Huan Xuan's eyes fixed, and then he showed an anxious look on his face, and asked the officer, "Where is the wound?"
The officer said: "The wound is on the back."
Huan Xuan said to the doctor, "Zheng Fengyu should go to Shaoyang Hospital."
Zheng Fengyu said: "Your Highness's injury... There are two imperial doctors in Feishuang Palace. I will ask them to come and treat Your Highness..."
Huan Xuan said it was okay, and glanced at the young medical officer who was helping him: "It's okay for this doctor to stay."
Then he said to the official, "You guys go to Shaoyang Court. I will be there later."
The prince was injured, and his younger brother would always show up as long as he was able to get out of bed.
The medical officer checked the wound on his left side. His injury was not serious, but because he had been running, the wound had split several times, and he did not apply medicine in time, so the wound was a little red and swollen.
The doctor cleaned his wound, applied medicine, and rebandaged it. Finally, he said, "Your Highness, please rest carefully for the next few days to help it heal."
Huan Xuan ordered the eunuchs to reward him with money and silk and escort him out of the palace.
After the medical officer came in, Huan Xuan simply wiped his body, changed his clothes, and sat down beside Sui Sui's bed.
He had an injury on his back, and was lying on his side. It was obvious that he was sleeping unsteadily. His brows were tightly furrowed, his eyelashes trembled slightly from time to time, and cold sweat kept oozing out of his forehead.
Huan Xuan asked someone to bring more hot water, wrung out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her forehead, tucked her hair behind her ears, and stroked her brows with his fingers, but as soon as they were smoothed, they immediately wrinkled again.
Gao Mai waited for a long while, and finally came forward, hesitant to say: "Your Highness, over at Shaoyang Courtyard..."
Huan Xuan nodded: "I know."
He shook Sui Sui's hand and said, "I'm going to leave for a while."
Sui Sui held him in her sleep and murmured, "Your Highness."
Huan Xuan's heart trembled: "I will be back to accompany you soon."
When they arrived at Shaoyang Courtyard, the emperor, the eldest princess, and a group of princes were all there.
When the emperor saw him, he asked, "Xiaolang is also injured. How serious is his injury?"
Huan Xuan said: "It's just some flesh wounds, it's nothing serious. How is the injury of the second brother?"
The emperor looked inside the glass screen and said, "His life is not in danger. Zheng Fengyu is applying medicine to him. Let's go in and take a look."
Huanxuan followed his father around the screen and came to the bedside, where he saw the prince lying on the bed, Zheng Fengyu was cleaning his wounds, and Ruan Yuewei was sitting in front of the bed holding the prince's hand. When she saw Huanxuan, she unconsciously let go of her husband's hand, then came to her senses, stood up and bowed to the emperor, and said to Huanxuan: "My brother is here..."
Huan Xuan nodded slightly: "What's wrong, second brother?"
Ruan Yuewei choked up and said, "Your Highness was ambushed by bandits while looking for me. The bandits choked his back and he lost a lot of blood..."
Huan Xuan looked at the wound on the prince's back.
His injuries were more serious than expected. There was a slanting knife wound across his back, so deep that the bone was almost exposed. The back of his shirt was soaked in blood.
He deliberately injured himself to avoid suspicion, which was a huge expense.
Huan Xuan bowed to him and said, "Brother, I am late."
The prince slowly opened his eyes and said softly, "It's my lover who is here..."
She curled her lips at him and said, "You are injured too. Why are you here instead of lying down and resting?"
Huan Xuan said, "It's just a minor injury. I should come to visit my second brother since he was injured so badly. How is he now?"
The prince said: "It's just a flesh wound, not worth making a fuss about."
After a pause, he lowered his gaze and said, "Thank you for bringing A'ruan back safely, but you got hurt as well..."
After he said that, the target of those assassins became himself, and Huan Xuan was only implicated in the ambush because he stepped in to rescue the Crown Princess - after all, Ruan Yuewei was the Crown Princess, and using her as bait was naturally for the purpose of murdering the Crown Prince, and no one could say that it was not wrong.
But even if he guessed his thoughts, Huan Xuan couldn't just sit back and watch Ruan Yuewei, and the prince had calculated this accurately.
Huan Xuan said, "Don't be so polite, brother. This is what a younger brother should do."
