38 Chapter 38
◎Longevity fruit, also known as peanut.◎
When she entered the room, the maid was already picking up the broken porcelain pieces on the floor.
Prince Consort Qi Sheng was holding a bowl of medicine and feeding it to Jing'an. When he saw her and the nanny behind him come in, he stood up and greeted them.
His expression was calm as usual, and you couldn't tell that he had just been angry.
Xu Qinghe returned the greeting and immediately went to see Jing'an lying on the bed.
However, after not seeing her for a few days, her cheeks, which had originally begun to round out, had become thin again. At first glance, both her lips and cheeks were pale.
She sat there thin and weak, as if she would fall down immediately if the wind blew again.
Jing'an gave her a soothing smile, but it was pale and weak. Then he looked at Qi Sheng and asked, "Don't you still have official business to attend to?"
Qi Sheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
He placed the medicine bowl on a small table beside him and reminded her before leaving: "Remember to finish the medicine and don't pour it out secretly."
This man was originally a military general, dressed in black military uniform, with a cold face, and a murderous aura all over his body. If Xu Qinghe had not noticed the concern in his tone, he would really think that he was threatening Jing'an.
Qi Sheng strode away, leaving only the women in the house.
Jing'an looked at the nanny beside Empress Dowager Wei and said apologetically, "Just now, the maid accidentally dropped my medicine bowl, and the Prince Consort got angry. Didn't that scare the nanny?"
The nanny said "no" and handed the things given by the empress dowager to the maid. Then she found an excuse to leave, leaving time to the two sisters.
Jing'an dismissed the maids around her, and Nanzhi followed her out, guarding the door for them outside and chatting with them in private.
Xu Qinghe held Jing'an's hand. A few days ago, there was still some flesh on it, but now he could feel the bones when he touched it.
"What on earth happened just now?" Such a loud noise was clearly caused by someone throwing a bowl to the ground.
Jing'an smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's really nothing serious. He just got angry because he found out the reason why I...
At this point, Xu Qinghe had to lower his voice and ask, "Now that we're alone here, are you willing to tell me the truth? Is it a cold, or something else?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Jing'an's eyes suddenly turn red.
What's not to understand?
I guess what Wei Che said is true.
She quickly leaned over and hugged her in her arms, patting her back to comfort her. "As long as you're okay, the rest is just a small matter. Everything will be fine in the future."
"But the court doctor said that I am weak and I probably won't be able to..." Jing'an mustered up the courage to speak, but all that came out was crying.
Xu Qinghe felt a pain in his heart.
She is already weak, what will happen if she becomes ill after this incident?
Fortunately, Qi Sheng had no relatives at home, only a wandering master, so no one in the Qi Mansion put pressure on her.
"Don't scare yourself. You don't have to believe everything a court doctor says." Xu Qinghe said softly:
"You've only just reached your twenties, and there are still many years ahead of you. What's impossible? Seeing the concern shown by the Prince Consort just now, I'm sure he won't stay away from you just because of this.
"If one court doctor says it's not working, then look elsewhere. The imperial physicians in the palace, the miraculous doctors on the march, there will always be a way."
Jing'an thought about it and it was true. After Qi Sheng learned about this, he never blamed her. Instead, he comforted her mostly. Except for the time when he really couldn't help it, he never let her see him angry on other days.
She doesn't ask for much, just to live a stable life.
Thinking of this, her crying finally stopped.
Xu Qinghe straightened her messy hair, picked up the medicine bowl on the small table, and smiled intentionally to tease her.
"Here, your husband just told you to finish the medicine. I never knew that Princess Jing'an was actually someone who could secretly pour out the medicine herself."
Jing'an's face turned red. How could she refuse the medicine now? She had to swallow the medicine in a few gulps and drank half a bowl of tea to rinse her mouth.
After the ordeal was over, she asked, "Why did you come out today? Did the Empress Dowager actually let you go?"
Xu Qinghe said, "I went to ask the Concubine Chen to ask her to go to the Queen Mother to plead for mercy. The Queen Mother couldn't say anything, so she had to let me go. But don't worry, I didn't say much to the Queen Mother. She just thought you had a cold."
Jing'an hid her miscarriage very well, and if you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to find out anything.
"But how did you know about my affairs?"
She was already in the palace, so logically speaking, her channels of information should not be much better than her mother's.
"We'll talk about this later." Wei Che's affairs could not be explained in a few words, so Xu Qinghe decided to find out the truth and Jing'an's plan first.
"You've always been the type to keep quiet when you've been wronged, but this matter is of grave importance. I must demand an explanation from that horseman. Just now you said the Prince Consort has already discovered the truth. So what does he plan to do?"
In fact, Qi Sheng and Jing An only learned the exact truth shortly before she came, so they had not yet discussed how to deal with it.
Jing'an said, "I didn't see the man riding his horse in the street that day. Qi Sheng later summoned the imperial guards to question him, and only then did we know that he was the young master of the Cen family, who had just returned from flood control work in Yuzhou. He probably didn't recognize me, so he rode away quickly after that."
There is only one official with the surname Cen in the capital.
"Is it the only son of Minister of Works Cen Liangping?"
Jingan nodded, "Exactly."
Cen Liangping has five daughters. The eldest daughter is married, and the remaining four daughters are still unmarried. However, he has only one son, who, like Wei Che, is extremely beloved by his family.
