Those barely suppressed surging emotions flashed past, and Xie Xun did not miss the familiar yet unfamiliar face under Qin Rushuang's golden mask.
Why...why is she wearing a golden mask?
…
After the lieutenants left, Xie Xun left Nie Lei behind, whom he had not seen for a long time.
Nie Lei took the initiative to take over the job of helping Xie Xun change gauze.
"You followed her all the way here, do you know what happened to her face?"
"My lord, let others talk to you about this matter. In fact, the general is not very clear about it either."
Nie Lei raised his head, recalled what happened along the way, and said to Xie Xun: "I only know that the mask on the princess's face is only taken off when she goes to bed at night, and she seems to have to apply some ointment to her face every day.
I don’t know the end of the general.”
Xie Xun nodded, "Call Qingzhi over."
"Oh, I will call her right away."
Nie Lei went to Qin Rushuang's tent. Qin Rushuang was resting, while Mu Duo and Shen Xiaoyang were playing with their babies. Qingzhi sat aside and watched.
Hearing Nie Lei say that Xie Xun came to see her for something, Qingzhi frowned and complained: "It's rare to take a break. If the prince wants to ask me, a maid, anything, it's really disturbing to the peace."
What Qingzhi said was not polite. If it had been before, Nie Lei would have cursed him on the spot. It is your honor that the prince wants to see you!
But now Nie Lei didn't dare to fart, and even said to Qingzhi somewhat flatteringly: "You will know when Miss Qingzhi goes."
"Miss, then I..."
Qin Rushuang waved her hand: "Go."
Hearing Qingzhi call Miss Qin Rushuang, Nie Lei thought about the first time he heard Qingzhi call Qin Rushuang, and he had asked Qingzhi why he called the princess Miss?
What answered him was Qin Rushuang's careless "Didn't Princess Huai die in the fire? I am Qin Rushuang now, why shouldn't she call me Miss?"
Nie Lei closed his mouth and did not dare to speak.
Why not?
Of course not!
How can a married woman still ask her maid to call her "Miss"? Isn't this because she wants to separate from the prince?
But again, Nie Lei knew that he was in the wrong. From the first time he saw Qin Rushuang again, he didn't dare to ask a single word.
Qingzhi, led by Nie Lei, came to the main tent.
She raised her head and saw the weak Xie Xun. She only leaned over slightly and saluted casually, then asked, "Why does the prince call your slave?"
His perfunctory energy was worse than directly telling Xie Xun that he was about to fart.
"How are you guys doing after you left the hospital?"
Qingzhi rolled her eyes in her heart and said the same words as Qin Rushuang at that time.
"TOEFL, they are all still alive."
Xie Xun knew that he could not ask anything important from Qingzhi, so he could only change the topic to the doubts in his heart.
"Why is she... wearing a mask on her face?"
Qingzhi almost immediately wanted to curse, but finally held back.
He swallowed the words "It's not because of you that the princess was disfigured."
She said in a cold voice, "If the prince wants to know why the lady wears a mask, he might as well go to the lady's tent and see for himself."
After saying that, he left angrily.
Qingzhi couldn't understand why the young lady could be so indifferent when seeing the prince. As far as she was concerned, she could never forgive Xie Xun for what he had done.
No matter for any reason, Xie Xun's harm to the young lady is real. How come the young lady has experienced so much pain, but this man can know nothing about it!
He must be made aware of the suffering the young lady has suffered, and he must be made to regret it for the rest of his life!
Qingzhi left quickly, and Xie Xun struggled to get up and get dressed as soon as Qingzhi left.
"Your Majesty! Your injury has not healed yet. The doctor said you have to stay in bed for at least half a month. How can you get up now?"
As the movement of getting up pulled the wound, Xie Xun's brows furrowed deeply, and a little red appeared on the bandage on his chest.
"Your Majesty!" Nie Lei comforted in a low voice: "The princess is very angry now. It won't help if you go."
Xie Xun hesitated, but still firmly asked Nie Lei to put on his clothes.
