With the sharp whistle growing closer, a tearing sound cut through the air as Shen Youran was yanked into Pei Huaijin’s embrace, both tumbling to the ground.
“Big Brother!”
“Sister!”
Two more arrows zipped through the air, and Xie Heng and Shen Qingyu risked themselves to help the two up, quickly hiding among the nearby trees.
“Assassins! Catch the assassins!” Xie Heng shouted, and the nearby guards immediately rushed in the direction the arrows had come from.
Although they didn’t know who the hidden arrows were aimed at for the moment, fortunately, all four narrowly avoided them—only Pei Huaijin was grazed on the shoulder.
The arrow skimmed across his shoulder, leaving a three-inch long wound.
Shen Youran used a handkerchief to cover the injury, while Xie Heng went to find the accompanying court physician.
Though the wound wasn’t severe, it had torn the flesh and required stitches. The physician asked whether he wanted to stitch it immediately or first take a dose of Qiong Su Powder.
Taking Qiong Su Powder would cause drowsiness, so he wouldn’t feel the pain.
Since it was just a minor injury and Pei Huaijin believed he could endure it, he told the physician to stitch it up immediately.
The needle pierced through the flesh, pulling and knotting. Pei Huaijin clenched his fists, enduring the pain, yet still managed to speak and comfort the tear-streaked woman before him: “It’s nothing, it doesn’t hurt, don’t cry…”
“How could it not hurt?” Shen Youran said, her heart aching. “When I used to learn embroidery, even getting pricked by a needle on my finger hurt terribly.”
“Then you shouldn’t use embroidery needles anymore.”
“This isn’t the time to talk about embroidery needles…” Shen Youran noticed his tightly clenched hand and realized there was no way he wasn’t in pain—he was clearly hurting badly.
After stitching the wound, the physician applied medicine and bandaged it, instructing that he avoid water for a few days, change the dressing once a day, and the stitches could be removed after about ten days.
Xie Heng sent the physician out, while Shen Qingyu went to inquire if the assassins had been caught. Seeing that others had left, Pei Huaijin pulled his little lady onto his lap and kissed the tear-stained cheeks gently. “There, it’s all bandaged now. It really doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Shen Youran hiccupped as she wiped away her tears, then asked, “Who was the assassin trying to kill? Was it Xie Heng?”
It was obvious, so Pei Huaijin didn’t deny it: “It should be him.”
Among the four of them, only Xie Heng’s identity warranted assassins to take such a huge risk within the Imperial Garden.
Since her sister entered the palace, Shen Youran’s heart had been uneasy.
Anything concerning her sister naturally occupied her mind.
Before her sister entered the palace, she had confided in her worries—that His Majesty might suspect the Shen family of deliberately marrying their daughter to the Crown Prince despite knowing his identity.
It had been a long time since her sister entered the palace, and there was still no news of her being granted a title or rank. She hadn’t even appeared at today’s important occasion. Though Xie Heng offered a seemingly reasonable explanation, on closer thought, it didn’t add up.
Someone as refined and knowledgeable as her sister wouldn’t suddenly be too exhausted to come.
Was it that her sister didn’t want to come?
Or was someone preventing her from coming?
Now with this assassination attempt aimed at Xie Heng, if her sister stays close to him, won’t she be in danger too?
To make matters worse, their father had lost the emperor’s favor over the Crown Prince’s affair. If he couldn’t regain the emperor’s trust, her sister would lose her backing from her natal family.
Clearly, their father and Third Master Pei had committed treason to protect the late Crown Prince’s orphan, even risking the life of her second brother for it. Now, the Crown Prince’s wrongful case had been cleared, and he was raised with gold and jade honors. How was it that none of them fared well?
The heart of an emperor is truly cold and merciless.
Xie Heng himself naturally guessed that the assassination attempt was directed at him, and his brother was only accidentally wounded.
Feeling guilty toward his brother, he was secretly relieved that Shen Yunshu hadn’t accompanied him today.
He didn’t want Shen Yunshu to know about this, so he didn’t tell her when he returned. Instead, he asked his grandfather for two highly skilled covert guards—one to stay with him, the other to protect Shen Yunshu—and arranged for several palace guards to be stationed around the Imperial Garden.
Yet, Shen Yunshu still found out. There was no wall in the palace that didn’t leak secrets, especially when others wanted her to know. Through several little palace maids’ whispers and then passed along by Ting Lan, she learned of Xie Heng’s near assassination in the Southern Imperial Garden.
Xie Heng’s identity was too special. The emperor transferred his guilt over the late Crown Prince onto him and showed him great favor. With the heir apparent position vacant for so long, it was likely someone would see Xie Heng as a rival in the succession struggle.
Such incidents would only increase, never cease.
He had just been acknowledged back into the palace with no solid foundation; the only families he could rely on were the Shen and Pei clans. But now the Shen family was losing power, the Pei family’s Grand Tutor was ill, and the Pei masters including Pei Huaijin didn’t yet wield enough influence at court to compete with the powerful princes.
No, he wouldn’t allow others to bully him.
If the emperor no longer trusted the Pei and Shen families, then surely another path would be forged for Xie Heng.
