overturned on the ground. He thought for a moment and said, "Did you fall?"
Huangfu Xian said coldly, "I told you not to interfere!"
Xiao Jingkong got up and, with great effort, straightened the wheelchair, which was larger than himself. Then he went to help Huangfu Xian.
Huangfu Xian was frozen stiff, so it wasn't easy to help him up. Xiao Jingkong thought for a moment, then grabbed one of his hands and started rubbing it, breathing on it as he did so: "You won't be cold anymore, you'll warm up soon."
Since losing his legs, Huangfu Xian has been extremely averse to being close to people. Even Princess Ning'an can hardly touch him. But the little guy grabbed his hand and rubbed it for a while.
Huangfu Xian, enraged and embarrassed, shouted: "Let go of me!"
Xiao Jingkong, mimicking how Gu Jiao usually touched Huangfu Xian's forehead, said, "It'll be fine soon, don't worry."
She even patted his head!
Huangfu Xian was about to explode!
After rubbing his left hand, Xiao Jingkong went to rub his right hand, and the right hand quickly warmed up as well.
Next, we should massage his legs.
That was a taboo subject he could not touch; it was incomplete and ugly, and even his own father would instinctively avoid it out of disgust.
Don't touch that area.
He'll go crazy!
Huangfu Xian stared intently at Xiao Jingkong.
Fortunately, Xiao Jingkong did not touch his legs. After warming his hands, Xiao Jingkong tried to help him sit up again.
Perhaps it was the excitement of that moment that made his blood surge, but his body was actually not so stiff anymore.
He sat up.
Xiao Jingkong pushed the wheelchair in front of him, and he gripped the armrests with both hands, gritted his teeth, and sat down.
"Does it hurt?"
Xiao Jingkong asked him.
This time it refers to his legs.
Huangfu Xian's Adam's apple bobbed, and he said calmly, "It doesn't hurt much."
Xiao Jingkong bent down.
Huangfu Xian thought he was going to roll up his trouser leg, and his expression changed drastically.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Jingkong simply stopped above his broken leg and gently blew on it with his little mouth: "Whoosh, it won't hurt anymore."
There was no fear or disgust in those innocent little eyes.
(End of this chapter)
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