Chapter 34: Lonely Lamp and Bright Moon

  This is the first time since the founding of the country, the cold palace of Qingqiu Temple has no atmosphere at all. The brightly lit gate outside was surrounded by more than 200 guards, either openly or secretly, and not even a fly could fly in quietly.

  Qing Xia sat beside the table, after several days of observation, she knew in her heart that the problem lay in the food.

  But turning her head to glance at the high courtyard wall, she recalled the commotion outside and realized that she still didn't have a perfect plan to ensure her escape without a hitch. In that case, there was no need to deprive herself of food. She picked up a slice of winter bamboo shoot and put it in her mouth, which tasted a bit salty. It seemed that even though Chu Li had not yet abandoned his title, the people below had already sensed the direction of the wind and knew that this princess was already a mere shell of her former self, so they had become lax in their duties.

  Finishing dinner quickly, she cleaned up the bowls and plates on the table by herself. Suddenly, she found a blue bottle in the food box. Qing Xia frowned, carefully picked it up, and the bottle looked ordinary without any special features, but it emitted a refreshing fragrance. She pulled out the stopper and sniffed it at the tip of her nose, only to find that it was a bottle of jasmine oil.

  Jasmine has the effect of driving away mosquitoes, and its fragrance is much better than that of mosquito-repelling grass, so all the palace maids and servants like to apply it. It's just unexpected that someone would secretly send this to me through this method. Having been in Chu Palace for more than a month, Qing Xia wondered if she still didn't have any trusted subordinates, or was it one of Zhuang Qing Xia's former loyal subordinates?

  The hesitant delivery of the food box was followed by a darkening sky. After applying flower oil, I indeed slept much more soundly that night. However, upon waking up the next morning, I was shocked for a long time by a piece of news.

  At night, the originally curfewed Shengdu was filled with fireworks and bustling with people. Qing Xia sat in a secluded corner of Ganqing Temple, but he could still feel the kind of heartfelt excitement that came from the people of Southern Chu.

  Chu Li finally took action, Chu Wang died of illness on the first night, and he became the ruler of Southern Chu under the support of all civil and military officials on the second day. This former prince who went to a foreign country as a hostage finally became the master of Great Chu and stood at the peak of power in Southern Chu.

  Qing Xia sat under the fireworks with a cold smile, his words were not smooth because his name was not correct. The recent palace coup must have given him a great shock, so he took action in such a hurry. All obstacles in front of him had been removed, and all officials in the imperial court had been cleaned up and replaced, let alone an old and incompetent monarch?

  Finally, Chu Li became the new generation of Chu Guo's Dahuan. One month later, he will hold an ancestral worship ceremony at the Chu Guo Temple to announce to heaven and ancestors. At that time, the other three countries will also send envoys. Except for the tense relationship between Qi and South Chu, the other two countries have royal relatives participating, and even some small vassal states in the north and south will come to pay homage. The atmosphere of Chu Guo has changed overnight, no longer the decadent and corrupt color of the past.

  To welcome the ancestral worship ceremony next month, in front of the powerful people of other countries, to show a strong and prosperous image of a country with rich people and strong soldiers, Chu Li went to the military camp to practice the elite soldiers and horses, and the Southern Chu palace suddenly fell into a new round of struggle.

  Last night, I sat outside all night. This morning, as soon as I got out of bed, I felt dizzy and washed my face with a basin of water. Qing Xia finally couldn't hold on anymore and fell onto the bed. When she woke up, it was already midnight. The food sent by the servant had been placed on the table, but it had gone cold.

  Zhuang Qingxia's body was really poor, and he actually got sick at this time.

  Qing Xia forced himself to sit up, feeling only a dry mouth and tongue. There wasn't even a servant around to serve him, which was somewhat inconvenient at times like these. He couldn't help but shake his head and silently scold himself for being lazy. In the past, he had endured severe injuries in the primitive forest and still managed to complete his tasks, yet now that he had only fallen ill with a minor sickness, even getting water became such a chore.

  She leaned against the wall to stand up, picked up the bucket and walked to the well in the yard. After much effort, she finally drew a bucket of water, but spilled more than half of it. At this time, winter had already set in, and the well water was icy cold. Qing Xia took a sip, feeling as if steel needles were piercing her lungs. She couldn't help but burst into loud coughs, and a wave of dizziness swept over her. Qing Xia's vision went black, and she could no longer hold on, fainting away.

