Chapter 633 The Red Sachet Hanging at the Bedside
Prince Cheng’s showing up in the Huaguang Temple was actually an accident!
He did come to the Huaguang Temple for something. However, upon his arrival at the Huaguang Temple, he received a strange letter which said that Chu Liuchen claimed to come to the Huaguang Temple for recovery but actually had a plot, where he was going to collude with Commandery Prince Qing, Chu Qing, his biological brother.
Although the Emperor had conferred the t.i.tle of prince upon Chu Liuchen, which was equivalent to accepting Chu Liuchen as his son, and Chu Liuchen could declare himself a prince in front of the Emperor. But after all, he was not the Emperor’s biological son. In terms of kins.h.i.+p, Chu Qing was his closest brother.
What were they up to? The answer was obvious!
The letter said that if Prince Cheng didn’t believe it, he could go to the place where Chu Liuchen recuperated. At this time, he was definitely not there!
Prince Cheng was dubious about the letter. After thinking for a while, he decided to go there. If he didn’t find anything unusual, it meant that the letter was a trap. If he found something unusual, it meant that Chu Liuchen had a plot. Prince Cheng wondered why the invalid strove for power because no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be able to inherit the throne!
Anyway, with doubts in his heart, Prince Cheng led a group of people to “visit the patient”.
There was a distance between Prince Cheng’s residence and here. When Prince Cheng came over, he saw two guards at the door. At the sight of him, the two guards hurriedly stepped forward, bowed to him, and said, “Greetings, Your Highness!”
“Where’s your master?”
Prince Cheng asked with a smile.
“Our master is inside!”
“Tell him that I’m here.” Prince Cheng said with a nod.
A guard turned around and went to report. After a while, Xiao Xuanzi ran out cheerfully. Before he got close, he said joyfully, “Greetings, Your Highness!”
“Forego formalities!” Prince Cheng waved his sleeve and said, “What is your master doing now?”
“His Highness just took the medicine and fell asleep. Your Highness, please come in!” Xiao Xuanzi said with a smile while leading Prince Cheng inside.
“Since he’s sleeping, how can I disturb him?” After taking two steps forward, Prince Cheng stopped and said. He, who usually liked living in major temples, did not care about the affairs of his nephews in the imperial palace, only went to visit the Empress Dowager when he entered the imperial palace and was not close to other members of the royal family.
“My master is sick most of the time, so those who come to visit him could get in and have a look at him. It’ll waste a lot of time if you wait until he wakes up! Your Highness, please come in!” Xiao Xuanzi continued inviting him in enthusiastically.
It was true that everyone knew that Chu Liuchen was in poor health, and there were some people coming to visit him from time to time. Of course, not everyone could be allowed to get in and have a look at him. Plenty of people couldn’t even enter Prince Chen’s Mansion.
“He just took the medicine?” Prince Cheng said with a nod. He instructed others to wait at the door, and then followed Xiao Xuanzi into the room with Xiqi.
“Yes, he just took a little medicine and may wake up in a while. My master has always been a light sleeper with difficulty in sleeping. If he could sleep well, maybe he could get much better.” Xiao Xuanzi said, preoccupied with some troubles, “In recent days, my master has slept much better than before!”
“Was the situation even worse before?” Prince Cheng asked with a frown.
“Exactly. In the past, no one was allowed to make a sound when my master was asleep. Anyone who disturbs my master in his sleep would be severely punished. Once there was someone dull waking up my master, which made the Empress Dowager so angry that she almost killed all members of his family!”
Xiao Xuanzi said.
“All members of his family? Was he a servant in the imperial palace?” Prince Cheng asked curiously.
“Of course not. He came to the imperial palace to visit the Empress Dowager and paid an unnecessary visit to my master. Unfortunately, my master didn’t feel well that day and struggled to fall asleep. After being woken up, my master felt so uncomfortable that he even spat out the medicine which I tried hard to persuade him to take. How could the Empress Dowager not get angry? You know, the Empress Dowager is most concerned about my master’s health!”
Xiao Xuanzi led Prince Cheng to the main room, while chatting with him with a flattering smile, “Your Highness, here are some stairs. Be careful.”
Prince Cheng nodded and went up the stairs. There were also two guards standing in front of the main room. Seeing them come over, the two guards hurriedly lifted the curtain.
“Your Highness, please come in!” After entering the room, Xiao Xuanzi said in a much lower voice than he did outside, while enthusiastically leading Prince Cheng inside with the same smile.
Prince Cheng came in and looked at the ornaments in the room. Although the rooms in a Buddhist temple were usually simply and elegantly decorated, he could tell that the ornaments in the room were elegant but valuable. Compared with the courtyard where he lived, it was obviously decorated in a much better and meticulous way.
He had come to the Huaguang Temple before. The courtyard, where he lived, was chosen by himself. There were plenty of courtyards distributed in different parts prepared for the members of the royal family. Only the courtyard was the least splendid and could be considered the least conspicuous one among the royal courtyards, and that was what he wanted.
Before the situation was clear, he hoped to avoid the attention of the Emperor and officials of all ranks. Now he was just a pract.i.tioner, who still wore his hair with a desire to be a monk and didn’t even want to get married.
