"San San, do you feel like something is wrong with me?"
Suddenly, her host spoke up.
"What?" 003 scanned Princess Jiayue's physical state and gasped, "Good heavens, Princess Jiayue is gravely ill!"
"Calm down, is there any way to save me?"
Chen Jia quickly cut off the system's endless screeching inside her mind. Her head was already hurting, and San San's screams only made it worse.
True to its word, San San stopped screaming and thought about it carefully. "Uh, well, no—your current level is not high enough to unlock the System Mall, so you'll have to save yourself, Jiajia!"
For the first time, Chen Jia decided it was completely useless!
Barely supporting her extremely frail and sickly body, Chen Jia dragged herself with all her might to the end of the violet soft gauze curtains, where a golden handbell with a tasseled pendant hung.
Once, twice... Chen Jia let her hand drop weakly, and she passed out completely.
When she regained consciousness, according to the system, three days had already passed.
Fortunately, on that day, Chen Jia had been clever enough to use the noise to summon the palace maids waiting outside.
That night, Changkang Palace was brightly lit. Imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital came in several waves, pouring all sorts of rare medicinal herbs down her throat as if they cost nothing, which barely managed to cling to her life.
If she had been a commoner in this era, she would have had no choice but to wait for death.
"Your Highness, it's time for your medicine!" Biluo, the newly appointed palace maid, carefully held a bowl of medicine as she knelt by the bed. Biluo scooped up a spoonful of the decoction, blew on it, and made sure it wasn't too hot before respectfully serving it to the princess.
Not daring to make any sudden movements, Chen Jia resigned herself to her fate and swallowed the concoction, which tasted even more bitter than coptis, her face pale and haggard.
Biluo offered words of comfort, "Good Highness, there are only two spoonfuls left, and you'll be finished."
In truth, there was more than just two spoonfuls, but she was afraid the princess would lose her patience and could only coax her with a heart in her mouth.
"Really?" Chen Jia's expression relaxed a fraction.
Yet after she drank two spoonfuls, the moment Biluo brought the medicine to her lips again, she clamped her mouth shut tightly.
Her gaze revealed clear mistrust, as if silently accusing Biluo of her previous "last two spoonfuls."
Biluo glanced at the liquid remaining in the bowl; there was only a thin layer left—far better than before, when she would drink half and spit out the other half.
"Your Highness, this maid takes her leave!" Carrying the tray, Biluo bowed and backed away from the princess.
Seeing her close the two large doors, Chen Jia dropped the act and collapsed back onto the bed. "San San, this is too hard!"
"Jiajia, Princess Jiayue was born frail and has just recovered from a major illness, so of course she is healing slowly!" 003 comforted her. "Health is the capital of revolution; if you don't build up your body, how can you complete your tasks? The time node for the male and female protagonists' first encounter hasn't arrived yet, so we still have time."
"You're right. Right now I have the will but lack the strength—" Chen Jia slowly closed her eyes. Affected by this frail body, she spent most of her days sleeping, with very little time awake.
She would always fall into a heavy sleep right after drinking her medicine.
003 had scanned the delivered decoction and confirmed it was suited to her condition.
In her original world, she had drunk plenty of traditional Chinese medicine to condition her body, but she hadn't expected the medicine in this plane to have such a fierce flavor!
The first time, she had taken it into her mouth completely unprepared, only to have her expression distort the next second as she spat every last drop out.
The palace maids waiting on the side were so frightened their faces drained of color, and they threw themselves onto the floor.
The same thing happened the next few times; out of a full bowl of medicine, she could only manage a sip or two before vomiting the rest.
Though the imperial physicians' prescriptions were correct, they couldn't withstand her treatment like this, and the medicine had no chance to take effect at all.
Jiayue was the youngest child of the Canglan Kingdom's monarch, cherished in the palm of his hand since childhood.
The monarch had flown into a massive rage, and the imperial physicians had been replaced three times over.
Even the palace maids serving in Changkang Palace had been demoted to the Laundry Bureau for inadequate care.
Biluo was one of the twelve palace maids bestowed upon Changkang Palace by the monarch.
Having previously served in the Imperial Medical Bureau, she possessed some ability to identify medicinal herbs, which was why she was chosen for Changkang Palace.