If they were going to pave the way and build a foundation for him, naturally—
Sure enough, not long after this incident, one day Xie Heng returned much later than usual, his expression listless, yet he forced a smile and said nothing was wrong.
Shen Yunji had clearly knelt, and for quite some time.
There was only one palace servant who did that.
“Did you anger His Majesty?” Shen Yunshu asked.
“No.”
“I want the truth,” Shen Yunshu cupped his face, forcing his evasive eyes to meet hers. “What exactly happened? You know, even if you don’t say it, someone will tell me…”
Xie Heng knew he couldn’t hide it from her forever, so he told her the truth. “After class at the Wen Yuan Pavilion today, my grandfather summoned me to the study. He said the family of the Imperial Censor’s eldest official had a young daughter about my age, and he wanted to marry her to me by imperial decree…”
Just as she had guessed.
Because she had anticipated it, Shen Yunshu showed no surprise, only some sadness and regret.
That day had finally come.
Seeing her expression darken, Xie Heng hurriedly took her hand and promised, “Wife, don’t be sad. I won’t marry the Jiang family girl. I’ll ask my grandfather to revoke the decision.”
Shen Yunshu’s voice was calm: “Xie Heng, you’ve studied long enough—you should understand that a ruler’s word is law.”
Her lack of reaction made Xie Heng panic. “Wife, I don’t want to be the Crown Prince anymore. Let’s leave the palace, anywhere but here…”
“Stop talking nonsense.” Shen Yunshu pulled him down to sit and calmly analyzed the situation. “Actually, the emperor arranging this marriage is for your own good. My father is no longer as influential in court as before, and the Pei family can’t offer you much support either. If you marry the daughter of the Imperial Censor, you’d gain a powerful backing again…”
“I don’t want any backing. I don’t want the Jiang girl. I only want you.”
“But what can I give you now?” Shen Yunshu smiled bitterly. “I’ve already given you everything I can.”
“You don’t have to give me anything else. Just stay by my side—that’s enough…”
That night, Xie Heng clung to her the entire time.
When morning came, he noticed his marks all over her body—the red blooms on her neck, finger marks on the backs of her knees, some deep, some light, and his kisses had even broken the skin on her lips.
As they paused, Shen Yunshu, half-asleep and exhausted, was embraced from behind. His large hand rested on her lower abdomen as he murmured, “Wife, could there already be a child of ours here?”
Of course, there was no child. Her period had come several days early.
Perhaps because she had taken contraceptive medicine, this time her period was unusually painful. She drank lots of hot water and used a warming poultice on her abdomen, but it only eased the pain slightly—she still couldn’t stand.
Xie Heng had once again been kicked out of the study by his grandfather. Returning in a foul mood, he immediately noticed something was wrong with her.
“Wife, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just my period. It hurts a bit…”
“You got your period?” That meant after all his efforts last night, he had still failed.
He felt disappointed, but seeing her pale face, he stopped worrying about the child.
He always remembered when she had her period. This time, it was clearly four or five days early.
And it wasn’t like her usual period.
When Xie Heng stayed at the Pei family, Shen Youran was drugged by Second Madam, which caused her body to chill, making her period early and so painful she fainted.
This situation with Shen Yunshu was very similar.
Could it be… that Shen Yunshu had also been drugged?
“Wife, I’ll send for the court physician right away,” he said, about to leave, but Shen Yunshu stopped him.
“I’m fine. It’s just irregular menstruation. I’ll rest a while and be better. No need to trouble the physician.” She worried the doctor would discover she’d taken contraceptive medicine.
However, she hadn’t looked in the mirror and didn’t realize her face was pale as snow, her lips colorless.
Xie Heng’s suspicion that someone was harming her only deepened, so despite her protests, he sent for the physician.
The physician arrived quickly with his medicine chest. Under Xie Heng’s watchful gaze, Shen Yunshu reluctantly extended her wrist for the pulse reading.
A thin veil fell over her wrist as the doctor took her pulse.
Before long, he explained the cause—external cold energy invading, causing lower abdominal chill and irregular menstruation.
Xie Heng was horrified and pressed the physician: “Can you find out exactly what kind of cold energy it is? Is it poison?”
“Your Highness, rest assured, it’s not poison. I’ll prescribe a few decoctions to regulate it in a few days…”
Shen Yunshu was secretly relieved the physician didn’t detect her contraceptive medicine.
But Xie Heng doubted the doctor’s skill. When Shen Youran was drugged, the first physician they consulted also missed it; only an older doctor uncovered the truth.
He planned to send someone out of the palace to bring that old doctor back tomorrow.
Xie Heng kept this thought to himself, maintaining a courteous demeanor toward the physician as the latter left the room.
Noticing Xie Heng’s doubtful expression, the doctor finally spoke candidly before leaving: “Your Highness, if you truly care for Lady Shen’s health, it’s best to not be too frequent with your marital relations going forward.”
Huh? Even the frequency of their intimate relations was noticed?
Xie Heng blushed, then the doctor added, “Besides, the Imperial Hospital has better contraceptive medicines that are less harmful. The kind Lady Shen has taken works well but is very cold in nature. Since a woman’s body is inherently yin, frequent intake of cold medicines is naturally hard to bear…”
Xie Heng’s face darkened. “Physician, wait. What exactly did you just say?”