Chapter 12 Self-Plea for Guilt
As night fell, light snow began to fall on the western hills. The crackling sound of the campfire gradually subsided, and Shen Panyan, who had been crying, slowly fell asleep.
The mountain wind was bitingly cold, blowing straight into the cave and causing the flames to flicker uncontrollably.
In her sleep, Shen Panyan suddenly felt very cold, a chill that went straight to her bones, causing her to curl up and try to warm herself up.
But soon after, she felt very hot again. In a daze, she uncontrollably fell towards the ground, but fortunately someone caught her in time, preventing her from falling.
Shen Panyan felt as if she were in a huge furnace, burning fiercely, and her mouth was dry.
"Hot..." Her delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed, her cheeks were burning, and a muffled, incoherent sob escaped her throat. Lin Xiao reached out and touched her forehead. A cool sensation came from her, and she subconsciously rubbed her hand against his.
"It hurts so much..." she cried out softly.
It really hurt; the wound felt like it was being burned, and the burning pain was relentless like a tidal wave. Even in her sleep, she shed tears.
"It hurts so much..."
Suddenly, a cool sensation came from her forehead, and a kind of energy slowly flowed through her body, relieving the pain a little. Her body felt less uncomfortable, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Lin Xiao spent a sleepless night.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, he picked up the princess and hurried down the mountain.
At this moment, chaos reigned within the royal villa.
The princess has disappeared, as has her head maid, Qiu Shuang. Not only that, but her black-clad guard has also vanished. The disappearance of these three at once makes it hard not to suspect that something has happened to them.
However, even after searching the entire royal villa thoroughly, no trace of Shen Panyan could be found.
Some people went out to search outside the royal villa, but unexpectedly found the corpses lying on the ground in the woods, all of them dead from a single blow. They were so frightened that their faces turned pale, they dropped their torches, and screamed loudly, attracting everyone's attention.
The group searched the corpses anxiously, fearing they might find the princess among them. Thankfully, after searching all the bodies, they found no trace of the princess on any of them, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
What should we do now?
Something must have happened to the princess!
The group looked at each other in bewilderment, but none of them dared to report the matter to the capital. If His Majesty found out, they would surely be punished.
However, no one dared to step forward and make a decision on what to do next, as everyone was afraid of making a mistake and then taking responsibility.
Finally, the person in charge of the villa came up with an idea and asked everyone to continue the search.
There was also a guard by the princess's side. The guard's origin was unknown, but it was said that he was sent by His Majesty. Even if something happened to the princess, it would be the guard's dereliction of duty and failure to protect the princess. What did it have to do with them?
Hearing the words of the person in charge of the villa, everyone felt relieved and stopped panicking.
As the sun rose higher, the group searched in vain for a long time, and their bodies grew increasingly tired, with some considering giving up.
"Sir, what should we do?"
The steward of the villa was also very frustrated at the moment. He waved his hand and said, "What else can we do? Keep looking. If we can't find it here, we'll look there. This place is only so big. The princess can't grow wings and fly away. As long as we keep looking, we'll eventually find her."
"yes."
Just then, Lin Xiao rushed out of the woods carrying the princess and headed straight for the West Garden.
Someone spotted him, was startled at first, then overjoyed, exclaiming, "The princess is back!!"
Lin Xiao grabbed a palace servant at random and said urgently, "Quickly, summon the imperial physician!!"
Physician Lin had been tossing and turning in bed all night because of the princess's disappearance. He had just fallen asleep when someone banged on his door, shouting, "Physician Lin!! Physician Lin!!"
Physician Lin quickly put on his clothes, got out of bed, opened the door, and asked wearily, "What happened?"
The man grabbed him and dragged him towards the West Garden, shouting, "Hurry to the West Garden! The princess has been found, and she's injured!!"
Hearing this, Physician Lin was wide awake. He turned around anxiously, "Wait, I haven't brought my medicine box yet!!"
Amidst the chaos of war, Imperial Physician Lin hurriedly arrived at the West Garden with his medicine chest.
Normally, the princess's knife wound should have been treated by a female physician, but they were in the royal villa and there was no female physician available. In this emergency, the imperial physician Lin could only examine her wound carefully with a pained expression, and then a maidservant applied the medicine.
The wound had been treated briefly by Lin Xiao and had not worsened, which was a good thing. However, the princess was already in poor health, and now, after experiencing this, her pulse was extremely erratic, her body was weak, her high fever persisted, and she fell into a coma. The imperial physician Lin was so anxious that he couldn't stop sighing, and his hair almost fell out from pulling at his hands.
Physician Lin carefully revised and revised the prescription, writing it down with utmost caution before instructing a maid to prepare the medicine.
The maid took the prescription away. Lin Xiao, who was standing outside, saw the maid come out and asked, "How is the princess now?"
The black-clad, masked guards of the West Garden had all seen him before. When he asked, the maid couldn't help but be annoyed. "The princess is lucky to be alive, but she's not in good shape. She's currently unconscious, her pulse is weak, and it's uncertain whether she'll wake up. As the princess's personal guard, what were you doing, allowing her to suffer such a serious injury?"
Lin Xiao lowered his eyelashes, his expression silent, and for the first time did not refute what others said.
The maid had no intention of speaking to him further. She took the prescription and hurriedly left, but soon returned in a panic. "Imperial Physician Lin, the storeroom is out of Scrophularia and Astragalus seeds. Could you please replace them?"
