The Crown Prince touched the coral-like vermilion tree and asked, "What is this?"
The imperial physician bowed and replied, "Reporting to the Crown Prince, this tree is called 'Worm-devourer', not because it devours insects or others rather it discharges the scent that drives away snakes, insects, mice and ants. The tree originally grew in Nanyang (south sea), a place filled with poisonous insects and pests which is a necessity for the Nanyang merchants. Due to its fragile stem, it's difficult to cultivate and has long gone extinct. Since the Crown Princess inhaled a lot of the tree's discharged scent, the leech was unable to bear it and had to crawl out from the nostril to find another place for survival. It was also the prompt arrival of this tree, as once the leech remained in the brain for another half a month, perhaps..."
Realizing he had spoken wrongly, the imperial physician hastily remedied the situation, "Niang-niang[1] is indeed worthy of Heaven's help. This humble official will write a few prescriptions that replenish blood and nourish the qi (energy spirit) then all will be fine after a few months of meticulous care."
"Very good, bring the paper and pen over." The Crown Prince waved his sleeve to Song Momo who was standing at the corner.
Song Momo immediately handed over the paper and pen, her fingers were still trembling which evidently traumatized to a great extent. Leaning closer to the Crown Princess' bosom, the Crown Prince carefully sniffed the small vermilion tree then raised his face and asked the Crown Princess, "Zhen'er sees if Gu[2] have a nosebleed?"
The Crown Princess was amused by him. Stroking his temple gently, she softly said, "No, the Crown Prince is the true bloodline of the dragon, so how can the evil spirits and demons get close to you."
Eyes darkened, the Crown Prince sighed, "What true bloodline of the dragon, this is just a body of flesh and blood. If Xiang'er hadn't sent this by chance, who would have thought a small worm could take a person's life without anyone knowing."
"Precisely. Xiang'er is really Chenqie[3] little lucky star while Chenqie has really treated her shabbily to have her coming over and getting traumatized despite her disability."
"You'll make it up for her properly in the future then." Tugging the messy hair on the side of the Crown Princess' cheek behind her ears and seeing that the imperial physician had written down those prescriptions, the Crown Prince whispered, "This is a freaky insidious matter which Yi Feng and I will not leave any stones unturned. So, you should set your mind at ease and I will leave first."
As the Crown Princess wanted to catch the perpetrator as soon as possible too, she didn't urge him to stay.
Once the Crown Prince got out of the room, he hinted to Yu Pin Yan then exhorted a few words to the womenfolk who were waiting outside, "The Crown Princess is physically listless. Just go in for a short while then go back and don't disturb too much."
The two of them went straight to the study and the imperial physician followed closely with a teacup in his hand.
The crowd of womenfolk responded with a yes then sent both the Crown Prince and Commander Yu off with submissive respect before entering the room for visitation. Min Lan scrambled to precede which caused Consort Xu to stumble severely while she was crossing the threshold and instantly breached her composed expression, betraying her deep sense of panic.
After Song Momo and two court ladies had greeted them, Song Momo bent to lift Yu Xiang's wheelchair over the threshold and tearfully whispered her thanks causing Yu Xiang to look inexplicably at her for a moment.
The Crown Princess had already changed into a clean white underclothes and the cotton wads on the ground had also been cleared up. The windows on all sides were opened and the cold wind that constantly breezed in disperse the scent of the small vermillion tree everywhere. Such a scene was truly tranquil and pleasant. Moreover, looking at the piercingly bright subtle eyes of the Crown Princess, there wasn't the least bit of dying appearance.
Min Lan couldn't hide what was weighing in her mind and the arc at the corners of her mouth were as stiff as it could be. Instead it was Consort Xu who quickened her steps forward to serve the Crown Princess with the consumption of her medicine while the word 'joyous' was written on every smiling line on her face.
The Crown Princess' sharp knife-like gaze swept across everyone's faces before waving her hand and heaved a sigh, "Bengong[4] is tired. Only Little Jiu and Xiang'er stay while the rest of you can leave. Appreciate your visitation in the middle of the night. Bengong will call upon and thank-you personally after Bengong gets better in the future."
Responding with 'they don't deserve', everyone filed out once they had curtsied and the Crown Princess' cold expression immediately eased up. She smiled then beckoned the two little girls, "Come over. Were you frightened today?"
"Almost scared to death!" Answering in unison, these two truly deserve to be sisters for many years that even their action of stroking their chests were just the same.
The Crown Princess' state of mind became even more relaxed. After experiencing such a sinister scheme, she loves the simple Ninth Princess and the candid Yu Xiang to the marrow of her bones. She then beckoned Song Momo to bring two bowls of bird's nests soup to help them get over their shock.
The pale cheeks of these two little girls slowly blushed up and their tightly knitted brows relaxed after they consumed the sweet bird's nests soup. The Ninth Princess then asked without any evasiveness, "Sister-in-Law, what kind of illness have you contracted? Have you really recovered?"
"It was only a slight ailment. Naturally well since the lesion has now been removed and it's all thanks to the 'Worm-devourer' sent by Xiang'er." The Crown Princess patted the top of Yu Xiang's soft hair.
"Worm-devourer? What's that?" Yu Xiang blinked her big eyes.
"There. That's the 'Worm-devourer' that people in Nanyang call it. It's a rare treasure in the world that can expel sickness and evil spirits." The Crown Princess pointed to the potted plant beside the bed.
With a sudden realization of what had happened, Yu Xiang nodded her head yet her face was neither complacent nor regretful which drew a soft smile from the Crown Princess.
Placing the bowl down, the Ninth Princess reached out for the potted plant which hastened the Crown Princess to help her. Even Song Momo and two palace maids raised their hands vainly towards the bottom of the pot too lest she accidentally dropped the treasure.
