Chapter 84 Who is he?
Shen Panyan ultimately failed to drive him away.
As he shakily rose from the ground and slowly stepped out of the door, Lin Xiao could no longer support himself. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground before even stepping out of the door.
Leaving the Dark Guard Camp without arousing suspicion was no easy task. Even though he deliberately avoided his vital parts when falling off the cliff, he still suffered serious injuries.
After falling off the cliff, he didn't have time to treat his injuries before he had to deal with what happened after his "death." Although no one in the Dark Guard Camp except Shadow knew his true appearance, he still altered all the differences between the other person and himself to prevent the secret from being revealed.
He didn't leave the place until the Dark Guard camp confirmed his death, and sped back to the capital.
He had promised His Highness he would return to see her sooner, and he had already delayed for a long time. Before leaving, he had only treated his injuries briefly. On horseback, he had been jostled all the way, relying entirely on his internal strength to prevent his injuries from worsening. He hadn't paid any attention to anything else. It wasn't until he entered the capital today, before coming to see His Highness, that he had properly treated all his injuries so that he wouldn't look so disheveled and unsightly.
Seeing this, Shen Panyan's heart nearly stopped in fright. She quickly stepped forward to support him and shouted, "Zhuzhi!!"
Zhu Zhi, who was guarding outside, hurried in and was startled to see an unconscious person lying at her feet. "Princess, this is...?"
Shen Panyan hurriedly took off her jade pendant and gave it to her, speaking very quickly, "Quickly, take this to Physician Lin's house and ask him to come over. Tell him I'm sick."
"yes."
Zhuzhi took the jade pendant and hurriedly went outside.
After Zhuzhi left, Shen Panyan called Qingdai over and asked her to summon a few people. After a lot of chaos, Linxiao was finally settled.
She settled him in a side room next to her own and forbade everyone to keep quiet about what happened there. Otherwise, they would all be treated as traitors. She also gave a good scolding to a few troublemakers who had been disobedient in the past. With a combination of kindness and severity, everyone was trembling with fear and kept their mouths shut, not daring to say a word.
Physician Lin really thought it was Shen Panyan who was ill, so he rushed over with his medicine box. But to his surprise, he found Lin Xiao instead.
"Quickly check on him, see what's wrong with him."
Seeing Lin Xiao's face as pale as paper and his unconscious state, Physician Lin could only sigh at the tragic fate and quickly stepped forward to examine him.
After some examination, Shen Panyan learned that Lin Xiao had suffered severe internal injuries. In fact, because he had been forcing himself to endure it, his injuries had worsened. In addition, he had no less than five knife wounds and abrasions of varying sizes on his body. He needed to rest properly, otherwise his life would be in danger.
Shen Panyan was both shocked and furious after hearing this. She had suffered such serious injuries, yet she claimed that her injuries were minor.
He doesn't care about his body at all.
If he hadn't fainted, would he still have kept it a secret...?
Even though she was furious, Shen Panyan had already made all the arrangements. She certainly couldn't get rid of him now, but once he recovered, she would never keep him around again.
His injuries made her realize his stubbornness, and she had to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
If she dragged it out any longer, she was afraid she would soften her heart.
Shen Panyan turned and left, leaving only a young eunuch to take care of him.
Qingdai and Zhuzhi looked at her, about to say something, "Princess..."
Shen Panyan reached out to stop them from finishing their sentence, "You don't need to persuade me anymore. I understand. Once he recovers, I will send him away and won't let him stay in the princess's residence forever."
Seeing that the princess had truly understood, the two men couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Yes."
"This matter must not be spread. You all keep an eye on things. Anyone who dares to utter a word of dissent will be sold off. The Princess's residence cannot tolerate such a talkative person."
"yes."
After all that commotion, it was very late when Shen Panyan finally got to rest. The next day, he was still unconscious. Shen Panyan went to see him once, but after he woke up on the third day, she never went to see him again, and didn't even ask about his injuries.