"That's all?" Imperial Physician Lin frowned deeply. "This prescription cannot be modified; adding or subtracting even one ingredient will not work. The storeroom is empty. Quickly send someone to the capital. I will use another prescription to stabilize the princess's condition."
“But…” The maid looked at him anxiously and helplessly. “In the past, these things were all given by Sister Qiushuang. Now that Sister Qiushuang is not here, I am just a lowly maid. I don’t even know where the money is. How can I ask someone to go to the capital to buy medicine?”
Even the task of taking care of the princess was forced upon her by other palace maids who were unwilling to accept it.
Now that the princess is in trouble, everyone is trying to protect themselves and stay safe. The round trip is urgent, and it's difficult to travel in the heavy snow. If they return late and the princess is in trouble, the people above will blame them, and even those who bought the medicine will be held responsible.
How could she possibly find anyone to do such a thankless job?
Physician Lin couldn't help but feel that this was a bit of a challenge.
He was merely a royal physician and had no right to interfere with the other palace maids and eunuchs.
As for the people at the royal villa, they were even less concerned. As long as the princess was found, what happened next was none of their business.
No one will willingly invite trouble upon themselves.
If all else fails, then the only option is to change the prescription. But if the prescription is changed, then it will only be enough to keep the princess alive, and whether she will wake up is uncertain.
Suddenly, Physician Lin remembered that the princess still had a guard with her, so he sent him.
The maid looked troubled. "That guard named Lin Xiao has always had a bad temper. He doesn't even give Sister Qiu Shuang any face. He ignores everyone except the princess. I'm afraid I can't get him to come."
Physician Lin hesitated, "Let's try it first. If it doesn't work, we'll change the prescription."
Since the matter had already been discussed, the maid had no choice but to take the prescription and leave. She remembered that her attitude towards Lin Xiao hadn't been very good, so this time she spoke much more politely.
"Linxiao Guardian".
"What is it? How is the princess?"
Hearing him mention the princess, the maid felt a little relieved, thinking that the matter should be feasible. So, she quickly explained the situation to him in detail. Lin Xiao nodded without any objection, took the medicine, and headed towards the stables in the West Garden.
This journey took six hours.
Shen Panyan's condition deteriorated rapidly. She already suffered from palpitations, and her body was not fully recovered from a previous serious illness. Without the right medication to suppress her condition, she was now at a critical juncture of life and death.
"Haven't the princess's guards returned yet?"
Physician Lin was on edge, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He dared not leave Shen Panyan's side for a moment, and could only urge the maid again and again. The maid hurriedly went to the gate of the royal villa, but after waiting for a long time, she did not see Lin Xiao's figure and could only return to report, "Not yet."
The princess's breathing grew weaker and weaker, and her fever was lurking without manifesting—this was a life-threatening situation!
Physician Lin frowned deeply; they couldn't wait any longer.
Without hesitation, they decided to administer a strong medicine to keep the princess alive for now. As for how the princess's health would be after the strong medicine was administered, and how long she could live, that was hard to say.
Physician Lin took out a delicate little bottle from his medicine box. This potent medicine was his family's secret recipe and should not be used lightly. However, he had no other choice in this dangerous situation.
He hoped the princess wouldn't punish him after she woke up... If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have come to the royal villa. He would have exchanged the task with his colleague, even if it meant incurring a huge favor. Now, the princess was in trouble... Imperial Physician Lin couldn't stop regretting it, but the die was cast. Just as he was about to feed her the pill, the door suddenly opened, and a maid rushed in, her face beaming with joy. "Imperial Physician Lin, the medicine is here!! The princess's medicine is here!!"
The medicine has arrived?!
Physician Lin's hand trembled, and a loose pill fell to the ground, but he couldn't care less about that at the moment. He quickly said, "Quickly!! Brew the medicine and bring it up!"
Maid: "It's already cooking!"
"She's not here, so who went to brew the medicine?" Physician Lin looked at her in confusion.
The maid hurriedly explained, "It wasn't me who made it, it was the princess's guards."
The guard was also strange; after arriving, he went straight to the small kitchen to add water and boil medicine, which was quite good, saving her the trouble of calling others.
Everyone in the West Garden avoids the princess. No one would volunteer to brew medicine for her. Whoever asks for it will offend someone. The maids are naturally happy to offend as few people as possible.
Before long, Lin Xiao came in carrying the brewed medicine.
The maid helped Shen Panyan up and carefully fed her spoonful by spoonful. Physician Lin stayed by her side for a long time, watching her high fever gradually subside, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Very good.
The princess has finally survived this ordeal!
Seeing that the princess's condition was gradually improving, Lin Xiao turned and left, going outside the courtyard.
It was his fault.
He not only failed to protect the princess, but also injured her, and even nearly caused her death.
This mistake was so grave that if he had been in the Dark Guard camp, he would have been severely injured, if not killed.
Amidst the heavy snowfall, Lin Xiao knelt down, confessing his guilt.
He will wait in this courtyard until the princess wakes up and punishes him.
A note from the author:
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Seeing my saved items untouched turns me into a chronic procrastinator [crying emoji][crying emoji] I absolutely don't want to touch them anymore, ahhhhhh!
I'll definitely stand out tomorrow!!
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