"I Bloom and All Other Flowers Wither - New ()" Find the latest chapter!
Shen Xihe did not rest either. Instead, she took over Xiao Changyan's official duties, working through the night to investigate and swiftly arrange the remaining matters.
By midnight, the lights were still blazing. Since she wasn't resting, Xiao Changfeng and Xiao Changgeng naturally stayed awake as well, keeping watch over Xiao Changyan. True enough, Xiao Changyan developed a high fever in the middle of the night, which came on fiercely. The doctor tried many methods but failed to bring down the fever.
Shen Xihe had brought Zhenzhu with her. Xiao Changfeng and Xiao Changyan's advisor personally came to plead with her, but Shen Xihe flatly refused: "My maid only has a rudimentary understanding of medicine. Prince Jing's condition is severe and rapid—I fear she would be unable to help. I will send a message to Wendeng County immediately to summon a court physician."
The court physicians had come once before when Xiao Changyan rescued Xiao Changgeng, but they returned after Xiao Changgeng's condition stabilized because their duty was to protect the Crown Prince.
If anything happened to Xiao Changyan or Xiao Changgeng here, the physicians wouldn't be punished for delayed treatment. But if anything befell Xiao Huayong, they would be buried with him—naturally, they didn't dare linger here.
"Crown Princess, whether it succeeds or not, please let Miss Zhenzhu try. The round trip to Wendeng County to fetch a physician would take several hours..." The advisor threw himself to his knees, kowtowing and begging.
The advisor also knew some medicine, but he was truly at his wits' end, which was why he had come to plead with Shen Xihe.
"Your Highness, Crown Princess, no matter what, Prince Jing is the Crown Prince's younger brother and respectfully addresses you as imperial sister-in-law. Now that Prince Jing is in critical condition, if Your Highness, who has someone knowledgeable in medicine by your side, stands by indifferently, it would not sound good if word got out," Xiao Changfeng added. "Even if Your Highness doesn't care about such matters, would the Crown Prince not care either?"
Knowing how to use Xiao Huayong to threaten her, Shen Xihe looked up from the account books and glanced at Xiao Changfeng. With a faint, mocking smile, she asked, "If I send my people and something happens to Prince Jing as a result, would you believe it had nothing to do with me?"
Xiao Changfeng and the advisor were left speechless. If they said they believed her now, and Shen Xihe truly took malicious action, what could they do? If they said they didn't believe her, why would Shen Xihe send anyone at all?
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Changfeng said, "A physician's heart is benevolent. Your Highness has toiled tirelessly, and though the Crown Prince traveled thousands of miles here to relieve the people's suffering, Your Highness, with a heart full of righteousness, is no petty person. How could you harm your brother-in-law? If anything were to happen to Prince Jing, it would be the will of heaven, and naturally, it would have nothing to do with Your Highness, Crown Princess."
Listen to how eloquently he spoke. Shen Xihe couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile. At this point, she truly had no room to refuse: "Zhenzhu, accompany Prince Xun for a visit."
"Yes," Zhenzhu replied.
In truth, the likelihood of Shen Xihe having Zhenzhu take action at this moment was extremely slim. For some reason, Xiao Changfeng seemed able to guess this—perhaps because she cherished her people dearly. Even if Zhenzhu did take action, as long as no evidence was found, His Majesty couldn't do anything to Shen Xihe. However, if a prince died under treatment, it wouldn't be a major issue to have the attending servants buried with him. Even if Shen Xihe wished to plead for them, she would be powerless to save them.
As long as Zhenzhu intervened, Xiao Changyan would be saved—that was what Xiao Changfeng believed."Today I've discovered that this cousin of yours is no simple-minded man either." Left alone in the room, Shen Xihe flipped through a few pages of the account book. A faint scent of Duojialuo drifted through the slightly open window, making her eyes curve slightly.
The next moment, a warm embrace enveloped her from behind: "The Xiao imperial clan has no fools."
Not every member was exceptionally capable, but none were utterly stupid.
Earlier in the northwest, Xiao Changfeng had indeed concealed some of his abilities, or perhaps hadn't shown them at all.
"Does he have some unknown connection with Jing Wang?" Shen Xihe leaned back against him, slightly raising her chin to look up at Xiao Huayong.
She didn't believe Xiao Changfeng's story about the secret decree at all. Xiao Changyan was currently handling disaster relief - it was impossible to casually transfer him away at such a critical moment. What secret decree could possibly be needed regarding disaster relief matters?
Clearly, this was Xiao Changfeng's bold excuse. He knew perfectly well she wouldn't go ask the Youning Emperor, and even if she did, it would at most result in a private reprimand. He had come specifically to rescue Xiao Changyan.
"When they were young, they studied together. Xiao Ba once saved his life." Xiao Huayong knew about this matter.
"Since you knew about this, why didn't you send someone to delay Xun Wang?" Shen Xihe asked curiously.
"His Majesty sent him here secretly. I only just found out." Xiao Huayong lowered his head to plant a kiss on her cheek. "His Majesty has his own methods too. If I could constantly see through everything and know all matters, I wouldn't still be dealing with him superficially at this moment."
They would have long since torn apart all pretense and confronted each other directly.
Shen Xihe nodded, recalling how the Youning Emperor had targeted Xiao Huayong last time. If Xiao Huayong hadn't coincidentally contacted Xiao Juesong, he might not have escaped easily. The Youning Emperor, who had seized the throne from his elder brother and maintained it for so many years, was definitely not someone easy to deal with.
As an emperor who had accumulated authority for over twenty years, he could still restrain his temper - this was even more intimidating.
She had slapped the emperor's face several times already, yet the Youning Emperor had let her off every time, never retaliating against her or even giving a slight warning. This wasn't because he was incompetent or afraid, but because he could remain composed.
Such a person wouldn't act lightly under normal circumstances, but once he did act - just like when he targeted Xiao Huayong at the temporary palace - he could easily make it impossible for others to recover.
"Although Xiao Ba escaped with his life this time, I've eliminated at least thirty percent of his Shadow Guards. It's a significant blow to his strength." Xiao Huayong shared some happy news with Shen Xihe. "I also captured some alive to take back for careful study."
Among those knocked out by Xiao Changyan, he had captured two. Naturally, he didn't take them all, otherwise it would alert Xiao Changyan. Today's confrontation was chaotic - Xiao Changyan himself couldn't accurately count how many had died, and he certainly wouldn't go check, especially since some had been blown to pieces.
Hearing this, Shen Xihe suddenly showed a strange expression: "You seem to really enjoy capturing people for study..."
Back at the temporary palace, Xiao Huayong had also pulled a switch, capturing some of the Youning Emperor's Invincible Army to take back for study.Seeing her expression that seemed to have uncovered some peculiar quirk of his, Xiao Huayong couldn't help but laugh: "This is called 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' Now only the Fifth Prince's Hidden Guards remain. If I can capture a couple of them too, after I thoroughly study the trump cards they've trained, I'll combine the strengths of all schools and train a group of my own. Then we can properly have some fun, mutually restraining each other - wouldn't that be interesting?"
"Prince Xin... probably has no intention of becoming your enemy." Shen Xihe thought of how Xiao Changqing now seemed to have withdrawn from worldly affairs. When Xiao Huayong came, his impersonators had attacked Xiao Changyan's men, and Shen Xihe felt he must have been aware of it.
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