"Alright, this hand can't get wet, and you can't exert any force on it. It needs to rest for a while." Doctor Zhou packed up his things, said he would come back in three days to change the dressing, and then took his leave.
Yinzhen sat by the bed and silently held Qian Shengyan's other hand. Qian Shengyan stopped crying and just looked at her right hand, which was wrapped up like a dumpling, with curiosity. But at this moment, hurried footsteps came from outside, accompanied by the wet nurse's worried shouts: "Fourth Prince! Fourth Prince, please slow down!"
"Hongli is here!" Qian Shengyan was startled and instinctively tried to hide her hands under the covers, but Yinzhen pressed her down: "The medicine has just been applied, don't move around."
"Mother!" Hongli had already run in, his little face full of panic and worry. When he saw Qian Shengyan's hands wrapped in cotton cloth, his eyes immediately reddened.
He rushed over, looking at Qian Shengyan's hand, wanting to touch it but not daring to, and could only ask in a tearful voice, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Oops, my hand got caught in the door, and this is how it ended up." Qian Shengyan shook it. "Doesn't it look like a gourd?"
Hongli: ...
He probably knew Qian Shengyan was teasing him, so he forced a smile and looked at Yinzhen again: "Father..."
"Don't worry, your mother is fine." Yinzhen patted his son's head. "Father has to go out later. Will you stay with your mother?"
"Okay!" Hongli agreed without hesitation. Unlike before, he didn't insist on going back to study. He obediently sat on the embroidered stool that Qingxue had brought over, looked at Qian Shengyan, and asked with a furrowed brow, "Mother, does it hurt?"
"It's alright, I'm fine, really, look!" Qian Shengyan waved the "big gourd" a few times to try to cheer Hongli up. Hongli looked closely at Qian Shengyan's condition and saw that she really didn't seem to be in any discomfort, so he felt relieved.
Before leaving, Yinzhen glanced back at Qian Shengyan and his son, then looked away, a hint of suppressed emotion flashing in his eyes.
“Your Highness…” Su Peisheng approached cautiously and whispered, “That man confessed everything. It was… a servant from the Nian family who found him. They gave him a thousand taels of silver, only saying that he should come to our Prince’s mansion with the divine physician and have as much contact as possible with a concubine surnamed Qian. They also promised him… a position as a county magistrate.”
Yinzhen grunted in acknowledgment and stepped out of the Pianyun Shujuan Palace.
Su Peisheng followed up and said, "What happened today was that a little eunuch he didn't know found him and gave him a hundred taels of silver. He only told him the time and place and that as long as he held onto the master and didn't let go, he would get another five hundred taels of silver after the deed was done. He said he was greedy for money and agreed without thinking about the consequences. He didn't know it would turn out like this."
Yinzhen sneered: "One thousand six hundred taels, plus an eighth-rank official, what a generous gesture."
Su Peisheng bent over, not daring to utter a sound.
"Just beat him to death and throw him into the river," Yinzhen said with disgust.
Su Peisheng responded again, preparing to turn around and tell Tu Lichen—in fact, even if he didn't tell him, that person was already on the verge of death, and it was easy to imagine that he was acting so arrogantly in front of the prince. Did he really think that Prince Yong was a pushover?
Yinzhen strode into the back hall of Leshan Academy. Before he even reached Nian's room, he suddenly heard a trembling voice beside him: "Your Highness, this servant greets Your Highness."
Yinzhen turned his head and saw it was Lady Guo. He unconsciously frowned and asked, "Hmm?"
"Please, Your Highness, listen to me for a few minutes, just a little while," Guo pleaded.
Yinzhen pondered for a moment and agreed, but instead of entering Guo's room, he turned a corner and stood under the eaves, saying, "Speak."
"Your Highness, please investigate thoroughly! Consort Qian has indeed been wronged!" Guo Shi must have mustered all her courage to stop Yinzhen; her voice was still trembling. But she tried her best to explain clearly, "This morning, Consort Nian said she wanted Physician Su to examine me and Sister Geng as well. She called us into her room, then locked the door and forbade us from leaving..."
She took a few deep breaths and continued, "But then she took the Fifth Prince away. Later, Sister Geng was almost frantic when she heard the Fifth Prince crying in the side hall. After we brought the Fifth Prince back, Sister Geng and I found several pinch marks on his legs. I suspect that someone may have used the Fifth Prince's crying to lure Consort Qian away..."
Yinzhen just frowned and stared at her without saying a word. Guo was terrified, but she still mustered up her courage and continued, "Your Highness, please see the truth. Every time Consort Nian called for the doctor, I was in the room, and every time I saw that man waiting in the courtyard, and no one else interacted with him..."
"Guo, do you know what will happen if Consort Nian finds out about what you've said?" Yinzhen asked.
Guo choked, then lowered her head, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
"I understand," Yinzhen said slowly. "And what do you want?"
Guo was initially confused, but after a moment she suddenly realized and looked up, seemingly both angry and amused: "What does this servant want... Your Highness doesn't know, how could someone as good as Consort Qian be insulted like this! Sister Geng is currently taking care of the Fifth Prince and it's inconvenient for her to come, but she also made it clear that if Your Highness needs her, Sister Geng can also stand up and testify!"
"Really?" Yinzhen was surprised. He knew that Qian Shengyan had helped Guo Shi, and that it was she who pleaded for Doctor Zhou to handle Guo's younger brother's matter. But Geng Shi? Geng Shi had initially been at odds with Qian Shengyan.
Guo said indignantly, "Your Highness really doesn't know... After Consort Qian took over the household, Sister Geng's life became much better. Even the Fifth Prince's allowance was no longer reduced. Moreover, although Consort Qian never said anything, the rewards given to the Fifth Prince during festivals were exactly the same as those given to the Fourth Prince, and she treated Sister Geng equally..."
As she spoke, she became somewhat saddened: "All we servants ask for is fairness."
Yinzhen frowned slightly, initially wanting to ask if anyone had dared to withhold the Fifth Prince's allowance before. But then he thought that since the Fifth Prince was raised under the care of his wife when he was young, no one would have dared to bully him. However, it was hard to say what would happen after he lived with Lady Geng in Lady Li's courtyard.
Li Shi has few major flaws, but she has a lot of minor ones. She is actually capable of depriving Geng Shi and the Fifth Prince of their property.
It seems that Geng has gone through a lot and now has a clear mind, able to distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and bad.
Yinzhen nodded and said, "I understand." He then told Lady Guo to go back first and sent someone to fetch Doctor Zhou to see the Fifth Prince.
Then he returned to the room in the center of the rear hall and stepped inside.
There was no one in the hall. A maid came out to greet him when she heard the voice. When she saw that it was Yinzhen, she immediately knelt down and said, "This servant greets Your Highness."
"Where is Lady Nian?" Yinzhen asked as he walked towards his bedchamber.
"Your Highness, Consort Nian's old illness has relapsed, and she has just fainted," the maid replied softly.
"Heh, then I'll take a good look at her." Yinzhen chuckled and kicked open the curtain of the bedchamber.
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