Not long ago, Ling Shuang sat here with her, reading to her and pouring her tea.
Now, she can no longer see her or hear her voice.
Seeing her sitting there like a wooden statue, just crying without saying a word or even making a sound, Zhou's mother said anxiously with red eyes, "Miss, if you're sad, just cry it out! Don't keep it bottled up inside!"
Yao Youqing, however, seemed not to hear, and remained sitting there blankly, tears streaming down her face.
The news of Ling Shuang's death reached Wei Hong's ears along with the return of Qiong Yu and her group. Upon hearing it, he looked extremely grim and sat there without uttering a sound.
He did have a grudge against Yao Yuzhi. The reason he agreed to the marriage was partly because he was too lazy to argue with those people in the court, and partly because he wanted to deliberately provoke Yao Yuzhi.
With his only daughter taken away by him, Yao Yuzhi must be restless and unable to eat or sleep. When Wei Hong thought about this, he felt that marrying his daughter wasn't so bad after all.
But as a grown man, he wouldn't go so far as to deliberately mistreat a woman because of this.
Now Yao Youqing's maid has died because of the mistakes of his subordinates. Although it was not directly caused by him, it is related to him, making it seem as if he owes that woman a debt, which makes him very unhappy.
He didn't want to owe anyone anything, not even Yao Yuzhi's daughter.
But then, someone, oblivious to the danger, approached him with a roasted rabbit, grinning, and said, "Your Highness, the rabbit is ready, please..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw his gloomy face and immediately swallowed back what he was going to say, instead saying as he had said before, "I'll take it and distribute it to everyone right away!"
Then he turned and left.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps when Wei Hong called out to him, "Wait!"
"What are your orders, Your Highness?"
He turned around and asked.
Wei Hong looked at the rabbit in his hand, his brows furrowed like a crumpled rag, and after a long while said, "Take it to her."
he?
The man asked, puzzled, "Who is it?"
Wei Hong clenched his fist, glared at him without saying a word, and seeing that the man really didn't understand, he finally squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "Miss Yao!"
The man holding the rabbit was stunned. He thought the sun must have risen in the west. He subconsciously wanted to confirm it again, but seeing that his lord's face was too ugly, he dared not say anything more, nodded, shrank his neck, and walked away.
It was cold, and he was worried that the rabbit meat would get cold and not taste good, so he delivered it to the carriage as quickly as possible and said to the person inside, "Miss Yao, the prince asked me to bring you the rabbit."
Just as Zhou's mother was worrying about how to comfort her young mistress, she heard that the Prince of Qin had actually sent a rabbit to her. She felt relieved and hurriedly brought it in to distract Yao Youqing.
To everyone's surprise, when the carriage curtain was lifted, a person was seen standing beside the carriage, holding a tree branch with a roasted rabbit stuck on it. The rabbit was so charred on the outside and tender on the inside that it was unrecognizable.
Mrs. Zhou was shocked and tried to lower the carriage curtain to block Yao Youqing's view, but it was too late.
When Yao Youqing saw the rabbit through the car window, she burst into tears, startling everyone inside and outside the car.
"That's too much! That's too much!"
Zhou's mother angrily ordered the person who brought the rabbit to be driven away. The person took the rabbit back untouched, saying that Miss Yao was crying and that he had been sent back. Wei Hong's face darkened even more upon hearing this.
Upon hearing this, Cui Hao, who had just gone elsewhere, was incredulous: "Your Highness, you gave this roasted rabbit to Miss Yao?"
Wei Hong suppressed his anger and said, "If I don't cook it thoroughly, am I supposed to give birth to it for her?"
Cui Hao: "..."
Is this a matter of raw or cooked?
"Miss Yao wants it alive."
He said.
Wei Hong frowned again: "What's the point of having them alive? To keep as pets?"
Cui Hao: "..."
He looked at him silently, without saying anything more.
Wei Hong seemed to gradually understand something during this silence, and he too fell silent.
Chapter 8 Stay
Cui Hao ordered someone to catch another rabbit. This wouldn't have been difficult for the Jingyuan Army, but there were few prey in winter, and they had just hunted nearby. The animals that hadn't been caught were all scattered and fled in fright, making it hard to find another rabbit, let alone kill it with arrows and bring it back unharmed.
Fortunately, there were many of them, and they rode their horses a little further away. After about half an hour, they finally caught a live rabbit and brought it back, but it wasn't as good-looking as the previous one; it was dusty and gray.
"We're lucky if we catch even one," said the man carrying the rabbit, sweating profusely. "We've practically turned this mountain upside down, and there really aren't many rabbits left."
Cui Hao also knew that there were not many prey animals this season, and that they had already wasted some time on this rabbit. Their prince had limited patience, and it was already difficult for him to wait this long. If it was delayed any longer, he would probably just give up on the matter altogether.
"Give it to me."
He reached out and took the rabbit, put it in the cage that had been hastily made from branches, and personally carried it to Yao Youqing.
“Miss Yao,” he said through the carriage curtain, “the Prince asked me to send you a live rabbit.”
After saying that, he explained a few more words: "The prince didn't mean to scare you just now. He just... mistakenly thought you wanted to eat rabbit, so he had someone send over a roasted one. He didn't expect it to backfire and scare you instead."
The person in the car did not react at first, but after he finished speaking, he slowly lifted the curtain.
Zhou's mother looked at the rabbit with complicated emotions, then at Cui Hao who was carrying it, her expression somewhat indescribable.
She instructed the servants guarding the carriage to put the rabbit away, thanked Cui Hao, and lowered the curtain again. Yao Youqing, inside the carriage, remained silent throughout.
