Just when the three groups of people were in a stalemate, there came the eunuch’s reporting voice that Thirteenth Prince’s wife had come.
Dou Meishuang? Immediately the woman’s name appeared in Qin Yunuan’s mind. Now Dou Meishuang was no longer the person in the past. She was the Thirteenth Prince’s wife of West Xia, while Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi were nothing right now.
“You’d better leave now. Where there is life, there is hope.” Although Qin Yunuan was persuading the maid to leave, she wouldn’t give up, “If I don’t kill him, I will let my master down.”
“You are unable to kill him, and you’ll die as a result. If your dead master doesn’t even have a person to burn paper money for him, which will really make him disappointed.” Leng Changxi’s words made the little maid’s eyes fixed. Biting her lips, she opened the window on the side decisively and jumped out.
Almost at the same time, a gust of cold wind poured in. The gate of East Side Hall was pulled open by two little eunuchs. The one standing to it was exactly Dou Meishuang, dressing gorgeously. No. Now she should be referred to as Thirteenth Prince’s wife.
Looking worried, Dou Meishuang was even more surprised when she saw Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi, who seemed to have no reason to be here. She covered her mouth with her long, slender fingers and opened her eyes a little wider, “My third younger cousin and cousin-in-law, how come you are here?”
Indeed, her appearance of no harm could fool lots of people.
Leng Changxi looked back at Jing Yuanchu, who had already cleaned up the mess in a hurry, and said to Dou Meishuang, “Compare to us, shouldn’t you worry more about the safety of your husband?”
Dou Meishuang looked slightly embarrassed. Leng Changxi strode to her and said in a low voice, “Before your entry, didn’t the imperial doctor tell you that Thirteenth Prince was too weak to be blown by the wind? It’s very inappropriate of you to open the gate wide and let the wind in.”
Leng Changxi didn’t expose that Dou Meishuang actually was trying to catch the little maid who attempted to kill Jing Yuanchu. He just looked back at Jing Yuanchu and said quite politely, “Your Highness, please take a rest now. My wife and I will visit you the other day.”
The word “visit” was said in such a casual way.
However, the fact was clear that it was Leng Changxi who saved Jing Yuanchu. It remained a mystery why he would pop up in the Xihe Palace and why he saved Jing Yuanchu. Did he still have the hope that he could rectify the name of Elder Princess? Jing Yuanchu sneered in his mind. He didn’t know that in fact, Jing Donghua had already met Elder Princess. He thought that everything was still in his control.
Jing Yuanchu saw Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan leave in a trance. Dou Meishuang stepped forward and tucked in the corner of the quilt carefully for Jing Yuanchu. It had to be admitted that Dou Meishuang was a beauty. Under her willow-like eyebrows, there was a pair of eyes shining like stars, bright and dazzling. A light layer of make-up was applied to her face, making her skin look smooth and mellow. What a rare beauty she was! Ambitious as Jing Yuanchu was, he could not hide his desire when facing her.
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Dou Meishuang always appeared to be a gentle, generous, and virtuous wife in front of Jing Yuanchu.
Jing Yuanchu escaped Dou Meishuang’s inquiring eyes. Imperial Concubine Lian was under the leadership of Zhao Huijin in East Qin, who had always been deeply connected to the Dou Family as both the ally and the partner of them. Although the Dou Family collapsed now and Zhao Huijin was completely wiped out, so many assassins in the world could not all be killed simply. The reason why Dou Meishuang was able to persuade Sima Ray to keep her alive was because of the resources she had. If Dou Meishuang knew that just now someone wanted to kill Jing Yuanchu, she would definitely ask about the reason. If she knew that not only Jing Yuanchu took in the assassins who ran away from Zhao Huijin, but he also used and fooled them, the relationship between them would be complicated.
“I’m fine.” Jing Yuanchu looked at Dou Meishuang with a smile, “Just now I wanted to get a cup of tea for myself. And it cracked the wound.” Smiling, Jing Yuanchu pointed to his left shoulder, which was bloodstained.
“How muddled you are,” Dou Meishuang gave a look of reproach and concern, which seduced Jing Yuanchu, “Those trifles are supposed to be my business.” While saying, she poured a cup of warm tea for Jing Yuanchu. She took a sip to ensure that the temperature was suitable before handing it to Jing Yuanchu’s lips.
Looking at Dou Meishuang’s concentrated appearance, a plan popped up in Jing Yuanchu’s mind.
Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi were walking back along the long path of the palace outside.
“It’s absolutely no coincidence for Dou Meishuang to show up,” Qin Yunuan said such a sentence suddenly, “And there must be an internal reason why she didn’t appear at the feast.”
Yes. Being absent as a prince’s legal wife was really confusing.
Leng Changxi nodded and kept watching straight ahead. When the two people walked somewhere covert, a black figure jumped off the wall suddenly. It was Leng Wu.
“General, the little maid is already in control. She left the palace and found a hotel to stay without leaving West Liang City. I assume that she’s waiting for the next chance to act.”
“It’s normal,” Leng Changxi stroked the edge of the silver mask, “Now that she dares to attack Jing Yuanchu in the palace, she won’t give up her goal unless she realizes it.”
