"Thank you for your hard work,嬷嬷!"
After a busy day, Nan Yuan'er saw off the teaching嬷嬷 to the guest room as usual before returning to her own courtyard. She walked to the bookshelf, took out the notebook, and picked up a brush to write a sentence: Zou Yun'er is pregnant.
After writing, she put the notebook back and turned to the dressing table. She looked at herself in the bronze mirror, her lips curved slightly, and she parted her lips as if silently saying, "Goodbye."
"Miss, you must be exhausted. Will you be washing up in your room today, or would you like to soak in the湯池?"
The voice in her ear seemed to fall from a distant sky, drifting and wavering into Nan Yuan'er's ears. It sounded like water drops ‘drip-dropping’ onto the lake of her heart. Nan Yuan'er snapped back from her daze. She looked up. After so many days of panic and confusion, she had long since learned to conceal her emotions. She smiled at the maid and said, "Let's go to the汤池."
"Yes, this servant will go and prepare."
The maid responded and went to prepare things for the湯池.
After the maid left, Nan Yuan'er got up and walked to the bookshelf, taking out the notebook hidden inside. Only one sentence had been added to the notebook.
Judging by the ink, it seemed to have been written just now.
...
Lanterns for a wedding had already been hung at the post station. Red silk adorned the eaves and pillars, creating a festive atmosphere.
Hui'an went through the dowry list one more time before getting up and blowing out the candle.
It was late into the night, and everything had fallen silent. The red silk decorations on the eaves and pillars seemed to have suddenly come alive, silently creeping into the room through the window.
It crawled over the dressing table, across the floor, and slowly reached Hui'an's bed. The silk slowly straightened up, as if wrapped around an iron wire, or like a cobra dancing to a flute. The silk swayed, and the next moment, it suddenly tightened around Hui'an's neck.
Hui'an woke up from her sleep, the suffocating sensation around her neck making her instinctively grab the silk entwined around her neck. She tore at it with all her might. More and more silk crept into the room, binding her wrists and ankles, her mouth, her nose. She couldn't breathe. The suffocating lack of oxygen caused her lungs to ache as if being sliced by a knife. The bloodshot eyes were filled with red, and her flushed, contorted face looked as if it would squeeze her bulging eyeballs out of their sockets.
Hui'an's vision began to blur. The events of her past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. Just as she was about to lose consciousness and sink into eternal darkness, the silk that had been tightly wrapped around her suddenly receded like a receding tide. In the silent, dark courtyard, a scream suddenly rang out, followed by the heavy thud of someone falling to the ground.
"Crash~"
The sound of iron boots treading the ground came from a distance. The night patrol imperial guards heard the noise and quickly rushed over.
Blood spread outwards through the cracks in the ground. The imperial guards looked at the dead assassin in black lying in a pool of blood, and then rushed to Hui'an's room.
They knocked and shouted, "Princess, Princess Hui'an."
Hui'an clutched her neck and struggled to sit up, using her arms to pull herself against the bed frame. Her voice was as hoarse as if she had swallowed a handful of sand. The imperial guards outside could only faintly hear a sound.
"Princess?"
Hearing the slightly unusual sound from inside the room, the imperial guards exchanged glances. Just as they were hesitating whether to rush in, the door opened from the inside. Hui'an, draped in an outer robe, had a horrifying ligature mark on her neck. It was hard for them not to notice.
"Quick, quickly send for the imperial physician."
At this critical juncture of the alliance between the two countries, any accident to the Princess of Da Li at this time would be a harsh slap in the face for Lin Yuan.
The life or death of the Princess of Da Li was not important, nor was the smooth progress of the alliance. What mattered was Lin Yuan's dignity!
"I am not seriously injured. What about the assassin?"
Hui'an asked hoarsely.
The imperial guards stepped aside, and Hui'an saw the assassin lying in the center of the courtyard.
"Dead? How did he die?"
"He was killed with one sword. As for who the attacker was... that is still unknown."
Hui'an pondered. She did not press further, nor did she fly into a rage about the near-death experience. She simply said to the imperial guards, "If you find anything, please inform this princess, General, so that I may know who it is that wishes for my death, or wishes for me to die before the alliance."
"We will!"
The other party readily agreed.
"Oh, right. There is one more thing I need to trouble you with, General. Tomorrow morning, please prepare a carriage for me. I wish to visit the Princess Consort."
The other party nodded and did not refuse, "Very well, this subordinate will make the arrangements."