Chapter 5 Chapter 5 There was no trace of her.
March 3rd is the time when spring returns and floor heating comes.
But the water in Qujiang is still cold, still icy.
So cold...
The river water eroded his whole body, and blood flowed out from the wound on his back, spreading with the river water.
Everything around him was dark. Zhou Jingzhi helplessly immersed himself in the river water, feeling himself sinking.
The dagger that stabbed him must have been coated with poison, which numbed all his senses and blurred his vision.
There was light on the river, but he used his remaining willpower to stare at a black silhouette moving away from him.
That was when his queen was rescued by the imperial guards who jumped down.
She did not look back or struggle, but swam calmly to the surface with the help of the imperial guards.
It’s so cold…
The imperial guards also came to his side.
But I'm not here to save him.
The imperial guards swam to his side and kicked him into a deeper abyss...
…
The windows of the room were not closed, the charcoal stove was not lit, and the bathtub behind the screen was filled with water, but it was very calm, without any mist around.
Xu Qing'an suddenly broke out of the water, and water droplets fell with a dripping sound, breaking the tranquility in the room.
The ends of the hair and fingertips all have traces left by being soaked in water.
The wind outside blew around the screen, and the remaining water droplets on my body slowly evaporated, taking away the heat.
But it's not cold enough.
Even if you were immersed in cold water and the wind was blowing, it wasn't cold enough.
Not as cold as the Shangsi Night that year.
Xu Qing'an raised his eyes, his eyes were red under his long eyelashes.
His breathing trembled slightly, thinking about what Qinghe had said to him, staring into the void.
Are you afraid of water?
But shouldn't I be the one who should be afraid?
——
Xu Qing'an returned to his bedroom and sat at the desk. There were papers spread out on the desk, covered with densely written words.
However, Xu Qing'an was currently leaning on the table with his hands, playing with the small white porcelain bottle in his hand very leisurely, examining it intently.
This was the anti-swelling medicine that Shangguan Xu sent to him after he slapped him.
The white porcelain was pure and cold, and there was no trace of her presence on it.
But he never let it go, nor did he use it——
Although she was very angry at that time, her strength was not enough to make his face red and swollen or his mouth bleed. It just left a mark on his face for a while.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
"Open the door!"
There was a hasty knock on the door, and the sound of the door opening from outside could not be refused.
Xu Qing'an came back to his senses, put the white porcelain bottle away, and hurried to open the door.
There were two people standing outside the door, one was an old man with long white hair and beard who looked quite immortal, and the other was a young man standing behind him with an extremely respectful and well-behaved demeanor.
Xu Qing'an's eyes met the young man behind him for a moment, and he immediately became obedient, his tone still tinged with trepidation: "Sir, why are you here?"
The old man was extremely domineering, his eyes filled with anger and hatred as he walked straight into the house: "I heard that you took a cold shower!"
Xu Qingan took a breath guiltily and looked at the person behind the old man.
"Don't look at him!" the old man interrupted sharply, "Neither of you can hide anything from me!"
Xu Qing'an had to admit: "Yes, I just took a cold shower."
The old man scolded, "You didn't soak in Kunming Lake enough today, did you? Why do you want to come back and take a cold shower? What? Have you finished removing the poison from your body?"
"I……"
The old man in front of him is the famous doctor on Wuyan Mountain, Xu Fengyi. It was thanks to him that Xu Qingan was saved when he suffered. The young man behind him is his apprentice, Xun Yang.
He was strict in teaching medicine and even stricter in treating patients. In the past few years, whenever Xu Qing'an disobeyed the doctor's orders, he would inevitably be scolded and criticized by him.
In addition, he is a senior, so Xu Qing'an is really obedient in front of him.
Xu Qing'an hesitated and said, "Didn't I take the cold-repelling pill that the master gave me before I left today?"
Xu Feng said sternly, "So you can do whatever you want, right?"
Xu Qing'an was speechless.
"Sit down!" Xu Fengyi ordered, "Put out your hands."
Xu Qing'an did as he was told.
Xu Fengyi felt the pulse, his eyes darkening, "It's inevitable that you'll catch another cold."
"Xun Yang!"
The young man behind the old man responded: "Master..."
Xu Fenglai glanced back and forth at the two of them and said, "After I write the prescription, you boil the medicine for him and make sure he drinks it all! If he doesn't drink the medicine properly, you two will be held accountable together!"
Xun Yang bowed and said respectfully: "Yes."
Xu Feng left with a flick of his sleeves.
The two remaining people in the room breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other.
Xun Yang then spoke up: "Look at you, you acted recklessly when my master was around, you really deserve to be scolded."
Xu Qing'an shook his head and smiled: "Doctor Xu is indeed a man of temperament, but I am not doing this recklessly."
Xun Yang asked doubtfully, "Then what do you want to do?"
Xu Qing'an answered a question that was irrelevant to the question: "Doctor Xu's prescriptions are always excellent. They say that medicine is three-quarters toxic, but he can reduce the toxicity to a minimum and maximize the healing and tonic effect. This time he prescribed medicine for colds. Can you help me make it into pills?"
