Chapter 74.2

Tao Hong was so scared that she trembled. She kept muttering, "Your Highness, what should we do? You have to think of something."

"What can I do?" Side Consort Hu sighed. After furrowing her eyebrows for a while, she gritted her teeth and said, "With the current situation, we must make the first move.”

Tao Hong's face was shocked, but after all those threats, she didn’t find it too difficult to accept.

Despite her face pale with fear, she appeared to be resolute and said, "Your Highness, whatever you say, this servant will obey."

"I guess I could give them some medicine and deal with the big one and the small one together. But since Rongxi Courtyard has its own kitchen, it wouldn’t be easy to succeed. The atmosphere in the manor has also been weird recently, and the number of people has increased. I'm afraid something will happen if I act rashly…" Side Consort Hu twisted her eyebrows, considering the feasibility of this matter.

Tao Hong hurriedly persuaded, "Your Highness, please don't use this idea. Not to mention whether the poison is good enough, just obtaining it in the first place won’t be easy. There are also too many people that you’d need to rely on, which may cause the matter to be leaked." 

“Then what do you think we should do?"

“The root of the cause is the child, right? Anyway, Lady Su still doesn’t know that the man that year was His Highness and His Highness doesn’t know that it was her. We can steal the child and throw him out or abandon him and none be wiser. A child at his age can’t remember anything. As for Lady Su, she is nothing without the child. No one would find out about it.”

Once Side Consort Hu heard this, a light glinted in her eyes, but she still hesitated. "Is this possible?" 

"The child is small, so we could put him in any box then take it out. The girl who is serving the child is called Ah Xia. She is close to someone from this servant’s hometown. When the time comes, we can just lure the little girl away. Even if this is revealed,  we could just say that someone must’ve taken the child to play. No one would be able to find any fault with it."

Side Consort Hu was at the stage where she was desperate enough to do anything and actually believed Tao Hong's words.

Later, when Tao Hong said she was going to find the maid from her hometown, she even stuffed her some silver to use as a bribe.

Xiaobao was not in good spirits these days, as if there was something on his mind.

In the past, Ah Xia would make him laugh, or bring him out to play. These days, who knew what was on Ah Xia’s mind and she seemed to be worried. It was hard to hear the same laughter of the past in the West Chamber since Chun'er and Nanny He was also silent.

"If you don't take the young master out to play, but only remain indoors, he’ll feel stuffy and bored to death," said Nanny He.

Although Nanny He was a wet nurse, since Ah Xia and Yaoniang shared an unusual relationship, the West Chamber was dominated by Ah Xia.

Ah Xia also realized that she had been a bit negligent these past few days. Glancing at Xiaobao, who was crawling there awkwardly, she walked over. With a big smile on her face, she asked, "Young Master, would you like this servant to take you to see fish?"

Xiaobao naturally couldn't answer her, so Ah Xia asked Chun'er to help pack things up then took Xiaobao out.

There was a small garden next to Rongxi Courtyard. The place was not big, but the scenery was quite nice. There was also a pond of koi.

Actually, the scenery in Rongxi Courtyard was already good, but Xiaobao's identity was unusual. He was the son of Yaoniang’s ex-lover. Although Jin Wang acquiesced that he could be raised by Yaoniang, he would always be considered as a thorn in the side. In fear that when Jin Wang came there would be an unpleasant encounter, Ah Xia would go out to play with Xiaobao. Instead of staying in Rongxi Courtyard, they would come to this little garden.

In fact, this wasn’t Yaoniang’s idea but done at Ah Xia's own discretion.

As for Ah Xia, Xiaobao thought she was very funny. Normally, she appeared to be an innocent chatterbox. But sometimes he would see her with certain behaviours that didn’t fit in with this kind of personality.

But this was all before. After arriving at Rongxi Courtyard, whether intentionally or not, she always kept him from seeing other people. A profound feeling rose in his heart. Ever since that day, when it was revealed that he was actually a bastard child, Ah Xia became even more persistent in refusing to let him go out. Sometimes Nanny He or Chun'er would want to bring him out, but she always stopped them.

When asked for the reason, she wouldn’t say anything. She would look as if she has something to say but she would stop.

Xiaobao felt even more uncomfortable.

But could he say that what she did was wrong? No, they helped keep him hidden for his own sake and his mother's sake. His existence was indeed a thorn in his father's heart. After that incident, those involved should stay behind closed doors and behave themselves.

Xiaobao could only feel stifled in his heart. He even wondered if he was thinking too much.

Ah Xia asked Chun'er to tear up the steamed buns she had brought, then scattered them into the pond. After a while, the fish swam to the surface.

Xiaobao could also see that Ah Xia was trying to make himself happy. Even if he was obviously not interested, he still acted along. He pointed his chubby finger at the pond and babbled some gibberish.

Seeing Xiaobao happy, Ah Xia also smiled. While talking to him, she took the bun and tore it for the fish.

"Young master, don’t eat this. Throw it to the fish."

Ah Xia pointed at the steamed bun in her hand then pointed at the pond. Xiaobao blinked his eyes with confusion, then picked up the bun and threw it towards the pond. A school of fish swarmed towards the food, and he suddenly laughed with joy.

The two had a great time.

During the period, Chun'er went back, saying that there was something that she still needed to do. Anyway, it was fine for Ah Xia to look after Xiaobao on her own.

Once Chun'er left, the smile on Ah Xia's face suddenly disappeared. She stopped teasing Xiaobao and became worried again. She was pondering over a question that she couldn't figure out. Why didn't His Highness care? Unless he didn’t think that Madam was dirty?

Thinking of this word, dirty, Ah Xia shook her head automatically. She felt that it shouldn't be so, but she couldn't help doubting in her heart.

"Ah Xia, I finally found you. The people in Rongxi Courtyard said you came out with the child, so I guessed you were here." The speaker was Dong'er, who entered the manor with Ah Xia, and the two of them worked together since young. As they became more familiar with each other, they discussed their hometowns and learned that they came from the same hometown. Naturally, there’d be a different sentiment between them.

Dong'er used to like to play with Ah Xia, but Ah Xia didn't look for her as often anymore because she was busy and couldn't leave.

Ah Xia asked, "You don't need to work today?”

Dong'er was not as lucky as Ah Xia. Ah Xia had been the girl in charge of tending to the kitchen fire and was later selected to work at the small courtyard. But Dong'er had always worked in the main kitchen, and there had been no change. Although she could eat well, she also had a lot of work and would often be very tired.

"I got tonight off. Since I have nothing to do, I’m here to accompany you. By the way, I also wanted to embroider a pouch, but I didn't have any designs. I remembered you had some really pretty ones, so I’m here to borrow one from you."

"Are you in a hurry?"

Dong'er nodded and said, "I want to embroider one and give it to Granny Wang, to see if she could help me do a favour. I’ve been tending to the fire in the main kitchen for such a long time that my hands have grown rough. I have also gained a lot of weight…"

Ah Xia looked at Dong’er who had grown at least two rings fatter than when she first entered the manor, speechless.

Glancing at Xiaobao, who was holding the railing to watch the fish, she hesitated. "I still have to look after the young master, so I will send it to you in the afternoon."

Dong'er repeatedly urged her. "I'll help you watch him. Said to be a young master, but in fact…" She glanced at Xiaobao, her face full of disdain.

This was the reason why Ah Xia was reluctant to hang out with Dong'er. She always had this feeling that Dong'er has changed a lot from when they first met.

In fact, Dong'er has changed. She has also changed.