Chapter 333: A Scoundrel’s Provocation, the Prime Minister Vomits Blood
Chapter 333: Chapter 333: A Scoundrel’s Provocation, the Prime Minister Vomits Blood
He hadn’t been able to sleep, so he simply sat by the window to handle state affairs.
But just now, in the instant he lifted his eyes, he saw the long-absent moonlight appear.
The cold disaster had been going on for some time. Having not seen the sun or the moon for a long while, Mo Lingwei was momentarily dazed.
He even thought he had seen it wrong.
But after checking again and again, he realized he hadn’t been mistaken.
The moonlight had truly and tangibly appeared from behind the clouds.
And that single, bright beam of moonlight fell gently, flowing over the mountains and fields.
Although it was only for a moment before the moon vanished, hidden once more behind the gloomy clouds.
But Mo Lingwei’s heart still sank.
After his initial astonishment, his expression became much more complex.
The State Preceptor had once said that the blessed girl who could end the cold disaster would surely be the one to make the sun and moon reappear.
’And wasn’t the direction that moonlight was shining just now Wolf Mountain?’
Mo Lingwei leaned on the window lattice, his narrow eyes deep and dark.
「The next day.」
After Xie Suzhi left the morning court session and finished discussing matters with Grand Tutor Ye and the others, his sedan chair was stopped on a palace path just as he was about to leave.
"My lord, Con... Consort Rong is outside," one of the sedan bearers said with difficulty.
Xie Suzhi’s expression darkened. He lifted the curtain and stepped out.
He saw Consort Rong, dressed not in her usual dignified and opulent attire, but looking haggard and pale.
But her eyes were a burning black.
In the biting cold wind, with the snow-white court as her backdrop, she stared straight at him.
Like a mournful, resentful soul.
Xie Suzhi cupped his hands. "This servant pays his respects to Consort Rong."
Leaning on a palace maid’s arm, Consort Rong slowly walked forward.
She looked at Xie Suzhi, her voice faint and chilling. "Prime Minister, are you satisfied now? To see me so down and out, scorned by the Emperor—this is what you wanted to see, isn’t it?"
Xie Suzhi straightened up, his expression unchanging, his eyes as piercingly cold as a blizzard.
"Consort Rong, I’m afraid you’re overthinking things. This servant had no intention of targeting you. I was merely forced to retaliate in order to protect myself."
Consort Rong let out a wretched, miserable laugh.
"Oh, ’retaliate.’ You make it sound so noble."
"Have you ever thought, if my older sister were still alive, would she allow you to treat me this way?"
At the mention of Shen Siyi, a crack appeared on Xie Suzhi’s calm facade.
Consort Rong then took a step closer. "Chancellor Xie, don’t you forget, I was the little sister my older sister doted on the most."
"Do you remember? It was snowing heavily on the day she died, wasn’t it? How cold that lake water was... Did she struggle before she died? Was she in despair? And where were you?"
Xie Suzhi’s fists clenched. "Stop talking."
Consort Rong’s eyes turned red, and she seemed a little crazed. "Why can’t I talk about it? I’m going to say the very thing you don’t dare to face."
"You were so busy looking after your second brother that you neglected your wife, whose mental state was already unstable! You and your second brother are both half-responsible for Shen Siyi’s death!"
"And now you move against me for the sake of your second brother’s wife? Xie Suzhi, you truly are a hypocritical, heartless man!"
Xie Suzhi gritted his teeth. "If Consort Rong hadn’t tried to blackmail me using the matter of my sister-in-law, this servant would not have gone this far."
Consort Rong let out a derisive laugh, full of mockery.
She turned, took the palace maid’s arm, and walked away step by step.
Xie Suzhi’s eyes were grim.
A bearer approached, trembling. "My lord... are you all right?"
’The Prime Minister’s face is so pale!’
"I’m fine. Back to the mansion," Xie Suzhi said, turning to sit back in the sedan.
However, he suddenly felt a warmth in his throat, accompanied by an itch.
He pressed a fist to his thin lips and coughed violently.
Suddenly, he opened his palm and saw a startling splash of red blood.
And the taste of blood already filled his mouth.
For some reason, the suppressed pain in his heart left Xie Suzhi somewhat dazed.
He looked at the blood in his palm and felt it was cold, just like when he had held the soaking wet body of Shen Siyi on the day she died.
He had practically knelt before her sickbed, watching the Divine Doctor administer medicine.
But he could only watch as Shen Siyi’s once-vibrant complexion turned deathly blue, little by little.
In the end, the lover who had once been so charmingly bright and beautiful became a cold corpse in a coffin.
He had arrived too late, far too late...
The sedan chair stopped outside the Prime Minister’s Mansion.
The housekeeper, Uncle Pang, came out and said to the bearers with a frown, "The sedan has been stopped for a while. Why haven’t you helped His Lordship out?"
The bearers said awkwardly, "We called out, but His Lordship didn’t respond. We didn’t dare disturb him again."
Uncle Pang found this strange.
