Chapter 397 Ji Qingwu is ill, very seriously.
But Ji Qingwu didn't want them to see the contents of the imperial edict, lest it taint the words of the decree.
Cui was horrified and fell back into her seat.
"You! You, what, why...?"
Seeing that her mother-in-law was starting to ramble and her eyes were unfocused, Feng Shuang looked at Ji Qingwu suspiciously.
"What kind of shoddy stuff are you holding?"
Ji Qingwu said, "Ask the Grand Madam; she knows the answer."
Cui swallowed several times before she came to her senses and stared at Ji Qingwu as if she were a demoness.
Why is it still the Ji family? Why her...?
The Ji family had an empress dowager who fell from power, and then an empress who came along. Was even Emperor Wusu bewitched by her beauty?
Ji Qingwu said in a relaxed tone, "Father and Mother, I have already talked to my brother-in-law. We will take my eldest sister home first."
As soon as Lu Juan stepped across the threshold, he heard someone call him "brother-in-law".
He breathed a sigh of relief when they finally acknowledged his identity again.
At first, Qiao hesitated, worried that bringing her eldest daughter back to her parents' home would affect the relationship between her and her husband.
But seeing Xiao Wu's calm demeanor, as if he had reached some kind of agreement with Lu Juan, he felt at ease.
"Okay, let's go pick up Qingrong and go home together."
Ji Bolian and Qiao Shi walked ahead, and when Ji Qingwu was about to step out the door, someone caught up with her and stopped her.
"You think you can leave? No way!"
This person was Feng Shuang, who hadn't yet figured out the situation.
Feng Shuang turned around and said, "Mother, we can't let her go so easily. All the grievances we suffered before would have been for nothing—"
With a snap.
Feng Shuang's face was turned to the side by the blow, with new and old wounds overlapping. She cried out in pain, her voice exceptionally shrill.
Feng Shuang looked at the person who hit her in disbelief and said, "Mother, why did you hit me? I was trying to help you!"
That slap was delivered by Cui.
Cui appeared behind her, her raised hand still trembling, and said mercilessly, "Shut your filthy mouth!"
Ji Qingwu was surprised. She glanced at Cui Shi, but the other party avoided her gaze first.
"Xiao Wu, let's go."
Qiao turned to look at her, and Ji Qingwu smiled and walked away briskly.
As Cui watched the Ji family members leave, she gritted her teeth in hatred.
Emperor Wusu clearly disliked women from the Ji family entering the palace as concubines, but in the end, he still made a woman from the Ji family his empress.
The Empress Dowager had fallen from power, and Ji Bolian did not hold any high-ranking official position in the court.
Cui thought that the Ji family was about to decline, but now an empress has emerged from the Ji family!
Cui was unaware of other matters, but there was one thing she saw clearly.
Who can coerce the emperor?
When Emperor Wusu first ascended the throne, it was a time when he needed the support of the major aristocratic families the most, yet he did not give away the position of empress.
But now, even Cui can't deceive herself anymore. The emperor promised the empress position to Ji Wu, not for any reason of balancing the court and the harem, but simply because...
The emperor was willing.
Cui felt intense hatred, yet she had no choice but to bow her head; this was more painful than having a knife stabbed into her heart.
There is no cure for a broken heart, and that very night Cui fell seriously ill—but that's another story.
*
Ji Qingrong did not go directly back to the Ji family home, but went to the clinic instead.
Everything a new mother needs is available there. Ji Qingwu personally selected three wet nurses to take turns caring for the baby.
I don't know what's wrong with Ji Qingwu these past few days.
Staring blankly at the baby sleeping soundly in the cradle.
She first thought of the little chick, who loved to sleep and would smile at people when she woke up.
Ji Qingwu felt a little sad, realizing she had missed what Yuan Heng looked like at this time. She had heard that the little guy was prone to crying, the complete opposite of Qiuqiu.
As she pondered this, she couldn't help but wonder what Zhao Mingyan was like as a child.
He also had those vulnerable years when he needed someone to protect him, but was he well protected?
Ji Qingwu felt she was finished; she was sick.
These past few days, no matter what I look at, I always find myself thinking about Zhao Mingyan.
Emperor Wusu has now reached the northern border, and news from the battlefield has also reached Lin'an.
The news spread throughout the streets and alleys that Beili and Xijin had gone to war, and that the emperor himself was leading the expedition.
The people hoped that the emperor would return in triumph, but they were also uneasy, fearing that something might happen to this wise ruler.
Ji Qingwu poked the little bean's chubby face wrapped in brocade with her finger.
There are ways to alleviate the longing for one's two children.
Every now and then, Qiuqiu would send back her paintings to Sihai: rabbits kicking tigers, rabbits biting eagles, and rabbits tackling bears.
Chirp created the most amazing little rabbit in the world.
Sometimes, a letter from Yuan Heng would be tucked inside, consisting of just a few words of greeting.
Ji Qingwu would reciprocate with two small medicine pouches and some trendy trinkets from outside the palace.
The next day.
Her "illness" is getting worse.
Ji Qingwu and Mo Lingling went out for a while, and when they came back, they seemed to have lost their souls.
At the dining table in the clinic, four women of different styles sat facing each other, eating.
In front of Ji Qingrong and Tao Wanyin were specially prepared postpartum meals and pregnant women's meals, all personally prepared by Ji Qingwu, based on the principle that medicine and food share the same origin.
The dishes in front of Mo Lingling and Ji Qingwu were even more casual, with no restrictions on meat, fish, or spicy flavors, making them look extremely tempting.
While eating, Ji Qingwu held the bowl in her left hand and used her chopsticks in her right hand to poke at the spicy meat slices in the bowl.
Seeing that she had no appetite, Mo Lingling asked with concern, "Fifth Miss, what's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"
Ji Qingwu did not respond.
He seemed not to hear her, lost in his own thoughts.
Ji Qingrong smiled and said, "Miss Mo, you can eat your meal and don't worry about her."
Thanks to the postpartum recovery technique that Ji Qingwu redeemed from the system, and the proper care she received at the clinic, Ji Qingrong now has a rosy complexion.
She had the best complexion among them.
Tao Wanyin was still somewhat weak and powerless. Her pregnancy was not as dangerous as before, and she was already able to go downstairs and walk around.
But he still needs to rest in bed for most of the day.
Tao Wanyin asked softly, "Is Qingwu sick?"
These past few days, Ji Qingrong has seen her fifth sister in this state repeatedly. As someone who has been through it all, she already knows why Ji Qingwu is like this.
“I think Fifth Sister is also sick, and quite seriously so.”
Tao Wanyin raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then, realizing what Ji Qingrong was saying, covered her mouth and laughed.
Mo Lingling put down her chopsticks and said blankly, "Then, then I have to hurry and fetch a doctor to take a look at Miss Wu."
As she spoke, she stood up to find a doctor.
Ji Qingrong pulled her to sit down and teased, "Fifth Sister's illness doesn't need a doctor; I can diagnose it myself. It must be a mental illness."
Mo Lingling said, "No wonder I often see the Fifth Miss frowning and getting distracted when she's handling the medicinal herbs."
"Not only that, today when we went out to buy things, Miss Wu almost bumped into a tea cart selling loose tea by the roadside while walking."
Tao Wanyin was speechless, and Ji Qingrong also raised her eyebrows.
"Is it that serious?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
