Wearing a bellyband in the courtyard in broad daylight?
Shen Yu blushed with embarrassment. Turning her head, she saw Liu Yu had already stormed out.
She hurried after them and saw two girls sitting and embracing each other in the pavilion at the end of the path.
Judging from their attire, the woman with her hair tied up and adorned with a hairpin is Liu Yanran, the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion. The woman in plain clothes being embraced by Liu Yanran is a maid.
Upon seeing Liu Yu, the maidservant quickly stood up, turned her back to straighten her clothes, while Liu Yanran glared at Liu Yu with displeasure before looking at Chen Yu.
"Big brother, how did you manage to bring General Bai's fiancée here? And you're even having a secret rendezvous with her in my courtyard?"
Liu Yu immediately reprimanded her sternly, "Yanran, don't talk nonsense, lest you tarnish Yu Yu's reputation."
Yanran grinned, stood up, and took Liu Yu's arm, teasingly saying, "Big brother calls me Yuyu and says he has no feelings for me? Fine, as long as Miss Chenyu keeps her mouth shut about me, why would I speak carelessly?"
------
Chen Yu went to Hong Yu's room.
Hongyu lay on her side, her eyes closed, silently shedding tears that soaked her pillow.
Shen Yu knew that Hong Yu had meticulously planned and used any means necessary to rise from a maidservant in the Bai family to a concubine of the Prince Yan in just over ten days. Naturally, she could not accept this sudden fall from grace.
She dared not speak, afraid of saying the wrong thing and upsetting Hongyu, so she could only say goodbye softly, "Hongyu, I have applied medicine for you. As long as you take good care of yourself, you will not have any scars. Today I have to accompany my mother to Putuo Temple. I will come to see you again tomorrow."
After saying this, Chen Yu picked up the medicine box. Seeing that no one was serving Hong Yu, she was worried and left, so she put the medicine box back on the round table.
Just then, the Duchess stormed in, plopped down on a round stool, and saw Chen Yu's medicine chest on the round table. She dragged it over and examined it.
"Miss Chenyu, quickly give this old woman some ointment. I was scratched by those four demons just now."
The Duchess's hair was disheveled, and her face was covered with scratches.
Shen Yu sighed inwardly. What good was becoming the wife of royalty if she couldn't find a husband who treated her well? Wouldn't she still have to endure humiliation and mistreatment? She took out a bottle of ointment from her medicine chest and placed it in front of the Duchess.
"Madam, Hongyu is injured, so we would like to trouble you to assign her a careful maid."
"Come in quickly!"
At the Duchess's command, Emerald pushed open the door and quickly walked to the bedside to wait.
Jade was short, with a sallow face and beady green eyes, clearly living in fear and trembling by Liu Yanran's side.
Chen Yu shouldered her medicine chest and bid farewell to the Duchess.
"Madam, Chen Yu has other important matters to attend to and will visit again tomorrow."
"Sister Fish! Hongyu has been framed, don't you feel sorry for her?"
Shen Yu turned around and saw Hong Yu pouting, her cheeks twitching, crying at her, looking so aggrieved as if she had suffered a great injustice.
But... she was just a female imperial physician and there was nothing she could do. Besides, she didn't want Hongyu to get involved in the royal power struggles, so she persuaded Hongyu to give up.
“Hongyu, Prince Yan is a prince, and power struggles are inevitable. Leaving Prince Yan’s residence might be a good thing…”
"Waaah..."
Before Chenyu could finish speaking, Hongyu burst into tears. If she couldn't hold a high position, wouldn't she be bullied by others for the rest of her life?
After a while, Hongyu gradually stopped crying. After thinking it over, she had an idea... The reason why Lianxiang was able to climb to the position of concubine by stepping on her was only because she was too sharp and did not know how to restrain herself, which gave Lianxiang a handle to use against her.
She was determined to take back everything that Lianxiang had taken from her.
She pouted and choked back tears, "Sister Yu, after this incident, Hongyu has seen through everything. Power is just fleeting; only by spending our youth with the one we love can we live a worthwhile life. On the day Hongyu married Prince Yan at the Zuo family, she made up her mind... to follow Prince Yan for the rest of her life, never to leave him. Now Hongyu has been kicked out by the Empress, which means she's been kicked out by her mother-in-law. This matter has spread like wildfire; how can Hongyu face anyone... cough..."
Hongyu coughed incessantly, and Feicui hurriedly took a handkerchief to wipe it.
"Blood! Miss Hongyu has vomited blood."
The Duchess panicked and rushed to the bedside. She saw that the handkerchief was covered in blood, and Hongyu was panting heavily with her eyes rolling back. She was afraid that she was about to die.
The Duchess's legs went weak, and she collapsed by the bedside, wailing and crying, "Hongyu, you can't be hurt! Yu'er and I will definitely take you back to the Prince Yan's residence! Miss Chenyu, please save Hongyu..."
Shen Yu leaned closer to look. Hong Yu's face was deathly pale, and she was panting heavily; it was clear that she had suffered a stroke from anger, which had damaged her internal organs. If Hong Yu had truly seen through everything, why would she be so furious?
Hongyu was being disingenuous with her words, and the Duchess was equally secretive.
The reason why the Duchess of the State adopted Hongyu as her goddaughter was to plan for Liu Yu's future.
The emperor's brother-in-law was a womanizer who neglected state affairs, causing Liu Yu to be ostracized by the court officials and thus failing to gain the emperor's favor.
The emperor had many children and established a crown prince early on. Unfortunately, the crown prince was cruel and arrogant, secretly eliminating ministers in the court and even plotting to murder princes.
Compared to the Crown Prince's ruthlessness, Prince Yan, though unruly, is also loyal and righteous. If the Emperor were to depose the Crown Prince, Prince Yan would surely ascend the throne.
Therefore, the Duchess of the State agreed with Liu Yu's decision to follow Prince Yan, and Hongyu was a pawn in their efforts to consolidate their power.
Hongyu was driven out of the Yan Prince's Mansion. The Duchess's scheme failed, and she was heartbroken. She leaned over the bed and choked up, saying, "I'm sorry for the scandal in our family, Miss Chenyu. In the eyes of the world, the Duke's Mansion is just a bunch of idle, pleasure-seeking royal relatives."
Although Yu'er is the legitimate son of the Duke's mansion, he is ridiculed by others. Seeing her son suffer, I am heartbroken. Knowing that Prince Yan loves Hongyu, I boldly adopted Hongyu as my goddaughter, hoping to strengthen our ties with Prince Yan's mansion and make the world look at our Duke's mansion with more respect..."
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