So he stepped forward to lift the curtain, respectfully calling out, "My lord, you... AHH!!"
He let out a terrified scream.
Inside the sedan, Xie Suzhi was slumped weakly to one side, his eyes shut tight in a stupor, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Quick, call for the Divine Doctor! Quick!"
「An hour later.」
Shen Ningning had been in class at the National Academy.
When she heard the news, she dropped everything and immediately rushed back to the Xie Mansion.
Her little feet pattered as she hurried toward the main courtyard.
"Godfather! Godfather!" the little one’s soft voice was laced with anxiety.
Just as she rounded a corner, she saw Xie Ming’an listening to the Divine Doctor speak, his face dark.
"It’s an ailment caused by matters of the heart, somewhat similar to Second Master Xie’s situation. He must not get angry, or his rage will attack his heart. In a severe case, the outcome will be the same as Second Master Xie’s—paralysis at best, or at worst... *sigh*." Sima Han shook his head and sighed.
Xie Ming’an clenched his fists and turned to leave. "I’m going to find Consort Rong and settle this."
He brushed past Shen Ningning.
Sima Han said hurriedly, "Commandery Princess, you have to stop the Second Young Master! Going to make trouble at a time like this will only make things worse."
But Shen Ningning turned and glanced at Xie Ming’an’s cold, departing back.
Her little face was resolute. "Let him go. He should go and get to the bottom of this. Otherwise, the person who bullied Godfather will think there’s no one in the Xie Mansion to stand up for us!"
Seeing Shen Ningning so full of spirited confidence, Sima Han nodded in approval.
The little one quickly lifted the curtain and went inside.
The dim room was heated by the underfloor dragon, making it warm but stuffy, and inducing drowsiness.
On the sickbed, Xie Suzhi’s face was a sickly white.
Even in his stupor, his brow was furrowed.
"What exactly happened?" The little one called housekeeper Uncle Pang over to ask.
Uncle Pang said sorrowfully, "His Lordship... His Lordship was angered by Consort Rong! Those Qi family people, they’re really no good at all."
Then, Uncle Pang told Shen Ningning everything he had heard from the sedan bearers.
As soon as the little one heard it, she was certain: Consort Rong had done this as deliberate revenge!
’She knows where Godfather’s heartache lies, and she tore open the scab right where it hurts the most!’
Just then, Second Master Xie was pushed in by an attendant.
"Big Brother, what’s wrong with you?" he asked, so anxious he nearly fell out of his wheelchair.
He all but stumbled to the side of the bed.
Shen Ningning gently patted Second Master Xie’s arm. "Second Uncle, don’t worry. The Divine Doctor just checked him. Godfather’s pulse is stable now. He just needs to rest!"
Second Master Xie’s eyes reddened. "Alright, I’ll stay here with Big Brother."
Uncle Pang said, "Then this old servant will go brew His Lordship’s medicine."
The moment Shen Ningning heard that, she immediately said, "I’ll go too."
Sima Han took the opportunity to follow them. He had always felt that Shen Ningning was a rare and promising talent.
She learned medical arts extremely quickly, so he planned to teach her more of the Qihuang Skill.
In the small kitchen for brewing medicine, Shen Ningning took out her own waterskin.
"Use my water to brew it." ’The Spiritual Spring Water will help Godfather get better faster.’
While they were there, she asked Sima Han, "Grandpa Divine Doctor, my godfather’s symptom looks like an old ailment. How long has he had it?"
Sima Han stroked his beard, his eyes showing approval. "The Commandery Princess is very observant. The Prime Minister’s condition of coughing up blood is indeed long-standing."
"For about four years now."
’In other words, it started ever since the real young daughter of the Xie family went missing, and then Godmother Shen Siyi passed away.’
’Those two events dealt Xie Suzhi a heavy blow.’
Shen Ningning’s bright, watery eyes dimmed, and she pursed her little lips in a pained expression.
As soon as the medicine was brewed, the little one personally took the spoon and fed it to Xie Suzhi.
Second Master Xie stood by, his eyes glistening with tears. He said with emotion, "When Big Brother wakes up and sees how sensible Ningning is, he will surely be gratified."
Shen Ningning gave a sweet, well-behaved smile.
"Godfather dotes on me so much. I should take care of him as if he were my own father."
Just then, a servant ran over.
"This is bad, it’s—" Before he could finish, Shen Ningning shot him a sideways glance.
Her imposing aura was sharp and commanding.
The servant immediately shut his mouth, hesitating to speak.
Second Master Xie frowned and asked worriedly, "What is it?"
Shen Ningning put down the bowl and spoon. "Second Uncle, you feed Godfather his medicine. If something’s happened, leave it to me and Uncle Pang. We’ll worry about it."
The little one stopped the servant from shouting because Second Master Xie was ill himself.
And Xie Suzhi also needed to rest quietly.
Therefore, she stepped out of the room, led the servant a little farther away, and then asked, "What happened?"
The servant lowered his voice and said hurriedly, "The Second Young Master has been punished and sent back from the palace."