Tianyuan was truly afraid that Xiao Huayong would enshrine this pillow: "Your Highness, if you don't use it, the princess might misunderstand and think you dislike it.""
Xiao Huayong thought this made sense—he couldn't let Youyou misunderstand. Gently placing the medicinal pillow back, he resolved to cherish it carefully.
Pressing his lips together with a smile, he lay down again. Xiao Huayong felt his bed had never been as comfortable as it was at this moment. Yet, gazing at the bright window, his smile faded slightly: "Why is the night so slow to fall today?"
Tianyuan softly suggested, "Would Your Highness care to rest awhile? This subordinate can light some cold-dispelling incense for you?"
The cold-dispelling incense from Living-Alone Pavilion had been entirely reserved by Xiao Huayong. Shen Xihe didn’t cease supply just because he had bought it all, maintaining the original production plan. Even with Xiao Huayong as the sole user, it remained sufficient.
Xiao Huayong’s heavy clothing wasn’t entirely for disguise; without necessity, he’d still sweat through the layers.
The poison in his body was manageable during spring, summer, and early autumn, but by late autumn—especially winter—it flared severely, leaving him extremely sensitive to cold.
Shen Xihe’s cold-dispelling incense surpassed any he had collected elsewhere, radiating a cozy warmth perfectly suited to him.
"Mmm." Xiao Huayong gave a reserved nod.
This nap lasted from noon until the moon hung over willow branches, when Tianyuan finally woke him for the evening meal. Xiao Huayong merely waved him off, lay back down, and swiftly returned to dreams.
The next day, Shen Xihe brought Sui Axi to the palace to see him. They found him spirited, brewing tea that carried a distinct milky fragrance.
"Your Highness has new tea again?" Shen Xihe noticed Xiao Huayong’s deep fondness for tea beverages—every time she visited, he served something unique.
"This tea I learned from Tibetans. In Tibet, they prefer adding cow’s milk to tea with a pinch of salt, creating quite a distinctive flavor." Xiao Huayong had just finished brewing and poured a cup for Shen Xihe.
Alongside Tibetan tea, there were Tibetan pastries. Shen Xihe, trying them for the first time, found them unusual and, for her, preferable to the tea, as she wasn’t particularly fond of drinking tea.
"Your Highness wishes A Xi to treat your eyes." Shen Xihe had come to the palace specifically for this matter.
Sui Axi couldn’t enter the palace alone, and fortunately, the bee-sting therapy couldn’t be administered daily—it required five-day intervals to avoid harming Xiao Huayong’s body with excessive venom.
The treatment would take two hours, so Shen Xihe left the Eastern Palace for the Imperial Harem, heading to Yangling Princess’s quarters.
Yangling Princess had caught a chill in the autumn cold and was resting in her chamber. When Shen Xihe requested an audience, she was refused, but Shen Xihe didn’t accept the rejection, entering directly.
"Zhaoning, you grow increasingly insolent!" Yangling Princess scolded angrily upon seeing Shen Xihe burst in.
"Princess, Zhaoning can be even more insolent. Would you like to see how?" Shen Xihe casually took an armchair, adjusted her wide sleeves, and folded her hands gracefully on her lap.
"You—" The princess’s face flushed with rage, and already suffering from a chill, she broke into violent coughs.
"Princess, before the Fourth Princess died, she said something that puzzles me greatly." Shen Xihe ignored her coughing, drawing out her words meaningfully: "She said... 'Yangling harmed me.'"Just as Princess Yangling had begun to recover, these words sent her into another violent coughing fit, tears streaming from her eyes. Her maid immediately called for the imperial physician.
Shen Xihe did not intervene but stood and moved behind Princess Yangling. When the princess’s palace maid tried to block her, Biyu and Zhenzhu shoved her aside. Shen Xihe gently patted the princess’s back.
She gave Princess Yangling a strange, faint smile. “Your Highness, guess how I knew those four last words?”
Some things become terrifying upon closer thought. Princess Changling’s death had been suspicious, and though many suspected Shen Xihe of seeking revenge, she had been missing at the time, with a large lump on the back of her head diagnosed by several physicians at the Imperial Hospital. It was clearly impossible for her to have been conscious.
Without Shen Xihe’s orders, how would her servants dare lay hands on a princess?
For this reason, no one dared accuse Shen Xihe of causing Princess Changling’s death.
But now, Shen Xihe claimed she had heard Princess Changling’s dying words—wasn’t this tantamount to admitting she had killed the princess? As Shen Xihe’s hand lightly patted her back, a chill crept up from the base of Yangling’s spine, making her shudder.
Sensing the princess’s fear, Shen Xihe leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, “Your Highness, being devoured alive by a giant serpent is hardly the cruelest death Zhaoning could devise.”
“Ah!” The violently coughing princess leaped up and scrambled toward her maid, screaming.
“How dare you, County Princess, overstep your rank and intimidate Her Highness?” Princess Yangling’s head maid glared furiously at Shen Xihe, shielding the princess behind her.
“Zhenzhu,” Shen Xihe called calmly.
Zhenzhu swiftly stepped forward, seized the maid, and slapped her across the face.
“I saw Her Highness coughing uncontrollably and grew concerned, so I tried to soothe her. Yet you accuse me of intimidation?” Shen Xihe looked down at the maid, who had been struck to the ground. “You fail to serve the princess properly, and though Her Highness is too kind to reprimand you, I will discipline you on her behalf.”
She then smiled at the speechless Princess Yangling. “Your Highness, surely you don’t mind Zhaoning overstepping just this once?”
Her face, like a lotus emerging from clear water—naturally elegant and unadorned—was exquisitely beautiful, her smile gentle and faint. Yet to Yangling, it seemed as ferocious as a demon. Where Shen Xihe had touched her back through her clothing, a lingering coldness clung to her spine, filling her with terror and dread.
How dare she! How dare Shen Xihe!
How dare she plot to kill a princess—and so flawlessly!
Even if Yangling cried out now, there was no evidence. Worse, Shen Xihe was no ordinary person; without proof, no one would dare accuse her lightly!
Just then, footsteps sounded outside. Shen Xihe’s eyes glinted. “Your Highness, rest well. There will be time ahead. Zhaoning will visit again another day.”
With that, Shen Xihe left with Zhenzhu, passing Doctor Huang on the way.
During this period, she had been waiting for Princess Yangling to contact the mastermind behind the scenes. But whether Yangling had achieved her goal, feared provoking her further, or simply found no opportunity to strike, she had remained secluded in her chambers, avoiding contact with anyone.
Perhaps she had been frightened by Princess Changling’s death.
Shen Xihe wasn’t certain if it was Prince Zhao, though he was the prime suspect. But she was not one to act rashly.Since Yangling Princess refused to come out of the cave, she decided to rustle the grass to startle Yangling Princess and make her crawl out on her own.
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