Chapter 111

Chapter 111

The Princess Consort said, "The child is still small, so take good care of him for now! Don't go spreading this around—if the child gets scared, don't blame me if I come down hard on you!"

"As for the third-day bathing ceremony, I'll decide once I've asked the Prince about it."

The matron holding the child said joyfully, "This servant obeys!"

The Princess Consort asked, "How is Shufei Fang?"

"The imperial physician said she's been drained pretty badly and will need a good long rest, but there should be no major problems."

"That's good." The Princess Consort said, "Mother Li, take a few servants and open the storeroom later."

"Shufei Fang has given the Prince a third son—this calls for a celebration! Don't be stingy with the supplies; send her some good herbs first."

Mother Li naturally agreed.

The Princess Consort looked at the others. "Now that Shufei Fang has delivered safely, you may all head back now. If anything comes up, send someone to report."

The group bowed together. "Yes!"

Prince Jing's ceremonial procession then took Xie Run back.

Shufei Li had not yet moved to a new courtyard, and her current residence, Qingzhu Court, was in the same direction as Xie Run's.

Leaning on two maids, she watched Xie Run ride by in the palanquin, unable to hide the envy in her eyes.

Fei Xu muttered softly, "The Prince really spoils Shufei Xie."

"Even the Prince's own escort is at Shufei Xie's disposal... That's got to be a first for this household."

Shufei Li hid the envy in her eyes and said only in a calm voice, "Outside, don't speak of such idle talk."

Fei Xu ducked her head obediently. "Yes."

It wasn't until they got back to Chunshan Court that Dan Tao brought it up with Xie Run.

"I'd heard all those stories about people getting hurt and just mentioned it offhand—who'd have thought that midwife would actually smear poison on the rim of Shufei Fang's medicine bowl?!"

"If Shufei Fang had drunk it without knowing, she'd have been in serious trouble."

Xie Run sat in her chair, lost in thought. "Mother Li later paused and said someone had smeared medicine on Shufei Fang's body?"

With the imperial physicians right there, Mother Li still brought up female doctors—so it had to be somewhere the physicians couldn't look.

When it clicked, Xie Run felt a chill run down her spine.

"I wonder who did it this time?"

The ways people hurt each other in this household just keep getting more vicious.

Dan Tao said, "When I heard Shufei Fang say she was in pain, like she was being whipped, I got suspicious right away."

"After all the stories I've heard with you, I've never once heard a woman describe labor pains as whip-like. So I figured someone must have given her something to make her suffer."

"No wonder she insisted you come and keep an eye on things."

Xie Run looked confused. "What does it have to do with me?"

Dan Tao had figured it out. "It's probably because you're so kind-hearted. Of all the women in the back courtyard, Lady Fang probably only trusts you."

"Lady Fang probably knew someone was out to get her, and childbirth is when you're most exposed—so she had to have you there watching over her."

Simply because Xie Run was kind and would never dream of hurting anyone.

Fang Yuaner could relax knowing that.

Xie Run sort of understood, vaguely guessing it might have something to do with the original story.

But she wasn't about to tell Dan Tao that.

Taking the chance, Xie Run gave Dan Tao a little scolding.

"Next time something like this happens, you don't go off on your own like that!"

"Even if I just flat-out refused to go, who'd dare drag me into the delivery room?"

"If you'd gone and something went wrong that we couldn't explain, that would've been a real mess."

Dan Tao said quietly, "I was just thinking of you, mistress."

"Today, when Qiu Kui begged you in front of everyone, if you'd said no, people would've talked behind your back no matter what."

"I'm your servant, so of course I have to look out for you!"

Xie Run said seriously, "I don't care about people talking trash, but I can't stand the thought of losing any of you."

"Don't ever do something like that again!"

Dan Tao took the scolding meekly. "I understand, mistress. I won't do it again!"

The Princess Consort had already gotten quite a bit of information out of them before Prince Jing got back.

