When Lin Qingwan arrived at the side courtyard, she saw the cat listlessly curled up on the soft couch where Tang Yun usually sat, twitching occasionally.
She reached out to hug him, but Mu Xue stopped her.
"Madam, be careful, in case it goes berserk and scratches you."
The cat meowed weakly twice when it saw Lin Qingwan.
"She recognizes me, it's okay."
Lin Qingwan gently held the cat in her arms and stroked it from head to tail, just like Tang Yun did. The cat snuggled into her arms, its eyes half-closed in enjoyment, but its body couldn't help but twitch.
"What happened? Who fed it today?" she asked the four palace maids kneeling outside.
Two of them were brought by Tang Yun from the Vice Minister's residence, while the other two palace maids were responsible for cleaning the cat house on weekdays.
"Reporting to Madam, yesterday the two of them took the cat to play in the garden, and there was nothing wrong when they came back. Everything was normal this morning. At noon, when I fed the cat, it didn't eat much, and it didn't have the energy to play in the garden this afternoon."
The speaker was a maid from the Tang family. "At dinner, the cat didn't eat anything, but after drinking two sips of water, it started convulsing."
As soon as she finished speaking, the cat twitched twice in Lin Qingwan's arms, accompanied by dry heaving, which made people's hearts jump.
Lin Qingwan's face was gloomy. It's been two hours since dinner, and it took so long to report this!
But now is not the time to investigate this. She asked the Tang family maid, "Has this ever happened before?"
The maid shook her head. "No."
"Do you have a regular veterinarian who treats cats?"
The maid shook her head again, "Madam, cats and dogs are worthless. Even if a noble person keeps them, they will just throw them away when they get sick. I have never heard of doctors who treat cats and dogs."
Lin Qingwan choked up; she was also confused.
But we can't just watch the cat suffer and do nothing.
She thought for a moment, "Muxue, go and see if Physician Zhu is on duty today. I'd appreciate it if he could come to the East Palace."
"If he is unavailable, other imperial physicians will suffice."
When the Tang family maid saw that the lady had invited the imperial physician for the cat, she was surprised and then kowtowed heavily.
Not long after, Mu Xue brought the imperial physician over. Physician Zhu was attending to His Majesty in the Warm Heart Pavilion and was unavailable. The physician who came was Physician Wen, the only one who had some connection with Physician Zhu.
However, before the imperial physician even entered the side hall, Cui'er from Youlan Palace came crying and said that Consort Su had sprained her ankle and was in great pain.
She happened to run into the imperial physician, and grabbed his sleeve, pleading, "Please, Imperial Physician, examine the concubine first."
When Imperial Physician Wen examined Lin Qingwan, Lin Qingwan frowned, thinking that Su Yun's sprained ankle had come at just the right time.
Seeing that the cat in her arms didn't seem as uncomfortable as before, Lin Qingwan could only ask the imperial physician to go see Su Yun first.
"Meow."
The cat lay on Lin Qingwan's chest and meowed weakly twice.
The Tang family maid brought over some minced meat and rice. The cat sniffed it and then buried its face back in Lin Qingwan's arms.
Lin Qingwan said, "Take some of the snacks that Feng'er usually feeds it."
The maid's eyes lit up; how come she hadn't thought of that!
"good!"
Lin Qingwan remembered that just yesterday, Feng'er had the chef in the small kitchen make a batch of snacks that the cat liked.
A maid brought over some snacks, and the cat leaned over and licked them twice, but didn't eat them. It looked up at Lin Qingwan.
Lin Qingwan didn't understand and asked the maid, "Does it not want to eat?"
The maid lowered her head and said tremblingly, "It...it probably wants the madam to feed it."
Lin Qingwan was taken aback for a moment before taking the snacks from the maid.
The cat actually ate it.
The maid thought to herself, "If the Crown Princess saw this, she'd definitely give it a good scolding. But judging from the lady's expression... she seems to really like cats."
Tang Yun came out of Nuanxin Pavilion, still limping and being helped by the nanny.
"Hiss." Tang Yun's knees were bruised and black. "Who was the idiot who came up with this idea? His Majesty is sick, so we should see the imperial physicians. If that doesn't work, we should find a Taoist priest to pray at the Temple of Heaven. What's the point of having the women kneel here!"
"Mother said that as the Crown Princess, there would be no benefits I couldn't enjoy. But ever since I entered the palace, I haven't received any good things, but I'm always the one kneeling in the courtyard."
The old woman broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this. "Your Highness, please be careful what you say."
Tang Yun had been holding back for a long time, and now that he had finally left the Warm Heart Pavilion, he had to get it off his chest.
"Do you think the Crown Prince knew about these things all along, which is why he was reluctant to let his beloved become the Crown Princess? My parents deliberately pushed me up there so that the Crown Prince could use me as a shield."
The old woman was about to cry. "I beg you, you really can't say things like that. You really can't involve the Crown Prince in everything. The palace is not like home. You could lose your head if you're not careful."
Tang Yun didn't take it seriously, "His Majesty doesn't have time to chop off people's heads right now."
The old woman immediately covered her mouth, which was really dangerous.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more," Tang Yun said helplessly.
She felt a little envious of Lady Wan. She hadn't expected that the Crown Prince, who was cold and ruthless to others, would be so genuinely kind to her.
If she had known this would happen, she should have been beaten to death by her father on her wedding day rather than enter the Eastern Palace.
She could have remained a spinster for life outside, which was her freedom. But now, burdened with the title of Crown Princess and the riches and honors her parents desired, she'll eventually become a walking corpse in the palace.
Tang Yun sighed, and the old woman's heart tightened again. "Your Highness, please don't say anymore, I'm scared."
Tang Yun was taken aback, then burst out laughing, "Look how scared you are."
"I mean I miss my cat, I need to go back and pet it."
"While I was away these past few days, that ungrateful little brat probably started hanging out with that mother and son again, completely forgetting about me, his master."
The old woman breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Not necessarily. Madam Wan is worried that the young prince will get rubella again, so she probably won't let him come over to play again."
Tang Yun pursed his lips, having heard that Feng'er almost didn't survive that day.
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