Ink Burns

Chapter 296 Fate (Part 1)

Wu Min peeked out, her eyes making two turns, and through the crack in the door, she landed on Shui Guang, the little ancestor, who was peeking through the glass wall in the dark room. Her eyes then turned again and landed on the plate of mung bean cakes on the side table.

Wu Min slapped her godson on the back of the head: "You blind fool! You bite into a mung bean cake and you're covered in powder. How can anyone be friendly with you?"

The Emperor hugged her, and lo and behold, she was covered in mung bean cakes. Now she has her snack for tomorrow's morning court session, doesn't she?
"Change it to sweet bean soup!" Wu Min said in a low voice.

Boil licorice, red beans, and mint together to freshen breath.

Moreover, it is very cooling.

The young eunuch wasn't surprised that Wu Min asked for a change of food, but he was surprised that Wu Min's eyes had changed: "Father, you can see clearly even from this far away!"

Wu Min, with a smug and self-satisfied air, casually draped her whisk over her elbow: "The number one person in the inner court relies on these eyes."

For example, you can tell from these eyes that this little darling is going to cry in a bit.

"Put a scented silk handkerchief inside 'Fang Dajian's' outer garment."

Wu Min kicked him: "Go now!"

When the beauty wept, her light glowed a milky yellow. The emperor took a silk handkerchief from his sleeve; her tears soaked the pure white handkerchief, making it resemble a delicate gardenia. The emperor then slowly approached, his waist bending low, their eyes meeting, their lips almost touching.
Wu Min clicked her tongue, her eyes darting around twice. Seeing Shui Guang's ugly attire as a servant in the Imperial Hospital, she couldn't help but rub her chin, which was too short to grow a beard, and seriously considered: Should I get this little darling a nice outfit to change into?

Otherwise, if two people, one dressed like a eunuch and the other like a handyman, were to kiss—it would be too much of an eyesore!
******
Linde Hall was bustling with activity tonight. The messenger took the message from the pigeon's leg and rushed towards the inner hall.

"Madam He has entered the temple!"

"The temple gates are closed!"

"Below the cliff, all of the Grand Princess's assassins had their swords drawn across their backs!"

"The temple gates are open!"

"Madam He is out!"

"The assassins are advancing swiftly below the cliff, while another two hundred enemy soldiers have infiltrated the mountains and forests to encircle them from the southeast, forming a pincer movement!"

"Grand Princess Jing'an and Madam He walked towards the cliff one after the other!"

Countless carrier pigeons circled above the Linde Hall, while two rows of attendants ran back and forth in a chaotic yet orderly fashion. Numerous tiny rolled-up letters depicted the scenery of Qixian Cliff and Sea, thousands of miles away, before the emperor.

It is also depicted in the watery light before my eyes, where I think of my sister with all my heart.

No new letters came for a long time after that letter.

Emperor Yongping glanced subtly at the narrow, elongated glass dome behind the flower stand.

Xiao Po of the Censorate was regarded as Xue Xiao's confidant and was usually steady and self-controlled, but now he frequently looked up at the palace gate.

and then?
Then what!?

Shui Guang clutched the hem of her clothes, feeling a tightness in her chest, almost unable to breathe!
Go to the edge of the cliff, and then what?!

"Report! Princess Jing'an has fallen—fallen off a cliff!"

Shui Guang tilted her head back and exhaled a short, long breath of suffocating air!

Before she could even relax, another report came, which made her heart clench and pound in her chest again!

"The female official, Chen, shouted, 'Madam He forced the Grand Princess to commit suicide,' and ordered the assassins to kill Madam He. The assassins below the cliff had already come out to lie in wait."

Shui Guang's heart was gripped, but then she heard a deep, urgent voice from inside the hall: "Imperial order: the military households in Jinkou, Cangzhou, and Gugang are to prepare. All households with more than one hundred members must be deployed to reinforce them. At all costs, protect Xue Xiao and his wife."

After what seemed like an eternity, another carrier pigeon finally arrived, circling overhead to deliver the news!
Xiao Po grabbed it tightly, read it quickly, and exclaimed with intense joy: "Complete annihilation! Complete annihilation! All 461 elite soldiers have been wiped out! — The Taoist priests of Qingyue Temple led the charge, and the Left Cavalry Guards of Jizhou brought up the rear. They have now been completely wiped out!"

