Chapter IBMLS Ch.28 Newly Wed (2)
They dawdled for a long time without seeing Mu Mingtang, so finally, they held onto each other for support and mustered up the courage to go forth and knock on the door. However, when they actually reached the door, they felt their legs tremble and their hearts drop to their stomachs, and didn’t dare to knock. What if they woke up the violent beast inside? They could only call out Mu Mingtang’s name tentatively. Fortunately, she answered.
There was no doubt to the maidservants that she was still alive. As they quietly observed her, they found that she was even full of energy, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright. She didn’t look like she had been tortured all night.
She had slept beside the Prince of Qiyang. How could she not be afraid?
The maidservants didn’t know whether they were disappointed or relieved. Mu Mingtang noticed their gazes wandering to the inside of the room and laughed, generously stepping aside and offering, “Why don’t you come in and have a look?”
How could they dare? As soon as Mu Mingtang stepped aside, the two maidservants hurriedly withdrew, as if there were fierce beasts inside the room waiting to lunge out. One of the maidservants was so terrified that she tripped on her own skirt and fell with a loud thud.
At this moment, it seemed as though everything inside the pavilion had fallen with her; the maidservants glanced behind Mu Mingtang in alarm, trembled, and ran back in a panic. Mu Mingtang stared after them with a smile and deliberately shouted at their backs, “Don’t forget to get the dressing table for me!”
They didn’t look back. She curled her lips and sneered, “Cowards.”
Just as she was about to close the door, two rows of twelve soldiers, twenty-four total, arrived to deliver a simple meal. When they saw Mu Mingtang, they were visibly relieved. One soldier placed the meal boxes at the door and immediately said, “Princess, now that you have become the female master of this manor, it is not appropriate for us to enter the room. From now on, we will entrust the tasks of washing and feeding the prince to you.”
After he finished saying this, the group of soldiers turned around and left without giving her any time to ask questions. Looking at the speed of their retreat, it happened almost as quickly as their arrival.
Mu Mingtang sighed. She just wanted to know what was in today’s meal boxes. Since she was going to be eating with Xie Xuanchen from now on, she wanted to ask them to arrange some of her favorite dishes for her.
Sighing, she took the boxes and went back inside. She could tell from this interaction alone that her appearance had significantly brightened the moods of the people in the Qiyang Manor. At least, the soldiers who were in charge of delivering the meals no longer looked like they were being forced to serve their sworn enemy.
Just how afraid of Xie Xuanchen were they?
Looking at Xie Xuanchen’s face, she couldn’t understand why they were so afraid of him.
“He’s clearly just a good-looking pretty boy. What’s so terrible about that?” she mused, shaking her head. Then, she scooped a spoonful of porridge and gently blew on it.
When Granny Zhou fell ill in Chenliu, she couldn’t chew and had to consume liquid food every day. In order to make her eat more, Mu Mingtang changed her cooking methods and did a lot of research on congee.
As she blew on the congee that was prepared for Xie Xuanchen, she suddenly let out a cry. Leaning in, she carefully sniffed it again and then it tasted it for herself.
Sure enough, there was something in it. It seemed to be some kind of herbal medicine.
Naturally, she didn’t dare to feed Xie Xuanchen this. She stood up and took the congee outside, where she was immediately stopped by the captain of the soldiers. Without looking at her, he said coldly, “Princess, the emperor ordered that you must stay inside and care for the Prince of Qiyang. Everything else will be taken care of for you.”
This was not unexpected, and she wasn’t planning to leave anyway. She lifted the bowl and interrogated, “Why is there a strange smell coming from this congee? His Highness is severely ill; how dare you treat him like this?”
How could the captain dare to bear this accusation when even the emperor was afraid of it? He quickly stepped back and said, “This humble servant does not dare. The princess may not know that in the past year, the Prince of Qiyang began to refuse his medication, thus the imperial physicians had no choice but to mix it into his meals. He must take the medication every day without fail.”
“Oh?” Mu Mingtang looked down at the bowl and suddenly asked, “And what if he doesn’t?”