Chongfei Manual [II]

Chapter 167.2

Outside Bao He Hall.

Clearly, only fifteen minutes had passed. But, Eunuch Chu felt as if half a lifetime had passed. Emperor Chong Zhen and Empress Chen still hadn't come out from the hall. The fire was only getting worse the more it burned. It had even spread to the surrounding halls. Fortunately, the other halls weren't important. It would be fine to just repair them later. But if something happen to the emperor and empress, then it wouldn't just be a matter of repairing...

Eunuch Chu was crying profusely. He kowtowed several times towards Bao He Hall, "Your Majesties, please hurry and come out..."

Perhaps, the bodhisattva heard Eunuch Chu's prayer. He saw a pitiful looking emperor walking out of the blazing fire while carrying an unconscious empress. Just as Zhao Zhi Qing walked out of Bao He Hall, one of pillars behind him suddenly collapsed and loudly fell onto the ground. It almost crushed the emperor and empress.

Eunuch Chu cried with joy, "His Majesty! Her Majesty!" As he said this, he hurriedly walked forward to check their conditions.

There was an obvious burn on Zhao Zhi Qing's shoulder, along with big and small burns on his hands and legs. His clothes were also disheveled and shabby. At this moment, the emperor, who usually paid special attention to his appearance, was completely unconcerned about his image. Using the last of bit of his strength, he placed Empress Chen onto the ground. Before he fainted, he hoarsely said, "Save Wan Wan."

His Wan Wan, she couldn't die.

Despite being shocked, Eunuch Chu hurriedly ordered people to bring the emperor and empress to Yang Xin Hall and summed all of the imperial doctors to examine the emperor and empress. From the start of the discovering the fire and until everything had been settled down, four hours had passed.

The burn on Emperor Chong Zhen's shoulder was the most serious injury. The clothing had stuck been stuck to his skin and it was very difficult to remove. In the end, a small knife had to be used to scrape off the burnt flesh before the bleeding could be treated. However, as soon as Emperor Chong Zhen woke up, he didn't care about his own body. He grabbed an imperial doctor and asked, "How's Wan Wan?"

The imperial doctor's hand trembled and he fearfully said, "To respond to Your Majesty, the empress has inhaled too much smoke and is still unconscious. This official has examined the empress. She doesn't have any serious injuries and will probably wake up soon."

Emperor Chong released the imperial doctor and leaned against a large red pillow embroidered with a flower pattern. His expression showed that he was clearly more relaxed.

The imperial doctor applied medicine to the rest of injuries on Emperor Chong's body and warned him to not touch water for the next several days before withdrawing from the room.

Emperor Chong blankly sat for a while before asking the quietly waiting Eunuch Chu, "Where's the empress?"

After Eunuch Chu knew that the emperor and empress would be okay, he had thanked the bodhisattva countless times and had already calmed down. He said, "To respond to Your Majesty, the empress is sleeping in Yang Xin Hall's side chamber. This servant has already arranged for servants to wait on her."

Emperor Chong Zhen thought for a moment before he pushed the quilt aside and got up from the bed. He said, "This emperor will go there to look." He still felt worried.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician said you should stay in bed to rest..." Eunuch Chu felt sympathetic towards the emperor and couldn't help feeling distressed.

But, Emperor Chong Zhen didn't listen to his words. After he put on a black robe, he stubbornly hobbled towards the side chamber.

Eunuch Chu looked at the emperor's back figure before following after him. He had originally thought the emperor and empress was a normal couple that treated each with mutual respect. But after today, Eunuch Chu's view had completely changed.

How could he have thought that the emperor didn't care about the empress? He clearly cared about the empress to the core of his bones. For the empress, he had even been willing to sacrifice his life. How many emperors in the world would be able to do this?

Don't even mention a man born in the imperial family, even a man from an ordinary family wouldn't love this deeply.

With these thoughts in his mind, Emperor Chong Zhen became an even greater figure in Eunuch Chu's mind.

*****

In the side chamber, Emperor Chong Zhen reached the bedside and looked at Empress Chen, who hadn't woken up yet. Empress Chen's clothes had been changed. She was motionlessly lying on the bed with her eyes tightly closed and her hair loosely scattered on the red bedding. If he couldn't see the slight movement of her breathing, he would have though that her vitality had been sapped away.

Emperor Chong Zhen tightly clutched Empress Chen's hand and lowered his forehead to touch the hand he was holding. It felt as if his throat had been blocked by gravel. He wasn't able to say a single word.

He recollected the scene he had seen in the fire. Empress Chen had been quietly sitting on the praying mat with her eyes closed as if the surrounding fire had nothing to do with her. She had looked aloof as if she wasn't concerned about her mortal life and this mundane world. By the time he found her, she had already been unconscious for a long time.

Emperor Chong Zhen's entire body trembled. Overflowing painful and remorseful sobs came out from his throat. He had never known she would have this type of idea. She had probably premeditated this fire and decided to leave a long time ago. He was the one that had forcibly taken her back from the underworld.

Wan Wan, was he that unworthy of forgiveness? Why was she so resolute? Why couldn't she spare any of her thoughts for him?

Emperor Chong Zhen raised his head and looked at Empress Chen, who still hadn't woken up. He couldn't restrain his emotions and stretched out a hand to touch her face. He stared at her for a long time before slowly lowering his head and burying his face in Empress Chen's hand.

"Sorry..." His voice was hoarse. He had probably also inhaled a lot of the smoke. "Wan Wan, this emperor is sorry."

Empress Chen's eyelashes fluttered, but she still remained unconscious.

Emperor Chong Zhen sat by her bedside and said a few more words. He had serious injuries and it wouldn't be good for him to stay here for too long. A short while later, Eunuch Chu persuaded him to return to his own bed. Before the emperor left the side chamber, he severely ordered to the palace servants to properly take care of the empress.

Shortly after Emperor Chong Zhen left, the empress slowly opened her eyes.