Spring Remains the Same - Chapter 89

How could Puyang possibly agree? The establishment of the Imperial Grandson was already a settled matter!

The imperial court was still under the Emperor’s control. Even she did not dare to rashly reveal her ambitions. In the three-plus years since Wei Xiu had arrived in the capital, she had done nothing more than gather a few military officials from humble backgrounds on Puyang’s behalf, not daring to meddle in anything else. Not to mention the Feathered Forest Guard, the Tiger Warriors, or the Gold Guard, she did not even dare to interfere too much with the Black Armor Army outside the capital. The one thing she feared was arousing the Emperor’s suspicion.

If she was so cautious even for her own sake, there was no need to mention going against the Emperor’s will for the sake of princes with whom she had never had any dealings!

Wei Xiu was still lying in bed! Her temperature had spiked yesterday, and no method had succeeded in bringing it down. They couldn’t call for a physician; one look and her identity as a woman would be exposed. Wei Xiu had diagnosed herself and decocted medicine to drink, but after a whole night, it had shown no effect. She had urged Puyang not to worry, that the fever would break in another four hours. But how could Puyang not be anxious? She had taken out medical books to flip through, but with her rudimentary skills, she had nearly worn the pages to shreds without finding a single solution. The hand holding the medical book trembled, her mind in utter chaos. It was at this moment that the princes had arrived.

To have been able to listen to their ramblings for so long, Puyang considered her self-restraint to be excellent!

The Prince of Zhao was still trying to persuade her. After the death of the Prince of Yan, he was the eldest of the imperial sons. According to seniority, he should have been the one chosen. He had been the one most likely to ascend the throne, but his hopes had been abruptly dashed. He was completely bewildered, and coupled with his irascible temperament, his tone gradually worsened. “Seventh Lady, I’ll ask you one thing today: will you care about your brothers’ lives or not!”

The remaining three also looked over, their gazes both tense and somewhat threatening. The Prince of Jin was the most scheming and ruthless, his gaze the most sinister. The Prince of Dai and the Prince of Jing were slightly better, but they too were watching with hopeful eyes.

Puyang sighed and said, “Then do my brothers care about my life or not? My Princess Puyang Residence is loyal only to the Son of Heaven. Be it a prince or the Eastern Palace, if you wish to contend, I will not interfere. If, by some fortune, one of my elder brothers obtains the world, I will certainly dismount and prostrate myself in apology for my actions today.”

An attendant ran in and reported, “Your Highness, the missing medicinal herb has been purchased!”

Puyang immediately stood up. “Zhongmeng is ill. I must go and see to her. My princely brothers, please make yourselves at home.” After saying this, she gave a curtsy and left.

The princes had yet to react, and in a moment, Puyang was gone.

The Prince of Dai said huffily, “What’s the rush! Is a sickly consort really worth treasuring so much!”

The Prince of Zhao, the Prince of Jin, and the Prince of Jing all glanced at him as if he were an idiot. Seventh Lady’s power had been established three years ago. Before that, she had only the Emperor’s favor, but no real authority. Now, however, her power could rival that of the strongest among them, the Prince of Zhao, without being defeated. Wei Xiu had entered the capital precisely three years ago. Did the connection between these facts need to be explained?

Such a consort—if they had one, they would treasure them too.

Puyang hurried back to the inner courtyard. Wei Xiu was lying there, her eyes closed. Her face was pale, her features haggard. Sunk into the bed, she seemed devoid of any vitality.

The sight tore at Puyang’s heart. She sat down beside her.

Wei Xiu slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze focused on Puyang, and upon recognizing her, a slow smile appeared. “Seventh Lady.”

Her voice was faint and hoarse. Puyang quickly said, “Yes, I’m back.”

Wei Xiu smiled, then, remembering something, asked, “Have they left?”

“They’ve left. Rest easy and don’t worry about them,” Puyang quickly replied.

Wei Xiu was extremely weary. Hearing this, she closed her eyes and, in a short while, fell into a deep sleep.

Puyang watched her with concern, touching her forehead. It was scalding. She leaned in and kissed her lips. They were completely colorless, and the breath from her nose was frighteningly hot.

The princes were nothing. No matter how vexing their actions, they were nothing. Xiao Dewen was nothing. Even if Puyang held lingering fears of him from her past life, he was nothing. She feared nothing, except for some mishap befalling Wei Xiu, except for the fear that she might not be able to stay by her side forever.

