The weak princess is super fierce

Chapter 896 A Prophecy
Yu Minglu felt his heart soften even more as he was stared at by those bright, expressive eyes. What should have been a negative answer lingered on his tongue, transforming into an affirmation: "Yes..."

He added at the end, "But it's best not to go out."

"I told you it was okay." Meng Shisan slightly raised his chin, his eyes filled with barely concealed smugness as he looked at the kite and the pearl.

Upon seeing this, Yu Minglu lowered his eyelids and slightly raised the corners of his mouth, revealing his unconscious doting affection.

"Miss, His Highness has arrived." Shangchun carried a tray with freshly brewed ginseng tea. As soon as she entered the room, she stepped aside, bowed her head slightly, and made way for him.

Just as Meng Shisan and Yu Minglu realized what was happening, and just as Shang Chun's announcement was finished, Li Shou stepped into the room, followed by Chang Qing.

There is no Ji Kuan.

Meng Shisan paused, wondering where Ji Kuan had gone.
Then, she and Yu Minglu stood up and bowed to Li Shou at the same time: "Your Highness."

"No need for formalities." Li Shou said this to the two of them, but his gaze was on Meng Shisan. "The imperial physician reported that your fever has subsided. It was too late last night, so I didn't come to disturb you. I thought you had slept well and were in good spirits today, so I came to see you again."

"I'm much better." Meng Shisan gave up her seat, and Li Shou sat down on the stool next to her before she returned to her old seat.

"How is Yaoyao's health?" Li Shou asked Yu Minglu.

Yu Minglu dared not sit down any longer and replied while standing, "Your Highness, Miss Meng's health is no longer a major concern. However, she was recently poisoned and had a high fever, so she is currently somewhat weak, just like before, and needs to recuperate slowly. I have already taken Miss Meng's pulse and will go to adjust the prescription and write a new one."

"Okay." Li Shou nodded slightly.

Yu Minglu stepped down, Shang Chun gently put down the ginseng tea, Baozhu brewed some tea, and together with Fengzheng, they left the house and, like Changqing, stood guard under the eaves outside.

"The kite returned from His Highness's private residence. He didn't mention it last night, but told me this morning that Magistrate Shi was killed by an arrow last night." This was a given fact, and Meng Shisan stated it plainly without any emotion.

Li Shou was slightly surprised, then slowly said, "I thought that since Miss Shi was your friend, you would be very angry about Shi Ju's death."

"I am acquainted with Ah Chun, and that is why I went to such lengths to save Magistrate Shi's life. It was both to assist Your Highness and to fulfill my promise to her." Meng Shisan had lived for so long, and if she valued life and death highly, it was only her own. She had experienced the lives of many others, whether strangers or acquaintances, and had long since lost the initial grief. "First it was Ah Jing, then Master Lan. I asked both of them to help with their medical and magical skills, and Magistrate Shi was indeed saved. He clearly told Your Highness the exact location of the evidence hidden in Fangshan. Magistrate Shi was shot and killed last night, after Your Highness was assassinated during the day. Presumably, the person behind it is the same. In the current situation, the only one who wants to take Your Highness and Magistrate Shi's lives is the Second Prince."

Speaking of thirst, she picked up her teacup, took two sips of the ginseng tea, and placed it back on the table before continuing her detailed reply: "Your Highness has taken so many precautions for the private residence, even sending Kite to Magistrate Shi's side. Yet, it's hard to guard against a cold arrow, and there's always a time when defenses fail. Magistrate Shi's death must be a source of great grief for Ah Chun, but Ah Chun can surely understand the helplessness involved. Magistrate Shi was an honest official, a good magistrate of Fangshan, but the dead are gone, and my anger is of no use. Besides, as the saying goes, 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate,' that's enough."

Besides, there's an old saying that good people don't live long, while evil ones live for a thousand years. She understood a long time ago that sometimes, she couldn't control certain people and certain things, and things wouldn't always go her way.

"I think so too, but Shi Ju is a rare good official who is wholeheartedly devoted to the people. By protecting him, I am protecting his life, protecting the evidence hidden in Fangshan, and protecting the subordinates who have followed me through thick and thin, so that they have fewer worries." As the Crown Prince, Li Shou has always been very good at being a heir apparent because the Empress is not his biological mother, and Li Heng, born to Empress Lu, has always been ambitious. Moreover, because he has survived various accidents and hardships since childhood, he has always been very good at being a crown prince.

Meng Shisan understood: "They will all understand the intentions behind Your Highness's actions, and Chun will understand as well. Besides the death of Magistrate Shi, Fengzheng also mentioned to me that before she returned, Chun told her that after Magistrate Shi fell ill with a serious and incurable disease in Fangshan, Chun had thought about when and where he might suddenly die, and she was mentally prepared. Later, Jing and Master Lan worked together to save Magistrate Shi, allowing him to regain consciousness and talk to Chun and Chun's mother. Chun and Chun's mother were extremely grateful and thankful for Your Highness's protection. Before Magistrate Shi was suddenly killed by an arrow, he had secretly told Chun that as long as the evils hidden in the shadows of Fangshan could be eradicated, his life was not worth losing."

Unexpectedly, the words spoken by Shi Ju and Shi Lianchun turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Shi Ju actually said that?" Li Shou never expected that Shi Ju would value his own life so lightly.

"I have said that." Meng Shisan was surprised for a while when he first heard Feng Zheng say this to her. "Although there are still good officials like Magistrate Shi who are insightful, honest, fearless of death, and wholeheartedly devoted to doing good, there are not many left in Dawei."

Li Shou nodded. Having said enough about his views on Shi Ju's death, he turned to ask someone else, "Yaoyao, when you shielded me from the arrow, weren't you afraid? Didn't you ever think you'd lose your life because of it?"

"I didn't think about it at the time, but I was quite scared afterward." Meng Shisan really did think about it afterward, especially when Huang Jing and Lan Zhijin worked together to completely detoxify and reduce her fever, and she regained consciousness. She had a deep reflection on it.

The word "fear" perfectly describes how she felt at the time.

“I’m still scared…” No matter how difficult Li Shou’s situation was, few people would be so frank with him, not even pretending. He paused, then asked seriously, “If you could do it all over again, would you still choose…”

Knowing what he wanted to ask, Meng Shisan interrupted Li Shou's hesitant words before he had finished listening: "Yes."

In an instant, it seemed as if countless tiny flowers bloomed simultaneously in his heart. Li Shou's eyes softened with surprise: "...You can?"

"If I were to return to the scene of Your Highness being assassinated at the banquet on the banks of the Kuangguang River, I would still instinctively try my best to grab that cold arrow," Meng Shisan said firmly.

Even if it's poisonous?

Even though it is poisonous.

Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Li Shou embraced Meng Shisan in the next instant: "Yaoyao, after the Lantern Festival next year, I will inform Father Emperor and choose you as my Crown Princess... Is that alright?"