“Greetings to Imperial Grandmother.”
“Greetings, Grand Empress Dowager.”
The Grand Empress Dowager opened her eyes, saying, “You’re all here. Why has Mingxiang come as well?”
“Imperial Grandmother, is Xiaoli here?” Han Mingxiang asked.
Meng Gu appeared from behind a screen divider, saying, “Mistress, already done.”
“You all can come in with me.” The Grand Empress Dowager rose, Meng Gu hurrying to support her.
Behind the screen was a large bed– originally belonging to the Grand Empress Dowager– that was at the moment being occupied by a sleeping figure.
“Li’er.” Han Mingyi recognized Du Xiaoli at a glance, and quickly walked to her side. Seeing her tightly shut eyes, furrowed brows, pale complexion, and the bruise on her forehead, his heart ached.
“Xiaoli.” When Han Mingxiang saw Du Xiaoli’s state at that moment, tears fell immediately. The makeup that hadn’t even been finished was directly smudged off by her tears.
“Mistress!” Xia Yuan and Ying Ge had followed Du Xiaoli for so long, but this was the first time they had seen her so weak. Their eyes also filled with tears.
Han Mingze stood at the very back, but when he saw Du Xiaoli’s ghastly white face, his eyes flashed with heartache too. He stepped forward to support the Grand Empress Dowager, saying, “Grandmother, how come Anle is in the inner palace?”
Han Mingze's words also recentered the others’ attention.
The Grand Empress Dowager glanced at Meng Gu, who answered affirmatively, before saying to everyone, "Last night, I heard a lot of noise inside the palace, so I had Hong Xiu go see if something had happened. On her way back, she saw her unconscious in a garden not far away, so she brought her back. She was covered in snow, her hair was loose, and she was grasping a hairpin with blood on it. We tried several methods and spent a long time, but still couldn't revive her, so we could only treat the wound on her arm first, then send Hong Xiu to bring you guys here."
Han Mingyi picked up the hairpin that was placed beside the bed– there was blood on several inches of its length– and it was obvious how deep she had stabbed it. He gripped the hairpin tightly, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's save and wake her up first."
“This Emperor will go call the Imperial Doctor,” Han Mingze said.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, let this servant try,” Xia Yuan spoke up.
“You?”
“Ever since this servant followed Mistress, Mistress taught this servant how to identify acupuncture points and the art of acupuncture needles. This servant knows how to wake Mistress up,” Xia Yuan explained.
“Come quickly.” Han Mingyi recalled that every time Du Xiaoli administered acupuncture needles, she would have Xia Yuan assist her, so he immediately rose and pulled Xia Yuan over.
Xia Yuan washed her hands, then took out the case of silver needles in her satchel and had Ying Ge pull Du Xiaoli's clothes apart, sticking several needles in her body.
Du Xiaoli felt as if she had been wandering in the darkness for a long time. In her daze, she seemed to be seeing herself in her previous life– holding a pistol in her hand, pointing it at the man hurrying into the remote street. With only a single shot, she hit him squarely in the forehead. Snow drifted from the sky and the snowflakes fell into the blood on the ground, melting from the temperature of the blood.
Then she seemed to see herself lying in the snow, her surroundings awash with silence, broken only by the sound of her blood gurgling. She slipped into unconsciousness from the freezing temperatures, and fell into the snow as if she were a puppet.
Suddenly she felt another pain in her body, one that felt like pins and needles, which was then followed by pain in several parts of her body.
Thinking that she must have been taken back, she wanted to break into a rage. She was already so miserable, who was still stabbing her with needles? It couldn't be a character like Nanny Rong, could it? She felt that the old nanny just now really did look a bit like Nanny Rong!
After several repeated sensations of pain, Du Xiaoli couldn't bear it anymore and opened her mouth to curse. But her intended curse words turned into cries of pain when they reached her mouth.
But she also gradually opened her eyes.
"She’s awake, awake, she’s really awake!" Han Mingxiang said excitedly when she saw Du Xiaoli opening her eyes.
Her eyes slowly adapted to the sight of the room. Originally expecting she would see the person who had grabbed her, she wasn’t prepared to see Xia Yuan and Han Mingxiang, and behind them seemed to also be the Grand Empress Dowager and Meng Gu.
“Where am I?” Du Xiaoli asked weakly.
"You're in the inner palace, you’re already safe now, don't worry." Han Mingxiang, who had been holding Du Xiaoli's hand all this time, heard her question and replied.
"That’s to say, I've been saved..."
When she fainted in the snow, she originally thought that she would either be captured again or she would freeze to death in the snow. Yet unexpectedly, she had actually been saved.
Du Xiaoli slowly recalled last night's events and thought of the Gu insect on her body that had not only made her lose consciousness, but had also rendered her unable to use her internal strength. Seeing the needle in Xia Yuan's hand, she said, "Xia Yuan, help me force the Gu insect out."
“Gu insect?!”
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