After being sent back by Istar that day, Na Luo felt hot and cold from the second half of the night, her throat was dry and painful, and she coughed almost all night. On the second day, she could hardly speak. Her head was even more groggy, and she seemed to have been drained of all her vitality. Her whole body was soft and she could not exert any strength.
Istar had asked the palace witch doctor to come and see her early in the morning, and confirmed that she had been infected with a cold. Qu Chi also told Na Luo to lie down in bed and rest for the next few days, and asked another palace maid named Manya to take care of her.
After Na Luo was fed a large bowl of medicine in a daze, she was not very clear-headed for the whole day. Her mind was chaotically passing through intermittent and incomplete images, making it even more difficult for her to rest. However, the prescription of the palace witch doctor was very effective. By dusk, her cough had almost stopped, and her throat, which was originally burning, did not seem to be as uncomfortable as before.
As Na Luo gradually began to regain consciousness, her stomach immediately surged with strong hunger. It's no wonder. She hasn't eaten anything since last night. She was already weak from the illness and hungry. She didn't want to move in bed. She just moved a little and called out weakly, "Sister Manya?"
She called out several times, but there was no response from outside the door. Na Luo sighed helplessly, secretly complaining about Manya in her heart. It seemed that she could only let her stomach continue to endure for a while.
After about half a cup of tea, the door of the room suddenly opened.
"Sister Manya, you are finally here." Na Luo didn't even bother to open her eyes, and whispered, "Can you please get me a bowl of water first? And, if it's convenient, please give me some more food, I'm almost starving." After saying these words, she didn't hear any response. She was wondering secretly, but heard a familiar chuckle.
She was slightly startled and opened her eyes immediately.
——I saw Ishtar standing at the door smiling at me. Before he entered the house, the faint scent of incense on his body had drifted over with the wind. The luster reflected in his brown eyes was warm and clear, quiet and lively.
"Prince, why are you here?" She was startled and quickly stood up. It was really against the rules of the palace for a servant to lie straight in front of the master.
"It seems that you have recovered well." He did not answer her question, but walked in by himself, then went to the table and poured a bowl of water by himself and handed it to her.
Na Luo was startled and quickly reached out to take it, saying, "I...I will do it myself..."
Ishtar raised the corner of his mouth slightly mischievously, "Of course you should do it yourself. Do you want me to feed you?"
Na Luo was embarrassed, "I...I don't mean that..."
"In the future, when there is no one else around, you should call me Master, and don't call yourself a maid, understand?" Ishtar interrupted her.
Na Luo hesitated for a moment and stammered, "But...this seems to be against etiquette...I dare not..."
He seemed to have anticipated her answer, and smiled lightly, "By the way, I have asked the cook to make some mutton porridge, and Manya will deliver it in a while." His words were like the sound of nature in Na Luo's ears.
"Ah! Thank you, Master!" She couldn't help but express her excitement. After all, she was just a child, and when it came to delicious food, she didn't care about any rules.
Ishtar rubbed his left forehead with his hand, pretending to be depressed, "Alas, it seems that the prince's order is not as effective as a bowl of mutton porridge."
"Big..." Na Luo was about to call him the big prince as usual, but immediately changed his mind, "Master, I have always wanted to call you that. To be honest, from the first time I saw you, I felt that you were very kind, very kind, and very..."
Ishtar could no longer hold back the smile that was welling up on his lips, and interrupted her flattery, "Okay, you are not good enough to give me a magic potion." As he said that, he stood up, "I should go too. After drinking the mutton porridge, go to bed early. Get well soon, I still have a lot of good things to teach you."
Na Luo felt a headache when he heard the last sentence.
Suddenly, he bent down unexpectedly and closed the distance between them. "Na Luo, don't think that you can take learning the flute lightly. If you don't learn well, then you won't have mutton porridge, not even mutton bones. Do you understand?" After that, he smiled and tapped her forehead with his finger, "Remember, I am a very strict master."
Watching his back as he left the room, Na Luo pursed her lips and closed her eyes again.
At such a young age, she has already had many cruel experiences that ordinary people can hardly imagine.
Where there is light, there is always darkness.
She is just unlucky.
