No matter how reluctant Huan Xuan was, Prince Yuzhang still flew into his bedroom like a colorful peacock.
Huan Minggui, a rich and idle man, lived a comfortable life. Time had been kind to him, and had not left any traces on his face. He was in his thirties but still looked like a handsome young man in his twenties. His green spring shirt made him look like a young bamboo that had just sprouted. Compared with Huan Xuan, who had a sickly face and yellow dirt buried up to his neck, he looked more lively.
Huan Xuan had been saying that he was old for a moment, but now his eyes were full of anger. This guy came to see him, a dying man, dressed like this. Could it be that he knew Sui Sui was here
This was an injustice to Prince Yuzhang, as his clothes were all bright and gorgeous. He had taken his cousin's mood into consideration and picked the most inconspicuous one. However, he was born with a beautiful appearance, and no matter what he wore, he could not hide his dashing and romantic appearance.
Prince Yuzhang saw that his cousin's eyes were burning and his cheeks seemed to have some color, which made him look like a completely different person compared to the dying appearance yesterday. Before he could be happy, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could it be a last gasp
Seeing the person you have been thinking about day and night, fulfilling your last wish in this world, and going on your journey peacefully...
The more Huan Minggui thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case, and he couldn't help but steal a glance at Xiao Ling.
Although Huan Xuan was almost blind, he inexplicably felt that the lecher was watching him, and he wished he could get up from his sickbed and stand between them.
Huan Minggui saw that Xiao Ling looked solemn and there was nothing unusual except that her eyes were red. He could not see any clues, so he asked her, "Is General Xiao feeling better?"
Sui Sui said, "Thank you for your inquiry, Your Majesty. I am now alright."
It was just normal greetings and courtesies, but Prince Yuzhang was used to being gentle and protective of women, so he spoke to the beauty inadvertently in a gentle and graceful manner. Huan Xuan was listening to them, and it was like needles piercing his ears.
He knew this lecherous cousin's character well. He really cared about him and it was also true that he saw the beauty unable to walk. He suspected that when he closed his eyes, this peacock would not be able to hold up his head and would fall to the ground on the seventh day.
He stared at Sui Sui desperately, but he didn't realize that his eyes were distracted and he couldn't see the person's face at all.
Huan Minggui didn't know that his terminally ill cousin wanted to use his eyes to punch two holes in his face. He sat down beside the couch and softened his voice, "How is Ziheng today?"
Huan Xuan said: "Thanks to my cousin, I am lucky enough to still be alive."
Huan Minggui listened to him still being sour, and suddenly realized that it was not a last burst of energy, but just that he was too jealous.
He relaxed his nerves at that moment, a mischievous smile flashed across his eyes, and he softened his voice, "Have you taken the medicine?" He looked as if he didn't care about the patient.
"I've eaten," Huan Xuan said coldly, "It's getting late. Thank you, cousin, for coming to see me so late."
After a pause, he said, "I feel really bad that my cousin has to come to me every day and can't be with my aunt to show filial piety..."
Huan Minggui seemed not to understand his hint: "Your aunt thinks that I am annoying you by following you around all the time. It doesn't matter if I am just an idler without a family."
You have no family, are all people like you without a family? Huan Xuan thought so in his heart, but of course he couldn't say it out loud.
Huan Minggui seemed to sense that he was not welcomed, so he turned to Xiao Ling and said, "General Xiao, you haven't had dinner yet, right? Why don't we have a simple meal together? I will ask someone to prepare the meal right away."
Huan Xuan felt a tightness in his chest and coughed heavily twice. His real master was not dead yet!
Sui Sui said, "Then I'll have to trouble Prince Yuzhang to come."
Huan Minggui did not consider himself an outsider at all, and immediately sent the eunuch to the kitchen to serve food. He often came to eat and knew all the specialties of the people in Huan Xuan's mansion. He said to the eunuch: "It's rare that General Xiao is here, so ask them to add a dish of immortal meat and a hot pot of imperial concubine red. And a hot pot of spring."
