Chapter 134 They Made Up Again
Bai Xiao's words were still ringing in his ears when Yuwen Che suddenly felt a familiar headache strike, more intense than before, accompanied by an unnamed irritability that rushed to the top of his head.
This time, he clearly sensed that something was wrong!
"Bai Xiao, investigate! Find out the truth for me immediately!" Yuwen Che suppressed his dizziness and anger.
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't linger. He used his lightness skill to leap down from the palace wall and returned to the Guanju Palace courtyard in a few leaps.
"Poria cocos!" he said urgently.
"This servant is here!" Fu Ling quickly appeared, her face still showing lingering panic.
"Go and take care of the Crown Prince and Princess. No one is to approach them without my orders!" Yuwen Che spoke rapidly, then raised his voice, "Han Ying!"
A dark figure appeared silently before him like a ghost, kneeling on one knee: "My lord."
"You will personally lead men to guard the Crown Prince and Princess, never leaving their side!" Yuwen Che's eyes were as cold as knives. "If anything happens to them, you will answer to me with your head!"
"Yes!" Han Ying accepted the order and disappeared into the direction of the inner hall in a flash.
Yuwen Che took a deep breath, trying to suppress the increasingly burning anger in his heart, and sternly ordered Li Dehai, who had rushed over upon hearing the news: "Li Dehai! Take my personal guards and search the palace for me! Immediately! Start from Guanju Palace, do not miss any corner! Summon all the imperial physicians and examine them one by one!"
Li Dehai was startled by this sudden order. In the middle of the night, why was such a large-scale search of the palace being carried out, especially of the Empress's bedroom?
"This old servant obeys the decree!" Li Dehai immediately bowed, then turned and shouted in a shrill voice to the guards and eunuchs waiting outside, "Did you all hear that? Search! Search thoroughly! Don't miss any corner! Quickly, summon all the imperial physicians immediately!"
In an instant, the once tranquil Guanju Palace was brightly lit. Footsteps, whispers, and the subtle sounds of searching items broke the silence of the night. The well-trained guards and eunuchs began to search methodically yet extremely quickly, from the main hall to the side halls, from the study to the storeroom, and even the small kitchen and the palace servants' quarters were not spared.
Yuwen Che stood in the center of the courtyard, his black dragon robe billowing in the night wind. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. An uncontrollable rage surged within him, and looking at the chaotic crowd before him, he needed almost all his strength to suppress the urge to unleash his fury.
He can't lose control, at least not now.
The imperial physicians were quickly summoned from the emperor's residence or the Imperial Hospital overnight. They were all disheveled and sleepy-eyed, but when they saw the emperor's gloomy face and the somber atmosphere in Guanju Palace, they were all instantly awakened and knelt down in fear.
"Your Majesty, may you be blessed with long life and peace..."
"Get up, all of you!" Yuwen Che impatiently interrupted their greetings, his piercing gaze sweeping over them. "I ask you, have there been any abnormalities with the medicines and incense I've been using lately? Who among you is responsible for checking them?"
The imperial physicians exchanged bewildered glances. The head physician, forcing a smile, replied, "Your Majesty, we have thoroughly examined all the items you have used recently, as per protocol, and found nothing amiss..."
"Nothing amiss?" Yuwen Che's voice suddenly rose, carrying a terrifying sense of oppression. "Then why have I been suffering from frequent headaches and being easily angered lately?! Is it because you are incompetent, or is someone deceiving the emperor?!"
"We dare not!" The imperial physicians were so frightened that they knelt down again, drenched in cold sweat.
Just then, an eunuch in charge of searching the sleeping quarters carried a gilded incense burner, walked quickly to Li Dehai's side, and whispered a few words in his ear.
Li Dehai's expression changed slightly. He quickly took the incense burner, walked to Yuwen Che, and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, this was found in a hidden compartment by your bedside in your palace... an unregistered incense burner, and inside... there is still some unburnt incense ash."
Yuwen Che's gaze instantly locked onto the exquisite incense burner.
That was one of the places where he usually used incense to calm his nerves!
He glared at the kneeling imperial physician, his voice icy and chilling: "Examine this! Examine this incense ash! Now! Immediately!"
The imperial physicians scrambled to their feet, gathered around, and took out silver needles and medicine to begin examining the small incense burner and the ashes inside with great anxiety.
Yuwen Che stared intently at their movements, his chest heaving violently, a violent rage that almost broke through his reason intertwined with a belatedly realized, icy chill.
