Yao Huang lay on the ground, able to hear the rustling sound of the Crown Prince's legs dragging across the grass as he pushed himself forward.
The sound made her heart ache so much that even when the Crown Prince sat down beside her, Yao Huang did not want to look up.
The autumn wind blew through the surrounding treetops, the rustling of swaying branches and leaves making the place seem even quieter. Not far away, the wild boar had stopped struggling due to the arrow in its neck. In the distance, Zhang Yue and Wang Dong, who had been following them, had quickly retreated after seeing the hand gesture from the seated Crown Prince.
Zhao Sui turned the Crown Princess, who was lying on the ground, over.
He could have pulled her directly into his arms, but his legs felt strange. Before he could confirm anything, Zhao Sui dared not act rashly for the time being.
Yao Huang had not expected the Crown Prince to do this. Her tears were smeared across her face when he turned her over. Just as the Crown Prince did not want her to see him in a sorry state, Yao Huang felt the exact same way.
She hurriedly sat up, turning her back to him. Tugging at her sleeve with one hand to wipe her face, she pretended to rub her lower back with the other. Ah, it doesn't seem to hurt that much...
Before she could finish her sentence, someone grabbed her wrist.
Yao Huang turned her head and found the Crown Prince looking at her palms, which had been scraped by the gravel.
Yao Huang quickly said, It's nothing. When I was a child playing with my friends in the alley, I often fell down. Scrapes like this are just a common occurrence.
With that, Yao Huang turned around, looked at the Crown Prince, and then at Jing Wu, who was standing obediently a few steps away. She asked in confusion, How did Your Highness dismount?
Zhao Sui replied, ...I took a fall.
Yao Huang pretended she hadn't seen how he fell and anxiously wanted to check his injuries.
Zhao Sui held down the Crown Princess's hands and pulled her sideways into his arms, supporting her shoulder with his left hand and holding her with his right.
The Crown Prince held her very tightly, Yao Huang's face pressed firmly against his chest. Seeing that he indeed hadn't fallen too heavily, Yao Huang immediately thought of how she had almost been sent flying by a wild boar. Experiencing lingering fear and anger, she buried her face in the Crown Prince's embrace and gritted her teeth. I finally managed to show off my skills in front of Your Highness, only to be chased by a wild boar the very next moment. A heroic display turned into fleeing in panic. I'm afraid Your Highness will remember this for the rest of your life.
If it were her brother acting like this in front of her, Yao Huang would remember the scene forever. No matter how old she got, she would laugh out loud whenever she brought it up.
Zhao Sui asked, So what if I remember?
Surpassing the urgency and panic of his own life hanging by a thread, Zhao Sui would indeed remember it for the rest of his life.
Yao Huang pouted. I want Your Highness's memories of me to be all beautiful, not embarrassing ones like that.
Zhao Sui asked, ...If it were Yun'er being chased, would you also let your imagination run wild like this?
Yao Huang replied, ...For Yun'er at this age, I would definitely just be anxious. When he grows up and gets chased by a wild boar, as long as he isn't truly hurt, I will definitely still laugh at him.
Zhao Sui said, ...I won't laugh at you for such things.
Yao Huang looked up, only then realizing that the Crown Prince's face was still pale. Just now, she had been too busy running for her life from the wild boar's jaws to be afraid, but the Crown Prince, watching from afar, must have been terribly frightened.
Yao Huang quickly hugged the Crown Prince again and smiled. It's fine, just a false alarm. I can even laugh about it myself. It would be even better if Your Highness hadn't taken a fall because of me.
It happened so fast that Yao Huang hadn't clearly seen exactly how the Crown Prince dismounted. Perhaps he first moved one leg onto the horse's back and then made a jumping motion?
The fleeting, brief image actually seemed quite agile. But perhaps it was because the Crown Prince was handsome, so no matter his posture, he wouldn't look ugly?
Yao Huang really couldn't remember. It wasn't important anyway. She only remembered the scene of the Crown Prince kneeling and supporting himself on the ground. Moreover, she didn't find the Crown Prince in that state pathetic at all, because he had disregarded everything to dismount purely out of worry and anxiety for her.