  When she woke up again, it was still night, and she was still lying beside the well. Qing Xia turned her head to look at the house where the candles had already gone out, and the dishes on the table hadn't been touched, so this night must not have passed yet.

  She had caught a chill overnight, and her cough was getting worse. Qing Xia knew this was not just a common cold or fever; it was likely pneumonia. There were no effective medicines here, and Qing Xia knew that the illness could be serious or minor, but the problem was that she had no way to treat herself. After thinking for a while, she still got up, coughing as she walked to the front door and pulled it open.

  "Whoosh!" A burst of cold steel, snow-white light flashed in Qing Xia's eyes, she furrowed her brow and coughed twice. She then spoke to a guard at the door: "I'm not trying to escape, I'm ill, possibly pneumonia. Please report this to your superiors and find a doctor for me. You're responsible for guarding me, if I die, you'll be held accountable too." With that, she slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

  As the soft commotion outside subsided, footsteps gradually faded away. Qing Xia couldn't help but let out a deep sigh and leaned against the door frame. The morning star was slowly rising on the horizon, and the long night was about to pass. In the Yunxiang Hall, Empress Dan sat in her bright red palace attire on the heated couch, surrounded by several ladies-in-waiting who were newly appointed as third-rank Yuanyi by Emperor Chu Li. Although Empress Dan hadn't been crowned empress, she was de facto the mistress of the vast harem.

  "What do you sisters think?"

  Dan Fei's voice was soft, with a hint of fatigue, but her phoenix eyes showed a hint of icy coldness. Mo Wei Yi, wearing a light green flowing silk scarf, suddenly raised her voice and said: "In my opinion, it's probably that she wants to come up with some enchanting idea to charm the emperor again, speaking nonsense and being shameless, sister doesn't need to pay attention to her."

  As soon as Mo Wan-yi's voice fell, the other women also echoed in agreement. Dan Fei smiled coldly and yawned lightly, saying lazily: "However, since she said she was ill, I won't let anyone treat her. If anything happens in the future, it will still fall on my shoulders. Alright, Fuquan, go find Pan of the Imperial Medical Bureau and tell him that Lan Fei has contracted tuberculosis. Let him decide how to treat it." On the surface, it was called the Imperial Medical Bureau, but in reality, it was a group of Taoist priests who burned paper and drew talismans. This group of people, wrapped tightly from head to toe, walked into the cold palace of the Fourth House, burning all the things that Qing Xia used daily, jumping up and down while waving so-called evil-repelling objects, filling the entire courtyard with smoke and fire. Finally, they brought a bowl of black symbol water for Qing Xia to drink.

  Qing Xia coldly stared at this group of people who were trying to curry favor, only to feel a burning fire in her chest. With one swift motion, she knocked over the old Taoist's bowl of holy water and slapped him loudly on the face.

  The old man was furious and scolded the demons and monsters, but in the end he retreated with his tail between his legs under Qing Xia's murderous gaze.

  Qing Xia sat on the stone slab beside the sky well, covering her chest and deep in thought. It seemed that whether she had absolute confidence or not, she had to start taking action. She hadn't eaten last night's or this morning's meals, and if she went without food for two more days, the toxins in her body should be completely eliminated. By then, she would think of a way to leave the imperial palace; otherwise, even if no one harmed her, she would still die from illness.

  Thinking of this, he poured all the food that had just been delivered into the flower bed in the small courtyard and buried it with soil. Then he lay back on his bed.

  When I woke up in the morning, my physical condition seemed to be getting worse and worse. Not to mention hunger, the cough seemed to be even more severe. Qing Xia was very skeptical about whether she could escape from Chu Li's palm with her current state. At this time, a strong smell of Chinese medicine suddenly rushed into her nostrils. Qing Xia turned her head and saw that a bowl of black medicine was placed in front of her bed.

  Qing Xia picked it up and smelled it, her eyebrows gradually furrowing, but she didn't dare drink it down hastily.

  That evening, Qing Xia pretended to sleep. After a while, the soft footsteps sounded in the room. The person seemed very careful, afraid of waking up Qing Xia. He carefully walked to Qing Xia's bedside and found the bowl of untouched medicine, seemingly stunned.

  Just then, Qing Xia suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed the arm of the incoming person tightly. He immediately flipped over, opened his eyes, and the dagger in his hand instantly followed, resting on the person's neck as he shouted: "Who?"

  The dim candlelight shone on the comer's half-face, Qing Xia couldn't help but pause for a moment, and asked in doubt: "Is it you?"