Don’t Move
Outside Yangyi Hall, the rain was growing heavier.
A carriage with its curtains lowered stopped at the street corner.
“Your Highness, please wait in the carriage for a moment. This subordinate will collect some medicine for the soldiers and return shortly. We’re passing by today, but we won’t be taking this alley tomorrow.”
Xiao Chengyi leaned against a soft cushion, reading a book. He asked casually, “There are plenty of large medicine shops in the bustling center of the capital. Why come to such a remote place?”
“We can’t buy it anywhere else,” Guan Shuo reported. “This medicine is made according to a prescription from our Princess Consort.”
The man’s hand holding the book paused slightly, and he raised his eyes.
“The Spring Warmth Essence-Fortifying Paste, which the Princess Consort specially instructed the female physician to prepare, is a secret recipe passed down through her maternal grandfather’s family. It’s been raining frequently lately, and many soldiers in the camp have been suffering flare-ups of old injuries, leaving them in unbearable pain. The Princess Consort said that all medicines carry some degree of toxicity, so daily recuperation should combine medicinal treatment with dietary nourishment.”
Xiao Chengyi lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and looked through the dense curtain of rain toward the medicine shop’s signboard.
Yangyi Hall?
He seemed to have a vague impression of the name.
His attention was drawn to another carriage adorned with pearl ornaments and jade decorations. The carriage had stopped directly in front of the shop’s entrance, blocking it. A commotion came from inside, with faint sounds of scolding and crying mixed in.
Guan Shuo also noticed something was wrong, and his expression abruptly changed.
“It must be County Princess Changle! She used underhanded methods to cut off Yangyi Hall’s supply of medicinal ingredients, yet that still wasn’t enough for her. She’s actually come here personally to cause trouble?”
“Is your mouth only good for eating? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Xiao Chengyi’s eyes turned icy.
“This subordinate did tell you! I said Yangyi Hall was being deliberately harassed and couldn’t even purchase medicinal ingredients, but Your Highness didn’t seem concerned, so I thought…”
Guan Shuo froze for a moment before suddenly widening his eyes.
“Your Highness didn’t know this medicine shop was part of the Princess Consort’s dowry?”
Xiao Chengyi ordered coldly, “Go and take a look!”
Inside Yangyi Hall, everything was in complete disarray. Several guards from the Duke of Rong’s residence were roughly pulling medicinal ingredients out of the medicine cabinets, smashing bottles and jars onto the floor.
“Don’t do this! Stop!” Xinyi cried as she tried to stop them, only to be shoved to the ground.
Medicinal ingredients throughout the shop were being wantonly destroyed. All the shop assistants glared at the intruders furiously, yet none dared step forward.
These were guards maintained by the Duke of Rong’s residence. What ordinary commoner would dare pit an egg against a rock?
“County Princess, why are you doing this?” Xinyi forcefully wiped the tears from her face. “In broad daylight, you allow your servants to commit violence and smash up a shop. Does the law mean nothing to you, County Princess?!”
Zhao Shu sat in a chair and let out a cold laugh.
“That vixen Xia Ruochu dared to strike me. Does she think she can get away with it?”
“She relies on that seductive face of hers to lure men into standing up for her. I truly regret not slashing her face when she was still at the Marquis’s residence, then drowning her in a pond. When she was at Qiyun Temple, I shouldn’t have merely rewarded her with those lashes. I should have sold her to a brothel!”
A medicine cabinet was violently pushed over, and the sounds of porcelain jars shattering rang out incessantly.
Xinyi’s heart ached at the destruction.
“Our Fourth Young Lady is now the esteemed Princess Consort of Prince Su. County Princess, you’d better watch your tongue!”
“Fourth Young Lady often teaches us that we should conduct ourselves uprightly and act with integrity, seeking only to have a clear conscience. Yangyi Hall provides medical aid and saves lives for the benefit of the common people. It shouldn’t have to endure such humiliation.”
“Fourth Young Lady also said that when we encounter evildoers, we must repay them in kind. Otherwise, we’d only be helping tyrants commit evil. She never swallows insults in silence, and Yangyi Hall won’t behave like a coward hiding in its shell either.”
Xinyi suddenly raised her voice, which was filled with resolute hatred.