Zhao Sui did not need the Crown Princess's comfort. He helped her sit upright, then lifted her hands to help clean the fine gravel embedded in her palms.
There was water and emergency medicine on horseback. Zhao Sui called out to Jing Wu, and Jing Wu walked over on its own, kneeling beside its master.
Zhao Sui took down the water skin to rinse the Crown Princess's hands and then applied medicine to her wounds.
Yao Huang asked, Is Your Highness hurt anywhere? Let me help you clean up too.
Zhao Sui shook his head. The moment his hands hit the ground was the heaviest impact, but he had calluses on his palms, so the skin wasn't scraped.
Shall we go out first and wait for them? Zhao Sui asked. The Crown Princess had hurt her hands and was unfit to draw a bow again.
Yao Huang nodded. Looking at the wild boar and the river deer on the ground, which added up to eight points, they shouldn't end up at the bottom.
To leave, they had to mount the horse. Zhao Sui patted Jing Wu's back, lowered his eyes, and said, Turn around. I will try to mount the horse myself.
If he were in a wheelchair, he would definitely need someone's help. Now that he was sitting on the ground, leaning his upper body onto Jing Wu's back first and then moving his legs was entirely feasible.
Yao Huang cooperatively walked behind a tree.
In the dead silence, Zhao Sui first shifted himself next to the saddle. However, he did not climb directly onto Jing Wu's back. Instead, he tried to bend his right leg. Before his leg moved, a sour and numb discomfort spread through it. Yet, this very discomfort was something Zhao Sui had desperately yearned for over the past three years. Therefore, he only felt joy. Enduring this soreness and numbness, he successfully bent his right knee, his right foot stepping solidly onto the ground.
His right knee was up, next was his left knee. The location was not right, so Zhao Sui did not attempt further. He managed to support himself against Jing Wu, changing into a kneeling posture, and then slowly sat on the horse's back with the coordination of his hands and legs.
When Jing Wu stood straight again, Zhao Sui tried to step firmly into the stirrups.
It was still very numb, but the stirrups did indeed swing back and forth slightly with the strength of his feet.
Zhao Sui stroked Jing Wu's back over a dozen times before calling the Crown Princess out.
An hour later, the autumn hunt ended.
The Eldest Princess and Yu Shen hunted a river deer and a pheasant. The Six Arts of a Gentleman included archery. The civil official Yu Shen's archery skills were merely inferior to those martial artists who specialized in the military examinations; his accuracy was actually quite decent. Coupled with the abundance of prey in the hunting grounds, the river deer had dodged the pursuit of Yao Lin and the others, running right in front of the Eldest Princess and her husband, giving Yu Shen the perfect opportunity to show off.
The Second Princess and Fan Ruochuan hunted one river deer, two pheasants, and three rabbits.
Li Fuwei came out relatively late, hunting two river deer, seven rabbits, and eight pheasants.
Yao Lin was the last to come out, hunting one river deer, five rabbits, and six pheasants.
The Second Princess exclaimed in surprise, You and your husband have thirty-five points combined?
A wild boar was five points, a river deer three points, and pheasants and rabbits were one point each.
Li Fuwei looked at Yao Lin.
Yao Lin was a little embarrassed but still explained, We kept score separately. She is first, and I am second.
Li Fuwei looked at the wild boar beside the Crown Prince and Princess, praising, I searched for several rounds and couldn't find this wild boar. To think it was hunted by His Highness and Her Highness, and killed with a single strike. What impressive archery skills.
Yao Huang smiled. His Highness shot that one. I shot the river deer.
Yao Lin asked, Then why didn't you hunt for a bit longer?
Yao Huang glared at him. I guessed that you and sister-in-law were competing for the top spot, so we hunted less to leave more prey for you to score points.
After chatting and laughing, the group returned to the temporary palace, agreeing to have a banquet together in the evening.
Yunshan Hall.
Zhao Sui waited until the Crown Princess had fallen asleep for her afternoon nap before going to the front courtyard. He privately summoned the accompanying Imperial Physician Liao into the inner room to examine his legs.
Seeing with his own eyes that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could simply bend his knees and move his legs, Imperial Physician Liao wept tears of joy. Having had the most contact with the Crown Prince's crippled legs, there was nothing more gratifying to a healer than seeing a turning point appear in a patient who had seemingly lost all hope.
