Chapter 240: Chapter 239 The Female Ghost"It’s all just speculation."
Wuya had no concrete evidence.
He smiled lightly and countered, "But do you think it really matters whether she has someone on the outside?"
Han Mo: "..."
He instantly understood Wuya’s implication—he didn’t care whether the Eldest Princess had someone on the outside; he just needed to make General Huo believe that she did, and that she had had someone for a long time. That she had betrayed Huo Yu even before his death.
"Rumors are more ferocious than tigers."
Wuya put down the jade carving, walked back to the desk, sat down, picked up the brush, and said, "Since the Eldest Princess is fond of believing in rumors, then let’s make the rumors a bit more interesting."
As he spoke, he wrote two words on the paper—Huo Yu!
Han Mo vaguely guessed his plan: "Mr. Jiu, what are you suggesting?"
Wuya straightforwardly ordered, "Send people to investigate those close to Huo Yu; use any means necessary to make them say that Huo Yu was not killed by illness but was murdered by the Eldest Princess."
Han Mo: "..."
Wasn’t this framing and entrapment?
Indeed, they had done worse, but against a woman?
His world view faced a challenge.
Wuya saw his puzzled face and laughed: "Yihuai, women are like vipers. To be kindhearted and lenient toward them is to be cruel to oneself. You must know, she was the one who first wanted to kill me."
It was like that time she had pushed the Concubine into the water, and his kind-hearted mother went to save her, only to be falsely accused of wanting to kill the Concubine.
And to remove his mother, the Concubine even colluded with her.
In the end, only he and his mother were sent to the Cold Palace, becoming castaways.
"Yihuai, do not pity women."
Wuya’s eyes were deep, his tone intensified, bristling with murderous intent: "Especially women from the Imperial Palace."
Han Mo nodded: "Yes."
His morals had always aligned with Wuya’s, and he was quickly persuaded.
Silence.
The two fell silent for a good while.
Wuya finally broke the silence, asking, "Yihuai, the road ahead is perilous, are you afraid?"
Hearing this, Han Mo’s previously heavy mood instantly lightened.
He shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Jiu, since I came to your side, I have never been afraid."
People like him reveled in this kind of thrilling, turbulent life.
Wuya also smiled: "Neither am I."
Having never had much, he wasn’t afraid of losing anything.
Sang Yan.
The name flickered through his mind.
He was afraid of losing her.
He wondered how she was doing.
Maybe He Hongzhao’s return would bring some news of her. Sёarch* The ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
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He Hongzhao was ill.
She had, in fact, always been ill.
Headaches, stomachaches, heartaches, bone pains, aching all over.
This battered body hurt every single moment.
But her illness this time was due to the cold.
As soon as she entered the Beiqi territory, the piercing cold wind made her sick.
"It’s cold. So very cold."
She lay in the carriage, covered with thick blankets, surrounded by hot water bottles, yet she was still cold.
Han Chen drove the carriage, his hands and feet chapped, frostbite on his face.
Too cold.
He prided himself on his robust health, but even he couldn’t stop shivering from the cold.
"Han, Han Chen, cough cough—"
A severe coughing came from inside.
Han Chen’s hands, holding the horse reins, had become stiff.
He breathed warm air onto his hands with little effect and, feeling irritable, wasn’t inclined to pay attention to the person inside the carriage.
"Han, Han Chen, cough cough cough—"
The voice from inside grew fainter.
He had no choice but to stop the carriage and pull aside the curtain to take a look inside: "What’s wrong with you now?"
"Drink... water... I... water..."
She coughed so hard it made her throat sore, and even breathing the air felt like it cut her throat.
Han Chen then went to look for water, but the water in his water bag was ice cold.
He looked out at the vast snowy plains and sighed, "You can’t drink cold water in this state."
With a high fever already, drinking cold water would mean alternating between cold and hot—she likely wouldn’t make it to Beiqi Capital City.
"Hot water flask...inside...has water..."
In these circumstances, she wasn’t picky.
Upon hearing this, Han Chen took out the hot water flask, touched it to find it was no longer hot, but it was still slightly better than ice cold, so he fed her some.
He Hongzhao drank water from two hot water flasks before she felt like she had come back to life.
But the revival was short-lived before she began to cough again.
Her body was too weak; as soon as she coughed, she vomited blood.
Han Chen grabbed a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corners of her mouth. As a man, the sight of her in such a pathetic state did stir some tender feelings in him, so he comforted her, "Just hang in there. We’re almost at the Capital City. Mr. Jiu is still waiting for you. You mustn’t—"
Die on the way.
Those few words, he still held back, feeling they were inauspicious.
"Cough, cough, I...will try my best..."
She gave a bitter smile and collapsed into the blanket.
Her beautiful face buried in her dark hair made her pale complexion stand out even more, her lips stained with blood, she resembled a hauntingly beautiful ghost.
Han Chen glanced at her and felt a chill in his heart, "I need to rush the carriage. It will be dark soon, and if we don’t enter the city, we’re going to freeze to death out here."
No response.
She had her eyes closed and was motionless, as though she had died.
Han Chen was startled and hurried to check her breath, "Hey, He Hongzhao?"
He Hongzhao didn’t make a sound, but tears suddenly fell.
Warm tears.
They dropped onto the back of his hand.
She rarely cried.
Han Chen was taken aback; his hand felt scalded, an especially uncomfortable sensation, "Why are you crying?"
He had never imagined that one day He Hongzhao would actually cry.
This woman, cold-hearted as a serpent, really had tears fall.
No, to be precise, she did have tears after all.
He Hongzhao, unaware of Han Chen’s thoughts, couldn’t stop crying after the tears had started falling.
She had endured a lot of pain and illnesses, but never had she felt such suffering as now.
There was a moment when she truly wished she could just die.
Yet she despised this cowardly part of herself.
She shouldn’t be crying.
A crying self is too weak.
So, she said, "I miss Ah Jiu."
During their time hiding about Quanzhou, the Snow Monkey, Ah Jiu, was too conspicuous, so she had set it free.
In truth, setting it free was for the best; Ah Jiu belonged to the wide open world.
It would live better without her.
She didn’t especially miss it, but that didn’t stop her from using it as an excuse for her moment of weakness.
Han Chen didn’t think too much of it and believed her, "Crying over a mere beast!"
He couldn’t understand, nor did he say more. He just left to attend to the carriage again, driving it forward.
"Cough, cough, cough, Han, Han Chen—"
Before long, He Hongzhao’s voice was heard again from inside the carriage.
Han Chen, irritated from the cold, snapped, "What is it?"
"I, I have taken...the Taixi Pill."
"Oh."
He knew the Taixi Pill could conceal one’s breath, creating a state of suspended animation, akin to fake death.
In her condition, it made sense to take it, otherwise, she might cough herself to death.
The carriage fell quiet.
For a while, there was no sound of coughing.
"Hey, He Hongzhao?"
No response.
Presumably, after having taken the Taixi Pill, she was in a state of fake death.
Now, it was finally quiet.
Quiet for a whole hour.
This silence unnervingly tormented the soul.
Ultimately, he still couldn’t rest easy and went to check on her. He first touched her nose, of course feeling nothing, then her cheeks, cold as ice, and then her body, which felt somewhat rigid... as if she truly had died?