“Everyone! Fourth Young Lady has always treated us like family. How can we stand by and watch her be insulted? Let’s fight!”
The shop assistants’ eyes reddened with fury as they rose to resist. However, they were ultimately no match for the residence guards and were quickly pinned to the ground. Xinyi was also slapped twice across the face, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Zhao Shu laughed uncontrollably.
“Are you still counting on Xia Ruochu to stand up for you? Even a consort in the imperial palace can be bullied by palace maids and eunuchs once she loses favor, let alone a Princess Consort who hasn’t even performed the wedding ceremony!”
“Whether Xia Ruochu will survive the next few days is still uncertain.”
“What did you say?” Xinyi exclaimed in shock.
Zhao Shu smiled smugly.
“According to the laws of the realm, the Shen family’s shops were transferred to my Duke of Rong’s residence. Back when she was at Qiyun Temple, she stubbornly refused to hand over the secret medicinal prescriptions. So this County Princess decided to teach her a painful lesson and had someone whip her with a lash soaked in poisonous herbs.”
“Whenever the weather is like this, the injuries on her body are bound to flare up. It’s been raining continuously these past few days, so she must be suffering unbearable pain and a persistent high fever right now. I’m afraid your Princess Consort is about to breathe her last…”
Her voice abruptly stopped.
A cold sword had been pressed against Zhao Shu’s neck, its blade radiating a fierce, murderous aura.
“Who dares act so insolently?!” The leader of the residence guards suddenly drew his saber and lunged forward.
Cold light flashed across the black jade ornament carved with a coiled four-clawed dragon on the sword’s hilt. The sword’s tip had already pierced the guard’s eye.
The night was deep, and the dew was heavy.
Steam rose from the hot spring, dispelling the chill of the rainy night.
Immersed in the medicinal pool, Xia Ruochu drifted in and out of consciousness.
The hot springs at Liandeng Temple had long been known for their ability to heal injuries and dispel cold. Soaking medicinal herbs in the water could help alleviate high fevers and pain from injuries.
Some time ago, Xinyi had treated her with a specially prepared wound medicine. The old injuries on her back had faded to faint red marks, although completely eliminating the toxins would still take time.
Plain gauze curtains had been erected around the pool. The maids and personal guards stood quietly several meters away, keeping watch and creating a secluded, peaceful space for her.
Bamboo-framed lanterns cast hazy halos of light. Xia Ruochu’s long eyelashes drooped, yet she felt no inclination to sleep.
Earlier, Master Wangchen had personally brought monks knowledgeable in medicine to take her pulse and prepare medicinal decoctions.
“Thank you for your trouble, Master. If something truly happens to me, I certainly won’t blame Liandeng Temple,” Xia Ruochu said, comforting him instead.
“Your Highness, you speak too seriously. This old monk has merely done what little he can. The Princess Consort is blessed by good fortune. His Highness must already know by now that you’re trapped at the temple, and he’ll come to fetch you very soon.”
Xia Ruochu gave a faint, bitter smile.
“He won’t come.”
Since she had been gone for so long without returning, Old Madam Xiao should have been the first to realize that she was stranded at the temple.
However, there were only guards on duty at the residence. With darkness falling, the rain growing heavier, and the mountain roads difficult to traverse, ordinary guards would not dare venture into the mountains recklessly.
If she had to wait for Xiao Chengyi to mobilize the Black-Armored Guards, the earliest they could arrive would be tomorrow.
She could not control the terrifying thoughts that kept growing in her heart.
What if Xiao Chengyi simply refused to concern himself with her?
If she caught a chill and became so seriously ill that she could no longer get out of bed, wouldn’t he simply let her live or die on her own? That way, he could rid himself of her completely without having to endure the reproaches of Grand Madam Rong’an or the Emperor.
“This old monk believes that no matter how many hardships and obstacles stand in his way, Prince Su will certainly find a way to come.”
Master Wangchen’s voice was calm and resolute.
“In the early years of the Shaoxing era, His Highness was sixteen years old when he was entrusted with command in a time of crisis and decisively defeated the enemy forces north of the Yangtze River. As the enemy retreated, they set fire to the city and massacred its inhabitants. His Highness fought throughout the night to save the common people. His throat was burned by the raging flames and thick smoke, leaving him unable to speak for two months. The people of the Jianghuai region remain grateful to him to this day.”
