Chapter 208

Chapter 208 She paused, "The Princess Consort isn't even attending the Lantern Festival banquet now—could she be feeling quite unwell?" Xiaoshu shook her head and lowered her voice, "The Green Pine Courtyard is very tight-lipped about it. All they'll say is that she was exhausted from attending to the sick some time ago. No physician from the medical institute has been summoned, and there's no word of the Princess Consort taking any medicine." Xie Run knew that the Princess Consort managed the household with great skill—if she didn't want information to leak, it wouldn't leak. She only vaguely felt that if even Fang Yuan'er was being influenced by the plot and continuously 'realigning' with it, then whatever had originally happened to the Princess Consort wouldn't change much either. She lowered her eyes, concealing the thoughts within. Suddenly, Taotao's laughter rang out beside her ear. Zihu carried him over to Xie Run with a helpless expression, "Mistress, the young master woke up and has been fussing to go outside. This servant truly can't soothe him anymore..." Xie Run glanced at Taotao in her arms and reached out to pinch his little cheek. "You little rascal. If your father comes later, I'll have him take you out. Otherwise... don't even think about it." As if Taotao could understand what Xie Run was saying, he immediately reached out and threw himself into her arms. The child was already over eight months old and not light at all. She raised her hand and gave Taotao a light smack on the bottom. "Stop being clingy—that trick doesn't work on me." Once in her arms, Taotao kept squirming against Xie Run, trying to stand up, which startled Xiaoshu and Dantao, who feared he might grab and pull at Xie Run's clothes. With an extra child this winter, the Spring Mountain Courtyard had indeed become much livelier. The desolation of Cloud Jade Pavilion stood in stark contrast to the bustle of Spring Mountain Courtyard. Ever since Concubine Lian had been reprimanded by Prince Jing two days ago, she had been thoroughly frightened into listlessness. The maids in the courtyard couldn't console her, and Concubine Wan hadn't come by either. Each day, Concubine Lian grew more anxious than the last. Whenever she felt uneasy and fearful, she tended to vent her temper on the young maids around her. Occasionally, if a young maid made the slightest noise, she would be grabbed and scolded. When Wan Linlang arrived, snow had begun to drift from the sky once more. She held her own umbrella and wore a pale yellow cloak—not particularly warm, but it looked fresh and elegant. Like a sprig of winter jasmine fallen upon the snow. The young maid under the eaves spotted her, and joy immediately lit up her features. She was about to announce her arrival when Wan Linlang raised a hand. The maid stopped at once, only offering a respectful bow. As if entering her own courtyard, Wan Linlang walked in with familiar ease, Suiyu following behind. She crossed the courtyard and reached the door, where she could hear Concubine Lian's scolding voice. "Now none of you hold me in any regard—you think that just because the Prince reprimanded me, he's completely disgusted with me." "So now you resent me for holding you back from climbing the branches?!" Immediately after came the sound of a young maid begging for mercy. Concubine Lian: "I've told you all that I haven't been sleeping well lately, yet you still make so much noise on purpose. Either you don't take my words to heart, or you bear a grudge against me and are deliberately tormenting me?!" "This servant didn't! This servant wouldn't dare!" "This servant truly wouldn't dare again!" "Come here!" Concubine Lian said through gritted teeth. The next second, the young maid's cries rang out: "It hurts, it hurts! Please spare me, mistress, please spare me! This servant wouldn't dare again..." Concubine Lian cursed with foul language—words the maids of the Prince's residence had never even heard before. Cries and curses mingled together, especially grating to the ears. Wan Linlang listened with an expressionless face. She put away her umbrella and shook the snow from it before speaking to the maid beside her. "Announce me." The young maid immediately said, "Mistress, Mistress Wan has come to call!" The crying and cursing stopped at once. Only then did Wan Linlang lead her people into the room. She cast only a brief glance at the maid kneeling on the floor, then her gaze landed on the double-petal lilies on the table, and her brow furrowed slightly. "Who placed these lilies on the table?" A young maid beside her said nervously, "Answering Mistress Wan, this servant did... The head gardener delivered them fresh today." Wan Linlang glanced at her and noticed the maid's unfamiliar face. "New here?" The young maid nodded. "Your mistress is allergic to lilies. Even if such flowers are received in the future, don't place them in the room." "Yes!" She then addressed the maid kneeling on the floor, "Clean up the broken porcelain on the ground. If someone sees it, it would be improper." The kneeling maid was an old hand and knew that Wan Linlang had just saved her. She quickly wiped her tears and thanked her, "Thank you, Mistress Wan. This servant will clean it up right away." She swiftly gathered the broken shards from the floor, clearing a path for Wan Linlang. Wan Linlang sat down beside Concubine Lian and accepted the tea handed over by a maid, tasting it unhurriedly without the slightest sign of impatience. It was Concubine Lian who couldn't hold out first, immediately pouring out her grievances: "Sister Wan, you've finally set foot through the door of Cloud Jade Pavilion." "I thought you were angry with me and would never come to see me again..." Wan Linlang said calmly, "What are you saying? Having your own ideas is a good thing." "I've always been in favor of you making your own decisions—after all, I can't worry over you for the rest of your life." Hearing these words, Concubine Lian's tears instantly could no longer be held back. Wan Linlang handed her the handkerchief from her own hand. She dabbed her tears with a handkerchief, sobbing in a wronged tone: "Sister Wan, I know I was wrong." "I shouldn't have ignored your advice. When I heard the master's words, I lost all sense of propriety and overreached by trying to make Consort Hua move courtyards. Now I've only brought humiliation upon myself." "I'm just a concubine. Even if I'm fortunate enough to carry the Prince's child, I still have to abide by the household's rules..." Wan Linlang could naturally tell that Concubine Lian's words were insincere. This matter was clearly a case of Concubine Lian, upon hearing the master's words, harboring improper ambitions—trying to trample on Consort Hua to establish her own authority, and incidentally add some weight to the child in her belly. Wan Linlang certainly did not approve. In Wan Linlang's view, either don't make a move at all, or strike with lethal precision. Even if Concubine Lian managed to trample Consort Hua underfoot, what good would it do? She might win that breath of pride and save face, but a concubine provoking a Concubine Consort would earn her the label of "restless" in Prince Jing's eyes—clearly more harm than good. Pity that Concubine Lian insisted on doing it, completely deaf to Wan Linlang's counsel. She had probably been bullied too harshly by Consort Jiang before, with a pent-up grudge festering inside her, and now all she wanted was to win back her dignity. The two parted on bad terms, and because of this matter, Wan Linlang hadn't set foot in Cloud Emerald Pavilion for several days. Concubine Lian continued to weep: "Yesterday, that little wretch Yuru saw me being scolded by the Prince, and she couldn't contain herself—she found someone to transfer her to Concubine Fang's courtyard!" "We're both concubines, but Concubine Fang merely relies on raising Princess Ruyi to be fawned over by the stewards, and she can casually transfer people out of my quarters."