When he saw that the medicinal soup was all consumed, Lin Shiheng seemed to be relieved to have completed some task, and placed the medicine bowl to one side. He clapped his hands, “I have to ask my Emperor Brother what kind of eunuch doctor was sent here. One moment he said he wanted to treat it this way and the next he said he wanted to treat that way. He also said that he was better at medicine than even the court’s Imperial Doctor.”
He snorted coldly, without concealing it from the people serving in the room, “Princess doesn’t know, right? Yesterday, that Doctor Cui said you needed the flesh of your biological relatives for the medication, and your unruly third sister volunteered to do it. I admired her courage so much that I drew my sword and intended to remove the flesh myself, but before I could do so, that Doctor Cui popped up from somewhere, saying that there was no need for the medicine, and that it would be better to treat it directly.”
Mu Qingling paused as she wiped her mouth with her handkerchief, “Does Your Highness mean Doctor Cui, Cui Mu?”
If she remembered correctly, he was a cousin of the Old Madam’s maiden’s family and had stayed at the residence for some time when she was a child. Mu Qingling had met him once. His affection for Mu Qingrong was clearly written on his face, but Mu Qingrong had always ignored him.
Later, when the Old Madam got sick and he got older, he moved out of Marquis’s Residence. She heard that he later became an Imperial Doctor and was once praised by the Emperor for his excellent medical skills.
Now that Cui Mu had misdiagnosed and Mu Qingrong was involved, it was hard not to make Mu Qingling wonder about it a little more.
“That’s him. He’s a real troublemaker.”
Lin Shiheng snorted once again, “In all my life, I’ve never seen an Imperial Doctor from the Imperial Hospital misdiagnose. What the hell is going on here? Today, I had a good idea and sent the prescription he gave me to the court’s Imperial Doctor to see, and guess what the Imperial Doctor said?”
“He said that the prescription wasn’t for the deficiency that Cui Mu said, but for an antidote to a poison, which Cui Mu hadn’t mentioned to this Prince.”
Mu Qingling’s hands gripped the handkerchief tightly, “Antidote to a poison?”“Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you, Princess. You were poisoned, and the court’s Imperial Doctor said that the poison had to be consumed for 3 consecutive days to take effect. Placing something in someone’s mouth isn’t easy, so I thought that it would be someone serving you.”
Prince Linjiang enthusiastically suggested, “Why don’t we just throw them all out for a beating, and keep beating them until they admit it? “
When he said so, the maids in the room all stood stiff. Who would want to be beaten for no reason? Moreover, according to the Prince’s words, if the one who had poisoned people didn’t admit it, they would have to be beaten continuously, until they were beaten to death.
Although the maids were afraid to make a sound or move, their eyes were quietly glanced at Mu Qingling, expecting her to say no.
Luckily, although Mu Qingling’s expression was a bit uneasy, she still managed to squeeze out a smile at Lin Shiheng, “They are all the people serving beside me, beating them indiscriminately wouldn’t be a good idea. It’s better for me to investigate it first, then make a decision.”
“All right. If you can’t solve the problem, you can just beat them all and sell them. Servants are abundant and those who turn their backs on their masters shouldn’t be kept around.”
Lin Shiheng’s attitude was so natural, too. He was the Prince of Linjiang, had grown up with a golden spoon since childhood, and had been pampered by the Emperor, his brother. Naturally, he could do whatever he wanted, and wouldn’t care about a couple of servants.
Mu Qingling spontaneously made a mental speculation about his behavior, and the uncomfortable feeling in her heart diminished a lot.
She still trusted the girls she grew up with, and she had someone in mind who could drug her. Mu Qingling was just waiting for a chance to interrogate her.
So, she obediently responded...
“Yes, this consort will listen to Your Highness.”
“Well, then, I’ll take my leave.”
Lin Shiheng got up, patted the dust that didn’t exist, and strode toward the door.
In the eyes of the people that served them, his image had now been elevated to ‘the King of Hell’. Seeing him walking towards the door, a group of maids who were afraid to let out their breath quietly sighed in relief. When they were about to move their bodies a little to stretch their stiffness, they suddenly saw that Prince Linjiang, who was dressed in luxurious clothes, suddenly turned back again.
