You Yuji raised her eyes and looked at the prince calmly. There was not much expression on her face, but in the eyes of the prince, she looked calm and composed in the face of danger. The prince nodded with satisfaction and praised: "Very good, very good, very good!"
In fact, he praised it three times.
Zhenxu, who was standing aside with a pale face, was extremely frightened. When he heard the prince's praise, he was even more confused and didn't understand what the prince was trying to do.
You Yuji looked at the prince who was so close to her and asked, "Why me?"
"You don't need to know this." The prince turned around, took two steps forward, pulled a chair aside, and sat down opposite You Yuzhi.
He looked at You Yuji and said with a smile, "I heard that my daughter Yuji has not had a good appetite these past two days and has eaten very little. But is Yuji not satisfied with the cooking skills of the chef in the East Palace?"
The prince paused, and without waiting for You Yuji to reply, he quickly continued, "That's not right. When I came here last time, Yuji clearly said that the chefs in the East Palace were decent."
You Yuji was silent for a while. She really didn't like the prince sitting in front of her and staring at her, so she had to speak up. She just wanted to send him away as soon as possible.
"I'll ask Bai Fu to go outside the palace to buy some food tomorrow. Your Highness should agree, right?"
"Of course." The prince smiled and nodded, "Whatever you want, I can give it to you."
As long as... you can bless me.
You Yuji's heart was moved when she heard the prince's words. She looked into the prince's eyes and finally couldn't help but said, "I want to go home."
The smile on the prince's face faded. He withdrew his admiring gaze from You Yuji's face. He lowered his head and looked at the jade ring on his thumb being gently turned by him. After a long silence, he spoke again: "I just praised Yuji, how come you disappoint me so quickly? You are not my Yuji, you have never been married. The Jinnan Palace is not your home."
He raised his head and looked at You Yuji's face again with a warning look in his eyes.
"I mean the You family."
The prince was stunned for a moment.
"Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and I want to go home to be with my mother." You Yuzhi said softly.
"That's right." The prince nodded. "Filial piety is a very good quality."
He started laughing again, becoming more and more satisfied with You Yuji. He even felt that the sorcerer's words made sense, because the more he looked at You Yuji, the more he saw some Feng Yi in her!
You Yuji looked at his expression, but she felt more and more terrified. The feeling of powerlessness in her body reminded You Yuji of her current situation. She had to ask again: "Then... Can I go home?"
"Not yet." The prince refused without hesitation.
You Yuji was not too surprised. She lowered her eyes and watched the prince sitting in front of her stand up, his tall figure looming over her.
The round bronze mirror on the dressing table reflected You Yuji's fair and slender neck. The prince narrowed his eyes and took another look, then said, "Have a good rest and take care of yourself. I don't want a skinny Yuji. I know it's inconvenient to trap you here, but it won't be long before I send you out of the East Palace."
—Bai family and Tu family, he has not yet decided which one to choose as You Yuji’s maiden family.
When the prince left, he couldn't help but look back at You Yuji when he reached the door. You Yuji's soft and upright figure really made him have wild thoughts. But he was already over 40 years old after all. If he was younger, he would have embraced her in his arms and enjoyed himself for a while. He wanted You Yuji not because of her beauty, but he was not in a hurry to have her.
This woman was a person with a phoenix destiny, and could help him secure his position as the crown prince and even ascend to the throne. How could he force himself on the future queen
It's better to save some face.
The prince found such a serious and reasonable reason for himself, but in fact, he left this small courtyard and immediately ordered his trusted eunuch to find medicine, the kind of medicine that only older men can use.
The prince put one hand behind his back and walked forward with heavy steps. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by another kind of gloom. In the beginning, it was entirely because of Feng Ming that he kidnapped You Yuji. But this beauty was too tempting. Apart from Feng Ming, he could not help but feel a bit of a man's instinctive thoughts about beauty when he looked at women from a simple man's perspective.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but regret that if he could have found her earlier, before she got married. He felt a little worried. He was no longer young and strong. Would she compare herself with her ex-husband in bed? Chen Anzhi's handsome face appeared in the prince's eyes.
The prince frowned.
"It would be great if I could die on the battlefield!"
It’s okay, he will let his Yu Ji taste the goodness of an old man.
The prince was confident and put on a smiling face again.
After the prince left, You Yuji's body suddenly went limp. She had to use her elbows to support her limp body on the dressing table.
The poison was taking effect, and she couldn't sit still. But since the prince was here, she didn't want to show any weakness, so she tried her best to hold on.
"Madam..." Zhenxu was about to say something but stopped. It wasn't that Zhenxu swallowed what she wanted to say because she thought it was wrong to say it. Instead, after she called out softly, her mind went blank and she didn't know what to say at all.
"It's okay, don't worry." You Yuji spoke, her voice soft and weak.
Zhenxu had no strength left, so she sat on an embroidery stool at the side, and after a long while she finally had the strength to nod. The master and servant did not say much, as the poison made them particularly tired, and soon they lay down on the bed to rest. Even the action of unbuttoning their belts made their arms sore, so they did not change their clothes, but just lay down to rest in their daytime clothes.
The poison made them fall asleep quickly, but their worries kept them awake from time to time. During the long night, they kept repeating the cycle of falling asleep and waking up, waking up and falling asleep again. This made them both sleep poorly, and when they woke up the next day, they felt even worse.
The next day was the Lantern Festival, and there was a lively Lantern Festival banquet in the palace.