Huan Xuan finally found an opportunity and immediately grabbed Sui Sui's hand: "You are not fully recovered yet, you can't drink..."
Huan Minggui got goose bumps on his arms. "It's my fault that I didn't think carefully enough and forgot that General Xiao hasn't recovered yet."
Just exchanged a few polite words.
Soon, dinner was ready.
Huan Minggui said to Xiao Ling, "General Xiao, please move to the hall to have dinner."
Huan Xuan said, "Just ask them to bring dinner over."
Huan Minggui said, "Your Majesty has always disliked the taste of the dishes in the bedroom. The prince and General Xiao should go out to eat."
Sui Sui saw that as long as Huan Minggui was present, Huan Xuan would be full of fighting spirit, and he looked like he would jump out of bed and fight with others. She was afraid that he would be too exhausted. Moreover, the matter she wanted to ask about Prince Yuzhang involved Huan Ye, and if she mentioned him here, she would inevitably think too much. So she said, "Your Majesty, close your eyes and rest for a while. I'll be back soon."
Although Huan Xuan was quite reluctant, he still said "hmm" softly and just looked at her eagerly, as if he was reminding her to come back soon with his eyes.
Due to his blurred vision, his eyes were not as sharp as before, but misty. Suddenly, his head softened and his voice became softer: "I know."
Before leaving, she tucked the quilt in for him.
Huan Xuan's gaze followed them all the way out of the screen. He listened to the footsteps fading away, then he hugged the half-worn cotton robe hidden in the quilt tightly. His heavy eyelids finally slowly closed - his emotions were up and down, and he was already very tired. Even if he didn't let go, Huan Minggui could not hold on any longer.
Sui Sui and Huan Minggui sat down in the hall. The brief relaxation was gone in a flash, and their expressions became solemn.
Huan Minggui poured a cup of tea for Sui Sui and filled his own cup with wine. The strong aroma of Shaochun tea immediately filled the air.
Sui Sui used tea instead of wine and said to Huan Minggui, "Thank you, Prince Yuzhang, for visiting Your Majesty so often these days."
Originally, they were cousins and Sui Sui was an outsider, so it was not her place to thank him, but the one who said it took it as a matter of course, and the one who heard it did not think it was strange.
Huan Minggui said, "This is my own internal affair. General Xiao, there is no need to be polite."
He sighed softly and said, "I didn't expect my aunt to be so extreme."
He paused and said, "When my eldest brother was alive, although she was a bit stubborn, she was still reasonable. I have never heard of her mistreating servants or mistreating concubines' children."
He smiled bitterly and added: "Perhaps only Huan Jiong is an exception."
Sui Sui paused slightly as he held the cup: "What grudge do the Queen Mother and Concubine Shu have?"
She heard Huan Jiong's explanation of the cause of the incident, but still found it hard to believe that the mother of a country would deliberately destroy a child just because of a few words from a so-called eminent monk, which could not even be called a prophecy.
Huan Minggui pondered and said, "Shufei has a gentle and weak temperament. She only follows the Queen Mother's orders. The Queen Mother asked the palace servants to raise Huan Jiong to be like that. As a mother, she couldn't be unaware of it, but she kept giving in and tolerating it. When Huan Jiong was twelve years old, he did the absurd thing of 'raping' a palace servant. In fact, everyone thought it was strange, but Shufei still kept silent. If the Queen Mother had any grudge against her, I'm afraid it was..."
Huan Minggui stopped talking halfway, and Sui Sui knew that he was trying to avoid mentioning the name of the respected person. People are indeed like this. When they do something wrong to others, they will hate the victim. The empress dowager is probably such a person.
She nodded: "So the Queen Mother targeted Huan Jiong because of what the monk said."