But the difference is that Wei Che was indulged in having fun everywhere, while the young master of the Cen family was regarded as the only hope of his family and was carefully cultivated. He was recommended to be an official when he was just over 20 years old, and was recommended to Yuzhou to control floods a year ago.
"He just came back from flood control and he's already riding his horse in the street. He's really arrogant," said Xu Qinghe.
Jing'an was worried. "It's precisely because of his contributions to flood control that I feel this matter is difficult to handle... Otherwise, should we just let it go?"
She was not loved by her father to begin with, and Qi Sheng had just established himself. If he created a feud with the Cen family because of this incident, what would happen to Qi Sheng's official career in the future?
"Of course not." Xu Qinghe held her hand and looked over. The girl in front of him still had tears in her eyes, but she still looked timid.
It reminded her of the year when she first entered the palace, when she had to endure the same humiliation and was pushed into the lake by the eldest princess and not allowed to come out.
"This is no small matter. If you trust me, leave this matter to me. Tell the Prince Consort not to act rashly. I will give you an explanation later."
Although Jing'an was timid, he had a keen sense of smell. He remembered that in the case of treason, it seemed that it was Cen Liangping who provided evidence that General Xie was collaborating with the enemy.
She knew Xu Qinghe had his own plans, so she nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will convince him."
The matter was settled like this, and she breathed a sigh of relief temporarily, only then she noticed the faint red marks on Xu Qinghe's face.
"What's wrong with your face?"
Xu Qinghe said, "It's nothing. I accidentally ate the longevity fruit at the Wei family's birthday banquet a few days ago and got a rash, but it's all gone now."
Jing'an had never heard of the longevity fruit, so he asked, "What is the longevity fruit?"
Xu Qinghe said, "They are peanuts. People in the southern region often call them longevity fruits, symbolizing longevity."
When she finished speaking, she was suddenly startled.
Jing'an didn't know what the longevity fruit was because she had never been to the southern border.
But that night, when Wei Che saw the rash on her face, he asked her if she had eaten the longevity fruit.
How would he know?
Xu Qinghe secretly kept this matter in mind and did not think about it any more. This time she left the palace just to visit and could not stay too long, so she told Jing'an about the recent situation of Concubine Chen to reassure her.
But she never talked about herself. The results would be announced in a dozen days, and there would surely be another uproar in the capital.
Jing'an looked at her expression and asked tentatively, "How have you and your cousin from the Wei family been doing these days?"
Xu Qinghe then remembered that she had not yet told her about this. She said, "Jing'an, I will not marry him."
This was not unexpected to Jing'an. She had always known that Xu Qinghe did not like Wei Ming, but the latter was deeply in love with her.
The cousin from the Wei family is a good person, but he is too dependent on the Empress Dowager for everything. Because of his infatuation with Qinghe, he has been tortured by the Empress Dowager a lot.
"I have accepted Wei Che's proposal of marriage."
Xu Qinghe's sudden words almost made Jing'an drop his jaw in shock.
"Prince Wei?!"
She nodded calmly, "Yes. I urgently need to leave the palace now, and there is no other way except to marry someone."
"Then... that can't be Prince Wei!" Jing'an said in surprise: "You know his reputation, he's definitely not a good match!"
She was anxious and a little out of breath, so Xu Qinghe quickly reached out and stroked her back.
"Don't worry or be anxious. I've already promised him some things not to share with anyone else, but trust me, I know what I'm doing and nothing will go wrong. Don't worry, just calm down first."
"Just take care of your health these days. Don't worry about anything else. Don't think too much. I will take care of it. Once you leave the palace, it will be much easier for us to meet."
In short, there is no need to stick to the time when speaking like we did today.
Queen Mother Wei asked her to come out and see Jing'an, but she didn't want to stay long, so she left around lunchtime.
On the carriage back to the palace, Nanzhi was still worried.
Xu Qinghe glanced at her, and thinking of her expression over the past few days, he couldn't help but laugh, "Why are you so gloomy every day? You smile less than I do."
"How could the princess still be smiling at this moment?" Nanzhi said aggrievedly, "The news that Prince Wei and Young Master Wei had a fight over you will soon reach the Queen Mother. She will surely be punished again when she returns."
It turned out that she was worried about this matter. Xu Qinghe reached out to Nanzhi and whispered a few words in her ear.
"Is this... possible?"
Xu Qinghe said, "You'll know only if you try. If you succeed, you'll avoid punishment. If you fail, you'll still be punished. It's the same bad result anyway, so why not give it a try?"
When the carriage arrived at the palace gate, several people got off the carriage and walked.
The nanny looked at Xu Qinghe with a cold face and said, "I'm afraid the Queen Mother will ask you about the princess's condition later. Please go back and wait for the summons."
Xu Qinghe knew that she was not asked to go over to inquire about Jing'an's situation, but was clearly asked to come and hold him accountable.
She returned to the hall and asked Nanzhi to get the paint for painting.
A quarter of an hour later, the Queen Mother really sent someone to invite him.
She held Nanzhi's hand and walked over. As soon as she entered the room, Queen Mother Wei shouted at her to kneel down.
The man on the high seat was filled with rage and shouted:
"I've been watching you so closely these past few years, but I never knew when you hooked up with the Prince of the Fuguo Mansion?!
"How do you put Ming'er's reputation? How do you put the reputation of our Wei family?"
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