Xu Shu drank some hot water, but still cried out in pain.
Even if a woman is feeling unwell, she would try her best to suppress her discomfort and avoid losing her composure in such a grand occasion.
However, Xu Shu was unruly and had no ladylike manners. She clutched her lower abdomen and cried out in pain.
The commotion was so great that it quickly attracted the attention of Consort Yun, who was seated next to them, and Pei Xi also looked over curiously.
Consort Yun disliked Xu Shu's behavior and frowned slightly. In the end, she never thought highly of Xu Shu.
If she hadn't wanted to leverage the power of the Censorate, she would never have allowed her son to marry such a willful and unruly woman.
However, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Consort Yun still appropriately showed her concern.
"Is Miss Xu alright? Should I summon the imperial physician?"
To show that she valued it, she turned to Pei Xi and urged, "Xi'er, you personally send someone to invite the headmaster over."
Xu Shu shook her head and reached out to stop her: "No, there's no need to trouble yourself."
Pei Xi frowned and glanced at Xu Shu carefully.
Although she kept crying out in pain, her expression remained normal. She had used great strength to stop him earlier, almost causing him to stumble.
What does it look like?
Pei Xi, who had been a carefree and unruly child, was an expert at feigning illness and shirking his duties. He could tell at a glance that Xu Shu was putting on an act and couldn't help but speak up.
"Why bother calling the imperial physician? She's as strong as an ox, what could possibly happen to her?"
Consort Yun scolded him, "Don't be rude."
Ms. Zhang hadn't intended to attract attention, but her daughter's persistent abdominal pain left her at a loss.
It was Sun who spoke up, saying to the nanny, "Quickly, go to the kitchen and get a bowl of brown sugar ginger tea."
The old nanny, who served Consort Yun, was very perceptive and quickly brought over the ginger tea.
Xu Shu drank it, and in no time she felt much better and stopped crying out in pain.
Consort Yun expressed her concern for a few words and then sat back down in her original seat.
Madam Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but look at Madam Sun: "How does my sister know how to relieve abdominal pain?"
Madam Sun sighed softly and pointed to the plate of fresh flower cakes on Xu Shu's table, saying, "Shu'er has a stomachache because she ate this."
Madam Zhang asked in surprise, "Could the pastries be poisoned?"
Madam Sun shook her head: "The pastries were made by the Imperial Kitchen, how could they be poisonous?"
She pointed to the pale yellow petals adorning the dish and said softly, "Sister, look, these are gardenia petals. It's perfectly acceptable to put them in a flower cake, but gardenias are cold in nature. Ordinary people won't feel anything after eating them, but if a woman who is naturally cold eats them, she may experience abdominal pain and discomfort."
"Brown sugar is warming and ginger tea is warming. After Shu'er drank it, she naturally felt better."
Madam Zhang was somewhat impressed: "You actually know these things."
"I don't understand medical theory, but these cold-natured things..." Sun patted her swollen belly and sighed, "I used to get stomach aches after eating gardenia cake, so I know about these things. You could say I've become a doctor through long illness."
Her pregnancy was difficult because of a condition of cold constitution, which Zhang, as her friend, naturally knew.
Madam Zhang asked worriedly, "Are you saying that Shu'er also suffers from a cold constitution?"
"Sister, don't worry. Shu'er is still young. With proper care, she will be fine."
Madam Zhang sighed, couldn't help but tap Xu Shu's forehead, and scolded in a low voice, "I told you not to run around in the snow like that, and now look what's happened, you're not allowed to go out this winter..."
Xu Shu pouted, feeling slightly guilty, and scooped up a spoonful of the sweet soup.
She couldn't understand what Zhang was saying at all.
Just now, she was only pretending to have a stomachache as Jiang Wan had instructed, and she almost got caught by Pei Xi.
Fortunately, it was a close call.
She was making plans in her mind, but she didn't notice that the old woman standing to the side had overheard their entire conversation.
After the old woman returned to Consort Yun's side, she leaned down and whispered a few words.
The more Consort Yun listened, the more her brows furrowed: "Is it true?"
Looking at Xu Shu's rosy complexion, who would have thought that she suffers from a cold constitution?
"I heard it with my own ears, there's no mistake," the old woman said. "Madam Sun suffered from this ailment and couldn't conceive for many years. I heard she went to Hanshan Temple to pray to the Guanyin Bodhisattva who grants children before she finally became pregnant. It was so difficult; if Miss Xu were to suffer the same fate..."
Consort Yun's expression darkened slightly.
For the royal family, the most important thing is to have many offspring.
She had high hopes for Pei Xicun, so how could she possibly arrange for him to marry a woman who was unable to bear children?
Consort Yun shook her head inwardly, feeling a headache coming on.
The marriage with the Xu family was a carefully chosen one, and it was a perfect match in every way. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen?
She said to the nanny, "Don't make this public. I need to think about it carefully."
Just as he was feeling troubled, he caught a glimpse of Pei Xi trying to sneak away from his seat. Consort Yun called out to him, "The banquet is about to begin. What are you doing here?"
He said casually, "Didn't Mother want me to meet Miss Xu? Your son will go and do it right away."
"The marriage is not yet settled, so what's with all this talk about finding a match? What kind of decorum would that be if others heard that?" Consort Yun said. "Just sit here quietly and don't cause me any trouble."
Pei Xi pretended to say "Oh," but was secretly overjoyed.
Previously, when my mother mentioned the marriage, she spoke with an air of certainty, but now she's softening her stance.
Although he didn't know what had happened, Pei Xi vaguely guessed that it was related to Jiang Wan.
He stood up and slipped away to the back of the main hall under the pretext of changing his clothes, heading towards the Song family's seats, but he didn't see Jiang Wan.
Pei Xi was puzzled and went outside the palace on his own.
This time he saw Jiang Wan, who was lifting the hem of her skirt and stepping up the white jade steps.
Pei Xi was in a good mood and ran over with light steps: "You really have some ability, Mother Consort is already reconsidering the marriage!"
“Actually, Miss Xu is quite nice. Why doesn’t Your Highness get to know her better before drawing a conclusion?” Jiang Wan said.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com