Chapter 12: Applying the Medicine Himself
Her abrupt and incomplete sentence left Gu Zhen looking astonished; his hand, about to brush her away, froze in mid-air.
“What thing?” Gu Zhen, somewhat puzzled, asked softly.
Zhao Yiyi’s expression became even more downcast. She suddenly released his sleeve, covered her face with both hands, sobbing, and choked out, “I don’t want to have the same things as others!”
Yunzhu, who had just returned with a basin of water, intending to wring out a towel to wipe the Empress’s face, was startled by these seemingly petulant words and took a step back, her heart pounding.
She had only been gone for a moment, why was the Empress arguing with His Majesty?
A moment later, the Emperor’s cold voice came, “The Empress is drunk, go get someone to make a bowl of hangover soup.”
—Indeed, she was drunk. A sense of understanding flashed through Yunzhu’s mind, and she hurried off.
The gentle sobbing in his ears was like a cat’s paw lightly scratching at his heart. Gu Zhen suddenly felt agitated and abruptly pressed his hand to his forehead.
After two years of marriage, he knew that the Empress wasn’t a person who cried easily.
The last time he heard her cry was when he was confined by his father’s decree. Her tears fell one after another, and her body swayed precariously.
He thought that Zhao Yiyi was crying over her own plight, after all, she had only been Crown Princess for more than half a year before she suddenly encountered this incident. No one could accept it. After watching her coldly for a long time, he said coldly, “If you don’t want to, I can petition my father to divorce you and send you back home.”
His Crown Princess shook her head, choking back sobs, “I feel sorry for Your Highness. Your Highness was clearly framed, but no one would listen to Your Highness’s explanation…”
In the soft glow, Gu Zhen patiently asked again, “What thing?”
Zhao Yiyi continued to cry, still ignoring him.
She was really not easy to deal with!
Thinking this, Gu Zhen lowered his brows and sat down slowly beside her. When she bent down to pick up a towel, he snatched the towel first and calmly wiped his hands.
Zhao Yiyi anxiously reached for it, but Gu Zhen merely glanced at her calmly, chuckling softly, “Empress, don’t you want to have the same things as others? I’ve used this towel; does the Empress still want it?”
In the flickering light, the smile at the corner of the man’s lips looked incredibly mischievous.
Zhao Yiyi was stunned speechless, staring at him, somewhat at a loss.
Seeing that she was finally behaving herself, Gu Zhen threw the towel back into the copper basin, splashing water, his voice unusually gentle, “Tell me, what is it?”
Zhao Yiyi was drunk and muddled; the aftereffects of the alcohol had hit, and her consciousness wasn’t very clear. Pressed by him step by step, she finally bit her lip and uttered two words.
She sat there with her head bowed, constantly twisting her fingers and her clothes, appearing very anxious and uneasy, “Your Majesty.”
Gu Zhen fell silent for a moment, then chuckled, “Because of a bracelet? What bracelet? Bring it to me and let me have a look.”
Before his words fell, he felt something was wrong. When he suddenly remembered something, he fell silent.
Was it the jeweled gold bracelet?
Zhao Yiyi seemed to be stung by him, clutching her chest, sobbing, “The bracelet is…gone…Your Majesty gave it to me, why did you give it to her…”
Gu Zhen didn’t understand her meaning for a moment. After a long silence, he replied, “It’s gone, it’s gone. I’ll have someone pick out another pair for you.”
Having said that, he got up and went out, catching Wu Mao, who was secretly stretching his arms and legs, and asking, “When did I ever send anything to that Miss He Er? Why does she have my things?”
Wu Mao was stunned and tentatively said, “That day in Wanchun Palace, Your Majesty ordered someone to pick…”
Gu Zhen’s suddenly darkening expression forced him to shut his mouth. After a moment, he said as if suddenly realizing something, “A while ago, on the Empress Dowager’s birthday, Your Majesty ordered me to choose many jewelry pieces as gifts. Perhaps the Empress Dowager gave it to Miss He Er?”
“You’re quite good at picking!” Gu Zhen’s expression turned cold. He said sharply, “A pair of bracelets, you gave one to the Empress and one to the Empress Dowager? Couldn’t even afford two pairs of bracelets?”
Wu Mao was startled, his heart sank, secretly thinking that he had made a mistake, and hurriedly pleaded guilty, “I have failed in my duties, please punish me, Your Majesty.”
Gu Zhen coldly glared at him, his voice calm, “Go and receive your punishment yourself.”
Just then, Yunzhu returned with the hangover soup. Gu Zhen entered with her, leaving Wu Mao outside in contemplation.
A young eunuch stepped forward and whispered, “Father, what’s going on?”
Since His Majesty said it was a pair of bracelets, the two bracelets must be exactly the same. Except for high-grade jewelry, the Gong Shang Ju (Imperial Workshops) and the Jiang Zhuo Jian (Imperial Workshops) would never make the same things; it must have been a mistake.
