At this moment, I was utterly amazed. I let out another shriek and dashed out without hesitation, leaving my brother standing there, staring blankly after me.
It took him a while to call out, "Hey? Xihe!"
I didn't care what my brother was thinking. All I could think about was Lord Qi Yuan.
How could I have forgotten about Lord Qi Yuan? It was truly a sin!
I rushed to Qingwan Courtyard for the second time. But all that was left there were the swaying shadows of the trees. Lord Qi Yuan was nowhere to be seen. I searched every nook and cranny carefully to make sure he wasn't hiding and waiting for me. Then, dejectedly, I returned to the Twin Hall.
As soon as I got back, my brother noticed something was wrong with me. He immediately came up and asked, "What on earth happened?"
I shook my head and walked forward.
My brother walked beside me, looking worried. "Can't you tell your brother if something's bothering you?"
I kept shaking my head and walked on.
My brother blocked my way and raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
Finally, I looked up at him. But I felt the world was so cruel. So I grabbed him and shook him vigorously. "Aaaaah—the 'jade' was lost by myself!"
My brother was shaken so much that he felt sick. Finally, when he couldn't stand it anymore, he pushed me away and said dismissively, "It's just lost. It's no big deal."
"You don't understand anything!" I cried with a long face. Then I stamped my foot and ran towards the right hall.
I couldn't fall asleep at all that night.
For several days in a row, I was in a gloomy mood and rarely went out. Except for the necessary lessons, I was basically in a daze. I thought Lord Qi Yuan must be angry with me and didn't want to see me.
Xi Yao shook me during the class and asked me what was wrong. I didn't answer.
Zi Zhen stole a few glances at me but didn't say a word. Finally, he silently shared the candy he always carried with me. I didn't eat it.
My brother sighed and then coaxed Xi Yao and Zi Zhen not to bother me during the break.
As I kept silent, I suddenly realized that I really hadn't seen Lord Qi Yuan during these days of my distress. So I felt even more dejected.
What should I do? Should I go and apologize to him? Or should I just act as if nothing had happened?
I let out a long sigh. On the paper soaked with a large drop of ink, I wrote a line of nonsense and handed it to the tutor who came to collect the poems.
Long lament for the parting sorrow, who knows my faded beauty?
The tutor looked at my poem for a long time and finally said, "Does the princess have something on her mind recently?"
I nodded.
"Has the princess not fully recovered yet?"
I looked up at the tutor. From his look, I felt that his words meant that my mind had been damaged by the fever.
I thought for a while and nodded. Since that night, I had felt that my mind might really have been damaged by the fever.
So the tutor let out a sigh of relief and said, "Then the princess can go back now. There's no need to come tomorrow either."
Hearing this, Xi Yao quickly covered her forehead and pretended to faint. She moaned softly, "My Lord Tutor, I suddenly feel that my head hurts so much..."
The tutor coughed lightly and walked over. He said sternly, "Princess Xi Yao, stop pretending."
My brother couldn't help laughing. But I got up lazily, ignored them, and returned to my Twin Hall.
As soon as I got back, I decided to cheer myself up and not to escape. Even if Qi Yuan didn't forgive me and thought I was playing tricks on him, I had to be brave enough to take the consequences and apologize to him!
Once I made up my mind, the previous depression and timidity suddenly disappeared. I started to look for Lord Qi Yuan all over the palace, but I couldn't find him...
I asked everyone I could ask. They all said they hadn't seen him for several days and didn't know his shift schedule. So I seriously suspected that this was what Lord Qi Yuan had told them to say.
Another day passed, and I still couldn't find Lord Qi Yuan. Finally, I couldn't sit still anymore. I ran to ask my brother and asked him to help me find Lord Qi Yuan.
My brother was very surprised and asked me why I had to find him.
I said, "There's naturally something very important."
My brother was quite helpless. He helped me to check and then told me that Qi Yuan was ill and hadn't been on patrol for these days.
My heart skipped a beat. The first thought that came to my mind was that he got sick because of me.
"Do you know where he lives?"
"You're not going to visit him, are you?" My brother couldn't believe it. But seeing my serious expression, he quickly waved his hands. "No, no. The imperial guards all live in the houses on the outskirts of the palace. It's full of men there. It's not appropriate for a princess like you to go there."
I couldn't help pouting. My brother emphasized again, "Don't go!"
I nodded, but in my heart, I was thinking that if I didn't go there as a princess, it would be fine.
I found a high - ranking eunuch in the palace, asked him where the imperial bodyguards usually lived, and then asked him for a eunuch's uniform. I asked him to accompany me there.
When he heard my plan, his face immediately wrinkled like a bitter melon. He firmly disagreed. So I threatened him and lured him. Finally, he wavered, but only allowed me to stay there for a while.
Seeing that he agreed, I went back to get the bottle of Snow Lotus Jade Dew, changed into the eunuch's uniform, and followed him there.
As a result, before we even entered the door, I smelled a strong masculine odor.
The eunuch pinched his nose and said to a guard who opened the door, "I'm sent by Princess Xihe to deliver medicine to Lord Qi Yuan. I hope you all can make way and give us some convenience."
The man who opened the door sneered contemptuously and stepped aside. I didn't dare to stay there for long. I lowered my head and followed the eunuch in. At this time, someone suddenly said, "This Qi Yuan is really different. Even when he's sick, he can get medicine from the princess."
Another person said, "But isn't he sick because of the princess? The first time he saved her, he didn't change his clothes in time and caught a slight cold that never got better. Then the second time, he was in the water for so long. There was a night rain a few days ago, and the temperature was still a bit low. Even a tough guy couldn't stand being in such cold water..."
I listened to their whispers. Thinking that Qi Yuan got sick because of me, I felt very uncomfortable. But I couldn't say anything. I could only lower my head and follow the eunuch. I was led to a room.
The eunuch pushed the door open and isolated everyone outside. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Qi Yuan lying in bed. I couldn't help walking forward. But I saw that he was in a deep sleep. I gently placed my hand on his forehead.
So hot! I instinctively withdrew my hand and said to the eunuch behind me, "Why hasn't a royal doctor been invited since he's been ill for several days?"
Hearing this, the eunuch laughed. "Not to mention the men here, even the maids in the palace who get sick rarely can afford to invite a royal doctor. At most, they go to the medical center to get a prescription and grab a few herbs. Royal doctors... they don't treat these servants!"
When he said this, there was a worldly feeling of someone who had been in the palace for many years. I couldn't help feeling a bit sad. He kept calling others servants, but he didn't realize that he was just a servant himself.
I didn't say a word. I took out the Snow Lotus Jade Dew from my bosom and started to feed the medicine to Lord Qi Yuan.
Seeing this, the eunuch immediately exclaimed softly, "Oh, how can the princess do this herself? Leave it to this servant."
I raised my hand to stop him. Then I lifted Lord Qi Yuan's head and slowly fed him the medicine.