Chapter 184: Chapter 88: Poisoned_4
The maid said, "Ma’am, after all, Doctor Lu is an outsider. Is it really appropriate for him to see the Princess Consort so abruptly?"
"Inappropriate? What’s inappropriate?" Meng Xiyang scattered a few grains of fish food with an indifferent hand and watched the fish in the water surface vying for food as she chuckled lightly.
"It’s precisely because he is an outsider that it is better; an outsider makes it seem all the more unrelated to us."
It was rather coincidental. Pei Yunshu was neither early nor late in showing symptoms, just so happened to do so today. Early this morning, Prince Wen had gone to the palace, leaving only her, the Consort, present in the mansion. Should anything untoward truly happen to Pei Yunshu today, although there would be no evidence, others would inevitably gossip, blaming her, the Consort, for not being attentive.
However, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, most medical officers from the Medical Officer Institute took leave and would need time to arrive in haste. As for the midwife, Pei Yunshu, cautious and careful, had meticulously selected trustworthy midwives awaiting the day two months from now to deliver her child. To find someone at this moment would probably not be immediate.
Thus, the arrival of this Doctor Lu was simply too timely.
Since it was a coincidence that he came to deliver medicine, and he was a Doctor well-acquainted with the Minister of the Imperial Treasury’s wife, no matter what, it had nothing to do with her, the Consort, and couldn’t be counted against her.
The maid by her side was still somewhat worried, "What if the Doctor sees something amiss..."
Meng Xiyang shot her a cold glare. The maid shivered and quickly begged for mercy, "This servant is talking nonsense. Please don’t take it to heart, Ma’am."
Meng Xiyang snorted and lowered her head to fiddle with the fish food in the wooden bowl. The food trickled down from her rouged fingertips like tiny black pearls.
"The palace’s medicine, even the medical officers from the Medical Officer Institute couldn’t detect it. The several Doctors summoned by Pei Yunshu have not discovered anything amiss until now; what could a mere Resident Doctor from an insignificant medical institute possibly recognize."
She slightly tilted her chin up, and the ruby pendant by her temple shimmered, blood-red and resplendent, setting off her fair complexion and full red lips. Yet, the words she spoke carried a sinister and cold undertone.
"It’s also her bad luck. If nothing were to happen to Pei Yunshu today, all would be well, but should something happen, she can’t escape being implicated. Perhaps she might even end up being buried alongside."
"However, to be buried alongside the Little Crown Prince of Prince Wen’s Mansion is, for someone of her status, quite an honor."
Having said that, Meng Xiyang found herself amused and covered her mouth as she giggled softly.
The maidservant dared not to make a sound.
Meng Xiyang laughed for a while before slowly fading her smile and sprinkled another handful of fish food into the pond.
The school of fish swarmed up greedily, fighting for the specks of food that slipped from her fingertips. Meng Xiyang watched with interest as two drops of coral earrings by her ears glowed as red as blood.
Being the legitimate daughter of a household presided by the Junior Prefect, in appearance and talent she was no less than Pei Yunshu; but because Pei Yunshu had a father who was Lord Zhao Ning, they entered the mansion together and while Pei Yunshu became the principal wife, she could only be a Consort.
Consort, Consort, isn’t that just a concubine?
Pei Yunshu, with her aloof and lofty disposition, was not adept at flattering and soon after marrying had fallen out of favor with Prince Wen. And yet she, as Consort, received the sole affection of Prince Wen; her status in Prince’s Mansion was not much lower than that of Pei Yunshu’s.
Meng Xiyang was originally quite satisfied with the current state of affairs until Pei Yunshu became pregnant.
Once Pei Yunshu was pregnant, if she gave birth to a son, he would be the future Princely Heir of Prince Wen’s Mansion. The position of Commandery Prince would then fall to the son of Pei Yunshu. And any children born to Meng Xiyang would be forever branded with the name "Illegitimate Child."
Therefore, the child in Pei Yunshu’s womb was destined not to be kept.
Meng Xiyang flicked her fingertips, letting the last grain of fish food fall. Lowering her head, the water surface reflected the face of a beautiful woman.
She gazed at it and slowly smiled.