As soon as Li Chenjiao stepped into the Song family's courtyard, she heard a tremendous commotion inside. She paused, naturally hearing the Song family's questioning voice.
So this matter can only be related to meeting the eldest princess today.
Knowing the reason, Li Chenjiao was no longer so flustered.
Guided by the servant, she entered the courtyard. The Fourth Prince sat upright in the flower hall, seemingly unresponsive to everything Song said. Wang was anxiously waiting for the imperial physician, while Song was weeping beside him.
Li Chenjiao lowered her brows and went inside. She first bowed to the Fourth Master and said, "Greetings to the Fourth Master." She also nodded politely to Madam Song, who was standing to the side.
The Fourth Prince had just dismissed Li Chenjiao's formalities and hadn't even spoken when news came from outside that the Princess Consort had arrived.
"I rushed here as soon as I received the news. The eldest princess has truly had a tragic fate. Song, how did you manage to have people serve her? How can the eldest princess be well cared for with such care?"
Before the person arrived, their voice could be heard first.
Li Chenjiao lowered her head, concealing the emotions in her eyes.
This is going to be quite a spectacle again.
The words of the Fujin seemed to be blaming Song, but in fact they were implying that Song was using the eldest princess's illness to play the victim, and perhaps the deeper purpose was to put Li Chenjiao down.
When the Fujin entered the flower hall, she saw Li Chenjiao and looked surprised: "What are you doing here, Princess Li? It's the middle of the night."
Li Chenjiao bowed but remained silent.
Song, who was standing to the side, had already started crying again: "Your Highness—it's not that the servants here haven't served you well. Today, the eldest princess was taken out for a stroll in the garden. She was fine when the nannies brought her back, but by evening, she had broken out in rashes all over her body. The poor eldest princess was crying and fussing. I asked the servants who went to the garden with her today, and they said that the eldest princess only encountered Consort Li. Consort Li is so cruel."
Upon hearing this, the Fujin (Prince's wife) once again showed a horrified expression: "Is that so? Li Shi, what else do you have to say? Fourth Prince, it is indeed my fault for not managing the household properly, which has led to such a venomous woman in the inner courtyard. I will order a thorough investigation. Guards, detain Li Shi, and have someone search Li Shi's courtyard to see if there are any stolen goods."
The two of them, working together, directly convicted Li Chenjiao.
"Wait a minute, does the Princess Consort think that the Master doesn't exist?" The Fourth Master picked up the teacup on the table and smashed it straight in front of Madam Song, the scalding tea immediately soaking Madam Song's dress.
The Fourth Prince was ultimately concerned about the Fujin's reputation, or perhaps the Fujin's words were indeed undeniably reasonable on the surface.
"Li, you speak." Fourth Master looked at Li Chenjiao, but there was no anger in his eyes.
Fourth Master had already heard what Madam Wang had said, and he knew very well that Li Chenjiao would not do such a thing. Moreover, such a move was really clumsy. Once the matter came to light, who wouldn't suspect that it was Li Chenjiao who did it?
Moreover, Li Chenjiao is already pregnant, so why would she bother to target a princess?
Li Chenjiao still takes care of the two fruit trees in her yard every day, so the Fourth Master simply doesn't believe that Li Chenjiao would do such a thing.
Fourth Master actually didn't want to call Li Chenjiao over late at night.
However, if this matter is not thoroughly investigated, the servants in the backyard and below may inevitably spread rumors and damage Li Chenjiao's reputation.
Furthermore, the Fourth Prince is currently most disappointed in Madam Song. The eldest princess is covered in rashes, and Madam Song only went in to see the eldest princess when she arrived; otherwise, she was crying and blaming Li Chenjiao.
They weren't as attentive as the wet nurses of the eldest princess.
Li Chenjiao then spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Whether it was my doing or not should be determined after the imperial physician examines the eldest princess's symptoms. As for what Consort Song said about the eldest princess encountering me in the garden, that is true, but I was quite far from her at the time, and everyone in the garden could see me. Fourth Master, you can have the garden's sweepers come and report back. Furthermore, I didn't stay with the eldest princess for long before going to see the lotus flowers in the garden. There are still freshly picked lotus leaves in my courtyard. And since the eldest princess is young, the nanny wouldn't easily go near the water. It can be said that I only met the eldest princess once today. Also, I spoke with Nanny Wang at the time. Why didn't Nanny Wang have a rash? Do I have some kind of special skill? Furthermore, if I really used such methods to harm the eldest princess, wouldn't that be too foolish?"
Look, even Li Chenjiao knows that the most important thing right now is to wait for the imperial physician to examine the eldest princess's illness.
By this time, Madam Song was already weak and naturally did not know whether it was Li Chenjiao who did it. However, after hearing the nanny's report and the maid who had gone with her secretly came to her to tell her, she naturally wanted to seize such a good opportunity to implicate Li Chenjiao.
"The eldest princess only saw you today, so who else could it be but you?"
The Fujin spoke up: "It's impossible for me to explain between the two of them. But the fact is that Consort Li met the First Consort today. Why don't we let this servant search Consort Li's courtyard first before making a conclusion?"
If you really search the yard, even a fake can become real.
Li Chenjiao was truly fed up with the Fujin's targeting at this moment. Just as she was about to speak up, Su Peisheng came in: "Your Majesty, Physician Xu has arrived."
Fourth Master stood up: "Please come in."
Li Chenjiao had already guessed that the eldest princess might have accidentally eaten or touched something taboo, which was the cause of her body's reaction.
At this moment, she quietly watched as Physician Xu entered, bowed, and then went into the inner room behind the Fourth Prince. Oh, and the Princess Consort followed him with eyes full of heartache.
Song seemed to want to follow, but she seemed a little afraid, so she stopped in mid-air and finally just sneered at Li Chenjiao.
Li Chenjiao ignored her.
If the eldest princess hadn't been born to Lady Song, the Fourth Prince probably wouldn't have had such patience, and Lady Song would likely be in the same situation as the one in the west.
Currently, the only person living in the western courtyard of the mansion is Bai Jiashi, who is still under house arrest.
Li Chenjiao had no idea what happened inside the room, but when she saw that the Fujin's expression wasn't too good when she came out, she knew that this matter probably had nothing to do with her.
For Li Chenjiao, this was an unexpected disaster.
The Fourth Prince is still inside and hasn't come out yet. The Princess Consort covered her lips with her handkerchief: "Today's matter was due to Madam Song's love for her daughter, which led to the misunderstanding of you, Madam Li. Now the imperial physician has explained the cause of the eldest princess's illness, which has caused you, Madam Li, to suffer injustice for no reason. Since this matter has nothing to do with you, Madam Li, you should go back first."
As expected of the Fujin (principal wife), these words sound as if the previous criticisms did not come from her mouth at all.
However, the fact that the Princess Consort came over at this moment probably means she genuinely believes that this matter is related to her.
Li Chenjiao chuckled, "As expected of the Fourth Prince, you are very perceptive. The Princess Consort is indeed not strict in managing the household. The eldest princess should at least call you Mother, yet she is suffering from such illness. It pains me to see her like this."
"It's late, this servant will take her leave now." Li Chenjiao didn't even look at the Fujin, took Qiu Hu's arm, and turned to leave.
Song is not clever, but what good is your wife?
Li Chenjiao hadn't forgotten what the lady had said earlier, and this was her way of returning the favor to the Fujin.
The princess consort was still thinking of searching her courtyard?
If they really search, regardless of whether there's anything or not, Li Chenjiao's reputation in the backyard will be halved, and who knows how many servants will gossip about her behind her back.
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