“What did your mother say?” Princess Royal suddenly sat up and grabbed Mo Xuetong’s hand. Her knuckles went white, which showed how much force she had exerted.
Mo Xuetong couldn’t continue and only wept with her face in her hands. “My mother, my mother, she said…”
Princess Royal was anxious and tried hard to pull up Mo Xuetong. She tried so hard that she sweated and uncontrollably started to cough again. Mo Xuetong immediately got up and poured the princess a cup of hot tea and wiped the sweat on her forehead.
At last, the princess stopped coughing and then grabbed Mo Xuetong’s hand to ask eagerly, “Tong’er, what does the letter your mother left say?”
Mo Xuetong had never seen Princess Royal fluster so much. Even when talking about life and death, the princess just appeared clam. Now, she looked so anxious, with a look of worry on her white face and blue vines slightly bulging on her forehead. She actually looked a little frightened. Princess Royal really knew!
Sighing deeply and gritting her teeth, Mo Xuetong looked at the princess with a sad face and said, “She said if I’m in trouble, I only need to find you and you’ll definitely save me. She said I would only be carefree when you’re with me, and if you’re gone… I will only count on myself…”
She said the last few words in a shivering voice. She looked at Princess Royal with her teary eyes, like she wanted to obtain some emotional support from the princess’s face.
It didn’t seem to be what was on Princess Royal’s mind.
Princess Royal apparently heaved a sigh of relief. She covered her chest and coughed a bit. When she finally breathed normally, she wiped the tracks of tears on Mo Xuetong’s face with a handkerchief. For the first time today, the princess smiled, put down the handkerchief, and held Mo Xuetong’s hand, saying, “Tong’er, don’t cry. You’ll go to Fifth Princess’s birthday banquet. You won’t look pretty with swollen eyes.”
“Mother!”
Princess Royal faintly smiled and comforted Mo Xuetong. She looked much calmer now. Though looking tired, she finally had a touch of glow on her cheeks. “Good girl. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’ve been having this for years and will always cough in springs. It’s really annoying, and with that, I’ll find every other thing annoying too, but I didn’t expect to have made your worry.”
“Mother, how about I feel your pulse and make a diagnosis for you?” Mo Xuetong wiped the tear marks with the handkerchief, bit her lips, and held the princess’s hand, acting like she wouldn’t let go if she couldn’t feel the princess’s pulse. Only the slightly red rims of her eyes indicated her worry. At the sight of this, Princess Royal felt warm in the heart and could only reach out helplessly.
“Take a look if you want. Since when did you become a doctor?”
“I can diagnose diseases. Send for me if you fall ill again.” Mo Xuetong blushed with embarrassment, but still, she held Princess Royal’s hand and quietly listened to the princess’s pulse. Back then, she was in a hurry, now, she could finally carefully feel it.
It was indeed similar to the pulse she just felt, but obviously, the stagnation had been alleviated. Apparently, the thing that was on her mind had disappeared. Mo Xuetong felt relieved, knowing that what she said worked, and so she looked up and smiled. “It’s nothing serious. You only need to take a few days’ rests. But, you have to take medicine. I’ll come visit you the next few days and make sure you take them.”
Just now, Princess Royal refused to take medicine but then drank it up. Obviously, she did not dislike the taste but had refused it because of other things.
Mo Xuetong’s words sounded rude but at the same time brought the two even closer. The princess smiled even more warmly, caressed Mo Xuetong’s head and agreed.
The two chatted for a while, and then Princess Royal urged Mo Xuetong to go to the banquet and brought her presents as well. Mo Xuetong reminded the princess, again and again, to take care of herself. Then, Mo Xuetong left with Mo Ye.
Just when Mo Xuetong walked out, Nanny Qin entered the room. Seeing the faint smile on the princess’s face, she felt a little reassured. She stepped forward to persuade. “Your Highness, look how cute our little princess is! Someone must protect her. If something happens to you now, what is our little princess supposed to do? Who can she rely on?”
“Nanny Qin, I understand.” Princess Royal leaned back and relaxed her body, sighing deeply. “Send someone to the palace to send for an imperial doctor. Tell them I’m ill again, and they’ll know how to handle this.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll send someone right away.” Nanny Qin understood at once and excitedly took the order. Tears nearly welled out of her eyes. Of course, only the little princess could make her listen. Otherwise, if Her Highness still refused to take medicine and suffered from the disease longer, her body would fail.
Princess Royal wanted to die!
Nanny Qin knew that but couldn’t do anything. Luckily, here came the little princess…
While in Princess Royal’s manor, Nanny Qin happily sent some servant to the royal palace to send for an imperial doctor, Mo Xuetong boarded the carriage and became lost in thinking.
“Did Princess Royal fret because she feared my mother telling me her real identity?
“Mother didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to drag me into this, and did Princess Royal also hide it from me because of this? After hearing what I said, Her Highness actually felt relieved. She decided to live on because she wanted to take care of me. She must have been so close to my mother that she cares so much for me now.
“Mother is King Jin’s daughter, and Princess Royal is the former emperor’s daughter. They were cousins but turned against each other because of the fight over supremacy. How could they become close sisters who knew each other’s secrets and even entrusted their daughters to the other? And why did Mother think Her Highness wouldn’t spoil the beans?
“Judging from the current situation, Princess Royal must have known my mother’s identity. Mother had been so discreet that she even hid it from Father, so how would she trust Princess Royal? And, once Mother’s identity is confirmed, Fu General Manor would be involved as well. Why did Mother tell Her Highness the truth?
“If Mother hadn’t said it herself, then how did the princess know my mother’s identity!”
