Enduring the pain and weakness in his body, Sima Zhu tried to stand up.
But how could the emperor, who had been pampered since childhood, endure such hardship?
After struggling for a long time, he was still unable to get up.
Sima Zhu simply stopped moving, closed his eyes, and shouted loudly, "Wang Lin, hurry and come in."
Wang Lin had been waiting outside the door. He had been worried because Sima Zhu had been inside for so long with no activity.
Upon hearing Sima Zhu's voice, he didn't bother with anything else, opened the door, and rushed in.
Inside the room, Sima Zhu lay stiffly on the floor.
His face and hands were covered in dirt.
Looking at his bright yellow robes, there were patches of water stains on them, as if he had jumped into water.
Wang Lin was shocked by the scene before him. What had happened to the emperor?
He ran to Sima Zhu's side, taking two steps at a time, and shouted, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what happened to you?"
Wang Lin's voice was already choked with tears, whether from fear or genuine distress.
Sima Zhu was infuriated by his reaction. He wasn't dead yet, and Wang Lin was already crying as if at a funeral.
"Stop crying, help me up, prepare water, I want to bathe."
Hearing Sima Zhu's strong voice, Wang Lin was not reprimanded. He happily agreed repeatedly and, along with the imperial physicians who followed him in, helped Sima Zhu sit up on the bed.
The imperial physicians ignored the dirt on Sima Zhu's body and immediately began to take his pulse and examine him. Sima Zhu cooperated unusually well, as he was eager to know what changes had occurred in his body.
After a while, when the hot water was ready, the imperial physicians stopped.
"Your Majesty's condition seems to be the same as the Grand Emperor's, yet also different."
The imperial physicians' words confused Sima Zhu, so he urged them to speak plainly.
After the imperial physicians' explanation, Sima Zhu finally understood.
The similarity was that impurities in the body were being expelled.
The difference was that he had taken a smaller dose, and his body's recovery was not as good as the Grand Emperor's.
Although he felt a little disappointed, he was more happy.
Just two more times, and he would have consumed enough holy water. He was younger than Sima Hao, so the effect would surely be better than Sima Hao's.
Thinking this, Sima Zhu's mood improved greatly, and he stood up to bathe.
He wanted to wash away this foul odor entirely.
He seemed to have misunderstood Lin Xiaowei just now. Fortunately, Lin Xiaowei didn't know.
Looking at it this way, Lin Xiaowei was truly a good person, to resist greed even when such a good thing was right in front of her.
As expected of the person he liked.
Therefore, he simply ordered Wang Lin to move some rewards from the treasury to Lin Xiaowei as compensation.
This action made everyone in the harem, especially Baili Ziyun, who was also pregnant, grit her teeth in anger.
Of course, this was not due to jealousy, but rather the suffocating feeling of being constantly outdone by someone she hated to death.
When she learned that Lin Xiaowei had received the reward for bringing the holy water to Sima Zhu, Baili Ziyun scoffed.
Only someone like Lin Xiaowei would offer such a thing to the Emperor in pursuit of his favor and rewards.
However, she didn't know what the holy water's effects were. If only she could get some.
But thinking of Yi Zixie and the others, Baili Ziyun shook her head.
She was fine without the holy water, and it was better not to confront Yi Zixie and the others.
In the Four Seas House, Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei were strolling among the fruit trees. These trees had already begun to bud, and soon the flowers would bloom.
"Another year."
Shen Xiaoyan leaned on Zheng Wei's shoulder and said these three words softly.
Time seemed to pass so quickly. She almost felt like she was from this world.
"We will spend every year together in the future."
Zheng Wei said, picking up Shen Xiaoyan's hand and lightly kissing it.
"After Sima Han successfully ascends the throne, should we leave?" Shen Xiaoyan suddenly asked.
Zheng Wei was slightly surprised. "Where does Mimi want to go?"
Shen Xiaoyan shook her head. "I don't know. It's just that the children are growing up. In a while, they won't need nannies anymore. Can we go out and see the world together?"
Zheng Wei understood. Mimi didn't like wealth or staying in the inner chambers. Traveling around was indeed her nature.
"No matter where you want to go, I will accompany you."
Shen Xiaoyan chuckled upon hearing this. "Who else would you accompany if not me? I was thinking, after things here are resolved, our family of five... no, including your mother, our family of six..."
As she spoke, Shen Xiaoyan's voice suddenly faded, leaving only endless melancholy.
"Mimi, what's wrong?"
Zheng Wei was a little confused. Did Shen Xiaoyan not want to take his mother with them?
That shouldn't be it. Mimi wasn't that kind of person.
"We still have to find your father. And my parents."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Wei fell silent.
Yes, even if things here were resolved, they couldn't immediately go traveling.
Could they simply pretend their parents didn't exist just because they didn't know if they were alive or dead?
"Don't think too much. The sky won't fall."
The two of them were excitedly envisioning the future, but ultimately they were defeated by reality. This was truly disheartening.
It came as an impulse, and ended in disappointment. That was probably the meaning of it.
On the way back to Shianyuan, Shen Xiaoyan kept thinking about where her parents, whom she had never met, were now.
Almost everyone who knew about the events of that year was dead.
The world was so vast, where could she go to find her parents?
To be honest, Shen Xiaoyan would rather not search.
However, she had to consider Shen Xiaoming's feelings.
Having never experienced fatherly or motherly love since childhood, Shen Xiaoming had great expectations for these parents.
Even though Shen Xiaoming had never said it, she could still feel it.
Thinking this, she remembered that she hadn't had a heart-to-heart talk with Shen Xiaoming for a very long time.
Because there were too many things, Shen Xiaoming went to the Imperial Academy early and returned late every day. Even though they lived in the same courtyard, there were surprisingly few opportunities to meet.
For a moment, Shen Xiaoyan incredibly missed the days when they lived at the foot of Baiyun Peak.
At least then they could eat together every day.
But now they lived in separate courtyards, and people no longer ate together.
Suddenly, Shen Xiaoyan remembered that she seemed to have read a passage in her previous life, saying that people in ancient times, living in separate courtyards, allowed kinship to grow distant.