Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 99

Chapter 99
Crying bitterly

When the incense stick was about to burn out and He San returned, Li Heming had already fallen asleep on Lin Yu’s lap.

It was cold in the prison, and Li Heming was injured and sick, so he could hardly sleep well. But now he was breathing evenly, his sword-like eyebrows were relaxed, and he seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Seeing He San coming, Lin Yu raised her index finger and gestured to silence him. He San glanced at Li Heming, who was sleeping with his eyes closed on Lin Yu’s lap, without saying a word. He pointed to the half-inch of incense left, indicating to Lin Yu that time was almost up.

Lin Yu nodded, and she gently lifted Li Heming’s head and moved it to the pillow without waking him. However, her legs seemed numb from being pillowed by Li Heming, and it took a while for her to stand up stiffly. She pulled the quilt over Li Heming, put the bag she brought next to his pillow, and quietly cleaned up the blood-stained white cloth in the prison. He San quietly turned his back and waited without urging.

After Lin Yu had finished all this, she turned around and looked at Li Heming, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. She was used to his heroic and handsome appearance in the past. Now that he was lying on the narrow and hard bed in the prison cell calmly, Lin Yu felt he was indescribably fragile at this moment.

She felt sour in her nose, leaned over, gently kissed Li Heming on the forehead, and said in his ear, almost inaudibly, “Second Brother, I’m leaving.”

The warm breath brushed Li Heming’s ear, but he didn’t hear it.

Lin Yu lowered her eyes and didn’t look at him again, as if she couldn’t bear to leave if she looked at him one more time. She hurriedly stood up, put on a veil to cover her red eyes, and followed He San to quietly leave without looking back.

Lin Jing, who was waiting outside the prison gate, saw Lin Yu and He San coming out of the imperial prison. He wanted to ask Lin Yu “what happened,” but Lin Yu pa$sed by without saying a word.

She reached out to hold the carriage door, but her hands and feet seemed weak, and she couldn’t step on it for a while. The servant beside Lin Jing quickly supported Lin Yu’s arm and helped her in.

Lin Yu was wearing a veil, and Lin Jing couldn’t tell anything from her face. He turned around and looked at He San in confusion: “What happened?”

He San shook his head and sighed: “The leader’s injury looks scary.”

Lin Jing understood, frowned, and looked at the carriage concernedly. He thanked He San and was about to leave, but when he opened the door, he suddenly heard a bitter and suppressed sob from inside.

Lin Jing paused and looked up through the crack in the door. He saw Lin Yu’s slender body lying on the couch, her shoulders slightly raised, crying bitterly.

The weak and suppressed cry came out along the seam of the carriage like a wisp of sad wind echoing in front of this cold imperial prison. Lin Jing closed the carriage door silently, looked up at the clear sky above, and stood before it for a long time without moving.

The palace changed, the people were dissatisfied, and the civil and military officials in the court were arguing over whether Zhu Ming should be punished.

The Sixth Prince’s party tried to absolve Zhu Ming of his crime. Since the crime was done, they used the position of the crown prince to say that Zhu Ming was the only prince in the dynasty who could be the crown prince. If he were punished, what would happen if Zhongcui Palace was empty and ownerless in the future?

However, some ministers said that Concubine Wan was pregnant with a dragon fetus and boasted with their eyes closed that Emperor Chong’an was in his prime and did not need to worry about the lack of successors for the Ming Dynasty. They advised Emperor Chong’an to consider the overall situation and abandon the child to please the people.

To put it nicely, it was ‘abandoning’ the child; however, it was actually ‘killing’ the child. Although he kept saying that the overall situation and the people were the most important, all Emperor Chong’an heard was the harsh words ‘killing his son with his own hands.’

Emperor Chong’an was so anxious that he stopped court for three consecutive days. To avoid the court officials, the dignified Emperor hid in the palace of Concubine Lin Wan.

As her name suggests, Lin Wan was gentle, polite, and graceful, but her eyes were charming. When she smiled at people, she looked like a gentle fox. No wonder Emperor Chong’an favored her. Even though her brother-in-law, Li Heming, was imprisoned and the court officials brought her unborn child to the court to discuss it, she did not mention a word in front of Emperor Chong’an, as if she was completely unaware of the chaos in the court. Only in the afternoon of that day did she casually mention sending Qin Mei’an back home.

Emperor Chong’an had just awakened from a nap and was lying on the bed with his eyes closed to rest. He asked, “What’s wrong? Did she do something to make you unhappy?”

Lin Wan sat beside him with her pregnant belly, stretched out her hand to gently ma$sage his forehead, shook her head, and said, “No, I’m just afraid that if she stays too long, my brother will miss her.”

However, Emperor Chong’an disagreed, saying, “I will allow Lin Jing to come to the palace to see her. If you keep her by your side, you will have a companion to relieve your boredom.”

Lin Wan said nothing more. She smiled and obediently said, “Okay, thank you, Your Majesty.”

At night, Jinghe Palace.

Passing through the night, Xu Wen hurried into the palace and delivered a short message to Zhu Xi on the sick bed. He leaned over to Zhu Xi’s ear and said, “Your Highness, this is from Her Highness.”

Although the sword wound on Zhu Xi’s body was not deep, it injured his lungs. More than a dozen imperial doctors kept their eyes open by the bed for a whole night and a day before he woke up. Now, he couldn’t get out of bed.

At this moment, Zhu Xi leaned against the head of the bed with a pale face and opened the letter to read it. There were no words on the letter but three patterns.

The first two patterns were the same: a vertical line and a circle on the right. The third pattern was a twisted line with a straight line below.

Xu Wen never understood the communication between the two people, so he asked, “Your Highness, what does this mean?”

“Two pregnant women and a sleeping dragon.”

The sleeping dragon naturally referred to Emperor Chong’an. Xu Wen thought about the previous sentence and asked, “Does Her Highness mean that the Emperor is unwilling to let Lin Jingzhi’s wife leave the palace for the time being?”

Zhu Xi said, “Hmm.” He burned the paper, extinguished the fire with his fingers, and asked, “What else did she send to say?”

Xu Wen frowned, looked at Zhu Xi’s fingertips burned by the fire, and replied, “Nothing, but the messenger also asked about your injury.”

Zhu Xi rubbed the black ash off his fingertips: “Only asking about the injury and nothing else?”

Xu Wen didn’t dare to think deeply about the deep meaning of this and replied, “No.”

Zhu Xi said no more. He was silent for a moment, looking at the shadows of the trees outside the window in the night wind, and then seemed to have decided something. He said lightly, “Tonight at four o’clock, take the imperial guards to surround the Zhongcui Palace. The token is on the table; take it yourself.”

When Xu Wen heard this, he suddenly raised his head and said in surprise, “Your Highness?!”

Zhu Xi ignored him: “Also, find the sword that Zhu Ming stabbed me that night.”

Xu Wen frowned, knelt, and advised: “Your Highness, think twice!”

Zhu Xi closed his eyes and leaned back to the head of the bed, speaking without giving anyone a chance to intervene: “Go.”