Hai Shun dared not delay.
He retrieved a small black-gold glazed porcelain bottle from his sleeve, uncorked it, and said, “Dianxia, the medicine. Please take it quickly.”
Luo Xun did not open his eyes.
After finally suppressing the urge to vomit, he rinsed his mouth and extended his left hand. Hai Shun hurriedly poured a pea-sized pill into his palm.
Luo Xun threw his head back and swallowed it.
Unfortunately, even the best medicine was not immediately effective.
At this moment, he felt as though countless insects and ants were crawling inch by inch through his blood vessels, biting and gnawing everywhere.
Waves of chills continuously surged from the soles of his feet upward. In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Luo Xun’s chest and back were drenched in sweat.
Hai Shun instructed Yuan Bao to moisten a towel with warm water.
He wiped the sweat from his master’s face and neck, while he himself took some fragrant soap to cleanse the Crown Prince’s hands.
Especially the hand that Cao Liangyuan had touched, Hai Shun washed with extra care, muttering self-reproachfully as he did so:
“If I had known this would happen, I should have reminded you to take a pill earlier. Then you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”
It was also because Cao Liangyuan had always been clear about boundaries in the past, never having made any overtures like tonight in front of His Highness.
So he hadn’t thought of it.
Probably His Highness hadn’t considered it either.
Who would have thought Cao Liangyuan would be so bold tonight!
Luo Xun ignored him, closing his eyes to endure another wave of nausea.
After a little over a quarter of an hour.
Luo Xun’s breathing steadied, the rashes on his body disappeared, and his handsome face returned to its usual cold and composed demeanor.
The bath was prepared.
Luo Xun opened his eyes, stood up, and walked straight to the bath chamber.
Hai Shun followed him in.
While attending to the Crown Prince’s hair washing, he hesitantly asked:
“Dianxia, what about Cao Liangyuan…”
Before he could finish, the man looked up at him.
Hai Shun immediately understood.
Cao Liangyuan’s actions tonight were merely common overtures for favor in the back palace, and strictly speaking, she hadn’t committed any major offense.
If she were punished for this, it would be making a mountain out of a molehill, making it seem as though the Crown Prince had something to hide.
Hai Shun didn’t dare ask further.
After leaving the bath chamber and helping the Crown Prince to bed, Hai Shun suddenly remembered something and asked in a hushed, secretive tone:
“Dianxia, shall we prepare a change of trousers tonight?”
Luo Xun stiffened mid-movement.
Although Hai Shun’s expression was perfectly respectful and serious, he couldn’t help but feel the old eunuch was secretly laughing at him!
After all, he had already… for four consecutive days…
“Get out!”
The Crown Prince snapped in embarrassed anger.
He grabbed the pillow from the other side of the bed and threw it at him.
Hai Shun obediently caught it, chuckled a few ingratiating words, and then led the line of young eunuchs out.
The Crown Prince did not like having anyone guard his bedside while he slept. Only Yuan Bao and another young eunuch were left on night duty in the outer chamber.
Luo Xun was not particularly fond of women to begin with, and after the incident at Qinfang Ju tonight, he had even less interest in thinking about matters between men and women.
After lying down, he focused on official business.
But whether it was the suggestive effect of Hai Shun’s question before leaving or some other reason, Luo Xun, drifting into sleep, began to dream again.
Unlike the previous four nights, this time the dream was set in the study.
A summer breeze whispered, azure lotus gauze curtains swayed gently, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the windowsill.
“Dianxia…”
“Please spare me, Dianxia, I…”
On the desk.
Amidst soft, pleading cries, a woman’s delicate pink fingertips traced a faint, sweaty mark on the purple sandalwood surface.
The gauzy sleeve of her phoenix-immortal-powder-patterned entwining-branch-lotus robe slipped completely from her shoulders, revealing pale, fragrant shoulders flushed with a faint pink hue from arousal.
She arched her slender neck.
Her rosy face brimmed with springtime allure, soft pants escaping her lips.
Suddenly, a string of grapes appeared before her eyes.
Strung together by silk thread, each grape glistened translucent and crystalline.
Even when engaged in such matters, the dignified Crown Prince maintained his stern and aloof demeanor, with only the sweat at his temples and the redness at the corners of his eyes betraying unspeakable restraint.
“Did you not come to bring me grapes?”
Kan’er whimpered.
Her fox-like, almond-shaped eyes shimmered with unshed tears, delicate droplets clinging to her dark lashes like scattered dewdrops.
“This humble concubine knows her wrong, she should not have disturbed Your Highness’s peace…”
“I did not blame you. Why do you weep?”
Luo Xun held the grape string, lowering his head to kiss her as his deep, cold voice carried a peculiar allure.
“Eat first. After you eat, I shall eat.”
……
Luo Xun opened his eyes.
The quiet bedchamber echoed with his ragged breaths. Sitting up, he lifted the quilt by the faint light of a small lamp in the corner.
His thin lips pressed tightly together.
After a moment, he called out toward the door.
Yuan Bao hurried in.
He brought a basin of hot water and a clean pair of inner trousers.
