I woke up as the Villainous Empress

It wasn’t easy to carry her to the royal palace without attracting unwanted attention on the streets where people were staring at them as if they were doing some kind of play for their entertainment.

It was so embarrassing that Xiaowei’s face turned crimson by everyone’s stares and she had to hide her face in his chest which made things even more awkward and uncomfortable for Gu Lan, who was trying to keep a poker face, all the way to the palace.

___

He took her to the Imperial Medicine Clinic which was on the grounds of the Royal Compounds to get her injuries treated.

Although only royals and people who work for the royal court such as ministers and scholars could get treated at the Imperial Medicine Clinic, Gu Lan is an exception because he has been given a special plaque by the Crown Prince to be able to get treated at the Imperial Medicine Clinic.

Since he serves the Crown Prince and has gotten hurt severely many times, the special plaque helps him to get treated without any political hassles.

The physicians who were working there were surprised to see Gu Lan entering the clinic while carrying a girl in his arms.

They were too stunned to react because it was their first time seeing Gu Lan with a girl. This man has a cold personality, just like ice. Whenever he opens his mouth, he only blurts out the hard facts which can hurt other people in some cases.

.....

How can that kind of man come with a girl? That too while carrying her in his arms? It was the kind of image that they had never seen before.

“What are you guys staring at? Come and check on her.” Gu Lan hurriedly laid Xiaowei on the bed in the clinic for the patients and helped her to adjust the pillow under her head.

“Ah! Yes. But....who is she?” One of the physicians came to his senses and walked to Xiaowei to check on her injuries. He asked Gu Lan while checking her injuries on her knee.

Gu Lan pursed his lips and realized that the man must be thinking that he bought a lady to get treated since it’s the imperial medicine clinic and not anyone is allowed to get treated here.

Gu Lan cleared his throat and said, ” It’s the Crown Prince’s order. You can confirm it with him later. Treat her for now.” He instructed.

The physician was confused and wasn’t sure if he should continue with the treatment or stop since they doesn’t have permission to treat the girl.

” What are you staring at me for? Apply the medicine to her wounds. She is bleeding. Can’t you see?” He glanced at the other senior physician for help. As soon as he received the green light from him, he started to treat Xiaowei’s injuries without any pause.

While the physician was checking on Xiaowei’s injuries, the senior physician grabbed Gu Lan’s arm and took him to the side to talk to him.

“What is going on? A while ago, His Highness requested Master Jiang Tai to come to his chamber and now you’re bringing a girl to the clinic. What’s going on exactly?” He whispered cautiously.

Gu Lan’s eyes widened when he found out that Zheng Liang had asked Master Physician Jiang Tai to come to his chamber and not to the chamber that is designated for the guests. How can he do that?

“WHAT? TO HIS CHAMBER? WHYY? WHY DID HE DO THAT?” He was shocked and raised his voice while asking.

The physician was surprised to see Gu Lan’s unexpected reaction and blinked awkwardly, “Shh!! What are you shouting for? Also....You...why are you asking me that? How would I know about it?”

“You tell me. I asked you the question first. What is going on exactly? Also.... isn’t she Lady Yang Ning’s maid? What are you doing here with her?” The senior physician asked.

“How do you know about her?” Gu Lan frowned and looked at him suspiciously.

The physician slapped him on the arm and explained, “What are you glaring at me for? I remember her because I saw her when I went to the Yang Household last time along with the Master to treat her lady”

Gu Lan sighed heavily and shook his head, ” You don’t need to know. Just treat her injuries and let her rest here for a while. I’ll go and check on His Highness.” He requested him and left Xiaowei at the royal clinic to get treated.

____

DRAGON PAVILION –

“Master Jiang, is everything alright? She isn’t seriously injured anywhere, is she? Why hasn’t she woken up yet?” As soon as Master Jiang was done checking Yang Ning’s condition, Zheng Liang walked to him and asked him a series of questions in a single breath.

Although there aren’t any serious injuries that are visible on the surface, however, since she has been unconscious for quite some time, he was getting worried about her health.

She is a weak and frail lady of the Yang Household after all.

Master Jiang looked at the tensed Zheng Liang and smiled at him mildly, ” You do not need to worry about anything, Your Highness. Other than a few scratches here and there, Lady Yang Ning does not seem to have any serious injuries.”

” She must have fainted because of the shock. It’s not an everyday occurrence for common people to witness a wild bear after all. Moreover, since she has a weak constitution and was still recovering from the incident last time, today’s incident must have taken a toll on her body.” He explained.

When he checked on Yang Ning last time when she was burning with a fever, he found out that she has a weak constitution. However, the high fever that she had was not because of her weak constitution but something else was the cause of it which he failed to figure out.

While reporting to Zheng Liang about it, he omitted the part about the question of the cause of her being sick and the high fever. However, it has been bothering him since then. What could be the reason for her getting severely sick and having such a high fever?

Her condition was so bad that if she hadn’t received treatment from the local physician on time, she could have lost her life.

While Master Jiang was wondering about the cause of her weak constitution which makes her sick frequently, Zheng Liang pursed his lips when he heard those words.

That’s right.

She hasn’t even recovered completely from the drowning incident of the last time and this happened.

Not only that, it happened when he had promised her that everything would be alright since he was there to protect her. But he failed to fulfill his promise and let her confront the wild bear herself.

If she had not acted timely and killed the bear, things could have gone wrong which couldn’t be corrected later on.

Seeing the deep frown on Zheng Liang’s face, Master Jiang assured him and said, ” If she rests properly and takes the medicine that I brew for her on time, she will be fine. Your Highness, you just need to make sure she doesn’t take any kind of stress. Otherwise, it will only become an obstacle in her recuperation.”

“Yes. I’ll make sure of that.”

Master Jiang smiled to see him being so serious about this matter, even after he told him that there is nothing to worry about her condition.

Although half of the palace was still not sure about this political marriage between the Crown Prince and Yang Ning and were waiting for the day when this marriage will be canceled since many of the people still hates Yang Ning due to her twisted image, Master Jiang could see that Zheng Liang has been acting differently towards her.

Otherwise, why would he request him to go to the Yang Household all the way, just to treat Yang Ning? He could have asked any physician from the Imperial Medicine Clinic to visit Minister Yang’s Household if he was worried about her health.

That’s why he has been treating Yang Ning cautiously as if treating the respected Crown Princess. Because his old eyes could tell how much value she holds in the eyes of Zheng Liang.

___

After Master Jiang left the chamber, Zheng Liang stood next to Yang Ning’s bed and stared at her pale complexion.

How can a weak girl like her kill the wild bear in one shot?

He pursed his lips and couldn’t help but wonder how she could do that when she never learned to do Archery. That move was something only hunters and trained guards could do.

While he was wondering about what happened a while ago, the guard standing outside announced the arrival of Gu Lan. He pursed his lips and tightened his fists before walking out of the chamber, rather than allowing him to come inside.

**

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