Inside the carriage, steam rose and the aroma of tea filled the air. Shen Lixue sat by the window, separated from Dongfang Heng by a small table: "Thank you for your help, Your Highness!"
"It's nothing, no need to thank me!" Dongfang Heng lowered his eyelids, concealing the expression in his eyes, and gently pushed a cup of tea in front of Shen Lixue: "I've heard that you know medicine."
Shen Lixue picked up the fragrant tea and took a sip, the delicate aroma filling her mouth: "My specialty is silver needles!" Modern people mostly use Western medicine, and her traditional Chinese medicine skills cannot compare to those of the imperial physicians of ancient times.
"Cough cough cough!" Dongfang Heng suddenly clutched his chest and coughed violently.
"Prince An, what's wrong?" A layer of seriousness welled up in Shen Lixue's clear eyes. His illness flared up once a month, and only half a month had passed...
Dongfang Heng raised his head, his face slightly pale, a trace of fatigue flashing in his dark eyes: "It's just a minor ailment, nothing serious!"
"You've already damaged your heart meridian, yet you say you're fine." Shen Lixue thought to herself, "I know a little about the Prince's injury. If the Prince trusts me, I will use acupuncture to help you when he falls ill. Although I can't cure you, I can at least reduce your pain..." Dongfang Heng had helped her a lot, and using acupuncture to alleviate her condition was a way of repaying him.
"Thank you." Dongfang Heng said lightly, holding the teapot to pour tea. The unique light fragrance of Shen Lixue wafted out with the aroma of tea, lingering around his nose in waves, making him feel a little uneasy.
Shen Lixue frowned as her eyelid twitched. She had suggested the idea of giving Dongfang Heng acupuncture to alleviate his condition, but why did she feel like she had fallen into a trap?
As Shen Lixue was deep in thought, the carriage stopped, and the coachman's gentle voice rang out: "Miss Shen, we have arrived at the Prime Minister's residence!"
"Thank you for seeing me off, Your Highness!"
Shen Lixue lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down. Suddenly, a hateful face appeared before her eyes: "Prince An, when is Mu Zhengnan's three-party trial scheduled?" Mu Zhengnan came to the capital to harm her, and she would never let him get away with it.
Dongfang Heng paused in his hand as he lowered the curtain: "Tomorrow or the day after!" His soft voice was indescribably pleasant, and his eyelids lowered slightly, obscuring his deep, dark eyes.
As the carriage drove away, Shen Lixue turned and entered the Prime Minister's residence. Just as she was about to return to the Bamboo Garden to rest, a sharp female voice pierced the sky: "Help! Someone help me!"
Shen Lixue looked in the direction of the sound and saw Shen Caiyun, dressed in a pale yellow dress, running quickly along the wide bluestone road. She was crying as she ran, and her slender body and frail appearance made people feel sorry for her.
"You slut, you're about to become my concubine, where do you think you're going?" A young man turned the corner, chasing closely after Shen Caiyun. His lewd smile and lustful eyes revealed him to be Lei Cong, the grandson of Grand Commandant Lei!
053 Peaceful tea
"How does the tea taste?" Dongfang Heng asked indifferently, his gaze sweeping lightly over the half-finished tea in front of Shen Lixue.
"Hmm?" Shen Lixue looked up at Dongfang Heng and saw him holding a cup of tea, his jade-like fingers reflected in the white porcelain, indescribably gentle, his movements casual and unrestrained, yet noble and elegant, making it impossible to look away.
Shen Lixue's dark eyes sparkled with starlight. She had boarded the carriage to find out why Consort Li had harmed her, not to discuss having tea with him: "Prince An, if you don't tell me, I'm getting off the carriage!"
Looking at the anger swirling in Shen Lixue's eyes, Dongfang Heng's obsidian-like pupils were unfathomable, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned: "Tasting tea can calm the mind and broaden one's horizons. If one discusses things with a restless and agitated mind, one will only go astray and never guess the right answer!"
Shen Lixue was taken aback. After experiencing life and death, she always liked to keep all her joys and sorrows to herself and rarely had anything to sway her emotions. But why was it that every time she faced Dongfang Heng, she would be so angry that she couldn't control herself and wanted to lose her temper?
"I only like tea made with flower petals, but the taste of snow mountain mist tea is barely acceptable!"
Shen Lixue casually brushed it off, her gaze sweeping lightly over the cabinets, small table, tea set, chessboard, bookshelf, and other daily necessities on the carriage. Everything looked to be of high quality and quite valuable!
Shen Lixue pouted and turned the carriage into a living room, moving around freely. People in ancient times really knew how to enjoy life!
Dongfang Heng looked at Shen Lixue meaningfully: "Although you have no internal energy, your speed is extremely fast. Few people saw the movement of you hiding the purple jade on Tian Meiren. Who did you learn your martial arts from?"
