Chapter 18: Cherishing
As soon as they arrived at the Xitong Courtyard, Prince Ying entered the inner room.
After he placed his hand on her forehead, his expression immediately changed.
When Steward Cao saw Prince Ying’s face change, he immediately became nervous and quickly went to find two capable servants. He arranged for one to go and re-invite the doctor and the other to wait for and get the medicine.
But before the sent people had left, the young servant who had run off with the prescription came back.
The young servant said he had run to every pharmacy in the capital, but in the end, they were all missing this one ingredient.
No matter how he asked, the people at the pharmacies all said that due to the recent epidemic, they had sold out. He really couldn’t find it, so he had no choice but to return empty-handed.
In the end, it was the people sent by the Prince of Ying who went into the palace to invite an imperial physician.
…
After the medicine was decocted, Luo Ying handed it to Prince Ying.
He personally fed her twice, but the medicinal liquid either flowed out of the corner of her mouth or simply couldn’t be poured in.
Prince Ying gently separated the strands of her long hair scattered across her face and tucked them behind her ear.
As he watched her get hotter and hotter, a hint of heartache arose in his heart.
Tang Wu’s small hands clutched the corner of the blanket, and she murmured “cold” in a low voice.
He sighed, raised his hand, and drank the entire bowl of medicine.
Then, he leaned down, lips to lips, and transferred the medicinal liquid into her mouth.
This was a sight that Luo Ying and Shuang’er couldn’t bear to watch. They quietly withdrew as soon as Prince Ying leaned down.
The medicine easily choked her, and Tang Wu instinctively coughed several times. Her chest heaved up and down, and her cheeks suddenly became bright red.
He had no other choice. He could only help her into a side-lying position, then reached his hand directly under her blanket and gently stroked her back.
One stroke after another.
Prince Ying looked down at her gently trembling eyelashes, his mind filled with a thousand thoughts.
He wasn’t unaware of her daily cautious and subtle attempts to please him.
But he had too many burdens in this life and could no longer live for himself. He had to put life and death aside, let alone this sudden affection and love.
This was all he could compensate her with; there would be nothing more.
He quietly watched over her for a long time. When he saw that her body was no longer as hot as before, he got up. He watched the small person huddled beside him instantly freeze, but she still refused to make a sound.
Before leaving, he tucked in the corner of her blanket for her and then said in a low, helpless voice, “Since you’re sick, don’t deliberately refuse to drink your medicine. If it gets worse, you’re the one who will suffer.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Wu opened her eyes and met his pair of all-knowing eyes.
So, he knew everything. He knew that she was waiting for him and that was why she refused to take the medicine.
So, he had seen through her little trick long ago, but he never exposed it.
At this, the hidden bitterness in her heart suddenly surged, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.
Prince Ying wiped her tears with his thumb, brushing away the tear stains.
Tang Wu saw the heartache in his eyes and could no longer hold back. With a hoarse voice, she asked softly, “Will His Highness come back?”
“Depends on your behavior,” he said with a smile.
Tang Wu had received much guidance from Gu Jiuniang and had always learned to guess what was on a man’s mind. She knew what actions they would like and what words would be pleasing to their ears.
But with Prince Ying, she could not figure him out.
His apparent indulgence of her seemed like his innate nature.
He favored her, but he never crossed a line.
After Prince Ying left, Luo Ying and Shuang’er came in to wait on Tang Wu.
“This illness of Madam’s is a bit strange. That Cui Zhu is clearly a second-class maid and usually has no chance to enter madam’s room, so why did she just happen to get infected outside and then enter madam’s room? And what that young servant said also seems very suspicious,” Luo Ying said.
Shuang’er listened and added, “Madam, why don’t you ask His Highness to make a decision? In my opinion, His Highness dotes on madam the most.”
“Don’t say such things again in the future. You can get rid of Cui Zhu and that young servant later. As for the rest, don’t say anything more.” The whole story of this matter became clear to her after she regained consciousness.
In this manor, who else would want her to be bedridden?
But there’s no logic in this world. What good would it do to tell His Highness about this? Given her status, not to mention the Princess Consort, she’s like an egg hitting a rock against anyone in this courtyard.
Besides, she was just a concubine who served with her looks.
Tang Wu was truly annoyed. She waved Luo Ying and Shuang’er away, saying she wanted to sleep a little longer.
She looked up at the rafters of the grand mansion and slowly lost herself in thought.
A woman’s beauty is ultimately fleeting. If you’re not careful, wrinkles will quietly creep onto your face.
She didn’t know how long he would dote on her like this, but she knew that every day that passed meant one less day. Young and beautiful girls were like the new buds that grow on trees in early spring; as the seasons change, the old ones disappear, and new ones naturally follow.
Fight?
There would never be an end to the fighting.
However, she would always find a way to vent her frustrations. This reputation of being a ‘seductress’ at least wouldn’t be for nothing.
It was now the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
One of the candles in the room was lit, and the other had gone out, making it a bit dim. With a “creak” of the door, her peripheral vision fell upon the wall illuminated by the candlelight, where his vague silhouette was reflected.
She quickly closed her eyes.
He looked at her with a half-smile and said, “Awake?”
Prince Ying walked straight to her bed, leaned against the bed frame, and placed his hand on her forehead, saying, “You’re much better.”
How could someone make a diagnosis with just a self-spoken statement!
Tang Wu opened her eyes, raised her head, and said plaintively, “My head hurts, and my throat hurts too.” After saying this, she coughed a couple of times for effect.
Prince Ying naturally knew she was telling the truth. Sore throat and fever are the most common symptoms of a cold.
