Chapter 27: Snowy Night, Frightful Dream, Wangfu's Illness

  Yu'e only felt that Gu Yunxue was somewhat unusual at this moment, and under these circumstances, she didn't know how to ask questions, so she quietly observed Gu Yunxue, afraid that she would accidentally provoke the master again.

  The luxury of the Fow Moon Palace undoubtedly showed the Emperor's favoritism towards Xiao Yuqin, but amidst that luxurious and noble atmosphere, Gu Yunxi detected a hint of coldness and decline. Xiao Yuqin stepped onto the stone steps in front of the hall, her slender waist still swaying elegantly, a flash of beauty in her eyes, "Kneel before me first!"

  Gu Yunxi felt a sudden pain in her knee, and before she knew it, she was kneeling on the snow-covered ground in front of Fuyue Palace. The snow was deep enough to reach her ankles. She gazed up at the majestic palace gates and the tightly closed temple doors, her eyes dimly lit with only a hint of light. Snowflakes fell thick and fast, quickly soaking her from head to toe.

  "It's not like Emperor De's luck has run out, how come another amnesty decree was issued by Your Majesty so soon?"

  "I had no idea, I heard that the Emperor issued three imperial edicts in a row. The first one actually pardoned Prince De's punishment of kneeling, the second one summoned the Crown Prince and the Empress to Hanguang Palace, and the last one seemed to be inviting the Duke of the State!"

  "It's fortunate that it was the King of De, if it were someone else, they would have lost half their life from kneeling in the snow for a day and night. Fu Gonggong just told us to hurry up and move the sedan chair, I'm afraid the King of De is still in Huan Guang Palace."

  The soft whispering sound came, and the empress turned her head to look. A line of dozens of small eunuchs were carrying a sedan chair with extremely fast footsteps towards the direction of Huan Guang Palace. Their footsteps were hasty, and at this time, the sky was getting darker, so they didn't notice that there were two people kneeling outside Fuyue Palace. Her eyes lit up, "Master, what to do?"

  "Wait."

  Gu Yunxi's face seemed to be frozen by the cold air, her eyes staring off into space, and she pursed her lips, only uttering a single word. Yu Nang looked at her pale face with alarm, hoping that Duke De would come out soon to rescue them.

  Time flew by in minutes and seconds, and the snowflakes in the moonless and starless night sky grew bigger and bigger. Gu Yunxi felt that her breath was stuck to her eyelashes, and the next moment it turned into ice flowers. The biting coldness entered from her knees, and almost her entire body was wrapped in a layer of white snowy mist.

  Yu'niang looked at Gu Yunxi's slightly trembling figure and softly called out, "Miss, miss, don't sleep. The Duke of De will come to rescue us soon, miss..."

  Gu Yunxi listened vaguely, her mouth curled up slightly. What's the big deal about this snow? Back then, she walked alone on the Cangmo Plateau for three days and three nights without anything happening. She forced herself to open her eyes wide, and in front of her appeared that endless expanse of white snow again. Her heart skipped a beat as she blinked repeatedly, and amidst the dazzling whiteness, a striking patch of bright red suddenly emerged.

  Gu Yunxi was taken aback, and in an instant, one after another, the fragmented, desperate, and cruel scenes surged towards her like a dull and wide knife, piercing through her calm and collected demeanor that had been built up over many days, deeply stabbing into her heart, tearing it apart again and again, opening up her snowy skin, grinding down her bright red internal organs, and even shattering her bones into fine fragments.

  Even if she was reborn, even if she was numb with hatred, when that scene reappeared vividly before her eyes, Gu Yunxi only felt pain, heart-wrenching pain!

  With a "poof" sound, Yuan Nang only saw Gu Yun Xie's body tilt to one side, and he fell to the snowy ground beside him like a broken puppet. She let out a cry of surprise and rushed over, only to see that there was a touch of bright red at the corner of Gu Yun Xie's mouth.

  As a soft sedan chair swayed towards the Fuyue Palace, Yu Nu's desperate eyes flashed with a glimmer of light. She tightly hugged the pale and trembling woman in her arms, while shouting towards the sedan chair.

  The person in front of the sedan chair was the first to hear a faint human voice in the wailing night wind, and after careful observation for half a day, he saw a dim light shadow in the dark night color, as if turning back to say something to the person in the sedan chair, and then the small sedan came towards them.