Shen Panyan thought that if she became cold towards him, he would give up. However, he had only been awake for a short time when he disregarded his injuries and got out of bed to kneel down in front of her door.
He didn't say anything, just knelt there. His already weak body lost even more color after all that commotion, and he was on the verge of collapse.
Seeing him disregard his own health like this, Chen Panyan was furious. She opened the door and walked out, yelling, "Don't you know you're seriously injured? Instead of resting, what are you doing kneeling here? Go back!!"
Lin Xiao's voice was hoarse, "Your Highness, I know I was wrong. I have been too indulgent in Your Highness's leniency and have forgotten my place. I beg Your Highness's forgiveness!"
He has always been stubborn. If we let him continue to cause trouble, who knows what kind of mess he will make of himself. Shen Panyan took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I forgive you. Get up and go back. Lie down properly and leave the princess's residence after your injuries have healed."
“I will give you some money, which will also serve as a way to end our master-servant relationship.”
"Your Highness!!" Lin Xiao suddenly raised his head, knelt down and took a step forward towards her, "Lin Xiao knows he was wrong, Lin Xiao really knows he was wrong, please, don't send Lin Xiao away, okay?"
He reached out and grabbed the hem of her skirt, pleading softly.
Shen Panyan took a step back and pulled the hem of her skirt out of his hand. "I've already conceded by tolerating you recuperating at the Princess's residence. Don't push your luck any further."
Lin Xiao watched as the pale pink hem of the skirt slipped through his fingers like water that he couldn't hold, and his eyes suddenly reddened.
"Your Highness..."
He pleaded again.
Shen Panyan said firmly, "There's no need to say anything more. Get up. My mind is made up and I won't change it. I don't need you to do these meaningless things."
Lin Xiao smiled bitterly, "If it's meaningless, why did Your Highness come out to see me? Why did you save me? Wouldn't it have been better to just let me fend for myself here?"
"You..." Shen Panyan said angrily, "Are you threatening me?"
Lin Xiao lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing him remain silent and stubborn, Shen Panyan's forehead veins bulged. She turned around and said coldly, "Fine, kneel if you want. If you don't value your own life, no one can save you."
"Kneel if you want, kneel as long as you want, I can't control you."
After saying that, Shen Panyan stormed back to her room.
She didn't leave her room all afternoon.
Although they decided to leave him alone, he was already injured, and it was early summer. Although the weather wasn't very hot yet, the air was already feeling stuffy and the sun was shining directly on him. If he continued to kneel, he would probably suffer from heatstroke, which would only worsen his injuries.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Panyan whispered to Zhuzhi to go and see if he had left. If he hadn't, she told him to leave.
Zhu Zhi accepted the order and went out. Looking at the pale-faced, sweat-drenched black-clad youth at the bottom of the steps, he pursed his lips and knelt upright in the scorching sun, as if he would never get up unless the princess agreed. Zhu Zhi couldn't help but feel a headache for the princess and took a step forward.
"Lin Xiao, the princess said that kneeling here is useless. She won't change her mind. You should go back and rest well to recover."
Lin Xiao didn't speak, and didn't even look at her. He just knelt there, his eyelashes lowered.
Zhu Zhi said a few more words, but seeing that he still ignored her, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. Why was this person like this? She turned around and went back to report, "Princess, he is ignoring me."
Shen Panyan was both helpless and angry. His stubbornness made her wavering resolve firmer, and she said stiffly, "Let him kneel if he wants to. Don't worry about him."
In any case, she would never tolerate him and give him hope again and again, just like Cining Temple did. She would never make the same mistake twice.
The two remained deadlocked until midnight. She had gone to bed early, but the thought of Lin Xiao kneeling outside kept her awake, tossing and turning in bed.
He neither eats nor drinks, and just kneels like that. How can anyone endure this if it continues?
Should she agree to his request, or at least agree to it temporarily until he recovers?