After a pause, he asked, "Where was the second brother ambushed?"
The prince said: "It's about ten miles northwest of the palace, outside the enclosure..."
"How many assassins are there?" Huan Xuan asked.
"It's hard to see clearly in the dark, there must be dozens of people..." The prince thought for a moment and said, "I'll take a hundred followers and Yulin guards with me, most of them died there. When daybreak, ask the guards to count the bodies."
He paused and said, "Fortunately, we caught two alive."
Huan Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly: "Can you tell me the assassin's origin?"
The prince said, "I have handed the man over to General Shen for interrogation."
Shen Nanshan, the General of the Right Thousand Bull Guard, is a close confidant of the emperor. Since the prince dared to hand the person over to him for trial, he must have prepared a foolproof plan.
As soon as the voice fell, a eunuch came from behind the screen and said, "Your Majesty, General Shen wishes to see you."
The emperor said, "Please ask him to wait outside the palace for a while."
After Zheng Fengyu had bandaged the prince's wound, the emperor dismissed the doctors, eunuchs, and palace maids, and said to Ruan Yuewei in a friendly manner, "A Ruan is tired too, go to the inner hall and have a rest."
Ruan Yuewei knew that this was an attempt to get rid of her, so she bowed and retreated to the inner hall.
Huan Xuan also bowed and said, "My son, I'm leaving."
The emperor glanced at the prince and said, "You are not an outsider. Stay here and discuss this together."
Huan Xuan said yes.
The emperor said to the official, "Please let General Shen in."
Shen Nanshan entered the hall, bowed, and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the two assassins have confessed."
The emperor asked, "Did you receive instructions from someone?"
Shen Nanshan said: "They confessed that they were ordered by the Huaixi Jiedushi to assassinate His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Even Huan Xuan was a little surprised when these words were spoken. He thought the prince might take advantage of the situation and cry "stop thief", but Huan Xuan was more shrewd than he expected and understood the emperor's thoughts clearly.
Although the Huaixi vassal state only covers an area of 100 prefectures, it is located in the heart of Dayong and controls the throat of the north-south grain transportation. The current governor Guo Zhongxuan is insatiable and the court has to spend a lot of tax money every year to appease him. He has always been a major concern for the emperor and is more dangerous than Heshuo.
The emperor had always wanted to conquer Huaixi, but there were many voices of opposition from the court officials, so he was undecided until now. Putting the blame on the Huaixi Jiedushi was tantamount to handing the emperor a knife handle.
As everyone knows, the prince is in favor of war, so the Huaixi Jiedushi wanted to get rid of him.
Even if the emperor knew that the prince was the one behind this, he would take this opportunity to silence the court officials and send troops to attack Guo Zhongxuan.
Moreover, the emperor had the crown prince and the prince check and balance each other. If the crown prince was abolished, the prince of Qi would be made the crown prince. At that time, his military power would be taken away, but his prestige in the Shenyi Army would not be eliminated in a short time, which would inevitably be a threat to the emperor. In addition, the court lacked talented generals, and he was the most suitable general to conquer Huaixi.
Huan Xuan did not look upon his second brother with new eyes. If he framed him, the emperor would not believe it and would definitely order an investigation. No matter how careful the deployment was, it would not withstand a close scrutiny. However, his move of shifting the blame to someone else was exactly what the emperor wanted.
But he underestimated the prince.
As expected, the emperor was furious: "Guo is so bold that he dared to murder the crown prince and hurt my two sons. I have been too lenient towards Huaixi in recent years."
He walked to the prince's bed, leaned over and said gently: "Don't worry, Erlang, Aye will definitely give you an explanation."
He then said to Huan Xuan, "My dear, you should stay in the palace to recuperate for a while. This place is close to the barracks. When you recover from your injuries, we will intensify the training and help me cut that thief Guo into pieces as soon as possible!"
Huan Xuan knew that his father was determined to conquer Huaixi. Although he did not advocate the use of military force, he just said, "My son obeys your command."
The emperor patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go back and have a rest."
Huan Xuan bowed to his father and brother and left the prince's bedroom. Just as he was about to board the sedan chair, he heard someone call out, "Sir, please stay."
He turned around and saw his eldest sister chasing after him, holding up her skirt.
