Chapter 43 The Princess and Prince Xuan were complete strangers.
Lin Yuanpan rushed over from the Imperial Hospital, originally thinking that Consort Zhuang's condition had improved, but today she fainted again for some unknown reason, causing him to be terrified all the way, fearing that something unexpected might happen.
Upon arriving at Shouchun Hall, seeing everyone's ashen faces, Judge Lin's heart sank once more. Entering the room, he saw Prince Zhao standing with his hands behind his back before the bed, his expression grave, the room silent. He felt even more uneasy and hurriedly stepped forward to take Consort Zhuang's pulse.
Fortunately, judging from the pulse, there was nothing seriously wrong. Imperial Physician Lin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Your Majesty's qi is disordered due to excessive fright. I will administer a few acupuncture needles and medicine to Your Majesty, and you should wake up soon."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Chi Ying clenched the handkerchief in her hand, and the huge weight in her heart finally lifted.
After prescribing the medicine, Lin Yuanpan instructed Shuangxi to prepare it, while he focused intently on administering the acupuncture.
When Consort Zhuang awoke, night had already fallen.
Everyone in the room was dismissed. When Consort Zhuang opened her eyes, she saw her son.
The events leading up to her coma felt like a nightmare. Suddenly, someone told her that her usually gentle, calm, and composed son had been blind for two whole years. He had been murdered, his eyes ruined, and he couldn't see anything anymore, yet he had kept it from her for two long years...
Yan Xuecui heard Consort Zhuang's no longer calm breathing and slight sobs, and knew that she had woken up.
He asked gently, "Is there anything else that's bothering you, Mother?"
Consort Zhuang did not answer, but stared into his eyes, "If that maid hadn't let it slip, how long did you intend to keep it from me?"
Yan Xuecui remained silent for a long time before saying, "Keep it a secret until it can no longer be kept secret."
Consort Zhuang suddenly became agitated, "I am your mother! We depend on each other for survival, yet I have no idea what my child has been through outside, living a life like a paradise in this little courtyard every day, while you are out there fighting and bloodshed all by yourself..."
Yan Xue sighed, "Even if Mother knew, it would only cause more pain. Why bother?"
He reached out to tuck her in, his movements showing none of the clumsiness or unease of a blind person groping around. His tone remained calm and composed: "Mother, you see, you haven't noticed my blindness in the past two years. This is enough to prove that blindness cannot limit my actions, much less my thoughts. I've gotten used to it now; it doesn't matter whether I can see or not."
"How can it be the same!" Consort Zhuang's eyes were bloodshot, her teeth clenched with hatred. "You are not blind, yet your eyes were destroyed. How did you get through those hundreds and thousands of days and nights? How did you read books, practice writing, and wield weapons? How much suffering and pain did you have to endure in order to be able to move normally?"
Yan Xuecui simply said, "It's all in the past now."
Consort Zhuang, her eyes filled with sorrow, wept uncontrollably: "I used to be proud of having two outstanding sons. I didn't stop Xueji from vying for the throne. He was brave, resourceful, and ambitious, and as the eldest son of the emperor, he was naturally the right choice. But I never imagined that his virtue and talent would make him a thorn in the side of others, bringing him to his death... Now I only have you left, but I never thought that you would also..."
Yan Xuecui sighed and said, "My eyes are not without the possibility of regaining their sight, Mother, please don't worry."
Consort Zhuang's eyes flickered slightly: "Really?"
Yan Xue nodded: "My eyes were not injured by swords, but by poison. Imperial Physician Lin is already treating me."
Consort Zhuang nodded repeatedly: "Good, that's good... Since you've been poisoned, you should stay at home and focus on your treatment. Don't pay any more attention to the disputes outside... I heard that you brought down Consort Li and went to the Northern Garrison Command. Is that true?"
Yan Xuecui replied truthfully, "Yes."
Consort Zhuang shook her head and pleaded, "I have already lost Xueji, and I have no other desires in this life but for you to be safe and happy, and not to be involved in any more life-or-death struggles..."
Yan Xuecui replied, "But my brother's death and my mother's hysteria were not accidents. I cannot remain calm until I have avenged my great enemy."
Consort Zhuang was taken aback: "You mean, my hysteria is also man-made?"
After Xueji died in battle, she was trapped in the grief of losing her son and could not get out of it. She tossed and turned day and night and could not sleep, which led to her mental breakdown. She hurt herself and others. It turned out that it was not caused by excessive grief, but by someone else.
Yan Xuecui did not mention the mastermind behind it, but said only: "Mother, just watch, I will deal with these people one by one. Please rest assured, no matter how dangerous the road ahead is, I will find a way to get out safely and protect you."