Could it be... that someone really reached out and touched his pillow?
The imperial physicians examined the incense burner with trepidation for a long time. Finally, the chief physician, holding the incense burner with cold sweat on his forehead, reported: "Your Majesty, we have repeatedly examined this incense burner and the incense ash inside... and it is indeed just top-quality calming incense, and there is nothing... nothing wrong with it."
"Is there nothing wrong with it?" Yuwen Che's voice was deep, suppressing his surging anger. "Then why am I doing this?"
The imperial physicians prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to speak.
Seeing their panicked expressions, Yuwen Che took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his almost explosive anger. He waved his hand, his voice weary: "...All of you, step back. Keep it down, don't disturb the Empress."
"We take our leave." The imperial physicians, as if granted a pardon, quickly bowed and withdrew. Li Dehai also signaled the palace servants and guards who had been searching to quietly withdraw.
Yuwen Che sat alone in the outer hall, his hand supporting his forehead. Bai Xiao's words, the imperial physician's diagnosis, his recent unusual behavior, and... Xue'er's tearful eyes and the crisp sound of the slap kept intertwining in his mind.
He sat for a long time until the sky outside the window began to lighten.
Finally, he stood up and walked towards the door of the side hall, which had always been tightly closed. He hesitated for a moment, then gently pushed the door open.
Su Luoxue wasn't asleep. She sat quietly on the edge of the bed, her back to him, her thin shoulders trembling slightly. She clutched a simple wooden hairpin tightly in her hand, one he had crafted for her on a whim last year, its workmanship even a little rough. He remembered how she smiled, her eyes crinkling, when she received it, saying, "A-Che, you've given me so many precious treasures, but this one you made yourself is different."
She had always treasured it and couldn't bear to wear it, but now she held it tightly in her hand, as if it were the only piece of driftwood she had.
Yuwen Che felt as if his heart had been pierced by that wooden hairpin, a bitter ache washing over him. He walked quietly to her, then slowly knelt down, a position that required him to look up at her.
He saw the tear stains on her face, and her slightly swollen cheeks, which she tried to cover with her hair but could still see.
He raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears on her face, then carefully touched the red mark he had left.
"Xue'er..." His voice was terribly hoarse, filled with deep regret and trepidation, "Does it still hurt?"
Su Luoxue didn't look away or at him; instead, her tears flowed even more fiercely.
Yuwen Che's heart softened and ached completely from her tears. He apologized softly again and again, no longer the high and mighty emperor, but just a man who had done wrong and was afraid of losing his beloved: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Xue'er, I was a bastard, I deserve to die... I shouldn't have hit you, and I shouldn't have said those bastard things to you..."
He held her cold hand, enveloping it along with the wooden hairpin in his palm. He looked up at her lowered eyelashes, his voice almost pleading: "You can scold me, you can hit me, just don't ignore me... Xue'er, look at me, okay?"
Su Luoxue finally slowly raised her tear-filled eyes and looked at the man squatting in front of her. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face showed exhaustion and undisguised panic and regret. There was no trace of the violent look he had shown last night.
She opened her mouth, her voice choked and broken: "...Why?"
Why did she suddenly become so unfamiliar? Why did he attack her?
Yuwen Che held her hand tightly, his Adam's apple bobbing. He wanted to tell her about Bai Xiao's suspicions, about the inexplicable headaches and loss of control, but the words caught in his throat. He couldn't let her worry and fear unnecessarily without solid evidence.
He could only take all the blame upon himself, his voice low and earnest: "It's my fault... I was distracted by those affairs of the former dynasty and the harem, I lost my mind... Xue'er, I promise, it will never happen again. Please believe me, okay?"
He looked into her eyes and said, word by word, "You are my life, how could I bear to hurt you... Last night, I wanted to kill myself."
Looking into his eyes at the pain and sincerity, and recalling his unconditional love and care over the years… the ice in her heart finally cracked. She sobbed, and with her other free hand, gently touched his cheek, asking in a hoarse voice, “…Does it still hurt here?”
Her small gesture brought tears to Yuwen Che's eyes. He shook his head, buried his face in her knees, and said in a muffled voice, "It doesn't hurt... As long as you pay attention to me, it doesn't hurt at all."
Su Luoxue's tears fell again, dripping into his hair. She didn't speak, just let him hold her, and her other hand finally loosened its grip on the wooden hairpin, gently resting on his back.
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