Huan Xuan asked, "What's wrong, sister?"
The eldest princess apologized, "I heard that there was a spy among the guards in my house, and he hurt your... It's all my fault for being careless when selecting people..."
The guard had outstanding looks and a clean background, so even though he had only been in the palace for half a year, he was chosen at first sight when the emperor was selecting people to accompany him.
Although Huan Xuan was not angry, he did not look happy either: "Sister, you should be more careful in the future."
As he said this, he was about to get on the sedan chair.
The eldest princess held him back and asked, "Is the young lady seriously injured?"
Huan Xuan's face darkened: "Thanks to my elder sister, I am lucky enough to be alive."
The eldest princess was surprised. This younger brother had a cold temper and had not been close to her since childhood. However, he was always polite and distant in front of her. This was the first time she saw him lose his temper, which showed that he treated this concubine very differently.
But if you like her so much, why don't you give her a proper status and bring her into the mansion? Although it's not good to say that there was a concubine in the mansion before marrying a concubine, it's not a good reputation to keep a concubine outside the house.
After thinking for a while, he said, "I feel bad for hurting you, and I have to find a way to compensate you to feel at ease. Following you, I will definitely have no shortage of money, please think about it for me..."
Huan Xuan was about to say no, but suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and he changed his words and said, "Sister, you are thoughtful. If that's the case, I won't be so formal with you."
His attitude suddenly changed: "Why don't you ask my sister to ask my father to give me a title for me?"
The princess opened her mouth in surprise. This boy was really unusual: "This..."
Huan Xuan said, "If you hadn't risked your life to block the arrow for me, I would be the one dying now. My life is worth the title of a county lord, right?"
After a pause, his face turned cold: "If you feel embarrassed, that's all."
The eldest princess thought that if the woman had not blocked the arrow, it would be Huan Xuan who was injured. If something happened again, it would be her negligence that killed her own brother.
Not to mention how my parents will pursue the matter, I'm afraid I'll never have peace of mind in this life.
Thinking about it this way, Lu is truly my benefactor.
He hurriedly said, "It's not a problem, it's not a problem, he's just a village lord, I'll go talk to Aye, don't worry."
Huan Xuan then relaxed his anger and bowed to her: "Thank you very much, sister."
Although the eldest princess was a little careless, she was not stupid. She knew that he asked for a title for the girl not just to give her a background.
Although the girl was born in poverty, at least she was of good family background, and it was good enough for her to be a lady in the palace. He asked for a title for her, was he going to take her as a concubine
This was quite unexpected.
He has not yet married, so having one or two concubines in the mansion is not a big deal, but marrying a concubine like the princess is a big deal.
These matters should have been the concern of the mother, but the queen did not care about her son and did not even take care of his marriage, which made the eldest sister worry more.
The eldest princess hesitated and said, "My dear, this lady Lu blocked the arrow for you. It's understandable that you value her a little, but too much favor may not be a good thing..."
Huan Xuan nodded: "I know." But he looked unmoved.
The eldest princess sighed secretly, "Sister, I won't beat around the bush with you. Aye has arranged a date with the Sixth Lady of the Ruan Family for you. What do you think?"
When Huan Xuan heard this, he frowned unconsciously: "I told Aye the other day that I had no intention of marrying a concubine, let alone a daughter of the Ruan family."
The eldest princess was a little confused for a moment. He found a replacement who looked like her because he couldn't let go of Ruan Yuewei. Ruan Liuniang was clearly a replica of his cousin, but he didn't want her.
"But you will eventually marry a princess. When the new bride comes, how will you let Lu deal with it?"
"That's right, I won't marry her." Huan Xuan said without hesitation.
The eldest princess choked and said, "You...are you going to spend your whole life guarding a concubine?"
Huan Xuan said perfunctorily: "We'll talk about the future later. I'll trouble you, sister, to ask for the title for me."
"I'm fine," said the eldest princess, "but you keep delaying your marriage, and I can't explain it to Aye."
Huan Xuan said, "Don't worry, sister. Father won't rush me in the next year or so."
The eldest princess was surprised and asked, "What happened?"
