CH 99

December 7, 2022Merchie

Shen Shijiu was taken into the waterside pavilion and forced to kneel in front of the thick, heavy curtain.

“Princess, he’s here.”

No one moved until the curtain parted, and Qi Bingzhi stretched her wrist out.

Xiao Mei said to Shen Shijiu, “Hurry up and take the princess’s pulse.”

Shen Shijiu stood up, walked over, and lightly placed two fingers on Qi Bingzhi’s wrist, before his eyebrows knitted tightly.

There was something off about her pulse; why did it seem like she had been poisoned?

Shen Shijiu retracted his fingers, and asked, “Your Royal Highness, have you been drinking your medicine every day?”

But Qi Bingzhi, who was behind the curtain, didn’t say anything.

“Your Royal Highness?”

Shen Shijiu called out in confusion, and glanced over at Xiao Mei.

Xiao Mei hurriedly lifted the curtain and went behind it to check, before a scream of fright sounded from inside.

“Princess! Princess, what’s wrong? Wake up!”

Shen Shijiu didn’t know what had happened, and hurriedly asked, “What happened to Her Royal Highness?”

Xiao Mei suddenly flicked open the curtain and walked out, before she yelled, “The princess has already fainted, it’s all your fault for being so slow! I’d like to see you try to take responsibility for this!”

“But, it really isn’t my fault. There’s something really strange about Her Royal Highness’s pulse; if she’s been taking her medicine every day, it wouldn’t be like this.” Shen Shijiu explained.

Xiao Mei didn’t even look at him, and spoke to the other servants in the outer hall, “All of you, hurry up and escort him inside.”

In a little bit, someone who looked to be a doctor walked inside, carrying a medicine case, and followed Xiao Mei behind the curtain.

Shen Shijiu waited outside the curtain with his head lowered. He really had no clue as to how this happened.

After a long while, Xiao Mei’s voice finally rang out from behind the curtain.

“Princess, you’re finally awake, this servant was terrified.”

Qi Bingzhi’s voice was still very weak, “Xiao, Xiao Mei, what’s wrong with me?”

That doctor explained, “Your Royal Highness, judging by your symptoms, you’ve probably been poisoned. Fortunately, you haven’t ingested much of the poison, and we caught the problem early, so it didn’t cause much harm.”

“Poison? How could the princess have been poisoned? Sir, you’d better not be speaking nonsense.”

“I wouldn’t dare speak nonsense in front of the princess. This species of poisonous herb is usually harmless, but if it’s ingested alongside any other herbs, its effects will change drastically. Every doctor knows this.”

That doctor wrote out another prescription for Qi Bingzhi, before he was escorted out by Xiao Mei.

Shen Shijiu had been eavestropping outside the curtain the entire time, and was very curious. There was nothing wrong with the medicine he made for the princess; could it be that the princess had also taken a medicine that was prepared by someone else? Could that have been the cause of the two ingredients repelling each other, thus becoming poisonous?

But before Shen Shijiu could ask, Xiao Mei, who had turned back around, walked up to him, wearing an interrogative expression.

“You sure are a brave one, Shen Shijiu. I never thought you would have the gall to do this. This is the Prime Minister’s Manor, there are so many eyes watching, yet you actually dared to harm the princess?”

“I… I didn’t…”

“After you argued with the princess last time, you must have held a grudge, so you poisoned her, right?”

Shen Shijiu kept shaking his head, “That’s not it… H-how could I poison someone?”

“How could you not? Haven’t you tormented the princess enough? Ever since you entered the Prime Minister’s Manor, the princess never had another day of happiness…”

The curtain was suddenly pulled open. After drinking the medicine, it seemed that Qi Bingzhi was largely recovered, and was able to walk. But her face was still pale, and her lips were a mix of red and violet.

“Xiao Mei.”

Xiao Mei hurriedly stepped forward to support Qi Bingzhi by the arm, “Princess, why did you get up, you should be in bed resting.”

“How can I rest peacefully? This time it was poison, who knows what kind of sinister method he’ll use next time?”

Qi Bingzhi’s gaze only flitted over Shen Shijiu for a moment, but it was enough to make him break out into a cold sweat.

“Princess, he refuses to admit it, so how do you think we should deal with him?

Qi Bingzhi slowly walked toward Shen Shijiu. When she walked past him, she didn’t even spare him a glance; she headed straight toward the table beside him and sat down.

Xiao Mei also followed. She bent and leaned close to Qi Bingzhi.

Shen Shijiu didn’t know what Qi Bingzhi was saying, but a glimmer of excitement seemed to appear in Xiao Mei’s eyes.

“Yes, this servant understands.”

Xiao Mei shot a glance at the other servants; they swiftly stepped forward and grabbed Shen Shijiu, before they followed Xiao Mei out of the waterside pavilion.

After the group of people left, Qi Bingzhi sat in place, clutching her chest in discomfort and coughing a few times.

Of course she hadn’t been drinking the medicine that was being delivered every day. Her ‘chronic headaches’ were a complete hoax, so if she didn’t have to drink that bitter medicinal soup, she wouldn’t.

But in order to frame Shen Shijiu, she actually had to poison herself. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t be able to deceive the servants of the manor.

Before Zhou Wu returned to the Imperial Hospital, he had left her several medicines, and had instructed her on how she could poison herself without endangering her life.

Qi Bingzhi was hesitant at first; she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to make such a dangerous move. After all, the risks and costs were just too great.

But on the day Pei Zheng took Shen Shijiu to the palace, she sat alone in her room until dawn. She sat until her entire body became numb, which seemed to lessen the pain of her injuries.

After dawn that day, she began to drink the medicine that Zhou Wu had given her. The daily dose was rather small, but she took it several days in a row.

Although she hadn’t been drinking Shen Shijiu’s prescription, the residual medicine in her body was enough to cause the herbs to repel each other and produce symptoms of poisoning.

She suddenly coughed a few times more. Qi Bingzhi felt like her stomach was burning, and that blood was about to gush out of her mouth.

At this moment, Xiao Mei walked in through the back door, and came over to rub Qi Bingzhi’s back. She spoke in a distressed voice, “Princess, everything has been arranged.”

Qi Bingzhi nodded, “When is His Lordship coming back?”

“This servant went to ask. No one knows why His Lordship left the manor, but he won’t be back for two more days. We’ll have already finished the job by then.”

Only then did a smile slowly stretch across Qi Bingzhi’s face. But that smile looked very strange, as though she was desperately pulling at the corners of her mouth to look happy.

“Princess, this servant has been meaning to tell you something for a long time, but this servant doesn’t know how to say it…”

Qi Bingzhi clasped Xiao Mei’s hand, “You’ve been by my side for so many years, so of course I trust you the most. Whatever you have to say, just tell me.”

Only then did Xiao Mei feel at ease.

“Princess, Her Highness the Empress has actually asked this servant more than once, why do you insist on living in the Prime Minister’s Manor? You’ve suffered so much injustice here, yet Lord Pei doesn’t care about you at all.”

Qi Bingzhi let go of Xiao Mei’s hand, but Xiao Mei didn’t notice, and continued on.

“This servant heard that there are many rumors in the palace of Lord Pei liking men. It’s been so many years, but Lord Pei still doesn’t have a wife, he hasn’t even taken a concubine. Also, the relationship between His Lordship and the Ninth Prince was questionable from the very beginning…”

At the mention of the Ninth Prince, Qi Bingzhi’s expression seemed to turn even uglier.

“Shut up!”

Xiao Mei was startled and hurriedly shut her mouth. She dropped to her knees in the hall, too scared to lift her head.

Qi Bingzhi felt a fishy sweetness rising in her throat. She grabbed a handkerchief and covered her mouth and nose, before she suddenly spat a mouthful of dark, dirty blood.