But think about it the other way around, even in the darkest place, there will always be a ray of light.
What's more, she saw more than a ray of light.
About five or six days later, Na Luo's illness was basically cured. After all, she was still young and had a good physique, and recovered quickly. After taking medicine for a few days, she was fine.
That evening, Na Luo was delivering something to the queen's bedroom as usual, and happened to meet Mo Li on the way. The other party seemed to be waiting for her. When he saw her, he quickly pulled her behind a big tree, took out two tangerines from his sleeves and stuffed them into her hands.
Na Luo was confused by her and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Sister Mo Li?"
"Take it, this is for you." Mo Li's face flashed a trace of guilt, and she said embarrassedly, "I'm really sorry last time, I didn't expect to implicate you. But I didn't mean it, really."
"So it's this matter. This is none of your business. It was indeed my own carelessness." Na Luo couldn't figure out what the other party was thinking for a while, so he could only deal with it with a smile.
"Then can you accept this? Consider it my apology to you, otherwise I will always feel uncomfortable." Mo Li looked sincere, and it seemed that it was really from the heart.
"But..." Na Luo couldn't help but feel a little confused. Citrus fruits are not produced in the Western Regions. These fruits must have come from the Han area. Rare things are precious, so they are not available to ordinary palace maids. Mo Li is just an ordinary palace maid. How could she have such precious fruits?
Will this cause her any trouble?
Thinking of this, Na Luo quickly stuffed the tangerine back into the other's hand and said with a smile, "Sister Mo Li, I am embarrassed to say that. This tangerine is not a common thing. You should keep it for yourself."
"No, no, you are such a kid..." Mo Li quickly blocked her hand.
Just as Na Luo was trying her best to refuse, the soft voices of the women in the palace came from far away. As the footsteps approached, the sound gradually became clearer.
"Hey, have you heard? The Xiongnu king Wushiluer Chanyu seems to have passed away not long ago..."
"Really?! I heard that the Chanyu was still young, and he died so soon? No wonder Princess Dana has not stepped out of the palace these days. If this is true, then Princess Dana has lost a big backer, right?"
"This is not a bad thing. Look at how arrogant Princess Dana is usually. She doesn't even take the queen seriously, and it's common for her to punish us palace maids. If the new Chanyu sends another princess here, she will be banished to the cold palace."
"Haha, if that's the case, it's her own fault."
"That's right..."
"Who allowed you to gossip here!" A crisp female voice suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two. The two palace maids were so frightened that they trembled and stammered out a name, "Miss Mima..."
"There are so many of you in the palace who like to gossip. Are you too idle? I think your lips are itching, and I have to punish you." She paused and said sternly, "You two, slap each other right now, and don't stop until I say stop!"
The surroundings immediately fell into a dead silence. Soon there was the sound of slapping each other, and it was obvious that both of them used a lot of strength and tried their best to beat each other to death. Na Luo was secretly surprised and looked up at Mo Li, but she only saw that she looked calm, as if she had already gotten used to this kind of thing.
After a while, Mi Ma's voice called for a stop.
"Today is just a small punishment, remember it next time. Otherwise, it's not just your mouths that will be hurt." Mi Ma ignored them after she finished speaking. The two maids didn't even bother to wipe the blood off their lips, and they supported each other and crawled away quickly.
When the surroundings returned to their original silence, Mo Li spoke first, "Mima is the most favored female official around Princess Dana, and she is always ruthless to the palace maids. Did you notice that the two maids didn't plead for mercy just now, and they beat each other very hard?" Without waiting for Na Luo to answer, she continued to explain, "That's because the more they plead for mercy, the more severe the punishment will be, and only the more ruthless the punishment will be stopped sooner."
Na Luo didn't say anything, but there was a hint of fear in her eyes.
In this way, compared with this Mima court lady, the Apa court lady beside Ishtar is simply a kind person. Fortunately, I didn't do anything under her nose, otherwise it would be like falling into hell.
"Okay, I should go to work too. You should take this." Mo Li still stuffed the two tangerines into her arms, and then turned around and ran away after saying something in her ear.
Na Luo's expression was a little weird, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times. He hadn't recovered from what Mo Li had just said, "Eat it with confidence, I took it from A Bao's mouth!"
