Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

As Jiang Shuoning and Bao Zhong stepped out of Yihua Palace, two guards stood watch at the entrance. At the same time, the vermilion gate behind them slammed shut tightly.

Bao Zhong opened the umbrella and held it over her head, his tone tinged with urgency:

"Hurry up. The wound isn't fatal, but excessive blood loss can kill you."

Jiang Shuoning raised his hand and gently pushed the hand holding the umbrella, opened the umbrella in his own hand, and walked step by step through the puddles towards the Imperial Hospital.

Bao Zhong tightened his grip on the umbrella handle and hurried after him.

Jiang Shuoning walked down the long street, his face deathly pale and his eyes dull. A large patch of blood seeped from his gray collar, and blood continued to trickle down his neck.

The few words Suihe uttered before she died still echoed in my ears.

She gripped her clothes tightly, her voice filled with hatred, as if squeezed out from between her teeth:

"Jiang Shuoning, I know it's you. You climbed up by stepping on my bones, thinking you could rest easy?"

I've written a letter; someone will deliver it to Her Majesty for me. I'll be waiting for you down there.

Jiang Shuoning held the umbrella firmly in his hand. His other hand hung at his side, his nails slowly digging into his palm.

Suihe never made things easy for her, even until her death. She didn't know if the letter still existed, but Suihe had made her point.

Every day after that, she would think about it, about the letter, about the person who received it, and about the day she would fall victim to it.

Suihe is gone, but the thorn she planted in Jiang Shuoning's heart is still alive.

Bao Zhong walked beside her, glanced at her bloodied neck, his brows furrowing further. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against her wound, his voice low and heavy:

"Last time, you risked your life to present yourself to the Emperor, and you were replaced by a head maid. This time, you took that knife, and you got nothing in return."

He stared straight ahead, scoffed, "Shuoning, tell me, this isn't just about rewards, is it? Consort Rong is already under house arrest; you don't need to prove your loyalty anymore. So what are you after?"

Jiang Shuoning stopped and turned to look directly at Bao Zhong. She opened her mouth, then winced at her wound, suddenly unsure of where to begin.

It means that she sensed resentment in Suihe's heart yesterday, which is why she had Qing'er say those words, intending to cause a rift between Suihe and Consort Rong.

He even considered sending two unfamiliar eunuchs to the flower room tonight to force Suihe to leave on her own.

But before she could act, Suihe struck first.

She correctly predicted that Suihe would explode. She didn't expect Suihe to explode like this.

Consort Rong was placed under house arrest, and Suihe died. Before she died, Suihe said she left a letter.

She didn't know if the letter was real, but the only thing she did right in this whole affair had now become a hand choking her.

Or is it that Suihe's very existence is a threat? Given Baozhong's actions and Zhou Zhengyin's fabricated testimony, if she lives, none of the three of them will have a peaceful life.

She forced her to leave not out of pity, but because she dared not keep her.

Thinking of this, Jiang Shuoning looked up at Bao Zhong, rainwater streaming down the edge of the umbrella, separating the two of them.

"I wanted her to leave on her own," Jiang Shuoning finally said, his voice soft and slightly hoarse. "I didn't want her to die."

Baozhong looked at her, didn't say anything, and tilted the umbrella a little more towards her.

Just then, Jiang Shuo Ning caught a glimpse of someone huddled behind a pine tree.

He wore a blue eunuch's robe, his hat pulled low, but she recognized his face through the rain.

Bao Zhong followed her gaze and frowned. "When did he come along?"

Jiang Shuoning remained silent, his gaze fixed on Zhou Zhengyin.

Zhou Zhengyin huddled behind a pine tree, soaked to the bone. Even after being discovered, he dared not move, like a cat caught in the rain, unsure whether to run away.

She stood there for a while, holding the umbrella, rain streaming down the edge, separating her from him. She tightened her grip on the umbrella handle and walked towards him.

Bao Zhong looked around and quickly followed.

"What are you doing out here again?" Jiang Shuoning frowned, pulling at his wound, his voice hoarse and incoherent: "Go back!"

(under)

Zhou Zhengyin huddled behind a pine tree, soaked to the bone, rainwater streaming down his hat brim, his face as pale as Jiang Shuoning's.

