The rain in early spring is thin and dense, like a finely woven net, making people breathless.
There was a wind that rushed up from under the cloak with a cold air, making Li Can couldn't help but shiver.
She wrapped her cloak tightly around her and walked along the road to the gate in the dark. She wanted to go home.
After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped. Raindrops fell densely on her hair, turning into droplets of water on her small face, rolling down her pale smiling face.
She remembered that there were guards guarding the entrance of the East Palace all year round. They would not let her leave, and they would also report it to Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ye will take her back.
She thought for a moment, turned around and walked back. She was very cold and she would catch a cold if she continued like this. She wanted to find a warm place to stay, but she didn't want to see Zhao Zhen.
…
Zhao Ye came out of the bath and never saw the figure sitting at the small table just now.
He glanced sideways and glanced at the hanging bed curtains. The embroidered shoes were still on the footboard in front of the bed.
He wrung out his hair, tied it into a bun, and raised his hand to open the bed curtain.
Xiangyun stepped onto the bed, the quilts were neat and empty.
Zhao Ye was stunned, turned around and looked around: "Li Can?"
The bedroom was quiet and there was no response.
He walked up to the door, and when he was about to open it, he saw from the corner of his eye that the door leading to the main hall was open a crack.
He opened the door.
Wu Zao and others who were guarding the door were suddenly shocked, and they all saluted: "Your Highness."
"Where is Li Can?" Zhao Zong asked.
"Girl?" Tangcai was stunned for a moment and looked into the bedroom.
Isn't the girl in the bedroom?
"The boys have been guarding the door, and the girl has not come out." Wu Zai replied hurriedly.
Zhao Zhen turned around and opened another door.
Wu Zao hurriedly lit up a lantern and followed.
Zhao Zong followed the main hall and entered the west dormitory hall.
The door to the west bedroom is open.
Zhao Ji's whole body suddenly cooled down.
Wu Zao only dared to take a look and hurriedly ordered: "The girl went out by herself, go find her quickly."
Soon, lights lit up everywhere in the East Palace, and the servants shouted everywhere, looking for Li Can.
"Your Highness, the guard at the gate said that he never saw the girl going out." Wu Zai lowered his head and reported.
Zhao Ji stood on the corridor, looking at the falling raindrops in the light of the corridor, reached out to take the lantern in his hand, and stepped into the rain.
"Your Highness, please hold an umbrella..." Wu Zai followed, holding the umbrella and not daring to open it.
His Highness doesn't even hold an umbrella, how can he dare to hold one?
Li Can huddled in the corner under the pavilion bridge beside the lotus pond, shivering.
"Girl, girl..."
There was darkness all around, with only the shadows of the dancing trees and flowers. The voices of the maids calling her and the light of the lanterns came and went, but she never responded.
She couldn't squat anymore and sat on the cloak. Her numb calves were so uncomfortable that she couldn't move them back for a long time.
She wrapped her cloak tightly, hugged herself, and slowly closed her eyes. She felt so cold and tired.
She seemed to have fallen asleep.
I don’t know how long it took, but she was woken up by a call and there was light in front of her.
She couldn't see the person behind the bright light, but she felt the fire was so warm. She reached out and took the lantern into her arms, murmuring in a low voice: "Thank you..."
The next moment, she fell asleep again.
It has been a while since Xu Jing was dragged into the East Palace in the middle of the night. He even mentioned this matter to his wife before going to bed last night.
But he didn't want to say anything, so Tang Qiu woke him up from bed in the middle of the night and took him to the East Palace in the rain.
"This... girl has been freezing for most of the night? How can the girl's body survive this?" Xu Jing counted the time and found that the ugly time was almost over. Is this okay?
Zhao Ye held Li Can's cold body in his arms.
After finding Li Can, apart from the maids bathing and dressing Li Can, he spent the rest of the time holding her in his arms and covering her up. It had already been half an hour, and the little body in his arms was still cold, as if he couldn't keep her warm.
generally.
Xu Jing let go of Li Can's hand to check Li Can's pulse and couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, the official said, don't blame me.
No matter how angry you are, you can't just let the girl freeze like this outside.
You know how fragile a girl’s body is, and you really can’t do this again.
If today is delayed any longer, something big will happen!"
Zhao Ye pursed his lips and said nothing.
Wu Zai explained from the side: "Xu Yuanzheng, it was the girl who was hiding. His Highness and the young ones found her until now."
"Young lady is angry, isn't it because your Highness is annoyed?" Xu Jing took pen and ink from the medicine box and replied smoothly.
There was a sudden silence in the dormitory. Wu Zao secretly tugged at Xu Jing's sleeve and looked at Zhao Zong's face quietly.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness..." Xu Jing reacted, and his face turned pale with fright: "This official was so quick to speak, please don't blame Your Highness..."
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Ye lowered his eyes and looked at Li Can's little face that was blue and white from the cold: "Let's write a prescription."
"Your Majesty will prescribe a prescription to dispel the cold and take it once every two hours." Xu Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Your Highness asked the maids to take turns covering the girl's body and rubbing her limbs to activate the blood.
Okay, hurry up."
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly: "When will people wake up?"
"Let's do it tomorrow. If you don't wake up tomorrow, I'll come back again."
Xu Jing filled out the prescription and left with the medicine box on his back.
Wu Zai raised his hand and lowered the bed curtain: "Your Highness, I will arrange for someone to prepare the medicine and make it."
Although Xu Jing said to let the maid come, His Highness would definitely not let anyone touch the girl, even if it was a maid, so he made his own decision and did not mention the matter directly.
He stood there and waited for a moment. When he saw that there was no movement within the bed curtain, he knew that he had done the right thing, bowed his head and retreated silently.
