Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Suijin went to the main courtyard.

That same evening, Prince Jing happened to be having dinner in the Princess's courtyard.

The Princess brought up Shiqie Wan.

"She earned merit back then, and you personally brought her into the mansion. Now half a month has passed, and you haven't yet visited Embroidery Pavilion. There's been some gossip in the rear courtyard."

Prince Jing listened, not even raising an eyebrow.

"Understood."

But he offered no further response.

However, having been husband and wife with Prince Jing for many years, the Princess knew his temperament best.

She knew Prince Jing had agreed, so she said no more.

The next day, Prince Jing ended his court session and dined first in the front courtyard.

As the sun was about to set, Eunuch Shi'an asked, "Your Highness, where will you rest tonight?"

Prince Jing lowered his gaze in thought, his line of sight landing on a small, exquisite jade seal placed nearby.

Eunuch Shi'an glanced at it. "Your Highness hasn't visited Linxuan Pavilion for half a month now. Would you like to go take a look?"

Prince Jing shot him a look. "I haven't visited Linxuan Pavilion for half a month, and I haven't seen her send a message either. It seems she doesn't care whether I visit or not."

Prince Jing cursed Xie Run in his heart for being ungrateful.

He had played along with her act, protecting her well-being, yet she didn't appreciate his kindness in the slightest.

Over the past half month, aside from the seal she handed over after returning to the mansion, Xie Run truly hadn't sent a single word.

Prince Jing felt inexplicably irritated.

Originally, he had been playing along to watch the show, but now he deliberately ignored Xie Run, waiting for her to make the first move.

Shi An, hearing this, dared not press further.

Suddenly recalling the Princess's words from yesterday, Prince Jing said indifferently, "Then I'll go to Wan Shi's."

A smile formed on Eunuch Shi'an's face. "Then this servant will send someone to Embroidery Pavilion right away."

Prince Jing said lazily, "Go ahead."

Prince Jing knew the Princess never spoke meaningless words and never meddled in idle affairs.

If the Princess had brought up Shiqie Wan's matter, it meant that Wan Shi had taken the initiative to go see the Princess herself.

In Prince Jing's eyes, Wan Linlang had always been unruly, and now she had added to the impression of her being discontent.

Prince Jing was annoyed with Xie Run for not being proactive, resenting her for being ungrateful.

Yet now that Shiqie Wan was being proactive, he found her even more distasteful.

He recalled how Xie Run had entered the mansion and gone a whole month without serving him, yet she never went eagerly to the Princess to arrange her turn.

With this comparison, his displeasure grew even more pronounced.

All along the way, Prince Jing was preoccupied with thoughts of Xie Run, not even realizing anything was wrong with himself.

As he was about to cross the Moon-Viewing Pond and head toward the path leading to Embroidery Pavilion, he suddenly noticed two maidservants holding lanterns walking out from the side.

Upon seeing Prince Jing, they quickly bowed.

Eunuch Shi'an asked, "Which courtyard are you from?"

Qiu Kui bowed and said, "This servant is Qiu Kui from the Summer Pond Courtyard."

"What are you doing?"

"Lady Shufei Fang is feeling unwell today, so she sent us to ask for leave from the Princess, saying she may not be able to pay respects tomorrow."

Prince Jing then recalled that tomorrow was the fifteenth, when the secondary consorts would go to pay respects to the Princess.

This time, he didn't suspect that Fang Yuaner was deliberately blocking his way to seek favor.

He casually asked, "What's wrong with your mistress this time?"

Hearing this, Qiu Kui's face turned pale, thinking Prince Jing was displeased that Lady Fang had repeatedly shown signs of a threatened miscarriage. She quickly replied, "She suddenly started vomiting."

Eunuch Shi'an also said, "They say that for pregnant women, vomiting only lasts the first three months, and it stops afterward. Lady Fang's pregnancy is already stable, isn't it?"

"Exactly." Qiu Kui's face was full of worry. "My mistress didn't vomit in the first three months. Now that the pregnancy is stable, she's starting to vomit. We dare not take it lightly."

