Zhu Er rode his horse into a secluded palace gate on one side.
The nanny from the Fengyi Palace caught sight of Cui Jintang and rushed to greet her in a hurry, speaking as fast as a machine-gun.
"Miss, you've finally come! I guess Zhu Er has told you on the way. Leaving aside other things, the person has been tortured in the side hall."
Cui Jintang looked over, and the nanny shook her head with a grim face.
She gave a cold laugh. "Since they're not willing to talk, just leave them alone for a few days."
Everyone has their weakness!
"Where's Zhu San? Has she felt the pulse?"
"She has. She's boiling the pregnancy - protecting medicine in the back!"
Cui Jintang stopped in her tracks, feeling dizzy. "Pregnancy - protecting medicine?"
Sister Rou... is pregnant?!
The nanny whispered, "Zhu San said she's been pregnant for three months. This time she had a miscarriage scare."
Stepping into the palace hall, Cui Jintang waved away the kneeling maids and quickly walked to the soft couch.
There she saw Xie Rou's face deathly pale, smiling gently at her. "Tangtang's here. There are still some fresh lychees stored in the icehouse. Nanny Liu..."
Cui Jintang held her hand and firmly helped her lie down.
Xie Rou smiled helplessly. "I'm fine."
Cui Jintang didn't say a word. She turned her head and asked coldly, "Has His Majesty been here?"
Seeing Xie Rou looking at them nervously, the people who were about to say "No" immediately swallowed the words.
Cui Jintang immediately turned back and caught sight of Xie Rou's expression that hadn't been fully composed yet. She got even angrier.
"Back then, he climbed the mountain on his knees, three steps at a time, and begged you to marry him! Now, he has concubines in the harem. He sure knows how to enjoy himself!"
"Stop it!" Xie Rou rubbed her throbbing temples. "Tangtang, we're in the palace now."
Just as the atmosphere was getting more and more tense, Zhu San rushed in with the life - saving pregnancy - protecting medicine.
Wiping her dirty face, she handed it over. "Drink it quickly. The medicine will lose its potency if it gets cold."
Suddenly, a maid in the corner, as if sleepy, leaned to one side and fell straight towards Zhu San who was holding the medicine tray!
Zhu San couldn't dodge in time. It seemed that the maid was about to knock the whole tray off -
"Bang!"
Cui Jintang kicked the maid hard in the waist and abdomen. The maid hit the tea chair, her features distorted in pain.
Nanny Liu quickly stepped forward and slapped the maid on the face. "How dare you be lazy while serving the Empress? If you had knocked over the Empress's medicine, even ten heads wouldn't be enough for you to lose!"
Zhu San, relieved, quickly handed the medicine over, and the maid fed it to the Empress spoon by spoon.
The maid seemed to wake up from a dream. Tears welled up in her eyes as she blinked. "Forgive me, Your Majesty! Your servant was on night duty last night and accidentally dozed off. I didn't mean to offend. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Nanny Liu was so angry that her face turned ashen. "Still trying to argue? If you had really been on night duty, you should have asked for leave and been replaced at this hour!"
Cui Jintang had no interest in this verbal entanglement. She took a deep breath and pulled the dirty Zhu San aside.
"Zhu San, what's the powder in the vase?"
"It's safflower and..." Just as Zhu San was about to continue, Xie Rou interrupted her.
"Forget it. She didn't do it on purpose."
"Let this matter end here. After all, there's nothing wrong between me and..."
Turning to see Cui Jintang still frowning and looking indignant.
Xie Rou sighed and said with concern, "Tangtang, I heard that Lord Pei is ill. Do you need to ask Doctor Zhang to go back with you today?"
"Don't try to change the subject."
Cui Jintang frowned. She took the medicine from the maid's hand and motioned Zhu San to drag the pleading maid away.
Then she awkwardly fed the Empress a spoonful of the medicine. "Pei Zhaolin is not as important as you, Sister Rou."
Xie Rou was both amused and exasperated.
After drinking all the pregnancy - protecting medicine, and after repeatedly instructing Xie Rou, Cui Jintang finally coaxed her to sleep.
As soon as she stepped out of the palace hall, she saw the dirty Zhu San grinning as she took out several medicine jars from her sleeve and placed them in front of the maid.
"One jar of honey and nine jars of poison. If you don't answer my questions properly today, I can't guarantee you'll live to see your master."
The maid was so scared that she quickly confessed.
"Miss, it's the one from the Qixiang Palace."
There was only one person living in the Qixiang Palace, the current favorite concubine, Consort Rong.
Cui Jintang's face darkened as she left the palace gate.