Huan Minggui said, "Yes and no. The Queen Mother had a hard time when she was pregnant with Heng, and she was exhausted during the birth. In addition, the court was in a turbulent period, and the late emperor visited the harem less often, so the two of them inevitably became estranged. In addition, the fourth and fifth princes were both born during that period, so the Queen Mother inevitably had some grudges against these two illegitimate sons. I was there when the eminent monk came to the court, and I vaguely remember what it was like."
He paused and said, "The Queen Mother loves my eldest brother the most, so she naturally hopes that the monk will say a few auspicious words, but the monk looked at my eldest brother for a long time and remained silent..."
As a child of six or seven years old, he also remembered that the atmosphere at that time was awkward and solemn.
"The Queen Mother couldn't help asking," Huan Minggui frowned. "I remember that the monk was pressed to a standstill, and he clasped his hands before the Queen and said, 'The cause is to invite the fruit, and the fruit is to overcome it.' I was young at the time and only remembered the two 'fruits'. Later, when I read the Mahayana Samadhi and Vipassana, I realized it was this sentence."
Sui Sui's eyes moved, and he silently said thoughtfully: "The cause is to invite the result, and the result is to overcome it."
Huan Minggui sighed, "This statement is about cause and effect, and it is meant to persuade people to be good and accumulate virtue. Unfortunately..."
Unfortunately, the Queen Mother did not listen. Instead, because her beloved eldest son did not get a good prophecy, she was angry at the illegitimate son who was praised for his "wisdom". She planted the evil cause with her own hands and brought about bad consequences.
Sui Sui asked, "Besides Concubine Shu, does Huan Jiong have anyone close to him?"
There was no antidote or prescription to be found in Prince Chen's Mansion or Concubine Shu's Palace. Maybe he would give it to someone else. Although the possibility was very small, she couldn't let go of any clues.
Huan Minggui raised his head and drank the wine in his cup. He said bitterly, "Because of his appearance, he has few friends since he was a child. The fourth prince, who is of the same age, is not close to him and often bullies him. As for Your Majesty..."
He coughed twice and said, "Your Majesty ignored people when he was a child."
Sui Sui's eyes softened for a moment, and a small, blurry figure inexplicably flashed through his mind.
She asked, "Is there anyone in Concubine Shu's mother's family who is close to him?"
Huan Minggui shook his head: "Except for Concubine Shu, he probably only has some bad friends in the market. Those people are attracted by his wealth and flock to him, but they don't take him seriously behind his back."
Sui Sui nodded. With Huan Jiong's personality and timing, he certainly wouldn't make close friends with those people, and naturally he wouldn't share important secrets with them.
Huan Minggui said awkwardly, "Speaking of which, the only one who is really willing to get close to him and not make fun of him is my eldest brother."
From time to time, her body moved slightly, as if a thought flashed through her mind, but she didn't have time to catch it.
Prince Yuzhang hesitated and said, "When you knew that General Xiao was poisoned, Your Majesty had already searched every possible place..."
Sui Sui nodded: "I know."
Huan Minggui asked, "General Xiao, do you still intend to search for them personally?"
Sui Sui's eyes sank slightly: "Yes."
She understood what Huan Minggui meant. The chance of finding an antidote was very slim. Instead of wasting time, it would be better to accompany Huan Xuan through his final moments.
But she was unwilling, she couldn't just watch and do nothing.
Huan Minggui said, "Please forgive me for saying something that offended General Xiao."
Sui Sui said, "Prince Yuzhang, please speak."
Huan Minggui said: "When my eldest brother was poisoned, General Xiao was far away in Heshuo. When he got the news, my eldest brother had already passed away. Did General Xiao… "
Without him saying anything, Sui Sui understood what he meant: "I am determined to find an antidote, not because I am still upset about my inability to do anything back then."
She paused and said, "I know who I want to save."
Huan Minggui was obviously relieved and said, "That's good. Where do you plan to start looking, General Xiao?"
Sui Sui said: "Let's start from Prince Chen's Mansion."
The incident was started by King Chen, and the poison also came from King Chen. Even though she knew there was probably no antidote there, she could still tell something from where the two men lived.