Chapter 72
Zhao Huan quickly got up and dressed.
"What would you like to eat?" Li Wenjian stood in front of the bed, hands resting on her shoulders, asking.
Her face was still very pale, the brief nap hadn't dispelled the killer exhaustion, she suddenly craved a bowl of Grandma's Yangchun noodles.
She pressed her lips together and said, "Do they have Yangchun noodles?"
Li Wenjian's lips curved slightly with a hint of a smile, "Let's go to the kitchen camp and see."
He tucked the hand warmer into Zhao Heng's palm and led her, walking slowly past rows of neatly arranged tents. It was still dark outside, and the snow remained dazzling under the fading moonlight. The wind whistled, swallowing up all other sounds in the snowstorm.
Li Wenjian walked slowly to accommodate Zhao Heng, and soon a thin layer of snow settled on their cloaks.
It was not yet time for breakfast, and the kitchen was still quiet, with only two night watchmen dozing off in front of the fire. Hearing footsteps outside, they lifted their sleepy eyes and, squinting in the dim candlelight, they saw the newcomer. After getting a clear look at his face, they thought they were dreaming, rubbing their eyes vigorously and then heard him ask, "Do you have noodles?"
"Your Highness?" The kitchen workers had never seen Li Wenjian before but guessed his identity from the four-clawed python robe. They quickly knelt down and bowed, "This servant will go prepare it."
Li Wenjian smiled gently and said, "No need."
"Ah Heng," he turned and called her by name.
Zhao Heng looked up at him and said, "Yes?"
"You haven't tried the food I made for you yet."
Zhao Heng was surprised, blinking lightly she asked, "I thought gentlemen stay away from the kitchen. I didn't think you knew how to cook."
"When I was young, I traveled with Grandpa, and when we reached uninhabited places, we would cook our own food over a fire." Li Wenjian replied gently and paused before asking, "Can you start a fire?"
She raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded, saying, "Yes."
"Then you start the fire, and I'll cook Yangchun noodles for you." Li Wenjian nodded, smiling.
Zhao Heng took off her cloak and placed it on a nearby shelf, rolled up her sleeves and sat by the fire, skillfully lighting it with a firestarter, igniting the dry grass and filling the stove with warm flames.
As the fire crackled, she supported her chin with her hand and watched Li Wenjian's movements.
She never expected him to actually cook, his actions of washing the pot and adding water were so natural and efficient, it seemed like he had been doing it for years.
"Are you surprised?" Li Wenjian's eyes glanced at her face, asking softly.
Zhao Heng nodded, "Yes."
He said, "My father can plow fields and farm. If it wasn't for the current situation pushing him to the throne, perhaps I would also be a simple villager, growing crops and vegetables in the village, living off the land."
Zhao Heng shook her head, "No, Your Majesty could come out of the village and be favored by the An family to be a son-in-law."
She looked at him seriously, "If Your Highness came from a village, perhaps a renowned scholarship family would have married you, seeing your knowledge and character, and bestowed their pearl in marriage."
"It's also possible they would marry me off as a burden." Li Wenjian chuckled, "From then on, I would focus on my wife and adhere to the duties of a husband."
Zhao Heng couldn't help but laugh at his words.
"But I don't want to be a burden to a prestigious family." Li Wenjian leaned down and looked at Zhao Heng, "If I were a village villager, I would come find you."
Zhao Heng raised her head, looking at him with the warm glow of the fire, and whispered, "What would you come find me for?"
"To make you my wife." Li Wenjian picked up the soft noodles and put them in the boiling water, "We would farm and plow together."
She sniffed, "But... I actually wouldn't want you to meet me back then."
Even if they had met under such embarrassing circumstances later on, she didn't want to meet him in the village too early.
At that time, she had eaten various herbs and was covered in sores that wouldn't stop oozing pus.
"I regret meeting you too late." Li Wenjian said slowly, "Perhaps if I had met you earlier, you wouldn't have suffered so much."
"I didn't suffer."
With just that sentence, Li Wenjian saw Zhao Heng's eyes suddenly turn red. The cold wind lightly tapped the tent roof, and the charcoal fire occasionally splattered a few sparks. Zhao Heng raised her eyes, the firelight in the stove and the mist in her eyes overlapping.
Li Wenjian skillfully placed the cooked noodles in a bowl, using a small blue porcelain bowl emitting steaming heat. He placed a silk handkerchief under the bowl and handed it to Zhao Heng, saying, "It's been a long time since I've cooked. Taste it to see if it suits your taste."
"Thank you." Zhao Heng took the small porcelain bowl, held the chopsticks, and took a bite.
It was a simple bowl of Yangchun noodles, reminiscent of the taste of her grandmother's cooking. It was plain, with only the fragrance of the noodles without too many spices.
The pure and simple food comforted her.
Suddenly, Zhao Heng put down the porcelain bowl and looked up at Li Wenjian.
Li Wenjian did not notice Zhao Heng's movements as he was flipping the sesame oil at the bottom of the bowl with chopsticks. Her sudden gaze left him confused, and he asked hesitantly, "Is it not good?"
