The amiable smile on Nanny Jin's face looked like that of a man - eating devil to Yu Huiyan.
"Don't be afraid, girl. Come and sit beside me. I'll feel your pulse," Nanny Jin said.
Nanny Jin was an elder and a female doctor who had practiced medicine in the palace for many years. She was highly respected.
It should have been Yu Huiyan who bowed to her, but instead, despite her old age, Nanny Jin stood up and reached out her hand to Yu Huiyan.
Her kind and amiable appearance was just like that of a neighborly grandma, without any airs of nobility.
Princess Jiahe grabbed Yu Huiyan's hand and pushed her towards Nanny Jin.
"Aunt... Auntie!"
Yu Huiyan forced a stiff smile on her face. "I'm already much better. How could I dare to trouble Nanny Jin?"
Her evasiveness deepened the doubts in Princess Jiahe's heart.
Previously, Shen Yuhe had also come to examine her and diagnosed that she was just overly frightened.
Even though Shen Yuhe had told Liang Yuzhou more than once that Yu Huiyan didn't have a heart disease, Yu Huiyan remained unperturbed.
Because for three years, Liang Yuzhou had firmly believed that it was Yu Huiyan who had offered her heart - blood.
The princess was extremely powerful. Those who knew the truth either dared not speak up or were unable to. Even if Liang Yuzhou had doubts, it would be extremely difficult for him to verify.
But Song Wanchu's cup of tea laced with the Soul - Shocking Powder had made Yu Huiyan expose her own flaws.
Once a lie started to crack from within, suspicion would come crashing down.
Yu Huiyan was extremely scared. At the mention of words like "doctor" or "imperial physician", she would be in a daze.
And now, Princess Jiahe had actually invited the most senior female doctor in the palace to examine her!
She felt like a demon in human disguise, about to reveal her true form in front of everyone at any moment!
Yu Huiyan's hands and feet were cold, her heart pounding like a drum, and she was so flustered that she didn't know where to look.
Nanny Jin's fingers were already on her pulse.
"How is it?" Princess Jiahe asked in a soft voice.
She hoped that her suspicions were unfounded. Huiyan had always seemed so gentle and delicate. How could she not have a heart disease?
Nanny Jin pressed her fingers a bit harder on Yu Huiyan's pulse.
Her expression remained calm, but there was a meaningful look deep in her eyes.
"Girl, would you please come with me to the inner room? I'd like to check the scar on your chest," Nanny Jin said.
Yu Huiyan's legs were shaking like a sieve, and her throat felt blocked.
Princess Jiahe quickly said, "Huiyan, Nanny Jin doesn't come often. Hurry up and go in with her!"
Yu Huiyan was pushed into the inner room by Princess Jiahe.
She didn't know what to do with her hands and feet. She kept tugging at her belt but was reluctant to take off her clothes.
Nanny Jin smiled and waited patiently.
But in Yu Huiyan's eyes, Nanny Jin was like a ferocious beast with a gaping mouth, ready to swallow her up at any moment.
She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff with nowhere to retreat.
If her lie was exposed, the consequences would be unbearable!
"Huiyan, what are you being so coy for?"
Princess Jiahe had always been kind - faced to Yu Huiyan, but now she was losing her patience.
Her suspicion in her heart was almost confirmed, but she still stubbornly refused to accept the truth.
Maybe, after Nanny Jin checked the scar on her chest, she could diagnose that Yu Huiyan had truly offered her heart - blood and suffered from a serious heart disease.
The atmosphere in the room was stiff.
Nanny Jin smiled and said, "Princess, it seems that the girl has something on her mind. She looks pale, and her hands and feet are cold and weak. Let her rest first. We can make the diagnosis later when her emotions have calmed down."
Her gaze on Yu Huiyan was full of meaning. "I'll take my leave first."
Princess Jiahe saw Nanny Jin out.
"How is Huiyan exactly..."
She couldn't finish her question.
She couldn't accept that the child she had raised since childhood had actually told such a huge lie to her.