“How could a man willing to sacrifice his life for the common people abandon his lawfully wedded wife?”
A man willing to sacrifice his life for the common people.
Xia Ruochu felt as though she were in a dream.
She remembered that incident.
That year, she had just turned twelve and was the cherished legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s residence, pampered and adored by everyone.
It was the warmth of spring in the third month. The willow catkins were soft and fluffy, and the peach blossoms had just begun to bloom.
Upon hearing that her elder brother was returning triumphantly with the army from its northern campaign, she could not contain her excitement. Taking advantage of the commotion as the entire residence was decorated with lanterns and festive ornaments, she grabbed her maid and slipped out.
Along both sides of the long street, cheers surged like waves. She squeezed into the crowd and stood on tiptoe to look.
That was when she saw the commander leading the procession.
The young general sat tall upon his magnificent steed, dressed in silver armor and a black helmet, his posture as straight as a pine tree. Sunlight filtered through the branches of newly blooming peach blossoms, yet it could not compare to even a fraction of the brightness in his eyes.
A young child with hair still hanging in tufts accidentally stumbled onto the imperial road. Before his personal guards could react, the young general had already raised his hand to halt the army behind him.
Only after the panicked mother had carried her child back into the crowd did he raise his arm and wave it down.
Despite the sharp, imposing aura surrounding the man, Xia Ruochu had clearly seen the smile and gentleness in those dark eyes.
Afterward, she pestered Xia Yunxiao every day, asking him about what had happened on the battlefield.
Only then did she learn that Xiao Chengyi had resolutely led his troops into battle despite knowing that the national treasury was depleted and military provisions could not be sustained.
Someone in the imperial court had embezzled military funds, and the army’s grain supplies had been adulterated with wheat bran and rice bran meant for feeding livestock. Leading a force of light cavalry, Xiao Chengyi had captured three enemy grain depots in a single night, resolving the entire army’s desperate shortage of provisions.
On the day he returned triumphantly to the capital, he had thrown the adulterated military grain onto the floor of the main imperial hall and pointed his sword at the Chancellor, leaving the assembled officials pale with fright.
He would rather have his body wrapped in horsehide after dying on the battlefield than stand in the same imperial court as those who regarded soldiers’ lives as worthless.
All the generals knew that the young commandery prince often carried two weapons.
One was an imperial-bestowed sword with a black jade hilt carved with a coiled four-clawed dragon. The other was a small repeating crossbow called the Meteor Crossbow, compact enough to conceal within his sleeve. It was a keepsake left by his father, Xiao Ce, the General Who Pacifies Distant Lands.
One weapon was wielded openly, the other concealed. Used with unpredictable speed and precision, they could take a person’s life in an instant.
Years of tempering on the battlefield, coupled with his deep voice, made him appear colder and more composed than others his age.
Burns to the throat were extremely painful.
At first, even swallowing plain water had been difficult. Eating solid food caused pain, and anything greasy or containing meat made him vomit. Yet the military situation had been urgent. To maintain his strength, he had forced down dry rations and coarse porridge without uttering a single complaint.
Although his condition had gradually improved under the care of military physicians, his voice never regained the clear tone it had possessed in his youth.
Xia Ruochu had never imagined that this God of War, who would slay gods and demons alike if they stood in his way, would one day become her husband.
In her hazy thoughts, she recalled Xiao Chengyi’s voice, deep, husky, and rich.
She did not find it unpleasant. On the contrary, it possessed a captivating, almost tormenting magnetism.
She particularly remembered how he had deliberately leaned close to her ear and whispered about the “consummation of marriage.” His breath had brushed against her delicate skin, sending a tingling sensation from her ear all the way to the depths of her heart.
“Lawfully wedded wife… I’m afraid we don’t share that kind of fate.” Facing the compassionate eminent monk, Xia Ruochu unconsciously revealed her innermost thoughts.
“I’ve never harmed anyone, but no one believes me. Not even His Highness.”
“Those who do good deeds will naturally be protected by the good fortune they cultivate. If the Princess Consort’s heart is as pure and bright as the moon, why fear a few passing clouds temporarily obscuring its light?” Master Wangchen pondered for a moment. “However, there is something this old monk does not understand.”