“Since it hurts, why are you still talking?” Prince Ying’s words were always so blunt. Although he wouldn’t say those flowery phrases like “my dear sister, brother is here to pamper you,” Tang Wu felt that every word he said was incredibly precious.
Her little head moved inch by inch toward him. After closing the distance, she stretched out her fair and slender neck and rested it between his strong legs.
The intimacy of this position was apparent from the sound of their breathing.
She wrapped her hands around his waist, greedily absorbing his scent. His scent was crisp and clean, which she was truly infatuated with.
The fact that he came to see her meant that he still liked her.
She selfishly didn’t want him to leave, but she didn’t know what to say, so she just tightened her arms around his waist, trying to make him unable to move.
After all, from her current position, a simple shake or nod could be the end of him.
Prince Ying’s body grew stiffer and stiffer. He frowned and stared at her, but on her innocent face, besides the tear stains, he couldn’t see anything else.
In a short while, her breathing even became regular.
Prince Ying gave a wry smile. She had lit the fire, but she could still fall asleep so peacefully.
Around the hour of Zi (11 PM – 1 AM), someone gently knocked on the door. Steward Cao’s voice came through, saying that Minister Wang of the Ministry of Justice had just sent new case files.
Tang Wu was a light sleeper, and the knock on the door woke her up immediately. She had thought that even if the Princess Consort came to knock today, she wouldn’t open it, but who would have thought it was official business…
She bit her lip and immediately got off of him.
She went back to her pillow, lowered her eyes, and deliberately avoided looking at him.
This was the first time Prince Ying had seen her get upset with him.
“You go back to sleep,” Prince Ying’s deep, husky voice was incredibly alluring. “In an hour, I’ll come back to see you.”
Tang Wu sat up, her eyes clear and bright. She stammered to him, “Your Highness must keep your word. Your humble concubine will wait here.” After she finished speaking, Tang Wu reached out and shook one of his fingers.
It was as if he were about to abandon her.
Prince Ying paused, then turned his hand and pinched her cheek. “How did you get so delicate from being sick?”
Tang Wu delicately turned to her side, unintentionally showing off her enchanting curves. With a coquettish look, she said, “As long as Your Highness is here, any illness your humble concubine has can be cured.”
“According to you, I shouldn’t go to the battlefield. I should go to the capital and practice medicine, specializing in difficult and complicated diseases.”
Steward Cao outside had been waiting for a long time. When he saw that Prince Ying wasn’t coming out, he went to peek through the door crack. Who knew that listening to those words was worse than not listening at all?
He was old, and it gave him goosebumps that took a long time to subside…
By the time Prince Ying returned to the Xitong Courtyard, it was almost the hour of Chou (1 AM – 3 AM).
All the way back, Steward Cao couldn’t help but shake his head. He thought, “Could it be that the person in the Xitong Courtyard really knows some kind of sorcery? Otherwise, our Prince shouldn’t have to go through all this trouble for a concubine.”
Also!
Minister Wang of the Ministry of Justice was over fifty and at an age where he had to say everything three times. He saw that the new emperor had a mind to clean up the mess in the court, so after finishing the details of the case, he couldn’t help but launch into a grand discussion.
Normally, their Prince wouldn’t interrupt him even if the sun came up, but just now, the Prince actually sent him back with the excuse that Minister Wang was getting old and should rest early!
This made Wang Chunsheng secretly wipe away tears at the gate of the Prince of Ying’s manor before he left, perhaps feeling immensely honored to be a loyal official of the Great Yan.
The news of Prince Ying inviting an imperial physician for the Xitong Courtyard naturally reached An Ru’er’s ears.
An Ru’er was so angry that she overturned the fruit stand on the table, and the round grapes rolled all over the floor.
“Nanny, do you think His Highness has fallen for her? Will I see her get pregnant first in a few days?” An Ru’er was so angry that tears flowed out.
As the Princess Consort, as the most famous noble lady in the capital, cultivated by the Cheng family, she couldn’t even compare to a seductress!
She was simply a joke in the capital.
“The Princess Consort has just returned, and some things can’t be rushed. Since His Highness likes that seductress, let him like her. Why should the Princess Consort get angry over a concubine and lower her status? If that Concubine Tang is as sensible as she appears to be, then His Highness will eventually have to rely on the Princess Consort’s belly for a legitimate son. If that Concubine Tang is a schemer, that’s also easy to handle. No matter if she gives birth to a boy or a girl, they will still be registered under the Princess Consort’s name. The Princess Consort is the mistress. There are plenty of ways to handle a servant,” Nanny Lu consoled her.
“Nanny, I don’t want to be so distant from Brother Yanzhi. I don’t care how many concubines he has, but I can’t stand by and watch her surpass me. She spends all her time in that small courtyard clinging to Brother Yanzhi, and I, a legitimate Princess Consort, have become her housekeeper!”
As she said this, An Ru’er’s tone suddenly changed, “Have you handled the matter of Cui Zhu and the medicine properly, Nanny?”
“The Princess Consort can rest assured. It’s autumn, and getting a cold is nothing out of the ordinary. That Cui Zhu was originally from her courtyard, and she just happened to catch the illness outside. We just built a bridge. No matter how they investigate, they won’t trace it back to the Princess Consort. And if we were going to use a trick, we wouldn’t choose an illness that can be cured in a few days. As for the medicine, this servant also found a unrelated person to buy it,”
Nanny Lu’s actions were always meticulous, and with just a few words, she put An Ru’er’s mind at ease.
After a moment, An Ru’er sighed, “She is a concubine from a respectable family and is favored by His Highness. She will surely get a title in the future. I might as well test the waters in front of His Highness tomorrow.”
If he agrees, she will take the opportunity to look good.
If he doesn’t, she will naturally have to make that seductress understand her own place.