After calming down, Imperial Physician Liao pressed along the Crown Prince's legs from top to bottom, all the way down to the soles of his feet. Upon confirming that the Crown Prince had clear sensation wherever he pressed, rather than the residual forty to fifty percent from before, Imperial Physician Liao wiped the corners of his eyes again. With red-rimmed eyes, he said, My medical skills are shallow. I had no way to cure Your Highness's legs before, and even now, I cannot clearly explain why Your Highness's legs are recovering. Perhaps it is because Your Highness has persevered in using the handrails to exercise your legs for more than three years, like a seed buried deep underground that has accumulated its strength. Finally, today, it gathered enough power to let the vitality of your legs break through the soil.
Zhao Sui asked, Are you saying that my legs can recover to the point of moving as freely as they did before the injury?
Imperial Physician Liao's joy faded slightly. He pondered and said, Please forgive me, Your Highness, for not daring to make such an assertion. Before serving Your Highness, I had treated more than thirty patients with crippled legs. Including what I have heard from other doctors, there are indeed some paralyzed people who can fully recover after treatment. However, most paralyzed patients can only achieve varying degrees of improvement in their legs through massage and diligent exercise. As for the extent to which Your Highness can recover, it will still require Your Highness to continue with massages and exercises, and then we must slowly observe the progress.
Zhao Sui fell silent.
Imperial Physician Liao encouraged him, saying, Your Highness need not be disheartened by my words. Your Highness's legs have been dormant for over three years. Now that there is a turning point, no matter to what extent they can recover, it is a joyous occasion. Moreover, Heaven protects the good, and a complete recovery is also possible. It is just that you must exercise gradually and step by step, and absolutely must not rush it.
Zhao Sui understood and asked some further questions about whether his legs could bear weight during the recovery period, such as letting the young master sit on them.
Imperial Physician Liao replied, Well, the young master does not know how to control his strength. This next phase is the observation period for the recovery of Your Highness's legs, so it is best to avoid any weight-bearing pressure.
Zhao Sui understood. Finally, with Imperial Physician Liao's assistance, he supported himself on the handrails set up in the inner chamber and slowly mobilized his legs to walk back and forth once.
Imperial Physician Liao's suggestion was that before every massage in the future, the Crown Prince should first practice walking a lap. If there was noticeable improvement, the duration of the walking practice could then be extended.
Before Yao Huang took her afternoon nap, the Crown Prince was accompanying her by her side. When she woke up, the Crown Prince was still there, wearing his inner garments and leaning against the head of the bed with a book in his hand.
Yao Huang flipped the cover and saw that it was actually a medical book about the acupoints of the human body.
She asked curiously, Why are you reading medical books again?
Zhao Sui did not answer.
While Yao Huang was still looking at him, the Crown Prince's left leg under the covers suddenly touched her legs, which were pressed together on their side.
This small movement, which would be perfectly normal between any other married couple, shocked Yao Huang. She looked in disbelief at the Crown Prince's hands, which were exposed outside the blanket.
In the past, if the Crown Prince's legs wanted to touch her, it was either when the Crown Prince turned his body and his legs followed the turn, uncontrollably pressing against her, or when the Crown Prince used his hands to lift his leg and rest it on her. But now...
Right at this moment, the Crown Prince's leg moved away again.
Yao Huang sat up abruptly, pulled away the blanket covering the two of them, and stared intently at the Crown Prince's two long legs clad in his inner trousers.
Zhao Sui remained silent.
Knowing what the Crown Princess was anticipating, Zhao Sui put down the book, pressed the Crown Princess down to lie back, and then, while she could not see but knew his hands were both holding her, he slowly rested his right leg over the Crown Princess's leg, and then slid it down along the side of her leg.
Yao Huang was so happy that her vision blurred. Am I dreaming?
Zhao Sui kissed her eyes and asked, Have you ever dreamed of me like this?
Yao Huang shook her head. She was a person who rarely dreamed. Even if she occasionally dreamed of her husband, he was the same husband sitting in a wheelchair as he was during the day, or he was just lying in bed with her.
Zhao Sui said, Then it is not a dream.