Consort Zhuang, with tears streaming down her face, said, "Royal infighting is always extremely dangerous. My children are dead and injured. How can I, as their mother, rest easy?"
Yan Xue sighed, "Even if you don't invite trouble, trouble will come to you. Being in the royal family, I have no other choice."
Consort Zhuang pondered for a long time before finally sighing and saying, "Fine, if you insist on doing it, how can I stop you? These past years I have been living in seclusion in the mansion, frail and weak, barely clinging to life. Just remember, if anything happens to you, your mother will not live on alone."
Yan Xuecui said, "Mother, please trust me this once. That day will never come."
Consort Zhuang suddenly remembered something, "That maidservant today..."
Now, upon reflection, it seems that the quiet, unassuming girl who never spoke up at that time inadvertently revealed the truth, most likely because she saw that the girl's condition had slightly improved and wanted to deliberately stimulate her mind.
Yan Xuecui pursed her lips and said, "I will handle this matter. Mother, just focus on taking care of your health and don't worry too much."
Consort Zhuang sighed, "I don't know what this girl is thinking, but Yingyue has always been gentle and sensible. I think she was frightened today, so please don't take your anger out on her."
Yan Xuecui recalled the trembling "I'm sorry" she had heard inside the room just now, and closed her eyes.
"I will find out the truth, Mother, don't worry."
Chi Ying stood under the eaves waiting.
It was already dark, and although the night wind wasn't cold, it made her feel stiff, cold, and numb all over, almost to the point of losing consciousness.
Never before had she felt so panicked, self-reproachful, confused, and helpless. She didn't know how to explain it all. She thought of countless ways to put it, but then rejected them again and again, her mind still a blank.
When Prince Zhao came out of the house, she hurriedly caught up with him, wanting to say something but unable to speak, her fingers clenched until they turned white. After a long while, she finally opened her lips: "Your Highness... how is Mother?"
Yan Xuecui countered, "What do you hope for her?"
Chi Ying forced back her tears, "I'm sorry, I really don't know why Bao Shan would say that. I... can I see her? I want to ask her myself."
Yan Xuecui remained silent for a long time before coldly saying, "I'll only ask you one question: you truly knew nothing about it?"
Chi Ying's voice trembled: "Yes..."
Yan Xue's Adam's apple bobbed, and she uttered a single word: "Good."
Chi Ying tentatively asked, "How does Your Highness intend to deal with her?"
Yan Xuecui's voice was cold and deep: "If she were smart enough, she would know that after saying these words today, she would surely die. I just didn't expect her to be so stupid as to make you plead for her."
The words "certain death" pierced Chi Ying's ears, and she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
“I dare not beg Your Highness for forgiveness, much less try to exonerate her, but she is, after all, my personal maid. I want to ask her myself whether it was intentional or unintentional…”
“If I told you,” Yan Xuecui interrupted, “that she has been secretly putting musk in the incense burner and flowerpots in your room every day to make it difficult for you to conceive, and that today she verbally provoked your mother, intending to cause her hysteria to relapse, would you still think it was an unintentional mistake and plead for her?”
Chi Ying looked completely stunned: "What?"
Did Bao Shan put musk in her mouth?
Yan Xuecui sneered, "I warned her in secret the first time she added musk to the furnace. If she had stopped in time, I might have let her live a few more days."
Having said all he needed to say, he turned and headed towards Yan Gui Lou.
Chi Ying's mind was in complete chaos, and she stood there, feeling dizzy and unsteady.
The people in the world who least wanted her to be pregnant were none other than the Yin family mother and daughter. They both hoped to continue playing the role of the imposter, yet feared that if she lived too well, they would no longer be able to command and control her from a superior position in the future.
If Bao Shan is a member of the Yin family, why would she risk offending them by going to such lengths to help her settle her mother?
Her words today were clearly directed at Consort Zhuang. Fortunately, Consort Zhuang's hysteria has improved; otherwise, how could she have borne the sudden news of Prince Zhao's blindness? It might have worsened her condition.
Could it be that Bao Shan is an inside agent planted in the Prince's mansion by someone else, not only to make her unable to have children and to ensure that Prince Zhao's lineage is cut off, but also to harm Consort Zhuang?
Was all that previous effort to arrange things for her just to gain her trust so that I could secretly take action against her?
She was so desperate and confused that she trusted her completely! She thought she was capable and entrusted all her mother's affairs to her.
I wonder how my mother is doing now...
Thinking about all this, Chi Ying felt even more remorseful, as if the pressure was collapsing like a mountain, engulfing her completely.
Her vision flickered between light and darkness, a dull ache filled her chest, and she felt dizzy and lightheaded. In the next moment, she collapsed uncontrollably.