  "Your Highness, Your Highness, save the young lady, quickly save the young lady!"

  The more the old woman shouted, the hoarser her voice became. The small sedan finally landed steadily in front of her. A hint of relief appeared on her aged face. The green sedan curtain slightly lifted, and from within the dimly lit sedan compartment, a slender figure darker than the night emerged slowly.

  The biting wind and snow kept pressing down on Gu Yunxi, her small back seemingly unable to bear the weight of the armor on her body, she could only hunch over and move forward in the knee-deep snow. Her hand grasped a very heavy and large sharp sword, the sword had dark red ice crystals stuck to it, which were the heart's blood left behind every time she pierced through an enemy's chest.

  Han Jian moved forward on the snowy ground, Gu Yunxi felt that every part of her body was piercingly painful. Her bare wrist outside, the small leg that was cut by the enemy's sharp blade, and the wound on her neck that was torn open, the cold air seemed to be like fine needles that pierced into her skin one by one, no blood could be seen, but it was heart-wrenching pain.

  A strange sound came through the whistling wind, and Gu Yunxi slightly turned her body, another icy sword stabbed towards her!

  Her hands could no longer be lifted, and her legs were as if stuck to the snowy ground, unable to move even a fraction of an inch. All she could do was stare blankly at the sword blade gleaming with cold light as it plunged straight into her chest.

  The sword blade pierced her skin, passing through her thoracic cavity and directly exiting from her back. She felt as if she had been torn apart from head to toe, with bright red blood foam gushing out of the wound. Her eyes wide open, she tried to use her hand to block it, but the blood flowed even more violently.

  The temperature in her body was dropping bit by bit, and Gu Yunxi watched as the blood continued to flow out, feeling as if the entire world had been covered in ice and snow. The cold air from the wound entered her body, extinguishing the last vestiges of warmth within her. Her eyes could no longer open, but when she weakly lifted her hand, she felt a warm touch. Her desperate gaze brightened for an instant, and as she opened her eyes again, they were met with a sea of crimson. Her line of sight followed the trail of blood upwards, where the heads of her father and mother hung from the pole bearing the royal flag!

  "Ah——"

  Gu Yun Xie suddenly opened her eyes, and the meaning of the misty water vapor still lingered in her pupils. She stared blankly at the red flower pattern on the ceiling, her stiff hands had already torn through the bed sheets beneath her.

  Suddenly, the bed curtain that had been hanging down was lifted, and a delicate little face appeared with bright light, "Miss Gu, are you awake?!"

  Gu Yun Xie was startled awake by the sound, and with a dazed expression, she turned her head to look at the little girl. The latter's face lit up with joy, and she whispered something that Gu Yun Xie didn't quite catch, but saw her quickly walk out.

  Gu Yunxi slowly came back to her senses, she looked around the room's furnishings, her tense body slightly relaxed, memories warmed up with the temperature on her body. She remembered that she had entered the palace with Gu Yingxue to see Xiang Jun, and also remembered that Gu Yingxue said she was too plain and gave her a hairpin, and then remembered that Xiang Jun gave her a wolf-hair brush. Later... when they returned to the palace, Gu Yingxue said she wanted to go see De Wang, she met Shu Fei, she was punished to kneel...

  Gu Yun Xi's eyes dimmed again, but heavy footsteps came from this side. She slightly turned her head and saw Gong Sun Mo, wearing a white long shirt, walking towards her in big strides after passing by a screen.

  Gu Yun Xi furrowed her brow, feeling that something was off, but for a moment, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Gong Sun Mo's eyes sparkled with a hint of brightness as he walked to her bedside and gazed at her for a moment before sighing, "You're finally awake!"

  Gu Yunxue struggled to get up, but Gong Sunmo quickly leaned over and pressed down on her. "Don't move, the doctor said you've been feeling anxious and caught a chill, which suddenly caused your blood pressure to surge and injure your heart meridian. You've already slept for two days."

  "Where is this?" Gu Yunxi's mouth twitched slightly as she asked.

  Gongsun's eyes lit up as he saw her complexion recover, and she was able to speak again. The corners of his mouth slightly curved upwards, "This is the Duke of De's residence, I've already sent someone to inform the Marquis' residence, don't worry."