Tianyuan was truly worried Xiao Huayong would end up enshrining this pillow: “If Your Highness doesn’t use it and the Princess finds out, she might mistakenly think Your Highness doesn’t like it.”
Xiao Huayong realized this made sense – he couldn’t let Youyou misunderstand. He gently placed the medicinal pillow back, deciding he would just be extra careful with it.
Lying back down with a smile playing on his lips, Xiao Huayong felt his bed had never been as comfortable as it was at this moment. However, looking at the bright daylight, his smile dimmed somewhat: “Why won’t nightfall today?”
Tianyuan: …
“Would Your Highness like to take a short rest?” Tianyuan suggested softly. “This servant can light some cold-dispelling incense?”
Though Xiao Huayong had bought out all of Duhuo Tower’s cold-dispelling incense, Shen Xihe didn’t stop supplying it just because of that – she still provided it according to the original plan, which was enough even for Xiao Huayong’s sole use.
Xiao Huayong’s heavy clothing wasn’t entirely pretense – if not necessary, it would have made him sweat.
The poison in his body was manageable during spring, summer, and early autumn, but once deep autumn and especially winter came, it would act up severely. He was extremely sensitive to cold.
Shen Xihe’s cold-dispelling incense was better than what he’d found elsewhere – its warmth was perfect for him.
“Mm.” Xiao Huayong nodded somewhat reservedly.
This nap lasted from noon until moonrise – he was woken by Tianyuan to eat some dinner, but Xiao Huayong waved it off and lay back down, quickly falling back asleep.
The next day when Shen Xihe brought Sui Axi to visit him in the palace, she found him in high spirits, brewing tea that was fragrant with a milky aroma.
“Does Your Highness have new tea again?” Shen Xihe discovered that Xiao Huayong truly loved tea – at least every time she came, she could taste different teas at his place.
“I learned this tea from the Tibetans. In Tibet, they like to add yak milk to their tea, along with a pinch of salt, creating a unique flavor.” Xiao Huayong had just finished brewing and poured a cup for Shen Xihe.
There were not only Tibetan tea but also Tibetan snacks. On her first try, Shen Xihe found them unique – at any rate, she preferred them to plain tea, as she wasn’t particularly fond of drinking tea.
“Your Highness, I brought Axi to treat your eyes.” Shen Xihe had come to the palace specifically for this.
Sui Axi couldn’t enter the palace alone, and the bee stings couldn’t be administered daily anyway – they needed to be given every five days, as more frequent treatments would harm Xiao Huayong’s body with the bee venom.
Xiao Huayong’s treatment would take an hour, so Shen Xihe left the Eastern Palace and went to Princess Yanling’s palace in the backcourt.
Princess Yanling had caught a cold in the autumn chill and happened to be in her bedchamber. When Shen Xihe requested an audience, she refused, but Shen Xihe didn’t give her a chance to decline, entering directly.
“Zhaoning, you’re getting more and more presumptuous!” Princess Yanling scolded upon seeing Shen Xihe burst in.
“Princess, Zhaoning can be even more presumptuous. Would the Princess like to know how?” Shen Xihe found herself a chair with armrests, settled in, arranged her wide water sleeves, and placed her folded hands lightly on her lap.
“You—” Princess Yanling’s face flushed with anger, and already suffering from a cold, she began coughing violently.
“Princess, the Fourth Princess said something before her death that puzzles me greatly.” Shen Xihe ignored her coughing. “She said—” drawing out the last syllable, Shen Xihe continued meaningfully, “Yanling harmed me…”
Princess Yanling, who had just caught her breath, heard this and began coughing even more violently, tears streaming from her eyes. Her maids immediately called for the Imperial Physician.
Shen Xihe didn’t stop them, instead standing and walking to Princess Yanling’s side. When the Princess’s maids tried to block her, Biyu and Zhenzhu pushed them away. Shen Xihe gently patted Princess Yanling’s back.
She gave Princess Yanling an eerie smile: “Princess, can you guess why I know the Fourth Princess’s last words?”
Some things become terrifying when pondered deeply. Princess Changling’s death was suspicious – though many suspected Shen Xihe of revenge, she had been missing at the time, with such a large bump on the back of her head that several Imperial Physicians had diagnosed her as clearly unconscious.
Without Shen Xihe’s orders, how would her servants dare harm a princess?
This was why no one dared spread rumors that Shen Xihe had killed Princess Changling, but now Shen Xihe was saying she had heard the Princess’s last words – wasn’t this telling her that she had indeed killed Princess Changling?
The gentle hand patting her back sent a chill up her spine, making Princess Yanling shudder.
Sensing Princess Yanling’s fear, Shen Xihe leaned close to her ear and said softly: “Princess, being eaten alive by a giant snake is far from the most cruel death Zhaoning could devise…”
“Ah—” The violently coughing Princess Yanling suddenly leaped up, screaming as she threw herself toward her maids.
“Princess, how dare you threaten the Princess, showing such disrespect!” Princess Yanling’s headmaid glared at Shen Xihe, protecting the Princess behind her.
“Zhenzhu.” Shen Xihe called out calmly.
Zhenzhu stepped forward quickly, grabbed the maid, and delivered a slap across her face.
“Seeing the Princess coughing incessantly, I was concerned and tried to help ease her breathing, yet you accuse me of threatening her?” Shen Xihe looked down at the maid who had been slapped to the ground. “You serve the Princess poorly, and she’s too kind to scold you. I’ll discipline you on her behalf.”
Then she turned to Princess Yanling, who couldn’t speak, with a sweet smile: “Princess, you surely won’t mind Zhaoning taking this liberty just once?”
That face, like a lotus rising from clear waters, naturally beautiful without artifice, with a gentle and subtle smile, reflected in Yanling’s eyes like a fierce demon. The spot on her spine where Shen Xihe had touched through her clothes still felt cold, filling her with terror.
How dare Shen Xihe? How dare she!
How dare she kill a princess? And do it so perfectly!
Even if she cried out now, there was no evidence, and Shen Xihe wasn’t an ordinary person – without evidence, no one would dare accuse her!
At this moment, footsteps were heard outside, and Shen Xihe’s eyes flickered: “Princess, take good care of yourself. We have plenty of time ahead – Zhaoning will visit another day.”
With that, Shen Xihe left with Zhenzhu, passing Imperial Physician Huang in the doorway.
These days, she had been waiting for Princess Yanling to contact the person behind her, but Princess Yanling either had achieved her goal, was too afraid to provoke her further, or couldn’t find an opportunity to move against her.
Or perhaps she had been frightened by Princess Changling’s death and had been living in seclusion in her palace, not contacting anyone.
Shen Xihe wasn’t certain if Prince Zhao was involved, though he was the prime suspect. She wasn’t one to act rashly.
Since Princess Yanling wouldn’t come out of her hole, she would rustle the grass to startle the snake, frightening Princess Yanling into emerging on her own.