Chapter 28: Unyielding before illegal punishment (2) (2/2)

“Ahhhhh…!” her shrill cries were ear-splitting. The North Court Official and his jailers quickly grabbed her arms to help her up with ashen, frightened faces. Princess Changping started yelling as soon as she sat up. “My waist! My waist…don’t touch it! My waist hurts so much!”

“Princess, you haven’t strained it, have you?” the North Court Official said in alarm. If she did, then it’d be difficult to recover. Not only that, the repercussions would mean she could easily hurt herself again if she did large movements in the future.

The frightened Princess Changping sat on the icy floor, too afraid to move despite her pain. Indignant, she shouted at the North Court Official. “Hurry up and call an imperial physician!” As she spoke, she felt her face began to itch. She didn’t think much of it and started scratching, but her movements didn’t stop.

“Esteemed princess, why don’t we carry you back? It’s not convenient for the imperial physicians to come here.” the North Court Official was about to cry. If the doctors came, wouldn’t it expose their torture attempts?

Princess Changping was in a lot of pain, but didn’t dare to move. As she sat on the ground, the cold water seeped into her skirts and filled her body with cold. She wanted to shout about the pain, but even more about the cold. Yet she was the one that caused all this water! Who could she shout at?

“Then hurry up and carry me out! What are you waiting for? Are you all a bunch of rice barrels?!” Princess Changping shouted as she kept scratching, dumping all her woes on the North Court Official. The dejected official ordered his jailers to bring over a stretcher, and they carefully eased the princess onto its surface before carrying her out of the cell. Before she left, Princess Changping turned back, only to see the unmoving Han Yunxi lying on the ground, her cold eyes still staring at her.

Heavens!

Princess Changping turned around, too afraid to look again. She even regretted coming here in the first place. Only then did Han Yunxi’s lips curve up into a grin. It was an especially alluring smile that could cause the fall of nations.

Princess Changping, just wait until your face is ruined!

While she was sprawled on the ground, she slipped some poison beneath Princess Changping’s feet so she’d fall. That wasn’t a big deal. What was more important was the fact that the poison was a type of toxic ringworm that would grow on her face and feet, creating a scaly rash similar to psoriasis that was even more disgusting than Han Yunxi’s old facial tumor.

After making sure that everyone was gone, Han Yunxi couldn’t hold it back anymore. Her whole body began to shudder violently as her teeth started chattering. Her nose was so sore that she wanted to cry, but she didn’t have the energy. The cold water on the ground had turned into a thin layer of ice that even encased parts of her body. How low was her body temperature now?

Han Yunxi didn’t even had the strength to raise herself up, though that wouldn’t help any matters. The entire cell was covered in damp or ice. If she kept on being cold, the functions of her body would grow slower and slower. At this moment, she wished there was a doctor around to rouse her with a few acupuncture needles. She was a doctor too, but not the typical kind. All she had were poisons and antidotes.

In desperation, Han Yunxi took out some poison from the detox system. It was a type of heat producing toxin that caused shuddering while raising the body temperature. Although this poison was extremely harmful to the body, right now she had no choice. After taking it, she sprawled on the ground in exhaustion.

Very quickly, the poison took effect. The heat emitted from within her body fought against the ice from outside. Between the opposing forces of hot and cold, Han Yunxi fell into a stupor. It seemed that someone came inside to clean up the water and refill the firewood. A finger was placed before her nose to check her breathing, but the dazed Han Yunxi couldn’t even open her eyes to see who it was.

—

When she finally regained consciousness, it was night of the next day. She didn’t need to take an antidote for her poison because the cold had burned it all away. Although she escaped losing her life, she was now stuck shivering from cold again. Though she wanted to take the poison again, she knew better than anyone else that a second dose would definitely take her life. Looking around in a circle, Han Yunxi discovered that someone had swept the cell clean and removed all traces from last night. A warm fire was burning beneath the bed, and on the side were some hot dishes and a clean set of clothes.

What…was the meaning of this?

Just as she was wondering, Gu Beiyue came to the cell door carrying items in his hands.

So that was it!

The North Court Official was afraid of Gu Beiyue seeing evidence of torture, so he cleaned everything up to make things look fine on the surface. When the jailers leading the way left, Gu Beiyue hastily waved a hand at her. “Esteemed wangfei, come quickly.”

He quickly crouched down, carefully pouring soup from a container into a bowl before pushing it across the bars. “Esteemed wangfei, please drink this while it’s hot. Your servant personally made this soup to dispel dampness and chill.”

Gu Beiyue was a very clean person. Dressed in white robes with a calm temperament, he seemed incompatible with the gloomy surroundings. Yet upon seeing him, Han Yunxi couldn’t help but feel close. She walked over and looked at his sincere, concerned expression, then at the steam wafting from the bowl of soup, and felt her heart twist in discomfort. What happened last night had already passed, but she couldn’t help but suddenly feel wronged.

No matter how strong people were, didn’t their hearts turn soft when others cared about them?

Was it cold here? It wasn’t just cold, but frigid enough to take a person’s life! Dispelling dampness and chill? How could one bowl of soup face off against last night’s buckets of ice water? And yet, one word of friendship from this man had warmed her up.

Ever since she was young, no one had said one caring word to her, much less make her soup to ward off the cold.