"Where are Xue Qing and his wife?" Emperor Yongping asked.

"All are unharmed. We will depart tonight and return to the capital by the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest!" Xiao Po presented the note with both hands.

Shui Guang braced her hands against the wall, let out a soft "woof," and tears streamed down her face. Her knees buckled, and she accidentally bumped into the corner of the table, causing the flowerpot on the table to crash to the ground with a loud thud.

Emperor Yongping quickly looked up, his gaze landing precisely on the glass dome, but after a brief glance, he casually looked away.

As Shui Guang buried her head in wiping away tears and sweeping up the fallen flowers, she naturally and precisely missed the clear, undistorted face reflected in the glass dome.

A familiar face.

That face belonged to "Fang Yueming".

Looking up again, "Fang Yueming" had become the blurred face of Emperor Yongping once more.

"After Xue Qing and Madam He have safely returned to the capital, the funeral will be held in Jing'an. The Right Battalion of the Jizhou Maritime Guard will be ordered to retrieve the bodies from the sea. The bodies will be placed in coffins on the spot, and the Right Battalion Guard will escort them back to the capital." Emperor Yongping's voice was calm and steady.

Xiao Po hesitated: "The sea is rough and the wind is strong. If someone falls off a cliff into the sea, retrieving their body may be difficult."

"We must see the person alive or dead. The time is not ripe yet. We must not give the Northern Frontier Army an opportunity to launch an attack."

Emperor Yongping slowly rose, speaking as he reached into his sleeve to cover his hands. If Xiao Po had been attentive enough, he would have noticed the slight tremor in his voice: "Bring the coffin to the capital and give Jing'an a grand burial. Also, order the left and right garrisons of Jizhou to thoroughly search Mount Ma Liu—bandits are rampant these days, and a third-rank official has already been ambushed by them. He must be one of the escapees from the previous group, fleeing north to Jizhou to commit further crimes. As for Jing'an, give her the pretext that she went to Jizhou for medical treatment!"

Emperor Yongping turned and went into the inner room.

Xiao Po hurriedly stood up and bowed.

In the dark room, Shui Guang stared intently at the oil lamp on the table.

The lampshade is not made of ordinary gauze or glass, but of thick, supple cowhide, which is treated to be extremely thin, revealing a uniform, warm milky color.

Shui Guang sniffed, her nose was about to drip snot, so she rubbed it hard with her hand.

She is sad.

The night wind was so cold and so strong. Her sister, however, was like bait, thrown into the deep sea.

Shui Guang felt heartbroken.

My heart aches, and my eyes sting.

The girl leaned against the wall, lowered her head, and large tears dripped onto the ground.

Before long, a soft, thin square silk handkerchief appeared before my eyes; it was also milky white and plain.

Shui Guang looked up and saw Fang Yueming's perpetually pale face.

"Don't cry." Fang Yueming's voice was low and deep, his lips were pale with a hint of purple, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He stretched his hand forward again, the crescent moons on his pale fingernails were small, and he lowered his voice: "Don't cry, isn't your sister perfectly fine? When we return to the capital the day after tomorrow, I'll ask someone to arrange for Imperial Physician Lin to give you another three days of rest."

Shui Guang took the silk handkerchief and wiped her face. With a nasal slurp, snot bubbles popped out like soap balls, crystal clear.

On the fifth day, Shuiguang sobbed, "Please let my master grant me five days of rest."

"Good good."

Fang Yueming nodded repeatedly: "Five days it is, I will go and tell them myself."

Shui Guang wiped her face again, tears still streaming down her face for some reason: around noon, she had overheard Xiao Qiuyin saying that Xue Xiaowei's wife had been missing for three days. In order to maintain the stability of the situation, the capital had not sent people to search for her in a big way. In fact, to protect the reputation of Xue's wife, the authorities had not even reported it to the emperor. Xue Xiao himself went to the palace and only reported the matter to the emperor.

Her heart was in her throat.

Countless bad outcomes, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, took root and sprouted in her mind.

Could it be that "Qingfeng" has discovered their true identities?
Is she trying to force her brother-in-law to comply by using her sister as a pretext?

Could it be... could it be that that damned princess was so enraged that she was determined to drag her sister down with her?
She was in a state of utter confusion, and it felt like a bone was stuck in her throat, making her feel like she was suffocating!