Nanny Jin smiled faintly. "Your Highness already knows the answer. Why do you still need to ask me?"
There seemed to be dark clouds gathering on Princess Jiahe's face.
Her heart felt like it was being hit hard by a hammer and was shattered into pieces.
She forced a smile and tried to put a silver ingot into Nanny Jin's hand. "Thank you for making this trip."
Nanny Jin pushed her hand back.
"I regard Your Highness as my own junior. Why are you being so formal?"
Looking at Nanny Jin's kind and amiable smiling face, Princess Jiahe couldn't hold back her emotions any longer, and tears rolled down her face.
Nanny Jin knew that she was short of money, so she refused to accept the consultation fee.
Only Nanny Jin truly felt sorry for her current situation.
She had ended up in this state all because of Yu Huiyan, but Yu Huiyan had been deceiving her all along!
After seeing Nanny Jin off, Princess Jiahe returned to the Fragrant Snow Pavilion angrily.
Just as she was about to question Yu Huiyan severely, she saw Yu Huiyan kneeling on the ground, looking at her with tear - filled eyes.
"Auntie, please forgive me. I've lied to you!"
"Why did you do this? Do you know..."
The usually imposing and arrogant Princess Jiahe was so angry that she could hardly speak.
The towering anger was like a raging fire, ready to burn Yu Huiyan to ashes.
She raised her arm and gave Yu Huiyan a hard slap.
For three years, the person she had despised the most and had always mistreated, Song Wanchu, was actually the one who had truly saved her son's life!
What had she done to Song Wanchu?
She had made her stand in the snow to observe the rules, which had caused her to have a miscarriage.
She had killed her own grandchild with her own hands!
Yu Huiyan hugged Princess Jiahe's leg tightly and let out a heart - rending cry.
"Auntie, do you think I didn't want to save Cousin? I'd even die for him! As soon as I heard that Cousin needed heart - blood, I didn't hesitate to pierce my chest. But Doctor Jiang said that the heart - blood of a relative couldn't be used, as it would aggravate the spread of the poison in the body!"
Princess Jiahe was about to avoid Yu Huiyan but stopped when she heard this.
"The blood of a relative can't be used?"
A glint of darkness flashed in Yu Huiyan's eyes, and then her tears flowed even more violently. "Auntie, do you know how much I hated at that time? I hated that I was Cousin's cousin. I hated that I was related to him. I hated that Song Wanchu had snatched the chance to save Cousin from me!"
Her hoarse and desperate cry made her throat dry and cracked. She seemed to have been drained of all her strength and slumped to the ground weakly, with empty and lifeless eyes.
"But I'm also the luckiest. Although I lost my mother, I've had your love and Cousin's protection since I was a child. I was just too greedy, so I was bewitched and didn't want Song Wanchu to take this advantage for free!"
Princess Jiahe's lips moved, but she couldn't say a word.
But suddenly, she understood Yu Huiyan.
Who would want the man they had always loved to be grateful to another woman?
Back then, at the age of thirteen, she had fallen in love at first sight with the old marquis in his battle armor, looking valiant and heroic.
But the old marquis had already married Jiang, Liang Yuzhou's mother, and they were in perfect harmony.
Princess Jiahe looked down on Jiang from the bottom of her heart. A daughter of a fourth - rank civil official was no match for her, a princess!
She had cursed Jiang to die early more than once.
Later, Jiang had indeed died in childbirth.
The old marquis was heart - broken, but she couldn't help but cheer.
Huiyan had hidden the truth about the heart - blood just because she was afraid that Zhou'er would no longer love her.
She just wanted to hold onto Zhou'er's heart with a lie.
What was wrong with her? She just didn't want to see Zhou'er and Song Wanchu being affectionate with each other!
"Silly girl, I know you have your difficulties, but you shouldn't have hidden it from me!"
Princess Jiahe pulled Yu Huiyan up from the ground and even wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief herself.
"Auntie, do you forgive me?"