Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Xie Run was sleeping fourteen to sixteen hours a day, her mind groggy and heavy, so she couldn't be bothered with the affairs of Prince Jing’s rear courtyard.

Dan Tao only found an opportunity today to tell her the two pieces of news: the eldest young master being sick and Shufei Fang suffering from severe pregnancy sickness.

Xie Run was completely dazed.

It took her a while to react. "Then we should send two people to check on them."

Dan Tao said helplessly, "I've already handled it."

If I had waited for you to give the order, it would have been too late.

Xie Run looked up at the sky; the sun was bright at this hour. "At this time, shouldn't we be having lunch?"

"You've slept yourself silly again, mistress. You already ate lunch."

Xie Run had been sleeping deeply these past few days, waking up at irregular times, and her meal times were even more irregular.

Fortunately, there was a small kitchen in the courtyard, so she could eat whenever she wanted without having to endure the main kitchen's ill temper.

Xie Run was silent for a moment. "I've been getting confused from all this sleep these past few days."

She felt this was not good.

When the mind is not clear, it's easy to let your guard down and become more vulnerable to being schemed against.

Dan Tao said, "The flower nursery has sent two new osmanthus plants. Would you like to go outside and take a look? It might also help clear your head."

Xie Run nodded. As soon as she stepped out the door, the cold air hit her, clearing her mind a bit.

Seeing the newly delivered osmanthus, Dan Tao suddenly regretted it.

Xiaoshu couldn't help but speak out. "Those wretched servants in the flower nursery! The mistress is pregnant, and they dare to send something like this?!"

"How infuriating!"

The osmanthus in front of them were thin and withered, their branches so slender that a child could snap them off with a touch.

"How could these possibly survive being planted?"

Seeing the osmanthus, Xie Run suddenly recalled that Prince Jing hadn't visited her courtyard for over half a month.

She was suddenly startled and grabbed Dan Tao's hand.

"Dan Tao, I've been groggy and sleeping for over half a month!"

Dan Tao was taken aback, thinking Xie Run was asking her a question, and nodded.

"Yes. It's already the end of October."

"This isn't right!"

Dan Tao and Xiaoshu tensed up. "What's not right?"

Xie Run said, "Intuition."

Xie Run thought carefully. "I didn't have any symptoms of drowsiness in the first three and a half months of pregnancy. Why did it appear as soon as the prince came back?"

Dan Tao said quietly, "The imperial physician said it's normal."

Xiaoshu also said quietly, "Shufei Fang didn't have pregnancy sickness in her first three months, but she started vomiting a few days ago. The imperial physician also said that women's pregnancy symptoms are numerous..."

Xie Run walked back and forth a few steps while holding her belly, and she began to feel drowsy again.

The more this happened, the more she felt something was off.

A faint osmanthus fragrance reached her nose. Old Lady Ma was taking Yueya'er to water the flowers Xie Run had planted.

In early autumn, the flower nursery had sent osmanthus once, and the quality was excellent.

The flowers had bloomed for over a month, and now at the end of October, they were almost all withered.

Xie Run said, "This osmanthus has a lingering fragrance."

Dan Tao was startled. "Mistress suspects the flowers are a problem? But these osmanthus have been blooming for over a month, and your drowsiness only started half a month ago."

Xie Run shook her head. "I don't know."

She added, "Have someone investigate only the items that entered the courtyard in the past half month."

Dan Tao and Xiaoshu hurried to carry out the order.

But they searched for three days, thoroughly searching the entire Linxuan Pavilion, and found nothing.

They even checked every flower planted in the courtyard and found no abnormalities.

Dan Tao sighed. "The mistress is pregnant now, so it's inevitable that she's suspicious. As servants, we'll just search as much as we can, even if only to put the mistress's mind at ease."

Naturally, the people in Linxuan Pavilion followed orders.

But Xie Run remained uneasy.

From that day on, she even started having nightmares.

