Chapter 282: Strange Changes

Rong Qinglei thought for a long time before finally shaking his head.

“I don’t remember any Consort Wan,” he said slowly. “In the palace, everyone lives in fear. They all know that if they want to survive, they must speak as little as possible. It seems that something must have happened back then. That’s why someone sealed the mouths of the eunuchs and palace maids. I’ll help investigate this matter as well. How is Yue Mingxuan now?”

Sui He had just finished feeding Yue Mingxuan his medicine.

The fever had subsided, though he had not yet awakened.

It was already deep into the night.

Rong Qinglei cast one last look at Yue Mingxuan before leaving.

Gongsun Xing yawned.

“You should go too,” he said. “I’ll stay here and keep watch.”

Gongsun Xing glanced toward the bed and still feeling somewhat uneasy.

But judging from Yue Mingxuan’s attitude, he clearly held considerable affection for Shang Qinghua.

Perhaps the first person he would want to see upon waking would be Shang Qinghua.

After standing there for a moment longer, Gongsun Xing also turned around and left.

Early the next morning, Yue Mingxuan woke up.

Unlike the previous day, he did not feel refreshed and clear headed.

His entire body was heavy with exhaustion; he felt utterly devoid of strength.

He lay in bed without the slightest desire to move.

Shang Qinghua was already fully dressed and standing beside the bed.

He reached out and touched Yue Mingxuan’s forehead.

“Mm, the fever’s gone,” he said. “I need to step out for a while. Be good and take your medicine properly. Sui He is decocting it for you now. I’ll be back by noon and bring you some peach blossom pastries for you.”

Yue Mingxuan frowned slightly, confused, and fixed him with a steady look. “I had a fever last night? Why don’t I remember anything at all?”

“Perhaps you were sleeping too deeply,” Shang Qinghua replied. “I’m leaving.”

Pressed for time, he departed in a hurry.

Left alone in the room, Yue Mingxuan could not help but feel a trace of doubt. To be honest, this martial technique felt somewhat strange.

The night before, the pain had not been as intense.

There had been no sensation of his internal organs shifting out of place.

On the contrary, it had been almost comfortable, like a pair of invisible hands massaging every acupoint in his body.

Yet in reality, his physical body had developed a high fever.

In his dreams, there had not been the slightest discomfort.

This martial art was exceedingly strange, yet it felt as though fate itself had guided Yue Mingxuan to it.

Somehow, he had discovered the secret manual and a voice deep within his mind kept telling him that he had to practice it.

As for what the final outcome might be, he had no idea.

Sui He entered the room and let out a long breath of relief.

“Your Highness, you’re finally awake. You had such a high fever last night that it frightened this servant terribly. Here, this is the medicine that Miracle Doctor Gongsun instructed me to prepare for you. Please drink it quickly. Only after that can you have breakfast.”

Despite having eaten so much the day before, Yue Mingxuan had little appetite today.

He drank a few mouthfuls of porridge before setting the spoon aside.

No matter what he tried, nothing tasted right.

In the end, he simply stopped eating altogether.

When Sui He came to clear the table, she found it rather strange.

Yesterday he had loved the food so much, yet today he disliked it and even said the flavors were odd.

After thinking for a moment, she cautiously asked, “Your Highness, would you like to go out for a walk? The weather is quite nice today.”

Yue Mingxuan glanced out the window.

“I don’t want to go out. The sun is so bright it hurts my eyes just looking at it. I’d rather lie down. My whole body feels exhausted. Oh right, Sui He, after you finish cleaning up, massage my shoulders for me. They’re terribly sore.”

“Yes, of course.” Sui He frowned slightly and instructed the young palace maids waiting at the door to take away the dishes from the table.

Rong Qinglei had been worried that she might not be able to manage everything alone, so he had ordered the Department of Internal Affairs to send several additional palace maids over.

They were all well-trained and worked quickly and efficiently.

As the chief maid, Sui He suddenly found her position becoming far more important than before.

She felt a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

In just one morning, many people had begun addressing her respectfully as “Sister Sui He.”

Several days passed like this.

At last, Shang Qinghua began to realize that something was wrong.

One night, after Yue Mingxuan had finished practicing and fallen into a deep sleep, he summoned everyone to the side chamber.

Gongsun Xing and Wang Jian came.

Yin Su came.

Rong Qinglei came as well.

It was the first time Rong Qinglei had ever seen Yin Su.

She looked so young, yet the aura around her suggested her martial arts were far from shallow. Truly, masters seemed to be appearing everywhere these days.

“What’s the matter?” Rong Qinglei asked.

“Have you all noticed?” Shang Qinghua said. “Recently, Mingxuan’s personality and habits have been extremely inconsistent. For example, yesterday he liked cold food, but today he prefers hot food. One day he wants to go out and wander around, the next day he claims he’s so tired he could sleep the entire day. Even when the Emperor summons him, he responds with obvious indifference.”

These changes had become especially noticeable.

At first, Gongsun Xing had concluded that it was simply an aftereffect of practicing martial arts.

After all, every martial arts manual seemed to carry certain hidden side effects.

The dim candlelight was the only source of illumination in the dark room.

Everyone sat around the table.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep