Chapter Ninety-Nine: A Lucky Wedding
Springtime weather is unpredictable, and Lu Qingheng fell ill again.
Han Wei stayed by Lu Qingheng's bedside. The young man on the bed was groaning in pain while he was unconscious. In just a few days, he had lost even more weight, and Han Wei felt extremely distressed.
Han Wei took over the duties of the maids and personally cared for Lu Qingheng. Lu Qingheng's high fever kept coming back, and this went on for half a month. After his fever finally subsided and he was finally able to get out of bed, his attitude towards Han Wei suddenly became cold. He always used rest as an excuse to send Han Wei away.
At first, Han Wei didn't notice anything, but after it happened several times, she realized something was wrong.
"Miss Han, please go back. His Highness has taken his medicine and is already asleep," said the maidservant who served Lu Qingheng, stopping Han Wei.
"I'll just go see him for a moment, I won't wake him up," Han Wei said.
Seeing Han Wei trying to barge in, two maids nervously blocked her way:
"Miss Han!"
If Han Wei had wanted to force her way in, not even all the guards combined would have been able to stop her, let alone them. However, Han Wei ultimately didn't go in. She glanced at the closed door, then turned and left.
Seeing that she had really left, the maid went back to report to Lu Qingheng:
"Your Highness, Miss Han has already left."
The black-haired, golden-eyed boy leaned against the soft couch, his entire body so thin that he seemed as if a gust of wind could blow him away. His beautiful face was as pale as paper, with faint blue veins visible beneath his skin, and his lips were a sickly crimson.
Upon hearing the maid's words, he lowered his long eyelashes and coughed a few times while holding a handkerchief.
The maidservants tried to approach him with concern, but he waved them away.
He sat on the bed, his eyes filled with pain. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Han Wei, but that he could no longer see her.
He knew he didn't have long to live, and selfishly wanted to spend more time with the woman he loved before he died. But as he felt his condition worsening and death drawing ever closer, he felt all the more how despicable his selfishness was.
How could he be so greedy for the warmth of being with her, leaving her with only pain?
The deeper her feelings for him, the more pain she would feel after he left.
It's better to disappear now, so there will be less pain in the future.
"Cough cough..."
Lu Qingheng coughed again, a light cough that made his shoulders tremble slightly. He covered his lips with a handkerchief, and when his breathing calmed down a little, he leaned back slightly. Although the high fever had subsided, he was still feeling very uncomfortable.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of an extremely familiar figure. He turned around in surprise and found that Han Wei was already standing in his room.
"Weiwei, you..."
Han Wei looked at him calmly: "I climbed in through the window."
She walked to his bedside and looked at his face. He had lost so much weight that he was unrecognizable, his face gaunt and weak. The sight of him made her heart ache, and tears welled up in her eyes. Through her tears, she asked him, "Why won't you see me?"
When she started crying, Lu Qingheng panicked, but he didn't know how to comfort her.
He's the one who made her cry. If only he had stayed away from her from the beginning! It's all his selfishness that made her so sad and heartbroken. He's truly wicked.
Lu Qingheng felt deeply guilty, but kept his head down and remained silent.
"Even if you don't say anything, I know. You don't want me to be sad in the future, but you don't care whether I'm sad now or not?" Han Wei said, tears streaming down her face.
Seeing her crying, Lu Qingheng felt even more breathless; each tear pierced his heart. He tried hard not to look at Han Wei, and said with his head down:
"Weiwei, should you go? Okay?"
After he finished speaking, the room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
After a long while, Han Wei sobbed, then turned and leaped out of the window.
After she left, Lu Qingheng coughed up a mouthful of blood.
A maid brought in the medicine and was shocked to see that Lu Qingheng had vomited blood again. After vomiting blood, Lu Qingheng fell into a coma once more. The maids rushed to find the imperial physician, and this time they tried to save him for three whole days, but Lu Qingheng showed no signs of waking up; on the contrary, his breathing became weaker and weaker.
The imperial physicians were at a loss and finally told Chen Changshi to prepare for his funeral.
How could Chief Secretary Chen accept Lu Qingheng dying like this? He went to Han Wei.
"A marriage to ward off bad luck?" Han Wei looked at Chief Secretary Chen in surprise.
The old man, who had served the Prince of Yan's residence for decades, had even whiter hair than before. He looked at Han Wei and said, "Yes, a marriage to ward off bad luck. This is the last thing I can think of. Miss Han, are you willing to marry His Highness?"
Han Wei answered without hesitation, "Yes! Of course I'm willing!"
She would be willing to marry Lu Qingheng, even his corpse, let alone the critically ill and comatose Lu Qingheng. She was simply surprised that this Chief Secretary Chen would personally seek her out to arrange a marriage of convenience for Lu Qingheng to bring him good fortune. Hadn't he always disliked her? Was he wary of her?
At this point, why would Chief Secretary Chen still be wary of Han Wei?
The idea of marrying someone to bring good luck is never a reliable thing to begin with; it's just a last resort.
He only wanted to fulfill His Highness's wish. Everyone in the entire palace knew who His Highness longed for. Even if the marriage to ward off bad luck was ineffective, it would still make up for some of His Highness's regrets by allowing him to marry the woman he loved before he died.
"Thank you so much, Miss Han!" After bowing deeply to Han Wei, Chief Secretary Chen looked into her eyes and said:
"Miss Han, His Highness's principal wife must be personally appointed by His Majesty. You can only be forced to marry His Highness as a concubine. But don't worry, this is only temporary. After His Highness wakes up, he will definitely not wrong you and will petition His Majesty to appoint you as the Princess Consort of Yan."
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the principal wives of all princes and nobles only become valid with the emperor's investiture; even if it's just a formality, it must still be done. Chief Secretary Chen is merely a chief secretary in the Prince of Yan's residence; how could he possibly be qualified to find a principal wife for Prince Lu Qingheng? In fact, he doesn't even have the authority to help Lu Qingheng find a concubine, because concubines also require imperial investiture.
Unlike the principal wife, a concubine can be married first and then request the emperor's bestowal of a title. However, to marry the principal wife, Lu Qingheng himself must first submit a petition to the emperor requesting the title.
Chen Changshi could overstep his bounds by helping Lu Qingheng marry a concubine, but he simply didn't have the ability to marry the principal wife.
Han Wei only cared about whether Lu Qingheng could live or not. She didn't care about the status of his principal wife or concubines, since Lu Qingheng didn't have any other women anyway.
————
Red candles burned brightly in the bridal chamber, where Han Wei, dressed in a red wedding gown, sat on the bed. She was more radiant than ever before, but sadly, her groom couldn't see her beauty.
Lu Qingheng also changed into a red wedding robe. He lay on the bed, completely unaware of what had happened.
Han Wei looked down at him, gently stroking his thinner cheeks. Her eyes filled with tears. She turned around, forced a smile, looked at the unconscious Lu Qingheng, and said with a smile, "Today is our joyous day. Look at me in my wedding dress, don't I look beautiful?"
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