Chapter 268

Chapter 268 Having encountered many things over time, she remained quite composed. Xiaoshu said softly, "Consort Jiang is hemorrhaging heavily. The house physician can't stop the bleeding and said they must enter the palace to request an imperial physician." The manor's main gate hasn't opened yet. Consort Jiang's courtyard maidservant has come to beg for your help." Xie Run propped herself up and leaned against the headboard. "Have our courtyard's maidservants lead the way." She thought for a moment. "Heavy bleeding is urgent—it would be too late to enter the palace and request an imperial physician." Xie Run looked up at the sky. "At this hour, the imperial physicians haven't even started their shift yet. Have someone prepare a carriage and go directly to their residences to fetch them." Xie Run paused. "This matter will likely disturb Qingsong Courtyard. Tell them to keep the noise down!" Only the Princess Consort's token could summon an imperial physician from their home. At this hour, the Princess Consort had probably only just managed to fall asleep. Any slight disturbance would surely wake her. Xie Run couldn't help but complain, "At this hour, what is she stirring up now?!" Jiang Baobao had a sturdy constitution. Though she'd had a miscarriage, as long as she rested properly, she would recover quickly. Now suddenly hemorrhaging heavily—she must have been up to something in the middle of the night again! Xie Run threw off the covers and rubbed her aching head. "Let's go. We'll go take a look as well." Whether Jiang Baobao lived or died, Xie Run needed to see it with her own eyes. Xiaoshu felt sorry for her mistress and helped her dress. "Consort Jiang is truly a scourge. Every time she manages to stir things up and give no one any peace." "If she only harmed herself, that would be one thing, but she has to drag everyone else down with her." "Never mind you, mistress—the Princess Consort's pregnancy has been unstable from the start. Disturbing everyone in the middle of the night like this—if something goes wrong, who could bear that responsibility?!" Xie Run massaged her temples. "There's no helping it. Who says this scourge can earn merit and receive a personal marriage decree from the Emperor?" Before dawn, two maidservants led the way with lanterns. Xie Run led her people through the cold wind, walking all the way to the entrance of Jiang Baobao's courtyard. The moment she stepped inside, she caught a thick smell of blood. Xie Run quickened her pace and happened to see a maidservant carrying out a basin of bloody water. She lifted the curtain and entered the outer room, where she saw the manor physician. "How is Consort Jiang?" The imperial physician clasped his hands and said, "This subordinate has tried acupuncture and brewed medicine to force down her throat, but the bleeding won't stop."" "This subordinate's skills are shallow. I can only hope the imperial physician arrives soon." Guiyuan's legs could barely hold her up. She supported herself against the wall as she came out, then immediately knelt before Xie Run. "Please, Consort Xie, save my mistress!" "My mistress is so weak she can barely hold on. If this continues, her life won't be saved!" Xie Run furrowed her brows. Xiaoshu had already stepped forward to pull Guiyuan away. "What is the meaning of kneeling and begging like this for no reason?!" "My mistress isn't an imperial physician, and she doesn't know how to heal. What do you expect her to do to save Consort Jiang?" Xie Run glanced at Guiyuan. "Help her up. I have questions to ask." She first entered the inner chamber to check on Jiang Baobao. The thick smell of blood in the room was nauseating. As Xie Run leaned in, she saw Jiang Baobao's face. This time, she truly had only a breath of life left. Her complexion was no longer pale but sallow, with the numb look of someone on the verge of death. After one look, Xie Run turned and went back out, saying to Dantao, "Have Yueya'er and the others go help out, and keep an eye on things." Dantao nodded. "This servant will go at once." Only after sitting down in a chair did Xie Run have the chance to ask questions. "What happened?!" "Consort Jiang was already out of danger. Why is she suddenly hemorrhaging heavily at this hour?" "Did one of you anger your mistress again?" Jiang Baobao had a quick temper. Last time, she'd nearly been provoked into heavy bleeding right in front of Xie Run. Guiyuan knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying like a tear-soaked mess. "To answer mistress, it wasn't us servants." "It was Consort Sun!" "Consort Sun is the one who caused our mistress to hemorrhage!" Xie Run raised a hand to her forehead, half-tempted to have the manor physician give her a couple of acupuncture needles. She gritted her teeth. "Speak!" "At the hour of dusk, Consort Sun suddenly brought her courtyard's people to our door and subjected our mistress to a torrent of humiliation." Guiyuan wiped her tears. "Consort Sun said our mistress brought it upon herself—that she spent all day thinking of harming others, and that's why she lost the child in her belly." "When the Prince returns and learns of what our mistress did, he surely won't let her off." "She also cursed our mistress as a scourge, saying she should have fallen to her death on the rockery back then, so she wouldn't have harmed so many people..." "Our mistress has a fiery temper. After being cursed out, the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She tossed and turned for an hour, then suddenly felt unwell... By the time we servants noticed, she was already bleeding." This was a matter where Xie Run truly couldn't say who was right or wrong. Consort Sun had suffered undeserved calamity—her face suddenly disfigured, holding in a belly full of anger, and going to curse out Jiang Baobao in the middle of the night... that wasn't too much, was it? Jiang Baobao had brought it on herself. Consort Sun's words weren't wrong. It was just that no one expected Jiang Baobao to have such a temper—after being cursed out, she'd gotten so angry she'd hemorrhaged heavily? Xiaoshu was furious. She didn't have Xie Run's good temper and cursed directly, "Are you maidservants all dead?!" "Consort Sun was scolding your mistress, and you didn't think to stop her?" "In the middle of the night, Consort Sun showing up clearly meant no good, and you still let her in?!" Guiyuan cried even harder, "But—but Consort Sun brought so many people with her. We tried to stop them, but we simply couldn't hold them back!" "The maids and matrons from Songfeng Courtyard held us down, and I had no way to intervene." "The mistress had just suffered a miscarriage and couldn't move, so she could only lie in bed and endure the scolding from Consort Sun and her attendants. That's what drove her into such a fury that it struck her heart."