Chapter 128:
Mother Wei watched helplessly as Chu Wan collapsed to the ground, her fair face stained with blood. (www.qiushu.cc No pop-up ads) LeWen Mobile Network
Although she didn't push the princess down, there were only the two of them at the moment. If anything happened to the princess, she wouldn't be able to explain herself even if she had eight mouths. If the princess ended up unharmed, she wouldn't be able to escape the charge of drugging Qiqiao.
Mother Wei was quick-witted and made a decision immediately.
She left the kitchen without her feet touching the ground, returned to her room, hastily packed her valuables, and rushed towards the back door through which the servants used to enter and exit without any hesitation.
Granny Duan, who was guarding the gate, was fast asleep in her rattan chair when Mother Wei woke her up: "Old Duan, open the gate, I need to go home."
Granny Duan opened her eyes a crack: "Oh, Sister Wei, it's the middle of the night. Even if I let you go out, I won't let you wander around the streets."
“It’s nothing,” said Madam Wei. “I asked the Prince to write me a note. You know our Prince’s status is extraordinary.”
Since the prince had given permission, Granny Duan naturally wouldn't obstruct them any further. She quickly unlocked the copper lock and let the person go.
The so-called "cop" was, of course, a lie. Wei's mother was simply planning to escape that night, hiding in alleys to avoid curfew patrols, and then leave the city when the city gates opened at dawn. By then, with the emperor far away, no matter how capable the prince was, how could he possibly find an insignificant old woman like her in the vast sea of people?
Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky. She had only walked from the back alley of the Prince of Ying's mansion to the main street when she ran into a patrol of Imperial Guards and was caught red-handed.
Violating the curfew rules meant being punished with ten strokes of the cane. Despite Wei Mama's pleading and offering a large ingot of silver, the Imperial Guards refused to make an exception. Finally, having no other choice, she revealed her identity, hoping they would spare her for the sake of the Prince of Ying's residence.
The Imperial Guards were skeptical, but after a few words of discussion, they decided to send the man to the Prince of Ying's residence for identification.
At this moment, the Prince of Ying's mansion was in complete chaos.
The maid who was in charge of preparing the medicine for the Qiqiao Festival was feeling sleepy and went to the east wing to doze off. When she realized it was almost time, she rubbed her eyes and returned to the west wing, only to find the princess lying unconscious on the ground with her face covered in blood...
Although the maid was a bit lazy, she wasn't a bad person and wasn't very scheming. She immediately ran out to call for help.
The princess was seriously injured, so naturally more than just the imperial physicians were summoned. Her elder brother and sister-in-law, Chu Yao and Wushuang, also had to get up and stay with her.
Inside the inner room, the imperial physician treated Chu Wan. Separated by a screen, the maid who first discovered Chu Wan's injury knelt on the ground and recounted the events in detail: "...I really didn't see what happened. Your Highness and Your Highness, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been negligent, the princess might not have been injured."
"You may have been lazy, but it's not your fault." Chu Yao was anxious, but he was also reasonable.
However, Cui'er, who was on night duty tonight, had already been dragged into the courtyard and given five lashes. If she hadn't been sleeping like a log, Chu Wan wouldn't have gone out alone and ended up getting injured.
At this moment, the Imperial Guards sent Mother Wei to the Prince of Ying's residence.
Lu Peng recognized the person and, upon connecting her to the injured and unconscious young princess, immediately understood why Wei Mama had fled overnight. He then took her to see Chu Yao.
When it comes to extracting confessions through interrogation, Lingguang Guard is second to none in the entire Qi Kingdom. With just a few words, Chu Yao led Wei Mama to mistakenly believe that Chu Wan had revealed the whole story.
"Your Highness, I caused Qiqiao's illness, but I didn't touch the little princess at all. She tripped and hit her head." Wei Mama dared not lie at all, but she did not forget to explain the whole story. This naturally included how the stewards, including Lian Qiao Mama, conspired to prevent Wushuang from fulfilling his stewardship duties and ultimately have to return the position to them.
In the end, Wei's mother was filled with regret.
