When the Fourth Prince left, the Princess Consort was momentarily dazed, as if his last words were the true purpose of his meal that day. His tone and expression carried a warning undertone. Was formally adopting Hongshi into her a form of exchange? To allow her to focus on raising her legitimate son in peace, preventing any further trouble?
"Madam, what's wrong? The master has already left." Lingxiu saw that Madam was sitting there silently, as if she had lost all vitality, like a wooden statue.
"When he looked at me, his eyes were so cold. Did he know everything all along?" the princess murmured to herself.
"Madam, what exactly did the master say to you?" Lingxiu asked, looking at Madam with a puzzled expression.
"He said he would formally adopt Hongshi as my legitimate son, and he also said he would give Lady Yin a cup of poison to kill her. Finally, he said he would take Lady Niu away to live for a while, and that nothing else could happen in the mansion," the lady said, her face still showing a bewildered and helpless expression.
“That’s a good thing! The Princess Consort finally has her own legitimate son. Does the fact that His Majesty ordered the death of Lady Yin mean that this matter is over?” Lingxiu’s eyes flickered a few times as she spoke to the Princess Consort.
"What did he mean by his last sentence? He said he didn't want to see anything else happen in the manor. Does he mean that everything that happened before was caused by me, the Fujin?" The Fujin finally snapped out of her daze and grabbed Lingxiu's hand to ask.
“No, Master wouldn’t have meant that. Otherwise, why would Master have formally adopted the Fourth Prince into the Fujin’s family? Besides, Master has already ordered the execution of Lady Yin, which means that Master has already decided that the matter has nothing to do with us,” Lingxiu quickly said.
"Is that so? Why do I feel that his last sentence was a warning to me?" Never before had the Princess Consort's eyes shown such despair. Before, even without the Fourth Prince's favor, she had his respect; even without a legitimate child, she had his trust; even though she could no longer be young and beautiful, her position remained secure. But at this moment, the Princess Consort read a terrifying meaning in the Fourth Prince's last words and that look in his eyes.
"Madam, please stop thinking such nonsense. The most important thing now is to send Lady Yin away as soon as possible, otherwise I'm afraid she might say something detrimental to you," Lingxiu said.
Upon hearing this, the Fujin (principal wife) seemed to wake from a dream, jolted awake, and helped Lingxiu to her feet, saying, "That's right, this matter must be done quickly. Go and prepare the poisoned wine, and then have Sanfu (Sanfu) go with her. I'm afraid that wretched woman will refuse to die."
Sanfu was the servant who carved the ice rose and presented it to the Fujin that day. He used to be a lowly servant in the main courtyard, but now that Lingxiu has risen to prominence, he has started to scheme and unexpectedly, he has actually caught the Fujin's eye.
Meanwhile, on the Yin family's side, Yuhen got a few sweet potatoes from Wu Shi and then carried them back to Yin Shi's room.
Seeing that Madam Yin refused to touch the food on the table, Yu Lu said, "Princess, this servant will remove the food from the table."
Madam Yin nodded slightly, and then Yuhen walked in carrying several sweet potatoes.
"Princess, the sweet potatoes have arrived. Please have some." Yuhen placed the still-steaming sweet potatoes in front of Madam Yin.
"Didn't Sister Wu say anything?" Madam Yin asked, staring at the sweet potatoes.
“Princess Wu didn’t say anything, she just asked me to bring these sweet potatoes,” Yuhen said.
"You may all leave now. Quickly remove all that food; it makes me sick. Do you think you're all watching me eat sweet potatoes?" Madam Yin suddenly shouted.
Yuhen and Yulu exchanged a glance and then took the food from the table out.
After they left, Madam Yin quickly picked up each of the sweet potatoes on the plate and examined them. Finally, she found something inside one of the sweet potatoes and quickly broke it open. Sure enough, there was a note stuffed inside the sweet potato.
Madam Yin put down the sweet potato, picked out the thin strip of paper that had been rolled into a stick, and unfolded it. On it were written the five words "The Princess Consort wants to kill you," and then nothing else.
Just then, a greeting was heard from outside.
Ms. Yin quickly put the note in her mouth, then picked up the sweet potato on the table and started eating it.
Gradually, the sound of a flowerpot being tapped on the floor tiles was heard. It was the Fujin (princess) with her personal maid and an unfamiliar man.
"Why isn't my sister eating her meals? Why is she eating these sweet potatoes instead?" the Fujin asked, seeing that Madam Yin was eating sweet potatoes.
“We eat fish and meat every day, so why not eat something like this?” said Madam Yin.
"Sister, this is a fine wine that the master specially ordered me to bestow upon you. Why don't you have someone heat up the food and bring it up?" The princess looked around Yin's room and then gave Lingxiu a wink.
Before Madam Yin could answer, Lingxiu began searching everywhere.
"No need to bother, the head nanny has already searched the place with her men. Does the princess not trust the head nanny's abilities?" Madam Yin said with a contemptuous smile.
"Sister, why don't you return that thing to your elder sister? Okay?" The Fujin walked up to Madam Yin and glanced at her.
Madam Yin smiled and raised her beautiful face to the Fujin, saying, "Sister, you refused to save your younger sister, so why are you saying these things to me now? I've already hidden that thing in a safe place. It might be useful someday, otherwise you wouldn't be in such a hurry to go back."
After saying that, she gave a pale, wan smile, like the setting sun.
"It's not that I don't want to save you, but that the master has never cared about you at all. You've seen his favoritism towards the South Courtyard. How can I, as his wife, help you?" The wife stretched out her hand, adorned with kingfisher feathers, gemstones, and gold nail guards, and grasped Yin's soft, white chin.
"But even if Master doesn't want me to die, the Fujin (principal wife) won't let me go, right?" Madam Yin gave a sorrowful smile, her eyes slightly misty, looking utterly pitiful yet incredibly beautiful. Even long afterward, whenever the Fujin recalled Madam Yin's appearance that day, the stirring in her heart would still often leave her terrified.
"You're quite clever, but unfortunately, you're unlucky. You were the one who served the master first, but the one in the south courtyard won the Fourth Prince's heart. If you had held even the slightest place in his heart, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way. The Fourth Prince has already ordered that you be given a cup of poisoned wine. If you're willing to tell me where the things are, I'll let you be carried out with dignity. If you refuse, hmph, a princess who has made a mistake can never be buried in the imperial mausoleum."
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