Chapter 348: Appearance (3)

The two had visited the Tixing Mansion several times before, so the Yamen Runners guarding the gate recognized them and led them to the Hua Ting. They did not wait long before Dan Yulan arrived.

"The two of you have come to see me; is there something the matter?"

Gu Yun keenly noticed that when Dan Yulan first saw them, a flash of confusion and shock crossed his face. Gu Yun sat quietly and still, letting Zhuo Qing handle the interaction with him.

The two always had a tacit understanding. Seeing Gu Yun remain still, Zhuo Qing naturally understood her intent, nodded slightly at Dan Yulan, and asked straight to the point: "You examined the child's body; what did you discover? Was it poisoning?"

"You two?" He had already guessed why they had come and had been thinking about how to handle it carefully. He had not expected Zhuo Qing to ask such a question so directly and assertively. Even the usually composed Criminal Justice Official could not help but be startled and lose his focus for a moment.

With his expression, one did not need keen observation skills to see that he certainly knew the inside story. Zhuo Qing did not beat around the bush either, saying: "We have already found out that Ming Jian took the medicinal dregs. He is the confidant of Yan... the Emperor; he must have acted under his instructions. If the Emperor had doubts about the cause of the prince's death, how could he have let the child be buried without having figured anything out?"

Gu Yun remained silent throughout, her sharp eyes never leaving Dan Yulan. Zhuo Qing spoke eloquently, her words full of certainty. Facing these two, Dan Yulan actually felt as if he had nowhere to hide. He shook his head with a bitter smile; he did not need to think of ways to handle them anymore, as these two were not so easily dealt with. Sighing, Dan Yulan nodded, "That night, I did indeed examine the prince's body."

"And?"

Since they already knew the child might have been poisoned, and Lady Lou must have examined the child's body before but likely failed to see the details, they were seeking confirmation from him. Dan Yulan did not say much, only replying: "The prince did indeed die of poisoning. As for the specific type of poison, it has not yet been determined."

"Nothing was found in the medicinal dregs?"

Dan Yulan was also very troubled and sighed: "The medicinal dregs were fine; they were entirely herbs for treating a fever, with no poison."

"The medicinal dregs were fine, but the medicine itself might not have been. The medicinal decoction was poured from the pot by Ruyi herself and brought to Qingfeng Palace. The person most likely to have poisoned it is someone within Qingfeng Palace." Gu Yun, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, clearly intending to investigate further.

Seeing them prepare to stand up and leave, Dan Yulan's brows furrowed and then relaxed. He hesitated several times, but finally said in a low voice: "The prince's premature death has caused the Emperor great grief. This matter... the Emperor naturally has his own considerations. The two of you should not be too hasty. Besides, the temperament of Consort Qing is completely different from yours, so..."

Dan Yulan rarely spoke so obscurely. His current demeanor could only mean that Yan Hongtian must have given him instructions long ago. Zhuo Qing replied readily: "Don't worry, before things are clear, we will not let Qingfeng know, nor will we... alert the enemy."

Gu Yun and Zhuo Qing walked out of the Tixing Mansion, both feeling very helpless. Because of Dan Yulan's words just now, Gu Yun's expression had been poor, and her tone was a bit sharp: "Yan Hongtian must also suspect the cause of the child's death; otherwise, he wouldn't have had people look for the medicinal dregs from the start, nor would he have had Dan Yulan examine the body. Since he suspects it, why be so secretive? What exactly is he trying to do?"

"I don't know..." Compared to Gu Yun's confusion and irritability, Zhuo Qing felt more worry. Xi Yan's recent abnormalities and Dan Yulan's dissuasion all made her vaguely feel that Yan Hongtian would not let this matter go so easily. But was it really right for him to do all this behind Qingfeng's back, without letting her know?

Forget it, in any case, it would take three months for Qingfeng's face to heal; let's wait until her face is healed before deciding.

In Qingfeng Palace, except for Fuling who was allowed to stay, everyone else had been sent away. Qingfeng glanced at the baby cradle under the big tree, then closed her eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, she turned to Yue Sheng beside her and said: "You may begin."

Yue Sheng glanced at her sideways and turned to enter the room.

Qingfeng glared at that arrogant back, gritted her teeth, but said nothing and followed him in.

Yue Sheng looked around and saw several paintings hanging in the study; a flash of appreciation crossed his eyes, but it was only for a fleeting moment before his expression returned to that haughty look. Seeing Qingfeng and Fuling enter the Hua Ting, Yue Sheng smiled somewhat maliciously: "I can naturally begin at any time; it just depends on whether you are prepared."

Qingfeng's expression did not change as she asked: "What needs to be prepared?"

"The scars on your face are very deep and have already fully healed. To restore your former appearance, you must endure the pain of having your face scraped." As he spoke, Yue Sheng pulled a small roll of cowhide from his sleeve and untied the binding rope. The cowhide unfolded, containing several knives of varying lengths and thicknesses, along with a few long Silver Needles and hooks.

Every knife looked extremely sharp. Qingfeng only frowned, while Fuling stared at the cold, gleaming blades, and thinking of the "pain of having the face scraped" that Yue Sheng had just mentioned, her heart immediately tightened.

