Chapter 1291 - 967: She Might Have Fallen into a Trap!

At dusk, Ding Yao delivered the prescription he had carefully considered. Everyone looked it over and saw no issues, so they took it to have the medicine brewed.

After a while, the medicine was ready and was brought in.

Since it was Yuan Qian’s first time taking medicine at Jinyu Garden, Chu Ruoyan was extraordinarily cautious. The little eunuch who delivered the medicine placed the tray on the desk in front of her and removed the lid from the medicine bowl, which had a yellow paper note on it detailing the prescription and the recipient. After confirming there were no errors, Chu Ruoyan picked up the medicine bowl, looked it over, and sniffed it.

The adult medicine decoction was as murky as muddy water, but this particular brew, due to a reduction in dosage, was clearer and lighter in color. It still emitted a strange yet fragrant and bitter smell that was unpleasant; even grown-ups wouldn’t enjoy drinking it. As soon as Chu Ruoyan saw the medicine, she frowned, took a deep breath, and brought the bowl to her lips, taking a sip.

Panqing watched her with concern. "Madam..."

Chu Ruoyan swallowed the medicine with a furrowed brow, took a long breath, and pursed her lips before saying, "It’s fine, you can give it to Yuan Qian."

Chang Wan quickly came over to take the medicine bowl.

Both she and Wo Xue had faces filled with a sense of guilt and unease. Like Tushere, they held a wary attitude towards Princess Xinyue, who had previously troubled Shang Ruyi. They always felt she wouldn’t be peaceful. Unlike the bold and direct Tushere, they didn’t voice their suspicions but were on guard nonetheless, especially now that she had taken Yuan Qian by her side. They were extremely tense serving here, with seventy percent of their focus on Han Shanggong, and thirty percent on her.

But they hadn’t anticipated Chu Ruoyan would take such action.

As Chang Wan and Wo Xue held the medicine bowl and exchanged glances, their eyes revealed a hint of sorrow. Meanwhile, Chu Ruoyan drank tea to cleanse her palate and said, "Feed him carefully, this medicine is a bit astringent."

"Yes."

As they spoke, the first spoonful of medicine was already being fed to Yuan Qian’s mouth, and sure enough, the bitter and astringent taste was not something a child would like. He immediately turned his face away and spat out the medicine.

Chang Wan could only scoop another spoonful, saying, "Young Master, be good and drink your medicine."

Yuan Qian refused to listen, pouting and shaking his head.

It was Nanny Feng who had a method, reaching out to pinch his nose so that the child had no choice but to open his mouth. Chang Wan quickly fed a spoonful of medicine, and with a "gulp," he finally swallowed it. Immediately, the bitterness caused his little face to wrinkle all up, pursing his lips as if to cry.

But the group didn’t concern themselves with much else at this time and repeated the process, spending half a day before finally feeding him that small half bowl of medicine.

Little Yuan Qian, having suffered great wrong, began to cry and fuss after drinking his medicine. Nanny Feng both laughed and patted his back, and Chu Ruoyan also had some small toys brought out to amuse him. He eventually stopped crying and quieted down.

Touching his forehead and neck again, the heat seemed to have reduced somewhat.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

Chu Ruoyan let out a big sigh of relief and said to Nanny Feng, "Nanny Feng, you can take Yuan Qian down now. Give him something to eat later, Doctor Ding said it’s not good to let him eat too much at this time."

Nanny Feng replied, "I understand."

Having said that, she carried Yuan Qian away, and Chang Wan and Wo Xue bowed to Chu Ruoyan and followed her.

Not until they were all gone did Panqing, who had been standing stiffly to the side, finally let out a long sigh. Chu Ruoyan turned to look at her as she wiped away cold sweat from her forehead and laughed, "I wasn’t that scared, but you were more frightened than I was."

Panqing said, "I’m worried if something happens, it’ll be all on Madam."

Chu Ruoyan laughed, "Don’t worry, I’ll be careful."

Saying this, she too wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead. Actually, she wasn’t genuinely unafraid. Since Yuan Qian came to Jinyu Garden, every meal he ate and every drink he had was closely related to her, and even a slight mishap would be a catastrophic disaster for someone as uniquely positioned as she.

She picked up the teacup beside her and sipped the tea, which had cooled a bit, saying, "Let’s see how he is tomorrow. If Yuan Qian’s situation improves, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

Panqing nodded, saying wistfully, "When will Princess Qin be cleared of her wrongs and come out?"

Hearing these words, Chu Ruoyan’s expression gradually became serious.

In a flash, it was the next day.

Just past noon, Tushere arrived at the gates of Chengqian Hall to receive the meal delivered by the Food Bureau and heard external news. She quickly turned around to go back and tell Shang Ruyi, searching for a while before finding her in a corner of the courtyard wall at the back of Chengqian Hall. Shang Ruyi was standing there looking at the nearly man-high enclosing wall, lost in thought.

Tushere immediately approached and communicated the news she had just heard. As soon as she said a word, Shang Ruyi’s expression changed.

"You said Chu Ruoyan took Yuan Qian to Jinyu Garden?"

"Yes."

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, I heard Madam Chu went there early in the morning, and it wasn’t until the Emperor returned after the morning court that he agreed to it," Tushere explained while trying to support Shang Ruyi back for lunch but felt her hand was cold, standing there motionless, her brow furrowed. She was a little surprised, not expecting Shang Ruyi to react so strongly, so she asked gently, "Doesn’t Princess trust her very much?"

"..."

"Now, she has taken the Young Master to Jinyu Garden to care for him, isn’t that good?"

"..."

"Does Princess think she will—"

"No, it’s not that,"

Shang Ruyi quickly shook her head, her expression grave and said, "I’m not doubting her. When the incident happened, I asked her to help me, and this time she offered to take Yuan Qian to Jinyu Garden to care for him as a sort of stand-up action."

"Then why is Princess worried?"

"Because," Shang Ruyi’s face was very grim, said, "I’m afraid she has fallen into a trap!"

"A trap?"

Tushere looked at her in shock, "What kind of trap?"

Shang Ruyi said, "If Yuan Qian were to stay by the Emperor’s side, the Emperor would be regularly attending court and handling state affairs, and certainly couldn’t devote his full attention to the child, having to delegate care to someone else. The only candidate is Aunt Hui; and Aunt Hui previously cared for two children at Yuwen Mansion, the Crown Prince and King Qi—If I’m not mistaken, she must have used this excuse to compel Madam Chu to take Yuan Qian away."

Tushere said, "The incident with the hawthorn cake was organized by Aunt Hui, Madam Chu certainly knows she’s up to no good, and would definitely not leave the Young Master with her."

Shang Ruyi said, "That’s exactly why it’s terrible."