She flinched when Cui Hao told her that Wei Hong had sent her another rabbit. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that it was alive, but she didn't look at it much after it was put in the car. It wasn't because it was ugly, but because she was still immersed in the grief of losing Ling Shuang and had no mind to care about anything else.
After the rabbit was delivered, the team quickly set off again.
Yao Youqing was in poor spirits and developed a fever by evening. Zhou Mama hurriedly sent someone to inform the Prince of Qin.
Ever since that young man was punished last time, no one has dared to deliberately withhold their information from reporting it to higher authorities.
Wei Hong soon learned that Yao Youqing was ill and asked Li Dou to take a look at her.
After reading it, Li Dou told her that Yao Youqing was sick because she was tired from the journey and was also worried and fearful.
The worry stemmed from Ling Shuang's death, and the fear from the roasted rabbit; both were related to Wei Hong.
Wei Hong frowned and asked, "How should it be treated?"
Li Dou said, “Miss Yao’s illness is not serious, but she is a young lady from a noble family, and her body is delicate and weak. She is different from us rough men in the army. So… it would be best to find a place to stop and rest for a few days before leaving. Otherwise, even though her symptoms are mild now, if she stays up too long, she may become seriously ill like that maid before, which would be bad.”
However, Yao Youqing's status was different from that of the maid. She was the princess consort bestowed upon Wei Hong by the late emperor. Even if Wei Hong disliked her, he could not leave her here alone and go first.
In other words, if Yao Youqing needs to rest, the entire team has to stay put because of her.
Wei Hong remained silent for a long time before finally ordering that they should stop traveling tonight and rest at the next post station.
...
The next post station was Fancheng Post Station, the best post station in the hundreds of miles around. The soldiers, who had been traveling for a long time, heard that they could rest. Although they did not say anything, the joy in their eyes was evident.
They weren't incapable of continuing their journey, but who wouldn't want to take a proper rest?
Moreover, it was the luxurious Fancheng Post Station!
However, they had no prior plans to go there, so they didn't let anyone inform them in advance. Fancheng Post Station suddenly received news that the King of Qin was coming with three thousand soldiers, and they were immediately thrown into chaos.
The inn's rooms certainly couldn't accommodate so many people, so most of the soldiers set up tents outside, while a few followed the King of Qin into the largest courtyard of the inn.
The postmaster stood bowing beside Wei Hong and said respectfully, "The preparations were hasty, please forgive any improprieties, Your Highness."
Wei Hong glanced at the exquisitely decorated courtyard, nodded slightly, tossed his riding whip to a servant beside him, and walked straight into a side room on the west side, asking someone to fetch a bucket of water so he could take a bath.
Seeing this, the postmaster quickly stopped him: "Your Highness, hot water has already been prepared in the main room, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Cui Hao stopped him and said with a smile, "You all go and prepare the hot water yourselves. You don't need to worry about the prince; we will take care of him."
The postmaster nodded somewhat blankly: "Then the main house..."
Cui Hao turned around and pointed behind him: "Miss Yao will be here soon. She is not feeling well and is staying here for a few days to recuperate. Please take good care of her and do as she instructs. Do not neglect her."
The news of the late emperor's bestowal of marriage had already spread to all parts of Daliang through various post stations and other channels, and Fancheng Post Station was naturally aware of it as well. However, they did not know that the Prince of Qin's fiancée had fallen ill, and the reason why the Prince of Qin was staying here was to allow his fiancée to recuperate.
“No wonder,” said the postmaster. “I knew the prince never stayed here when he returned to his fiefdom before. Why did he stay this time and even said he wanted to stay for a few days?”
After saying this, in order to flatter her, he deliberately exaggerated and exclaimed, "Your Highness is so good to Miss Yao! They will surely be a loving and respectful couple in the future!"
Cui Hao smiled and said, "Go and prepare hot water. Don't keep the prince waiting."
The postmaster readily agreed and hurriedly sent someone to fetch water.
Cui Hao watched his retreating figure, thinking about what he had just said, and shook his head helplessly.
Are the couple loving and affectionate?
I'm afraid it won't be easy...
Yao Youqing was helped out of the car by Zhou's mother. She was feeling dizzy and almost fell asleep as soon as she sat on the bed after entering the room.
Zhou's mother and Qiongyu wiped her body with hot water and changed her into clean undergarments. By the time they finished getting ready, Li Dou had already prepared the medicine and had it brought in.
She took the medicine, lay down on the soft bed, and finally fell into a deep sleep. Her breathing was unusually warm, her cheeks were rosy, and her forehead was still a little hot.
"The fever should go down after she takes the medicine. Please take good care of her tonight and make sure she doesn't catch a cold. I'll come back to check on her again tomorrow."
Li Dou took the empty medicine bowl and said...
Mrs. Zhou thanked him, and as he turned to go back to his room, she saw him turn back and add, "If anything happens tonight, just have someone call me. I'm in the side room next to the west wing."
Mrs. Zhou nodded, a genuine smile appearing on her lips.
"Thank you very much, Dr. Dou."
Li Dou quickly waved his hand: "No need to thank me, it's my pleasure. Um... you can just call me Douzi or Xiao Li. My master said I haven't graduated yet and can't be called a doctor."
Without waiting for Zhou's mother's reply, he turned and ran away.
Mrs. Zhou chuckled and returned to her room after he had run far away.
"Qiongyu, you should go and rest too."
She spoke to Qiongyu, whose face was pale and whose eyes were red and swollen.
Qiongyu shook her head. The girl, who used to be lively and a bit impetuous, now stood there blankly like a wooden stake.
“I’ll stay here, I’m not going anywhere,” she said in a muffled voice. “I promised Ling Shuang I would take good care of Miss. Wherever Miss is, I will be. I won’t leave, I won’t leave…”
She started crying again as she spoke, tears streaming down her face.