Chapter 324: Wind Rises in Begonia
The windows of the west courtyard were tightly shut, the afternoon sunlight fragmented by the carved wooden lattices, falling on the plain hem of Zhihua's skirt. The teacup she held between her fingers suddenly cracked with a "crack," splattering scalding tea across her wrists, yet the pain was not even a ten-thousandth as intense as the burning pain in her heart.
"Concubine!" The maid Biyue hurriedly handed over the handkerchief, "Be careful not to get burned."
Zhihua flung aside her handkerchief, the broken porcelain shards leaving red marks on her palms. She looked towards the East Courtyard, where Mianxin's faint giggles drifted in, like needles piercing her ears. "What's going on in the East Courtyard again?"
"My Lady," Bi Yue said in a very low voice, "Prince Rong is accompanying the Princess in the courtyard, teaching the little prince to walk. The little princess is chasing butterflies in the stroller, and her laughter can be heard throughout half of the palace."
"Butterfly?" Zhihua suddenly smiled, a cold glint in the fine lines at the corners of her eyes. "No matter how nimble a butterfly is, it will eventually get caught in a net." As she stood up, the jade bracelet on her wrist struck the diamond-shaped mirror on the dressing table, making a crisp sound. "Go, call Nanny Zhou."
Nanny Zhou was an elder in the mansion, nimble and deft, and more importantly, stern. When she entered the room, she saw the broken porcelain on the floor, her eyelids twitching, and she stood aside with her hands hanging down, "What are your wishes, Madam?"
Zhihua slowly stroked the lotus embroidered on her sleeve, her nails rubbing the center of the lotus repeatedly. "Have the twins from the East Courtyard been visiting the Empress Dowager's Palace often lately?"
"Yes, the old Buddha was very sad. Yesterday he even gave the young prince a string of beeswax Buddhist beads."
"Hmm," Zhihua nodded, then suddenly raised her eyes, her gaze as if icy. "What do you think would happen if... Little Princess had an 'accident' in the Cining Palace?"
Nanny Zhou's knees weakened, and she almost fell to her knees: "Fujin! She is a royal concubine..."
"Why are you panicking?" Zhihua sneered. She took out a brocade bag from her makeup box and poured out a few dark red pills. "I'm not trying to get her into trouble, I'm trying to make her 'come into trouble'. This is the tranquilizing powder I brought from my mother's house. Mix it with some of the heart, and children will become drowsy after taking it. If we happen to catch the Empress Dowager worshipping..."
Before she finished speaking, Nanny Zhou was shaking all over - it was disrespectful for a child to cry during worshipping Buddha, and if he fell into a deep sleep, he would probably be accused of being an unlucky person!
"Fujin, this is too risky..."
"Risk?" Zhihua slammed the table, sending shattered teacups flying and drawing blood on the back of her hand. "I'm guarding an empty room in the west courtyard, watching Fang Ci enjoy all the glory. Why wouldn't I take a risk?" She grabbed Madam Zhou's hand and pressed the pill into her palm. "Madam Liu from the Cining Palace is my distant cousin. She'll help you. If you can get it done, I'll guarantee your son a job at the Ministry of Revenue."
Madam Zhou looked at the pill in her palm, then at the back of Zhihua's hand, which was bleeding. She finally gritted her teeth and said, "Slave...slave obeys your command."
Under the crabapple tree in the east courtyard, Yongqi was bending over to help Mianrui learn to walk. The little fellow, wearing dark blue tiger-head shoes, staggered into Xiaoyanzi's arms, his silvery laughter startling the sparrows on the branches.
"Slow down, slow down," Xiaoyanzi opened her arms to catch her son, the pearl tassels on her temples swaying, "Look at our Rui'er, he will definitely be a good material for martial arts in the future!"
Yongqi put his arm around her waist from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head. "You're praising your son right after a fight, aren't you afraid I'll get jealous?"