In the past, this would have been a coveted job that everyone fought tooth and nail to get!
But times were different now.
Princess Jiayue was critically ill, and even the lords of the Imperial Medical Bureau feared coming to Changkang Palace.
One could easily imagine that being transferred to Changkang Palace at a time like this meant walking into grave danger.
Biluo was relatively lucky; she was among the third wave of maids sent to Changkang Palace, having successfully missed the most tense and terrifying days.
Although Princess Jiayue could not get out of bed, her condition improved day by day, allowing these maids to miraculously escape disaster.
Unwilling to lie in bed and gather dust, Chen Jia actively cooperated with her treatment. In less than half a month, she was able to lean on Biluo and Biming to take a small stroll around the bedchamber.
Just one small stroll left her panting for breath.
It gave her a thorough appreciation of just how frail Princess Jiayue truly was!
To put it without exaggeration, the only reason Princess Jiayue had lived this long was entirely thanks to the royal family's vast wealth; otherwise, she would have dropped dead in a split second!
After finishing dinner, Biluo and Biming quietly withdrew.
Since the princess disliked having people wait on her while she slept, by the princess's grace, they could keep watch in the side hall, taking turns on night duty rather than both of them suffering through it together.
As soon as the two of them left, Chen Jia lifted the blanket and sat up.
She began practicing the introductory Body Refining Technique in her mind. Her body was flexible enough, but her physical stamina was so abysmal that she couldn't even last until the end of the routine.
Chen Jia was not discouraged; she practiced during her midday nap and practiced at night, seizing every opportunity she could.
Finally, she was able to get out of bed and walk on her own without anyone's assistance—from leaving the mattress to stepping out of the bedchamber, she did it all by herself.
Suppressing her excitement, Chen Jia asked the imperial physician who came to check her pulse whether her condition meant she no longer needed to take medicine.
The imperial physician stroked his snow-white beard, pondered for a moment, and changed her prescription to medicinal diet instead.
Which was even worse than not changing it!
Her previous medicine had been bitter enough to kill, but this medicinal diet was both bitter and bizarre!
Holding her spoon, Chen Jia could not convince herself to swallow it. Her slender, pale hands trembled, and her eye rims grew red.
Biluo and Biming watched with tightening hearts, terrified that the princess would flip the table over, in which case they would be done for!
"Drink it and you'll get better—ugh—" Choking back her tears, Chen Jia forced down a bite of the medicinal diet, then retched, almost ruining all her previous efforts in a single stroke.
Ah—
The dull eyes of Biluo and Biming rolled slightly, and their suspended hearts finally settled back safely into place.
A few days later.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
Grand Eunuch Changde—the monarch's favorite red-hot favorite in attendance—arrived once again with a massive pile of comfort gifts. He came by every few days.
"His Majesty is deeply concerned about you and specifically sent this old slave to check on you."
Eunuch Changde was well aware of how much importance His Majesty attached to the princess before him, which made him exceptionally humble in her presence.
"Eunuch Changde, you've come..." Chen Jia looked at the delivered items, then peered out toward the empty courtyard, her enthusiasm fading slightly. "When are Royal Father and the Crown Prince coming to see me?"
It wasn't that she actually hoped the two of them would show up, but Princess Jiayue and those two had deep bonds of affection!
If she didn't show any reaction at all, wouldn't that be far too abnormal?
Eunuch Changde's smile remained unchanged as he lowered his head to reply, "I beg Your Highness to recover your health soon. On the day of the palace banquet, both His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince will be able to see you."
His Majesty and the Crown Prince had actually come before, on the very first day Princess Jiayue fell unconscious.
However, recently there had been a great victory at the border, and His Majesty was overjoyed, granting a general amnesty to the realm!
Once the Grand Preceptor and the Great General returned in triumph, a banquet would be specifically held in the palace to entertain the two triumphant heroes.
For these past few days, everyone up and down the palace had been busy to the point of chaos.
Presumably, Changkang Palace was the only place in the palace that had not descended into frantic disorder.
"Thank you, Eunuch Changde!" Chen Jia acknowledged.
"Peace to Your Highness, this slave takes his leave." Eunuch Changde bowed and departed.