The emperor trusted his eldest daughter and often called her to discuss state affairs. Huan Xuan did not hide anything from her and said frankly, "Father is planning to send troops to Huaixi. If nothing unexpected happens, I will lead the troops. It should be decided in a few days."
At most, in four or five months, when the grain and grass were mobilized, he would go to Huaixi. The emperor would naturally not urge him to marry a concubine at this time. If he conquered Huaixi and brought Huaizhou back under the rule of the court, his father would not be able to refuse any request he made. Although marrying a commoner as a concubine was shocking, he was in charge of a large army, and the emperor privately did not want him to marry a woman from a noble family. At that time, if he asked a few more times, his father would most likely agree reluctantly.
Huan Xuan naturally would not tell his elder sister about these plans.
The eldest princess never dreamed that he had such an idea, and was just surprised and said: "Why do you suddenly want to send troops..."
I know that the court has been arguing over the Huaixi issue for two years without reaching a conclusion. My son-in-law is an imperial censor and they have had countless arguments over this.
There must be a reason for the sudden decision.
Immediately thought of what happened tonight: "Could it be..."
Huan Xuan nodded.
"No wonder..." The eldest princess stroked her chin thoughtfully.
Huan Xuan said, "My brother, I'm leaving now. Sister, don't forget to ask for the title."
The eldest princess sneered and squinted at her brother: "I know, I promised you that I will do it. Your sister is not old yet, so you don't have to keep nagging her."
…
After everyone left, Ruan Yuewei came out of her bath and changed her clothes. She returned to the prince's bed and saw her husband was drowsy. She knelt beside the couch, put her face on his arm, and asked softly, "My dear, are you in a lot of pain?"
The prince suddenly pulled out his arm, touched the wound on his back, and suddenly shuddered in pain.
Ruan Yue was startled and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong, my dear?"
At the same time, he took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
The prince gritted his teeth and said, "Nothing..."
After taking a few deep breaths, he raised his hand and stroked her cheek: "You were also frightened, go to bed early, you don't have to stay here with me."
Although Ruan Yuewei was not injured, her face and body were inevitably scratched by branches and grass, leaving red marks on her delicate skin. Her eyes were also swollen from crying, making her look even more pitiful.
"I'm not tired, I just want to accompany my husband." Ruan Yuewei said.
Just at this moment, the palace maid brought in the medicine. Ruan Yuewei took the medicine bowl and said, "I will serve you, my lord, to take the medicine."
The prince said, "Let the palace servants do these things."
Ruan Yuewei said: "I want to serve you, my lord."
The prince said coldly: "I said, let the palace servants serve you."
Ruan Yuewei was mixing the medicine with a jade spoon. Her hand trembled and the medicine was spilled on the ground. She said with red eyes, "My dear, did I do something wrong?"
The prince ignored her and said to the palace attendant standing beside him, "The princess is tired. Help her back to her room to rest."
Before she finished speaking, Ruan Yuewei's tears rolled down like beads from a broken string.
The prince was too lazy to look at him again and just waved his hand impatiently.
The palace maid helped Ruan Yuewei up: "Your Majesty, please."
At noon the next day, the prince had just woken up when a eunuch came to report that the Right Guard Commander wanted to see him.
Youwei Zuo Mengcheng is the commander of the Eastern Palace guards and also the crown prince's confidant.
The prince immediately said, "Ask him in."
Meng Cheng walked into the hall with a worried look on his face.
The prince's face changed slightly and he immediately dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs.
Meng Cheng fell to his knees with a plop: "I am a fool, please punish me, Your Highness."
The prince turned pale and whispered, "What happened? Wait until you get up."
Meng Cheng knelt forward and whispered in the prince's ear: "I followed your highness's order to wipe out the remaining evildoers. When I counted the bodies, I found that two people were missing..."
"It's just that two people are missing," the prince breathed a sigh of relief, "maybe we missed them. The forest is so big, it's normal to miss one or two people. There's no need to make a fuss."
Meng Cheng's voice was barely audible: "But the two missing people had met with my subordinates..."
They had deployed hundreds of death warriors on the mountain this time, but only a handful of them knew the inside story and had contacted Meng Cheng. It didn't seem like a coincidence that the two few were there.
When the prince heard this, cold sweat immediately dripped down his face: "Are you sure?"
