The imperial physician was bent over his desk writing out a prescription.
When he saw Jiaojiao enter, he hurriedly stood up.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
“You may rise.”
Jiaojiao noticed that even the physician’s hat was still crooked. It was obvious that Yuqiu had rushed him over.
She smiled softly.
“Thank you for coming all this way, Doctor.”
“You are too kind, Your Highness.”
Jiaojiao had no time for more conversation. She smiled and walked into the inner room.
Noble Consort Yan had just received acupuncture from the imperial physician and had regained some strength.
When she saw Jiaojiao enter, she immediately asked Qiu Mama to help her sit up.
“Thank you, Princess…”
“You’re not feeling well, so please lie down while we talk.”
Noble Consort Yan looked extremely uneasy, but she could not refuse Jiaojiao’s kindness and nervously lay back down.
Jiaojiao sat beside the bed and looked at the exhausted woman whose beauty had not faded despite her illness.
After living in a place like this for ten years, even though she had become thin and pale and carried a deep sadness around her, she was still beautiful.
She had a high nose and deep-set eyes, violet pupils and snow-white skin. Her smooth, deep-green hair curled into a beautiful arc around her thin face.
She was truly a delicate and pitiful beauty from a foreign land.
Emperor Heng loved beautiful women, and his imperial harem was filled with them.
Just look at Jiaojiao’s own birth mother, Noble Consort Roujia.
She had neither a powerful family behind her nor exceptional talent. Even her personality could hardly be called gentle.
Yet with nothing but her beautiful face, she had become a noble consort and enjoyed the Emperor’s endless favor.
So how could the Emperor bear to leave such a beautiful woman hidden away in the palace for ten whole years?
Jiaojiao had something on her mind.
Her clear, round eyes stared at Noble Consort Yan without blinking, making the woman increasingly uneasy.
Too many things had happened today.
The princess coming to save her was one of the last things she had ever expected.
Whatever the reason, it was always right to offer thanks.
After steadying herself, Noble Consort Yan thanked her again.
“Thank you, Princess, for thinking of me…”
Her voice was soft and carried a hint of pleading.
Hearing it made one’s heart ache.
Qiu Mama directly dropped to her knees.
“Thank you, Princess! Thank you, Princess! Thank goodness you were here today. Otherwise, our mistress… I’m afraid she…”
Yuqiu quickly went to help her up.
Jiaojiao thought of the person waiting outside.
She pressed her lips together and softly said to Noble Consort Yan,
“Your Ladyship, Fifth Brother is outside.”
Noble Consort Yan’s face stiffened.
She looked away.
Jiaojiao’s voice was gentle, but her attitude was unusually firm.
“He heard that you were sick, and he was very worried. He wants to see you.”
Noble Consort Yan stiffly refused to meet her eyes.
Her voice was hoarse.
“My illness can spread to others. Ah Heng is still young. I’m afraid he might catch it from me.”
Jiaojiao was speechless.
Still young?
Gui Heng was already more than a head taller than her.
And this was not even his fully grown form yet.
Once the tyrant became an adult, he could probably pick her up with one hand.
Perhaps in a mother’s eyes, a son was still a child no matter how old he became.
After complaining inwardly, Jiaojiao looked at the beautiful woman’s melancholy profile for a while.
Then she said softly,
“You just thanked me, Your Ladyship.”
Noble Consort Yan froze.
“The princess saved my life. Of course I should thank you…”
“Then…”
Jiaojiao interrupted her.
“You know that this illness can spread to others. So why weren’t you afraid of passing it to me?”
Her voice was soft but clear.
The moment she said it, the entire room fell silent.
Noble Consort Yan stared blankly at her, as though she could not understand what Jiaojiao had just said.
A moment later, Qiu Mama, who had just stood up, immediately dropped to her knees again.
“Please forgive the princess! My mistress… My mistress is confused because of her illness. She didn’t mean it that way…”
“I know.”
Jiaojiao shyly curved her lips into a smile.
She stood up and personally helped Qiu Mama to her feet.
Once Qiu Mama was steady, Jiaojiao sat back beside Noble Consort Yan’s bed.
She smiled brightly.
“I know. It’s all right, Your Ladyship…”
“I’m here.”
“You can see him. Don’t worry about disobeying the Emperor’s orders.”
Noble Consort Yan seemed completely stunned.
She could not say a single word.
Her violet eyes, like smoky crystals, looked helplessly at Jiaojiao.
“Qiu Mama, please go and ask Fifth Brother to come in.”
Jiaojiao gave the order softly.
She gently held Noble Consort Yan’s cold hand.
“Your Ladyship, please take good care of yourself. From now on, I will bring him to see you.”
Jiaojiao passed Gui Heng in the courtyard outside.
As he passed her, Gui Heng seemed to glance at her.
Jiaojiao’s heart immediately jumped into her throat.
She was afraid she had tried too hard to please him and somehow made things worse.
Fortunately, Gui Heng did not say anything.
He paused slightly, then walked toward the inner room.
Jiaojiao did not stay in the main hall to secretly listen to the mother and son’s conversation.
Even after the imperial physician finished writing the prescription, Yuqiu sent him back to the Imperial Medical Office and told him to prepare the medicine as quickly as possible.
The last traces of dusk had disappeared, and the night had grown deep.
Cuixue wrapped Jiaojiao’s cloak more tightly around her and sighed.
