After the group had left, Old Madam could not sleep anymore. Draping a robe, she sat crossed legs on the soft couch and chanted the scriptures.
Lin Shi and Yu Miao Qi also stayed behind to wait for news. The flickering flames of the candles stretched and shortened by the gust of wind where the silhouettes projected on the wall turned denser/lighter every now and then, seemingly making the room filled with demons and spirit as it enshrouded with ominous gloominess.
Opening her eyes to look at the sky, many wrinkles appeared on Old Madam's face.
Feeling extremely flustered, Lin Shi she opened her mouth stammeringly, "Mother, do tell why His Highness Crown Prince looks for them in the middle of the night? It's fine to ask for Yan'er but why even Xiang'er was called away too? Is there a major event or is the Crown Princess not going to make it?"
Glaring at her fixedly, Old Madam snapped at her, "Shut up and wait for the children to come back."
The tips of Yu Miao Qi's eyebrows twitched slightly. Guessing something might most likely happened to the Crown Princess that also implicated Yu Xiang, otherwise she would not be called away in the middle of the night. Could it be poisoning again?
Thinking about this, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and gradually smiled.
**********
Yu Pin Yan and Yu Xiang were led by the imperial guards directly to the entrance of the Crown Princess' outer room, where many people stood waiting at the door - several side consorts (concubines) of the Crown Prince, the three sisters of the Min family, Ninth Princess and the Crown Prince, all of whom wore faces of either genuine or sham anxiety.
"Yi Feng, you are here." The Crown Prince quickly greeted and patted the top of Yu Xiang's hair as he spoke warmly, "Xiang'er, the Crown Princess has been saying she wants to see you during her illness, otherwise I wouldn't have summoned you here in the middle of the night. You just go in and accompany the Crown Princess after the imperial physician comes out."
Yu Xiang nodded in agreement. Yu Pin Yan placed his younger sister in the wheelchair and handed her over to the Ninth Princess who had just rushed over. As they walked to the side, he asked the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, what has happened?"
"The Crown Princess has been poisoned..."
Both of them avoided the ladies and found a secluded corner to talk, but merely this brief sentence was enough to shock Yu Xiang: The Crown Princess has been poisoned? What kind of poison? Where is it? And why was I brought here in the middle of the night? Is it really the order of the Crown Princess and not the suspicion of the Crown Prince?
Dense cold sweat broke out on Yu Xiang's forehead when she thought of the exorcism potted plant that she gave to the Crown Princess today.
The Ninth Princess was blissfully ignorant of this matter while Consort Xu and others were silent but Min Lan rushed forward all of a sudden and ruthlessly threw her a slap, "You poisonous woman. My sister treated you so kindly yet you actually plotted to kill her! If anything happens to her, I want you to be buried alive with her!"
Yu Xiang would not have just sat there and taken the beating for nothing. She blocked it with her quick eyes and deft hands then lashed back with the horsewhip.
Instead of beating someone up, Min Lan's neck was left with a bright red gash that looked like her throat had been slit from a distance. She was so furious that she stretched out her sharp nails wanting to scratch Yu Xiang's beautiful bare face. Her hatred of Yu Xiang stemmed not only from her sharp words nor her overbearing arrogance but also from this unparalleled beautiful face. It's said that there is contempt and despise amongst beautiful ladies but when it comes to jealousy, Min Lan topped them all.
Min Song and Min Zhi could not hold her back while the Ninth Princess tried to stand in front of her good friend but was brushed aside. Yu Xiang successively lashed out several whips and this time, she was not gracious anymore as every whip was greeted by Min Lan's face.
How could Min Lan still have the intention to strangle anyone, she hastily covered her head and dodged.
The scene was somewhat out of control for a while. Consort Xu was about to step forward to stop them when Yu Xiang halted first and sneered, "The imperial physician is still diagnosing inside. What intention are you harboring by kicking up this ruckus? Are you trying to disturb the imperial physician? If you have something to say, say it properly and don't get physical?"
