"She can't walk, and she can't move!" Ruan Shi tactfully relayed Su Yuting's serious injuries to the middle-aged man.
“This…” The middle-aged man frowned. He was sent by the Crown Prince Qin to pick up the person. If he couldn’t bring her back, the Crown Prince would definitely blame him. “Madam, the Crown Prince Qin misses Miss Su. How about I take her to the post station to see the Crown Prince Qin and then send her back?”
"How can this be!" Madam Ruan refused sternly, coldly staring at the middle-aged man: "Yuting is seriously injured and cannot be moved casually. If she wants to see people, let Qin Junhao come and see for himself!"
“Madam, Miss Su is already Prince Qin’s woman. It is perfectly reasonable for her to go to the post station. I hope you will not deliberately make things difficult for her!” The middle-aged man’s compromise was refuted without mercy, and his tone instantly turned cold and hard.
Ruan snorted coldly: "Forcing a seriously injured and weak woman to travel to the post station is the style of you people from the Southern Frontier?"
"You?" The middle-aged man stared coldly at Madam Ruan, who returned the gaze without flinching. Their sharp gazes met in mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, they exchanged over a hundred blows. The surrounding air was instantly frozen, and the maids lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe.
"Mother, I'm going to the post station!" A soft voice broke the tense atmosphere. The curtain opened, and two maids carried Su Yuting out.
Madam Ruan withdrew her gaze and quickly walked to Su Yuting, saying with concern, "Your injuries are quite severe. You need to lie down and rest properly. The bumpy journey to the post station will cause your newly healed wounds to reopen!"
"It's alright!" Su Yuting lay lightly on the recliner, her feet not touching the ground: "Just send a sedan chair to take me, and tell them to go slowly!"
Su Yuting was dressed in a dress, which covered her injuries. The middle-aged man could only see her bandaged face and feet. He nodded approvingly and said, "Miss Su is very sensible!"
Madam Ruan narrowed her eyes and frowned, remaining silent as she looked at the determined Su Yuting. She sighed softly and earnestly instructed, "Be careful on the road!"
Post station
After a period of recuperation, Qin Junhao's injuries improved somewhat, but he could still only lie in bed. Shen Caiyun, as a noblewoman, stayed by his side, taking care of him carefully and wholeheartedly.
When Su Yuting was carried to the inner room by the maids, Shen Caiyun had just finished changing Qin Junhao's dressing and was instructing the maids to remove the white cloth used to bandage the wound. Looking at Su Yuting, who was covered in injuries, a hint of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes, but she quickly returned to normal.
"Your Highness, Sister Yuting has arrived!" The calm voice held a hint of gritted teeth.
Qin Junhao turned to look at Su Yuting, his cold eyes filled with a hint of mockery and schadenfreude: "How did you end up like this? You can't even walk and have to be carried by a maid. Is this what they call retribution? She caused her own wound to reopen and she can't get out of bed, and now she's in this state herself."
"The matter is complicated and cannot be explained in a few words!" Su Yuting directed the maid to help her sit down on the recliner. Her cold gaze swept over Shen Caiyun and the maids before landing on Qin Junhao: "I have some things I wish to discuss with Crown Prince Qin alone!"
"All of you, get out!" Seeing Su Yuting's solemn expression, Qin Junhao knew she had something important to tell him. She was already seriously injured and didn't even have the strength to walk. He wasn't worried that she was plotting against him.
"Yes!" Shen Caiyun replied, slowly retreating with the maids. The moment she closed the door, she glared hatefully at Su Yuting. She would definitely settle the score with Su Yuting for scheming against her.
"There's no one around, just say what you need to say!" Qin Junhao glanced at Su Yuting and urged her casually.
Su Yuting removed her veil and slowly untied the white cloth covering her face, revealing two hideous scars on her beautiful face, one on each side, perfectly symmetrical.
Qin Junhao narrowed his eyes: "What's going on?"
"As you can see, I'm disfigured. I've suffered severe injuries to my body and feet, and I might become a bedridden cripple. Would you still be willing to marry me?" Su Yuting said calmly, her cold gaze fixed firmly on Qin Junhao.
"It's just a face that's ruined, it's nothing!" Qin Junhao sneered. Su Yuting represented the entire Wen State Duke's Mansion. Her status was much more useful than her beauty. He had hundreds or even thousands of concubines in his harem, so it wouldn't hurt to keep one more.
"Do you know that Shen Lixue is already the adopted daughter of the War King?" Su Yuting glared at Qin Junhao hatefully. Even in her current state, he still wouldn't let her go. How despicable and shameless.
"Of course I know!" On the first day Shen Caiyun arrived at the post station, she told him about Shen Lixue. Shen Lixue was indeed formidable; even Prime Minister Qingyan was completely fooled by her.