Shen Lixue frowned. She thought she had managed to hide it from everyone, but Dongfang Heng had seen through her: "I learned it by chance from a reclusive master. He left in a hurry and only taught me martial arts, not internal energy." She couldn't tell anyone about her identity as a transmigrator, so this perfunctory excuse was still quite plausible.
"Dongfang Heng, how did you get the title of Prince An?" Shen Lixue was very close to Dongfang Heng, and she could clearly see his eyebrows and facial features. His face was like white jade, and his snow-white face made the world pale in comparison. The purity and coldness that shone in his deep eyes made him seem like an honest and obedient person.
Dongfang Heng took a sip of tea: "The imperial edict says that I, the Prince, am stationed in Subei to safeguard the peace and prosperity of the nation, and am hereby granted the title of Prince An!" The definition of "An" is not merely being content with one's lot, but rather safeguarding the peace and prosperity of the nation!
Outside the carriage, the young coachman and guard listened with twitching lips, utterly shocked. His master had always been frighteningly calm and collected since childhood, and he had never seen his master talk so much to anyone before, especially after that incident three years ago. His master had become even more ruthless and silent, only exchanging a few words with the young master and the old prince. But now, he was actually chatting with Miss Lixue about everything under the sun, which truly astonished him.
"Now that we've calmed down, can we talk about Consort Li?" Shen Lixue asked softly.
Dongfang Heng frowned and looked up. Shen Lixue's beautiful face was hidden in the light mist, hazy and indescribably beautiful. The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, her eyelashes trembled, and a cunning look of triumph flashed in her cold eyes. While chatting with him, she had also secretly plotted against him.
“Consort Li has been in the palace for five years and has always been cautious. Apart from secretly competing with the Empress, she has rarely made enemies with others. Now, she has gone to great lengths to set up a conspiracy against you. It must be because you have interfered with her plans…” Dongfang Heng analyzed softly, a light mist shrouding his handsome face, adding to his mystique.
Shen Lixue frowned: "I am the daughter of the Prime Minister's family, not a concubine in the harem. How could I possibly interfere with her affairs?"
Dongfang Heng said softly, "After entering the palace, have you done anything special or met any special people?" Because of this special person or event, Consort Li harbored murderous intent towards her.
Shen Lixue carefully recalled everything that had happened since entering the palace: "Would Mu Zhengnan be considered a special person?" Apart from being tricked into seeing him, she had always been with noblewomen and young ladies.
“No!” The faces of Consort Li, Lady Tian, and Mu Zhengnan flashed before his eyes. Dongfang Heng shook his head, his gaze unfathomable. The three of them should have no connection. “It seems we should start with Lady Tian!”
“Consort Tian and Consort Li are like sisters. Perhaps they plotted this together. Why would she reveal the truth and bring about her own destruction!” As she spoke, Shen Lixue suddenly recalled the meaningful look Consort Tian gave the princes…
"Nothing is absolute!" Dongfang Heng said calmly. The unique light fragrance emanating from Shen Lixue wafted gently along with the aroma of tea, lingering around his nose and making him somewhat uneasy.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his chest. Dongfang Heng's expression changed, and he couldn't help but clutch his chest, coughing violently: "Cough cough cough!"
"What's wrong with you?" A hint of seriousness flashed in Shen Lixue's clear eyes. Was it a relapse of her illness, or just a normal cough?
"It's just a minor ailment, nothing to worry about!" Dongfang Heng suppressed his discomfort and slowly raised his head. A trace of fatigue flashed in his dark eyes. Was his injury getting worse?
"His heart meridian is damaged, yet he says he's fine." Shen Lixue thought to herself, her bright eyes flickering slightly. Judging from his appearance, his blood and qi were probably blocked. She had silver needles with her; should she help him clear his blood and qi? Clearing blood and qi required taking off his upper garment. Would he, out of 'repayment,' do what he did last time, taking advantage of her illness to help her change her clothes?
Hesitantly, the carriage came to a steady stop, and the coachman's gentle voice rang out from outside: "Miss Shen, we have arrived at the Prime Minister's residence!"
"Thank you!" Shen Lixue replied casually, glancing back at Dongfang Heng, only to find that he had stopped coughing and, apart from being a little pale, looked no different from a normal person, sitting elegantly at the table leisurely drinking tea.
Shen Lixue raised the corners of her mouth. It seemed that Dongfang Heng had not been having an attack of his illness just now, but had only coughed a few times.
Slowly alighting from the carriage, Shen Lixue turned back to bid farewell to Dongfang Heng. Her cold gaze pierced through the half-open curtain, revealing his furrowed brows, deathly pale face, large hands clutching his chest, and beads of sweat forming on his forehead…
054 Su Yuting visits
"Dongfang Heng!" Shen Lixue was taken aback. It wasn't just a normal cough; he was actually having a real attack of his illness.
The carriage curtain slowly fell, and in the increasingly smaller field of vision, Shen Lixue's anxious and beautiful face was reflected. A hint of tenderness flashed in Dongfang Heng's usually indifferent eyes, and he gently raised the corners of his mouth.