“Regarding Madam Xiao’s incident, this old monk once instructed the monks to keep the matter strictly confidential. Nevertheless, by the following day, news of it had spread throughout the capital. Even the appearance of the Marquis’s residence’s carriage was described in such detail that it sounded as though the storytellers had witnessed it themselves.”
“Yet the carriage described in those rumors was not the same as the one this old monk saw that day.”
It was as though a flash of lightning had pierced the darkness. Something stirred in Xia Ruochu’s heart.
“Master, have you remembered something? Does His Highness know about this?”
“This old monk vaguely recalls that the carriage from the Marquis’s residence that day had blue-green curtains and was very understated. Yet in the rumors, it became a luxurious carriage with vermilion wheels and an ornate canopy.” Master Wangchen pressed his palms together and sighed.
“There is no concrete evidence of this matter, so the Princess Consort may simply regard it as a mistake in this old monk’s aging memory. His Highness is extremely sensitive about the incident, and it would be inappropriate for this old monk to say more.”
Since the master was unwilling to elaborate, Xia Ruochu did not wish to force him.
Nevertheless, his words were enough to leave her tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
The hot spring water was smooth and warm, but it could not soothe the uneasiness in her heart.
There had to be something suspicious about this old incident.
If someone had deliberately framed her that day and placed the blame for Madam Xiao’s death on her, then Xia Ruochu must have possessed knowledge of some secret that person desperately wanted to conceal.
Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, she had lost that part of her memory.
Regardless of who the culprit was, that person certainly would not want her to remember what had happened. Nor would they want her to approach Liandeng Temple again.
Yet she had come.
Here in these cold, desolate mountains, she had only four personal guards and a maid who knew no martial arts by her side.
A chill slowly spread upward from her feet, and she could not suppress a slight tremor.
The best way to silence someone forever was to turn them into a corpse.
The next instant, the sharp whistle of an arrow tore through the air.
Crack!
The bamboo-framed lantern shattered on impact.
“Assassins!”
The figures outside the curtains suddenly erupted into chaos, and the clashing of swords and sabers rang out.
“Protect the Princess Consort!”
“Young Lady, be careful!”
Shouts and the sounds of weapons intertwined in a chaotic uproar.
Shadows flickered everywhere, and the flashes of blades grew increasingly dense, as though more and more attackers were arriving.
Blood repeatedly splattered across the plain white gauze curtains, blooming like red plum blossoms.
When had Xia Ruochu ever witnessed such a scene? She was so terrified that she nearly lost her wits. With her arms and legs trembling weakly, she clung to the edge of the pool and struggled to climb out.
Her thin silk garments, soaked with water, clung tightly to her skin, casting the graceful curves of her figure onto the white gauze curtains.
Just as she rose, a cold arrow came whistling through the air.
In that split second, a figure dressed in black swept toward her like a falcon, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her into his embrace. Together, they plunged into the warm pool.
Water splashed everywhere.
The panic of being submerged lasted only an instant before a powerful arm lifted her above the surface.
She struggled instinctively, but the arm tightened around her, holding her soft body firmly against an embrace as solid as steel.
“Don’t move. It’s dangerous.”
A familiar, deep, magnetic voice sounded close to her ear, accompanied by warm breath.
In an instant, the mournful howling of the mountain wind and the flashing swords and sabers faded into an insignificant background.
Dazed by her fever, Xia Ruochu raised her eyes blankly. That handsome, sharply defined face was only inches away, and those dark, unfathomable eyes were gazing at her.
His body was so warm.
Without realizing it, she nestled closer into his embrace, her small hands clutching desperately at the front of his soaked robes.
Sensing her abnormally high body temperature, Xiao Chengyi frowned slightly.
“Xia Ruochu, you really never give anyone a moment’s peace.”
The person in his arms merely stared at him with hazy eyes, saying nothing.
From her expression, it was impossible to tell whether she had been frightened senseless or had become delirious from the fever.
His large hand cupped her face, and a trace of urgency entered his voice.
“Say something. Don’t you recognize this prince anymore?”
A scalding tear fell onto the back of his hand.
Then another, and another.
Xia Ruochu finally choked out through her tears.
“I thought you wouldn’t come.”