Chapter 92: Saying goodbye to her was too late and not prepared
Ten days later, King Hui sent people to pick up Chen Wuyu and Xiaoshu to bring to the capital, and Chen Lianxiu also brought An An along.
Shen Wuyu had caught a cold recently and had been coughing all the way, with a flushed face.
When she arrived in front of the mansion, Shen Wuyu got off the carriage, only to see King Hui waiting for her.
As soon as her legs gave way, King Hui immediately caught her.
"Why are you coughing so badly?" King Hui could tell at a glance that she was not feeling well.
"It's just a slight cold. I'll be fine after taking some medicine." Shen Wuyu looked at King Hui. "Why is Your Highness here?"
King Hui smiled and said, "Of course I'm waiting for you to come."
As a result, Shen Wuyu didn't say anything after hearing this. Instead, he looked inside a few times with a tentative look on his face.
"Don't worry," King Hui said immediately when he saw Shen Wuyu's hesitation. "The princess and the others aren't here. Only you and Xiaoshu live here."
Shen Wuyu finally nodded contentedly, but before she could say anything, she started coughing again. Seeing this, Shen Lianxiu stepped forward to support her and said, "It's windy here, and my sister can't stand it. Let's go in quickly!"
King Hui didn't comment, but he showed no intention of following Shen Wuyu in. He simply said, "I have something else to do, so I won't go in for now. I'll send the imperial physician over to treat you shortly."
"Don't bother with that. If the news gets out, they'll accuse me of being a traitor." Shen Wuyu said, "My sister knows a little about medicine. She's been taking care of me these past few days. Just let her treat me."
King Hui did not object, nodded and said to Shen Wuyu: "You take good care of yourself, and I will come to see you again in a few days."
He did not stay any longer, and after he finished speaking, he rode away on his horse. Shen Wuyu stood at the door and watched him go. All he could see was the dust raised by the horse's hooves. The surroundings were deserted and desolate, and the prosperous scene of the past was no longer there.
In the next few days, Chen Lianxiu stayed with Chen Wuyu. The prescription that Chen Wuyu needed was still written by Chen Lianxiu, but she was not the one who got the medicine. It was all done by the people arranged by King Hui. They would only pass it on after confirming that there were no problems. Because Chen Wuyu didn't want others to serve her, saying that she was afraid of being harmed by the princess, and because there was indeed a shortage of manpower at the time, Shen Lianxiu was responsible for decocting the medicine.
Chen Lianxiu was still worried about Yang and the others, and she hadn't seen Zhou Linjin for many days, so she couldn't ask him about the situation. She wanted to go out and find them herself, but the capital was in chaos. Needless to say, the former emperor had been killed, and King Hui had killed all the emperor's descendants and some of the royal family. The killing was even still going on, and people were being killed everywhere. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't do it. What's more, even if she asked to go out, they might not let her go.
Just as everyone was feeling anxious, one night someone brought Zhou Yishao and Zhu'er over.
Chen Lianxiu was called out in the middle of the night and was frightened for a moment, thinking that something had happened to Zhou Linjin. Fortunately, she met the person she had always wanted to see. She was so happy that she almost cried.
She hurriedly welcomed them in, asked someone to prepare tea and cook, and then took them to bathe and change clothes.
After Zhou Yishao and Zhu'er changed their clothes and came out, hot meals were served. Chen Lianxiu knew that they had eaten a lot and hadn't had any good meals for a while, so she didn't ask them anything and just asked them to eat quickly.
Zhu'er was so thin that her face was yellow, and she no longer looked like the bright and radiant daughter of the Duke's Mansion. As for Zhou Yishao, she had more worries than Zhu'er since she was still a child. After being tortured so hard, she had become so haggard that she looked like a monster.
Seeing the hot rice and dishes, Zhu'er started eating immediately. Zhou Yishao raised his chopsticks but didn't put them down.
Seeing this, Chen Lianxiu said to Zhu'er, "Zhu'er, go to bed with An'an after you finish eating. The bed has been made for you. You can sleep next to An'an tonight."
Zhu'er should be.
Zhou Yishao's tears suddenly burst out. In order to prevent Zhu'er from being sad, she got up and walked into the inner room, and Chen Lianxiu followed her.
"Sister, you still need to use some things," Shen Lianxiu said as she poured her some hot tea. "It's already like this, I can't fall down again."
Zhou Yishao turned sideways, wiping away tears. After a long moment, she slowly calmed down and gritted her teeth, saying, "Who knows how it could have turned out like this? A'yuan, mother is gone. When the Duke's Mansion was in trouble, it was my brother's colleagues who hid the three of us. But the people who came to search the house didn't find us, so they searched the city. Mother's health wasn't good to begin with, and she couldn't hold on for a few days due to the worry and fear."
Chen Lianxiu's eyes dimmed. She had only seen Zhou Yishao and his daughter, not Yang, and she knew something was wrong. However, since Zhou Yishao and Zhu'er had just arrived, she didn't ask, thinking she'd wait until they finished eating and had a good sleep before making any comments. Although she hadn't spent much time with Yang, she was still a decent mother-in-law. She had never given her any hardship or mistreatment, not even a harsh word. She didn't deserve this fate.