In terms of getting physical, who could be more physical than her? Even with her legs broken, Yu Xiang is an existence that cannot be messed with. After Min Lan had calmed down, she rubbed her bruised arms and whispered accusingly, "Don't pretend Yu Xiang. If it wasn't for the poisonous potted plant that you sent over, how would my sister bleed non-stop?"
"Where was it bleeding?" Yu Xiang asked calmly. With her elder brother's protection, she is not afraid at all.
"Nosebleed. She has been bleeding for several hours with rolling headaches while still holding to your potted plant and refusing to let it go." The Ninth Princess was about to burst into tears as this was the first time she saw such a terrible sight.
Yu Xiang was silent for a moment before she spoke slowly again, "I have been growing that potted plant for more than three years. Although it has a peculiar smell, it is only to repel mosquitoes. If it is poisonous, hundreds of people in Yu manor would have died. Furthermore, why would I want to harm the Crown Princess? What gain is there for me?"
Min Lan snickered immediately, "No gain? Your gain is huge. You have long coveted the Crown Princess' s position of my Elder Sister. Won't you be able to take her place after getting rid of her?"
Contemptuousness revealed in Yu Xiang's eyes, "I'm a disabled person. Not mentioning becoming the Crown Princess, no ordinary family would be willing to even marry me. The Capital is filled with noble ladies standing in rows for selection while the Emperor and the Crown Prince will absolutely not pick me, for which I myself acknowledge. So, don't judge me with what you have in your own mind, my heart is not as lofty as yours!"
These words were too reasonable to refute and the last sentence was the most embarrassing as it simply hit the mark.
Inside the room, the Crown Princess' moans suddenly stopped and not knowing if it had affected her heartstring. Everyone glanced at Min Lan successively with eyes filled with profound meaning. Face flushed, Min Lan pointed at Yu Xiang with trembling fingers while her lips quivered without uttering a sound. Moreover, the Crown Prince and Yu Pin Yan were standing just three meters away at some point, looking askance at them with cold and stern countenance.
"Your Elder Sister is severely ill inside the room yet you outrageously make a scene outside? Get out of here!"
The usually gentle and refined Crown Prince's face sank abruptly and was truly terrifying. Eyes brimming with tears and looking like 'an infatuated woman meeting a heartless man', Min Lan looked up at the Crown Prince's handsome face and whispered pitifully, "Your Highness, why are you treating me like this..."
As the scene was too tragic to look at, Yu Xiang turned her face away while the eyes of the several side consorts revealed contempt. Min Song and Min Zhi felt extremely embarrassed that they wanted to bury their heads in their arms.
The Crown Princess suddenly screamed inside the room in which her high voice filled with intense fear that terrified everyone. Yu Pin Yan hurriedly bent down to press his younger sister's cheek into his bosom and gently patted her back as he comforted, "Don't be afraid, Xiang'er. Elder Brother is here and won't let anyone hurt you." He then kept her earlobe in his mouth and emphasized in a low voice, "Not even the Emperor himself."
Yu Xiang's stiff body slowly relaxed. Scratching her numbed earlobe, she raised her face and smiled sweetly to her elder brother. Yu Pin Yan rubbed her full red lips quickly then straightened his back and looked at the sudden opened door.
They merely saw the imperial physician wiping his sweaty forehead as he stepped over the threshold and bowed to report, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess is out of harm's way."
Before the Crown Prince could open his mouth, Consort Xu and Min Lan cried out in unison, "What? Out of harm's way? Isn't she dead? Are you sure you're right?"
There was a strong sense of disappointment hidden in their words that everyone present could distinguish as long as they were not deaf. The Crown Prince's joyous expression unexpectedly sank when a loud noise of smashing cups resounded in the room.
The imperial physician glanced at them indifferently, nodded and said, "Yes, the Crown Princess was not poisoned. She is safe now and there's also no more worries about her life in the future. Your Highness, please come in as this humble official will tell you in detail."
The Crown Prince immediately followed him inside. Yu Xiang craned her neck to look, her heart felt uncomfortable like cat scratch.
Grabbing her jaw, Yu Pin Yan turned her face away and whispered, "Don't look around. Elder Brother will tell you what you want to know. The Crown Princess is able to be safe and sound should be related to the potted plant you sent."
