Yun Yuan was only woken up when it was almost time for dinner. She was so kneeling that she could barely stand up, and Chun Tao and Zhui'er had to help her back to her room.
"What's wrong with Princess? She seems to be ignoring everyone else, only showing favoritism towards Fangyun. Sister Yun is still her personal maid who came with her..." Chuntao complained as she and Zhuier helped Yun Yuan sit down on the bed. Actually, she didn't feel much sympathy for Yun Yuan, but seeing that Fangyun and she had both come from the Imperial Household Department, things were now very different.
"You can all leave now. I want to be alone," Yun Yuan said, her heart filled with despair. She considered herself utterly loyal to Yan Yu, but now not only was she not given any explanation, she was also forced to kneel in front of everyone, which was a complete loss of face for her.
That day, Yun Yuan was unable to serve because she had been kneeling for too long. Yan Yu and Madam Liu were busy preparing for the day after tomorrow and didn't care whether she lived or died. She just lay there blankly in her room, and no one brought her a meal or poured her a glass of water.
Seeing that Yun Yuan's situation was not as good as Fang Yun's, Chun Tao and Zhui Er had no choice but to curry favor with her and no longer cared about her.
Yun Yuan lay on the bed, waking up and falling asleep repeatedly, until all the sounds in the courtyard faded away, presumably everyone had gone to bed. Feeling extremely thirsty, she got up and slowly made her way to the floor. Her knees still ached terribly, and she limped outside, intending to go to the kitchen to get some hot water.
Although there isn't a separate kitchen for this place compared to the South Courtyard, there is a storage area for miscellaneous items. The maids usually bring hot water and place it there. The masters can use it whenever they need it.
Yun Yuan's room was behind Yan Yu's bedroom. Previously, because she needed to be at Yan Yu's beck and call at any time, her room was placed there.
Now, she felt like a useless person abandoned by her master. Yun Yuan dragged her aching knees out of her room. As she passed Yan Yu's room, she heard a faint sound of a baby crying.
Oh, has the princess given birth? Why is there a baby crying?
Yun Yuan was startled and was about to listen again when she heard only the nanny soothing the child. Thinking she had misheard, she stood there quietly for a while longer, and then heard the sound of a baby crying.
No, that sound must be coming from the princess's room, but the princess hasn't given birth yet!
The shock made Yun Yuan unable to move. She stood there, frozen, listening to the faint cries of the baby and the murmurs of the wet nurse still coming from inside the room.
Gradually, Yun Yuan began to understand the things that Yan Yu and Fang Yun had been doing during this time, deliberately avoiding her and others.
She dragged her feet and hurried towards the storage room where the hot water was kept; she felt her heart was about to burst.
Yun Yuan was filled with anxiety. She felt that Yan Yu's actions were incredibly audacious—confusing the royal bloodline and switching the baby. Without a doubt, the crying child just now was a boy.
That night, Yun Yuan slept very restlessly. She had many nightmares about Yan Yu's actions being discovered by the Fujin (principal wife), and then they, the servants, being implicated.
"No, no!" Yun Yuan suddenly screamed twice, waking up from her dream. Just now, she had a dream in which she was beaten to death by the Fourth Master.
No, if what the princess did is discovered, the master and the princess will not forgive us. We will be beaten to death or kicked out as servants who knew but did not report.
Filled with such fear, Yun Yuan kept her eyes wide open, unable to sleep all night, until dawn.
The next day, Yan Yu seemed to remember Yun Yuan and told her to go to Doctor Zhou to get some medicine to apply to her knees. She didn't want to be discovered punishing a servant girl, especially since she was her personal maid, on the day she was about to give birth, which might arouse suspicion.
Yun Yuan was filled with anxiety from the moment she woke up in the morning, because she knew that Yan Yu's plan was about to be implemented.
Dragging her slightly aching knees, Yun Yuan walked towards the courtyard where Doctor Zhou lived, feeling that the journey was far too long. Along the way, her limping gait attracted the attention of many people.
To avoid being stared at, Yun Yuan deliberately chose a secluded alleyway to walk, lest her appearance attract ridicule. In this mansion, servants loved to compare who was favored by their master and who had been punished. Her appearance made it obvious to everyone that she had been forced to kneel as punishment.
As she walked, Yun Yuan thought of the huge secret she carried in her heart, and coupled with the strange looks from others, she almost couldn't bear it anymore.
Without paying attention, Yun Yuan stepped on a rock and fell flat on her face, taking a serious fall.
She already had a knee injury, and this fall made it even harder for her to bear, so she curled up on the ground and started sobbing.
"Who's crying there?" Lanqin and Nianxue were admiring the flowers in the small garden when they suddenly heard a sobbing sound. They followed the sound and found a woman lying prostrate in the garden path, weeping.
When Yun Yuan saw someone coming to ask, she didn't have time to wipe away her tears before she saw two light footsteps approaching.
"You must be Yun Yuan from Princess Yan Yu's household?" Nian Xue asked, recognizing the person lying on the ground.
"This servant tripped and fell, disturbing Princess Niu," Yun Yuan said, forcing herself to stay alert after recognizing the person.
"Nianxue, go help her up!" Lanqin saw that she was crying sadly. Although she didn't like Yan Yu, she didn't have a bad impression of Yun Yuan. Seeing that she had fallen so hard, she said this to Nianxue.
Nianxue released Lanqin's hand, walked to Yunyuan, squatted down, took one of her arms, and whispered, "How are you? Can you get up?"
Yun Yuan blushed and immediately tried to stand up on her own with Nian Xue's help, but her injured knee was in so much pain that she dared not crawl on the ground. How could someone who had fallen to the ground and couldn't put weight on their knees possibly get up?
"What happened to your knee? Did you fall?" Nianxue saw that Yun Yuan was still hesitant to use her knee, so she knew that Yun Yuan must have injured it.
"No, Sister Nianxue, I want to turn around. Can you help me turn around?" Yun Yuan blushed, knowing that she must look very embarrassed.
"Nianxue, do as she says." Lanqin naturally noticed the part that Yun Yuan deliberately didn't want anyone to know, so she instructed Nianxue not to ask.
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