Chapter 48 [48] Possessed by evil spirits, or possessed by ghosts? ...
【48】/First release
That night, Yun Ran invited Sima Jing to the hot spring for the third time.
Not surprisingly, it was rejected.
Qing Ling felt sorry for her: "Your Highness has that temper, my lady shouldn't ask any more questions."
Yun Ran remained calm and said, "Things never happen more than three times. Today is the third time. I won't ask again tomorrow."
Refusal once or twice was out of politeness, but refusing a third time meant he was truly resisting, so she stopped forcing him.
After returning from the hot spring, Yun Ran still slept in the same bed with Sima Jing.
She was sleeping soundly at night when she was woken up in a daze.
Yun Ran was half asleep. When she saw that it was Nanny Lan Gui who woke her up, she was stunned for a moment: "Nanny, what's wrong?"
Aunt Lan Gui: "Didn't the princess notice that His Highness is missing?"
After she said this, Yun Ran realized that there was someone missing by the bed.
Her sleepiness had mostly dissipated, and she looked stunned: "Where's His Highness?"
Nanny Lan Gui: "I just found out. Your Highness went to Tangquan an hour ago. It's snowing hard outside, and Your Highness only asked Changchun to accompany him. He hasn't returned yet. I'm really worried."
"Going to Tangquan so late?"
Yun Ran was surprised, then realized something was wrong: "One hour, that's too long."
Even though she likes soaking in hot springs so much, she can only soak for fifteen minutes at most. If she soaks for too long, not only will she feel dizzy, but her skin will probably be chapped.
"Then send someone to look for it in Tangquan."
Yun Ran raised his hand to rub his eyes and muttered, "Your Highness is the same. He ran out in the middle of the night without even saying hello..."
Nanny Lan Gui said, "The princess knows His Highness. He never likes others to pry into his whereabouts. Moreover, this is a very important place. If we rashly intrude, I'm afraid..."
She didn't finish her words, but Yun Ran understood: "Madam, do you want me to go find you?"
Nanny Lan Gui immediately knelt down and said, "Princess, please forgive me. Your Highness's situation is indeed special. Otherwise, how could I dare to disturb you..."
Yun Ran's eyelids jumped. "Madam, what are you doing? Get up quickly."
As she pulled the nanny up, she had an indescribable feeling in her heart. The nanny said that she didn't want to disturb her, but didn't she still wake her up?
Yes, going to look for Sima Jing late at night is indeed not an easy task.
But the palace maids don’t want to bring bad luck upon themselves, so should they let her go?
"Mammy, are you sure His Highness went to the hot spring?"
Aunt Lan Gui: "That's what the eunuch guarding the gate said."
Yun Ran: "It's so late, are there still palace servants guarding the Xingchen Soup?"
Nanny Lan Gui paused, lowering her eyelids. "Usually, there are two eunuchs on duty at night. After all, the hot springs are always hot, unlike the bathhouses where someone has to heat the water."
Yun Ran pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "In that case, I'll go over and take a look."
Nanny Lan Gui stepped forward to serve, but Yun Ran waved her hand: "Don't bother, I can do it myself."
Anyway, it was pitch black in the middle of the night, and she was too lazy to wash, comb her hair, or get dressed. She just found a hairband to tie on, and found a thick fox fur cloak with a hood to wrap herself up, then called the eunuchs to light the lamps.
Nanny Lan Gui escorted her out and asked, "Princess, don't you want Qing Ling to accompany you?"
The one on duty today is another senior palace maid, Yue Qiang. Qing Ling is probably in a dream right now.
"No need."
Yun Ran shook her head. She knew how painful it was to be woken up in the middle of the night. Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.
As for Aunt Lan Gui...
When walking out of the Feiluan Palace gate, Yun Ran suddenly turned around and looked at the kind-looking old nanny behind him: "Mammy, you will wait for me to come back, right?"
Aunt Lan Gui was not prepared for her words.
She had been in the imperial palace for decades and had seen all kinds of storms, but this was the first time she was frozen in place, her mouth dry.
Without waiting for her to answer, the tightly wrapped little princess smiled at her, put on her fluffy hood, and turned to leave.
The petite and light figure is like a light snowflake.
Accompanied by the red light of lanterns dotted like stars, it gracefully left and quickly disappeared into the vast night.
