Of course, I had no idea that the two of them were punished to kneel because they refused to tell the reason for making me angry. Nor did I know that due to their silence, there were tens of thousands of rumors in the palace about what had upset me.
Some said that Princess Xihe caught a chill because the eldest prince and the prince of the Northern Cold Kingdom had jointly pushed her into the green pond. Others claimed that it was not the eldest prince but the prince of the Northern Cold Kingdom who had pushed her, and it was discovered that the eldest prince had instigated it, so she had sent people to hunt down the eldest prince.
However, these two versions were too far - fetched, and most people didn't believe them. So they began to make up new stories. For example, Xihe had fallen in love with Yu Chi Cheng, but Yu Chi Cheng didn't like her; he was in love with the eldest prince. Another story was that the eldest prince had offered to play matchmaker for Xihe and Yu Chi Cheng, but Xihe had refused.
I lay in bed, feeling miserable and confined. Thinking that everyone else was having a good time made me unhappy. So I asked the emperor, my father, to order that no one should be allowed to roam around freely and that they should accompany me while I recovered. As a result, almost all entertainment activities in the palace were banned.
Then my third younger sister, Xiyao, couldn't stay still any longer. She came to visit me. Sitting by my bedside, she peeled an apple and said, "Second sister, you must get better soon. Look at Father. Because of you, he won't let us have any fun. Do you think you're being fair to me, who came all the way to see you?"
I replied, "Third sister, you'd better learn something while you can. Stop playing around. I'll play with you when I'm better."
She gave me a disdainful look, then hung the long strip of apple peel on my face and sneered, "Humph, you have the nerve to lecture me. Weren't you the one who used to day - dream during the tutor's lessons?"
I coughed lightly and took the apple peel off. "Well, that's because I'd already learned everything."
Xiyao snorted and ignored me. She continued to play with the apple in her hand, carving it into a human face with a knife. Then she said, "Second sister, what did big brother do to upset you? You haven't spoken to him for days."
I kept silent. Xiyao continued, "Tell me! If you do, I'll give you this apple!"
I looked at the sticky, carved apple in her hand and shook my head. Then I advised her, "Who would dare to eat an apple like this? Stop playing around."
Unexpectedly, Xiyao scoffed, "So what? The apples these days don't taste good anyway. Can't I have a little fun? If second sister wants to eat fruit, go to the Northern Cold Kingdom. I heard there are lots of fruits in summer there!"
"Really?" I was highly skeptical. I seriously suspected that she was Yu Chi Cheng's advocate. From the moment she saw Yu Chi Cheng, she had said she liked him. Although it was just an ordinary kind of like, I understood. But as someone who was in opposition to him, how could I allow my younger sister to be on the same side as the enemy? So I had used all kinds of derogatory terms to defame Yu Chi Cheng in Xiyao's heart. But the more I said, the more she liked him. At that time, I couldn't understand it at all. It was only later that I finally figured it out. It turned out that they were just two of a kind...
"Alright, stop talking. Now take your apple and leave my bedside. I'm glad you came to see me, second sister, but I'm tired and need to rest..."
Hearing this, Xiyao was very dissatisfied. Pouting, she looked at me and said, "Second sister is so heartless. As soon as I mention someone, you just shoo me away."
I closed my eyes silently and ignored her. Seeing this, Xiyao sighed helplessly, pouted, and had no choice but to leave with her knife and apple.
I heard that Xiyao had recently become obsessed with food carving. I guessed that she must have been fascinated after seeing a young master in the imperial library carve a radish white phoenix. Well, the lifelike carving made me like it too. That young master was really a genius. But with Xiyao's personality, I wondered how long it would take her to learn and how much patience she could muster...
After Xiyao left, the imperial physician came with the medicine as usual. This time, I saw with my own eyes the wonderful medicine I took every day. It was a bottle of white porcelain jade dew. The liquid was green and had a delicate fragrance.
I propped myself up in bed and took a small sip. As soon as it entered my mouth, I felt much more awake. I felt something strange and couldn't help asking, "What is this wonderful thing? How did you get it?"
The imperial physician replied, "I heard it's the juice extracted from the Tianshan snow lotus. It's very rare. As for how it was obtained, I don't know."
I nodded and told the imperial physician to leave. I covered myself with the quilt and lay down for a while. Before I knew it, I fell asleep and even broke out in a sweat.
The next day, the medicine was delivered on time again. I happily drank it, thinking that if I had such a wonderful medicine, I would never be afraid of getting sick again.
I rested quietly in my inner chamber for a few more days, and my spirit and vitality had mostly recovered. One day, as I was thinking about when I could go out and have some fun, my elder brother came to visit me.
When I saw him enter the room, I snorted and closed my eyes. My elder brother walked straight to the bedside and sat down. Then he started to ruffle my hair. "My dear sister, it's time you stopped being angry. That day, I heard that you'd been in there for a long time without making a sound. I was worried that something had happened to you. I thought you were just lying in bed sulking. I didn't expect you to be soaking in the bathtub... I guarantee that I didn't see anything. Although Yu Chi Cheng is a bit taller than me, I covered his eyes quickly, so he didn't see anything either..."
I continued to snort and ignored him. My elder brother said again, "Dear sister, you're being unreasonable. For the same thing, you forgave Yu Chi Cheng but won't forgive your own elder brother?"
I opened my eyes and said indifferently, "When did I forgive Yu Chi Cheng?"
My elder brother was very surprised. "You've already drunk the medicine he sent. Isn't that forgiveness?"
I was confused. "When did I drink the medicine he sent?"
My elder brother said, "It's the jade dew made from the Tianshan snow lotus! I heard it's extremely rare. That Yu Chi family kid actually carried it with him and was willing to give it to you..."
I felt dizzy. So the wonderful medicine I'd been drinking for several days was actually sent by my enemy. Why did I feel, after learning this, the same as if I'd been sold and then the person who sold me had stuffed a large sum of money into my hands?
Just as I was feeling dizzy, the imperial physician came to deliver the medicine again.
I thought for a moment, took the jade bottle, and said to the imperial physician who had come to deliver the medicine, "You can all leave. Big brother will supervise me while I take the medicine."
My elder brother looked at me strangely. But after everyone had left, I frowned at him. "Big brother, since you let this out, you're responsible for calling Yu Chi Cheng here. I want to ask him myself."
Just then, Yu Chi Cheng's voice came from outside the door. It was as gentle as a spring breeze. He said, "No need. I've been waiting for this for a long time. I've been waiting outside."
I felt dizzy again. Suddenly, the world seemed extremely strange.