Chapter 195: Chapter 91 Trust_3
He was no longer the rash and ignorant young master of the Pei Family from years ago. The humiliations and conspiracies that Pei Yunshu had suffered in this mansion, he would retaliate for each one on her behalf. It didn’t matter whether it was Meng Xiyang, Mu Sheng, or anyone else.
"Wah——"
A loud infant’s cry pierced through the silence of the night, breaking the deathly stillness.
Yin Zheng’s joyful voice floated out from the small window, "A daughter! The Princess Consort has given birth to a little daughter! Congratulations to the Princess Consort!"
Waiting at the doorstep, Fangzi and Qiong Ying were instantly overjoyed, hastening inside the room, while Pei Yunmeng stood frozen in place, seeming unable to believe his own ears for a moment before, as if snapping back to reality, he took a few quick steps to the door, only to be stopped at the entrance by Yin Zheng’s arm.
Yin Zheng hesitated, "My lord, the young lady has just delivered the young miss, but the young miss was born with poison within her. The young lady still needs to draw out the poison, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while longer, you cannot go in right now."
Pei Yunmeng’s expression shifted subtly.
That’s right, giving birth safely was only the first step. His sister had been poisoned in the Prince’s Mansion without anyone realizing, the child in her womb assaulted every day by the toxin. Lu Tong had delivered the child at the last moment before the poison could be fatal, but that was just the first step.
This newborn girl’s future was still as dark as the pitch-black night, shrouded in haze and difficult to discern.
The person before him wore a solemn expression, and a faint chill seemed to linger around them. Yin Zheng felt unaccountably nervous as she heard Pei Yunmeng ask in a cold voice, "How is the Princess Consort?"
As the oppressive pressure receded, Yin Zheng quietly sighed in relief, "The Princess Consort is fine, just a bit weak. Lord Pei can rest assured."
Without saying anything more, Yin Zheng quickly slipped back into the room. Lord Pei could be quite intimidating when he wasn’t smiling.
He did not leave but continued to wait at the door, quietly listening to the delicate cries of the baby inside. The sound was very faint, like a newborn kitten mewling softly, feebly stretching out its claws to scratch, yet it was filled with a strange vitality that was particularly touching in this night.
Guard Chi Jian approached Pei Yunmeng’s side, genuinely happy for him, but amidst his joy, there was a hint of uncertain hesitation. In a low tone, he reminded, "Master, can Doctor Lu be trusted?"
Chi Jian was present the night Duan Xiaoyan was detained by Lu Tong, and he had seen firsthand how this seemingly fragile and amiable female doctor stood her ground against Pei Yunmeng. Her mocking tone, her challenging gaze, and her unhesitating cunning in framing Duan Xiaoyan all made it difficult to believe she had no ulterior motives.
And now, the lives of Pei Yunshu and her daughter were in her hands, depending on her whimsy.
Pei Yunmeng gazed down in silence.
A moment later, he spoke indifferently, "I have no other choice."
Ever since he learned of Pei Yunshu’s pregnancy, he arranged for Fangzi to stay in her courtyard, and later, he sent Qiong Ying. The servants in Pei Yunshu’s courtyard were carefully screened, and their diet was rigorously checked every day without fail. Every few days, a new Medical Officer came to take her pulse, but despite these precautions, Pei Yunshu was still poisoned right under his watch.
The Medical Officers in the palace claimed to be highly skilled but failed even to detect the poison in Pei Yunshu; to trust them with finding an antidote would be laughable. He did not want to trust Lu Tong, this female doctor full of lies, not a single truth, capable of murder, framing, and falsification, yet he had to entrust his cherished one to her care.
Because right now, only Lu Tong could save them.
He was not one to pray to gods or worship Buddhas, and he especially scoffed at those who pleaded with the divine in their darkest moments of destiny, but at this moment, he prayed earnestly to the void, wishing to exchange the rest of his life for the peaceful safety of Pei Yunshu and her daughter lying sick in bed.
The pale moonlight veiled the delicate figure sitting by the bed like smoke and mist. Her voice was chilly and undisturbed, like the stones on the mountain peaks, like the flowers in the deep valleys, enduring the wind and the rain, a profound sediment in people’s hearts for a long time.
"When I treat and save people, I am just a doctor."
Just a doctor...
Pei Yunmeng’s eyes flickered slightly.
He could threaten Meng Xiyang, he could threaten Mu Sheng, but he couldn’t threaten a madwoman who was ready to perish with someone else. She was not to be threatened, only to be trusted.
There were very few in this world whom he trusted, but he hoped she was worth it.
Someone was approaching the courtyard—it was Guard Qingfeng. Qingfeng stood before Pei Yunmeng and reported in a low voice, "Master, Prince Wen has returned to the mansion and is extremely furious about your detaining his guard and Consort Meng. He is confronting the Imperial Guards at the courtyard entrance, demanding that you release them immediately."
Pei Yunmeng let out a scoff, his smile tinged with scorn.
In Minglin Garden, when he received the news, Mu Sheng was already slightly intoxicated. Pei Yunmeng excused himself from the Emperor, deliberately leaving Mu Sheng out. The Emperor, always finding a perverse interest in the subtle standoff between his subjects and their family matters in their mansions, did not intervene. His Imperial Guards encircled Pei Yunshu’s courtyard tightly, allowing no one from the Prince’s Mansion to come near.
Indeed, it was somewhat like a cuckoo taking over the nest.
However...
Such a useless man was actually clamoring before him.
The young man took a couple of steps forward, and the gentleness and calmness from beneath the window vanished in an instant, replaced by a chilling and stern aura as if he were a completely different person.
His voice was just as ruthless as he spoke calmly, "Tell him to back off, or else..."
"I will flay his beloved consort right in front of him."