"There are some things that I must go and see for myself."
Nie Lei sighed, looked at Xie Xun with firm eyes, and finally helped Xie Xun put on his clothes.
Xie Xun looked haggard and had a messy beard.
Under Nie Lei's care, he shaved off his beard. Although he still felt sick, he seemed to be more energetic.
It's just that Nie Lei stood behind Xie Xun and saw Xie Xun's eyes lowered through the bronze mirror. He always felt that he could see a hint of gloom about the coming rain in the prince's eyes...
Is it his imagination?
After packing up, Xie Xun arrived at Qin Rushuang's tent with the help of Nie Lei.
It was a coincidence that when Xie Xun arrived, Qin Rushuang was telling Qingzhi to bring out a plaster made from bone-breaking grass.
Seeing Xie Xun coming, Qin Rushuang was not too surprised and only glanced at Qingzhi.
"Did you tell him about the injury to my face?"
Qingzhi pursed her lips and turned her head.
"He asked himself, and he came to see it himself. It's none of my business."
Qin Rushuang was just stunned for a moment, and then continued her next action. From beginning to end, she never thought of avoiding Xie Xun.
She gently took off the golden mask on her face.
It had healed a lot, but the scars that still looked a little hideous were quickly exposed.
When Xie Xun saw the ferocious scars on his once flawless face, his mind buzzed, and the voices around him seemed to have faded away, and he could no longer hear anything clearly.
How could...how could this have happened...
her face...
How could Qin Rushuang's stunning face, which she was so proud of, and her once stunning appearance in Kyoto, become like this?
Qin Rushuang glanced at Xie Xun, who was still in shock, and took out a jar of plaster.
When I went to the border this time, there was no way to pick fresh bonegrass at any time. Fortunately, Taoist Lianqing helped Qin Rushuang make a plaster of bonegrass that can be applied to the affected area. The effect is the same as fresh bonegrass.
Of course, the pain caused is exactly the same.
Qin Rushuang has experienced this kind of pain too many times and has long been indifferent. However, Xie Xun behind Qin Rushuang remained motionless, watching Qin Rushuang's movements intently.
He looked at Qin Rushuang's once stunning face, which had obvious ferocious scars;
He watched Qin Rushuang apply the dark green ointment on her face;
He watched as the originally intact skin was slowly being corroded by the plaster;
He looked at Qin Rushuang's physiological tears sliding down her cheeks under the severe pain...
In the end, the skin was corroded, repaired, and reconstructed, and returned to its original appearance, except that the scars were lighter.
But Qin Rushuang, who had suffered so much pain, seemed to have been accustomed to this process for a long time. She took the handkerchief from Qingzhi without changing her expression and wiped the tears on her cheeks.
"Your Majesty, it's funny. Sometimes the tears are uncontrollable. Qingzhi, put away the plaster."
She turned her head and glanced at Xie Xun who was behind her, raised her eyebrows and asked, "Hasn't the prince already finished what he wanted to see? Are you still not leaving?"
"How long? How long have you been taking this medicine?"
"This medicine will last as long as the face is injured."
"Do I need to use it every day...?"
"Of course. If you want to restore your former appearance, how can you do it without suffering a little bit of hardship? Everything has gains and losses. If you can restore your appearance, this is already the minimum price."
Qin Rushuang spoke calmly, but Xie Xun's heart was as painful as a knife.
Unbeknownst to him, how much pain had Qin Rushuang endured to be able to show indifference despite such inhuman pain?
When he was away, she had gone through so much despair before she could face the destruction of her appearance and act so calmly.
He would rather she hate him, would rather she beat him and hurt him, than see her treating him so indifferently.
Too much regret welled up in his heart, and there was too much trouble to explain. He wanted to speak but knew that apologizing was useless.
Finally, these emotions suddenly surged into Xie Xun's heart——
"Cough cough cough——"
"Your Majesty!" Nie Lei was shocked. Xie Xun actually coughed up blood!
