"No, nothing!" Hongqiao stood up. "What are you doing here, Sister Baizhi?"
“Our concubine wants to see some fresh flowers, so I’ll cut some for her,” Bai Zhi said, holding up the fresh flowers in her hand.
"Oh. Then I won't disturb you while you're picking flowers for your concubine. I'm going back now," Hongqiao said quickly, composing herself.
“Sister Hongqiao, you seemed unhappy about something just now. If you have any difficulties, you might as well talk to your older sister. Maybe I can help you?” Bai Zhi said with concern.
Hongqiao hesitated for a moment, but finally shook her head and said, "No, it's nothing. I just accidentally broke one of our princess's jade hairpins and I'm afraid she will punish me."
Bai Zhi said in surprise, "Oh, is that so? Then you should go back and admit your mistake to Princess Fucha. She might not punish you since you were her dowry maid."
Hongqiao felt a pang of sadness, but she dared not show it on her face. She said, "Sister Baizhi is right. I should go back and admit my mistake to the princess."
After saying that, Hongqiao hurriedly left, but her slightly flustered steps betrayed her inner panic and anxiety. Baizhi watched her back and suddenly called out, "Sister Hongqiao, the concubine's wife always keeps the door of the East Courtyard open for you."
Hongqiao was startled, but she didn't stop. However, she felt a sense of calm in her heart, which made her less anxious.
"You wretched maid, why are you only coming back now! Are you planning to run away?" As soon as Hongqiao entered the room, Lady Fucha grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at her head.
ah!
Hongqiao immediately felt her vision obscured by a layer of red mist, but she quickly realized that it was her own blood flowing onto her eyeballs, making her appear as if shrouded in a red veil. The teacup suddenly smashed into Hongqiao's forehead, creating a bloody hole. Hongqiao cried out and covered her forehead with both hands, but the hot, red liquid continued to gush from her forehead.
Seeing this, Lady Fucha felt a moment of regret, but quickly calmed down and said to the maids outside the room, "Ping'er, Zhui'er, come in and drag this lowly maid out. Don't let me see her again."
Actually, she wanted them to take Hongqiao out for treatment, but as the mistress, she couldn't say that to a servant.
Ping'er and Zhui'er usually dared not approach Lady Fucha to serve her, knowing that she had a bad temper and only trusted Hongqiao. But now even Hongqiao had been hit and was bleeding profusely. Ping'er and Zhui'er immediately helped Hongqiao out, leaving Lady Fucha alone in the room.
After Hongqiao, with Ping'er's help, wrapped a bandage around her forehead, the bleeding finally stopped. But what she was more worried about now was whether her appearance would be ruined. The bleeding hole was on her forehead, almost up to her brow bone, and it would definitely leave a scar.
Hongqiao's heart sank to the bottom; she was completely stunned by Fucha's actions.
“Sister Hongqiao, you’d better see a doctor, otherwise you might get infected,” Ping’er said.
Hongqiao felt as if her heart had fallen into an icy abyss. She really didn't want to beg Fucha at this moment, because she didn't want to see her either.
"I'll go get some medicine!" Hongqiao thought for a moment, then got up from the bed and pushed away Ping'er's outstretched hand.
Hongqiao stumbled out of Chunhui Courtyard. She wasn't actually going to the pharmacy for medicine; she just wanted to leave that place. Hongqiao hadn't expected that in the blink of an eye, Lady Fucha would treat her like a spoiled princess, beating and scolding her for nothing, all because of her own fertility-enhancing soup, even though she hadn't touched any of her medicine.
Hongqiao ran wildly, not knowing where she was going. The pain in her forehead reminded her that she was just a dispensable maidservant by Fucha's side; if she died, Fucha wouldn't feel a pang of sorrow, and might even despise her for defiling Fucha's place.
"Hongqiao!" Baizhi hadn't even left the small garden when she saw Hongqiao turn back with a deathly pale face, and she exclaimed in surprise.
Hongqiao was unaware that she had walked back to this small garden, and that Baizhi had not left yet. She stopped in her tracks and looked at Baizhi blankly.
"Hongqiao, what happened to your head?" Baizhi naturally noticed that Hongqiao had been hit on the head and had a bloody hole, because blood was gushing out from there and gradually wetting the cloth.
Hongqiao knew she couldn't hide it any longer; within half a day, the news that Fucha had smashed her head would probably spread throughout the inner quarters.
"Sister Baizhi, Hongqiao has a request. Please take me to see Consort Nian," Hongqiao said, having made up her mind.
"Alright, come with me." Seeing that Hongqiao had made up her mind and didn't need any persuasion, Baizhi was naturally happy and immediately led her to the East Courtyard.
After Hongqiao entered, Baizhi first took her to her room and applied medicine to stop the bleeding. The bleeding from her forehead immediately stopped. Baizhi then had someone apply some painkillers, and the pain in her forehead subsided instantly.
Hongqiao recalled that this morning she had been Fucha's devoted maid, and now, before noon, she had become a despised lowly servant. Hongqiao felt that the princess she had once served so diligently was now nothing more than someone who could be disposed of at will.
"Hongqiao, come with me to see the concubine. She heard you were injured and has asked about you several times with great concern," Baizhi said to Hongqiao.
Hongqiao nodded. Anyway, her injuries didn't hurt anymore, so it was time to go and pay her respects to Madam Nian.
"This servant greets Consort Hongqiao!" Hongqiao curtsied.
"Hongqiao, how did you offend your princess? How could you be so ruthless?" Madam Nian was pruning the branches next to the bonsai when she looked up and noticed the injury on Hongqiao's forehead.
“It’s all my fault. Someone inexplicably changed one of the ingredients in my princess’s medicine, causing her to remain infertile for so long. I really don’t know what happened to the medicine. Now I have nowhere to go, so please, Consort Wei, help me.” Hongqiao said, squatting down without getting up.
“Cuiling, help Hongqiao up. Your princess really does have some mental issues, otherwise how could she be so cruel? It's so pitiful. If she gets scarred, it will look terrible.” Madam Nian looked at her with pity.
When Nian Shi touched on her sore spot, Hong Qiao's tears became even more uncontrollable. As she wept, she said, "My mistress is convinced that I switched the medicine, and I am truly innocent. But the princess seems to have hit me on the head without even asking what happened."
"How pitiful! I, the concubine, cannot bear to see servants being wronged. As long as you do your job diligently, no one will be able to wrong you!" Lady Nian said with a smile.
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