But for some reason, Nanny Lan Gui suddenly felt as if there was a void in her heart.
It's like losing something extremely precious.
For a moment, she wanted to call the princess and tell her the truth, but the words were on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't say them.
She could only comfort herself that this was a good thing.
Even if there is something hidden, it is for their own good.
She is not wrong.
The Queen Mother is also right...
It's all for their own good, how could it be wrong?
In the dead of night, the cold wind was howling and the sky was silent.
Yun Ran tightly held the hand warmer in his sleeve, and walked towards Xingchen Hot Spring in the cold wind, thinking about Sima Jing's current situation.
It would be best if he was just enjoying the hot springs and that was why he hadn't returned yet.
If he fainted in the pool because he soaked for too long, she would make fun of him for the rest of his life.
As for Nanny Lan Gui's strange behavior tonight, Yun Ran didn't want to think the worst of her. Perhaps Nanny really just thought that she was more familiar with Sima Jing, so it would be more appropriate for her to find him...
In any case, she hoped that Mammy would be on her side.
With a mess of thoughts in his head, Yun Ran soon arrived at the Star Soup.
The Tangquan Hall was not as brightly lit late at night as it was on normal days. The candlelight in the corridor was mostly extinguished, and there were no guards at the door.
Yun Ran didn't know what was going on in the palace late at night. She just thought it was the middle of the night and the palace servants had to go off duty and rest, so it was normal that no one was guarding the gate.
It was not until they reached the entrance of Xingchen Hot Spring that two eunuchs came to greet them hurriedly: "Greetings to the Princess, may Her Majesty live long and long."
Yun Ran motioned for them to excuse themselves and asked, "Is His Royal Highness Prince Jing in there?"
The two eunuchs looked at each other, and then one of them, the round-faced and fat-headed one, answered, "Yes, His Highness is in the hot spring."
"He's been soaking in the water for so long, and none of you went in to take a look?"
Yun Ran frowned and looked around: "Where is Eunuch Changchun? Why can't I see him? Is he serving in there?"
The fat-headed eunuch said, "Perhaps His Highness has given other instructions. A quarter of an hour ago, we saw Eunuch Changchun leaving."
Yun Ran frowned even deeper when he heard this.
What other instructions would Sima Jing have in the middle of the night?
"and you--"
Yun Ran pointed at the fat-headed eunuch and said, "Go in and tell him I'm here. Ask His Royal Highness Prince Jing if he's done soaking."
The fat-headed eunuch was immediately terrified and knelt down hurriedly, saying, "Please forgive me, Princess. It's not that I disobeyed your orders. Your Highness specifically ordered before entering that no one be allowed to enter. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy."
Kill without mercy? That serious?
She was confused, but seeing the two eunuchs in front of her looking trembling with fear, they did not seem to be faking it, and that order was indeed something Sima Jing would say.
"Forget it, you guys wait at the door."
Yun Ran sighed and said, "Everyone, keep your ears open. If I call you in, you must come in immediately without wasting a moment."
The two eunuchs were relieved when they heard this and responded in unison: "Yes, we servants will obey the princess."
Yun Ran looked at the tightly closed door of the hot spring, raised his hand to take off the hood on his head, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door open and walked in.
The wind inside the hall was not as cold as outside. As soon as I took a step, the unique sulfur smell of the hot springs hit my face, bringing a strong sense of warmth.
A few palace lanterns hanging from the carved dome emitted a dim glow, making the landscape paintings on the walls hazy. Although not as clear as when the lights were on, there was a kind of hazy beauty as if you had strayed into another world.
"Your Highness?"
"Your Highness, are you there?"
Yun Ran was already familiar with the Star Soup. This hot spring was not the largest, but it was convenient to come and go because it was closest to the Feiluan Palace.
She shouted twice, but there was no response from inside the hall, and her heart tightened.
Is it really that he fainted?
Or did you slip and fall?
Thinking of this, Yun Ran didn't care about anything else for a moment, and quickly walked around the eight-foot-tall, six-foot-long and wide agarwood carved four-seasons screen.
What came into view was the familiar mist-shrouded hot spring pool. Despite the dim candlelight, Yun Ran could still spot a tall, slender figure sitting quietly in the corner of the pool across from him.
However, the man was not soaking in the hot spring pool, but in a separate cold water pool in the pool.
Hanlu, the palace maid who gave Yun Ran a massage, explained that the cold water pool was for the nobles to use to soak their handkerchiefs and wipe their sweat.
Yun Ran wondered why Sima Jing went to soak in the cold water pool, and walked around the pool towards him: "Your Highness, didn't you hear me calling you? Why didn't you answer?"
Only when she got closer did she see Sima Jing's abnormally red face and his chest covered with scars that was exposed outside the pool water.
Yun Ran paused.
Just now, she thought the blurry marks on his chest were the shadows cast by the palace lanterns, but she didn't expect...
Why are there so many scars?
Looking around, it was densely packed, deep and shallow, hideous and intertwined, and it was almost impossible to find a single piece of intact good meat.
His scalp suddenly felt numb, and Yun Ran subconsciously closed his eyes to avoid looking at these horrible, twisted scars.
But soon, she thought of the owners of these scars.
Sima Jing.
"Your Highness?"
Yun Ran took a deep breath and opened his eyes, trying not to look at the horrific condition below the man's neck. He quickly walked over to him and squatted down. "Your Highness? Can you hear me?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"God, why is your face so hot?"
“…”
Sima Jing only felt that he was in a raging fire. The numbing and hot sensations as if thousands of ants were biting his body came alternately, almost overwhelming his sanity.
When he first felt something was wrong, he thought it was just the soft body of the person in his arms rubbing against him, so he started to move.
When the feeling of heat became more intense, he realized that it was the Chinese medicine - this dirty medicine had also harmed him once when he was in Rongdi.
That time he bit off the other person's ear and gouged out one of his eyes.
He didn't know whether it was the pleasure brought by the other person's screams that calmed the effects of the drug, or whether it was because he was hung upside down and whipped again and again, and his blood was almost drained, and the dirty desires in his body also flowed out.
In short, the price paid for that Chinese medicine was terrible, and I will probably never forget it until I die.
Unexpectedly, many years later, he was poisoned again in Sima's palace.
Of course he knew the simplest antidote, which was right in his arms, within easy reach.
But reason told him that he couldn't.
Even though he longed for her, even though she was his legitimate wife, it shouldn't be at this time.
When he was in such a miserable state, he was like a sensual beast who only knew how to have sex, taking advantage of others' misfortune.
What is the difference between this and those Rongdi people?
Although the cold pool water slightly relieved the dryness, I don’t know how much dosage the person who drugged me used. This time seemed a hundred times more unbearable than the last time.
He tried his best to restrain himself, but as soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with the image of Yun Ran, whose cheeks were flushed and eyes were sparkling after being kissed by him. Her gentle voice rang in his ears again and again: "Your Highness, Your Highness..."
"Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
Yun Ran was terrified to see that he was soaking in cold water but his hands were still burning. He pushed his shoulder and said, "Can you get up by yourself? If not, I'll call someone to help."
But before she could shout, the hand on the man's shoulder was suddenly strangled.
Her heart skipped a beat, and when she lowered her head, she met a pair of dark eyes.
Deep in those creepy eyes, there seemed to be a surging and terrifying undercurrent flashing, and that undercurrent seemed to burst out at any time and swallow her up.
"Your Highness?" Yun Ran's voice trembled. "What happened to you?"
Possessed by evil spirits or ghosts?
The hand holding her was getting tighter and tighter, as if trying to drag her into the water.
"No, don't!"
Yun Ran didn't want to go into the cold water pool. Not only would she freeze to death, she also didn't bring any clean clothes. "Someone, someone—"
She shouted outside, but there was no response.
Yun Ran’s face turned pale. Was he really seeing a ghost?
"Sima Jing, are you Sima Jing or not? I don't care what the hell you are, get off him right now!"
Yun Ran was just regretting that he had left in such a hurry that he hadn't brought any talismans or anything else. Suddenly, he saw the lightning-struck jujube wood string on his wrist. He quickly pressed it against the man's burning forehead, saying confidently, "The sky is clear and the earth is spiritual. The talisman frightens the evil. The Five Thunders are righteous. The Supreme One slays demons. Hurry and obey the command—"
Before she could even utter the word "retreat", her wrist was violently pulled, and she fell uncontrollably into the pool.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Even though Yun Ran could swim, she still choked twice. By the time her brain reacted, the pervasive coldness made her tremble all over.