Xun Yang raised his eyebrows: "Are you going to take it out to give to someone? Although most of the medicines for treating colds are universal, it doesn't make sense to give medicine as a gift."
Xu Qing'an's expression froze for a moment, then he argued, "Why do you have such strange ideas? Who would I give them to? I just have to go investigate the Ministry of Works and I'm afraid I'll be busy, so I thought it would be more convenient to carry the pills with me."
"Oh—" Xun Yang nodded vaguely, looking towards the desk with a playful smile, "You've already filled up the paper again in just a short while?"
Xu Qing'an understood the implication of his words and said coldly, "How about I not drink the medicine this time, and we both die in front of your master?"
"You!" Xun Yang was immediately frustrated, but he had to admit defeat. "You are so powerful, I won't argue with you."
As he said this he was about to leave.
However, before leaving, he still said with concern, "But in the future, if you need any medicine, just tell me directly. Although my medical skills are not as good as my master's, I still believe that I am better than most doctors. You are in the critical stage of detoxification now, so don't act rashly."
Xu Qing'an nodded and replied softly, "I know, thank you."
Xun Yang looked at him again and felt that he must have been just talking, otherwise it wouldn't have taken almost four years for his master's medical skills to completely remove the poison.
Xun Yang had helplessness in his eyes, sighed, and finally left.
Xu Qing'an sat alone in the room. It was quiet at night. Under the dim candlelight, he unconsciously raised his hand and stroked one side of his cheek.
The remaining red marks on it had long since disappeared, but her appearance tonight kept appearing in my mind——
I was only blown by the wind for a short while, and I kept coughing in the hall.
Her body must be weaker than his.
Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes.
If I had known this, I wouldn't have dragged her into this. If I wanted to get close to her and gain her trust, there would always be other ways.
——
In the Lizheng Hall, Shangguan Xu took off his casual clothes, put on only a thin undershirt, got on the bed, and prepared to rest.
A maid brought in ginger soup. Qinghe took it and said, "Your Majesty, drink the ginger soup before going to sleep." Shangguan Xu nodded lightly, took the bowl and blew on it. When it felt the temperature was about right, she tilted her head back and drank the soup in the bowl in one breath.
Afterwards, she took the towel from Qinghe, wiped her lips, and said, "Have you dealt with the bowl of medicine just now?"
Qing He nodded: "Yes, I have asked someone to quietly dump it out so no one else will notice." After that, she also asked, "Are you going to continue to endure it tomorrow?"
"Hold on." Shangguan Xu said firmly, "Now that the show has begun, we must finish it."
Tonight, the bowl of medicine that the ministers brought in when they left was prepared in advance by Shangguan Xu, but she didn't drink it in the end.
The cabin leaking tonight was also arranged in advance by Shangguan Xu.
The only thing that she didn't expect was that she fell into the water today.
Because she knew early on that the boat for the blessing ceremony tonight would leak, she initially asked the Ministry of Rites to abandon the plan of the parade. However, she did not expect that the Ministry of Rites and Xu Qing'an would act without prior consent and take advantage of the loophole to combine the blessing ceremony and the parade.
But it’s actually nothing.
Because no matter what, Shangguan Xu was on the boat during the blessing ceremony.
In other words, as long as the timing is properly managed, she can get off the boat safely even if the cruise ship goes out in a circle.
That’s exactly what Xu Qing’an said—the boat will dock after the blessing is over, and there won’t be much time difference.
However, problems arose in the cabin just as the ceremony was ending and they were preparing to row back to the stage.
Could it be that the people who were sent down moved too much and failed to control the speed of the cabin leakage?
Shangguan Xu still doesn't understand.
But falling into the water tonight is not a bad thing.
Initially, out of consideration for the little emperor, she planned to let the cabin leak and have people spread the news when they were about to disembark. At that time, she could still use the words of the heavenly family's virtue to aggravate the seriousness of the matter as she did today.
However, if she acted like this, it might seem like she was making a big deal out of nothing, as if she had done it on purpose.
But now that she's in the water, things are different—
With what happened to Emperor Zhao before, it would be really easy for someone to die.
So before she discussed matters with the ministers, she asked Qinghe to prepare a bowl of "bitter medicine" to emphasize the impact of falling into the water on her. She could even create an illusion of being weak if necessary later.
As long as she can make this matter bigger, as long as she can achieve her goal.
During the incident with Emperor Zhao, many officials in the court were punished.
That was Su Wang's work.
This time, she also used his method to clean out his people. Although it was difficult for her to achieve the same level as what she did with Emperor Zhao, it was enough for the people she wanted to settle accounts with this time.
As for Xu Qing'an...
Shangguan Xu recalled everything that had happened to this person in recent days.
She still hasn't figured out what this person is thinking.
But I used it twice today and it worked quite well.
Especially when they were in the palace, he actually took the initiative to stand in front of Su Wang and stand on her side, so that the medicine she prepared was not used for the first time.
It also saved her from the trouble of gossip.
You can really see some sincerity in him.
Then use it a few more times.
If he really has second thoughts, it’s not too late to kill him.
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