"Isn't it because you're ambitious?"
Sun Qi shrugged, the atmosphere resembling a reprimand between an elder and a junior. If only Sun Hu's eyes held less scrutiny, and Sun Qi's lowered gaze held less hatred and wariness.
Pei Yuan followed him into the palace, but before he could see Qiu Su, he was summoned away by Sun Qi.
Among the group of wealthy women, Qiu Su appeared somewhat unsophisticated. It wasn't her attire, but rather that she was too lazy to socialize and didn't understand why their gold hairpins and jade ornaments were so valuable—one priceless while the other seemed worthless—or why they discussed styles and hairstyles. When she had previously snatched things, she had simply kept them because she liked them; she hadn't cared about the quality of the jade or the gold patterns.
With Lingling by her side, she wasn't too upset. Several wealthy women came over to talk to her, but seeing her somewhat dazed expression, they all turned away to chat with others. One woman, however, who appeared rather robust, kept glancing at Qiu Su through the crowd, her suspicions growing with each glance.
“Sister-in-law, that’s Princess Shuo. She’s the youngest daughter of the Regent King. Because she couldn’t enter the palace as a concubine, Brother Qi made her a princess. Hehe, Brother Qi really had the guts to use the character ‘Shuo’ in her name. I don’t know how he managed to convince her that it was a good title.”
"Her, do you have a grudge against her?"
"No, she doesn't like Brother Qi."
Qiu Su frowned and exclaimed in surprise, "She likes your brother?"
Lingling winked mischievously, "That's the idea, but brother was hiding before, and when he came back he had a sister-in-law, didn't he?"
Qiu Su glanced at Consort Li beside Princess Shuo, her expression darkening. She gripped Lingling's hand tightly and said, "Lingling, let's go somewhere else."
"Where are we going? The women are all here, and the Empress Dowager will be coming soon. We can't be absent."
When Qiu Su saw that Princess Shuo walking over, she smiled wryly and said, "Then forget it."
"I heard that you are Young Master Pei Yuan's wife?" Princess Shuo's voice was a little rough, which matched her round face and robust figure.
Qiu Su was somewhat puzzled. It was impossible for someone like the regent to marry an ugly woman. Judging from the princess's appearance, she had clearly inherited his physique and looks. It wasn't unusual for a man to be so large, but it was rather strange on a woman. Coupled with her domineering air, it was no wonder that so many noblewomen, while exchanging pleasantries with her, didn't say much. They probably didn't think much of her either.
"I'm asking you a question!"
Qiu Su smiled wryly, helped Lingling up, and, protecting her belly, said, "Yes, this humble woman greets the princess."
"Hmph." Princess Shuo circled around Qiu Su, staring at her belly with an unfriendly expression.
Qiu Su chuckled twice and subtly stepped back, saying, "Princess, please sit down."
"So ugly, it looks like a duck!"
Qiu Su didn't make a scene, only smiling humbly with her eyelids lowered. Princess Shuo probably hadn't expected Qiu Su to be so easy to bully, and took a step forward, saying, "Why are you looking down? Are you making faces and cursing this princess?"
A group of elegantly dressed noblewomen all looked over, each one of them looking at Qiu Su with a hint of schadenfreude. Being able to marry into the Pei family and become the young mistress of the eldest son of the Pei family—that's something everyone envies, isn't it? Qiu Su smiled bitterly.
"How dare this humble woman scold the princess?" Qiu Su raised her face and said with a smile, "I just feel that the princess's appearance is beyond my comprehension as a commoner."
Qiu Su thought the words were reasonably plausible, but to her surprise, Princess Shuo's expression changed instantly. She shoved Qiu Su and said fiercely, "You said I'm ugly! You dare say I'm ugly!"
Qiu Su, her face pale, hurriedly took two steps back. A noblewoman next to her took a few steps forward, seemingly wanting to help Qiu Su, but seeing that she had steadied herself, she withdrew her hand and instead stood close to them.
Qiu Su gripped Lingling's hand tightly, frowning as she explained, "What I mean is, Princess..."
Qiu Sufang wanted to say a few words of praise, but suddenly realized that talking about appearance to an ugly person was like talking about height to a short person. Qiu Sufang secretly groaned, her mind racing, and said in a trembling voice, "Princess, spare me! What I mean is that the princess has an extraordinary temperament, and I do not have the courage to look at her."
"Hmph, glib tongue." Princess Shuo took another step forward, but Lingling quickly stepped in front of Qiu Su. Princess Shuo snorted, "You're clearly someone who's never seen the world, yet you dare to come and walk around the palace. Who invited you in?"
"Princess," Consort Li said with a smile from afar, "Princess, do not neglect your Emperor brother's guests. That Miss Ling'er has a special relationship with your Emperor brother."
"My Emperor brother?" Princess Shuo exclaimed, wide-eyed. "How do you know my Emperor brother?"
“This humble woman…The Emperor knows my husband, and that is why he knows me.”
"You are a commoner, but Young Master Pei Yuan is not. Stand further away, lest you offend this princess's eyes."
Lingling retorted angrily, "She's my sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law of the Pei family. For the princess to speak of my sister-in-law like that is a disgrace to my father!"