Shen Panyan suddenly sat up in bed. Just as she was hesitating, she heard a sound of something falling to the ground outside. Shen Panyan hurriedly got out of bed and went out to see what was happening. She saw him lying unconscious on the ground. She was both angry and helpless. Her eyes stung and tears fell in the blink of an eye.
Why is he so stubborn? He knelt there until he fainted and still refused to leave.
Did he really think that by putting himself through this, she would agree?
How come he doesn't know how to take care of his body at all?
Shen Panyan quickly had someone take him back to his house. Looking at his pale face and his chest rising and falling very weakly, it felt as if a huge stone was blocking his chest, making it so uncomfortable that she could hardly breathe.
This is the person she loves, the person who would risk getting hurt to give him his freedom. How could she not feel heartache seeing him injured and unconscious?
After instructing someone to take good care of him, Chen Panyan bit her lip, lowered her eyelashes, and returned to her room. "Zhuzhi, tell me, should I give in? He's torturing himself like this, I'm really afraid he'll..."
Zhu Zhi countered, "Princess, he betrayed His Majesty and fled his side. If he stays in the capital, he will have to live in constant fear. Moreover, even if he follows you, there are many places he cannot go. He will have to hide every day. Do you want him to live like a rat in the street?"
Shen Panyan clenched her fists. "Of course, I don't want that."
"But he can disguise himself. I can have him conceal his identity and act as my guard by my side. Wouldn't that be just as open and aboveboard..."
“But Princess, he may be able to disguise himself, but His Majesty has many people who can do the same. If he stays by your side, he will inevitably run into his former colleagues. For those who know him well, a single action or behavior might be enough to see through him. Even if he is very good at disguising himself, as you saw today, he cares about you very much. If something happens to you one day, he might slip up in his anxiety and be seen through by others. You know the result without me having to say it.”
Every road leads to a dead end.
Chen Panyan said in a muffled voice, "I understand."
Having witnessed his stubbornness today, Zhuzhi thought for a moment and said, "Princess, he will naturally not agree to your sudden separation and will be reluctant to part with you. But if you persist, he will eventually understand."
"A short pain is worse than a long one. If the princess gives up now, it will be like abandoning the task halfway."
"Hmm." Shen Panyan's knuckles curled up, her voice muffled.
"But I'm really worried about him not taking care of his health like this..."
“Princess, if you compromise, he will ask for even more. You must know his character much better than I do.” Zhuzhi shook her head.
However, she didn't offer any more advice. If she said too much, the princess would get annoyed. Matters of the heart are things that one needs to think through for oneself.
"I understand. You can go now. Let me think about it."
"yes."
Shen Panyan sat by the bed, unable to sleep all night.
The next day, when Lin Xiao woke up and was about to get out of bed to apologize to her, disregarding his own health, Shen Panyan opened his door first.
"Lin Xiao, if you continue to disregard your health and do this, you will leave the princess's residence today."
"I mean what I say."
After saying that, Shen Panyan ignored his reaction and turned to leave.
“Your Highness…” Lin Xiao watched her disappearing figure in the distance, then slowly withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyelashes.
He didn't understand why His Highness insisted on letting him leave.
What did he do wrong that made His Highness abandon him?
Regardless of His Highness's reasons, the fact that she is still willing to let him stay in the Princess's residence shows that she still cares about him.
If he angers Her Highness again, she will really send him away immediately.
Once you leave the princess's residence, returning won't be as convenient as it is now.
Lin Xiao lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes to rest.
His injuries were too much to bear, and he wanted to beg His Highness to let him stay, not to die.
Over the next few days, Lin Xiao focused on recovering from his injuries and didn't do what he did before. Shen Panyan breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt at ease.
If he were to kneel in front of her door again, she really didn't know what she would do.
If this continues, she might actually give in. Fortunately, what she said still holds true.