Meng Cheng said: "I have sent people to search everywhere, but the two men are still missing. They are not found alive, nor are their bodies found dead..."
The prince frowned and asked, "Have you asked the Imperial Guards about this?"
Meng Cheng said: "I have inquired, but there is no news for the time being."
If the person really fell into the hands of the imperial guards, he would also fall into the hands of the emperor.
He knew in his heart that his father might be suspicious of this matter, but he turned a blind eye to it because the Huaixi matter suited his wishes. However, if he had real evidence, it was hard to say how he would deal with it.
The worse result was that the two men fell into Huan Xuan's hands.
No matter what, as long as these two people are not found, there will be endless troubles.
Meng Cheng guessed what the prince was thinking and consoled him, "These people are well-trained warriors. It's not easy to capture them alive. The King of Qi doesn't have many guards with him, so they shouldn't fall into his hands."
But the most worrying thing about this matter is that there is a single mistake. The prince said, "We will look for them again, even if we have to turn Mount Li upside down to find those two people."
Meng Cheng hurriedly said "Yes, sir".
The prince said, "Back off."
His face was so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping from it. This time he really lost both the wife and the soldiers. He had set up the trap for such a long time and lost hundreds of his guards, but that boy actually escaped death and even the bitch was unharmed.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard Ruan Yuewei's voice coming from outside the tent: "Is my husband awake?"
A sinister look flashed across the prince's eyes: "Who asked you to come in?"
Ruan Yuewei was struck by lightning. She had always been able to do whatever she wanted in the Eastern Palace, and she didn't even need to report to the prince when she went to his study. A few days ago, the prince treated her like a spring breeze and drizzle. How could everything turn upside down overnight
She knelt on the ground and sobbed, "What did I do wrong? Your Highness, please tell me clearly."
The prince calmed himself down and thought that although his father-in-law was useless, the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion did have some foundation and could be of some help to him.
Besides, he had been so considerate to Ruan Yuewei before, and his sudden change in attitude would inevitably make people notice something was wrong. He forced himself to slow down his voice and said, "It's my fault. I'm hurt and feel uncomfortable, so I got irritable. Come here and let me take a look."
Ruan Yuewei finally felt relieved. She leaned over to the prince's couch and wept softly, "I thought my husband had abandoned me..."
The prince raised his hand and stroked the back of my head, then slowly moved his hand down, holding the back of my neck and stroking it gently and slowly, and said softly: "What are you talking about, you idiot, how could I hate you, I love you so much. Is your arm injured too? Let me see."
Ruan Yue raised her head slightly, burst into laughter, lifted her sleeves, pointed at the red marks made by the branches and said, "It hurts so much, the skin is broken, I don't know if it will leave scars, if it does, my husband will really dislike me."
The prince smiled and scratched his nose. "My child, no matter what happens, I will not despise you. But it is a pity to leave scars on such beautiful skin. I will ask someone to go to the Shang Pharmacy to get ointment. Remember to ask the palace servants to apply it on you."
Ruan Yuewei's eyes were full of tenderness. She took his hand and gently placed it on her cheek: "My dear, you also need to recover quickly."
The prince chuckled and said, "Why, are you in a hurry to give me a little grandson?"
Ruan Yue blushed slightly and said, "My dear, you are making fun of me again."
The prince said, "Don't worry about me, I only have one son for your next life."
…
Sui Sui slept for a whole day before waking up.
He opened his eyes and looked at the sun's shadow swaying on the top of the tent. For a moment he thought he was still at Wei Bo's home. After a while he remembered that this was the Lishan Hot Spring Palace. The memory of the night he was injured gradually became clearer, and the wounds on his back and arms began to hurt.
I took a deep breath, and the cold morning air entered my lungs. Birds were chirping outside the window, and the breeze was blowing the autumn leaves, making a rustling sound.
It was like a long dream. That bright and clear figure, those beautiful expectations, those obsessions that had not been let go for many years, seemed to slowly disappear with this injury, just like a long illusion.
A warm and dry palm gently fell on his forehead. Sui Sui looked at the man beside the bed. He looked a little haggard, with sunken eye sockets and bloodshot eyes.
"Awake?" His voice was a little hoarse.
Sui Sui stared at him blankly for a while, and her eyes gradually became clear.
He nodded: "Awake."