CHAPTER 533: CHAPTER 533: BEGGING FOR MERCY

Qingqiu Garden.

Lady Chi leaned against the large pillow.

Xique handed the fetus-preserving medicine sent by Xingxing to Lady Chi.

The bitter scent of the medicine spread.

Smelling it, Xique could already sense the bitterness of the medicine.

Xingxing, fearing Lady Chi might find it too bitter, said, "My lady had an injury, so she couldn’t make the medicine into pills."

"Drink it for two days first, later when it’s made into pills it won’t be bitter."

Although Lady Chi and the person in Young Master Zhao’s portrait looked different.

Xingxing always treated her as Young Master Zhao’s birth mother.

Lady Chi was someone she admired.

To endure through such a severe injury.

If she wasn’t afraid of bringing up painful memories, Xingxing really wanted to ask about it.

Each time words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down.

Xingxing felt a bit stifled.

Lady Chi didn’t frown, took the bowl of medicine, removed her veil, and drank it in one go.

Caiju hurriedly offered candied fruits.

Lady Chi took one and ate it.

Seeing Lady Chi drink the medicine, Xingxing was relieved.

"I’ll be leaving now," Xingxing said.

"I’ll see you off."

Xingxing, in high spirits, carried the food box back through the garden to Agarwood Pavilion.

Halfway there, she saw the Prince approaching from a distance.

As they passed, Xingxing quickly curtsied to pay her respects.

Then she watched the Prince walk away.

But the direction the Prince was headed was the same direction Xingxing had come from.

Xingxing silently followed with the food box.

She was curious if the Prince was going to secretly watch Lady Chi again.

The Prince didn’t look back, and Xingxing, at first sneaky, soon became bolder.

Then—

A stone hit her forehead.

Caught off guard, it nearly scared her to death.

A Hidden Guard in the big tree by the side rolled his eyes.

He had never seen such a bold and reckless maid who dared to follow the Prince.

After being hit by the stone, Xingxing didn’t dare to continue and ran back to Agarwood Pavilion with the food box.

The Prince stepped into Qingqiu Garden.

Lu Qiao happened to come out, she was startled at first, then immediately shouted into the house, "The Prince is here!"

A few maids rushed out to pay their respects to the Prince.

"Leave us," the Prince said.

"...."

The Prince spoke, so Xique and the others dared not disobey.

A little distance away, Xique said, "Why did the Prince suddenly come to Qingqiu Garden?"

Caiju and Lu Qiao both shook their heads.

Inside the room.

When the Prince walked in, Lady Chi was just about to lift the blanket and get out of bed.

Seeing this, the Prince said, "Just lie down."

Lady Chi then didn’t move.

Then—

The room fell into silence.

Although Lady Chi was the Prince’s nominal concubine.

She had stayed at Prince Zhenbei Mansion for fifteen years, and the Prince had never shown her any care.

Just listened to a song, got mesmerized by the flowers, had a moment of spring breeze, and she became pregnant.

Looking into Lady Chi’s eyes, the Prince lost his mind once more.

Lady Chi slightly lowered her eyes, avoiding the Prince’s gaze.

The Prince snapped back to reality, saying, "You should take good care of yourself."

Lady Chi looked up in surprise, but the Prince had already turned and left.

It wasn’t surprising that Lady Chi was baffled; Xingxing just delivered the medicine and mentioned not having told the Prince about Lady Chi’s pregnancy.

Yet as soon as she left, the Prince arrived.

Xique and the others thought the Prince would stay for a while, but didn’t expect him to leave so soon.

But it made sense; Lady Chi couldn’t speak, and the Prince couldn’t start a conversation with her.

After the Prince left, the maids were about to enter the room, only to be nearly scared out of their wits by the Hidden Guard who jumped down from the tree.

The maids were still in shock.

The Hidden Guard handed the brocade box he was holding to the maids and then followed the Prince.

After making sure the Hidden Guard was far away, Xique patted her chest, "Nearly scared me to death."

"Quick, see what the Prince has gifted Madam," Caiju said out of curiosity.