This time, the ones who'd drugged Fang Yuaner included the midwife, two young maids, and a eunuch named Yuanbao from Xiachi Court.

The eunuch Yuanbao was the ringleader, but he wouldn't say who was pulling his strings.

The four of them had two plans.

First, they smeared a drug on Fang Yuaner's body during labor that would irritate her skin.

The drug would seep through the skin and cause intense pain.

An imperial physician checking her pulse wouldn't catch it—you'd have to see the bruises on her skin to know.

But they'd put it somewhere the physicians couldn't look, so of course no one noticed.

The whole point was to make Fang Yuaner suffer, to keep her in pain for a day or so until she passed out from it and couldn't deliver the baby properly.

Second, they smeared poison on the rim of the ginseng broth bowl.

The poison turned out to be arsenic.

If Fang Yuaner had taken even one sip, she'd have been done for.

But they hadn't counted on Fang Yuaner being so tough—she screamed for half a day and still had the strength to push the baby out.

And they definitely hadn't expected Dan Tao to show up, spot the poison in the ginseng soup with just a few words, and tip off Mother Li and the others that something was off with Fang Yuaner.

Looking at it this way, Fang Yuaner's stubborn insistence on having Xie Run in the delivery room was indeed a clever move that ended up saving her own skin.

Dan Tao asked softly, "Who does my mistress think is behind this?"

"To be able to bribe so many people around Concubine Fang and strike with such venomous cunning..."

If it were just to make Fang Yuaner's labor difficult, that would be one thing.

But the culprit had applied a drug to Fang Yuaner's body, causing her to suffer agony during labor, making it worse than death itself.

Such vicious methods—even with a mortal enemy, one wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics.

"There's no one in the household with such a deep-seated grudge against Concubine Fang," Dan Tao frowned and said. "This servant truly can't guess."

"It couldn't be Concubine Wan, could it?"

Xie Run shook her head. "Even if Wan Linlang had the idea, she probably doesn't have the means."

Wan Linlang was now the lowest-ranked concubine in the entire household.

In terms of real status, she was probably worse off than the little maidservants around Fang Yuaner.

How could she ever manage to bribe so many people around Fang Yuaner?

Forget Wan Linlang—even if Xie Run tried, she couldn't pull that off!

Xie Run murmured, "The midwife was handpicked by Fang Yuaner herself long ago, the little maids were her own people, and even the eunuch was one of her trusted confidants..."

She was about to say that ordinary concubines and secondary consorts didn't have that kind of power.

Then a sudden thought struck her.

"Yuanbao the eunuch!"

Dan Tao asked in confusion, "What does my mistress mean?"

Xie Run lowered her eyes, her expression growing grave. "There aren't many eunuchs in the household, and they were all assigned from the palace."

"Those who could get these palace eunuchs to risk their lives for them... could only be..."

Dan Tao jumped in fright. "Does my mistress mean someone from the palace made a move?!"

Xie Run nodded slowly.

Dan Tao suddenly understood as well. "That's right—only someone from the palace would have such godlike reach, silently infiltrating the people around Concubine Fang."

"Leaving her completely defenseless!"

"No wonder the Princess Consort stopped the interrogation—she's probably waiting for the Prince to come back before continuing."

Xie Run's heart suddenly began to race.

Recently, there had been growing talk of a bewitching consort bringing ruin to the state, with civil and military officials openly and covertly urging the Emperor to depose Consort Chen.

But the reigning emperor was a stubborn one.

When he favored someone, he seemed willing to defy the entire world for that person.

When he no longer favored them, he cast them aside like worn-out shoes, not even bothering to glance their way.

Now that he was deeply infatuated with Consort Chen, the more the ministers urged him, the more he favored her.

Because of the Emperor's stubbornness, the princes below had all begun to stir restlessly.

Now, they had even started reaching into the households of other princes!

At this point, Xie Run herself couldn't guarantee that she would be safe during her own childbirth.