The burning candles illuminated all corners of the room brightly. Lots of blood-soaked cotton wads were scattered on the ground while the air was suffused with the sweet scent of blood which was not uncomfortable at all. The Crown Princess was half lying on the bed, the lapel of her clothes soaked with lots of nosebleed while her face was paler than before yet the lacklustre in her eyes had vanished completely.
"Zhen'er, are you really all right?" They are after all a pair of young couples and the Crown Princess' importance is irreplaceable in the Crown Prince's heart. At this moment, he almost burst into tears with excitement seeing her bright dazzling eyes.
The Crown Princess was crying openly with large droplets of tears trickling down and soon dampened the lapels of her clothes.
Not caring about the blood stains on her body, the Crown Prince gathered her into the crooks of his arms and looked at her earnestly as if he couldn't get enough of her. The imperial physician listened to the couple with his head hung low and only came forward with a small teacup after they had finished expressing their feelings.
Withdrawing immediately from the Crown Prince's embrace, the Crown Princess held firmly to the small potted plant sent by Yu Xiang within her bosom, blocking the small teacup as if it had imprisoned an evil spirit that would pounce on her once the lid is lifted.
The Crown Prince was puzzled. When he looked inside the teacup, he immediately got goosebumps all over his body. He saw an eight-inch thumb-sized black leech at the bottom of the porcelain-white teacup, humping and sniffing around the wall of the cup with its pointy thin head as it couldn't find any source of blood to suck.
Even the imperial physician felt extremely disgusting looking at it and slammed the lid of the teacup to cover it as he spoke slowly, "Your Highness, this leech had crawled out of the Crown Princess' nostril. Looking at its size, it must have been living for more than half a year in her body. After Niang-niang[1] gave birth, her vital energy was greatly damaged and due to insufficient feeding of blood, this leech which was found in the nasal cavity burrowed itself in her brain and it's the culprit of her incurable serious illness. Now that the leech has been drawn out, all she needs is to take some nourishing tonic and will recover in about two to three months time."
The Crown Prince was stunned hearing this and as if struck by lightning, he asked alarmingly, "Leeches only live in the sewage and muddy area while the Crown Princess had never been near to any of these filthy places, so how did the leech get into her brain?"
Stumped by the question, the imperial physician was humming and hawing for a long while without any answer.
With a sudden smirk, the heartfelt joy that the Crown Prince felt was replaced by monstrous anger. This was not contracted by the Crown Princess herself but precisely the work of a vicious manipulator. Such an insidious method was simply unheard of. And the person who was able to implant such an evil creature into the nasal cavity without the Crown Princess' knowledge must be someone close to her.
If this leech had not been flushed out by the nosebleed, how long would the perpetrator hide and how many more people would have been secretly harmed by this method? Pondering it deeply, the Crown Prince could only feel an absolute terror.
The imperial physician had never seen such an enraged Crown Prince before yet he could not help but feel anxious as he expedited his speech and explained, "Reporting to Your Highness, the reason the Crown Princess could turn adversity to safety was because of this small plant. This is worthy to be called a blessing. Once the leech enters the brain, there's probably no cure in this world except for this small plant. Incidentally, this miraculous medicine was sent to Niang-niang during the most critical moment which proved that Your Highness and Niang-niang are blessed with profound godsend fortune."
Turning his head, the Crown Prince looked at the potted plant with astonished gaze.
Looking like someone who had survived a catastrophe, the Crown Princess hugged the potted plant tightly. Xiang'er is indeed Bengong[2]'s lucky star. Bengong can eventually turn adversity into safety as long as Xiang'er is summoned to my side - since the smooth birth of the dragon and phoenix twins and catching sight of the Taoist ray that shone on all things when this thought took root in the mind of the Crown Princess.
[1] 娘娘 (Niáng-niáng) - an honorific address that generally used for royalty and noble women such as queens, imperial concubines, princesses and also for goddesses.
[2] Běngōng (本宮) - I, the one who owns this palace. Such as the queen will call herself 'the palace', and the princess with the official title can also call herself 'the palace'.