Chapter 192

Chapter 192 Sometimes Xie Run's premonitions were quite accurate. As the New Year approached, the Emperor finally "recovered" from his illness and insisted on presiding over the Grand New Year's ceremony. Even the Empress happened to recover at the right time, and before the New Year, she specially hosted a plum appreciation banquet. At this banquet, aside from the Princess Consort, even Side Consort Fang received an invitation from Prince Jing's residence. It was common for banquets to send invitations to both the Princess Consort and the Side Consorts of a prince's household. But Prince Jing's residence had two Side Consorts, and only Side Consort Fang received an invitation while Consort Xie did not—that was quite interesting. Even more interesting was that Side Consort Fang had just been placed under house arrest for making a mistake. When the Princess Consort received the invitation, she saw through everything at a glance and sent it directly to the front courtyard, asking Prince Jing how to handle it. When Prince Jing received the invitation, he was somewhat puzzled. "Hasn't it always been the Princess Consort's duty to handle matters of the inner courtyard?" Eunuch Shian lowered his head and said softly, "Perhaps the Princess Consort felt this matter was more suitable for Your Highness to handle." When Prince Jing opened the invitation and looked at it, a hint of annoyance immediately appeared on his face. He let out a light scoff: "She can't even protect herself, and she's still stirring up trouble here." "Isn't she afraid of scheming her own son into ruin?" These words were aimed at the Empress. Eunuch Shian and the guard at the side didn't even twitch an eyebrow, pretending they hadn't heard anything. After a moment, Prince Jing tossed the invitation aside. "Tell the Princess Consort that Side Consort Fang is unwell and cannot attend the banquet." "Yes." Eunuch Shian lowered his head and picked up the invitation. When Fang Yuan'er, who had been waiting for the invitation at Songya Courtyard, heard this news, she sat frozen in her chair, completely stunned. Before long, crying sounds arose from beside her. Qiukui held the child with a troubled expression. "Mistress, the young master has soiled himself again." Fang Yuan'er said numbly, "Has he taken his medicine?" "He has." Qiukui's eyes were full of worry. "After taking the medicine, he's fine for a while, then it returns to the same as before. The imperial physician said the young master's stomach is too weak and needs to be regulated slowly." Qiuxiang added from the side, "Although the imperial physicians in the palace have superb medical skills, they're afraid of causing trouble, so they always prescribe gentle remedies. Now they're also afraid that using strong medicine might harm the young master..." Fang Yuan'er said, "Then change to a different imperial physician." "Also, have the physician prescribe a few gentle remedies for the wet nurse—after she drinks them, they'll turn into breast milk, and that might help as well." "Yes." The two maidservants didn't dare speak much, seeing that Fang Yuan'er was in a bad mood. After Qiukui carried the child away, Fang Yuan'er suddenly grabbed Qiuxiang's hand. "Qiuxiang, do you think the Prince truly holds a grudge against me and wants to depose me?" She said with confusion and certainty: "Impossible!" "I did this so secretly—how could the Prince possibly have found out?!" Qiuxiang quickly offered her tea. "Mistress, be careful of eavesdroppers." "This matter is already over, and you shouldn't bring it up again!" Fang Yuan'er instinctively gripped Qiuxiang's hand, trying to draw some strength from it. She asked softly, "Qiuxiang, Doctor Zhao suddenly retired and returned to his hometown... The Prince must have found out something." Xie Run's guess was correct. Fang Yuan'er had been afraid that Prince Jing would find traces through Yuezhi and "Ping'an," so she hadn't let them touch the tapioca powder. Instead, she had stuffed silver to Doctor Zhao and had him bring it in from outside the residence. That way, it was done without anyone knowing. Who would have thought that Prince Jing could actually find traces of it?! "He dealt with Doctor Zhao first, and now he's refused the Empress's plum appreciation banquet on the pretext that I'm ill... And this is the plum appreciation banquet hosted by the Empress!" A rare hint of fear appeared in Fang Yuan'er's eyes. "Do you think the Prince really wants to keep me confined in Songya Courtyard forever?" "Right! These past few days, the Prince has never once come to my courtyard—he hasn't even come to see the sick Qiong'er..." As she spoke, Fang Yuan'er thought of how, at Chunshan Courtyard, Prince Jing had even personally held the Fifth Young Master born to Xie Run. His attitude was so clearly differentiated—how could Fang Yuan'er not feel anxious? Qiuxiang was silent for a moment. "If I may speak frankly... Mistress, you shouldn't have resorted to tricks with the Empress's elderly attendant." Seeing that Fang Yuan'er showed no sign of anger, Qiuxiang continued, "Doctor Zhao suddenly returned to his hometown, so the Prince must have found some clues." "But as you said, you did this so secretly, with one link connecting to another—even if the Prince has suspicions, he would first suspect Concubine Wan." "Right now, the Prince has only placed you under house arrest without further punishment. Doesn't that show that the Prince doesn't actually have evidence?" "If the Prince truly found out that the Fourth Young Master's... matter was related to you, I'm afraid your life would be in danger." Fang Yuan'er leaned half against Qiuxiang. "Really?" "Why would I deceive you?" Qiuxiang said softly. "As for the invitation—there are two Side Consorts in the residence, yet the Empress only sent an invitation to you. Naturally, the Prince could see that you were pulling strings behind the scenes." "If I may say something disrespectful—when the Prince saw it, he wouldn't think you were capable; instead, he'd feel you were deliberately provoking him." "He punished you with house arrest, and then you tried to use the Empress's authority to pressure him... You are the Prince's consort—do you truly want the Prince to yield to you?" Fang Yuan'er suddenly understood the whole sequence of events, and she instinctively explained, "I didn't mean to use the Empress to pressure the Prince. I just wanted to take the opportunity to attend the banquet so I could gather more information for him..." Qiuxiang said, "But in the Prince's eyes, that is exactly what it means!" "For a woman, the most taboo thing is to quarrel and compete with her husband. Look at the Empress—she is noble enough, is she not? Yet she has been strong-willed her entire life, and at her age, she still quarrels with the Emperor. Now both she and her son have fallen out of favor..." Fang Yuan'er had initially wanted to say that as long as the Empress firmly held her position in the central palace, she did not need the Emperor's favor. Then she heard Qiuxiang say, "By rights, the Seventh Prince is the legitimate son and should have been made Crown Prince, but do you think the Empress dares to bring that up?" Fang Yuan'er suddenly became completely calm. She also realized that the favor she had received recently had made her somewhat arrogant, to the point where she could no longer see the situation clearly. "You are right. I did make a mistake in this matter." Fang Yuan'er paused, then said, "What do you think—should I send someone to invite the Prince to come and see Qiong'er?" Qiuxiang hesitated, "This..." "I will not appear!" Fang Yuan'er said firmly. "What I need to do now is put on a show of admitting my mistake." As long as she set aside her pride and stubbornness, Fang Yuan'er's mind still worked very well. She instructed Qiuxiang, "Tomorrow, go and bring back a statue of the Buddha for me. During these days of house arrest, I am willing to copy Buddhist scriptures every day to show my repentance!" "My brothers at home have been acting recklessly and without restraint. In a few days, I will go and beg the Prince to strip them of their positions!" "When the heavy snow falls in winter, there are bound to be many people suffering outside the capital. Have the Fang family donate a thousand taels of silver to set up porridge stations for disaster relief, and also find some precious treasures—I want to give them to the Princess Consort and Consort Xie." As she issued one order after another, the sky over Songya Courtyard gradually brightened.