Chapter 260: A Regretful Return
As night fell, the temperature in the mountains plummeted.
Xue Yuechen woke up half an hour later, her first thought upon opening her eyes being to see her son.
Fei Cui hesitated for a long time before handing the swaddling clothes to her bedside.
“Princess Consort, it is a little County Princess with delicate features…”
The wrinkled infant in the swaddling clothes had skin with a faint bluish tint, and her cries were as weak as a thread…
“No, impossible!” Xue Yuechen struggled to sit up, shaking her head, and lunged towards the bed like a madwoman, tearing open the swaddling clothes.
Upon seeing the infant’s features, she let out a piercing scream.
“No, it’s wrong… you’re mistaken… I gave birth to the Heir Apparent, the Prince’s legitimate eldest son…”
She raised her bloodshot eyes and gripped Fei Cui’s arms tightly with her hands.
“All three Imperial Astronomers said this child was a Qilin descending to the mortal world. Blessed with great fortune, destined to reign as emperor…”
Fei Cui lowered her gaze, not daring to meet her eyes.
“Princess Consort, you have just given birth, your body is still weak. You must rest and recover, do not harm your precious body…”
Xue Yuechen slumped back, pulling the quilt, and let out a whimper like a trapped beast from her throat.
“My child, where has my child gone…”
Li Huan heard her cries and pushed the door open, his expression somber and silent.
Xue Yuechen suddenly looked at him, her eyes filled with madness and stubbornness.
“Your Highness, your concubine gave birth to your legitimate eldest son, your legitimate eldest son…”
Seeing Li Huan remain silent, she stared intently at the Bodhisattva portrait on the wall, tears streaming down her face.
“I have offered sacrifices daily and chanted sutras nightly, how could I not give birth to a son… they must have made a mistake. Your Highness, please help your concubine, find our son!”
Li Huan walked towards her in silence and reached out to gently stroke the swaddling clothes.
“The young lady is also very good.”
“It’s not the same!” Xue Yuechen knew the difference between sons and daughters and the disparity in their status. She tightly grasped Li Huan’s sleeve, looking up at him, tears flowing down her face.
“How can a daughter bring glory to the family, help Your Highness expand the lineage and continue the ancestral line?”
The infant was clearly startled by her, its cries growing more urgent.
Its little face turned red. Seeking its mother’s scent, it cried and opened its mouth, as if searching for its mother’s comfort…
Xue Sui, unable to listen any longer from outside, lifted the curtain and entered. She patted the child who was crying heartbrokenly and handed her to Xue Yuechen.
“Princess Consort, the child is hungry.”
Whether it was a son or a daughter.
At this moment, as a mother, the most important thing was to nurse…
Xue Yuechen, however, was deaf to her words, lost in the “grief of losing her son,” her eyes vacant.
“This is not my child. I gave birth to a son, Sixth Sister, you were the one who delivered the baby, you must have seen my son, right… tell me quickly, where has my son gone…”
Seeing this, Xue Sui silently handed the infant to Fei Cui and turned to leave.
Li Huan cast a deep glance at Xue Yuechen and quickly went out to chase her to the corridor.
“Ping An.”
The north wind howled past, creating a piercing whistle.
Xue Sui stopped and turned to look at him, clasping her hands in a salute.
“The Princess Consort has just given birth and is greatly depleted of qi and blood. Her emotions are easily agitated, and she should not be overexerted or heartbroken. Your Highness should spend more time with her.”
Li Huan stepped closer, “Ping An, are you still resentful of this Prince because of that night’s events?”
Xue Sui lowered her eyes, her eyelashes like frost.
“At a time like this, Your Highness is still concerned with such trivial matters?”
Li Zhao’s words in the dining hall that day suddenly came to mind.
She suddenly let out a cold laugh, “So, was your household’s Medical Officer Chen’s visit to Granny Wang’s pharmacy on West Street truly to help the Princess Consort with her pregnancy? Before I left the mansion, the Princess Consort’s pulse was stable, and her pregnancy was safe. How could she have a sudden hemorrhage and difficult labor without any warning? Did Medical Officer Chen not carefully tend to the Princess Consort’s health?”
Li Huan’s expression turned cold.
He understood the implied meaning and stared at Xue Sui with bloodshot eyes.
“In your eyes, am I such a treacherous villain? Unable to tolerate even my own flesh and blood?”
Their eyes met.
Xue Sui gazed at him intently, her voice indifferent.