She tried to snap out of it by forcing herself to stay awake, so she went for walks whenever she could.

But after just a few steps, she began to feel dizzy.

Dan Tao and Xiaoshu panicked; they quickly supported her. "Quick, summon the imperial physician!"

The imperial physician came but found nothing wrong.

"Shufei Xie is pregnant; feeling sleepy is common and a natural bodily instinct. Why go against instinct and harm yourself?"

This was a criticism of Xie Run for not sleeping and forcing herself to walk outside.

Xie Run woke up, groggily leaning against the headboard, when suddenly an idea struck her.

She grabbed Dan Tao's hand. "Go send a message to the Princess Consort, saying I miss my family and can't sleep day and night!"

Dan Tao was startled, then she understood. "Mistress wants to see the eldest miss?"

Xie Run forced her drooping eyelids open. "I don't trust these imperial physicians. The only one I can trust now is my eldest sister."

Xie Jiang, living up to her role as the female lead of a story.

She had only been in the capital for less than two months, yet she had already cured Duke of State Stabilization of his chronic illness and Prime Minister Fang of his headaches, becoming famous in the capital.

But Dan Tao didn't know yet.

She just thought that Xie Jiang was part of the Xie family, and even if her medical skills were lacking, having her come to see her mistress would still ease her mind.

Linxuan Pavilion had just sent word to the Princess’s quarters when a major incident suddenly erupted in Xiachi Courtyard.

Fang Yuaner was vomiting blood!

This news sent a jolt through everyone in Linxuan Pavilion. Both were pregnant, both developed sudden symptoms—how could they be certain their own mistress was fine?!

Dan Tao immediately dispatched someone to the Princess’s Qingsong Courtyard.

The Princess had just finished seeing the eldest young master and hadn’t even changed her clothes when she heard the news that Shufei Fang was vomiting blood.

Just as she was about to rush to Xiachi Courtyard, she ran into Dan Tao.

“Shufei Xie misses her family?” The Princess’s eyes looked confused.

Dan Tao’s eyes welled up as she said, “My mistress has been restless and having nightmares. When she woke up today, she said she missed her family terribly…”

Every time the imperial physicians took Xie Run’s pulse, they came to report to the Princess that she was fine.

The Princess also knew that Xie Run’s pregnancy was stable; she had just been sleeping more than usual. It was just her own suspicious nature, always afraid someone was trying to harm her.

The Princess had no time for idle talk right now.

“Fine. Have Tinghe handle it later.”

The Princess also worried about something going wrong at Xie Run's place.

A little while later, Xie Jiang was escorted into the residence.

Xie Run was sound asleep but groggy.

Dan Tao said, “Eldest Miss, I’ll wake my mistress.”

Xie Jiang waved her hand. “No need to wake her; I’ll take her pulse directly.”

“Then I’ll trouble you, Eldest Miss.”

Led by a servant, Xie Jiang took a seat beside Xie Run’s bed and felt her pulse, her delicate brows furrowed.

Dan Tao’s heart was pounding. “Eldest Miss, has my mistress… really been harmed?”

Xie Jiang calmly withdrew her hand. “It’s poison.”

Dan Tao and Xiaoshu’s faces instantly went pale.

“How could it be poison? My mistress has been so careful.”

Xie Jiang thought to herself that this small prince’s manor indeed had deep waters.

She comforted the two maids: “Don’t worry. The poisoning isn’t severe, and it won’t harm the fetus.”

Seeing her confident and composed demeanor, Dan Tao’s heart steadied a bit.

She quickly bowed. “May I trouble Eldest Miss to also inspect the things in the courtyard? We maids are too foolish; we searched the courtyard several times but couldn’t find where the poison came from…”

Xie Jiang pulled a set of silver needles from her custom-made medical kit and said casually, “Fine. Let me first treat Suisui's poisoning.”

After inserting a few long, thin silver needles, Xie Run slowly opened her eyes.