Eh? Should she eat it or not?
Na Luo hid the tangerines in his arms and walked quickly towards the queen's bedroom. When she arrived in front of the bedroom, she was pleasantly surprised to find a familiar man standing there. His long light brown hair, which usually fell to his waist, was braided into numerous small braids and scattered behind his shoulders. However, he still did not look soft and charming, but rather had a charming Western style. His slender figure was impeccably beautiful, his handsome features exuded a vigorous heroic spirit, and the turquoise earrings on his earlobes exuded a soft luster...
"Lord Quehu Hou!" She did not hide her excitement at all. Although Quehu Hou often visited the queen in the palace, she had never met him once. I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence today. Could it be the good luck brought by the two tangerines?
He turned slightly and smiled at her, "Na Luo, what a coincidence that you are here too?"
"Yes... I brought some things to the queen." She pursed her lips and smiled a little. For some reason, whenever I saw Lord Quehu Hou, I felt a sense of intimacy in my heart. Maybe it was because... he had saved her in that situation before.
Xuche looked at her with a gentle gaze and asked with concern, "Are you used to the days in the palace?"
Na Luo nodded and smiled, "The eldest prince and the queen are very good to me, and the people here are very good to me. Thank you for your concern, Lord Quehu."
"That's good. I originally thought that if you really can't get used to it, I won't force you to stay here." He was obviously happy to hear Na Luo's answer.
She shook her head again, "No, no, it's great here. I have never dared to forget what you, Lord Quehu, have told me. After I learn the rules of the palace from the eldest prince, I will do my best to serve the queen."
"I was right about you." He smiled approvingly and paused, "By the way, I heard that you were sick a few days ago?"
Na Luo was stunned, bit her lip and lowered her eyelids, whispering, "It was my own carelessness that I fell into the water and caught a cold."
Xu Che looked at her without saying anything, but a complicated look appeared in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly said, "Stay away from An Gui as much as possible."
Na Luo was suddenly shocked. Could it be that Lord Quehu knew that her falling into the water was related to An Gui? He actually knew such a small matter? So, aren't there many of his spies in this palace?
Full of suspicion, she followed Xu Che into the queen's bedroom.
After Na Luo handed the things to the queen and left, Marquis Quehu dismissed the other palace servants and told his sister all the news he had found out.
"Sister, the new Xiongnu king is Wushiluer Chanyu's uncle, Right Xian Wang Xulihu. He has no sons, only a brother named Qie Di Hou. Qie Di Hou has four sons. It is said that the second son, Hulugu, is very smart and dared to kill wolves at the age of six, which won his favor. Do you think Qie Di Hou will be willing to watch his brother become the ruler of the royal court? Now, we are in for a good time."
After hearing this, the queen still frowned, "Xu Che, His Majesty has been reluctant to make Isda the crown prince, and I am always uneasy. He should not make those two children the heirs, but I am really worried that if Dana has another child..."
"Sister, Princess Dana has a close relationship with the previous Wushiluer Chanyu, so His Majesty is very tolerant of her. The current Right Xian Wang is said to have only a casual relationship with the princess. Even if she has another child now, it will be difficult to shake Isda's position." Xu Che comforted.
The queen sighed softly, "I hope so."
"By the way, I heard that An Gui and Princess Dana are very close?" Xu Che suddenly asked again.
"That's true. I heard that they go to Dana's palace every day to pay their respects, but Dana seems to be lukewarm towards them. In this palace full of traps, it's understandable that they want to find a backer."
Xu Che did not express any objection, but quickly changed the subject, "Sister, now is a great opportunity to bring His Majesty back to you. You have to adapt to the situation and create some opportunities for Isda to show more in front of His Majesty. At the same time, I will join forces with several other important ministers to persuade His Majesty to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible."
The queen nodded, "That's the only way." She was silent for a while, and then seemed to remember something, "Then, Na Luo this child..."
Xu Che's eyes moved slightly, "Now things have changed, it's not the time. As for her... Let's talk about it later."
The queen looked at him, and an ambiguous look passed across her beautiful and elegant face, as if mixed with a few traces of hidden worries that he didn't notice.