Early in the morning, the eunuchs and maids in the palace were busy preparing for today's Lantern Festival banquet. The small courtyard where You Yuji was located was in a very inconspicuous place deep in the East Palace. On weekdays, there were not many maids who stayed to serve You Yuji. Today, they all went to other places for some business, leaving only Bai Fu.
"Madam, someone has gone out to buy the things you ordered yesterday, and they will be ready for your lunch."
Bai Fu placed the last dish on the table, and You Yuji's breakfast was ready.
You Yuji sat listlessly at the table, looking at the dishes on the table, slightly distracted. She suspected that the poison in her body would not only make her limbs weak, but also make her thinking more and more dull.
Bai Fu filled a small bowl of Yuanxiao and placed it respectfully in front of You Yuji.
You Yuji lowered her eyes and looked at the small bowl of Yuanxiao in front of her, and suddenly thought of Si Que.
Today is the Lantern Festival. Last year, she accidentally discovered that the Lantern Festival dumplings cooked by an inconspicuous roadside stall tasted particularly good, soft and sweet, but not too greasy. She originally thought that she would take Si Que to find that Lantern Festival stall today, if it was still there.
The Yuanxiao sold in that shop was very cheap, and such a big bowl of Yuanxiao, she only needed to order one bowl, which was enough for her and Si Que...
I don’t know where he is now, or whether he has eaten Yuanxiao.
If she was kidnapped, would he think about her? Or would he just smile, lazily leaning against the window, and carelessly playing with his cat
You Yuji's eyes suddenly turned red.
She soon realized it herself, pursed her lips tightly, swallowed softly, suppressed her emotions, then slightly raised the corners of her lips and pulled out a gentle smile.
She picked up the spoon on the table in front of her with her weak hands, reached into the bowl to scoop out a Yuanxiao, and fed it into her mouth with trembling hands.
The Yuanxiao is sticky and not tasty at all, and a bit choking.
It made her throat choke.
She forced herself to swallow the glutinous rice dumpling, then calmly picked up the spoon and scooped another glutinous rice dumpling. She looked at her shaking hands, feeling annoyed, and didn't want to look at it any more, so she quickly put the glutinous rice dumpling into her mouth.
Zhenxu looked at You Yuji worriedly, put his hands on the table, stood up with great effort, and went to the bathroom to wash up. Because of the medicine, the two of them had no strength to do anything, and it took a long time. This morning, after You Yuji washed up, breakfast was served. Therefore, Zhenxu took the time to go to the bathroom to clean herself.
When You Yuji was eating the third Yuanxiao, her shaking hands were unable to hold the spoon. The spoon tilted to one side, and the round Yuanxiao on it rolled down and fell onto You Yuji's legs.
When Bai Fu saw it, she immediately pulled out the handkerchief from her waist and rushed over to help You Yuzhi wipe it.
This feeling of powerlessness made You Yuji extremely depressed. She sat to one side, avoiding Bai Fu's hand, and whispered, "No need to wipe it. I'll go change my clothes."
"Yes." Bai Fu said, "I cooked pears this morning. I will go to the kitchen to see if they are ready."
You Yuji didn't respond. She sat up by supporting herself on the table, dragging her weak body slowly towards the inner room.
There were several sets of spare clothes prepared for the master and servant in the yard. Given their current situation, everything was just for convenience, so the spare clothes were not put away but just placed on the table.
You Yuji walked to the dressing table and immediately sat down to relax. When the fatigue in her body eased a little, she went to untie the belt around her waist.
She used to be very particular about her clothes, and her belt would always be tied neatly and as beautifully as possible.
Now the belt on the waist was easy to tie, and she had to pinch the belt twice to untie it. It took some effort to take off the outer garment. You Yuji saw that the hem of her inner garment was also stained with Yuanxiao, so she had to take it off as well.
When You Yuji picked up the new undershirt and was about to put it on, she heard the sound of a door being pushed open and footsteps striding into the room.
A palace maid would not come in silently, and her footsteps would not make such sounds.
You Yuji's hand holding the middle coat trembled for a moment, and she quickly unfolded it and put it on. The left side of the middle coat was draped over her shoulders, but because she had no strength, the right side of the coat just touched her shoulder and then slipped back. You Yuji hurriedly reached behind her to pull it, but failed to grab the collar of this side of the middle coat, and the left side also slipped off her shoulder and fell completely to the ground.
She tried to cover her ears and steal the bell and didn't want to look back, nor could she bother to look back. She hurriedly picked up the fallen shirt and put it on again. She put one arm into the sleeve, but she couldn't put the other arm into the sleeve correctly several times.
The exposed skin felt cold, as if it was being pricked by densely packed fine needles.
She finally managed to get her arms into her sleeves, and immediately tried to tie the belt around her waist in a panic. But she tried three times, and her shaking hands were unable to pick up the thin belt.
The person who came in from outside has already stood behind You Yuji.
The next moment, the person behind him leaned over and moved his hands to You Yuji's slender waist, holding the strap that was lying quietly on You Yuji's legs and that You Yuji was never able to pick up.
A familiar aura enveloped You Yuji, causing her entire body to stiffen and she forgot how to react.
After a long while, You Yuji lowered her eyes and silently stared at the cold white fingers tying her belt at her waist.
The corners of her eyes turned red and tears suddenly fell, landing heavily on the back of Si Que's hand.
Si Que paused while tying You Yuji's belt.