"No, you can't go there" Ye Hua said as he angrily paced the bedroom in Peach palace.
"I want to" Bai Qian replied stubbornly from her perch on the bed. She hated being yelled at especially when the yell sounded more like a calm statement of fact.
"The last time you went ..."
"That is why I'm asking you to go with me" She interrupted, she knew where that sentence was going.
"No." He replied.
"It's just a hall, Ye Hua. I don't want a hall to have power over me"
"I won't let you!" He replied, his voice getting higher with each word.
"Ye Hua, be reasonable. I've lived in Xiwu for almost a year, I can't avoid the hall of beautiful youth forever."
"Yes you can" He replied then walked back to her, took her hands and quietly said "I'll burn down the hall if you go near it" before kissing her and leaving.
Bai Qian started to call out to him but he'd disappeared, without eating his breakfast. It was supposed to be a quiet day, the one day he spent in seclusion every week to cultivate, she'd selected today to ask because he was more agreeable on the days he was cultivating. She sighed and picked up the food from the tray, she hadn't expected him to respond so violently to the idea of her going to the hall of beautiful youth but she was determined and she knew how to convince Ye Hua.
Nai Nai brought A Li in a few minutes later, as she was finishing up Ye Hua's breakfast. Putting the argument out of her mind, she hugged her son and they decided what they wanted to do for the day. She was reading with A Li when she was hit by a wave of dizziness and an unnatural desire to sleep, she shook her head vigorously and asked Nai Nai for a cup of tea. She felt the weight on her mind increase and fought against it; realizing she wasn't going to win she called out for Ye Hua as the cup slipped from her hand and she crumbled to the floor.
Ye Hua had been too angry to go into his seclusion room so he had gone to Zichen hall to calm himself down. That was where a hysterical Nai Nai and a wailing A-Li found him, the only thing that stopped him from running to Peach palace was A-Li, he sent the little boy to sleep with a quick spell, handed him over to Jia Yun and cloud jumped with Tian Shu and the still hysterical maid.
Bai Qian looked like she was sleeping when they got there. Ye Hua picked her up and laid her on the bed before seating beside her. He held her hand while Nai Nai explained the situation.
"Qian Qian doesn't eat much, she probably just fainted"
"Your majesty, she ate your breakfast." the maid cried
Ye Hua looked up sharply, it was well known in the nine heavens that he was in seclusion every seventh day. Alarm bells went off in his head, someone was trying to hurt him and he let them get Qian Qian. Again. He hoped whatever was in the food was not deadly as they waited for the medicine king.
He was going to make sure whoever was behind this paid. His mind began to spin as a strategy began to form. If there was something in the meal and it had been meant for him, there might be a trap in the seclusion room or in Zichen. He sent Tian Shu off alone to look throuhg both places as the medicine king came into the hall. Wanting some peace to think so he put Nai Nai to sleep, set up a privacy barrier around the hall and cast an illusion spell to mask the hall. He sent Jia Yun to fetch his third uncle and waited for Tian Shu.
"Your majesty, she's sleeping. She must have eaten a sleeping potion" The medicine king said
"Can you wake her up?" Ye Hua asked
"A sobering bath will help but she will have to sleep through it. Luckily she is very strong and her cultivation is burning through the poison faster than others would have"
Ye Hua heard the unspoken part of the statement, "faster than you would have with your current cultivation". He nodded. "Thank you, Medicine King. Please do not mention this to anyone while I investigate. Tell everyone you visited because the crown princess is feeling a little ill this morning."
The older man nodded and left.
Tian Shu, Jia Yun and Lian Song came in at the same time and Ye Hua shared his plan with them. Tian Shu was to find trusted soldiers, dress one as Ye Hua and have him go into the seclusion room 'as planned'. Others would guard the room. Jia Yun would stand watch in front of Peach palace and keep everyone out while Ye Hua would take care of Bai Qian inside. Lian Song was in charge of spreading gossip that he was in the seclusion room and that Qian Qian was ill - she would kill him when she woke up for spreading pregnancy rumors but it was the best bet as news of the medicine king's visit would have spread. Third uncle was also responsible for smuggling the sobering bath to the hall. He was grateful for the fact that Qian Qian had very little staff in her hall so there was a tight rein on the news of what actually happened.
Once third uncle had dropped the sobering bath and left, Ye Hua gently disrobed his wife and placed her in the tub which magically fit even though it was physically impossible. His body reacted to the sight of Qian Qian's naked body, he quashed the reaction and forced his mind to focus. Grabbing the washcloth, he gently washed her body and then her hair before wrapping her in immortal energy to keep her from getting cold while he dried and clothed her. Rather than put her back on the bed, he sat on the bed, held her close to him and promised her everything as long as she woke up.
"Ye Hua" She said weakly a few hours later
"Here, drink some tea" he replied bringing the cup he'd been drinking from to her lips. She drank it all in one gulp. "Slowly" he said, bringing the refilled cup back to her lips "How are you feeling?"
"Exhausted. There... there was something in your food"
"Sleeping potion."
"Why would someone want to make you sleep?"
"Tian Shu is investigating"
She sighed, leaned into him and whispered "I was going to be angry at you for this morning but I'm glad you didn't eat"
"I was so scared when Nai Nai came to Zichen with A-Li, it felt eerily similar to the day Su Su jumped off Zhuxian terrace. I thought I was l going to lose you again" He replied
"I'm sorry I worried you"
"I like worrying about you, what I don't like is someone putting your life in danger. When we find the culprit, I will make an example of them"
She yawned.
Ye Hua pressed her head to his shoulder "You should sleep, now that your body has burned through the poison, your sleep will be restful"
The first thing she saw when she woke up the second time was her husband and son. She marveled again at how mature A-Li was. Ye Hua must have told him they needed to be quiet as he was whispering his words. Although it was in the loud whisper category that children seemed naturally gifted at.
She groaned mildly as she tried to sit up in the bed, her joints were stiff and her throat was parched. She warmed up the cup of tea that was beside her bed and took a sip. When she put down the cup a tiny hand wiped an errant drop off her lips. She kissed her son's hand and grinned at him.
"Qian Qian, have some food"
She nodded, "did you ..."
"Yes. I'll tell you after you eat and get some rest"
"A-Li will feed mother" their son said, he was already showing signs of having his father's authoritarian approach to life.
So Ye Hua held the plate while their son scooped porridge and fed his mother. For the first time since he'd met her, his wife ate an entire plate of food. She'd made noises about being full but when A-Li had insisted she eat the entire bowl because the medicine king said so, she'd given in and eaten till the plate was empty.
Bai Qian could see the laughter in Ye Hua's face when she gave in to their son's demands. She was really full but did not want to disappoint the caring child who was concentrating so hard on keeping his hands steady while he fed her. She knew A-Li was very smart and advanced for his age and that he beginning to understand his interactions with others, she also suspected he knew when he was being manipulative but that didn't stop her from giving into it often.
When it was just two of them left, Ye Hua told her of princess Miao Qing of the Eastern sea who had disguised herself as a maid in Su Jin's hall for the past 10 years as a means to seeking his favor. As a last ditch attempt, she'd put the potion in his breakfast and shown up in his seclusion room naked. By nature of both their positions, Ye Hua would have had to marry her. She was caught by the guards in the seclusion room and was stripped of her immortality as punishment.
"Ye Hua, you have an interesting effect on immortal women" she said
"Most of them only react to the crown prince not to Ye Hua" He replied
Bai Qian looked at him and smiled "You're unaware of your looks and charisma. It's part of your charm"
"I'm only interested in my effect on one immortal woman, the one currently in my arms"
"You're a smart god"