A pract.i.tioner like him should be aloof and indifferent!
What did the letter mean? As he thought, he glanced at Xiao Xuanzi’s flattering and friendly smiling face. It seemed that all the eunuchs had the same expression, and he could not find any difference at the moment.
He continued walking inside.
On the bed behind the screen, Shao Wanru was on tenterhooks and only felt that almost every footstep of Prince Cheng made her heart skip a beat. She pressed her chest with one hand, closed her eyes tightly, and didn’t dare to move, only feeling her rapid heartbeat. She bit her lip hard and managed to suppress her rapid breathing.
She couldn’t help clenching her fists under the quilt!
“Your Highness, please come here!” She heard Xiao Xuanzi say in a low voice, which was friendly and relaxed, and come at a light pace. Obviously, he was afraid of disturbing the person on the bed!
Afraid of disturbing the person on the bed?
With a sparkle in her eyes, Shao Wanru seemed to realize something. She relaxed a little with her long eyelashes fluttering and her eyes closed tightly, only listening to what was going on outside.
The footsteps were indeed light, but they belonged to more than one person. Prince Cheng really came!
Prince Cheng followed Xiao Xuanzi past the screen, entered the inner room, and immediately fixed his eyes on the red sachet hanging on the gauze curtain at the head of the bed.
It was indeed impossible for such an incompatible red sachet among the simple decoration of the room not to attract Prince Cheng’s attention. The bright color and the gorgeous peony made the sachet quite eye-catching.
With his hands suddenly trembling and his eyes slightly twitching, Prince Cheng looked slightly sullen and said, “Why is there such a vulgar sachet hanging on Prince Chen’s bedside? This is a quiet place in a temple!”
He didn’t say loudly, but he was obviously furious. Shao Wanru, who was on the bed, stretched her ears. In fact, she was curious about why Prince Cheng seemed to be displeased with the red sachet.
Xiao Xuanzi also saw the sachet hanging at the bedside. After thinking for a while, he realized something and thought that the Fifth Miss Shao was so smart. He lowered his voice, approached Prince Cheng, and whispered with a smile, “Your Highness, this sachet was sent by the Empress Dowager for exorcising evil spirits. It is said that red can suppress evil spirits.”
“Well, why is it made into a sachet with a peony pattern?” Hearing that it was sent by the Empress Dowager, Prince Cheng asked in a low voice with the coldness on his face fading a little, although he still looked unkind.
“It’s said that it is made into a sachet because a sachet is easier to hang. A piece of hanging red cloth doesn’t look good. Regarding the peony… it’s probably also for good looking.” Xiao Xuanzi reached out to touch his head and explained in confusion, indicating that he was not clear about it either. Since it was sent by the Empress Dowager, it was inappropriate for Xiao Xuanzi to ask about it.
It seemed that Xiao Xuanzi had asked about it, but didn’t get an answer!
Of course, the Empress Dowager’s servant could not be inquired casually. Even Chu Liuchen, her beloved grandson, might not be able to get the answer.
This was very real!
Prince Cheng tried hard to look away from the red sachet and then looked at the bed. There was a vague figure behind the gauze curtain, which indicated that someone was sleeping on the bed.
“Your Highness, let me lift the gauze curtain. Please take a look and don’t wake my master up, okay?” Xiao Xuanzi said in an increasingly low voice with a flattering smile on his bitter face and looked at Prince Cheng pleadingly.
At the moment, Shao Wanru, who had been prepared on the bed, felt her heart pounded rapidly. If she was covered with the quilt, Prince Cheng might not be able to tell that she was a fake. However, if Prince Cheng lifted the quilt slightly or checked on her while pulling the quilt for her, he would inevitably discover that she was a fake.
She was lying on the side with her face toward the wall and not completely covered with the quilt. Besides her hair, half of her face was also exposed. As long as Prince Cheng leaned forward to check on her, he would definitely discover that she was not Chu Liuchen. When the time came, neither Chu Liuchen nor she could explain it.
But in the current situation, the only thing she could do was to clench her teeth and hold on and see which of them could hold on till the final moment!
Gnashed her teeth, Shao Wanru went all out and decided to stop thinking. With nothing in her mind, she became composed and her hands stopped trembling.
Prince Cheng nodded and looked at the red sachet hanging on the gauze curtain with disgust again. Instead of moving forward, he took a step back.
Xiao Xuanzi went forward and lifted half of the gauze curtain, revealing the figure reclining on the bed. She was not completely covered with the quilt, and half of her face was exposed and toward the wall. Under her long black hair, there was her white and tender skin. At this moment, she slept there and breathed steadily without being disturbed by what was going on besides the bed.
“Your Highness, haven’t you seen my master for a long time? Would you like to come and have a look at him?” Xiao Xuanzi lowered his voice to invite Prince Cheng to come nearer while lifting the gauze curtain.
It was supposed to be Prince Cheng’s idea. He did intend to check if the person on the bed was Chu Liuchen. Only in this way could he solve the doubts in his heart. However, Xiao Xuanzi said what he wanted to say. He frowned slightly, looked up at the red sachet hanging on the gauze curtain, and stepped forward…