“Your Highness, please return. This nun is not in a position to comment on matters within the Prince’s Mansion…”
With that, she bowed and left resolutely.
Li Huan watched her retreating figure and finally let out a long sigh…
–
The heavy snow sealed the mountains, and Shui Yue Nunnery seemed forgotten by time…
For the next two days, Xue Sui did not visit Xue Yuechen again.
However, every morning, the young nuns sweeping snow could see the Crown Prince standing in the east wing corridor, his figure so quiet it seemed to blend with the snow-covered red walls, whether he was gazing or contemplating.
One evening, as dusk began to fall, Guo Yunrong came to find Xue Sui with plum blossoms and spoke subtly about Li Huan.
“When I came over just now, I saw the Prince gazing foolishly at Sister Xue’s residence…”
She glanced at Xue Sui, hesitating to speak further.
“Prince Duan’s affection for Sister Xue is deep.”
Xue Sui fiddled with the prayer beads on her wrist, her fingertips pausing on an old scar.
She smiled and said nothing, her expression unreadable.
Guo Yunrong tilted her head to look at her, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
“Both Prince Duan and the Crown Prince are infatuated with you, Sister. Who do you truly favor in your heart?”
Xue Sui looked at her innocent expression and the corners of her lips curved upwards—
This young lady was heartbroken over Li Zhao’s broken engagement just the day before yesterday, and today she could joke freely.
People with simple minds indeed forget their troubles easily. Third Miss Guo was naturally a bird in a happy forest, unable to hold onto sorrow for long. Unlike her, whose hatred was deeply buried, making it difficult to truly find peace and release…
She lowered her gaze and chanted Amitabha.
“Both are wicked beings, why mention them!?”
Guo Yunrong was taken aback.
In a moment, she started laughing herself.
“Sister, you’re so amusing! I love your straightforward personality. Men of the mortal world are like drinking cool tea that burns your mouth; it’s better to have the vegetarian meals at the temple for sustenance… If all else fails, I’ll cut my hair tomorrow and become a nun in the nunnery…”
“County Princess, don’t be silly.” Xue Sui chided her.
“Why can’t I be silly?”
“Buddha’s wrath!”
“Even Buddha takes naps sometimes… If they truly cared about these things, they would have long ago broken Prince Duan’s horse’s bit. And replaced the Crown Prince’s calculating thoughts about Sister with burning prayer beads…”
“Pfft!” Xue Sui couldn’t help but laugh.
“Sister Xue, you’re smiling. You look so beautiful when you smile…”
In fact, Xue Sui always smiled, but it was not from the heart and did not reach her eyes. The rare, genuine smile that bloomed at this moment was like scattered light emanating from ice shards, mesmerizing Guo Yunrong.
As they were chatting and laughing, Fei Cui hurried in to see them.
She bowed to both of them, her brows furrowed with worry.
“Sixth Miss, the Princess Consort refuses to take her medicine or nurse… The little County Princess is crying from hunger…”
“Give her some rice water for now.” Xue Sui said calmly, “The roads are blocked, and in these remote mountains, we cannot find a wet nurse…”
Fei Cui, a servant brought from the Xue family, was well aware of the sisters’ grievances and entanglements.
She choked back a sob, bowed again, and prostrated herself.
“Please, Sixth Miss, have mercy and come with me to persuade the Princess Consort!”
Xue Sui chuckled.
“Even the Prince couldn’t persuade her, so what use would it be for me to go? Everything in life has its destiny, and fate has its own course. There is no need to add to the trouble…”
Seeing her firm attitude, Fei Cui sighed, wiped her tears, and retreated.
Guo Yunrong watched the curtain slowly fall and then said with a sigh.
“Seeing the Princess Consort in such a state is truly heartbreaking…”
After saying that, as if thinking of something, she suddenly trembled, “If a woman cannot give birth to a son, will she be disliked by her husband’s family, unable to hold her head up, and be pointed at and gossiped about?”
Before Xue Sui could answer, she patted her forehead, regretting her words.
“No, no, I’m not married yet, why am I worrying about this?”
Xue Sui was amused by her, her eyes twinkling.
“County Princess has deep blessings. In the future, you will surely give birth to a pair of twins, completing the auspicious union.”
Guo Yunrong lowered her head shyly upon hearing this, her cheeks flushing red.
“Don’t tease me! Sister, please teach me how to make plum blossom fermented rice quickly. Once the mountain roads are clear, I’m going to show off my skills to the Empress… Hurry, hurry, don’t hide your secrets…”
Xue Sui smiled and nodded.