Princess Shuo snorted and said, "You are you and she is she. I have always kept public and private matters separate."
A soft chuckle escaped the ladies. Qiu Su lowered her eyelids, curtsied, and said, "This humble woman takes her leave."
"Sister-in-law!"
Qiu Su smiled and said, "I'm going to take a walk; I'm getting a little tired of sitting."
Lingling pouted and let go of Qiu Su's hand. As Qiu Su turned around, a maidservant beside Princess Shuo subtly extended her foot. No one noticed, not even Qiu Su, who had been on guard. She tripped and fell forward. Lingling reached out to grab her, but it was too late. Qiu Su instinctively clutched her stomach, her head hitting the ground first, before she rolled away.
43
43. No longer in the same place...
The occasional chuckles from the crowd instantly fell silent. Blood streamed down Qiu Su's forehead, obscuring her vision. Qiu Su dared not rise, and through the mist of blood, she looked at Ling Ling, pleading, "Ling Ling, Ling Ling, find your brother, quick!"
Lingling suddenly woke up with a start and cried out in alarm, "Brother, sister-in-law has fallen!"
The officials were chatting on the other side of the artificial lake. Pei Yuan had been keeping an eye on this side, and the moment Qiu Su fell, he ran over. However, he had to go around a small bridge and a corner of the artificial lake. When he got close, he watched Qiu Su tumble and fall. He raised his bloodied face and said something to Lingling.
Princess Shuo looked somewhat surprised, while Consort Li, in the distance, subtly curled her lips into a smile before hurriedly calling out, "Quickly, summon the imperial physician! Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"
Pei Yuan pushed Princess Shuo away and knelt down next to Qiu Su. He wanted to pick her up but didn't dare to do so. He looked at her anxiously, his eyes reddening.
"Brother, think of something quickly!" Lingling ran to the other side and knelt on the ground, raising her hand to wipe the blood from Qiu Su's face but not daring to move easily. Seeing the indistinct liquid seeping from under Qiu Su's light-colored cotton dress, she exclaimed, "Brother! It's...it's...brother, hurry!"
Qiu Su grabbed Pei Yuan's collar and said urgently, "Go, carry me away, quick!"
Pei Yuan snapped out of his daze, reached out and tried a few times, then gritted his teeth, picked up Qiu Su horizontally, and hurriedly ran out of the palace. Sun Qi chased after him and grabbed Pei Yuan, shouting, "It's too late, she's still in the palace!"
Pei Yuan pursed her lips, shook off Sun Qi's hand, and continued running out. Sun Qi chased after her again, saying, "Do you want her to die? Is the child more important or the adult?"
Pei Yuan's eyes were bloodshot as he said, word by word, "Sun Qi, you promised me to protect her. If anything happens to her, you will pay with your life!"
Sun Qi gripped Pei Yuan's arm tightly and nodded solemnly, saying, "I will find a way in the palace."
Qiu Su was confident that her unborn child would be alright. The baby was well-behaved and had never bothered her much; during the months she was pregnant, the baby had only experienced occasional nausea. She felt that the child already understood her heart and would protect her, his mother, because she had never felt uncomfortable during the carriage rides in those months of pregnancy. Since she felt everything was alright with such a well-behaved child, she was certain the baby would be fine too. However, her stomach pains intensified, and it seemed her amniotic fluid had completely drained, yet she showed no signs of giving birth.
Qiu Su looked helplessly at Pei Yuan by the bedside, and finally couldn't help but cry out, "Please, save him! I'll help you become emperor, save him!"
Sun Qi gave a wink to Xiao Shunzi beside him, who understood and stood at the door of the room to block the servants who wanted to go in.
"Save him... Ah... Ziqing, Ziqing." Qiu Su frantically grabbed Pei Yuan's hand, her vision blurry. Seeing that Pei Yuan remained silent with his lips pursed, she suddenly screamed with all her might in despair, "Qi Xiu! Save me!"
That heart-wrenching scream brought tears to Pei Yuan's eyes, which she had been holding back. She still didn't believe him, and at the last moment, she turned to Qi Xiu for help. But he seemed to have never done anything worthy of her trust; in the end, he still chose to let her stay in the palace. He thought he would make proper arrangements, that even if Sun Qi was incompetent, he would always have his own people protecting her, that the more dangerous the place, the safer it would be, and that entrusting her to Consort Li would make the Regent Prince hesitate. But after only half a day, before everything had even begun, he was about to lose his child and wife.
How ridiculous! Pei Yuan felt an unprecedented emptiness in his heart. He knelt by the bed, grabbed Qiu Su's hand, and burst into laughter. In the end, he couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying. Sun Qi summoned a royal physician in, and Xiao Shunzi secretly nodded to him before slipping out of the room in the chaos.
Before plunging into darkness, Qiu Su vaguely saw figures moving before her, seemingly including Qi Xiu, He Zhuo, and every brother from Qingfeng Village. One of her hands was being tightly gripped, and something warm and damp was sliding across the back of her hand. Qiu Su tried to pull her hand away, but found herself utterly powerless.