Back to the courier, the Elder Princess’s room was totally silent. The little maid they bought several days ago was looking after Elder Princess’s decoction which would comfort her nerves at the door. When she saw Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi were back, she looked as if she had seen saviors.
“Young Master, Young Madam, finally you’re back!” Leng Changxi exclaimed to other people that he was Elder Princess’s foster son, so he was called Young Master.
“Once Her Highness was back, she locked herself inside the room and wouldn’t let us in. According to the prescription, she needs to drink one decoction every day.”
Leng Changxi waved to let the little maid leave. He took over the decoction and pushed the door open. It was warm and fragrant inside. What was burning was the incense of Sweet Olive, which was Elder Princess’s favorite. It could be vaguely seen that a person was lying at an angle on the bed, elegant and graceful.
“Mother.” Leng Changxi called in a soft voice. The figure turned around lazily. Hair down loosely, Elder Princess turned her relaxed, charming face. She was so beautiful. Even though she was over 40, she still had an attractive beauty after being looked at a hundred times.
It was because Leng Changxi inherited beauty from his mother and inner Qi and wisdom from his father that he was second to nobody in the world.
“Time for medicine,” Leng Changxi put the half-warm comforting decoction on the small mahogany tea table beside, sat on the foot-stool and looked at Elder Princess.
“I don’t want to drink it,” Elder Princess stood up with the thin blanket on her body falling down her shoulder, “Changxi, do you see Jing Donghua today? He is so different from the person I used to know. Previously, he was so gentle. I forbade him from killing rabbits and roasting them, so he had the small, sour wild fruit with me. I wouldn’t let him punish servants casually who did wrong things, and he would also listen to me. Today, however, he can kill someone so easily and put the woman beside him into the water dungeon at will. To me, he is horrible.”
Elder Princess was a woman of purity and honesty. The emperor and Queen Mother in Qi protected her heart from being polluted. Then she spent those days without scheme against each other for power under Jing Donghua’s care. She couldn’t understand many things. She was like a transparent lotus, which was unable to live in such a world. Sometimes Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi shared the feeling that Elder Princess actually belonged to Yeren Valley, not this mortal world.
“Mother,” Leng Changxi said in a soft voice, “Jing Donghua, besides being the man who loved you in the past, he is also an emperor. Slaughter and cruelty are the necessary characteristics of an emperor. The so-called wise emperors just know who to kill while the so-called policies of benevolence just kill fewer people.”
“Is that so?” Elder Princess looked a little incredulous.
Leng Changxi nodded, “This is the truth. You cannot only accept the Jing Donghua who is as gentle as water. You need to accept the truth that he is the emperor of West Xia. It’s his duty to kill the evil and protect the faithful and upright.”
Just at that moment when a high-pitched female voice came from outside suddenly, “Your Highness, Thirteenth Prince sends me to bring new soothing decoction. It’s the new prescription by Mr. Lu in the mansion.”
When Leng Changxi and Elder Princess talked for a long time in the room, Qin Yunuan had always been guarding the door. She found that the one came to send the medicine was nobody else but Xinger, who was calm as if it were no big deal. According to Qin Yunuan’s knowledge about Xinger, she couldn’t have known that her biological sister, Imperial Concubine Lian, had died in the Royal Palace.
Smiling, Qin Yunuan moved to Xinger. Seeing that the light brown potion in the plate on Xinger’s hand was much more fragrant and purer than the previous one, she asked, “The previous potion was taken normally. Why does His Highness think of changing the prescription? As far as I know, Lu Wuyi is good at researching poison and acupuncture. He doesn’t like prescribing decoction for comforting nerves.”
Xinger winced, “I assume that it’s a good prescription Mr. Lu finds by luck.”
“Now that it’s a good prescription, Xinger, you take a sip first. I want to see it,” Qin Yunuan’s smile terrified Xinger.
“Humph,” Xinger hesitated naturally.
“What? You dare not do it?”
“I’ll follow your order,” Xinger scooped up a spoonful of the medicine without hesitation, gulped it into her mouth, and swallowed it down.
Qin Yunuan smiled and answered, “How nervous you are! Well, bring in the medicine. It happens that the previous one is cold now.”
Listening to what happened outside, Leng Changxi glanced at Elder Princess and tried to persuade her, “Mother, you haven’t had anything for a day. Drink the medicine. What about me going out to buy your favorite white sugar cake later?”
Seeing that Leng Changxi was so sincere, Elder Princess nodded slightly, took the medicine Xinger passed to her, and drank it down. She wiped the corner of her mouth and smiled, “The medicine this time was so sweet. It’s tasty and refreshing.”
Leng Changxi answered gently, “It’s good that you like it.”
However, by sunset when Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi were accompanying Elder Princess to finish the dinner, a message came from the side room.
“Young Master, Young Madam, there’s something with Xinger,” the maid who came recently ran into the house in bewilderment and gasped, “I went into her room to take the embroidery shelf just now when I found that she fell on the bed. Blood kept pouring from her eyes and nose. It’s so horrifying!”