Sister Rou was gentle and could tolerate this, but she couldn't.
"Did Consort Rong send an invitation to the Pei Mansion a few days ago?"
Getting into the carriage and smelling the familiar incense, Cui Jintang finally managed to relax her tense nerves a little.
Zhu Er replied from outside, "She said that a twin lotus had bloomed in the imperial garden, which was a good omen, so she invited people. But I heard that Consort Rong was recommended to the palace by Grand Tutor Luo. Now that the Luo family is in trouble, this banquet might have something to do with it."
It was the Luo family again.
"Accept the invitation. I'll go."
Zhu Er whipped the horse, and his low reply faded into the night.
-
The Pei Mansion.
Before returning to her courtyard, Cui Jintang deliberately walked around the garden for a while and then took a secluded path. It took her a full two quarters of an hour before she saw a glimmer of light in the distance.
When she saw the words "Eastern Courtyard", she stopped, feeling even more annoyed.
She had been lost in thought while walking and had unconsciously walked to Pei Zhaolin's courtyard.
She just cursed under her breath.
"Why are you here?"
A familiar voice came, accompanied by the long footsteps.
In Cui Jintang's disbelieving eyes, a familiar face slowly appeared.
Pei Zhaolin held a lamp and stood on the gravel path.
In the night, his fair - skinned face seemed eerie.
But at this moment, seeing him, Cui Jintang couldn't help but think of the persistent Luo family.
She even started to be at odds with Pei Zhaolin.
"I took the wrong way."
She walked around Pei Zhaolin without a backward glance.
Suddenly, her hand was firmly grabbed.
Cui Jintang glared at him, and he concealed the darkness in his eyes.
After a while, he let go.
Pei Zhaolin frowned and looked at her for a long time before saying, "I heard from the servants that you accidentally saved my grandmother while looking for your relatives three years ago and then stayed in the mansion."
Cui Jintang was confused. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded.
Back then, she had indeed used the excuse of only finding her deceased aunt to deceive the Pei family.
She wasn't sure if she was mistaken, but Pei Zhaolin seemed to have a cold look on his face after hearing this.
Pei Zhaolin said calmly, "A life - saving grace is as heavy as a mountain. Our Pei Mansion will surely repay Miss Cui well. But repaying a favor doesn't necessarily mean getting married."
Cui Jintang looked at him in disbelief. "Do you think that the feelings between you and me are all because I forced you with the favor?"
He didn't answer. He just took out a document from his wide sleeve.
Seeing that she didn't move, Pei Zhaolin slowly said, "After leaving the mansion today, I went to the government office."
Pei Zhaolin originally went to remove Luo Xiang's slave status. But just as he was about to leave, the yamen runner suddenly called him back and said that they had finally found the whereabouts of a woman named "Cui Chunniang".
The document stated that Cui Chunniang was from Wuyue, while the attendant said that Cui Jintang was from Qinghe.
One from the south and the other from the north.
If Cui Jintang was lying, why did she go to such great lengths to enter the Pei Mansion? What was her purpose?
In any case, he couldn't let such a scheming woman stay by his grandmother's side!
Thinking of how the whole Pei Mansion had favored Cui Jintang today, Pei Zhaolin became even more on guard. "Even in the Qinghe area, the Pei family has several manors. If Miss Cui doesn't mind..."
He suddenly stopped.
Looking at her slightly red eyes, Pei Zhaolin felt a twinge in his heart.
His cold tone softened unconsciously. "When Miss Cui gets married in the future, our Pei Mansion will also add a dowry for you."
Cui Jintang clutched her handkerchief and turned around to quickly wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Anger, grievance, all the negative emotions welled up at once.
Cui Jintang's temper wouldn't allow her to give in. When she turned around again, her eyes were bright, and there was a blush on her fair face.
Obviously, she was angry.
"Add a dowry for me? Master Pei is really generous!"
For a moment, Pei Zhaolin was stunned by Cui Jintang's angry look and unconsciously took a step back.
"I admit that I lied about the document. But Pei Zhaolin, this is the second time you've hurt me with your words today. I'm not a clay figurine, nor a living Buddha. I have plenty of strength and a temper."
"I'll find a way to restore your damned memory! You're only qualified to say you'll add dowry for me after you recover your memory!"
With that, regardless of Pei Zhaolin's reaction, she turned around and left.
Pei Zhaolin stood there, stunned, feeling nothing but indescribable annoyance.
He even forgot the purpose of coming back tonight to drive her away. All he could think about was the words "add dowry".
... Why did he blurt out that he would add dowry for her just now!