At the Prince Qi’s Mansion, in the rear courtyard.
Rou’er carried a small food box and hurried inside…
Inside the room, Nanny Wang was massaging the Consort of Jing Prince’s temples. When she saw Rou’er, her heart skipped a beat.
Because Rou’er was personally trained by Nanny Wang. Normally, Rou’er always had a hint of a smile on her face, but her expression now…
Could something bad have happened?
“Your Highness, just now at the corner gate, this servant saw the maid from the Sixth Miss of the Sheng family. She seemed to be waiting for someone from the Prince’s side…”
Upon hearing this, the Consort’s eyes snapped open. She raised her hand slightly, and Nanny Wang stopped massaging.
“This servant let that person mistakenly believe I was a maid from the Prince’s courtyard, so she handed the food box to me—”
Seeing the Consort’s expression turn extremely grim in an instant, Rou’er opened the food box in her hand. Inside was a stack of pastries.
The pastries were exquisitely made, like blooming green plum blossoms.
No wonder her son had inexplicably taken a liking to green plums these past few years. During the season when green plums bloomed, there were no other colors of flowers in his courtyard.
She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now, seeing this plate of pastries, it seemed green plums held a special significance for the two of them!
That meant, over these years, her son had still found ways to secretly maintain contact with Sheng Mingzhu…
Thinking of this, the Consort was so angry her head spun and went numb.
“Master—” Nanny Wang was extremely anxious and quickly supported the Consort.
“Rou’er—go get the pills—”
Pale-faced, Rou’er found the pills and poured a glass of water. Nanny Wang hurriedly helped the Consort take the medicine…
Ever since five years ago when Nanny Wang met with the main wife of the Sheng family and relayed the conversation to the Consort, the Consort had been truly worried that her son might have been cursed or ensorcelled.
So, every month, she invited different imperial physicians from the palace to feel their pulses and check on their health. All the imperial physicians had come, and they all said there was nothing wrong with her or her son’s health.
Still uneasy, the Consort also invited famous doctors from outside the palace. Among them was one truly skilled practitioner.
He said her son’s health was fine, but he detected problems in her.
Because she loved sweets and meat. This diet was acceptable when she was younger.
But now that she was getting on in years, if she didn’t control it, the cumulative effect would be bad for her health. If she ever suffered a major shock in the future, there was a risk to her life…
That divine doctor left behind some pills and dietary prescriptions.
She had been eating much lighter and felt more energetic, only occasionally getting dizzy and numb when extremely angry…
Besides herself, she also had that divine doctor examine Nanny Wang and Rou’er, who were by her side.
Rou’er was fine, but Nanny Wang had an extremely cold constitution, as if she had taken some extremely cold-natured medicine in the past…
The Consort spent considerable effort to find some clues. The person who likely poisoned Nanny Wang was Nanny Wang’s current husband—the mansion’s head steward…
The Consort didn’t know why the head steward would do such a thing. Back when he sought to marry Nanny Wang as his second wife, he seemed very sincere…
She thought the head steward would cherish Nanny Wang, but unexpectedly—
In previous years, Nanny Wang had always felt guilty for not being able to bear her husband a child. Later, she treated the head steward’s youngest son as her own.
She also had the idea of marrying Rou’er, whom she had raised since childhood, to her stepson—
This matter had also infuriated the Consort. Now, they were secretly on guard against that father and son.
If one day she caught solid evidence, she would skin that father and son alive!
The Consort didn’t realize that it was precisely because she heeded Sheng Minmin’s advice and sought doctors everywhere that she discovered so many problems.
In her previous life, the Consort would have already died by this time. Outsiders thought she died of illness, but in reality, she was angered to death.
After her death, Nanny Wang lost her protection and her days were difficult.
And Rou’er, because she discovered the strange behavior of the head steward and his son, was cruelly killed.
After Rou’er died, Steward Qi hypocritically “observed mourning” for three years before later “partnering” with Sheng Mingzou to scheme into marrying Sheng Minmin…
But in this life, these things wouldn’t happen again.
After taking the medicine, the Consort gradually recovered, and her mind became even clearer.
Over the past few years, especially recently, the Consort had been using filial piety to restrain her son, hoping he wouldn’t have more contact with Sheng Mingzhu.
But it seemed the more she restrained him, the stronger his rebelliousness became. He seemed even more fixated on that fake daughter of the Sheng family, and now he had even resorted to starving himself.
If this continued, her son might truly become estranged from her…
The Consort suddenly felt she could perhaps try a different approach.
Although that fake daughter of the Sheng family now had a good master and senior fellow apprentice, she couldn’t stop her own blood relatives from being unsavory characters.
She had heard they even went begging at the Sheng family’s gate, causing many spectacles!
In the past couple of days, she also heard that two servants had died in the Sheng residence.
The cause was that Sheng Mingzhu’s other two biological sisters were also serving as maids in the Sheng family—
Sheng Mingzhu’s senior maid discovered their identities and found someone to poison those two sisters, nearly succeeding—
One thing after another, Sheng Mingzhu herself had become the talk of the town among the people of the capital.
Her son was the dream lover of many young ladies in the capital.
If those young ladies knew her son was still “pining” for Sheng Mingzhu, how would they deal with her?
A girl’s jealousy can sometimes be deadly.
The Consort couldn’t help but sneer coldly, then spoke.
“Send the pastries to him—”
Nanny Wang and Rou’er were slightly startled, then quickly understood. Rou’er immediately went to deliver the pastries.
On the other side, Zhu Qisheng saw the pastries and was completely stunned. He stood foolishly by the window, silently weeping.
Like a pair of tragic lovers torn apart…
He soaked one handkerchief with tears, and it was only when his servant Zhangchun reminded him that Rou’er herself had delivered the pastries…
That Zhu Qisheng seemed to come back to life, and his mind started working again.
Had his mother finally understood and was willing to accept Mingzhu? Or had she stopped forcing him?
Why else would she send over the pastries Mingzhu had given?
With an excited and anxious heart, he went to his mother’s courtyard. In the end, he didn’t see his mother, but Nanny Wang, who was by her side, met with him.
“Your Highness, my mistress said if you truly have no intention of marrying, she won’t force you anymore in the future…
“She only hopes you will eat well from now on and never harm your body again—”
Hearing these words, Zhu Qisheng was overjoyed, nearly jumping three feet high.
Returning to his courtyard, he immediately wrote a letter at his desk and had his servant Zhangchun deliver it.
Zhangchun was gone for a long time before returning, saying the letter had been successfully handed to Xia Zhi, the personal maid of the Sixth Miss of the Sheng family—