At this time, the maid had listened to Chen Lianxiu's instructions and scooped a bowl of white porridge with a plate of side dishes. Chen Lianxiu handed the bowl to Zhou Yishao, who took it and reluctantly drank half of it before putting it down.
"After you left, I was worried day and night, and I had to comfort my mother. In fact, I had made the worst plan, but I never expected that the first to be in trouble would be the Duke Cheng's Mansion. My father had outstanding military achievements and was loyal to the court. Why would he doubt us because of the second branch, which was not worth mentioning at all? Besides, can't my brother see what kind of person he is after so many years in the court?" Zhou Yishao's eyes turned red as he spoke.
Chen Lianxiu tried to hold back, but in the end, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Zhou Linyu harmed my grandmother and my father, ran away, and brought disaster to our entire family," Zhou Yishao had been silently enduring all this time. Today, when he saw Chen Lianxiu, he finally had someone to confide in, and he cried, "Grandmother was also confused. If she had allowed the second branch of the family to separate and live on their own, instead of letting these beasts in human form always stay by her side, we wouldn't see each other often and live our own lives. Maybe we wouldn't have reached this point now. As a result, we have been eating and using the Duke's Mansion's food and clothing for so many years, and Grandmother's favorite was Zhou Linyu. But what kind of person did she raise?"
"So what about my aunt and the others?" Shen Lianxiu asked.
"Gone," Zhou Yishao said, his face devoid of pity when he mentioned these people. "Except for us, no one else is left in the Duke's Mansion. This is retribution for the Second House!"
Shen Lianxiu sighed and asked again: "Have you met Erlang?"
Zhou Yishao shook his head. "No, but I know he found us. We were hidden before, and then the city fell, and we were completely displaced. I didn't dare to reveal our identities, so I just found a place to hide. My brother took a lot of effort to find us. Before he found us, Zhu'er and I hadn't eaten for three or four days. If it weren't for him, we would probably starve to death by now."
Next, Zhou Yishao talked a lot with Shen Lianxiu, but the two of them tacitly did not mention the fact that Zhou Linjin was now working for King Hui.
By late at night, Zhu'er had already fallen asleep with An'an. Seeing that Zhou Yishao had almost vented all her emotions and would not hold it in any longer, Chen Lianxiu urged her to go to bed.
Chen Lianxiu himself quietly took out a bag of things wrapped in cloth from a soft pillow on his bed, and after opening it, he found some scattered medicinal herbs inside.
Shen Wuyu's illness was half real and half fake, mostly pretended for that incident. Although the two of them were not able to move freely, Shen Lianxiu had already thought of a solution. She mixed the necessary herbs into Shen Wuyu's prescription and prepared a new prescription for her every two or three days. In this way, she put things together bit by bit, and no one would notice it at all. Even if other doctors came to see it, they would not be able to find any problems. At most, a certain herb was not so suitable for the disease, but it was harmless.
There are also medicines like asarum, which Chen Lianxiu added to each dose of the prescription, but the dosage in the powder is extremely small. It seems that it is used by Chen Wuyu to warm the lungs and eliminate fluid. However, if the asarum in each prescription is picked out, the accumulation of small amounts will add up to a large amount. Asarum is not expensive, but too much can cause paralysis and is of great use.
Zhou Linjin didn't tell her what he was going to do that day, but she could probably guess.
She stared blankly at the bag of medicine she had put together for a long time. In fact, almost everything here was already there, and now she was just waiting for that day to come.
When she met Zhou Linjin the night before going to Beijing, she didn't feel anything special. Even when they parted, she still didn't feel real. It was not until now, thinking about it day by day, that she realized that this meeting might never happen again.
Things have come to this point, Chen Lianxiu will not ask for anything else, just thinking that it would be great if they could see each other again.
At least it wouldn't be like the last time, when she realized it too late and was unprepared.
You also need to be prepared to say goodbye.
But even though Chen Lianxiu thought so, she never saw Zhou Linjin again.
Until the day when the reinforcements arrived in the capital.
It was said that he was defending the king, but the emperor had already passed away. After this period of time, the capital was under the control of King Hui, so even King Hui himself was not as nervous as before. If everything went well, he could just negotiate with them directly. At worst, there was Zhou Linjin. Those border soldiers had always respected Zhou Chang. As long as Zhou Linjin came forward to appeal to their emotions and reason, it would not be difficult to withdraw the troops.
Ever since arriving in the capital, Shen Wuyu had often used the excuse of feeling unwell and Xiaoshu missing his father to invite Prince Hui to his residence almost every one or two days. Prince Hui clearly favored Shen Wuyu and her son. As long as Shen Wuyu asked, he would come to visit them unless he was really unable to do so.
Legend has it that Princess Hui was extremely worried about Shen Wuyu's reappearance, and even became more anxious day by day. However, the two were not in the same place at all, so even if she wanted to do anything to Shen Wuyu, she had no way. And it was precisely because he was afraid that Princess Hui would take action against Shen Wuyu that King Hui became even more worried about Shen Wuyu and Xiaoshu.
Perhaps he let Shen Wuyu go because he felt a little guilty. But now that Shen Wuyu appeared in front of him with their child, and he was about to become the emperor, there was no reason to let her go.
That is, the day before the reinforcements arrived, Shen Wuyu was poisoned.
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Author's words: The next chapter will end [Dog head holding a rose]
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