Song Qingchao sat sideways, supporting herself with one hand and gently patting Liu Zhe'er's body with the other.
"Eldest Sister, the hot water is ready."
Song Qingchao nodded lightly.
She sat up straighter, her wrist aching from supporting herself.
Although Liu Zhe'er was well-behaved, she was still young and found it difficult to accept being abandoned by her biological mother.
She did not force Liu Zhe'er's thoughts, only hoped that she would come to understand for herself what choice would be best for her.
Mother…
Who would want their mother to be like this…
She couldn't help but miss her own mother,
That woman who always smiled softly.
After being reborn, she couldn't save her, nor could she even give her a proper burial!
She truly… hated it!
"Eldest Sister."
Song Qingchao snapped back to reality, looking hazily at Song Qingmu, her clenched fist loosening. "What is it?"
"Wipe your face."
Song Qingmu expressionlessly handed her a towel,
Warm in her hand, making her feel alive again.
Even though her head felt dizzy and her limbs were cold, it was still good.
If she couldn't even save Mu Mu, she feared she would be even more devastated than Zhe'er.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Song Qingchao was lost in thought when she felt herself being lifted.
Her feet left the ground, and she was carried forward by Song Qingmu.
"I've set up a frame for you, and the hot water is ready. Don't you always love to be clean?"
The cold and impatient tone, however, sounded like sweet intoxication to Song Qingchao's ears.
"My brother is so good!"
She tilted her head back, trying to rub her dirty hair against him.
Song Qingmu frowned in disgust and directly lifted the curtain, pushing her inside.
"Be gentle!"
Although she was fierce, she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
The simple frame was made of branches, with woven rush mats around the sides to form a sealed space.
In the center were two small iron pots, which she couldn't tell where he got them from, both filled with steaming hot water.
Song Qingchao leaned back slightly, trying to take out the large fish tank from her space.
Good things come in pairs, she had two, and using one for a bath seemed acceptable.
Besides, it had just rained, so there would be no shortage of replenishment.
As Song Qingchao placed the tank down, her backside accidentally bumped against the curtain.
She looked up at the sealed ceiling and directly took a prop stick for a window from her space.
With a gentle lift, she opened half of it.
The soft moonlight instantly illuminated the makeshift "bathroom."
"I'm outside."
Song Qingchao's lips curved upwards, her eyes also bending into crescents. She responded with an "Okay."
Half a tank of cold water, mixed with a small pot of hot water.
Her slender hand went in to stir, her clear voice shattering the moon reflected in the tank.
She slowly stripped off her clothes.
She directly submerged herself in the water.
Her cold body was instantly enveloped in warmth.
"Mu Mu?"
Song Qingchao rested her head on the edge of the tank, looking at the moon, and called out tentatively.
"I'm here."
The rush mat on the right rustled.
She turned her head and whispered, in a volume only the two of them could hear, "I..."
"Are you thinking about Mother?"
Song Qingchao hummed in agreement. "I haven't sent A Zhu to the palace to look for her yet. That's her home, and I'm afraid she might..."
"But, she'll eventually think of the palace."
Song Qingchao submerged herself in the water, only her nose and a pair of misty eyes showing, making a "splash" sound.
Song Qingmu sighed, his voice slightly hoarse.
"I won't force you, I just think it would be better if we told her than for her to find out on her own."
Song Qingchao poked her head out of the water, wiped the water from her face, and poured another bucket of hot water into the tank.
She wiped her hands clean and took out the sachet filled with suanzaoren that Bai You'an had given her earlier.
It was made of excellent fabric, embroidered with exquisite red plum blossoms, and emitted a faint herbal scent.
She opened it, took a seed into her mouth, and then held another in her hand.
She reached a steaming white arm through the gap in the rush mats, "Here, have one."
Her hand was empty as the item was taken. Song Qingchao quickly retracted her arm and submerged herself back in the water.
So cold!
It would only get colder from now on; she needed to think of a solution.
She handed out two buckets filled with clean water,
"Mu Mu, you boil two more buckets of water."
A "ding" sound came from her space, and Song Qingchao poked her head out again, skillfully retrieving a letter.
After reading it in one breath, she sighed with relief.
The night Grand Princess Li Yanzhu was poisoned.
Ministers Wang and Fang stayed up all night kneeling outside the palace gates but did not see the Emperor.
The next day.
At the morning court, the Emperor was also absent.
The entire city of Chang'an searched for a doctor, rewarding Xu Wanjin with a title.
The next evening.
The folk doctor Meng Qiu was ordered to enter the princess's residence and treat her throughout the night.
The day after.
Chang'an city searched for medicine throughout the city: Wang You Cao.
Grand Commandant Fang sped on horseback, offering the herbal medicine, and Grand Princess Li Yanzhu awoke.
After reading the letter, Song Qingchao stepped out of the tank and threw the letter in her hand into the water, destroying it.
She took out a clean towel and her underclothes.
After drying herself, she wrapped her hair in the towel and slowly put on her underclothes. She picked up the clothes she had been wearing for a long time, sniffed them, and frowned in distaste.
They seemed to need washing…
But she endured and put them on anyway.
Song Qingchao lifted a corner of the curtain and poked her head out, her voice breathy.
"Is everyone asleep yet?"
Song Qingmu turned his head and nodded in surprise, "They are all asleep."
"That's good then."
Song Qingchao withdrew her head, then with a slight effort, the water in the tank splashed all over the floor.
Then came the "splash splash" sounds again.
"Eldest Sister, what are you doing?"
Song Qingmu exclaimed in surprise.
"I'm getting you bathwater."
Song Qingchao rolled up her sleeves and came out.
She was also holding clean inner clothes, though they were a little small…
"What are you doing?"
Song Qingchao saw Song Qingmu holding a poorly made pillow in one hand and a half-wet pair of trousers in the other.
Song Qingmu, with a dark expression, replied, "Drying my pants…"
Song Qingchao covered her mouth and laughed, directly pushing him into the "makeshift bathroom."
Song Qingmu hadn't even registered the large tank inside the bathroom yet.
He wanted to chase after her but stumbled back in twice, placing down the boiled hot water.
Song Qingchao: …
How did Eldest Sister have everything?
"Give me your pants to dry later."
Song Qingmu had barely stepped into the tank when he nearly fell upon hearing her words.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his face flushed, as he submerged himself in the water and slowly removed the bandages on his hands.
"Drying pants, what else would you wear tomorrow?"
As she spoke, a wooden stick was extended through the gap.
He tilted his head to look,
Wasn't this the stick used to prop open the window?
His face a deep crimson, he hung his pants on it.
The long pants slid down the stick and out through the gap, where Song Qingchao poked them with the stick into the tree trunk.
The hot fire crackled and popped.
Song Qingchao sat on the only dry patch of ground, propped on a wooden board, diligently weaving the small pillow that Song Qingmu had been working on.
"Two letters arrived just now. A Zhu has woken up."
A "clank" of water.
After a long pause, a relaxed "mm" came from the "bathroom."
[Short Skit]
Song Qingchao: Don't ask, just ask because I was too anxious and put everything into my space.