The Zen courtyard in the east wing.
Lü Baiwei and Aunt Mei were whispering to each other while enjoying the vegetarian meal painstakingly prepared by Caiyu.
"The Princess of Nan'an is here too?" Lü Baiwei frowned slightly.
Aunt Mei nodded. "Qingqing just sent the news. The princess came for the prince. Your Ladyship, what shall we do now? We've finally managed to drive a wedge between that bitch Caiyu and the prince, and now here comes the princess..."
"It doesn't matter," Lü Baiwei said indifferently. "Xuan Yao will have to get married sooner or later. As long as the woman he marries isn't the one he loves, it doesn't matter who she is."
As long as Song Yinghuai didn't love other women, she had plenty of ways to influence his actions based on their relationship.
She was destined to be the empress dowager in the future. It was unrealistic for her to marry Xuan Yao. So, the Princess of Yan would surely be someone else in the end.
As long as Xuan Yao was willing to support Zhu'er as the emperor, everything else was unimportant.
Lü Baiwei placed the bowl on the table, looking fully satisfied after the meal. She slowly curled her lips and said,
"Let the princess get close if she wants to. Anyway, it's that wretch Caiyu who will suffer, not me. Let Qingqing help her!"
With a cold look on her face, although she had a gentle appearance, there was an indescribable venom in her. "By the way, tell the prince that I'm not feeling well and ask him to come and see me!"
Xu Buyue had a different makeup look than usual under Qingqing's skillful hands.
She looked at herself from side to side in the reflection of the back of a big knife. She looked less heroic and more demure.
"Not bad," Xu Buyue said as she put down the knife and got up to find Song Yinghuai.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Song Yinghuai passing by not far away. It seemed that he was going to the back temple, so she called out to him.
Upon learning that Lü Baiwei was unwell, Xu Buyue frowned slightly but still said, "I'll go with you to have a look."
Song Yinghuai hesitated for a moment.
His real intention wasn't just to see Lü Baiwei.
Since Lü Baiwei was unwell, it was a good opportunity for him to see Caiyu.
If Xu Buyue followed, and Caiyu saw another woman with him, this would never end.
But Xu Buyue was so eager for Song Yinghuai to notice her new makeup that she didn't see his hesitation at all. She led the way towards the back temple.
Helplessly, Song Yinghuai had no choice but to follow.
As soon as they stepped into the Zen courtyard where Lü Baiwei was staying, they heard arguing and crying.
Aunt Mei's voice sounded, "Didn't I tell you to prepare the meal for Her Ladyship by three quarters past three in the afternoon? It's already two quarters past five in the afternoon, and you still haven't brought it. Her Ladyship is hungry!"
Caiyu's angry voice rang out, "I've said before, when I finish cooking depends on my mood!"
"How can you be like this? The prince only asked you to serve Her Ladyship. You just need to cook and do some odd jobs, but we still have to watch your face. You're just a low - ranking servant, yet you dare to order Her Ladyship around. Do you think our lady is easy to bully..."
"Whatever you say. What can you do to me?"
Caiyu had been secretly bullied by Lü Baiwei and her servant in the past few days. She was already extremely angry, so she immediately fought back without hesitation.
Lü Baiwei wiped her tears with a handkerchief and cried loudly, "Stop arguing. It doesn't matter if I miss a meal. Anyway, I can't get rid of this plague, and I have no appetite. I'll just go without eating... But Xiaosi, can you make something for Aunt Mei? She's old and my wet - nurse. If she can't hold on and gets infected, I don't want to live anymore..."
Then she let out a series of earth - shattering coughs.
Song Yinghuai stopped outside the door. Listening to the arguing and crying inside, his hand lingered on the door without pushing it open. A complex look flashed in his eyes.
He knew that Lü Baiwei loved to act. If it were only her complaining, he definitely wouldn't believe it.
But Caiyu's harsh retort just now made him hesitate for a moment.
Why was this girl so full of resentment?
Xu Buyue stood beside him and also fell into a brief silence.
Although she disliked Lü Baiwei, Lü Baiwei was a patient. Anyway, one should be calmer, right?