In recent years, with the old princess absent and Chu Wan too young to handle affairs, Qiao Mama had been in charge of the entire inner courtyard of the palace. Chu Yao, mindful that Qiao Mama was an old maid who had accompanied the old princess, didn't supervise her too much. Besides, men's ambitions lie in the world, and they wouldn't focus much on domestic affairs anyway. As a result, Qiao Mama held absolute power, and the four head maids naturally reaped considerable benefits. Human desires are insatiable; once power is in hand, it's not easily relinquished. Therefore, after learning that Qiao Mama had been punished by the new princess, the four secretly plotted to prevent a repeat of Qiao Mama's fate, which led to their feigned compliance with Wushuang.
They assumed that the new princess was young and had already established her authority after entering the palace. Now that she had control over the household affairs, she was just the right person to be used by, and they wouldn't easily punish them; in fact, they would have to curry favor with her. Little did they know that Wushuang had a rather fiery temper, and she replaced everyone without a word.
Since she wasn't being passive, Wei's mother naturally became everyone's savior.
At that time, they were completely blinded and forgot who was the master and who was the servant. They only thought that if they could win the fight while the new princess had just entered the palace and had not yet taken root, they could control her and have a good life in the future.
Chu Yao grew increasingly furious as he listened. Even with his usual eloquence and wit, he found himself at a loss for words. He simply stopped talking and directly betrayed everyone, including Qiao Mama, who was crying and claiming to be the old princess's person and whom Chu Yao couldn't touch.
With the matter settled, Qiqiao recovered her health and soon moved back to Yuanxiang Hall.
But... Chu Wan still hasn't woken up.
After reading a passage from the story, Wushuang put down the book in her hand.
"I don't think this story is good at all. Why should Xue Pinggui become the emperor's son-in-law while Wang Baochuan has to suffer in a cold cave? When we girls get married, we should marry someone who always has us in his heart. If your brother treats me badly, I won't marry him. You need to remember this standard when you choose a husband in the future. I will also help you choose. It's a deal, okay?"
As she spoke, she grabbed Chu Wanlu's small hand outside the quilt, hooked their little fingers together, shook it twice, and then let it go.
"Why aren't you awake yet? You need to choose a husband early. You're already thirteen. We need to hurry, or all the good ones will be taken by others."
Chu Wan remained unresponsive on the bed, sleeping exceptionally quietly.
Wu Shuang sighed, looking somewhat dejected. She reached out and pulled the brocade quilt covering Chu Wan down a little.
"It's only mid-April, and the weather is already incredibly hot, just like that line from the opera: 'The scorching sun burns like fire, while princes and nobles wave their fans.' Chu Yao said that when you wake up, he will take us to the garden in the western suburbs to escape the heat. We can go boating, horseback riding, and hunting. You must really want to go, right? Brother Bo even bought you a new pair of lambskin gloves, so you can wear them then."
Just then, Qiqiao lifted the curtain and came in: "Your Highness, Young Master Bo has arrived."
Wushuang nodded, gesturing for her to invite Wang Hongbo in.
Wang Hongbo has a day off tomorrow. After returning to the city from the firearms camp in the evening, he rode directly to the Prince of Ying's residence to visit Chu Wan. As soon as he entered, he asked about her condition: "Are you feeling any better?"
Wu Shuang pouted and shook her head helplessly: "Brother Bo, I'm scared. What if she doesn't wake up? It's all my fault. If my housekeeping methods hadn't gone wrong, and if those people hadn't disobeyed me, none of this would have happened..."
She broke down in tears halfway through her sentence; she had kept these words inside for days and hadn't dared to tell Chu Yao at all.
"Don't talk nonsense." Wang Hongbo rubbed Wushuang's head. "I've read the letters you and Wanwan wrote. You did nothing wrong. It was those unruly servants who disregarded their rank, overstepped their bounds, and acted maliciously. How can you be blamed for all of this?"
"Really?" Wushuang was full of confidence at first, but seeing the usually lively Chu Wan hurt like this, she couldn't help but doubt herself and lose confidence.
“Of course it’s true!” Wang Hongbo said immediately. “Does the Prince blame you?”
Wushuang shook his head.
"That's it then. Don't rush to take the blame on yourself. You should take better care of the Prince. He must be feeling even worse now that Wanwan is like this."
“Then… Brother Bo, you stay here with Wanwan for a while, I’ll go check on Chu Yao, okay?” Wushuang felt that Wang Hongbo was right. She had been spending a lot of time with Chu Wan these past few days and hadn’t had much time to look after Chu Yao. “There are a few books here, you can choose one to read to her. The doctor said it will be good for her condition.”