Every few days, Shen Panyan would ask Physician Lin to examine Lin Xiao. Only when she saw that his injuries were gradually improving and no longer life-threatening did she feel completely relieved.
Although she pretended not to visit him or care about how he was doing, she secretly inquired about Zhuzhi and Qingdai, and had someone bring the best medicinal herbs from the storeroom to brew for him to drink.
She was afraid that if she did something too conspicuous, he would notice something, so she had all the work done by the maids below her.
But she forgot that Lin Xiao himself knew medicine, and even if his medical skills were not very good, he could still tell whether the medicine she was drinking was good or bad.
The eunuch who was taking care of him was given a strict order by Shen Panyan: he must not say a word except to take care of him. Knowing that he could not get anything out of him, Lin Xiao did not force him.
The master of the princess's residence is His Highness. If His Highness truly didn't care about him, he wouldn't be living such a good life.
Forget about having someone to take care of him when he's injured; just having a house to shelter him from the wind and rain, and a bed would be enough for him to kneel down and express his gratitude.
His Highness was still the same as before. Even though he pretended not to care, he couldn't do it convincingly, and it was easy for the prince to find his flaws.
*
Before we knew it, a month had passed.
After learning that Lin Xiao's injuries had mostly healed, Shen Panyan stopped asking about his whereabouts as urgently as before.
Once his injuries have mostly healed, it's about time he was allowed to leave.
Shen Panyan had planned everything perfectly, but she hadn't expected that Gu Jinyan, who had been missing for a long time, would suddenly appear in the princess's residence. It seemed that he had even climbed over the wall to get in. Not only that, but he also ran into Lin Xiao, who was just going out to look for her. The two bumped into each other. When Zhuzhi rushed over to find her in a panic, Shen Panyan couldn't even imagine what such a scene would be like.
She thought that, given Lin Xiao's personality, the two would definitely have a fight, but to her surprise, when she arrived, she saw Lin Xiao with his eyes down, being scolded by Gu Jinyan without saying a word.
"Who are you? Why are you in the princess's residence? I've never seen you before."
"Judging from your appearance, you must be a servant of the princess's residence. Why don't you kneel down and pay your respects to your master?"
"Before you entered the manor, didn't anyone teach you what rules were?"
Seeing that Gu Jinyan insisted that Lin Xiao kneel and pay his respects, Shen Panyan didn't dare to delay and quickly stepped forward to stop him, "Gu Jinyan!"
"Princess, you've arrived!" Hearing Shen Panyan's voice, Gu Jinyan turned her head, her eyebrows first lifting in a smile, then her gaze fell on Lin Xiao. "Princess, who is this person? Is he a new servant in the Princess's residence? Why is his personality so unpleasant? He met me, but not only did he not bow to me, he also pretended not to see me and walked right past me."
He frowned. "Princess, this kind of unruly servant should not be allowed to stay in the manor any longer, lest he cause future trouble."
Only then did Lin Xiao raise his eyes, look at Shen Panyan, and whisper, "Your Highness..."
Shen Panyan first glanced at Lin Xiao, her gaze lightly sweeping across his face. Seeing that he was alright, she then looked at Gu Jinyan.
“This is the Princess’s residence, not your Rongguo Duke’s residence. It is none of your business how my servants behave.”
She and Gu Jinyan had already fallen out, so there was no need for her to pretend to anger Lin Xiao as before; it was pointless.
Shen Panyan now feels a headache whenever she sees Gu Jinyan.
As soon as Gu Jinyan saw Lin Xiao, her heart skipped a beat, and she felt that something was not right.
The princess never associated with other men, so why would such a man suddenly appear in her residence? Moreover, he was quite handsome. Even though she had seen many good-looking young men in the capital, she had never encountered a man with such a pale and handsome face. At first glance, one could see a small mole on the tip of his nose, like a red plum blossom adorning a painting of ink in the deepest and lightest shades of winter.
Even he had to admit that he was extremely good-looking.
