Chapter 154 Washing Hands and Cooking Soup
Yuwen Che instructed Li Dehai: "Send the Crown Prince, the Princess, and Prince An to Fengyi Palace for proper accommodation. Have the imperial physician go with them and examine them carefully to ensure there are no mistakes."
"This old servant obeys the order." Li Dehai quickly agreed and instructed the wet nurses and nannies to carefully take the three children.
Yuwen Che then said to Su Luoxue, "Xue'er, let's go back to Sizheng Hall."
Su Luoxue immediately stepped forward to support him: "Walk slowly, be careful of the injury on your back."
Han Ying silently followed behind the two, leaving the other shadow guards to deal with the mess at Guanju Palace.
Walking back to the Sizheng Hall, Yuwen Che asked in a deep voice, "Xue'er, what exactly happened today? Tell me in detail."
Su Luoxue thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "I'm not really sure either. I had just gotten up at that time and was watching Hao'er teach Cheng'an and Ning'er to play chess."
"At first... I seemed to smell a faint sweet fragrance, but Cheng'an and Ning'er love sweets, and the side hall always has some pastries and candied fruits on hand, so I didn't pay much attention."
She paused, her tone tinged with lingering fear: "Until later, I smelled something burning, and I could vaguely hear crackling sounds outside, like wood burning."
"Fuling and Granny Zhang sensed something was wrong and rushed to check, only to discover that the palace doors had been bolted shut from the outside at some point and couldn't be opened at all! And outside... it was already on fire!"
Yuwen Che's eyes suddenly turned icy cold: "Sweet Fragrance? The door was bolted shut from the outside?" He immediately seized on the key point, "While you were inside the palace, did any outsiders approach? Or did any palace servants behave abnormally?"
Su Luoxue tried hard to recall, then shook her head: "There were only a few of us in the hall at the time. Zhang Mama and Fuling were serving us the whole time and didn't notice anything unusual. Until just before the fire started... it seemed like a palace maid left, but we were all watching the children and didn't pay much attention..."
Yuwen Che clenched his fist, his voice icy: "It seems that someone is working in cahoots with you, taking advantage of my absence from the palace, and intends to put you to death!"
He looked at Han Ying: "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly for me! Not a single palace servant on duty at Guanju Palace today shall be spared! Especially that maid who left early!"
"Yes!" Han Ying accepted the order and went to make arrangements in a flash.
"Xue'er, don't worry, I will never let anyone who dares to harm you get away with it."
Su Luoxue helped Yuwen Che up and gently advised, "I know you're determined to get to the bottom of this, but your injuries are the most important thing right now. Let's go back to the Sizheng Hall to rest, okay?"
Yuwen Che suppressed the surging anger in his eyes and nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
The two returned to the Sizheng Hall's sleeping quarters. Su Luoxue asked him to sit down on the couch first: "You sit and rest for a while. I'll go change my clothes; I'm covered in dust."
Yuwen Che said gently, "Alright, go ahead, but be careful."
As Su Luoxue's figure disappeared into the inner room, the gentleness on Yuwen Che's face vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling killing intent. He abruptly stood up, strode to the outer room, and said in a deep voice to the empty corner, "Night Shadow."
A figure, almost blending into the shadows, appeared silently and knelt on one knee: "My lord."
"Where is Bai Xiao?" Yuwen Che asked in a low voice.
"Reporting to my lord, Lord Bai Xiao has been sent back to the Shadow Pavilion's secret chamber to heal his wounds."
Yuwen Che nodded slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife: "You go and investigate personally who was behind the fire at Guanju Palace today. Find out—" He paused, his murderous intent fully revealed, "Kill them without exception, no need to report back."
He paused, then added, each word dripping with bloodshed: "Find her family and eliminate them one by one. Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."
Nightshade answered without hesitation: "Yes!"
Yuwen Che coldly ordered, "The Empress must not know anything about this. Clean it up completely, and leave no trace pointing to the palace."
"Understood!" Nightshade accepted the order, and with a flicker, disappeared from the spot like a ghost.
Silence returned to the bedchamber, as if nothing had happened. Yuwen Che stood there, his eyes as deep and dark as night.
Su Luoxue changed her clothes and came out, but Yuwen Che was nowhere to be seen. She became anxious and quickly looked for him, saying, "A-Che, why are you out here? You're still injured!"
When Yuwen Che saw her come out, his expression softened instantly. He took her hand and said, "I'm fine." As he spoke, his fingertips naturally touched her wrist to check her pulse. He focused intently on the changes in her pulse and confirmed that the antidote had indeed taken effect.
