Hua Zhi kept this in mind and touched Yan Xi's forehead again, frowning slightly before leaning down to press her forehead against his.
Shaoyao came over and asked, "Do you have a fever?"
"A little bit." Hua Zhi stood up and motioned to Liu Xiang beside her to prepare warm water and pour the liquor into it.
Rolling up her sleeves, Hua Zhi wrung out a handkerchief and placed it on Yan Xi's forehead, then poured some wine into the palms of his hands and rubbed them continuously. Shaoyao went up to the bed and took off Yan Ge's socks, then asked Liu Xiang to pour some strong liquor into her hands, rubbed her palms to warm them, and began to massage the soles of her feet.
As the room was filled with the aroma of wine, the two of them spoke a few words from time to time, all of which were ordinary words. When they were tired, they would take turns lying down and sleep for a while when the temperature dropped. When the temperature came back up, they would repeat the previous action. They repeated this several times throughout the night until dawn.
Shaoyao yawned and said, "Huahua, go to sleep for a while."
"We have to worship our ancestors in the morning, so I'm afraid I'll have to get up sooner than I sleep. I might as well not sleep." Hua Zhi pushed the yawning man onto the bed, "Go sleep over there, I'll call you if there's anything."
Shaoyao slowly remembered that today was the first day of the first lunar month. As the head priest of the family, how could Huahua have the time to sleep in? She preferred to be by herself. Shaoyao yawned again, not caring about the rule that boys and girls should not sit at the same table unless they were seven years old. She fell back, curled up into a ball and fell asleep.
Hua Zhi took the quilt Liu Xiang handed over and covered her with it, then turned around and whispered, "You go and rest too, let someone else come."
Liu Xiang shook her head, "I am not tired."
As she was talking, Nian Qiu pushed the door open and came in, followed by Fu Dong who was holding a wooden tray. The two of them tiptoed over and Nian Qiu said softly, "Miss, please go and rest for a while. I will watch over here."
"I can't sleep." Hua Zhi got up and walked to the table. Fu Dong hurriedly poured out half a bowl of golden chicken soup. The steaming soup made Hua Zhi feel a little hungry.
She slowly drank a bowl of soup and ate some pickled vegetables to relieve the greasiness. Yingchun and Baoxia came in with toiletries to serve her. After washing, Hua Zhi felt much more energetic.
Helping the young lady to sit down, Yingchun led several maids to kneel down and kowtow, "The maids and others wish the young lady good health and peace in the new year."
This happens every year, Hua Zhi has long been accustomed to it, raised her hand and said: "Everyone get up, I will make up the red envelope later."
The maids stood up, hiding all the worries in their hearts. Yingchun came over to do the young lady's hair, and the others went about their business.
From beginning to end, they moved very lightly and spoke softly, for fear of waking up the two people sleeping on the bed.
Hua Zhi closed her eyes and went over in her mind what she had to do today. It wasn't too much, but not too little either. They were all trivial matters, so she could leave them to Fourth Aunt. She was the one who took care of most of the things in the backyard anyway.
After she had finished cleaning up and seeing that it was almost time, she returned to the bed and touched Yan Xi's forehead again. The symptoms did not recur.
"Nianqiu, you stay and serve me. If anything happens, report to me immediately."
"yes."
Hua Zhi was about to leave when someone suddenly grabbed her hand. She trembled and immediately turned back, unexpectedly falling into a pair of gentle and affectionate eyes.
The owner of these eyes smiled and called out, "Azhi."
Hua Zhi moved her mouth, and after a moment she sat on the edge of the bed and helped the man up, while ordering, "Water."
Yingchun hurriedly brought some warm water, Hua Zhi took it and handed it to Yan Xi's mouth, feeding him half a cup and then stopped, carefully helping him lie down again.
After finishing all this, the indescribable feeling in her heart seemed to have passed. She looked at Yan Xi, "How do you feel?"
"Much better." Gu Yanxi pretended not to notice her mood change and smiled faintly, "What time is it?"
"It's still early, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
Gu Yanxi didn't want to sleep, but when he saw Azhi who had obviously tidied up, he nodded. If he didn't sleep, Azhi couldn't go about her own business.
At this time, Shaoyao sat up in a daze, half-closed her eyes and took her pulse for a moment, then fell back hugging the quilt and immediately fell asleep unconscious.
Seeing her reaction, it was clear that she was fine. Hua Zhi was amused and stepped forward to cover her with the quilt. She also straightened Yan Xi's quilt and asked him, "Are you going to spread any news?"
"Call Wang Rong over. I'll ask him to do something."
Hua Zhi nodded, followed the man's gaze and left the house. She was not surprised to see Wang Rong standing in the corridor. "I called you in, but don't talk for too long. He needs to rest."
Wang Rong bowed and responded with an attitude that was even more respectful than before. They had always known that the prince valued the young lady, but after what happened last night they realized to what extent he valued her.
Seeing Mr. Wang come in, Nian Qiu tactfully excused himself.
"Prince."
Gu Yanxi closed her eyes, "What's going on in the palace?"
"The Emperor stayed in the Imperial Study Room all night. The Empress Dowager arrested Concubine Yue and ordered all palaces not to move. The Sixth Prince wanted to leave the palace last night, but the Empress Dowager kept him in Fushou Palace."
"Grandmother is in charge of the harem?"
"yes."
Gu Yanxi sighed and slowly opened his eyes. It was his unfilial behavior that forced his grandmother, who had been indifferent for a long time, to wade into this muddy water.
Wang Rong looked up at the prince and continued, "Lai Fu took advantage of the chaos to pass on a message, saying that the emperor's sudden thought must be related to Concubine Yue. He asked his subordinates to pass on the message. It's not that he didn't want to inform in advance, but he didn't know about it before. He was rarely allowed to enter Concubine Yue's Ru Lan Palace, and the people he originally arranged to enter Ru Lan Palace had cut off contact with him, so he was afraid that they would not be able to be used."
Lai Fu had been rebuked by the Emperor several times in the past few days, both openly and secretly. Now he has tried to reduce his contact with the prince as much as possible. At least on the surface, the two of them have almost no contact.
"That is to say, Rulan Palace is now under the control of Haoyue, and no one outside knows what happened inside?"
"yes."
He had underestimated Haoyue. Ah Zhi was right to be wary of her, but it was too late to regret now. Gu Yanxi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Have the third and fourth brothers been going to the palace frequently recently?"
"Yes, much more diligent than before."
"Check and see who Haoyue has had contact with."
"yes."
"Inform Chen Qing that all interested people and rewards in the prince's mansion should stay, and take my mother's dowry and other things away. I usually send the ones to the house in the south of the city, and the others to the big house in the north of the city and seal them up. During this period of time, pay attention to guiding the wind direction in the city. I estimate that someone will use this incident to throw dirty water on Ah Zhi, so try to follow the clues. Also, send a letter to the Lu family, asking them not to act rashly."
"yes."
"Not killing Haoyue?" Shaoyao yawned and sat up. This was the only thing she cared about.
"Not right now. No matter what you think, Grandmother has to stand on the side of the Emperor to stabilize the situation. Don't do anything unnecessary. I won't let Haoyue go."
Shaoyao was very unhappy. She snorted and shrank into the corner, hugging the quilt.
Gu Yanxi ignored her and looked at Wang Rong and said, "Give orders to everyone to lie low and not let anyone catch us at this time."
"yes."
"Go down."