Wu Mao looked at his adopted son, also feeling very frustrated and anxious, and said in a flustered tone, “Those people send things carelessly. The pair they made was not put together, and they have caused me trouble! Go and receive your punishment, keep an eye on things inside.”
Inside the hall, Zhao Yiyi was being served hangover soup by Yunzhu. She didn’t resist as the man had imagined; she simply opened her soft apricot eyes and obediently drank the hangover soup, sip by sip.
Gu Zhen wanted to scold her for drinking so much, but remembering her previous retort, he opened his mouth but didn’t speak.
Indeed, it was he who told the Empress that the wine was good and that she could drink some.
But he didn’t tell her to drink so much.
“So sour,” Zhao Yiyi suddenly frowned.
Seeing those two crescent-shaped brows furrowed together, Yunzhu couldn’t help but smile softly, “Hangover soup is supposed to be sour, after drinking it, have a sleep and you’ll be fine.”
Since she was no longer making a fuss, Gu Zhen didn’t discuss the jeweled gold bracelet any further. He merely watched her finish the hangover soup, and after telling Yunzhu to take good care of the Empress, he was about to leave.
“Your Majesty, you…”
Just as he reached the door of the hall, Yunzhu’s cry of surprise came from behind. Gu Zhen’s footsteps suddenly stopped. After being lost in thought for a long time, he finally suppressed his emotions and turned around.
He saw that on the low couch, the Empress had already taken off her shoes and socks, and her left ankle was swollen high.
Swollen and redder than in the past few days.
Gu Zhen’s expression changed. He strode over, asking in a low voice, “What happened?” He merely touched it, and Zhao Yiyi started to sob again, constantly crying out in pain.
“Nonsense!” Gu Zhen’s eyes suddenly darkened. He stared into her eyes and asked, “It’s not fully healed yet, why did you go horseback riding today?”
Zhao Yiyi didn’t answer.
She was already drunk, and although she was somewhat sober after drinking the hangover soup, she could still pretend not to understand.
Her husband didn’t know how much she wanted to go out with him. This was the first time he had taken the initiative to invite her. If she missed this opportunity, there might not be another.
He was rich and powerful, with everything in the world at his fingertips. How could he understand her anxiety and feelings?
Zhao Yiyi bit her lip, lowered her head deeply, not daring to look at his furious eyes.
She had gotten angry, and now she was hiding like a quail. Gu Zhen took a deep breath and ordered, “Bring the medicinal oil.”
The wine surged in her stomach, and her head was also heavy. It wasn’t until a cold sensation touched her ankle that she suddenly jolted and briefly regained her senses.
Looking down, she saw a long, strong hand applying medicine to her ankle.
The knuckles were distinct, large enough to circle her ankle with room to spare. The palms and fingertips were calloused, and when they rubbed against her ankle, it made her frown slightly uneasily.
Quickly, she realized and widened her eyes, “Your Majesty?”
“Behave yourself!” Gu Zhen patted her leg, his eyes filled with anger, “I think you don’t want this leg anymore.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Wu Nan, Wu Mao’s adopted son, announced from outside, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Marquis Huai’an is outside and wants to see Your Majesty.”
Gu Zhen paused, turning to look. He saw the Empress with dishevelled clothes, drunk and aggrieved, and her ankle, which he was applying medicine to.
She didn’t look presentable at all.
He calmly replied, “Tell him to go back, the Empress is not free to see him.”
Wu Nan relayed the message to Zhao Weimin and politely persuaded the father-in-law to leave.
Zhao Weimin outwardly agreed and asked him to convey his greetings to the Empress, but he felt dissatisfied.
He, as her father, had personally come to visit, but she was still acting like an Empress, only sending a eunuch out! No wonder A Xu said Lianzhi was afraid of her, she treated her family like this.
A dignified Empress, with no one else in the vast palace, couldn’t even win the Emperor’s heart, nor ask for any favor for her family.
Those favored concubines, which one didn’t have their families ascend along with them? For example, Concubine He, her brother, who was such a character, even became Dali Zheng (Minister of Justice).
Zhao Weimin thought angrily, it was also her own fault, she had been married for so long without any children, but she was very good at playing the airs.
Thinking back to Gu Zhen’s actions of applying medicine for her, Zhao Yiyi’s heart was filled with strange emotions.
When he put away the medicine bottle and wiped his fingertips with a towel, Zhao Yiyi leaned over and grabbed him, “Your Majesty!”
“What is it?” Gu Zhen’s eyes were calm, standing there like a towering mountain, making her subconsciously grip his hand tightly, afraid he would fly away.
“Husband…” Zhao Yiyi finally uttered the word she had been hiding in her heart, a single crystal tear rolling down her cheek. Taking advantage of the five-point intoxication, she asked him the same question from the day again, with a hopeful, pleading tone, “Husband, have you…have you ever liked Yiyi?”
Author’s Note:
Peeking quietly, hehe~