It seemed like her body was already trying to expel the poison, but with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, she looked even more terrifying.

Qi Bingzhi forced herself not to think about that dead person anymore, but the hatred in her mind towards him still hadn’t worn away.

She was the one who had met Pei Zheng first, and she had fallen in love with him first, so why did it all turn out like this?

She thought back to that year. Pei Zheng had just become Prime Minister. He was young and arrogant, a dazzling light that frightened the entire Imperial Court.

The Second Princess Qi Bingzhi, who was still young at that time, saw Pei Zheng for the first time as he accompanied the Emperor on a stroll through the imperial garden.

Qi Bingzhi wasn’t a favored princess, but at that time, she shared a close bond with Qi Yirou.

Outsiders thought they were a pair of affectionate sisters, and that they loved to play together. But in truth, Qi Bingzhi had already learned how to use Qi Yirou to achieve her own goals.

It was a snowy day. Qi Bingzhi was waiting at the door for Qi Yirou, and Qi Changyi, who was passing by, accidentally bumped into her.

Qi Changyi was wearing a white robe. Covered by that fluffy collar was a pure, beautiful little face, prettier than any of the other princes and princesses.

He knew he had made a mistake, so he obediently bowed his head and apologized to Qi Bingzhi. Qi Bingzhi smiled good-naturedly, and let him leave.

She waited until Qi Yirou came. Then, she immediately pretended to have injured her leg after being pushed to the ground.

In order to vent her anger on Qi Bingzhi’s behalf, Qi Yirou led Qi Changyi to the hall where the Emperor was discussing important government affairs with a few ministers, and shoved him inside.

Then Qi Yirou and Qi Bingzhi hid a short distance away, waiting to see how Qi Changyi would be punished. Qi Bingzhi spoke up for Qi Changyi a few times, which made Qi Yirou hate Qi Changyi even more.

Unexpectedly, Qi Bingzhi didn’t see the punishment that she had hoped for. When the door to the hall opened, Qi Bingzhi froze in place.

Pei Zheng and Qi Changyi were actually leaving the hall together. Two figures, one clad in black, the other in white, formed a perfect, harmonious scene in the snow, as beautiful as a painted scroll.

QI Yirou merely huffed coldly in disappointment, and turned to leave, planning to find another opportunity to avenge her Second Sister.

But Qi Bingzhi didn’t follow Qi Yirou. Instead, she simply trailed behind the two figures. They walked for a long while, but they didn’t notice that she was secretly following them.

Thinking back to it now, perhaps Pei Zheng had noticed her presence but had chosen not to expose her.

Qi Bingzhi watched as the two stopped in front of a plum garden. Then, that soft, white figure fell backward, and a splash of black caught him by the waist, and embraced him.

Qi Bingzhi’s eyes turned warm as she watched, and tears flowed out uncontrollably.

After the two left from the plum garden, Qi Bingzhi seemed to have lost all her strength, and slowly sank into the snowy ground, before she buried her head and her arms and sobbed.

She didn’t know how much time had passed. After her entire body became as cold as ice, Qi Bingzhi wiped her tears and stood up.

She only glanced at the Ninth Prince’s residence from a distance, and left with tightly clenched fists.

From that point onward, Qi Bingzhi made troubles for Qi Changyi both openly and secretly, and finally succeeded in removing him from Pei Zheng’s side forever.

But now, there was someone else, someone who was also pure and clean, unworldly and free of corruption. So Pei Zheng liked these kinds of ‘clean’ people, right?

Malice and hatred appeared in Qi Bingzhi’s gaze.

Then she would just have to dirty him, and see if Pei Zheng still liked him after that.

Notes

Sigh…

If only relationships were decided by who fell in love with who first…

;-;

GHISGDKHDFKSHDKH ALSO MANHUA AH MU LE IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN I COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINEEEEDDDDD

Thanks for reading~