"Jealous?" Xiaoyanzi turned around and poked his chest with her fingertips. "Who was so suspicious yesterday, thinking my brother was a pervert?" She deliberately kept a straight face, but the smile in her eyes could not be hidden. "I'm punishing you by practicing sword techniques with me today. Don't be lazy!"
"As you command, Princess." Yongqi agreed with a smile. Glancing at Xiao Dengzi approaching with the sword manual, he added, "But first, let me make it clear that you are not allowed to use your 'Cloud Piercing Arrow'. It nearly shot through the window paper of my study last time."
"That's because you were slow to react!" Xiaoyanzi took the sword, the ruby on the tassel gleaming in the sunlight. "Besides, Xiao Dengzi and the others are here, so they can be my referees."
Little Dengzi quickly waved his hands, "I dare not. The prince and princess's skills are unique in heaven and on earth!" Little Zhuozi chimed in, "That's right, last time the princess spun around, and the petals at her feet didn't move at all. We were stunned!"
Just then, Little Mosquito came running in from the Moon Gate, holding a food box in his hand. He kicked up a gust of wind as he ran. "Guaiguai Long Di Dong! These almond cakes, a gift from the Empress, just arrived from the palace!"
Xiaoyanzi's eyes lit up, and she was about to take it, but she saw Yongqi frowning slightly: "The Queen has been giving gifts quite often lately."
"Have you forgotten?" Xiaoyanzi peeled off a piece of pastry and stuffed it into his mouth. "Last time during the ancestor worship, the Queen praised me for my quick learning of etiquette and mathematics. Besides, with Mingyue Caixia watching over me in the palace, what is there to be afraid of?" She was completely unaware that in the pomegranate bushes under the corridor, a pair of eyes were staring at the snacks in the food box.
Three days later, the Buddhist hall of the Cining Palace was filled with curls of incense. The old Buddha twirled her Buddhist beads as she listened to Ziwei recite the Heart Sutra. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "Where's that girl Mianxin? She would have been pestering me for candy by this time of day."
Just as the nanny was about to reply, she saw Nanny Zhou come in, supporting a young eunuch. The eunuch was holding Mian Xin in his arms. The child's face was flushed and his breathing was rapid. "Grandma! It's bad!" Nanny Zhou's voice trembled. "The little princess ate a piece of almond cake in the side hall and suddenly fell asleep!"
"What?" The old lady stood up suddenly, and the Buddhist rosary string broke with a "snap", and the rosewood beads rolled all over the floor.
Ziwei hurried forward to feel the pulse, her face suddenly changed: "This is not an ordinary coma, it seems that I have been..."
Before she could finish her words, Zhihua's voice suddenly rang out from outside the palace, her voice tinged with tears: "Grand Empress Dowager! You have to make a decision for Mian Yi!" She rushed in, her hair disheveled, and pointed at Mian Xin, saying, "I just brought Mian Yi here to pay my respects, and I saw with my own eyes that this girl snatched Mian Yi's tranquilizing soup! The soup was prescribed by the imperial physician, and there's a medicinal ingredient in it that will make children comatose..."
"You're talking nonsense!" Xiaoyanzi arrived just in time and saw her daughter unconscious. She was furious and pushed Zhihua away. "My daughter never eats food from outsiders! It must be you who did this!"
Zhihua fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face. "Sister, how can you slander me? I just feel sorry for the child..."
At this moment, Nanny Zhou suddenly knelt down and said, "Grandma, I saw it! Just now, the little princess did grab the little prince's soup bowl and even spilled the medicine residue!"
The Buddhist hall was in chaos. Yongqi hugged Mianxin, his face livid; Ziwei was so anxious that tears streamed down his cheeks; Xiaoyanzi, looking at Zhihua's tearful face, suddenly remembered the almond cakes the Empress had given her a few days ago. At that time, Xiaowenzi had said there was a pinhole-sized hole in the corner of the food box, but she had assumed it was scratched during transportation. Thinking about it now, a cold sweat broke out on her back.
Zhihua looked at Xiaoyanzi's pale face, and a smile appeared on her lips that no one could see. This time, the net she had laid was not so easy to break.
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