All these doubts and questions filled Mo Xuetong’s mind. She had many thoughts but couldn’t trace it back to the origin. She must have miscalculated somewhere. There must be a reason which could explain the sisterhood between Mother and Her Highness. However, now, she couldn’t come up with a single one.
That was why when Princess Royal asked her about the things her mother left, the princess tried to keep her relationship with her mother secret.
Now, when the old problem remained, a new problem surfaced. Princess Royal must have encountered something so that she wanted to finish it all with her death. What could make her lose hope in life and resort to death? If Princess Royal’s younger sister was Mother, then who was the elder sister she talked about?
It looked like Mo Xuetong had to ask Nanny Ming who the elder sister Princess Royal mentioned was. If Mother and Princess Royal were friends who could die for each other, then as Mother’s wet nurse, Nanny Ming should have known more than Mo Xuetong.
Having made up her mind, she heaved a sigh of relief and opened her eyes.
The carriage didn’t drive for too long before it arrived at the gate of the royal palace.
In front of the gate, many carriages already parked there. A number of young noble misses and masters all came early to celebrate Fifth Princess’s birthday. Having visited the Princess Royal’s manor, Mo Xuetong arrived a little late. Right now, only a few people were entering through the gate. When looking back, she should find no one behind her.
Mo Ye helped Mo Xuetong get off the carriage and then they walked through the gate.
Mo Xuetong wore a plain silk coat with cut designs and a trailing silk dress with apricot plums embroidered at the bottom. Tassels hung down and made the solid color lively. She looked delicate and charming. Her watery eyes seemed to contain rivers in spring, as ethereal as an immortal.
People had said long ago that, Princess Anping didn’t need to wait for two or three years more because she could take the title of the first beauty now!
On the way, the young misses and masters who ran into Mo Xuetong all scrutinized her. Some of them envied her, while some adored…
Taking a turn at a garden, she suddenly spotted a glamorously-dressed woman who was worshipping flowers in a nearby pavilion. Seeing Mo Xuetong coming over, the woman said something to the maidservant beside her. Then, the servant immediately walked out of the pavilion and came to Mo Xuetong, asking, “Are you Princess Anping? Her Highness wants you.”
Mo Xuetong looked up and found the woman was Consort Yu. She nodded and followed the girl to the pavilion with Mo Yu.
Arriving in front of Consort Yu, Mo Xuetong gracefully curtsied. “I bow in respect before Your Highness.”
“Never mind the rules. We’re of the same rank. You don’t have to be so polite.” Consort Yu smilingly waved. In terms of rank, they were really at the same level. However, how could a consort in the royal place in favor compare to her, a powerless adopted princess?
Mo Xuetong rose after what Consort Yu said, nonetheless, she faintly added, “You’re older than me, of course, I should act politely.”
She was implying that Consort Yu’s rank indeed wasn’t high enough. Consort Yu’s face fell and dark clouds were brewing in her eyes.
Mo Xuetong felt unnecessary to talk to the consort favored by Emperor Zongwen. Though they were not archenemies, they still took different sides. No matter it was the Yu family, Yu Mingyong, or at last, Consort Yu’s taking sides with Empress Dowager to plot against her, any one of those could leave Mo Xuetong feeling no need for a chat.
Of course, maybe Consort Yu wanted to trap her again!
Nevertheless, Mo Xuetong wasn’t easy to be plotted against. If Consort Yu wanted to provoke Mo Xuetong, again and again, using her status as a consort in Emperor Zongwen’s favor, Mo Xuetong wouldn’t hold down either.
Therefore, when they were exchanging a few blows just now, Mo Xuetong gently prickled her.
Consort Yu looked sullen but soon she put on a bright smile again, pointing to her side. “There’s still time before the banquet starts. Why don’t you sit for a while with me? I happen to want to tell you something.”
She sounded polite and tried to suppress the anger in her eyes. It looked like today, Consort Yu really wanted her into some trap again, otherwise, she wouldn’t have forced herself to be polite to Mo Xuetong.
Mo Xuetong secretly sneered while putting on a gentle smile on her face. She nodded and sat by the consort. Since Consort Yu awaited her here, then however she tried to escape, the consort would always have a way to stop Mo Xuetong. Then, she would rather sit and watch what show Consort Yu was going to put on.
Mo Xuetong sat down, looked up, and asked with a baffled smile. “I wonder what that is.”
Consort Yu waved and her two maidservants left the pavilion. In a distance of five or six steps to the building, the two servants stood with their backs facing them.
“Princess Anping, I wanted to tell you this the last time, but there were really too many people in Empress Dowager’s place.” Consort Yu looked a little embarrassed. “I feel really sorry for the thing about my brother. I hope you can forgive him.”
The thing about Yu Mingyong? Consort Yu had already brought Yu Mingyong out of jail long ago. Nevertheless, Mo Xuetong heard the young master had received too much shock and was now still lying on the bed. At this time, when Consort Yu brought this up, she didn’t seem to want to criticize Mo Xuetong. Therefore, Mo Xuetong hesitated for a few seconds and then smiled. “When Sir Yu showed up in my grandmother’s yard, we all thought he was a burglar. Then it turned out that your young master took the wrong road at night. If one is to judge it, it’s our manor’s fault. But since my father has been handling this, I don’t know too much about it.”
Mo Xuetong meant that if she wanted to apologize, Consort Yu could come to her father. It was a nominal explanation and people could choose to believe it or not to decide if it would stand. Furthermore, Yu Mingyong and she didn’t relate in any way. If she really got involved with him, she would only get a tarnished reputation.
On this topic, she wouldn’t answer to anything Consort Yu said.
