Quick Wear: The soft cannon fodder turns into a heartthrob and seduce

Chapter 706 The Childhood Sweetheart Used as a Shield (16)

Su Youbai paused for a moment, then sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly forward to listen.

I could vaguely hear her calling out things like "Mother" and "It's so cold."

Su Youbai slowly sat up straight, tucked the blanket around her, and gazed at her in a daze.

A moment later, she tilted her head, and the handkerchief on her forehead slipped down. Su Youbai didn't think much of it. Seeing that the copper basin was still there, he replaced it with a new one for her.

But just as the handkerchief was placed on her forehead, she suddenly opened her eyes.

For some reason, Su Youbai's heart skipped a beat, and feeling guilty, he tried to pull his hand back.

But Mu Zhou grabbed his hand, preventing him from leaving.

Su Youbai froze, and upon closer inspection, he realized that her eyes were unfocused, with a blank and hazy look in them.

He is probably still not fully awake.

Her next actions proved this point.

She held his hands tightly, and when he tried to pull away, a few tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

"do not go."

Her voice was still a little hoarse, so delicate and broken that it evoked pity.

Su Youbai's hands remained frozen, letting her hold him tightly.

She didn't seem to recognize who the person in front of her was either, and just kept pitifully acting cute:

"It hurts so much, it really hurts so much, please don't go..."

Her eyes were blurry with tears, and her gaze was filled with tiny sparkles of light.

Tears quickly soaked the gold-threaded pillow.

She cried without making a sound, just tears streaming down her face, as if she had suffered a great injustice; she was incredibly pitiful.

Su Youbai lowered his gaze, staring intently at Mu Zhou's tear-streaked face. Finally, he couldn't help but lean closer, softening his voice, and asked:

"Where does it hurt?"

Mu Zhou clutched his fingers and sleeve, sobbing silently, her shoulders trembling with each sob.

She placed her cheek in Su Youbai's palm and gently rubbed it against it:

"Everything hurts, my hands hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurts, and my head hurts too."

His slightly damp cheeks were a little hot, and the sensation from his palms made Su Youbai almost afraid to move.

Her cheeks are so soft.

The warm breath tickled his wrist.

He moved his fingertips.

His fingertips gently caressed the delicate, smooth skin, and he was reluctant to let go.

It wasn't until he touched the scalding tears that his consciousness was brought back.

Meeting Mu Zhou's misty eyes, his throat tightened, and he couldn't help but cough lightly.

He didn't pull his hand away, but instead, following her movements, used his fingertips to wipe away the tear stains on her face.

"Stop crying."

Seeing that she had actually stopped crying, Su Youbai couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

Why are you so well-behaved?

He gently comforted her:

"The pain will subside soon, go to sleep."

The imperial physician's medicine contains pain-relieving herbs, so it should take effect soon.

Mu Zhou nodded, her gaze still fixed on him, her eyes shimmering with emotion.

Su Youbai and she locked eyes for a moment in silence, then he couldn't help but speak:

"Listen to me, close your eyes."

His voice was tight and dry, as if he was trying his best to endure it.

After hearing his words, Mu Zhou obediently closed his eyes.

Soon, the sound of soft, shallow breathing could be heard.

Mu Zhou's hands gradually lost strength, and he let go of his hands.

But it took a long time before Su Youbai withdrew his hand.

He lowered his eyes and slowly rubbed his fingertips together, as if savoring something.

*

In a secluded room of the study, an official was reporting on matters of the court.

"With the Empress Dowager's illness, many officials have become chaotic. Should we take advantage of this opportunity...?"

The official hadn't finished speaking when he looked intently at the emperor sitting on the sandalwood chair.

Everyone said that under the Empress Dowager's regency, the young emperor was just a puppet, and no matter how talented or intelligent he was, it was all in vain.

He could only find solace in ink paintings every day.

But only he and a handful of others knew that this emperor was a master strategist, a man of exceptional wisdom, and a man of unwavering resolve.

Every step was both steady and terrifying.

His strong-arm tactics and unwavering composure, coupled with his ability to foresee events, make people unconsciously submit to him.

He thought that the Emperor's sudden attack on the Empress Dowager meant that the time had come for a showdown and that he was preparing to deliver a decisive blow.

Unexpectedly, the emperor on the throne spoke calmly and slowly:

"No rush, now is not the time."

The official was taken aback.

If this is not the best time, why would the Emperor suddenly take action against the Empress Dowager?

We can't just do it for the sake of venting our anger.

Having endured so much for so many years, how could I suddenly lose my temper and take action?

The official was somewhat confused.

However, out of his trust in the emperor, he thought there must be some special plan that he couldn't understand.

So they didn't ask any further questions and started talking about other things.

Little did he know that Su Youbai's sudden attack on the Empress Dowager was purely to allow Mu Zhou to recover properly.

With the Empress Dowager's side in complete chaos, naturally no one has time to attend to Mu Zhou.

*

Mu Zhou started sweating in the latter half of the night. A palace maid wiped her body and changed her clothes.

After that, she slept soundly.

When I woke up again, I was much better and even had something I wanted to eat.

Upon hearing this, the young palace maid almost burst into tears of joy:

"That's wonderful, Your Highness! This servant will have someone bring the food right away."

The young palace maid, named Liu Xu, saw that Mu Zhou was indeed much more awake and looked much better, and finally relaxed.

After sending a letter to Steward Huang in the study, he helped Mu Zhou sit up and helped her wash up.

"Your Highness, you have no idea how terrified I was last night when you were talking nonsense."

Mu Zhou rinsed her mouth with water, spat it out, then dabbed her lips with a handkerchief and said apologetically:

"I'm sorry I scared you."

"No, no, no, this servant cannot accept your apology. Besides, it doesn't matter what I do. The main thing is that His Majesty stayed up half the night last night. I guess he was terrified."

Mu Zhou was taken aback.

emperor?

She looked at Liu Xu with a puzzled expression:

"Did His Majesty come last night?"

"Yes, the county princess kept complaining of body aches last night and even clung to the emperor, preventing him from leaving."

Mu Zhou's face turned deathly pale at first, then he felt a mixture of shame and anger.

"Perhaps he's delirious from the fever, daring to be disrespectful to the Emperor. Perhaps I should go and apologize to the Emperor now?"

"In my opinion, His Majesty has not blamed you. Besides, the most important thing for you now is to recover your health. It's not too late to see His Majesty after you have fully recovered."

Mu Zhou thought about it and agreed. It would be bad if the illness were passed on to the Emperor.

She had no choice but to suppress her anger.

Soon, news that she had regained consciousness and had eaten a bowl of chicken porridge and a small dish of vegetables reached Su Youbai's ears.

This time, after the guard finished his report, Su Youbai did not scold him for being nosy.

The guard thought that he probably hadn't misunderstood the emperor's intentions.

After a long silence, the person behind the desk spoke in a calm voice:

"Tell the imperial kitchen to put in more effort, and those servants to serve you with utmost care."

The guard lowered his head even further.

"Yes, the slave will leave."

*

Su Youbai has not appeared in the past few days.

Mu Zhou wasn't in a hurry and took her time to recover.

Anyway, her favorability rating had already reached 40% while she was sick.

More than ten days later, she recovered completely, and the Empress Dowager had also woken up, causing chaos.

Mu Zhou then remembered to thank Su Youbai.

After thinking for a long time, she asked Liu Xu to borrow the small kitchen in the Emperor's bedroom.

She personally made two desserts.