At this moment, Li Dehai quietly entered and reported: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the Princess, the Crown Prince, and Prince An have all been settled in Fengyi Palace. The imperial physicians have examined them and found that the three princes were only slightly frightened and are otherwise fine. They have drunk some calming soup and are now asleep."
Yuwen Che nodded slightly: "Okay, I understand."
Su Luoxue took Yuwen Che's hand in return, looked up at his bloodshot eyes and the undisguised exhaustion between his brows, and said softly with heartache, "Ache, why don't you go and rest for a while? You haven't slept for two days..."
"I'll stay here with you, just as you used to stay with me. Let me stay with you too, okay?"
Yuwen Che thought of the wound on his back and the exhaustion from days of travel, realizing he did need to recover his strength to deal with what was to come. He finally nodded, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of dependence: "Alright... then you stay with me."
He let Su Luoxue help him slowly walk back to the bedside in the inner room. After he lay down, he held her hand tightly, as if only in this way could he suppress the lingering fear in his heart.
Su Luoxue sat by the couch, watching him rest with his eyes closed, his brows still slightly furrowed. She couldn't help but reach out her other hand to gently smooth his brow, and whispered, "Sleep, I'm here."
Under her comforting words, Yuwen Che's tense nerves gradually relaxed, a heavy sense of fatigue washed over him, and his breathing gradually became even and long.
Su Luoxue sat quietly, watching over him, just as he had protected her countless times before.
Only when his breathing became slow and even, confirming that he had fallen into a deep sleep, did she carefully and little by little withdraw her hand from his palm.
She got up, walked lightly out of the bedroom, and headed towards the small kitchen.
Seeing this, Li Dehai and several palace maids quickly followed. Li Dehai said urgently, "Your Highness, if you need anything, just tell this old servant to fetch it. Why bother coming all this way yourself?"
Su Luoxue didn't stop walking: "You go and guard His Majesty. I... want to cook something for him myself."
Upon hearing this, Li Dehai turned pale with fright and quickly stepped in front of her, lowering his voice to persuade her, "Your Majesty! You mustn't, you absolutely mustn't! The kitchen is full of grease and fumes. If you accidentally bump into something or get hurt, His Majesty will surely crush this old servant's bones when he wakes up! Your Majesty, please think it over!"
Su Luoxue stopped and looked at him: "Li Dehai, I order you to go back and guard His Majesty."
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Li Dehai knew that further persuasion would be useless, so he could only bow with a bitter face and say, "Yes... this old servant obeys." He returned to his bedchamber with many backward glances.
Su Luoxue stepped into the small kitchen, instructed the palace maid to start a fire, then rolled up her sleeves and said to the trembling palace maid beside her, "You teach me, but you are not allowed to help me."
"Yes...yes, Your Highness," the palace maid replied nervously.
Looking at the ingredients in front of her, Su Luoxue was at a loss and humbly asked, "This... how should I prepare it?"
Following the palace maid's instructions, she clumsily but earnestly worked on the task, occasionally asking, "Is this... alright? Is it cooked?"
The palace maid watched in alarm, cautiously reminding her, "Your Highness, this heat is just right... but... this doesn't seem quite right yet, it needs to cook a little longer..."
Once everything else was ready, Su Luoxue wanted to make Yuwen Che a bowl of chicken soup. Looking at the cleaned and plucked chicken in front of her, she instinctively took a half-step back. Although it was no longer alive, she was still somewhat afraid.
Seeing this, the palace maid beside her quickly whispered, "Your Highness, let me do this bloody work..."
"No need!" Su Luoxue immediately interrupted her, took a deep breath, and her gaze became firm again. "I will do it myself."
She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, gritted her teeth, and clumsily began to process the chicken, following the steps the palace maid had instructed her to take.
The palace maid watched in terror, yet dared not touch her, only cautiously instructing, "Your Highness, the internal organs must be removed like this... Yes, be careful... then rinse them clean with water..."
Su Luoxue endured her discomfort, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on her forehead, but her hands did not stop moving. Following the palace maid's instructions, she cleaned the chicken step by step, then put it into the prepared casserole, adding the ginger slices and water prepared by the palace maid.
"Your Majesty, the water should cover the chicken... Yes, that's it. Now cover the pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour, until the chicken is tender..."
The aroma of chicken soup gradually filled the small kitchen. She looked at the bubbling clay pot and imagined Yuwen Che waking up to drink the soup she had personally made. A happy smile appeared on her face.
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