"I must first scrape away the dead flesh, then supplement it with the medicine I have prepared. You must apply it externally and take it internally every day for it to be effective. However, before the flesh heals, every time the dressing is changed, it will be as painful as being gnawed by ten thousand ants." Yue Sheng took the tools out one by one and set them down, then wiped them gently with a cotton cloth, extremely meticulous, yet his words were clearly indifferent, as if the pain of being gnawed by ten thousand ants was nothing in his eyes.

When she first heard about scraping the face, Fuling was already terrified, and upon hearing about the pain of being gnawed by ten thousand ants, Fuling involuntarily gripped Qingfeng's hand. She could feel the coldness of those hands and the trembling she was struggling to suppress. "Mistress..."

Qingfeng gripped Fuling's hand tightly, looked at Yue Sheng, and asked coldly: "Is there anything else?"

Yue Sheng looked up slightly, saw Qingfeng's forced composure, raised the corners of his mouth, and laughed: "Nothing else."

While secretly letting out a sigh of relief, Qingfeng released Fuling's hand, "If there is nothing else, then begin."

"Good." Without any delay, Yue Sheng was clearly satisfied with Qingfeng's attitude. Pointing to a chair nearby, he told Fuling, who was still frozen to the side: "Bring in a basin of water and prepare some clean cotton cloths."

"Yes." Fuling did not dare to hesitate and immediately went out to do so.

When Fuling returned with the water and cotton cloths, she saw Yue Sheng deftly pick up a blade as thin as a cicada's wing and approach Qingfeng. Fuling gasped, her hand gripping the water basin tightening.

Just as the blade touched Qingfeng's face, she suddenly called out: "Wait."

Yue Sheng's hand paused, a flash of anger and impatience rising in his eyes, but he still lowered the hand holding the knife.

"Put the things down, Fuling, you go out."

Fuling said anxiously: "Mistress, this servant can stay and help..."

Before she could finish, Qingfeng scolded sharply: "Get out!"

Qingfeng did not even look at her. Fuling had no choice but to place the water basin on a low table nearby and slowly back out of the room. The moment the door closed, she saw her mistress's slender hands gripping the armrests of the wooden chair tightly, her voice no longer as strong as before: "Continue."

The door had to be closed in the end. Fuling's hands could not stop shaking. Fuling stepped back a few paces, clasped her two hands tightly together, bit her lower lip, and tried hard to calm her heart.

"Ah—!"

An extremely painful and desperately suppressed scream came from inside the room. Fuling's legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the ground. Thinking of the feeling of those sharp blades cutting through flesh, scraping the face... did it really require using a knife to rawly cut the flesh off the face? Fuling squatted on the cold stone steps, staring at the tightly closed door, her vision gradually blurring.

She did not know how much time had passed; perhaps it was only half an hour, perhaps half a day. Fuling leaned against the stone steps, waiting silently, constantly imagining the blade cutting through skin and flesh, the scene of blood and gore. Just as she felt she was going crazy, Yue Sheng's voice finally sounded: "The person outside, come in."

Fuling froze for a moment, then immediately stood up and pushed the door open, rushing inside.

As soon as Fuling entered the room, she smelled a heavy stench of blood. The basin of clear water had turned brownish-red, and blood-stained cloth strips were scattered all over the floor.

"Mistress?!" Qingfeng had been placed on the daybed beside the screen. Fuling ran over to look, and her mistress had already fainted.

"Change her clothes. Also, put away all the mirrors; don't let her see." After saying this, Yue Sheng packed up the cowhide roll on the table and walked out.

Not until Yue Sheng left did Fuling dare to look closely at the person on the daybed. Qingfeng's face was wrapped in thick cotton cloth, revealing only a pair of tightly closed eyes. She could not see her complexion, nor could she see what kind of suffering she had just endured, only that her collar was covered in blood. Fuling's hands trembled as she gently held those slender, jade-like fingers that had once been the envy of others but were now full of scars, and choked out: "Mistress... you... why must you suffer like this?"

Fuling stayed by Qingfeng's side, and fortunately, she finally woke up at dinnertime. Qingfeng sat up straight, reached out to touch the cotton cloth wrapped around her face, her hand paused, then slowly lowered it without saying much. However, every time the medicine was changed, her mistress never let her stay by her side. For the first few days, Fuling would hear the groans her mistress was trying hard to suppress, but later, the sounds gradually faded, though the scars on her mistress's fingers never healed. In this repetitive torment, the three of them spent a peaceful dozen days.

Time would not stand still for anyone, and the footsteps of spring arrived as promised. The sunlight diminished the chill of early spring, allowing all things that had been cold for a season to gradually regain their vitality.

Qingfeng sat quietly in the courtyard as usual, holding the Warm Jade that she had kept with her every day since then, stroking it gently. That piece of Warm Jade had been given to the Little Prince by the Prime Minister and had been worn by the prince ever since. Before the burial, her mistress had removed the Warm Jade and kept it with her, often taking it out to look at it.

On ordinary days, except for changing her mistress's medicine, Yue Sheng spent most of his time alone in his room. Perhaps because the weather was nice today, he was actually sitting in the courtyard, pouring a thumb-sized toad with blood-red eyes and a bright green body out of a small porcelain bottle.

(End of chapter)