Chapter 170

Chapter 170 "Where is Cong'er? I've been busy these past days and haven't come to see him." Xie Run slowly raised her head and said to Dantao, "Go bring the Fifth Young Master out for the Prince and Princess Consort to see." After a moment, Dantao and the wet nurse came out carrying Taotao. The moment Prince Jing saw Taotao's face, his expression darkened slightly. "It's only been a few days, but the young master seems to have grown thinner." Dantao said, "The young master has been waking up with gas pains in the middle of the night for five consecutive nights now, and he always fusses for a while." "With poor eating and sleeping, it's no wonder he's lost some weight." She added, "Our mistress has been anxious and worried these past few days—she hasn't been eating or sleeping well either, and she's also grown much thinner." "To take care of the young master, she personally carries him back and forth for half an hour every night. These past few days, her hands have been covered in medicated plasters." Prince Jing looked back at Xie Run, his gaze landing on her face, which was clearly powdered, with the faint dark circles beneath her eyes especially conspicuous. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her slender wrists. His heart stirred slightly. "Give me the child to hold." Dantao was briefly taken aback, but still handed the child to Prince Jing. The Princess Consort, Consort Li, and Fang Yuan'er—all of whom had children—watched this scene with mixed feelings. Prince Jing had a cold, hard temperament and wasn't particularly fond of physical contact with children. Among the several children in the household, aside from holding the Eldest Young Master twice when he was first born, he was never seen being overly affectionate with any of them. Now, watching him clumsily soothe the Fifth Young Master, they couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness. The Princess Consort was fine—after all, the Third Miss wasn't her biological daughter, and she herself didn't hold children much. But Consort Li and Fang Yuan'er felt an inexplicable tightness in their chests. Seeing the Prince like this, they wondered whether he was accustomed to holding children at Consort Xie's residence, or whether today was special, that he would hold the Fifth Young Master to comfort him. Only Xie Run remained silent. She was thinking about Fang Yuan'er's reaction just now. After Xie Run deliberately uttered those words of oath, she had kept her eyes fixed on Fang Yuan'er's face, and naturally hadn't missed any of her expressions. When she made the vow, she had been careful to leave a loophole—she didn't mention the heshouwu incident, only asking whether Fang Yuan'er had ever harmed her and Taotao. Fang Yuan'er had clearly hesitated. That meant that between the heshouwu and tapioca powder incidents, Fang Yuan'er was definitely involved in at least one of them. The evidence for the heshouwu was too coincidental. As Fang Yuan'er herself had said, if she had truly done it, it would have been far too stupid. So Fang Yuan'er's real scheme must have been the tapioca powder incident. Connecting that to how the matter implicated Wan Linlang, Xie Run now had a rough idea. After a wait, Wan Linlang and the maid beside her were summoned. Yuezhi was also brought up under guard. Prince Jing gestured for Dantao to take Taotao back inside, then let his gaze fall on Wan Linlang and the others, gradually turning cold. The moment Wan Linlang saw the people from Spring Mountain Courtyard, cold sweat began to seep from her back. Being summoned specifically at a time like this—there must be some troublesome matter dragging her in. Wan Linlang was the first to bow. "This servant greets the Prince and Princess Consort..." After a string of greetings, Wan Linlang said, "This servant was in the courtyard embroidering a bellyband for the child in Concubine Lian's womb when I was suddenly summoned here. May I ask what this is about?" The Princess Consort said coolly, "Tapioca powder was found in the water the Fifth Young Master drinks. Someone has reported that your maid Suici is connected to it, so I called you here to bring her for questioning." Wan Linlang started slightly. "What? Such a thing happened?!" Everyone looked at her face full of surprise, unable to tell whether it was feigned or genuine. Not that anyone cared whether it was real or fake. The Princess Consort only asked, "Who is Suici?" Suici, standing behind Wan Linlang, stepped forward trembling, her face deathly pale. "Reporting to the Princess Consort, this servant is Suici." Nanny Li stepped forward to conduct the questioning. "Five days ago, at one o'clock in the afternoon, where were you?" Suici's whole body tensed, her scalp prickling. "This servant, this servant was at Embroidery Moon Pavilion." Nanny Li's face immediately darkened. "Since you've been called here for questioning, you'd best answer honestly. If you're caught lying, you'll be subjected to severe torture!" Suici was so frightened she fell to her knees. "This servant, this servant... this servant was at Flying Crane Pavilion." Wan Linlang lowered her eyes, her gaze heavy as she looked at Suici. Nanny Li continued, "At that time, all the mistresses of the various courtyards were taking their afternoon naps. Flying Crane Pavilion is a fair distance from Embroidery Moon Pavilion—what were you doing running all the way over there for no reason?" "Was anyone with you at Flying Crane Pavilion?" Suici bit her lip. "N-no one." "This servant was sent by my mistress to Clear Breeze Pavilion of Concubine Lu to fetch embroidery patterns, and passed by Flying Crane Pavilion on the way, so I stopped there for a moment to enjoy the shade." Wan Linlang said in a low voice, "A few days ago, this servant wanted to embroider a bellyband for Concubine Lian's child and wanted a fresh pattern. Concubine Lu said she had one." "So the next day, I sent Suici to fetch it." Nanny Li smiled. "Did Mistress Wan instruct Suici to meet with anyone?" Wan Linlang said firmly, "No!" "But someone has reported seeing Suici and Yuezhi of Spring Mountain Courtyard conspiring together at Flying Crane Pavilion for half an hour, during which they even had an argument." "I also heard that Yuezhi was slapped across the face by Suici, and left crying while covering her cheek?" Suici's head shot up, and she instinctively denied it. "No, this servant did not slap her!" Nanny Li reacted quickly and immediately asked, "So you admit that you did meet Yuezhi at Flying Crane Pavilion?" Nanny Li gave a cold snort. "You weren't being honest just now!" Fortunately, she had been resourceful and had managed to coax the truth out of Suici with her words. The Princess Consort glanced at Prince Jing. "Your Highness, this kind of questioning is too time-consuming. Why not just use torture directly?" The Princess Consort had already been dragging this out for an hour and felt utterly exhausted. She truly did not want to waste more words on a maidservant. Prince Jing was of the same mind and was just about to agree when Suici could no longer bear it and burst into tears. "This servant will speak! This servant will confess everything!" "This servant did see Yuezhi at the hour of wei five days ago, but this servant did not slap her. This servant only had a few words of argument with her." Nanny Li seized the opportunity to ask, "When did you become acquainted with Yuezhi? And what was the argument about?" Suici wept as she spoke. "This servant... a month ago, this servant and Zhao Wu, the errand boy at the corridor, developed feelings for each other. One day, when this servant went to see Zhao Wu, Yuezhi discovered us, and only then did this servant learn that Zhao Wu was actually Yuezhi's elder brother." "Yuezhi did not like this servant associating with her brother. She threatened to tell her parents about the matter, and this servant was afraid, so this servant only argued with her a few words." "In the end, this servant gave Yuezhi a gold bracelet to appease her." "This account matches what Yueyao said," Nanny Li nodded. "However, you are a maidservant by Concubine Wan's side, and you actually engaged in secret liaisons. This matter cannot be lightly forgiven." Suici kowtowed repeatedly. "Please spare this servant's life, Your Highness the Prince and Princess Consort!" "This servant dares not do it again. This servant truly dares not do it again!" The Princess Consort then asked, "Concubine Wan, did you know about the secret affair between Suici and Zhao Wu?" Wan Linlang bowed respectfully. "This servant knew nothing of it at all."