Chapter 185

Gu Ying's actions paused slightly and she smiled, "Your Highness is overthinking, this concubine does not mean that."

Prince Duan also smiled faintly, his smile as tranquil as him, as tranquil as an unrippled lake on an autumn day.

He was famously good-natured and righteous, much beloved by the elder court ministers. If not for his frail health, Prince Shu would have struggled to vie for the crown prince's position.

Prince Duan moved the brazier next to the couch, and took off his own cloak to cover Ning Si, ordering the little eunuch on guard outside to bring water.

He took out a handkerchief embroidered with orchids from his sleeve, dampened it with cold water, and placed it on Ning Si’s burning forehead.

Then he hunched his back and sat by the couch, gazing tenderly at the unconscious woman.

Gu Ying saw a hint of unspeakable greed in his eyes.

She could also see that he wanted to touch Ning Si’s face, but ultimately restrained himself and clenched his hand into a fist on his lap with a sigh, doing nothing.

He stared at Ning Si for a while in this manner. Then he turned to glance at Gu Ying, a faint smile on his lips, “You are Du’s wife?"

Hearing this, Gu Ying remembered that Prince Duan and the Crown Prince were on good terms. The Crown Prince had always sided with Prince Duan.

She pulled at the corner of her mouth. “Yes.”

Prince Duan nodded. “A good girl.”

He smiled again. “Du has good judgement."

When he smiled, he was like the first melting spring in the ice and snow, gentle yet warm. Although only in his twenties, he had a maturity and tranquility of a man in his thirties.

Gu Ying did not see Prince Duan at her wedding. She heard he had suddenly fallen ill and been bedridden for three days before recovering.

Everyone in the prince’s residence thought he was going to die. White silk was hung up and taken down, bleak and pitiful.

Looking at the emaciated appearance of this man now, her mood was also complex. Because only she knew Prince Duan’s serious illness was not innate. It was from the medicine Concubine Wan and Prince Shu secretly put in his food.

She had come today to save Prince Duan’s life.

"Cough cough cough!" After sitting for a while, Prince Duan’s body could not stand it. He covered his chest with his large hand and coughed violently. Soon, his handsome face flushed crimson as a mouthful of blood surged from his throat.

Gu Ying looked worried. "Your Highness Prince Duan, are you alright?"

He was startled for a moment, eyebrows deeply furrowed. He took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and calmly wiped away the blood stains. He turned his head to see the girl on the couch still unconscious and slightly relieved. “I’m fine. Could you do me a favor and take care of A’Si for me...”

Seeing how calm he was, Gu Ying felt extremely sad.

In her past life, Prince Duan died young. After Ning Si married him, she was widowed in just a few years.

Knowing he didn’t have long to live, Prince Duan was unwilling to tie Ning Si down. So after marrying her into the prince’s residence, he treated her with courtesy and respect, never touching her.

By the day he died, Ning Si was still a virgin.

Before his death, he prepared an annulment book for Ning Si, freeing her after his death. He even personally prepared a generous dowry for her and selected her next husband.

Such a deeply devoted Prince Duan never said "love" to Ning Si while alive.

Yet what he didn’t expect was Ning Si loved him deeply regardless of his indifference... After his death, she naturally refused to marry someone else. She committed suicide at Prince Duan’s coffin to accompany him in death.

Although frail on the surface, indifferent and aloof to Ning Si, this man actually loved her to the bone.

Ning Si was silly, but she also loved Prince Duan wholeheartedly.

These two star-crossed lovers never had the chance to express their feelings and live peacefully happy for a few days before their untimely deaths, all because of Prince Shu.

This life, she would never allow such a thing to happen again.

Gu Ying's lips curled up slightly as she gently asked, "Does Your Highness have feelings for Ning Si in your heart?"

Li Hao got up and uncovered his eyes to look at Gu Ying, but said nothing. His bloodstained lips pressed tightly together. “I’m leaving now. Please take good care of her for me.”

Gu Ying pressed stubbornly. “I can take care of her, but the only thing she desperately wants is a word from Your Highness.”

The man who had walked halfway stopped and turned around again. His eyes were tranquil like the autumn, softly looking at Gu Ying as he smiled gently.

“What word?”

“As long as Your Highness says you will still marry her, she will follow you loyally by your side.”

“What if she follows me and I leave this world ahead of her, leaving her alone?” Gu Ying was speechless. “......”

Li Hao still smiled faintly. “This time, I'm really leaving. Don't tell her I came.”

The figure of the departing man was somewhat staggering. The aqua green court attire looked oversized on him. He was very tall with a large frame, but too thin, seemingly as if a gust of wind could scatter him away.

As sadness gradually spread in Gu Ying's heart, she secretly swore that she must save him.

......

When Ning Si woke up, her head ached terribly. She was in the familiar Chifeng Palace, its beaded curtains of red agate and green jade swaying gently in the wind.

Beside the couch sat a beauty in a floral dress. It took her a while to remember what happened before she fainted, and that this woman had helped her.

The wind continued to howl outside as her mind remained muddled.

"You're finally awake," Gu Ying helped prop her up against the soft pillow, smiling gently as she said, "Feeling better?"

In fact, she and Ning Si had met a few times before.

In her past life, she had painstakingly married Jiang Yin but was deprived of his favor. Every time she attended banquets, people mocked and sneered at her.

Several times, it was Ning Si who stood up for her.

While others avoided her like snakes and scorpions, only Ning Si treated her as a friend. She even gave Gu Ying, who couldn't afford good rouge then, a box of rouge gifted from the palace.

Perhaps to Ning Si, she was just a passing stranger who helped her once. But to Gu Ying, she had come to repay her gratitude in this life.

Ning Si seemed confused. "Lady...Lady Zhao, you saved me?"

Gu Ying covered her with fox fur and looked at her with joy filling her heart. "It wasn't really saving you. I just happened to pass by, it was effortless. Don't worry about it."

Ning Si remembered that someone ridiculed her for betraying Prince Duan and throwing herself into Prince Shu's arms.

She gave a wry laugh. "It’s getting late. I should go back... Thank you for helping me today, Lady Zhao. If there is anything Si can do for you in the future, please let me know."

After speaking, Ning Si tried to get out of bed.

Gu Ying pressed her back onto the couch. Her lips curled up. "When those two bullied Ning Si just now, you didn't fight back... If you don't mind, could you tell me about Prince Shu and you?"

If it was a stranger asking this, Ning Si would be wary.

But the young girl before her was very beautiful and lovely, with a gentle and amiable smile. Although she seemed to be a few years younger, she was like an older sister, difficult to dislike.