Xique quickly opened the brocade box.

A brocade box full of swallow’s nest.

A brocade box full of cordyceps.

And a ginseng root.

Xique was overjoyed.

Her Madam finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Prince is in the outer courtyard, and no one cares what he does.

But once the Prince enters the inner courtyard, and especially if he goes somewhere other than Peony Garden, every move in the inner courtyard is under Princess Nanzhang’s watchful eye.

Especially when the Prince went to Qingqiu Garden.

The Prince gifting an ancient zither to Lady Chi was a thorn in Princess Nanzhang’s heart.

Princess Nanzhang sat on the Imperial Concubine’s couch, her face tinged with a subtle blue.

A maid approached, whispered a few words into Mrs. Zhao’s ear.

Mrs. Zhao looked at Princess Nanzhang and said, "The Heir’s wife woke up and went to Qingqiu Garden, after she returned, the Young Master went to see the Prince."

"It’s almost certain Lady Chi wasn’t better and went to complain to the Heir’s wife."

Princess Nanzhang had suspected as much.

She sneered, "What kind of bewitching potion did Lady Chi give her?"

"Having narrowly escaped death, Lady Chi’s little illness still needs them to run around for help?!"

The more Su Jin and Xie Jingchen cared about Lady Chi, the angrier Princess Nanzhang became.

Mrs. Zhao then said, "This matter has alarmed the Prince, this slave thinks we should call a doctor for Lady Chi."

While it might be a bit late, previously ignoring Lady Chi could completely be attributed to worrying about the Young Master and the Heir’s wife.

Didn’t the Prince even skip morning court out of concern?

Princess Nanzhang didn’t speak, she was waiting for the Prince.

She kept waiting, only to hear that the Prince returned to the outer courtyard.

"The Prince stayed at Qingqiu Garden for less than a quarter of an hour before returning to the outer courtyard," the maid reported.

Princess Nanzhang knitted her brows.

He’s not coming to reprimand her?

Is he afraid she’ll say the Heir’s wife is meddling too much?

A trace of mockery flashed in Princess Nanzhang’s eyes.

If he doesn’t dare to speak plainly, she’ll let him choke on these words!

"Invite a doctor for Lady Chi tomorrow morning."

Agarwood Pavilion.

Xingxing returned with the food box, Su Jin and Xie Jingchen were coming out of the study, preparing to go back inside for dinner.

Xingxing rubbed the back of her head, wincing slightly.

Su Jin saw and asked, "What happened?"

"I just got hit," Xingxing said.

"Who dared to hit you?" Su Jin asked.

"I don’t know either, I just wanted to see if the Prince was going to Qingqiu Garden, then someone threw a stone at me," Xingxing said, rubbing the back of her head with a face full of grievance.

Su Jin, "...."

Xie Jingchen, "...."

Su Jin’s mouth twitched.

She actually followed the Prince.

Could this maid’s courage be any bolder?

Curiosity is one thing, but with such bravado, Su Jin really feared one day her recklessness would get her into serious trouble.

Just throwing a stone at her was already showing mercy.

For being so bold, even if she were beaten half to death, she couldn’t plead for her.

If not taught a lesson, this maid would sooner or later think she could reach the sky.

Once inside, Su Jin harshly scolded Xingxing a few times.

Xingxing kept her head down.

Not saying a word.

"Go hungry for dinner tonight, reflect on your actions," Su Jin said.

Being scolded, Xingxing said nothing.

But when denied food, Xingxing looked up.

Her eyes filled with tears, she pleaded, "Miss, I know I was wrong, can’t I be punished with only half a meal?"

Su Jin, "...."

Truly.

Xingxing’s plea for mercy left Su Jin dumbfounded.

Only punishing with one missed meal was already light as could be.

This maid actually thought it was too harsh and was negotiating?

Su Jin looked at her, "Who taught you to plead like this?"

"Learned from the young master," Xingxing said honestly.

"Has it ever worked?" Su Jin asked earnestly.

Xingxing swallowed her tears back and quickly said, "I’ll go and reflect now."