Caiyu's voice sounded again, "She has hands and feet. If she's really hungry, why doesn't she go to the front temple to get some gruel to fill her stomach first? Why does she have to wait for me to serve her? We're all servants. Why should I serve her?"
Finally, the door was pushed open.
Song Yinghuai's tall figure blocked the setting sun behind him outside the door, casting a long shadow on the ground.
"Song Xiaosi!" Song Yinghuai's lips were tightly pursed, and his expression was cold. "Go to the kitchen right away!"
He was a bit disappointed, but still considering Caiyu's feelings, he just asked her to go to the kitchen to cook, and he considered this matter settled.
The three people inside the room were startled by the sudden appearance of the person at the door.
Caiyu stared blankly at Song Yinghuai, who was suppressing his anger all over his body, and then turned to look at Lü Baiwei and her servant, who were trying their best to look innocent but whose eyes were flickering.
Suddenly, she realized.
She had fallen into a trap!
In the past two days, Aunt Mei had been causing trouble from time to time, forcing her to fight back. She had gotten used to fighting back and had completely lost her vigilance.
Today, they had quarreled as usual, but unexpectedly, Song Yinghuai came and heard her unreasonable retort.
As soon as Lü Baiwei saw Song Yinghuai, she immediately put on her face towel and curled herself up in the quilt. First, she coughed, and then she cried,
"Why did Your Highness come to see me? I... I look haggard now and I'm infected with the disease. Your Highness, please just stand at the door. Don't come in. Be careful of getting infected with the plague..."
Song Yinghuai didn't respond to Lü Baiwei. His eyes only stayed on Caiyu, and he frowned slightly.
Didn't he give her a token to get extra food? And Sheng Jiangli and Qingqing would still give her roasted meat from time to time at night...
Why was she even thinner?
"Hurry up and go to the kitchen to prepare something to eat!" Song Yinghuai urged even more after looking at her.
After she cooked, Caiyu could also have a few bites.
He didn't know that in the past few days, Caiyu had to start from chopping firewood every time she wanted to cook.
Aunt Mei either secretly hid the firewood or the pots and pans every day. In short, she made Caiyu spend a great deal of effort to cook a meal.
After Caiyu finally finished cooking a meal, Aunt Mei would stand there watching and rush to carry the food, not giving Caiyu any chance to steal a bite.
As for Qingqing, she was sent to sweep the floor and do the laundry. This master - servant pair caused so many troubles just to prevent Qingqing from appearing in the yard to help.
Under the double torture of spirit and body, Caiyu had lost a lot of weight in just a few days.
Finally, Song Yinghuai came, but instead of caring about her at all, he immediately ordered her to go to the kitchen.
When Caiyu looked up again, she saw another face that made her sad - Xu Buyue.
The Princess of Nan'an... She was here too?
Compared with her own shabby, haggard, and embarrassed appearance at the moment, Xu Buyue not only looked radiant but also changed her usual dressing style and had a bit of femininity...
The sweet atmosphere on her was hard to hide. It was obvious that it was because of Song Yinghuai.
Caiyu swallowed hard. Her fingers hidden in her sleeves began to tremble slightly. There was a kind of crazy, desperate, and painful emotion in her eyes as she looked at Song Yinghuai.
"Your subordinate... Your subordinate... is also not feeling well and doesn't want to go..."
Her lips trembled, and her breath was a bit unsteady as she uttered the words. She looked at Song Yinghuai sadly.
There were more and more women around him, and his look towards her was getting colder and colder.
She didn't know when things between them had become like this.
She wanted to tell Song Yinghuai that she liked him and loved him.
She wanted to ask Song Yinghuai if they could go back to the way they used to be.
But the several scrutinizing looks in the room and Song Yinghuai's cold expression made her open her mouth several times, and all she could ask was a pleading question:
"... Is that okay? Your Highness, can your subordinate not go?"
She was so tired!
Her heart was in so much pain!
Couldn't he, for the sake of their past relationship, take a look at the life she was living now?
She wanted to go to the front temple. She would rather be infected with the plague and lie there with those seriously ill patients, waiting for her breath to weaken little by little until she finally lost it.
She felt... she seemed unable to hold on anymore...