...
Beneath the Goose Returns Tower, in the secret prison of the Prince's mansion.
Bao Shan was awakened by being splashed with water. Her body was covered in blood from the torture wounds, and even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain.
This is the usual treatment in the dark prison; before interrogation, several cruel tortures are inflicted, enough to crush the will of the person being tortured.
Bao Shan was just a maidservant, and she had never experienced such torture before. From begging to see the princess at the beginning to now being in so much pain that her whole body was convulsing, she wished she could die immediately rather than face the long whip and branding iron in the hands of the jailers.
Pain blurred her senses, and she vaguely saw a tall, elegant figure standing before her. Suppressing the intense fear in her heart, she managed to speak with difficulty: "Your Highness... this servant did not mean it. Please, for the sake of my service to the Princess, spare my life..."
Yan Xuecui poked at the branding iron in the furnace and chuckled, "It seems I've been too lenient with you all this time, allowing you to repeatedly sneak in musk without restraint. Today you even dare to spout nonsense at Shouchun Hall. After all this, you still dare to ask for my forgiveness?"
Bao Shan had already guessed that she might have been exposed when the musk had been switched, but when King Zhao said it himself, she was still so frightened that her teeth chattered, "That musk, this servant knew nothing about it..."
Yan Xuecui sneered: "Even at a time like this, you still dare to be stubborn."
He felt the heat of the branding iron in his palm as he began to ask, "Tell me, who sent you?"
Bao Shan stared at the red-hot branding iron, trembling uncontrollably: "This servant didn't..."
A slight sneer appeared on Yan Xue's lips: "Do you think that after you die, Prince Xuan will let your greedy and insatiable brother go?"
“Brother…” Bao Shan’s pupils constricted upon hearing this. Prince Zhao had actually investigated Prince Xuan and even her own brother. He knew everything…
Yan Xue said, "In his eyes, the lives of people like you are not even worth as much as ants. Knowing that you have been exposed, he still wants to squeeze out the last bit of value from you so that you can provoke my mother. You don't really think that the princess can save you, do you?"
Bao Shan wept uncontrollably, the excruciating pain from her wounds and the panic in her heart overwhelming her, making her feel almost desperate.
Yan Xuecui: "If you don't want to die a horrible death, then answer a few questions for me."
The heat of the branding iron spread to the palm of the hand, the scalding pain drilled into the nerve endings, and a strange pleasure surged forth.
His fingertips trembled as he asked, word by word, "Who exactly is my queen?"
Bao Shan was stunned again. It turned out that King Zhao had already begun to suspect the identity of the Queen Consort. She had promised King Xuan that she would not reveal it, but... but she and her brother were about to die, so why should she suffer for herself?
But if she said that, wouldn't she be putting the princess in danger?
She stared tremblingly at the branding iron in the furnace, not daring to refuse to answer: "Your Highness... Your Highness is not the Earl's legitimate daughter, she is... she is Aunt Xue's daughter, and also the third young lady of the Earl's mansion, but she looks very much like the second young lady."
Yan Xuecui had already guessed most of it, but was just confirming it again. After saying that, she asked, "You are the Prince Xuan's person, so what about the Princess Consort?"
Bao Shan was in so much pain that she was delirious and didn't immediately realize whether King Zhao was asking about the real or fake princess. She only said, "This servant only knows that the Third Miss was forced into marriage in place of another, and I don't know where the Second Miss is now..."
Yan Xue frowned deeply: "I was asking about the Princess Consort. The Prince Zhao's residence only has one Princess Consort."
Seeing his displeasure, Bao Shan quickly said, "The Princess Consort does not know that I work for Prince Xuan. She only thinks of me as a maid from the Earl's mansion."
Yan Xue's brows relaxed slightly, a hint of surprise in her expression: "You mean, the Princess doesn't recognize Prince Xuan?"
Bao Shan nodded repeatedly, "The Princess Consort previously lived in the estate and only returned to the manor last year. She probably has never met His Highness Prince Xuan. Prince Xuan instructed me to settle Consort Xue in secret, and the Princess Consort was unaware of this, thinking it was all thanks to me..."
The anger in Yan Xue's eyes faded, and her tense features relaxed slightly.
Were they complete strangers?
A series of hurried footsteps approached, and Lian Yun came to report, his tone quite anxious: "Your Highness, the Princess Consort just fainted in the garden..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Xuecui's expression suddenly tightened. Without leaving a single word, she turned and stepped out of the dungeon.
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Author's note: You're getting impatient, you're getting impatient! You're wrongly accusing your wife, haha [milk tea emoji]
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