There's nothing she can do, but she needs to know what happened!
Asking her master would be useless; her identity must not be exposed in the Imperial Hospital.

Asking the little earthworm was even more useless; the imperial kitchen could do nothing but give her a few white radishes to soothe her anger.

It has to be the Emperor himself.

If you ask Wu Min for help, the matter can be accomplished, but you'll inevitably have to listen to his nagging.

Only one person.

"Thank you—thank you—" Shui Guang steadied herself and told herself not to cry. She had to thank him properly: "If there are any more dangerous incidents like stealing paintings from the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the future, and you need my help, Xiao Fang, just tell me. I will definitely do my duty and go into battle without hesitation!"

Xu Quyan was already feeling unwell, and the recent long-term mental and physical strain had left him physically and mentally exhausted. The familiar feeling of blockage in his chest returned. He was already feeling quite unwell when he left Linde Hall, but he still mustered his energy to sniff the sachet before entering the dark room to look for Shui Guang.

But when Shui Guang called out "Xiao Fang," he missed two beats of his rapid breathing.

Disappointment swept over them.

She didn't recognize him.
He was right next to me; his voice, figure, tone, and movements were all made without any attempt to conceal them.

He laid himself out, inviting Shui Guang to identify him.

The young girl was perhaps too concerned about her elder sister, and nothing else could arouse Shui Guang's interest except for Madam He's safety.

"It's just a small favor. If we let you overthink things in the Imperial Hospital, who knows how anxious you'd become? It's better to let you hear and see for yourself."

Xu Quyan raised his finger and pointed to Shui Guang's left jawline: "There's a little bit of wall dust smudged here."

Shui Guang raised her hand to wipe it, just barely brushing past the dust.

"here--"

Xu Quyan reached out and took the handkerchief back, gently wiping Shui Guang clean: It was alright that he didn't recognize her, "Xiao Fang" could still do this naturally.

Through the soft silk handkerchief, my fingertips touched the girl's delicate skin, as smooth as a lotus seedpod just beginning to bloom.

Xu Quyan trembled involuntarily, his heart and lungs pounding violently in his chest, almost collapsing. The intense heartbeat made him cough violently and uncontrollably, coughing so hard that he gasped for breath. Like a fish thrown ashore, his back arched sharply, and he stretched his neck to breathe like a fish flapping its gills, only to be gripped by the suffocating feeling of impending death.

"Xiao Fang! Xiao Fang!"

Shui Guang called out urgently, but reacted quickly, turning him over rapidly. She inserted her index finger and thumb slightly, locating the Dingchuan acupoint, and pressed down hard, her fingernail digging into the acupoint. She then proceeded to locate Lieque, Chize, and Tiantu acupoints in sequence—"The situation was sudden, and I have no acupuncture needles on hand, so I can only offer some relief through pressure and massage—"

Shui Guang moved with both hands.

If you gasp for breath, you will die!

Pressing and massaging also requires considerable force.

Shui Guang persisted for half an incense stick's time, and seeing that "Xiao Fang's" complexion had returned to normal, she took his pulse again: "His pulse is like a taut string, tense, straight and long, like a taut sliding rope. In addition, the liver qi is stagnant and the heart fire is surging to the Shenque point. The pulse is sometimes floating and soft, and sometimes heavy and firm."

The tears in her eyes had long since turned into sweat from exhaustion. Shui Guang let go of her hand, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and instructed, "These past few days, everyone in the Imperial Hospital has been busy, and Master has been holed up in the medicine warehouse every day, I don't know what he's thinking about—when they have some free time, come to the Imperial Hospital, and I'll take you to see Master for some proper treatment."

As she spoke, she picked up the handkerchief, turned her head to wipe the sweat from Xu Quyan's cheek, and muttered with a frown, "I wonder what everyone's been up to."

The girl leaned quite close.

You can even see the fine downy hairs on the tip of the nose.

Xu Quyan, not wanting his asthma to flare up again, looked straight ahead and turned away, casually replying, "The Emperor has been troubled by the old subordinates of 'Qingfeng' lately. The Imperial Medical Academy is probably trying to find an antidote for 'Qianji Yin'."

"what?"

Shui Guang was slightly taken aback.

"You should have told me earlier—"

Shui Guang blinked her round eyes and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket: "I have the antidote for 'Qianji Yin'. My sister gave it to me—I thought everyone had it."