She knew that Wei Xiu’s constitution was weak. Every winter, she rarely went out for fear of catching a chill. She was also very careful about her health on a daily basis, seldom being negligent. Even so, she was still plagued by major and minor illnesses every year.

Puyang had asked before why she was so frail, only to receive a few vague words in response.

In truth, Wei Xiu’s weakness stemmed from the fundamental damage her body had sustained that night many years ago. It was late at night, and her family had all perished. She was an orphaned girl in the mountain forest, her legs broken, unable to go anywhere. The night was bitterly cold, and she was surrounded by corpses. Grief pierced her heart and lungs, and with her injuries, she huddled beside her brother’s body with no desire to live, merely waiting for death. Fortunately, Yan Huan had crawled out from the pile of corpses and found her. Both were heavily injured, and they dared not seek a physician for fear of being hunted by the Emperor. At that young age, dragging her injured and disabled body, she had hidden and fled from place to place. It was a blessing from Heaven that she had survived at all.

Wei Xiu would never speak of these things. When Puyang asked, she would only say that she was born with a weak constitution. In the past, she was unwilling to speak due to resentment and displaced anger; now, she could not bear to speak for fear of making Puyang sad.

Wei Xiu felt as if her entire body was being roasted over a fire. She was sweltering and weak inside, unable to find a moment of peace. Yet she had no strength to move, so she kept her eyes closed, drifting in a state between dream and wakefulness, sometimes startled awake, sometimes lapsing into a stupor.

Puyang kept watch by her side, serving tea and water without letting anyone else help. She even ate her own lunch in a few hasty bites before returning to feed Wei Xiu her medicine.

Every time Wei Xiu woke up, she would see her. She was both happy and heartbroken, urging her to go rest and not wear herself out. Puyang would agree readily but in truth refused to leave her side for even a single step.

Helpless, Wei Xiu finally had Puyang come onto the bed as night fell. She smelled of medicine, and she was afraid of passing the illness to her, so they had been sleeping in separate beds recently. But with Puyang constantly by her side like this, what difference did such precautions make?

Puyang lay down beside her, the bitter scent of medicine filling her nose. Wei Xiu was wearing a white inner robe. This illness had made her even thinner than before. Puyang’s heart ached, and she held her hand under the brocade quilt.

Wei Xiu felt it and turned her head. Her eyes no longer held their usual clarity, as if veiled by a shadow.

“Seventh Lady, sleep for a while.” She had barely closed her eyes last night and had forced herself to stay up for another day. Wei Xiu was very worried about her.

Puyang quickly said, “Yes, I’ll sleep now. You rest too, don’t worry about me.”

Wei Xiu managed a faint smile. “I’ve been sleeping for so long…”

Puyang listened intently, but when she looked again, Wei Xiu had already fallen back into a stupor.

A pang of sorrow hit Puyang’s nose, and she almost burst into tears.

Wei Xiu had been ill before, but never had she been so gravely and persistently sick.

The Emperor heard about it in the palace. He pulled himself away from the many affairs of establishing the Imperial Grandson to send physicians and medicine, bestow gold and valuables, and even dispatched Dou Hui personally to comfort the princess.

When Dou Hui returned, his expression was not good. The Emperor was alarmed at the sight; it had been less than a year since Seventh Lady’s wedding, the consort absolutely could not have something happen to him. After another half a month with no improvement, he thought it over and summoned Puyang. He comforted her verbally, but in his heart, he had already prepared for the consort not pulling through.

Puyang responded noncommittally, unable to take anything in. The Emperor was at a loss. He had secretly been looking for other talented men to keep in reserve for Seventh Lady, but seeing her now, he feared that no matter how excellent the person, in Seventh Lady’s eyes, they would never compare to Wei Xiu, just as no matter how fine a woman he met, he could never forget the Empress. After offering a few more words of comfort, he had no choice but to let her return.

The Emperor was busy as well. He had suppressed the princes, and the grand ceremony for establishing the Imperial Grandson was in preparation. Everything was proceeding on the right track. Once Xiao Dewen was rightfully installed in the Eastern Palace, he could teach him the affairs of state and then weaken the other princes. An Imperial Grandson should not be so intolerant as to be unable to accommodate uncles who posed no threat.