Prince Jing lowered his gaze thoughtfully. "I'll go take a look."

After all, the child in Fang Yuaner's belly was his.

As for Shiqie Wan, she was merely a concubine. Whether he went or not was entirely his decision.

That visit, naturally, meant he wouldn't return.

Embroidery Pavilion, having received word that Prince Jing was coming that evening, had prepared everything early on.

Wan Linlang had even spent a good amount of silver to bribe the main kitchen staff, preparing a full table of delicious dishes.

But she waited and waited, until it got dark and the food went cold—and still no sign of Prince Jing.

Suijin and the other maidservants saw her dark expression and dared not go near her or say anything to provoke her.

After a long silence, Wan Linlang finally said, "Suijin, go find out what's keeping the Prince. Did something happen along the way?"

Suijin acknowledged the order. "This servant will go immediately."

Not long after, Suijin returned, grinding her teeth in anger. "The Prince went to the Summer Pond Courtyard. It seems he won't be coming to Embroidery Pavilion after all."

Wan Linlang shot to her feet, raised her hand and smashed a teacup on the table, cursing furiously, "Bitch!"

Fang Yuaner must have seduced the Prince away with her wiles.

In her past life, Fang Yuaner had always used such tactics, though the Prince respected the secondary consort and rarely humiliated her.

Now, in this life, on her first night of serving the Prince, she had suffered such humiliation.

Suijin, hearing her curse, trembled all over, unable to stop herself from saying, "Mind your words! If these words reach Lady Shufei Fang's ears, every life in Embroidery Pavilion won't be enough to make up for it."

She's courting death and dragging us down with her. How unlucky she was to have such a mistress!

Wan Linlang's face turned green as she snapped, "Get out!"

Now even a mere maidservant dares to act so insolently before her!

Suijin snorted and actually turned and walked away.

Wan Linlang clenched her fists, nearly overturning the entire table of dishes.

She didn't overturn it because this meal had cost her half a month's allowance.

After a moment, she swallowed her fury and sat down calmly to eat.

The food had gone cold and greasy.

But it was still better than anything she had eaten in her half-month since entering the mansion.

Having just arrived, her pavilion had no small kitchen, and she couldn't even reheat the dishes.

Wan Linlang ate mechanically, her hatred building up as she thought of countless ways to murder Fang Yuaner.

Fang Yuaner's move of snatching away her chance was far more clever than her earlier scheme against Concubine An. Even the Princess couldn't find fault with her.

The next day, she purposely had someone spread the word about what happened last night.

Wan Linlang became a laughingstock in Prince Jing's back courtyard.

You'd think it was bad enough that she had no chance to serve the Prince.

But when you finally get a chance, someone else snatches it away.

Clearly, Concubine Wan held no weight in the Prince's eyes at all.

Fang Yuaner had successfully snatched the opportunity away, but before she could celebrate, she suddenly fell victim to morning sickness.

When she sent Qiu Kui to call in sick last night, it wasn't an excuse she made up—she really felt unwell.

Otherwise, if the Prince had gone over and seen she wasn't vomiting, wouldn't he know she was lying?

An excuse like feeling unwell could be used once, but not a second or third time.

It was like the story of the boy who cried wolf.

Fang Yuaner's vomiting started in full force—a dizzying, relentless mess, as if she were making up for all the vomiting she hadn't done in the first three months.

After Fang Yuaner began vomiting, the mansion's eldest son suddenly started vomiting too.

It wasn't morning sickness, of course.

The eldest son's nanny came to report to the Princess early in the morning that he had caught a chill last night and was vomiting badly.

The Princess quickly sent word to Prince Jing and called for the imperial physician.

The mansion became a bustling hive of orderly activity.

Linxuan Pavilion remained as quiet as ever, its doors shut tight, unnaturally still.

Xie Run hadn't really forgotten about Prince Jing, but she had been feeling drowsy lately.

She slept fourteen to sixteen hours a day and still felt like it wasn't enough.

The imperial physician had taken her pulse and said it was just normal, telling her to let nature take its course.