Chapter 35：Over at the Cold Palace

The moment Yin Hua Lei and Xia Lian Bei left, the two maidservants who were waiting outside Sacred Sky palace also followed suit.

The two yatou took note of the masters' agitation and could instantly deduce that something happened to the little princess.

Only Tiandi could move these two persons in such a way.

As they were using qinggong, a shadow intercepted them.

"Mistress, the cold palace has corpses strewn on its courtyard." Zhao Gang immediately reported.

Normal hidden guards couldn't enter the royal palace but because he was a high ranking Xiu assigned to be a Yin daughter's comrade, this man treated the palace as his back garden.

Both Yin Hua Lei and Xia Lian Bei tensed when they heard this. At the same time, they quickened their pace.

Arriving at the cold palace, there were really several corpses dressed as eunuchs and palace maidservants but their physiques indicated that their normal jobs included physical exertion which meant they were only disguised as palace servants.

The blood coming from their bodies was fresh. The fight had just finished.

On the way, Zhao Gang already called some of the Xiu brothers and sisters so he dauntlessly broke the doors.

But what greeted them was a surprise.

"Xin Cai! Xin Du!" Zhao Gang's voice became shrill.

Yin Hua Lei burst inside the main bedroom of the cold palace.

Indeed, her former maidservants were there looking pale and panicking, with splashes of blood on their dresses.

Once they saw Yin Hua Lei, their eyes reddened.

"Mistress, you've come!"

Yin Hua Lei knew her people were far from crybabies. But it must have something to do with how dire the situation was.

It wasn't time to celebrate their reunion yet.

Once she walked over, her face fell.

Xia Luyoung was lying on one side of the big bed. Her lips were almost violet. There were streams of dried blood coming from her eyes, nose and ears.

Seeing this, Xin Ling immediately went closer to see her condition.

Xin Tao went over to Tiandi who was only unconscious and pale but had no blood coming out of her.

"When the surroundings became chaotic, Tenth Highness held the little princess, saying that they should hide. These servants heard it and refused but the Tenth Highness was adamant and so serious." Xin Cai, the more petite girl narrated to Yin Hua Lei and Xia Lian Bei.

Xin Du continued, "Seeing that master was preoccupied, we weren't able to report. Moreover, Tenth Highness hurried us repeatedly."

The master she referred to was Feng wang.

"We went all the way here, and Tenth Highness suddenly stabbed both her maidservants. Saying, 'No one should find us now.' But then, she started convulsing and blood oozed from her orifices."

"Palace people then appeared but they had bad intentions so we kept them at bay but the Tenth Highness' condition worsened. Furthermore, the little princess suddenly lost consciousness!"

Yin Hua Lei remained calm upon hearing this.

But Feng prince wasn't used to bottling up surging emotions.

He wanted to burn the corpses outside, put them on a stake and be dragged by horses!

That was the worst punishment one could experience in the battlefield.

"Tenth Highness is invaded by a gu worm[1]." Xin Ling spoke after examining Xia Luyoung.

"This gu worm serves as a tracker. The mother worm indicated the direction of the child gu and its host. We can still get it out of Tenth princess' body but the chance of success is only half."

Xin Ling mastered poison so she was the expert in this. Xin Tao was better at diagnosing normal sicknesses so currently, she could only follow her sister's lead.

"I don't know what's wrong with the little princess!" Xin Tao became alarmed because she couldn't diagnose what happened to Tiandi.

Xin Ling immediately checked the little girl who seemed to be getting paler by the second.

She sneered, "The child gu reproduced and looked for another host. Quick! Get these things for me!"

Xin Ling wrote a series of herbs and medical necessities, passing them onto Zhao Gang who was gone in a matter of seconds.

"Mistress, Prince Feng, we'll have to ask both of you to go outside first." Xin Tao persuaded.

They wouldn't be able to work properly when there were worried people in the room.

Xia Lian Bei, upon hearing this request, frowned. His exquisite face became devilish.

"Please trust these servants. We will put our lives in the line to save both of them!" Xin Ling exclaimed as she looked pleadingly at her mistress.

Yin Hua Lei also knew the gravity of the situation and she understood the wang shu's worries but they needed to give the doctors their needed space to work.

So she gripped Xia Lian Bei's trembling hand and pulled him outside the main bedroom.

Xin Cai and Xin Du proceeded to get coals to heat the necessary parts of the palace, not minding their minor injuries.

"This is my former residence. Before Imperial Brother conferred me a wangfu..." Xia Lian Bei stared at the gloved hand that was drawing circles on his palm.

Yin Hua Lei was unknowingly doing it out of nervousness and fear but nothing could be seen on her face. So he didn't move his hand to let her vent her emotions.

"Young'er must have known the Empress' plan to abduct Bao Bei so she tried to hide here." He continued, gritting his teeth.

"No... The Empress must have ordered tenth sister to lure Tiandi but she disobeyed. That was why the gu worm reacted."