Xiao Dewen had also dutifully come to visit several times. He was genuinely saddened that Wei Xiu was bedridden. In all his life, he had never met anyone as capable as Wei Xiu. Even though his grandfather intended to promote him and pass the throne to him, and he was grateful for it, he still felt it was all thanks to Wei Xiu.

Unfortunately, these contributions could not be lauded before Xiao Dewen ascended the throne. He could only rack his brains to comfort Wei Xiu, urging her to get well soon. If she didn’t, and he clashed with his uncles in the future and his grandfather refused to help him, what would he do?

Many people came and went to inquire about the illness. Puyang found it vexing and eventually closed her doors, ordering the Chief Scribe to record the names of the visiting guests. When Wei Xiu recovered, she would pay return visits to express her gratitude.

The Emperor felt that Wei Xiu would not recover. Having been ill for so long, her body must have already collapsed. But Puyang never entertained such a thought. She only felt that Wei Xiu was ill and suffering greatly. Her heart ached for her, and she wished she could take her place, but she believed Wei Xiu would make a full recovery.

In her stupor, Wei Xiu’s mind was muddled. She would still dream of her parents, of her brother. Not just of that bloody night, but also of peaceful times: her father and brother practicing with their swords, her mother watching with a smile, while she played by her mother’s side. She couldn’t remember much. The good and the bad mixed together, turning into bizarre, fantastical scenes. One moment her mother was smiling, the next she was lying in a pool of bl00d, her face covered in it. One moment her brother was brandishing his sword with abandon, the next his entire arm was severed, and he fell to the mountain ground, dying with his eyes open.

She thought she heard her brother’s interrogation, asking her why she wasn’t seeking revenge and was only seeking a life of ease. She thought she heard her father questioning her, asking how she could become Xiao Yi’s son-in-law, and whether she had forgotten her own surname.

Wei Xiu knew it was a dream, but the shame and guilt still pressed down on her, suffocating her. She felt that, in this state, even if she were to enter the netherworld, she would have no face to see her father and brother.

Her periods of wakefulness grew shorter, the light in her eyes dimmer. Puyang continued to care for her with all her heart. The atmosphere in the princess’s residence was one of bleak misery, yet the princess seemed completely unaffected, as if the consort merely had a minor ailment and would be well by the morrow.

Puyang’s demeanor gave many people a pillar of strength. Yan Huan and the others were nearly mad with worry, but seeing her, they felt somewhat reassured. The princess cared for the master day and night; she would be the first to know if anything happened. Since she was not anxious, things must not have reached the worst point yet.

But only Puyang herself knew the true situation.

Late one night, Wei Xiu awoke. In the dim candlelight, she saw Puyang beside her.

Seeing her awake, Puyang asked softly, “The congee has been kept warm. Would you like some?”

Wei Xiu shook her head, her eyes fixed on Puyang.

Hearing this, Puyang did not insist. She lay down flat beside her and said, “A Xiu, the Imperial Grandson was established yesterday. Xiao Dewen will bully me in the future. You said you would protect me.”

“A Xiu, the princes still haven’t given up. I won’t help them, so they hold it against me. If they ever gain power, they will surely not let me go.”

Wei Xiu’s lips moved, but her throat was too dry to utter a single word. She looked at Puyang with worry. She was the one who had charted this path for Puyang; if she did not walk it with her to the end, she truly could not rest easy.

Puyang continued, “A Xiu, His Majesty is thinking of choosing a new consort for me. How ridiculous. You are clearly right here, safe and sound.”

A look of alarm appeared in Wei Xiu’s eyes. She raised her hand, wanting to caress her face, but she couldn’t summon the strength.

Puyang grabbed her hand and pressed it to her own cheek, finally letting tears fall. “Are you truly so cruel as to exchange one year of our love for a lifetime of my lonely pining?”

Of course, Wei Xiu was not. As she lay ill, lost to the world, the one thing she could not let go of was Puyang. Her words pierced Wei Xiu’s heart like a knife. If their joy was only fleeting and what was eternal was sorrow, then why did they have to fall in love at all?

Wei Xiu wiped the tears from Puyang’s face, struggling to muster her spirits to comfort her. “I won’t… I’m here…”

Hearing her hoarse, dry voice, yet seeing a clarity that had been rare for days, Puyang’s red-rimmed eyes broke into a smile through her tears.

Seeing her smile, Wei Xiu felt like a parched seedling suddenly blessed with sweet rain, and her heart felt much lighter.