For these three days, the two of them ate and played together, as close as sisters.
Guo Yunrong was naturally a carefree person with a broad-minded and straightforward personality. After a few days of getting along, she thought that day, she was actually a little fortunate…
Fortunately, she hadn’t lost such a good confidante as Xue Liu for the sake of romantic entanglements.
–
On the fourth day, the sky cleared, and the mountain path was finally passable.
Just before dawn, the carriages and horses of Prince Duan’s Mansion stopped grandly outside Shui Yue Nunnery.
The wet nurse held the swaddling clothes and soothed the little County Princess, who, having eaten her fill and fallen asleep, no longer cried and was finally at peace.
Everyone in the nunnery breathed a sigh of relief.
Xue Yuechen, wrapped in a fox fur coat and supported by a maidservant, got into the carriage. A trace of sorrow flickered in her swollen eyes, and her expression was dazed.
Li Huan personally lifted the curtain and gestured. She, as if possessed, turned back to bid farewell to Abbess Huiming and Xue Sui.
“Take care, Abbess! Sixth Sister, take care…”
“The Princess Consort is still weak. Be careful on the road.”
Xue Sui clasped her hands and nodded, her tone calm and unruffled.
As she turned, she saw Li Huan standing by a dark horse, speaking with Guo Yunrong.
The rising sun cast a golden edge on his sharp profile, but it could not illuminate the deep pool in his eyes.
Xue Sui stepped forward and bowed, “I wish Your Highness a safe journey and a smooth return!”
She then bowed to Guo Yunrong, “County Princess, take care as well!”
“Sister Xue, take care!”
Guo Yunrong, her eyes red, walked closer and tightly grasped Xue Sui’s hands, which were cold.
“When the roads are better in spring, I will come to see you again. Sister, you won’t be annoyed by my visit, will you?”
Xue Sui smiled and adjusted the cloak that the wind had ruffled for her.
“If the County Princess can come to the nunnery to stay for a while, this nun would be delighted…”
Guo Yunrong’s eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded, “Then it’s settled, I will definitely come! Sister Xue, you must take good care of yourself.”
As she spoke, she took a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and pressed it into Xue Sui’s hand.
“This is for you. I embroidered it myself. Please don’t dislike it, Sister.”
Xue Sui looked at the plain white handkerchief, on which a winter plum blossom was embroidered with silver thread in the corner. The needlework was delicate and lifelike, warming her heart. She bowed and said:
“Thank you, County Princess.”
The two parted reluctantly, with countless words of farewell.
Inside the carriage, Xue Yuechen watched them talking intimately through the gauze curtain, a hint of unspeakable bitterness in her eyes…
The carriage wheels rumbled as the convoy slowly moved away…
Guo Yunrong poked her head out of the carriage and waved a silk handkerchief at Xue Sui.
At that moment, Li Huan suddenly turned his horse back.
He rode up to Xue Sui and placed a sandalwood box on the ground. His cloak swept past, stirring up a gust of cold wind.
“Old belongings, a pity to throw away. You often accompany the quiet lamp in the mountains, living a simple life. Perhaps this can help pass the time…”
Before Xue Sui could refuse, he had already ridden away.
Jinshu stepped forward and opened the box. Inside lay the familiar ivory jade chess set. Each black and white chess piece lay quietly in its container, warm to the touch.
This was truly a precious item…
Xue Sui looked up into the distance, seeing Li Huan’s figure disappear at the end of the mountain path, merging into the vast snowy light.
The bell of the nunnery rang out leisurely, startling a few crows.
Xue Sui slowly walked up the stone steps and suddenly saw the old plum tree outside the nunnery gate. The new snow on its branches had just melted, revealing dots of crimson, and many plump flower buds had emerged…
The weather had warmed up.
She wondered if there would be a turning point in the border war…
The old plum tree, blown by the mountain wind, shed its abundant flowers like rouge, spreading a warm hue.
Xue Sui looked at the delicate flower buds and suddenly remembered Li Zhao’s look back and smile on his horse before he went to war…
It was like a soul-snatching bait thrown by fate.
“Goo goo.” Spirit Feather pecked at her finger as if to comfort her.
Xue Sui smiled slightly and held it in her palm, “Spirit Feather, tell me, is it truly so hard to let go of this mortal world?”
Spirit Feather tilted its head and rubbed against her.
It was so affectionate, as if gently kissing her fingertips…