Gu parasites always acted on specific conditions. If the poison reacted then Xia Luyoung must have done something against the agreement made and that was to give Tiandi to the abductors.

"What a cruel mother..." Xia Lian Bei unconsciously clasped her hand.

He had issues with mothers and women as since he was young, he'd been schemed against by palace women in order to protect their sons. It didn't help that he never saw his mother.

As a grown up, women would try to seduce him and kill him so he was always vigilant.

And the lady currently sitting beside him had consistently broken his heart over the years.

The prince was unconsciously crushing Yin Hua Lei's hand but she didn't feel the pain.

What she felt was his pain, an aching for Tiandi, for the tenth princess, for himself and for the children of the royal family who were used as pawns by their parents.

Xia Luyoung was a great example of that.

Since the Empress had a son who was a contender for the throne and an older daughter who married for connections, Xia Luyoung became a spare tire. And the Empress decided to use her to check[2] the Feng wang shu.

"Thank you for sparing my people's lives." Yin Hua Lei spoke to alleviate tension.

The wang shu snorted. "What? You think I illogically kill people?"

She only shrugged. Wasn't that what was said in the rumors?

Xin Cai and Xin Du were her personal maids too but she left them with Tiandi back then, along with other Xiu hidden guards.

Now that these two were alive, then it also meant that the others were also living well.

She didn't ask why she only got to see them now. It was something Feng wang must have had a hard time deciding.

"Then, can you trust me to be a mother to Tiandi after everything I've done?" She suddenly blurted this out.

Xia Lian Bei raised his eyes to see her blank face.

"Aren't I doing that already?"

Yin Hua Lei's eyes slightly widened as she realized his words.

"Damn girl, you're Bao Bei's mother even if I turn the world upside down. Same thing as I'm her father even if you turn the world upside down. What exactly are you thinking?"

A faint smile was seen in her eyes but she didn't answer.

She was wondering why the wang shu always showed his vulnerability to her. That night when he couldn't contain his anger when she first sought him out, the night he confessed the truth of Tiandi's conception, even the last time they met inside the Gao Le palace. He only ever said the truth straight from his thoughts.

She first dismissed it as him being stupid but it seemed he was quite intelligent despite his bewitching looks.

If she was going to marry this man, then it wouldn't be bad if he was this honest. So maybe, she could also be honest with him.

"Even though the Empress wanted to take Tiandi as hostage, she has no connections in the jianghu to get a gu master."

Xia Lian Bei's plum blossom eyes sharpened.

"Then who is it?"

"Would you believe if I tell you?"

"Would you believe that I foolishly believe every word you say?"

Yin Hua Lei blinked then faintly laughed.

It wasn't a fake laugh but wasn't really counted as a happy kind of laugh because there was anger at the edge of her eyes. Her shoulders were also stiff indicating her current antsy state of mind.

They still had a lot to face outside this cold palace. They might be sitting here appearing as nonchalantly talking but they both knew the severity of the intricate scheme of the people around them.

"Why do I feel like I know what you're thinking?"

Xia Lian Bei couldn't help but curve his lips. This damn girl was probably planning something evil and was already adding his participation in it.

After a few minutes of talking and waiting with baited breaths for the two girls' conditions inside the room, Xin Tao finally opened the doors.

The sun outside had finally set.

"Mistress, your Highness, the little princess' condition is stable. We extracted the gu from her. Xin Ling is still working on the tenth princess but the prospects are looking good. We can expect to extract it in another shichen."

Both Yin Hua Lei's and Xia Lian Bei's countenance brightened a bit.

"Then, transfer Bao Bei to another vacant room so as not to disturb Young'er." Prince Feng stood and instructed Xin Cai to prepare a room.

They still couldn't personally check on Xia Luyoung because the treatment was ongoing so Xin Tao was the one who carried Tiandi to the other room's bed.

Yin Hua Lei caressed her daughter's face which regained a bit of her usual rosiness.

A slightly bigger hand covered hers and Xia Lian Bei kissed the little girl's hair as if this series of actions was the most natural thing in the world.

"Darling, poppa's sorry. It's my fault." He murmured, his brows frowning, eyes misty.

"We don't have time." Yin Hua Lei softly reminded.

Her heart wanted to stay here until Tiandi was awake and Luyoung was finally safe. But they needed to do some things.

"Leave them to mother and your cousins." A gentle voice announced her presence.

Nuo Wan was standing by the door, watching the family of three. She and the twins were fetched by Zhao Gang from the banquet hall. But smuggled was the more accurate term as the hall was strictly guarded.

"Aunt Wan..." Xia Lian Bei was suddenly conflicted upon seeing the woman who acted more of a mother to him during the early days of his youth.

"Lian'er, we will talk once everything settles." She smiled but Feng prince felt a chill run up and down his spine.

Yin Hua Lei walked over and hugged her mother. "We'll be leaving."

She turned back to the wang shu. "Still not walking?"

Xia Lian Bei had an epiphany. Nuo Wan and Yin Hua Lei looked opposite at first glance but were similar in some ways.