Tears blurred Zhao Heng's vision almost instantly as she kept wiping with her sleeves. "Your Highness, this is not the first time I have killed someone."
Li Wenjian paused at her words, his gaze falling on Zhao Heng's face for a moment. Almost tentatively, he asked softly, "Who else?"
This was the last secret that Zhao Heng had kept deep in her heart.
"The crippled doctor."
At that time, she had secretly registered to become a palace maid, but when the crippled doctor found out, he threatened her, gripping her neck, saying she couldn't leave. She was a rare talent in medicine and obedient. If she left, he would find it difficult to control such a valuable asset.
So he threatened Zhao Heng that if she dared to leave, he would find a way to poison her grandmother.
Having worked for him as a medicine person for a long time, she knew he had countless poisons.
She was afraid, but she didn't want to be under someone's control for the rest of her life; otherwise, she wouldn't even know how she would die in the end.
So, she lied, pretending to have found the herb he was looking for in the mountains, lured him into a hunter's trap, planning to trap him in the mountains, burn down his house, and drive him out of the village for good.
But unexpectedly, he was bitten to death by the poisonous snake in the trap. When the people in the mountains found him, his whole body had turned black and cold.
The past that could be explained in just a few words took Zhao Heng a long time to choke out.
Li Wenjian looked at Zhao Heng with a hint of a smile in the corner of his eyes.
Zhao Heng cried for a while before slowly stopping her sobs, turning her head to the side, her voice still moist from tears as she said, "My hands are stained with blood."
"Do you regret it?" Li Wenjian put down the chopsticks in his hand, looking at Zhao Heng with a tender expression, asking softly.
Zhao Heng shook her head firmly, "Even if I could turn back time, I would still do the same."
She just didn't expect her body's memories would last this long. She still remembered the sight of the crippled doctor who died ten years ago with his eyes wide open. How long would she have to remember Concubine An's appearance?
"Ah Heng." Li Wenjian bent down, holding her slender shoulders in his hands, looking into her eyes seriously, "There was once a poisonous doctor named Wang Zhong by the Fifth Emperor's side. He was addicted to drugs and specialized in creating all sorts of wicked and poisonous substances to control the court officials. Later, infuriated by the Fifth Emperor, the Crown Prince of Wuyou tried to kill Wang Zhong when the Emperor went to the palace. However, Wang Zhong got wind of the news early and escaped before they could catch him, though they shot his leg with an arrow. He was then missing."
Zhao Heng's hands froze as she held the bowl, her voice no longer trembling but still hoarse and weak. "Are you saying that the crippled doctor was Wang Zhong?"
"Was it his horrifying death that made the villagers afraid to touch his belongings and therefore they threw all his bottles and jars into his grave?" Li Wenjian asked.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng lowered her head, thinking for a moment. When she was younger, she had quietly visited his burial site after hearing about the crippled doctor's death. The villagers couldn't distinguish between the strange potions and pills in his house, so they wrapped them in oilcloth and threw them all into his grave.
She nodded, confirming.
Li Wenjian took the empty bowl from her hand and placed it on the stove, making a sound of acknowledgment before continuing, "Last time, I had Ren Ning open his grave at Xuejia Village and found those strange things. Ren Ning found the medicines peculiar and brought them back to the Imperial Hospital. After checking the medical records of the previous dynasty, they found that his medicines were similar to some of the formulas recorded by Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong had a leg injury and a vengeful personality, so I suppose that the crippled doctor who caused so much harm was the infamous Wang Zhong."
Li Wenjian reached out to touch her silky hair, with a touch of comfort in his gesture. "Wang Zhong deserved his fate; he killed countless people, and Concubine An's heart was filled with evil deeds. They deserved to die a thousand times over. You did what you had to in order to protect yourself and your loved ones; you are not at fault."
Zhao Heng's gentleness and compliance made him slightly fond of her. Gentleness is like spring water, silently nourishing all things. But if there was only gentleness and compliance, he might pity and protect her, but he would never truly love her. It was the sharpness and pride hidden beneath her gentleness and compliance that truly broke through his defenses.
Whether it was her bold and careful resolution with Ruo Zhen previously or her firm and decisive scheme against Concubine An this time, they both surprised and impressed him greatly.
Although taken aback by his words, Zhao Heng looked at him with surprise, "Why did you dig him up?"
Li Wenjian smiled, gently saying, "To crush bones and scatter ashes."
Almost unable to believe those words came from him, Zhao Heng stared at him in astonishment, "When?"
"Before we left Yunsui, when you told me that you hadn't lived as yourself in these twenty years." Li Wenjian lifted Zhao Heng's face, planting a kiss on her forehead without any hint of desire. "I know that even if we dig him up and scatter his ashes, it won't undo the harm you've suffered. But I can't help but want to do it."
Zhao Heng hugged him back tightly, his familiar scent comforting her, drawing her closer.
Outside the window, the sound of the wind and snow gradually faded, leaving only the gentle fall of snowflakes.
The dark night had passed, and the dawn's light unknowingly filled the world with a pure white glow.