Gu Jinyan: "Princess, we are about to get married. He is staying in your residence. Am I not even allowed to ask him a question?"
Shen Panyan just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. "What do you want to ask? Just say it!"
"who is he?"
"An insignificant person."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao glanced at her, then slowly lowered his eyes, remaining silent and pursing his lips.
Gu Jinyan didn't believe her words. A man alone in a woman's house, and she was protecting him like this. Just thinking about it made him feel like he was going crazy.
He was clearly the prince consort, yet the princess refused to accept him. Now, she had even kept a man in her residence... He suppressed his bitter anger, "If it's unimportant, why did you keep him in your mansion?"
“He’s injured, so I’m keeping him here for a while. Once he’s healed, I’ll send him away. Gu Jinyan, stop making a scene.”
"I saw him at your residence with my own eyes, Princess, and you still say I'm making a scene?" Gu Jinyan laughed in exasperation.
"He's injured. Just give him some silver and send him away. There are plenty of clinics in the capital. Why do you have to keep him in your mansion?"
Who knows if he has other intentions? With his looks, if he deliberately seduces someone, who knows what might happen... Just thinking about this made Gu Jinyan so jealous she was almost going crazy.
"Princess, do you even care about me? I am your prince consort!"
“Didn’t I say that I would send him out of the manor after he recovers from his injuries?” Shen Panyan rubbed her temples.
Her brows were furrowed with exhaustion. She truly didn't want to talk to Gu Jinyan about this anymore. The recent events involving Lin Xiao had already drained all her energy, and she simply didn't have the strength to deal with him anymore.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble..." Lin Xiao suddenly stepped forward, gently tugged at her sleeve, and whispered.
"If the Prince Consort does not like me, I will leave now."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I said I would wait until you were healed before sending you away, and I will definitely keep my word. This matter has nothing to do with you. Go back and take good care of your injuries. Don't come out again unless necessary." Shen Panyan said calmly.
"Yes, I understand."
Lin Xiao gave her a deep look, then glanced at Gu Jinyan before turning and leaving.
Gu Jinyan watched his slowly departing figure, and saw the look in his eyes... What did he mean? Seeing Shen Panyan defending him again, she was stunned and looked at her incredulously, "Princess, can't you see that he did it on purpose?"
"He said that on purpose in front of me."
If he wanted to leave, he should have turned around and left earlier; why wait until now?
Don't think he can't see through his thoughts.
Shen Panyan frowned. "He doesn't have that many thoughts. You're just overthinking it."
Lin Xiao is always straightforward in his words and actions, how could he possibly have so many thoughts? He's overthinking it.
"I can see it all clearly, I can see it all too clearly. He has disloyal intentions towards you, Princess. Am I just overthinking things, or do you, Princess, also have feelings for him?" Gu Jinyan was so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath.
He could not tolerate such a thing happening. "Princess, you must send him away! Make him leave the princess's residence right now!"
"Princess, I am your husband, you can't do this to me..."
"Gu Jinyan!" Shen Panyan really didn't want to argue with him anymore. "I tolerated you taking a concubine before you were married, and now, I'm just keeping a man in the mansion temporarily. Who has wronged whom?"
"I'm making this clear today: I won't let him leave until he's fully recovered."
She glanced at him and said calmly, "If you have nothing else to do, then leave. Next time, if you disregard your status and climb over the wall into the princess's residence again, I will have someone kick you out as a thief."
Gu Jinyan had been confined to the Rongguo Duke's mansion for quite some time, and only today did he finally find an opportunity to come out, intending to apologize to the princess, but unexpectedly he stumbled upon this incident.
Seeing the princess's cold and indifferent expression, he was both angry and aggrieved.
I couldn't bring myself to apologize, even though I wanted to.
"Okay, I'll go."
His gaze fell on the corridor where Lin Xiao had left, and his fists slowly clenched.
He would never allow the princess to keep him.
The princess belongs to him; he is the rightful prince consort!
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