His eyes were locked on a maid who was slightly bowing her head and standing respectfully by the curtain.
“You’re a good-looking girl, but are you with the Princess Consort? What’s your name?”
Yesterday, when he took a fancy to Pu Tao, this girl was standing outside the door and saw the whole thing. Now, hearing the exact same words from him, the first reaction in her heart wasn’t the joy of being taken a fancy to the Prince, but Pu Tao’s image of being dragged out in a mess and beaten with fifty strokes flashed in her mind.
She was practically cowering as she knelt on the floor, her head rigidly bowed and not daring to lift it, “This maid... this maid is Shui Xiu.”
“Shui Xiu?”
Lin Shiheng nodded as he repeated. He examined her up and down, with a look of satisfaction on his face, “As your name implies, you look really pretty and charming.”
(TNote: Shui Xiu [tK^] = water sleeve/ flowing sleeves (part of theatrical costume))
The girl trembled even more.
If she remembered correctly, the Prince had said the same thing to Pu Tao yesterday.
If there had been no previous incident with Pu Tao, she would have been delighted to be favored by the Prince.
But remembering the fifty strikes...
The man above was still puzzled when he asked, “Why are you shivering? Is it cold?”
Shui Xiu shuddered fearfully, “This maid ... isn’t cold.”
“Such a beauty, it’s a pity for you to be a maid. Would you like to serve this Prince? How about if I give you a side consort title later? “
Lin Shiheng personally bent down and helped Shui Xiu up, speaking to her in a warm tone, “Don’t kneel. My heart aches when I see a beauty like you kneeling on this cold ground. Come, lift up your head and let this Prince take a good look at this face of yours.”
The more tender and affectionate he was, the more it reminded Shui Xiu that he had been the same way with Pu Tao yesterday.
And then, she remembered the commoner girl who was forcibly taken back and thrown out...
Although she was good looking, she wasn’t specifically groomed to be a concubine. The Princess Consort was kind and had promised to release the maids who had families outside in another 2 years, and offered them a dowry.
It would be more realistic for her to go out and marry as a proper bride than the unpredictable and capricious Prince, who could impose a punishment at any time.
Shui Xiu made a decision in her heart and raised her head with a pale face, “Your... Your Highness, this maid is only a second-class maid, I’m afraid I don’t have the blessing to serve you, Your Highness.”
“Not serving?”
Lin Shiheng instantly changed his expression, disgustedly letting go of his hand and patting the dust on his body, “If you don’t want to serve, you should have said so earlier. You’re wasting this Prince’s time.”
“Don’t even bother standing back up.”
Shui Xiu, as if she had been pardoned, quickly retreated with her head bowed, not daring to breathe.
And Lin Shiheng, as if the man with the compassionate face before wasn’t him, looked her up and down a few times with great disgust and turned his head to Mu Qingling, who was quietly watching everything from the bed, and complained.
“Princess, look at all the people around you.”
“The ugly ones keep picking on me, and the good-looking ones don’t want to serve.”
As the mistress of the household, Mu Qingling skillfully and quickly took all the blame for the blunder, “Your Highness is right When I’m better, I’ll choose some beauties to serve Your Highness.”
She had very low requirements now. As long as he didn’t forcibly snatch a woman and break the law by forcing her, she could accept however many he wanted in his harem.
“Forget it, this Prince prefers to do his own pursuing.”
Lin Shiheng regretfully shook his head, “But it is indeed time for your chamber to be tidied up.”
“Look at the maids around you. Apart from this Shui Xiu that I had taken a fancy to just now, the others are simply too ugly. And that Pu Tao... each one more abnormal than the other.”
Mu Qingling bewilderedly blinked, looked around at the worst of the maids in her room, and hesitated for a few seconds, “Your Highness is right.”
Lin Shiheng then shrugged his sleeves in satisfaction and went out the door, sighing as he did so.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’m very irritated today.”
“Servants, have you finished beating her? Add ten strikes!”
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