The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"Then drink the soup."

After the Crown Prince drank the soup, Du Mingxian finally spoke, "His Majesty is alright, he has woken up. Your Highness should take good care of yourself, and once things improve, we will launch a counterattack."

The Crown Prince had been worried about his father these past few days. His father's health was already poor, and before Ling Ziming could even bring in the medicine, those people forced his father to take other medicines. He was terrified.

"Is Father really alright?"

Seeing that the Crown Prince was somewhat agitated, Du Mingxian hurriedly stepped forward to calm him down, "Your Highness, my words are credible, and please don't get so agitated. There are guards outside, so we can't make too much noise."

"Okay, okay." The prince nodded gently in a hoarse voice, now only feeling happy. "Thank you."

“Your Highness, I am just a commoner, and these are things I should do.”

The Crown Prince shook his head. Du Mingxian was no ordinary person. He could feel it from all the times she had touched him. Du Mingxian didn't have much reverence for imperial power. She was able to save them and do this much, and he appreciated that favor.

"Did Father Emperor send you a message?"

Du Mingxian shook her head awkwardly, "Well... no one knew when I entered the palace, so the Emperor didn't know I was coming, and therefore... he didn't send any message."

Fearing the Crown Prince might misunderstand, she hurriedly explained, "The guards outside are very strict, with a sentry every two steps, and the streets are full of people. I don't know if I can get into the palace. Last time, it took a lot of effort to take the Emperor out of the palace."

"I wasn't confident I could get into the palace this time, so I didn't dare tell the Emperor. I was afraid that if I did, the Emperor would have high hopes, but I wouldn't be able to get in, and that would disappoint him."

The Crown Prince understood, "It's alright. It's good that you were able to come in and deliver some messages, letting me know that Father is alright."

Du Mingxian then observed the Crown Prince's condition, "Your Highness, my husband said last time that you injured your arm. Is it any better?"

"She's feeling better, but she still needs to recover."

"Where...are you injured?" His face was deathly pale.

The prince smiled bitterly, "They needed a reason to impose a city-wide lockdown, so they picked up my left shoulder and pierced it."

"Have...have you seen a doctor?"

"The imperial physician has been here."

Du Mingxian frowned. "Your Highness, when the imperial physicians came and saw you staying here, didn't they become suspicious?"

"There are only three imperial physicians left in the palace now, and all three of them have betrayed the country. They are only here to help me stop the bleeding and keep me alive."

Du Mingxian didn't know what else to say. "I brought some medicine with me when I came in. Would you like me to check Your Highness's wound again?"

She wanted to give the medicine to someone else to apply it to the crown prince, but... there was no one else serving the crown prince, so giving him the medicine was useless.

The crown prince wanted to refuse, but the pain in his body reminded him that the imperial physicians hadn't treated him properly. "If Zimo dislikes you in the future, I can..."

"Your Highness, I'm just applying some medicine to you, it won't do anything serious. My husband will understand. Besides, if I don't say anything, and you don't say anything, he won't know."

Du Mingxian didn't intend to say anything.

She had lived in modern times, where there was no such thing as openness between men and women. It was common for men and women to sleep together and have intimate exchanges without any feelings. She didn't mind at all. Besides, it was just applying medicine, not something else.

Seeing the Crown Prince's troubled expression, she didn't know what to say.

"Okay, but what I said always stands. Show me."

Du Mingxian didn't say anything more. She reached out and helped the Crown Prince up, and saw that blood had already seeped out from his back.

The prince removed the robe from his shoulders, and Du Mingxian unwrapped the gauze, revealing... a festering wound. The medicine those people applied was truly terrible.

"Your Highness, your wound is serious. The festering flesh must be cleaned away. I need to go find some things."

"Alright, be careful." The prince had already pulled his clothes up properly as he spoke.

Du Mingxian went out the door and quietly moved a little away from the courtyard before going into her space to prepare things. There were quite a few things needed, and after she had prepared everything, she returned to her room.

The prince was very impressed when he saw that she had brought in a basin of hot water and some other things in a short time.

After Du Mingxian came in, she handed the Crown Prince a clean cloth. "Your Highness, we need to clean the festering sores later. Please bite down on it. I'm afraid... you won't be able to bear it."

The prince didn't hesitate and took it, putting it in his mouth and biting it.

Du Mingxian quickly lit another candle and disinfected the dagger with the knife.

Fortunately, she was experienced and handled such wounds with ease and skill. She quickly cleaned the festering area, washed the wound with spiritual water, applied the medicine prepared by Ling Silang, and then bandaged it up.

After doing all this, Du Mingxian noticed that... the Crown Prince's forehead was covered in sweat.

She helped him lean against the headboard before explaining, "Your Highness, I don't know anything about medicine. I only know how to treat simple wounds. The palace guards are probably not very strict lately. I'll see if I can bring my husband in tomorrow night so he can take a proper look at you."

"There's no need to take the risk."

“We won’t feel at ease if we don’t take the risk and come in to check. Your Highness’s condition is quite serious.”

Knowing he couldn't persuade him otherwise, the crown prince simply said, "Act according to your ability, protect yourself, and don't take risks."

"Your Highness, please rest assured, I will be careful."

The Crown Prince took off the jade thumb ring from his hand and handed it to Du Mingxian. "Take this. You can use this to mobilize some of the forces in my Crown Prince's residence. If there's anything else you don't know, you can ask the people around you. Make sure to protect Father Emperor's safety."

“Your Highness, please keep this. No one knows that the Emperor is with us, so we are safe for now. No one will believe that my husband, a sixth-rank official, and I, a sixth-rank official's wife, would dare to sneak the Emperor out of the palace.”

"Besides, few people know about the Emperor's disappearance, so there's no need for this. Furthermore, whether your people are in the shadows or in the open, there are probably always people watching them. Now His Highness has asked me to take this to mobilize people."

“I’m afraid that if I bring people out, everyone will know that I have a problem, and it won’t be long before the Emperor is exposed.”

Du Mingxian declined, saying she could help, but she didn't want to get involved in such matters. What if the Crown Prince found out about her and his faction and wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible?

The Crown Prince insisted on handing it over, saying, "Take it. Even if we don't transfer people now, where will we find them if Father needs manpower later?"

"Your Highness, the most important thing for you right now is to protect yourself. Those people are watching you closely, and they're probably looking at you from every angle. You're locked up here, and you only have so few things on you. If you're missing even one item, it will arouse suspicion, and then things will get even more complicated."

Seeing that Du Mingxian was really unwilling to take it, the Crown Prince didn't want to force her, so he could only silently put the things away. "Alright, but if you really need manpower, you can tell me again."