As someone who is ignorant, the Ninth Princess clumsily turned the potted plant around and asked with a drool, "It smells so good, can it be eaten?"
"Not edible." The Crown Princess covered her mouth and laughed lightly.
Yu Xiang sighed, "If I had known this thing was so good, I shouldn't have undercut the sea merchant's price when he sold it to me. I bought a packet of seeds for only two taels and even though only one pot has grown, it still seemed I have seized a huge bargain."
Seemingly realizing she had actually given such a cheap gift and even revealing it in front of the host, she coughed in embarrassment while her round eyes darted to the Crown Princess' face.
The Crown Princess likes the frankness and straightforwardness of Yu Xiang. Moreover, a gift was just a heartfelt token, instead she would not have known how to deal with it if the gift was too valuable. Although this potted plant merely cost two taels, it has redeemed her life back and this favor is enough for her to remember for the rest of her life. So, she laughed and said, "It is not you who seized the huge bargain but Bengong. In the future, Bengong will send you any novel plants or seeds that Bengong gets."
Yu Xiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and about to decline when the loud sound of babies' crying came through the cubicle. Having just avoided the calamity of death, the Crown Princess was at her most emotionally vulnerable state hence she asked Song Momo to bring the two children to her immediately.
The little imperial grandchildren's features have grown out and their fleshy bodies are all soft and tender like the joints of a lotus root, appearing absolutely adorable. The Crown Princess held one in each arm and kept calling them her darling. When she thought of herself being harmed and almost separated forever from her husband and children, her tears could not stop trickling down.
Seemingly sensing something, the two babies' cries gradually diminished and started babbling while patting their mother's face lightly with their chubby little hands.
"Niang-niang, please don't cry, even the little imperial grandchildren are comforting you." Song Momo handed her a handkerchief.
Returning the babies to their wet nurses, the Crown Princess took the handkerchief and wiped her tears. Seeing both the Ninth Princess and Yu Xiang stared unblinkingly at the pair of babies, she couldn't help smiling and asked, "Want to carry them? Let the wet nurses teach you how to hold a child as both of you are just about there in two more years."
The Crown Princess would never banter like this if they are not someone close. Yu Xiang and the Ninth Princess, however, did not blush at all as they stretched their hands out in unison and stared at the wet nurses with bated breath. The wet nurses, as if on the brink, explained in detail the correct posture to hold a child while carefully placing the little imperial grandchildren into their arms.
Tired of crying, the babies fell into dreamland with glistening tears still stuck at the corners of their eyes. From time to time, their mouths would move, making savoring smacking noises and their cute appearance melts everyone's heart.
Yu Xiang was reluctant to let go as soon as she got started. She hung her head and gently rubbed the tip of her nose on the imperial grandson's plump cheeks that still smelled of the sweet milk scent while her mouth kept mouthing the word precious darling. When she intended to nibble him, she saw a tiny black thread poking out of the little imperial grandson's nostril. She reached her hand out to pinch and asked in surprise, "Niang-niang, how did little imperial grandson inhale a piece of thread in his nostril? Should we ask the imperial physician over to take a look?"
On the other side, the Ninth Princess also said, "Little niece has it in her nose too."
The faces of the Crown Princess and Song Momo turned ghastly pale as if they had been struck by lightning and froze for a moment.
Yu Xiang, however, was hit even harder than both of them because she had twisted the piece of thread between her index finger and thumb before finding out it was squirming slightly while the thin end was sniffing and licking at her fingertips as if looking for a good place to take a bite.
How could this be a thread, it was actually a leech looking for a source of blood. Yu Xiang feared neither heaven nor earth but the thing that she feared the most in her two lifetimes was bugs. She felt her soul had already left her body: Holding the little imperial grandson steadily, she calmly spoke, "Niang-niang, this doesn't seem to be a thread, it's a leech which has crawled into the little imperial grandson's nostril."
The soul, however, was frantically scratching its hair and shrieked shrilly, 'It's a leech! How could a leech crawl into a human body? This is too horrible. Elder Brother, come and help!'
Just when she thought she was turning into a stone statue, Song Momo used a needle to pick away the leech that stuck on her finger and put it into a teacup, she then lifted the lower hem of her skirt and rushed out of the room, shouting all the way, "Imperial physician, where's the imperial physician? Get the imperial physician over here quickly!"
The Ninth Princess was confused but the Crown Princess had already snatched the baby into her bosom and wrapped her tightly in a quilt before breaking down and bursting in tears. The room was in chaos for a moment. The Crown Prince came hurriedly over and asked the two little girls to leave the room then ordered the imperial physician to carefully check on the babies. He even moved the potted plant closer to the children's heads with a gentle and loving expression at times then hideous and frightful next, no one actually knew what was going through his mind.
The first thing Yu Xiang did once she was out of the room was having a court lady bring a basin of water and rubbed her fingers vigorously, but the sticky and slimy sensation of the squirming worm could not be washed away no matter how. An inexplicable itchiness that had no way to be scratched then crawled up her skin, burning her heart and lungs.
The Ninth Princess refused to leave and stood guarded outside the room door. The court lady instead took Young Miss Yu to the side hall to wait as ordered by the Crown Prince. Yu Xiang, however, did not dare to stay any longer in the residence as she kept feeling worms crawling all over the place and trying to burrow into her flesh at the drop of a hat. She ordered someone to carry her out of the residence where Tao Hong and Liu Lu were waiting, who then hurriedly carried her into the carriage and covered her with a thin quilt seeing her trembling incessantly.
What Yu Pin Yan saw when he boarded the carriage was a disheveled haired girl with disarray clothes and covered in cold sweat out of fright while a strong gush of flower scent assaulted his senses the moment the carriage curtain was lifted making his eyes covetous, heart palpitated and mouth parched.