“It is all my fault. I didn’t bring a hood for Your Highness. It’s so cold today…”
Jiaojiao smiled.
“You can’t blame yourself, Cuixue. You didn’t know it would get this late.”
“It’s also this place’s fault.”
Cuixue looked around and could not help complaining.
“How can such a huge palace have only one room that people can enter? One of the side halls has collapsed, and there is still another one. Yet even that one is completely dark…”
Jiaojiao laughed.
“You saw it yourself. There is only Qiu Mama here. It’s already amazing that she can take care of Noble Consort Yan by herself. How could she possibly have the time to take care of the main hall and side halls too?”
She moved closer beneath the covered corridor and softly waved at Cuixue.
“Jiaojiao isn’t cold. This place blocks some of the wind, so it’s warmer here. Come over too.”
Cuixue happily squeezed over.
The two girls huddled together beneath the lantern.
Not long afterward, the palace servant who had gone to collect the medicine returned.
But Yuqiu was nowhere to be seen.
The two girls were wondering where she had gone when Yuqiu hurried over.
She was carrying a large bundle of things in her arms.
“It’s cold and windy at night, so I went back to our palace and brought some things.”
As she spoke, she unfolded a thick cloak and wrapped Jiaojiao tightly inside it.
Jiaojiao already had a small head and delicate face.
Once the hood trimmed with soft white rabbit fur was pulled around her face, almost nothing could be seen except her two bright, blinking round eyes.
Cuixue looked at Jiaojiao’s pale face with heartache.
“Our princess has never had to suffer like this before…”
Yuqiu was more experienced.
She almost said something, but the words turned around in her throat and she swallowed them.
Was all this really necessary for an older brother who was not even favored by the Emperor?
“It isn’t hard at all.”
Jiaojiao’s eyes curved into a sweet, innocent smile.
Yuqiu wanted to sigh even more.
But Jiaojiao truly meant what she said.
In the past, she had been trapped in a hospital room and could not even feel a breath of fresh air.
Now, even standing in the cold wind for a while made her feel refreshed.
“The imperial physician has been called, and someone has already gone inside. Let’s hurry back to the palace.”
Yuqiu tried to persuade her again.
Jiaojiao said softly,
“It’s okay.”
Yuqiu and Cuixue had no way to change her mind.
They could only stay beneath the corridor with her.
Jiaojiao looked at the two of them and pressed her lips together apologetically.
She actually did not have any clear plan.
She had simply seen the expression on Gui Heng’s face when he hurried over.
She felt that she could not just leave him alone.
That expression…
It reminded her of the way her mother had looked at her through the thick glass when she had first been placed in an isolation room.
The night was cold and the wind was strong.
Yuqiu and Cuixue did not talk much, afraid that opening their mouths would only let the cold air into their lungs.
So they did not notice that Jiaojiao was gradually becoming quieter.
She tried hard to control herself.
She pulled her hood farther over her face and stared at the shadows of the palace lanterns on the ground.
Then she lowered her head deeply.
Noble Consort Yan cried for a long time.
Eventually, after drinking some calming medicine, she finally fell asleep.
Gui Heng watched her for a while.
Then he slowly straightened and lowered the curtains on both sides of the bed.
“Please take good care of Mother, Qiu Mama.”
Gui Heng’s expression was calm.
He used a handkerchief to wipe the traces of medicine from his hands.
Qiu Mama escorted him outside.
Along the way, she repeatedly wanted to say something but hesitated.
Gui Heng did not look at her.
He said calmly,
“Qiu Mama has watched me grow up. If you have something to say, just say it.”
Although he said that, his gloomy expression made it difficult for anyone not to feel afraid.
Qiu Mama hesitated again and again.
Just as Gui Heng was about to leave the hall, she finally spoke.
“My mistress doesn’t not want to see you. It’s just…”
“She has no choice.”
“After being locked away for ten years, even someone with the courage of a leopard would have been frightened into submission.”
Gui Heng listened quietly.
His expression did not change.
He simply answered,
“Mm. I understand.”
“Please stay here, Qiu Mama.”
Qiu Mama had no choice.
She escorted him to the entrance of the hall, then turned around and went back to take care of Noble Consort Yan.
Gui Heng left the inner hall with A-Li.
The moment he stepped outside, he saw three people huddled together beneath the corridor.
He was slightly surprised.
“Princess Jiaoran.”
He walked over.
His eyes rested on the soft, fluffy white rabbit fur around the hood on top of her head for a moment.
Then he called her in his deep voice.
Jiaojiao had her head lowered as far as it could go.
When she heard that familiar, cold voice, she looked up in a daze.
She had stared at the lantern shadows for too long, and her eyes had become sore.
Without thinking, Jiaojiao rubbed them with her hand.
Suddenly, a string of clear tears fell from her round eyes.
Gui Heng’s expression immediately became strange.
Through her blurry vision, Jiaojiao vaguely noticed his reaction.
She quickly lowered her head and took the handkerchief Yuqiu offered her.
“Fifth Brother is out. Noble Consort Yan has fallen asleep, right…?”
“Is she feeling a little better?”
She covered her eyes with the handkerchief.
Then her hand suddenly tightened.
Someone pulled the handkerchief away.
Jiaojiao lost her little shield.
For a moment, she did not react.
She simply stared blankly with her tear-filled eyes.
“Princess Jiaoran.”
She heard his voice again.
Low and cold, like jade bamboo striking against ice.
“Why are you crying?”