The Husband I Snatched Is Not Right!-Chapter 288 - 285: Delicate and Precious

That night, in the Eastern Palace.

The towering palace used cloud-top sandalwood as beams, with jade tiles and golden roofs, jade steps, and vermilion pillars. Outside, it was pitch black, but inside, it was as bright as day, resplendent and magnificent.

A heavy medicine smell mingled with the incense burner’s fragrance, a strange scent that made one drowsy after smelling it for too long.

The jeweled gauze curtains fluttered with the wind.

With a loud ’bang,’ the medicine bowl was overturned.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger."

The attendants in the palace were so frightened that they fell to the ground, their heads knocked against the floor, their bodies trembling.

Ying Yi, plagued with a chronic illness on the couch, his cheeks a pale ash color, lay on his side, coughing incessantly.

He wiped away the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth.

"How did you only now tell me that Wei Zhao isn’t dead?"

Clearly in the prime of his life, yet the back of his hand with bulging veins was covered in brown age spots.

He didn’t like Wei Zhao.

Never liked him since childhood.

As the Crown Prince, how could he tolerate someone who overshadowed him in every aspect?

Not just him, even Father lived his whole life under the shadows of Duke Shun and General Jing Yuan. Even though those two had died.

Laughable as it was, generations of emperors were always surpassed by the Wei Family’s descendants!

The Crown Princess Consort wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Your Highness, please don’t worry."

"General Wei must be seriously injured, not worth fearing. Father is benevolent; he even summoned the imperial physicians from the palace to take his pulse."

Benevolent?

Ying Yi surely knew the same hypocrisy in Emperor Qian as himself?

Clearly, he feared deceit among them, wanting to confirm whether Wei Zhao was truly unwell.

Ying Yi: "What do you mean?"

The Crown Princess Consort told him everything she knew: "The Yangxin Hall of Father is heavily concealed, but I sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to inquire. There, an imperial physician named Zheng Xu, who has been underutilized for years, received benefits and privately revealed that Wei Zhao’s pulse was erratic and weak, long since harmed his foundation. His body is like this, even eating requires effort, and it might even shorten his lifespan."

The Crown Princess Consort saw his brows ease: "This is good news. As long as Elder Ge arrives, you recover, the Fifth Prince wouldn’t dare to covet the Eastern Palace."

"That Fifth is really hateful! If it weren’t for his obstruction, Elder Ge would have long been in the Eastern Palace. Delaying Your Highness’s condition, one could even say it’s an attempt to harm the Crown Prince, but Father..."

Though these words were spoken in the Eastern Palace, they were nonetheless disrespectful.

The Crown Princess Consort didn’t continue. But everyone knew she resented the emperor for showing undue favor to the Fifth Prince, Ying Yin!

She was heavily pregnant, weary-eyed, yet with joy.

With His Highness well, she and her unborn child would have backing.

Hearing the Crown Princess Consort mention the Fifth Prince Ying Yin, Ying Yi’s expression slightly improved.

Indeed, nothing is more important than healing him.

Once he is well, he can secure the position of Crown Prince and continue fighting against Ying Yin.

He must not fall, nor worsen relations with Wei Zhao.

Ying Yi suppressed the murkiness in his chest.

He donned the mask of usual sincerity and kindness.

"With Gui Zhi back, I am very pleased. He’s been diligent concerning Elder Ge, send some medicinal herbs to show my gratitude."

What should be sent?

It must not be lacking.

"There is a five-hundred-year-old ginseng in my private treasury, let Gui Zhi use it to nourish his body. As for other things, you decide what to add."

The Crown Princess Consort acknowledged, then said, "I heard he brought back a new wife this time, from a small place. Perhaps she’s illiterate, not suitable for formal occasions. Who knows how many jokes will arise in the future."

"But the Eastern Palace should not lack propriety. Aside from medicinal herbs, I will also send a pair of bracelets."

Ying Yi was pleased with her arrangement: "Hmm."

The Crown Princess Consort was about to have someone fetch it from the treasury.

Then the servant managing the private treasury, with a grave and fearful face, sought an audience, and after being notified, was allowed inside. He knelt to the ground with a thud.

"Your Highness, the Heavenly Snow Lotus and the Millennium Ganoderma in your private treasury have disappeared!"

Ying Yi: ???

The Crown Princess Consort abruptly stood up: "What!"

The Heavenly Snow Lotus was obtained with great difficulty from the Western Regions, only a few stalks each year, with exceptional quality and scarcity. Centennial Ganoderma is good, but millennium is hard to find.

That was what Ying Yi relied on to save his life!

————

The dusk was thick.

Wei Zhao returned from outside, walking with leisure as if only taking a stroll. He handed the easily stolen Heavenly Snow Lotus and Millennium Ganoderma to Shunzi.

"Send someone to deliver these to Ying Fuyan."

Shunzi respectfully: "Yes."

Wei Zhao headed inside: "They say the Imperial Palace is heavily guarded."

Shunzi nervously: "Were you injured?"

Indeed, it was heavily guarded!

Otherwise, why wasn’t it him executing the task? Even if Chi Yu went, it’s likely there would be blunders.

From the palace gates to the Eastern Palace, the Eastern Palace was also heavily guarded, and the Crown Prince’s private treasury no less.

Wei Zhao’s tone was airy: "But these words... I don’t believe them."

Shunzi: ...

Leaving those words, Wei Zhao stepped into the Lan Garden.

Inside, a lamp was lit. Maybe he had demanded too much before leaving, for the girl was now sleeping soundly.

Wei Zhao wasn’t sleepy.

He sat by the bedside, adjusting the quilt, his fingertip lingering for a moment on the red mark on the girl’s neck before heading to the desk to handle official matters.

Time ticked away.

Yu Tingwan slept uneasily.

It sounded like chaotic footsteps in her ear.

"Is it her? How could a country girl be worth all this effort?"

"Why ask so much, just do as ordered, let her die quickly!"

Who were they going to kill?

Yu Tingwan suddenly felt uneasy.

But it seemed like someone was calling. The voice was ethereal as if not in the same space-time.

"This time, I brought you some snacks, and a little jar of plum blossom wine, brewed by Ah Da himself. Its low alcohol content is very suitable for the girl to sip leisurely."

"I don’t know if these snacks suit your taste."

"I heard you’re not picky, you eat everything, but I don’t believe that."

"Your mother was picky when she was pregnant with you, liking eight-treasure duck one day, then complaining of its grease the next. First wanting sour jujube cake, then turning to the sugar-coated haws from the stall by the street, only if it was from the peddler with the wooden plaque, with a windmill on his hat, and whose surname was Yang. She could taste the difference from anywhere else."

No one isn’t picky; it’s simply having tasted the bitterness of hunger.

That voice was filled with a sense of longing.

"We always said you’d be a precious little girl."

He said precious, not frivolous.

"Your mother wasn’t good at needlework, but she asked the court lady skilled in embroidery from the Empress Dowager’s palace to learn to sew your newborn clothes, the cloud shoulders, bibs, tiger head cap, and socks one stitch at a time. Just fearing the preparations wouldn’t suffice."

"But..."

"It’s a pity that you didn’t get to wear them."

"Ah Da still came too late."

Suddenly, the voice changed.

It was familiar, heard during the day... Belonging to the Gu Family’s Lady, Princess Jiasan.

"Around this time every year, Gu Fuju fails to come home five times out of ten. I know he’s valued by the Holy Emperor, busy with official affairs, unable to make it for Ah Wu’s birthday, and I never fret."