Chapter 146 - A Very Awkward Family Dinner
Chapter 146 – A Very Awkward Family Dinner
The Eastern courtyard, the crown Prince's mansion
Xia Ying accepted the hot bowl of medicine from Daiyu and held it up. She picked up the spoon inside the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of the dark brown coloured medicine and put it into her mouth. She dry heaved as the bitter liquid touched her tongue, she felt like throwing up but since it was high-quality medicine.
She couldn't waste medicine like this, she removed her mind from the medicine and swallowed it down. She placed the spoon on the tray, brought the plate to her lips and swallowed the entire medicine in one go. She covered her mouth with her palm as she let out some gas from her mouth. She placed the empty bowl on the tray and pushed it towards Daiyu.
She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, "Get some sweets Daiyu".
"Yes," Daiyu glanced at the weeping Maid kneeling in front of the Princess consort. Before going into the next room to get the box of sweets out of the cupboard and bring it to her mistress. "Here you go, mistress," Daiyu said and stepped back.
Xia Ying opened the box of denied preserved sweets, picked out a few pieces and put them into her mouth. The sweet melted into a homey flavoured sweet delicacy in her mouth, which was a welcome change from the bitter after taste of the liquid extracts of the four herbs mixed to produce the medicine.
There was a noticeable change in her taste buds after licking a few pieces of sweet. Xmtgecries of the maid alerted her of the unwelcome visitor she had kneeling in her room. Anger and pain came up from her heart and she glared down the maid. She wasn't familiar with most of the maids serving under her palace but she did remember seeing the maids familiar face a few times in here.
She held the arm of the chair with a strong grip trope in the anger and asked the maid in a cold tone "Who send you?"
She had heard a few things about this Princess consort's family, she wasn't a good person to make an enemy of. She didn't bother lying to keep the Crown Princess consort from finding out it was Madam Zhu that send her. The Crown Princess consort outranked Madam Zhu on so many levels. Although Madam here was currently the most favoured, she was still a concubine. Her words hold no ground when compared to the princess consort.
The maid fell forward on her front and said, "please forgive me for being too forward your highness. This maid was asked by Eunuch Ji that served under Madam Zhu to check on your highness's conditions!"
"It was her! That wench is just pushing her lock" she said in an unnaturally calm tone, locked eyes with her maid and smiled. To an onlooker who was unfamiliar with Xia Ying, she may seem to be calm and relaxed but not Daiyu. She knew never to take her actions at face value, her mistress was far from amused.
Daiyu felt the room get colder, glanced down at the maid and sighed. This madam Zhu was very ballsy, she dared to instruct her servants to spy on her mistress. Even if the maid claimed it was Eunuch Ji, they all knew who the real culprit was. Who was Eunuch Ji a what would he gain spying on her mistress, Eunuch Ji was a servant and wouldn't do things like this without being ordered to. it was the madam behind him that sent him.
This Madam Zhu was asking for trouble, trouble that she was about to get double of. She shook her head and just wished that her mistress wouldn't take a page from the Grand Princess's playbook and permanently handle this consort of the Crown Prince. Things might end up disastrous if she did do that.
Xia Ying shit the lid on the sweets and gestured for Daiyu to take it away. Daiyu rushed forward without delay, took the box of sweets from her mistress and went into the side room to return the box of sweets into the cupboard. When she came back the maid was gone and her mistress laid on the side, with her eyes closed.
It didn't seem like a good idea to disturb her, so she just stepped aside and cleaned up the room. Xia Ying heard her come in put pretended to be sleeping, she didn't want to explain her plan to Daiyu. She didn't trust her maid not to report her actions back to her grandmother. Her loyalties were not fully hers but to her grandmother.
She has treated, Zhu Fenfang cautiously but the foolish girl doesn't seem to value her kindness and dared go against her. That was a mistake that Zhu Fenfang will soon pay for, she was going to put that unruly concubine in her place.
Xia Ying couldn't ignore her sneaky actions anymore, she had initially decided not to exact much of her authority on that concubine since she wasn't interested in the marriage. However, based on recent developments, she couldn't look away and let her get away with foolish actions like this.
There was no point in holding on to the false hope that she could get out of this dreaded marriage and end up with the general. That was only a dream, it was time for her to wake up. She can not be with the man she loved, it was time to accept that and send him off with joy. She didn't want to turn into something she wasn't because she was obsessed with him.
Maybe they would end up together at a different time not now. They would be happy together, keeping each other company till the end.
*******"
Meanwhile, at Zhu Fenfang's side hall
Zhu Fenfang sat on a seat by the window while her maid massaged her back gently. She had submitted to the massage as a means to calm her thoughts. It was either that or she would have been tempted to badged into the crown Princess consort's room. She had felt uneasy some eunuch Ji reported that the crown prince won't be spending the night at her place but at the crown Princess consort's place.
She couldn't understand why the crown Prince would spend the night with that cold fish, Xia Ying. She wouldn't have found any fault with him spending the night at the western courtyard if he hadn't put on such an over-the-top scene this morning. She didn't like what she saw and heard this morning, after all her sacrifices. She deserved to be the only woman beside him, not that cold fish.
She looked toward the door when she heard loud voices outside the room. It sounded like there was a loud argument outside the door, which was getting loaded by the second. Finally, she could no longer stat still, her head was starting to hurt. She leaned her next back, opened her eyes and instructed, "Xiao Chu, find out what is going on".
"Yes" Xiao chu rushed out the door, she didn't need to ask any questions to find out what had everyone on edge. The sight of two maids holding the spy from the crown Princess consort's courtyard was all she needed to tell what had them all on edge. She immediately walked forward and broke the dispute.
"Enough, you are too loud!" She said loudly. The maid all turned to the side and bowed respectfully. "Sister Chu, sorry for the noise. We forgot ourselves for a few minutes there!"
"That is alright, you were just doing your job. Let's not try something like this again." She glanced at the shorter maid and continued "let her in, Madam Zhu is expecting her".
The two older maids glanced at the shorter maid and stepped aside to let her come in. Xiao Chu nodded at both maids and turned around. The shorter maid followed her into the room, she escorted the maid to the side room where Zhu Fenfang was seated and stepped aside.
Zhu Fenfang looked down at the maid, " what do you have to report".
The maid counted full five in her head before speaking, she had already rehearsed what be Crown Princess consort ordered her to report in her head a few times on her way here. By now she knew what she was meant to say and what she shouldn't say. However, saying it in one's head and saying it out were two different things.
She needed to be precise and very convincing to sell Madam Zhu on the plan. She took in a deep breath to calm her mind and bowing at 30 degrees said, "Yunli greets Madam Zhu. Mistress this little one found out something major, however, I don't know if I should say_"
Zhu Fenfang sat straighter on hearing that, it was like she had stumbled on gold. "Tell me everything you found out, I will be responsible don't worry".
She looked sideways and continued, "her highness has been indoors since morning, she sent all the maids away except for her Sister Daiyu, her lady's maid. Sister Daiyu went in and out of the room multiple times, so I couldn't get closer. However, I followed her closely to the kitchen once and saw her burn the white bed linen.
"She was called out for a second so I slipped into check the bed linens and mistress the linens were stained with blood"
Zhu Fenfang tilted her head to the side, "blood!? It can't be that she started bleeding this morning but then why would her maid sneakily burn the bed linens except if she wasn't bleeding_"
"The Princess consort finished bleeding four days earlier mistress, I know that because I was in charge of cleaning her room during the five days she was bleeding"
"Them it had to be_ how interesting!" The heavens blessed me with something good"