Inside Prince Jing's Mansion.
After drinking the talisman water in the afternoon, Prince Jing slept until nearly dawn before slowly waking up.
"Xiao Liu."
The personal guard who was called by name hurried forward.
"Your Highness, you are awake."
At this movement, Steward Chen, who had been slumped over the table, also woke up.
"Your Highness, how does your body feel?"
Prince Jing was stunned when he heard Steward Chen's voice.
Why didn't Uncle Chen go back to his room to rest?
He felt as though he had been asleep for a very long time.
Prince Jing felt that he hadn't slept this comfortably in many years.
"Uncle Chen, what time is it now?"
Steward Chen poured a cup of tea and stepped forward.
"Your Highness, it is already the third quarter of the Yin hour. In another quarter of an hour, the officials will be attending the morning court."
As Steward Chen spoke, he half-helped Prince Jing sit up.
"Your Highness has slept for so long; would you like to drink some water?"
Prince Jing nodded and subconsciously reached out to take it.
It was only when he received the cup and brought it to his lips that Prince Jing realized what had happened.
Uncle Chen and Xiao Liu could no longer hide their excitement.
"Your Highness, your hand, you can move it again!"
Prince Jing lowered his head, his eyes falling on his right hand holding the teacup.
His fingers were still slender, but they were much paler and thinner than before.
One could tell just by looking at his fingers that he was currently very weak.
But these things were not important; what was important was that he seemed to be able to see clearly.
Clearly, just yesterday, his vision had been as if covered by a thin veil, all misty and blurred.
"My poison, has it been neutralized?"
Steward Chen shook his head and sighed.
"When you were asleep, Your Highness, the mansion physician came to check your pulse. He said your pulse is a bit stronger, but the poison has not yet been neutralized."
Prince Jing leaned against the side of the bed, his expression unchanged.
That the poison wasn't neutralized was within his expectations.
"The person who came to examine me today, was it Master Yunzhou's Junior Sister?"
In his memory, that was what Uncle Chen had said; he shouldn't have remembered it wrong.
Steward Chen hesitated for a moment, but decided to speak the truth.
"That Miss did say so. She brought the Marquis of Zhenbei's personal token and said she came to save Your Highness's life."
Upon hearing the words 'Marquis of Zhenbei', Prince Jing's expression indeed changed.
"Maternal Grandfather's personal token?"
Maternal Grandfather had passed away many years ago, and the current Marquis of Zhenbei's Mansion had already become the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Steward Chen nodded, very certain.
"It is indeed the Marquis's token, not the one currently used by the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion."
Steward Chen had been an old servant of the Marquis of Zhenbei's Mansion; later, when the Miss married into the Imperial Palace and gave birth to the little Prince,
the Marquis of Zhenbei slowly groomed him from an outer courtyard steward into the head steward of the mansion.
This was so that when the little Prince grew up and established his own household, he would have a capable assistant.
Now, Uncle Chen had indeed become the most capable steward in Prince Jing's Mansion, just as expected.
It was just a pity that the Marquis and the Miss could no longer see it.
And precisely because Uncle Chen was an old associate of the Marquis of Zhenbei,
even if the tokens of the Marquis of Zhenbei's Mansion and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion were very similar, he could still tell them apart.
Having received a definitive answer, Prince Jing did not ask further.
He simply drank the water in the cup in one gulp.
He had clearly already been named on the King of Hell's ledger.
Yet, when he was at the gates of the Ghost Gate, a young lady holding his Maternal Grandfather's token came to his door to save him.
It was hard not to let his mind wander.
Prince Jing lowered his eyes, his voice slightly hoarse.
For the first time in so many years, Prince Jing allowed his emotions to show.
"Was it Maternal Grandfather and Mother... who came to protect me?"
Steward Chen felt a pang in his heart and couldn't help but shed tears first.
Prince Jing had suffered too much over these years.
"Yes, yes, it is the Master and the Miss manifesting their spirits."
Steward Chen wiped his tears as he spoke, and the atmosphere, which had lightened because of the Prince's improvement, became heavy once again.
Xiao Liu, who was standing to the side, was silent for a moment before he couldn't help but speak up to break the mood.
"Your Highness, that young lady is also your fiancée."
Prince Jing:?
Since when did this Prince have a fiancée?
Steward Chen also remembered this matter.
He hurriedly lowered the sleeve he was using to wipe his tears.
"Look at me, I'm getting old and fragile, I've forgotten the important business."
Xiao Liu:?
Fragile? Who was it that was so angry last month because the Prince was poisoned that they smashed a table to pieces?
Steward Chen, don't you feel guilty saying that?
Fortunately, Steward Chen could not hear Xiao Liu's muttering.
He was only focused on spilling everything about Shen Qingyuan.
"Your Highness, it was the Emperor who, seeing you unconscious, arranged for a Princess Consort for a Wedding for Luck. She is the Legitimate Daughter of a fifth-rank Vice Minister of Rites."
When Shen Qingyuan arrived, she had already declared her identity.
Once the people in the Prince's Mansion went out to investigate, they naturally found out everything clearly.
Mentioning the Wedding for Luck, Prince Jing seemed to recall such a thing.
The Emperor seemed to have arranged for someone to perform a Wedding for Luck for him.
He had originally wanted to refuse, as marrying him was no different from jumping into a pit of fire.
His maternal family's lineage was withering, yet their military achievements were so great they even overshadowed the Emperor.
The younger brothers below all viewed him as a thorn in their side.
If it weren't for the Emperor sending him off to his Maternal Grandfather's old territory early on,
he would never have survived until now.
Prince Jing was very clear about his own situation.
Therefore, Prince Jing had never harbored any thoughts of romance, nor did he want to delay any young lady.
But now, the Emperor had arranged for a Junior Sister of a divine doctor to perform a Wedding for Luck for him?
Was the Emperor using the guise of a Wedding for Luck to find someone to treat him?
"Is she the Junior Sister of the divine doctor that the Emperor found for me?"
Mentioning this, Steward Chen's chatterbox could not be stopped.
"No, no, Your Highness, listen to me. Originally, the one for the Wedding for Luck was not this young lady; the Emperor's imperial decree clearly stated the Eldest Legitimate Daughter.
But after the decree was issued, the Vice Minister of Rites only then brought the Eldest Legitimate Daughter back from the countryside.
She entered the capital yesterday and caused a huge scene at the mansion gate. It was only then that the capital learned that the Vice Minister of Rites's wife was not his original wife..."
Blah blah blah, Steward Chen recounted yesterday's events in vivid detail.
（Xiao Liu: Steward Chen, it's a real pity you aren't a storyteller.）
Steward Chen finished his story and concluded with one sentence.
"Although this young lady was not very polite to her own father, she rushed over to see you as soon as she arrived.
In my opinion, this young lady must be very fond of you, Your Highness."
Xiao Liu:?!
No, Steward Chen, it's that you love the Prince too much, so you think everyone is very fond of the Prince.
That young lady clearly came to the door and swindled fifty thousand taels from the Prince!
Prince Jing was also stunned by what he heard.
It wasn't that he was thinking about whether Shen Qingyuan liked him or not.
Rather, he was thinking that this fifth-rank Vice Minister of Rites had quite a lot of nerve.
Living right under the Emperor's nose, he actually dared to swap the Prince's marriage candidate; this was the kind of thing that could cost him his head.
Does the Emperor know about this?
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