He looked at her bloodstained neck, his eyes reddening as well. His lips trembled for a long while before he managed to squeeze out a hoarse sentence:

"Does it hurt? Does it hurt?"

Jiang Shuoning paused, her hand holding the umbrella still. She didn't know how to answer those three words; it felt like something had gently bumped into her heart—not hard, but she heard the sound.

She subtly tilted the umbrella slightly towards him.

"It doesn't hurt," she said, adding, "It's a little cold."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyin took half a step forward. He didn't dare get too close, but instead tucked himself a little deeper under the umbrella.

When he was little, Grandma Yu would hold him when it was cold, and that would make him feel less cold.

He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he didn't dare. The fragrance of the eucommia on her body had been diluted by the rain, mixed with a rusty, bloody smell. His heart clenched suddenly, a dull ache gripping his chest.

Baozhong stood a few steps away, watching, and then opened the umbrella he had folded up again.

"Take it and go back."

Jiang Shuoning shoved the umbrella into his hand, and the two of them winced at the coldness when their fingertips touched.

That familiar feeling of unease suddenly surged up again, probably because Suihe's letter was still weighing on my mind.

She didn't look at him again, turned around and hid under Bao Zhong's umbrella, then walked quickly towards the Imperial Hospital.

Palace maids and eunuchs passing by looked on curiously, holding umbrellas.

Jiang Shuo Ning and Bao Zhong quickened their pace.

After walking for a while, Baozhong glanced behind him, a slight smile playing on his lips, but said nothing.

Zhou Zhengyin held the umbrella and followed behind at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Inside the Imperial Hospital, Bao Zhong relayed the Emperor's decree, and several imperial physicians immediately gathered around to examine the wound on Jiang Shuoning's neck.

It was about two inches long, but fortunately not deep. The imperial physicians took turns examining it and then began to prepare the medicine.

After applying the medicine to Jiang Shuoning, Chun Chan gently wrapped a white cloth around her neck. As she wrapped it, she glared at her, her round face puffed out.

"If you hurt your finger at the Winter Solstice, and your neck at the Beginning of Spring, will you lose your arms and legs in Summer and Autumn? Jiang Shuoning, can't you live without getting hurt at least a little?"

Bao Zhong stood to the side and chuckled:

"She always felt she had too much time on her hands. The King of Hell watched her frolicking around from below day and night, and he was both anxious and annoyed."

Chun Chan looked up at him and chuckled.

"Grandpa Baozhong always has an interesting way of speaking. Last time he came to my place to get medicine, he said that life was too leisurely and he needed to drink some medicine to relieve his boredom."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuoning raised his eyes to look at Bao Zhong: "It's rare that you have a moment of leisure."

Baozhong ignored her and turned to look out the window.

Zhou Zhengyin was still standing outside the Imperial Hospital gate, holding that umbrella, not daring to come in.

The passing imperial physicians assumed he was one of the people who had come with Bao Zhong, and no one chased him away.

Bao Zhong looked at that figure and smiled helplessly.

Following his gaze, Chun Chan craned her neck to take a look, then turned back to Jiang Shuoning and said:

"You're talking about Eunuch Baozhong, aren't you the same? Last time you got six doses of medicine, saying you'd keep them for when you get sick in the future."

You two are truly a hidden dragon and a phoenix chick; one of you finds life too leisurely and needs medicine to relieve boredom, while the other, who isn't sick, prepares medicine for herself first—it's hilarious!

Jiang Shuoning didn't reply, but looked up at Bao Zhong, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

She understood. It turned out he had also given Zhou Zhengyin medicine.

Physician Qin walked over and smiled at Jiang Shuoning:

"Miss Shuoning, we need to prepare a few new doses of this scar removal ointment to test before we can give it to you. We'll have to wait a while."

Bao Zhong turned around, bowed slightly, and smiled politely:

"Thank you, Imperial Physicians. His Majesty has decreed that Miss Shuoning must not be left with a scar on her neck. She was injured today while loyally protecting her master, so please prepare the medicine with care."

The imperial physicians nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty, we will definitely not allow Miss Shuoning to have any scars."

Chun Chan chimed in from the side, "Then we need to find someone to test the drug."