Su Yuting smiled mysteriously and lowered her voice, saying, "If you marry Shen Lixue, the benefits she brings you will be far greater than what I can give you!"
"In the end, you still want me to let you go!" Qin Junhao raised an eyebrow at Su Yuting, his eyes full of mockery.
Su Yuting's purpose was seen through, and she no longer concealed it: "By exchanging Shen Lixue and the War King's Mansion that she represents for my freedom, you are not at a disadvantage!"
"Chen Lixue is only the War King's adopted daughter, but you are the Duke of Wen's biological daughter!" An adopted daughter, as the name suggests, is someone you raise for fun. You can pamper her when you're happy and kick her aside when you're not. No adoptive father would use all his power for his adopted daughter.
Since biological daughters are related by blood, parents who truly love their daughters will do their best to fulfill their daughters' requests. This is one of the reasons why nobles marry legitimate daughters rather than illegitimate daughters.
“The Prince of War treats Shen Lixue as his own daughter, unlike the relationship between other godfathers and goddaughters!” Su Yuting gritted her teeth. Although she had been recuperating at the Duke of Wen’s mansion, news of what happened at the Prince of War’s mansion kept reaching her ears.
In just a few days, the Azure Flame War God, who only loved Qingzhuzi, sent guards, summoned maids, made jewelry, and tailored clothes for Shen Lixue. He did everything he could to be good to her. He even changed his dinner time, which he had kept the same for more than ten years, for her sake. It was really infuriating that Shen Lixue was so pleasing to him.
"Really?" Qin Junhao asked, still somewhat skeptical.
"If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can send someone to investigate in secret. Prince Zhan has no children, but he truly treats Shen Lixue as his own daughter!" After Su Yuting was seriously injured and carried back to the Duke of Wen's mansion, various rumors about her followed.
Despite trespassing into the forbidden area of the Prince of War's mansion, falling into traps, and being seriously injured, Princess Lixue, being kind-hearted, did not hold her mistake against her and ordered her to be rescued.
Even though it was Shen Lixue who seriously injured her and almost caused her to lose her life, she couldn't have the slightest resentment. She still had to be grateful to her, otherwise, she would be accused of being ungrateful.
Heh, Shen Lixue is truly shameless to the extreme, and Prince Zhan is helping her without even knowing the facts. It's truly despicable.
Su Yuting was only focused on blaming Shen Lixue, but she didn't consider that it was she who wanted to kill Shen Lixue, and Shen Lixue only seriously injured her in order to protect herself.
Qin Junhao lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment. If what Su Yuting said was true, marrying the beautiful and ethereal Shen Lixue would indeed be much more worthwhile than marrying the disfigured Su Yuting: "I will consider it and give you an answer in a few days!" Such matters require repeated consideration, careful thought, and weighing of the pros and cons. One cannot be too hasty.
"I am at the Duke of Wen's residence, awaiting Prince Qin's answer!" Su Yuting smiled broadly. Judging from Qin Junhao's expression, she knew that things were more than halfway done, and she was certain that she could sever their relationship.
As night fell, Shen Lixue went behind the screen to take a bath. Behind the screen in the bamboo garden of the Prime Minister's residence was a bath tub, and Shen Lixue needed a maid to fetch water to bathe. Behind the screen in Lixue Pavilion was a large bathing pool, which was very convenient for filling with water to bathe.
Shen Lixue was not used to being served, and besides, she would go to bed to rest after bathing, so she did not need any more maids. Therefore, she dismissed Qiuhe and Yanyue.
Soaking in the magnificent bathroom, washing away the day's fatigue, Shen Lixue felt refreshed. She changed into clean clothes, dried her hair, and stepped out from behind the screen.
Under the bright light of the luminous pearl, within the fluttering curtains, a white figure reclines on the bed, reading a book in his hand.
Seeing Shen Lixue approach, Dongfang Heng didn't even look up, his deep gaze still lingering on the pages of the book.
Shen Lixue sat down in front of the dressing mirror, looked at the white figure reflected in the mirror, and frowned: "It's late, why haven't you gone back to the Holy King's Mansion yet?" Ever since she moved into the War King's Mansion, he has been sitting in her room until very late every night. If it weren't for the guards of the War King's Mansion urging him from outside, he probably would have stayed overnight.
Dongfang Heng put down his book, walked slowly behind Shen Lixue, took the cotton handkerchief from her hand, and gently wiped her soft, black hair: "I don't need to go back to the Holy King's Mansion tonight?"
Shen Lixue was taken aback: "Why?"
"My royal uncle agreed to let me stay at the War King's Mansion, in the courtyard next to Lixue Pavilion!" Of course, this came with conditions: Dongfang Heng could no longer stay in Shen Lixue's room until midnight, and could no longer openly bully her.