Chapter 42
“If there really was something dirty on my face, wouldn’t everyone have seen it?”
Yinxin snapped out of her daze and hurriedly lowered her head. “No, nothing. Your Highness’s face is clean.”
She added awkwardly, “This servant was just staring too long… I got lost in thought.”
“Hah!”
Li Xuanyue was amused by Yinxin’s words.
“Alright, hurry up and help me undress for bed.”
She didn’t mind Yinxin’s breach of etiquette and simply turned around, raising her arms to let her remove the outer robes.
“Bad news, Princess!”
Before Li Xuanyue could even lie down after loosening her sash, a dark figure rushed in from outside the hall, taking steps two at a time.
Li Xuanyue sat up immediately. “What happened?”
“Princess, Physician Fang has been abducted.”
The shadow guard knelt respectfully before Li Xuanyue.
He was the guard Li Xuanyue had assigned to protect Physician Fang.
For him to come running back now, one could only imagine the danger Physician Fang was in.
Li Xuanyue furrowed her brows. What she feared most had finally happened.
She just hadn’t expected her “good sister” to be capable of being in two places at once.
The matter with the Second Prince of the Snake Clan hadn’t even settled down yet.
And she had already made a move to take Physician Fang.
Li Xuanyue had truly underestimated her.
“Princess, what should we do now?”
Yinxin asked anxiously.
Although they still maintained a facade of civility with the Second Princess, they had long since torn off the mask in private.
Physician Fang’s disappearance at this juncture was undoubtedly linked to the Second Princess.
“Send people to search immediately.”
Li Xuanyue ordered coldly, “And remember, make as big a scene as possible.”
Since Li Qinghe dared to kidnap someone right under her nose, she certainly wouldn’t make it easy for her.
Otherwise, if word of this got out and she did nothing, who would dare trust her in the future?
Overnight, the news of Physician Fang’s disappearance spread throughout the entire Phoenix Clan.
Naturally, Hua Shan heard about it as well.
Everyone in the Phoenix Clan knew that Physician Fang was personally assigned to Li Xuanyue by Hua Shan.
Now that the man had been quietly abducted, as the Empress Consort, he naturally wouldn’t sit idly by.
“Guards! Assemble three thousand elite soldiers. You must bring Physician Fang back to me.”
“Father Consort, please don’t be angry.”
Li Xuanyue took Hua Shan’s hand and comforted him. “With you taking action, Physician Fang will surely be safe.”
Unless Li Qinghe’s plan was absolutely flawless, there were bound to be cracks to be found.
“My child, you are just too innocent.”
Hua Shan stroked his daughter’s face with heartache. “If I had sent more men sooner, perhaps things wouldn’t have come to this.”
“Fortunately, it’s not too late to act. In the future, you must learn to see people clearly, understand?”
“En, I will.”
In her past life, Hua Shan had always loved to nag in front of her.
Back then, she found him annoying, always saying things she didn’t want to hear.
But now, she felt differently.
Hua Shan must have sensed something back then, which was why he kept dropping hints.
It was her own stupidity that had cost both of them their lives in her past life.
Reborn, she certainly wouldn’t ignore his advice again.
“Your uncle will be coming to the Phoenix Clan in a few days.”
Hua Shan hesitated for a moment before finally breaking the news to Li Xuanyue.
“Uncle?”
Li Xuanyue looked at Hua Shan in confusion.
She had grown up in the Phoenix Clan, yet she had never once heard Hua Shan mention the word “Uncle.”
For him to bring it up now took her completely by surprise.
“Yes. You didn’t think your Father Consort popped out of a rock, did you?”
Hua Shan teased, “Your uncle and I are both from the Crane Clan. You were too young before, so I never told you about these things.”
“When your uncle heard about your poisoning, he was very worried. He intends to come to the Phoenix Clan to see you personally.”
“And to help cure your poison.”
Hua Shan hadn’t expected Li Qinghe to be so bold as to poison his daughter.
Although he didn’t have absolute proof yet, with his influence in the Phoenix Clan, making a person disappear was a simple matter.
Once his daughter’s poison was cured, he would make that girl pay.
Hua Shan spoke lightly, but to Li Xuanyue, there was something strange about it all.
She felt as though her Father Consort was hiding many secrets she knew nothing about.
“So… did you reach out to Uncle just for my sake, Father Consort?”
Li Xuanyue wasn’t questioning him, but worrying about him.
She wasn’t a fool. For Hua Shan to suddenly bring up something he hadn’t mentioned in hundreds of years meant there had to be hidden circumstances she wasn’t aware of.
Hua Shan was a clever man; from that simple question, he guessed her thoughts immediately.
It brought him a sense of relief.
“I know what you’re worried about.”
He held Li Xuanyue’s hand reassuringly. “Your uncle and I did have some disagreements and conflicts in the past.”
“But that was hundreds of years ago.”
Unwilling to dwell on past heartbreaks, and seeing that Li Xuanyue remained calm, Hua Shan slowly continued.
“Right now, your poisoning is the most important thing in my heart.”
Hua Shan’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Your uncle said he will definitely help you this time.”
As for how he would help, Hua Shan didn’t elaborate.
He simply wanted Li Xuanyue not to worry.
Hua Shan’s actions touched Li Xuanyue deeply.
“Thank you, Father Consort.”
Without hesitation, she opened her arms and embraced him, feeling the weight of his mountain-like fatherly love.
Father and daughter had never shared such an intimate embrace.
In the past, Li Xuanyue had always treated Hua Shan with coldness or hostility; she had never been this heartwarming.
This sudden display of affection left Hua Shan momentarily at a loss.
But it only lasted a second. Regaining his composure, he reached out and gently patted Li Xuanyue’s back to soothe her.
“When did you become so sentimental, my child?”
Though his words were teasing, Hua Shan was overjoyed and moved by Li Xuanyue’s closeness.
His daughter was finally starting to get close to him, to trust him as her father.
How could he not be touched?
“Rest assured. As long as I am here, the sky will not fall.”
Hua Shan said lovingly, “And even if it does, I will hold it up for you. You just need to stay obediently under my wings and take your time growing up.”
Hua Shan did not want his daughter to be forced to grow up like he had been, having to become sensible and mature overnight.
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