Luo Xun did not allow him to assist.
After tidying himself within the bed curtains and changing clothes, he descended from the bed.
Then donning an outer robe, he tossed out the words “No need to follow, no need to inform Hai Shun” before striding briskly out of the bedchamber.
.
Kan’er also slept restlessly.
When news arrived in the evening that the Crown Prince had gone to Qinfang Ju, Hansu, Tiao Zhu, and the others completely abandoned their expectations.
Not only did they lower their voices when speaking, but they also moved about with light steps, fearful of angering their new mistress.
After all, the palace was full of masters who would vent their frustrations on servants at the slightest displeasure, so they had to be extra cautious.
Kan’er felt both amused and exasperated.
To be honest, she didn’t care whom the Crown Prince favored.
The fear of his coming only to leave, and the fear that he would never come at all—such days she had lived through for nearly half her previous lifetime.
This was still only the beginning.
Though reason told her one thing, twenty years of ingrained habits from living together were not so easily changed in the subconscious.
Thus, Kan’er dreamed.
She dreamed of her previous life.
She dreamed of her moments with the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace, dreamed of his abundant favor after he ascended the throne and she was conferred as Shu Consort.
She dreamed of him establishing her as Empress.
He stood before the gates of Fengtian Hall, personally presenting her with the golden seal.
The square resonated with solemn ceremonial music, the congratulatory cries of hundreds of officials piercing the clouds, their youngest son’s voice the loudest of all.
Yet the next moment.
The vibrant red decorations and joyous music vanished, replaced by plain white mourning banners and the somber tolling of funeral bells.
Outside Kunhe Palace.
Imperial Physicians and court officials knelt everywhere.
The repeated phrases “Your Majesty, restrain your grief” and “We beg Your Majesty to preserve the Dragon Body” were mournful and despairing, filled with anguish.
The palace maids of Kunhe Palace wept uncontrollably.
Was this the scene after her death?
Kan’er, floating mid-air, stared blankly at the sight before consciously drifting into her former bedchamber.
The room was deathly silent.
Only occasional, barely audible sobs could be heard.
Kan’er floated all the way into the bedroom, her gaze falling upon Qingzhao Emperor sitting on the phoenix daybed, her lifeless body cradled in his arms.
The emperor, past sixty, still wore the same black dragon robe she had seen before her death.
The once upright man now hunched over, his brow and eyes devoid of their usual vitality.
Even his hair, previously only tinged with frost at the temples, had now turned completely white.
The person in his embrace.
Was emaciated and lifeless.
Her once full and graceful figure was now reduced to skin and bones, yet her face remained serene.
He held her just like that.
Holding her tightly.
No one knew how long he had been sitting like this.
“Your Majesty…”
Kan’er was shocked by the man’s completely white hair and his wooden, empty expression, slowly drifting before him.
“Your Majesty, please restrain your grief!”
Hai Shun grasped the hem of the Qingzhao Emperor’s robe, advising with sorrow.
“Her Highness has already passed. It’s time for the soul-calming ceremony and palace closure. Her Highness cared most about Your Majesty’s Dragon Body health while she was alive. If she knew from beyond, she would never wish to see you like this!”
The Qingzhao Emperor remained unaware.
Still holding the person in his arms like a statue, staring fixedly at one spot, yet his eyes seemed to see nothing.
Hai Shun prostrated on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.
The heart-wrenching sobs made Kan’er’s eyes redden as well.
“How could this be…”
She looked at herself in the Qingzhao Emperor’s arms, then at him, reaching out to touch that all-too-familiar face.
But her body was now semi-transparent, her fingertips passing right through the man’s face as soon as they made contact.
Kan’er’s hand paused mid-air.
Finally withdrawn.
She sighed, murmuring as if to herself: “Your Majesty, you’re making me seem so heartless…”
As soon as these words fell, the Qingzhao Emperor’s eyes moved.
He lowered his gaze.
Lifting his hand to stroke the relaxed brows of the person in his arms, his voice hoarse: “Enough. These forty years have been hard on you.”
“From now on, you need not accompany the ruler as if accompanying a tiger, nor carefully attend to me anymore. You should be happy. As long as you’re happy.”
“As long as you’re happy…”
Before he finished speaking, blood trickled from the corner of the Qingzhao Emperor’s mouth.
He collapsed unexpectedly.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
“Imperial Physicians! Where are the Imperial Physicians?!”
…
Kan’er lay with eyes tightly shut, sweat beading on her forehead, her chest feeling as if crushed by a giant stone, suffocating her almost beyond breath.
At that moment, the bed curtains were drawn open from outside.
A figure stopped before the couch.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”
The man’s outstretched hand suddenly froze.
The next moment, Kan’er felt a sharp pain in her chin.
She immediately frowned, her hand instinctively swinging up to knock away whatever was causing the pain.
Unfortunately, as soon as she moved, her wrist was seized.
Kan’er gasped sharply.
Finally awakening from the nightmare, only to open her eyes and meet a pair of utterly cold eyes.
“Who were you dreaming of? Calling for whom?”
“In my Back Palace, who are you thinking of?”