When the Fourth Prince arrived at the main courtyard, his wife had already slowly regained consciousness.
The Fujin gazed at the bowl of dark, bitter medicine that Yu Ru was holding. The smell was extremely strong and astringent. The Fujin pursed her lips, and the bitter, salty taste of tears still lingered between her tongue and lips.
She cried?
The princess was stunned, and subconsciously raised her hand to wipe her face, probably tears left in her sleep.
She thought she had just taken a nap. When she heard that the Fourth Prince had arrived, the Fujin suddenly realized, oh, she had vomited blood. No wonder Yu Ru was carrying that dark medicine.
She thought it was a tonic or something similar, like usual.
The princess moved her lips, wanting to say something, but found it difficult.
"Help me up." The princess consort lowered her eyelids, her exhaustion evident as she spoke.
The Fourth Prince had already strode in from outside. The Princess Consort was helped up by Xia Chong and leaned against the large pillow. She gestured to Xia Cao to bring over a round-backed chair.
The Fourth Prince gestured to dismiss his wife's formalities, and after taking his seat, he went straight to the point: "What did the imperial physician say?"
Granny Qian wiped away her tears: "The imperial physician said it was caused by the Princess Consort's overwork recently. In addition, the summer heat has made her miss the ladies in the palace, so she often goes to the palace to serve them."
The Fujin was lost in thought; she seemed not to have heard what Granny Qian had just said. She looked up at the Fourth Prince, her lips pale: "The Prince is here?"
The Fourth Prince sat by the bedside. In his memory, his wife rarely fell ill. In his mind, his wife was always incredibly dignified, but beneath that dignified and virtuous demeanor lay another face.
The Fourth Prince looked at him and said, "I heard you're not doing well, so I came to see you."
The Princess Consort noticed that the Fourth Prince's gaze was avoiding hers, so she lowered her eyes as well, her tone still gentle: "It's just that the servants are worried and confused. I'm fine, but I'm sorry for troubling you, Your Highness. You've just returned, and you should rest well. I have people to serve you here. Since you've just returned, why don't you go see the Second Prince... He's grown a bit in the two months I haven't seen him."
The wife urged the Fourth Prince to leave, but then very naturally suggested that he go and see the Second Prince.
There were no beating around the bush as usual; they simply asked the Fourth Prince to go see the Second Prince, whom he hadn't seen for two months.
The Fourth Prince noticed that his wife seemed a little different from usual today.
Normally, no matter what the Fujin said, it always carried layers of deeper meaning, waiting for the Fourth Prince to savor, guess, and ponder. But today, the Fujin was different; the meaning of every word seemed to be laid bare in the open.
Seeing his wife's reaction, the Fourth Prince's expression naturally softened somewhat.
"Princess Consort, please rest well. I'm going to check on the Second Prince. There are still matters to attend to in the front courtyard. I'll return after dinner." The Fourth Prince made his intentions clear in advance.
Upon hearing the Fourth Prince's words, the Princess Consort's expression became slightly unnatural. She was still somewhat dejected: "Yes, then I will have the kitchen prepare some of Your Highness's favorite dishes."
She thought the Fourth Master wouldn't stay for dinner.
Even after the Fourth Prince left the inner room, he still felt something was off. The strange feeling in his heart naturally came from his wife. However, the Fourth Prince did not dwell on these things. What did it matter if there was a difference between a day and a day?
Even if the Princess Consort reforms herself, it cannot cover up those long-forgotten facts, which the Fourth Prince himself will never forget.
Just like those pirates, even if they were granted amnesty by the imperial court, everyone still refers to them as "those pirates." Sometimes, one wrong step leads to another.
The fact that the Fujin had the blood on her hands in the inner quarters was an offense against the Fourth Prince, and it was destined that the Fourth Prince would not forgive her.
It's good enough that we maintain this superficial marital relationship as we are now.
When the Fourth Prince went to see the Second Prince, he also instructed the imperial physician to report back to the front courtyard that evening. He also ordered Fulu to find many precious medicinal herbs in the front courtyard storeroom and send them to the main courtyard for the Princess Consort to use for recuperation.
The Fujin waited for the Fourth Prince to leave before suddenly leaning back weakly. She smiled again, even letting out a laugh: "So talking to the Fourth Prince so calmly isn't so difficult after all..."
The medicine Yu Ru was holding had cooled down a bit. She was hesitating about asking Xia Cao to take it away to reheat it when she heard the Fujin speak up: "Bring it here."
In the past two years, the Princess Consort had actually taken quite a few tonics, but in recent years, since the Fourth Prince rarely stayed overnight in the main courtyard, she stopped drinking those so-called tonics.
The princess held the bowl of dark, murky medicine, forcing herself to swallow it down while she looked up. Xia Chong took the empty bowl from her, Yu Ru handed her a handkerchief, and Xia Cao offered her some candied fruit.
The princess wiped her lips and asked, "What exactly did the imperial physician say?"
After the Fourth Prince left, Granny Qian gave a few instructions to the maids and then went to see the Second Prince.
Yu Ru hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but still told the truth: "The imperial physician didn't see anything wrong at first, he just gave some platitudes, saying that the Princess Consort was suffering from a heart attack due to anxiety..."
She had been by the Fujin's side the whole time, and she knew better than anyone whether the Fujin was upset. In her heart, she was convinced that the imperial physician was talking nonsense, but she was also genuinely worried about the Fujin's health.
The princess actually felt quite well, but she was indeed feeling a bit weak. She closed her eyes briefly and said, "I'll have a doctor come and take a look another day. I'm tired."
Xia Chong and Xia Cao then led the maids out of the room, while Yu Ru stayed behind to tuck the blankets around the Fujin (the wife of the deceased) and kept watch nearby.
After the Fujin fainted, Yu Ru hadn't even had time to change her clothes. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince didn't seem to have noticed this.
Yu Ru's fingernails were stained red. She rubbed her fingers, still feeling a bit scared. She couldn't sit still, so she immediately got up and called Wang Jinzhong in, asking him to find a famous doctor in the capital the next day.
Wang Jinzhong immediately agreed, but before he could say anything else, Yu Ru was in a hurry to send him away.
"The Princess Consort is resting now, so don't stand here in the way. Go to the small kitchen and see how the dinner preparations are going. Also, keep an eye on the medicine being prepared for her..."
Wang Jinzhong paused for a moment, then responded with great respect and flattery.
As he turned and headed towards the small kitchen, a flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes.
Going to the small kitchen to oversee the meals and medicine was the job of a third-class maid in the main courtyard. Yu Ru didn't consider Wang Jinzhong to be the head eunuch in charge of the main courtyard at all.
They come when called and leave when dismissed.
He could naturally tell that this was all with the wife's tacit approval.
When Wang Jinzhong arrived at the small kitchen, the fierce look in his eyes had long since turned into his usual amiable demeanor. He wandered around the small kitchen with a forced smile, finally stopping in front of the medicine pot where the Fujin was decocting medicine.
...
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