Her little face was so pale and blue from the cold that she shivered as she tried to crawl to the edge of the pool. But before she could even scratch twice, the man's long arms hooked her around him and held her in his arms.
"Dear Lord... Ugh!"
Her lips were suddenly blocked. The man's lips and tongue were hotter than the pool water. The tip of his tongue pried open her tightly closed teeth as flexibly as a snake, and then entangled her tongue with great skill.
Yun Ran was completely stunned.
Sima Jing is so weird. Could it be that he is being haunted by some audacious pervert?
As she opened her eyes, she patted the man's bare chest vigorously: "Si... Sima... Um, Sima Jing, wake up..."
But the man kissed her even more fiercely, and pinched her jaw tightly with two long fingers, forcing her to open her mouth and let him ask for it.
Yun Ran felt like he was about to be driven crazy. It was okay that he kissed her so hard, but couldn't they just change the pool?
Since this ghost has taken over Sima Jing's mind and he can't reason with him, perhaps he can only go along with him for now.
Yun Ran originally wanted to wait until he had kissed her enough before negotiating terms with him.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, a hand stretched out from under the wet cloak.
Through a thin layer of underwear, the cold and rough touch, caressing the curves of waist and hips, was like a cold ghost hand, making Yun Ran's toes curl up and shoulders and back tense.
When the hand almost touched the heel, the string in my head snapped with a buzzing sound.
No, no!
The strong repulsion made her unable to care about anything else. She made up her mind and bit the other person's tongue hard.
The sweet taste of blood quickly filled his mouth.
The man felt pain and finally let go.
Yun Ran finally got some air, gasping for breath. His face turned pale as he said viciously, "I'm warning you, although my skills may be shallow, but... but I have someone above me!"
"If you don't get off him, I will destroy your soul and make you unable to be reborn!"
“…”
Sima Jing's dark eyes slightly opened, and there was finally a hint of clarity in his thick desire.
When he saw the young lady with disheveled black hair and soaking wet body in the mist, he frowned and said hoarsely, "Yun Ran?"
Yun Ran was swearing and floundering towards the edge of the pool when he suddenly heard the call and turned around abruptly: "Your Highness?"
"It's really you? You're back?"
Yun Ran caught sight of the clarity in the man's eyes and was instantly overwhelmed with joy. Without dodging, she quickly moved towards him, "Great! You're finally back!"
Suddenly, she seemed to think of something, and quickly took off the lightning-struck jujube wood necklace from her wrist and put it on Sima Jing: "You wear it first, so that the damn evil spirit won't haunt you again."
The pain on the tip of his tongue gradually dissipated, and Sima Jing only felt the heat in his body still surging, but the person in front of him...
"Why are you here?"
His voice was so hoarse that it seemed to be filled with anger.
"I saw that you hadn't returned to Feiluan Palace for a long time, and I was worried about you, so I came to see you... Ah, cut—"
Yun Ran shuddered, unable to bear the cold. This time he did not crawl towards the shore, but took off his heavy coat and turned over to crawl towards the hot spring pool next door.
When the warm pool water submerged his body, Yun Ran felt like he was alive again.
Before I could even catch my breath, I caught a glimpse of the man in the cold water pool with a frown on his face and cold sweat on his forehead, as if he was in great pain.
"Your Highness? Your Highness?"
Yun Ran called out twice, grabbing his hand across the pool wall, trying to bring him back to consciousness: "Hurry up and recite the exorcism formula with me..."
But his hand was pushed away violently.
Yun Ran was startled, but saw Sima Jing gritting his teeth and looking at her solemnly: "Go!"
"Your Highness?"
"I told you to leave!"
Sima Jing shouted, "If you don't leave now, I'll kill you!"
Yun Ran was frightened.
In the dim light, the man in the pool had disheveled hair and was covered in scars, but his face was as beautiful as a ghost.
And those narrow and beautiful eyes were now staring at her quietly and greedily, with a coldness and impatience in his furrowed brows that was completely different from his eyes.
"Okay... okay, I'll go... I'll go now!"
Yun Ran nodded blankly, then quickly swam to the other end of the pool.
Her cloak was gone, and the thin robe underneath was soaked through, but she didn't care to look disheveled. She hurried around to the other side, took two large towels, wrapped her body tightly, and stumbled out the door.
Sima Jing sat in the pool, looking at the slender figure that was hurriedly fleeing like an evil ghost, and a self-deprecating arc appeared at the corner of his bloody lips.