Zhao Zong put Li Can beside him, raised his hand to unbutton his middle coat and threw it aside, revealing his cold white and strong chest, and leaned over to hug Li Can into his arms.
He took her cold little hands and put them on his neck. He raised his legs and hooked Li Can's cold little feet onto his legs to cover them. He kneaded and massaged her limbs with one hand.
After about an hour, Wu Zai came in with some decoction.
Zhao Zong fed the bitter decoction into Li Can's mouth one by one and covered it for a while. Finally, Li Can felt some warmth in his body.
Zhao Zhen felt relieved and closed his eyes tiredly.
Early in the morning, when Wu Zao was waiting for Zhao Zong to get up, he heard Zhao Zong cough twice.
He raised his eyes and couldn't help but worry: "Your Highness, I see that you don't look well, but you were caught in the rain and cold last night?"
Zhao Zhen raised his hand to touch his forehead and coughed twice: "Go and boil some cold medicine."
"Your Highness, that's the girl's cold medicine. You can't take it randomly." Wu Zao was worried: "I'd better ask someone to invite Xu Yuanzheng, right?"
"No need." Zhao Zhi said calmly: "Do as I say."
"Yes." Wu Zao didn't dare to push him away, so he had no choice but to give the order.
Zhao Gao took the decoction, had a few mouthfuls of breakfast, and then went to court.
When I came back at noon, Li Can was still asleep.
He himself also felt that he had a severe headache, so he fed Li Can some decoction, and he also took some decoction, then went to bed and fell asleep with Li Can in his arms.
In Li Can's sleep, she felt as if she was pressed against a big heater. Her whole body was hot and she was sweating. She arched in discomfort.
"Are you awake?" Zhao Zilai's clear voice became slightly hoarse.
Li Can was so confused that he thought he was in a dream when he heard his voice, and crawled into his arms again, holding his thin waist tightly with his little hands, sobbing and complaining vaguely against him: "Brother Zeyu
...You don't mean what you say...
You promised me, you promised me not to be alone with the girl next to me...
You and Xia Jieyao... I heard you all in the pavilion...
You praised her like that, but you never praised me... I don't want to, I don't want to be in the East Palace anymore... I'm so sad, I don't want to see you anymore... From now on... myself..."
As she talked, she cried more and more, and eventually she couldn't hear clearly what she was saying.
"Li Can, wake up." Zhao Ye patted her back gently, with complex emotions hidden in his dark eyes.
Li Can woke up from crying. When she realized that she was nestled in Zhao Zong's arms, she immediately froze and shrank back.
Zhao Zhen's men used a little force to restrain her tightly in his arms.
"What are you going to do to make me stop coming to the East Palace?" Li Can wiped away his tears fiercely, leaving a red mark on his pink face.
What does Zhao Zhi mean?
I was making love to Xia Jieyao in the pavilion, and now I'm holding her like this!
"I wasn't the only one in the pavilion that day." Zhao Zhen said in a gentle tone.
Li Can was startled, and became even more angry. He beat him on the chest: "I know, there is Xia Jie Yao."
"There is also the second emperor's brother and the second emperor's sister-in-law." Zhao Ye explained.
"So what?" Li Can snorted, didn't you still praise Xia Jieyao's piano skills?
"Not at all." Zhao Zhi concluded for a moment.
"I'm telling you, don't touch me from now on. I won't be a concubine anyway." Li Can started to struggle again.
Zhao Xie wanted to marry Xia Jieyao, but he held on to her. What did he mean?
No matter what, she had already thought clearly that even if she had Zhao Zong in her heart, she would not be so humble as his concubine!
"Why did I ever ask you to be someone's concubine?" Zhao Gong frowned slightly.
"I don't want to hear you talk..." Li Can reached out to push his face in frustration.
"Your Highness, your soup is ready." Wu Zao knocked on the door: "Would you like to bring it in with the girl?"
Zhao Ye pulled away Li Can's hand and sat up: "Bring it in."
Li Can was startled, Zhao Zong was sick?
She rubbed her fingertips. Zhao Zhen's face seemed a little hot and his voice was indeed hoarse.
"Your Highness." Wu Zao opened the bed curtain.
"Sit up." Zhao Zong glanced at Li Can, covered his lips and coughed a few times.
Li Can sat up and glanced at him quietly. He had an abnormal blush on his cheeks. It looked like he was really sick.
Zhao Xie took the decoction and drank it without saying a word.
Seeing that he didn't even frown, Li Can couldn't help but wonder if he had added sugar to his own soup. How could someone not be afraid of hardship at all?
"Girl, your decoction." Wu Zai handed the decoction to Li Can with both hands.
Li Can took it in her hands, and the bitter taste hit her nostrils, making it difficult for her to swallow it.
"Girl, Your Highness got caught in the rain last night while looking for you, and your head started to get hot at night." Wu Zao smiled and said, "Even so, Your Highness still stayed up all night to look after the girl."
His Highness is good at everything, but he does everything but refuses to say much.
He would have to say a few words to the girl on behalf of His Highness, otherwise, the girl might not know how good His Highness is at all.
He sighed in his heart, he was worried for His Highness.
Li Can glanced at Zhao Zong and said nothing.
"Why did the girl run to hide under that covered bridge?" Wu Zao said worriedly: "That place is close to the lotus pond, and it rained in the middle of the night. Even if the girl fell into the water, she would be in danger.
What's more, there might be some snakes and insects around, and even a bite would be fatal.
The girl can’t go there again next time.”
He really cares about Li Can.
Not only him, but also the servants in the East Palace all loved Li Can.
"If you bite him to death, forget it." Li Can replied angrily, pinching his nose and preparing to pour some medicine into himself.
"Can you say that again!"
When Zhao Ye heard this, he spoke with a hint of fierceness in his eyebrows.