Chapter 852: Chapter 852: Awakening
After the dream collapsed, Lian Hua sank into a darkness blacker than ink, her consciousness muddled and unable to pull herself out, her eyelids so heavy, too heavy to open.
She could feel many people around her, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t wake up, her consciousness trapped like in a quagmire, unable to muster any strength, wanting to wake yet failing.
Suddenly a sharp pain like a needle prick jolted her, the pain so intense cold sweat broke out, and curiously with this pain, her consciousness cleared a bit, and her eyelids lightened a little.
Then came another pain, making cold sweat pour out of her, her hands instinctively moved to swat away the pricking needle, and her eyelids became even lighter.
Subsequent pricks followed in succession, densely packed, so painful indeed, she thought angrily, who was poking her, why were they so bad.
She protested aloud, humming from the pain, using all her strength like a newborn calf trying to open her eyes, to see who was poking her, that if she found out who it was so bad, she would surely give them a good lesson, humph, she could be quite scary when angry.
But it seemed her protest worked, as there was no more pain afterwards, she thought indignantly, indeed they were afraid of her, so be it, she wouldn’t fuss over it.
It was then that she felt her nostrils filled with familiar scents, making her feel very reassured.
So she thought, anyway it didn’t hurt anymore, why not sleep a bit, her head dizzy, no strength in her limbs, like weary after a great dream, so sleepy wanting to sleep, so she no longer struggled and drifted off again.
She hadn’t slept long when the voice of the Emperor reached her, gentle as ever, but the content was less pleasant, was he telling her to take medicine?
She frowned, knowing without even thinking that it was to scare her, His Majesty was too bad.
Thinking so, she slept even more peacefully, unaware of being a guest in her dreams, sleeping soundly and sweetly.
Until a familiar call startled her awake.
Even in her dreams, she wouldn’t forget, it was her mother’s voice, still very angry.
Could it be she once again forgot to do her homework, still lying in bed and missing the time for school, angering her mother?
That was quite possible!
Thinking so, she woke up suddenly in fright, seeing many people surrounding her.
Abruptly waking from a long dream, returning to reality, Lian Hua’s mind was blank, unable to recall anything, knowing nothing, dazed and expressionless, the people before her all familiar, yet in a moment not recognizing them, subconsciously calling out.
The people around reacted strongly, either crying or laughing.
She was tightly embraced by a woman who came near, getting her nose wet with tears, then a man leaned in calling her ’Nannan’ a few times, pinching her cheek, finally an old lady squeezed her hand.
Gradually, her mind cleared, seeing His Majesty smiling brilliantly, seeing Nanny Qi with wrinkles smoothed, wiping the corners of her eyes, seeing Xiao Jizi and them all smiling brightly.
She blinked, moving her eyes to look at the person closest to her, softly calling out, "His Majesty?"
"Hmm, I am here." The Emperor sat at the bedside, gently touching her hair, his smile immensely satisfied.
Waking from this sleep left Lian Hua feeling as if a lifetime had passed, she looked to the side, calling, "Grandma?"
"Yes, Grandma is here." Nanny Qi responded with consolation.
Lian Hua suddenly moved her gaze to the woman who had been crying with her face in her hands, who had just embraced her, it was her:
"Mother!"
Though separated for seven years, even though her mother had grown thin, her face more weathered, she still recognized her!
This was her mother whom she had longed for over these seven years!
Lian Hua’s eyes instantly reddened, her nose sour and astringent, thinking she called out loudly, yet the voice that came out was dry, scratchy, and soft.
She tried to get up, but had no strength until the Emperor lifted her to sit, leaning her against him, then she gained some strength.
Fearing it was a dream, she reached out, the woman noticing, quickly stepping forward to sit on the bedside, preemptively grasping her hand, too choked up to speak.
In her memory, her mother’s hand was large and soft, yet now her mother’s hand was thinner than hers, gripping her with a slightly rough and calloused feel.
Lian Hua’s tears couldn’t help but fall drop by drop, asking in a tearful voice of disbelief, "Mother, is it really you?"
Su Ran trembled as she spoke, "It’s Mother, Nannan, it’s Mother." Her heart and soul trembled, her hand shaking as she tried to fetch a clean handkerchief to wipe her little daughter’s tears, yet it was tightly held and wouldn’t come free.
Lian Hua tightly clung to the person before her, afraid that if she let go, they’d disappear, her lips pursed, she wailed loudly, "Why did you take so long to come? Nannan missed you so much." Saying this, she leaned forward, her tears streaming down like a child, feeling extremely aggrieved.
Su Ran leaned forward to embrace her, also sobbing uncontrollably, "It’s Mother’s fault, we were too late..."
Mother and daughter cried into each other’s arms.
Those in the palace were deeply moved, their hearts both relieved and touched, each wiping the tears from the corners of their eyes.
Afterwards, Nanny Qi, worried Lian Hua might be hungry after waking up, left the palace to personally arrange meals; she knew what was suitable for someone recovering from a severe illness to eat.
Despite the remedies provided by the Imperial Physician during those days, they were merely methods of last resort, hanging onto life. Moreover, she was still pregnant. Even being fed five times a day led to visible weight loss, different from being able to eat and drink oneself, which was one of the reasons adding more burden to the Emperor and others’ hearts.
Now it was fine, she had awakened and could eat by herself. Nanny Qi eagerly set about arranging meals, wanting to prepare this and that, yet nothing seemed good enough no matter how she looked at it.
In the end, Divine Doctor Huang, who came searching for food with an empty stomach, looked once and burst out laughing, asking why to bother with so much, saying the lass couldn’t eat heavy meats now, and a simple bowl of fresh fish porridge was best.
It’s indeed melancholic; the cuisine at Canglan Court was superb, but today all the chefs of Canglan Court were in the palace, resulting in no one cooking, with the master having no appetite, thus forgetting to order meals, which made it tough on Divine Doctor Huang.
At his age, being a doctor was no simple task, busy throughout the night, only handing over a prescription to the clumsy young eunuch to fetch medicine before he noticed his insides feeling empty, his stomach burning with discomfort, unable to endure without eating something to warm it.
The young eunuch of Star Palace eagerly went to the Imperial Kitchen to find him food, but he thought it slow, so he came to the small kitchen himself, seeing the seaturizing old lady’s indecision there.
Nanny Qi glanced at him; how could she not know? Her concern made confusion, wanting to prepare both what Lian Hua loved and what she could eat, trying to balance both.
Upon hearing Divine Doctor Huang’s words, Nanny Qi thought for a moment, having to admit fresh fish porridge was an excellently restorative choice.
She thought it over, asking Pang Ya to call several young eunuchs over.