After all his calculations, he was still exposed in front of her in such a miserable state.
She must, she hated him.
…
…
After an unknown amount of time, a sound was heard again in the silent Tangquan Hall.
"Hurry! Hurry up!"
"No, wait, don't come in yet—"
Sima Jing was lying in the pool, his consciousness was drowsy, and he saw a familiar figure in a daze.
The next moment, something yellow was stuck on his forehead, and then a large piece of black fell down, covering his body completely.
"Alright, come in quickly and carry His Highness out!"
The palace servants outside received the order and hurriedly mustered up their courage to go inside.
By this time, the effect of the medicine had mostly worn off. Although Sima Jing felt dizzy and his limbs felt heavy, he still had a trace of consciousness and understood that she had called for help.
Even after being so scared, he actually... came back.
Seeing the eunuchs approaching, Sima Jing let out a deep breath, forced his eyes open, and said in a hoarse voice, "Get out."
The voice was not loud, but it could not be argued with.
The eunuchs looked at each other, then fell to their knees and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, spare my life."
Yun Ran had also changed into a new cloak at this moment. Hearing that his breath was weak, his tone was as calm and steady as usual, he couldn't help but ask carefully, "Your Highness, is that you?"
Sima Jing raised his hand, took off the yellow talisman on his forehead, and glanced at the black robe floating on the water.
He pursed his thin lips, grabbed his robe, and said in a deep voice, "I'm fine now. You can take them back."
Yun Ran's eyes lit up: "Are you really okay?"
Sima Jing: "Yeah."
Yun Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Although he wanted to ask him what was going on and how he could be possessed by an evil spirit out of nowhere, he saw that the blush on his face had faded and turned blue-gray, and it was obvious that he was beginning to feel cold.
"Then you clean up first, I...I'll wait for you outside."
"Go back to Feiluan Palace."
Without waiting for her to say anything else, Sima Jing said, "This is an order."
Yun Ran: “…”
Very fierce.
Forget it. Since he is out of danger and has taken her kindness for granted, she doesn't bother to care about him anymore.
"Then remember to come back early."
After she said this sullenly, she left with the eunuchs.
When I returned to Feiluan Palace again, the sky was faintly blue and white, and the palace servants in the palace were awakened.
After all, the princess suddenly returned in the middle of the night, rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for something while ordering someone to call the imperial physician, which was quite a commotion.
Seeing the exhausted and listless state of the princess, Qingling was frightened and hurried over with hot ginger tea: "Madam, what happened?"
After tossing and turning for most of the night and even falling into a cold water pool, even a strong body couldn't stand it.
Yun Ran was so tired that she didn't want to say a word. She gulped down the hot ginger tea, then fell on the warm couch and let Qing Ling dry her hair.
Seeing that she was so tired, Qingling considerately shut up.
Nanny Lan Gui hadn't expected such a good thing to turn out like this. Seeing the princess lying down exhausted, although she couldn't bear it, she still asked, "Princess, where is His Highness?"
Yun Ran was tired and sleepy. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Nanny Lan Gui. Out of respect for the elder, he still perked up and replied, "He's in the hot spring pool. He's fine now. He should be back later."
After saying this, he seemed to have used up all his strength and his eyelids closed heavily.
Aunt Lan Gui: "This..."
Qing Ling felt sorry for her mistress and couldn't help but retort to Matron Lan Gui: "My wife is already so exhausted. If you are really worried about His Highness, you can go and check on her yourself. It will be dawn soon anyway."
Upon hearing this, Nanny Lan Gui frowned and glanced at Qing Ling.
Qingling was still afraid of the old nanny from the palace, so she quickly lowered her head and continued to dry her master's hair.
Nanny Lan Gui was silent for a long while, but in the end she said nothing and turned to leave.
Hearing the footsteps gradually fading away, Yun Ran felt completely relieved.
It is said that those who are involved are often confused. The situation in the hot spring pool was too chaotic and she had no time to think.
But now think about it, was Sima Jing really possessed in that state?
Why does she feel like it's more like a trap?
-----------------------
The author has something to say: We will do it when it is time to do it, and we will do it happily when it comes naturally. The plot of doing it by drugging is not suitable for our 95 CP.
Anyway, this chapter drops a small red envelope, everyone has a happy weekend!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
