XH 279 - May I visit the beautiful Madam Heng?
Without needing her tea brewing expertise, Xiao Hua lingered around the treatment area, helping out Doctor Bai with easy things that did not require differentiating them by colors.
Xiao Hua had learned her lesson to do things within her capacity after wrongly guessing between blood and yellow pus. It was her nose that told her the mistake before she did something wrong, but that little mistake was enough reason for Doctor Bai to throw his daughter to be in charge of medical restocking duties.
Doing menial tasks usually start to have Le Xiao Ting's mind wandering around, including now.
Xiao Hua was just thinking about her shop in Lucky Rock town when Duan XiYing told her that Prince Heng requested an audience with her.
"I'm free!" She quickly agreed and tossed the job to another.
Prince Heng invited her to a nearby restaurant and requested a private room where the waiter served high-quality tea and cold snacks to reduce their heat after long hours of working under the sun.
Due to their high profiles, they had their guards positioned around the restaurant, making other customers feel uncomfortable but also curious about their identity.
Xiao Hua used to only bring Da Bei and Duan XiYing when traveling around, but now that she was a princess consort, her bodyguards doubled in numbers. Da An was now officially assigned as her bodyguard, who was happy to be with Da Bei.
Another additional guard was surprisingly a middle-aged man with a long, straight, black beard that he often caressed. His name was San Sheng and also Da Liu's mentor. Due to his age, he wanted to resign and settle down to be the manor's guard, but Long Zhu found it to be a waste of talent and changed him to escort Xiao Hua instead.
Despite their unthreatening appearance, the strength of Xiao Hua's four guards was enough to crush a small army.
Prince Heng was dressed in a clean and wrinkleless attire with his hair combed back neatly. But his handsome face was haggard in exhaustion with dark eye bags. His complexion alone told Xiao Hua this meeting would not be simple.
"Princess, I would like to purchase a pot of your tea."
"Sure. We can do the exchange as we used to." Xiao Hua has no complaints with the extra income. "I hope my tea will make you feel better, at least. I heard you are handling many tasks."
"I'm happy to help our Kingdom. However, the tea would not be used on me, but my wife."
Xiao Hua's heart skipped. "Madame Heng?"
Towards Wan Ting, her lookalike, Xiao Hua only felt awkwardness and did not wish to think too much of it. She had originally thought that Wan Ting would end up being the hero's concubine or tragic cannon fodder, being the hero's massive fangirl and all.
She does not even remember if Wan Ting was mentioned in the novel, as there were countless female cannon fodder that tried to seduce the Second Prince.
To think she would get married to Prince Heng, it was an amazing feat! Xiao Hua sincerely hoped they got married in the name of love and not for any political reason.
But what really bugged Xiao Hua was the matter of her moral integrity.
She felt as if she was fantasizing Le Xiao Ting and Prince Heng together if she saw them standing side by side, being lovey-dovey, or imagining what happened behind closed doors… cough.
This young lady never claimed to be pure-minded! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
"My wife became ill after working hard in concocting pills for the front liners."
"What a kind and praiseworthy lady," Xiao Hua admired. "What did the doctor say about her ailment?"
"The doctor said she was overworked, but I prefer she gets well quickly to ease the burden from her body." Prince Heng’s eyes did not hide his concern and affection for his wife, which answered Xiao Hua’s question of his side on the reason for his marriage.
"I see. Then, Prince Heng, I will immediately brew the tea in your residence," Xiao Hua immediately decided.
Prince Heng was taken aback by her sudden decision. "There is no need for the trouble, Princess."
"I insist. I would also like to meet Madame Heng. I heard she is a beauty, so please allow me to satisfy my curiosity."
Prince Heng arched an eyebrow, knowing that Xiao Hua had another reason for insisting on meeting his wife. But he did not look deeper into it because he knew Xiao Hua had a harmless reason, unlike those ladies that aimed to harm his wife in the name of jealousy.
"Thank you, Princess Consort. In return, please choose one of the shop deeds under my name. I heard you are looking for one?"
"Oh? Did you plant a spy in my backyard, Prince Heng? How scandalous."
Prince Heng silently laughed at Xiao Hua's bold words. He was more comfortable with this version of Xiao Hua than the polite one, which only made him feel as if she will be setting traps for him to fall in. He was confident in his intelligence and had avoided any traps by other intelligence officials, but Xiao Hua was quite unpredictable in her thoughts that it will need more brainpower to guess her thoughts.
"It is your husband that spoke offhandedly to me. It is just my guess you wish to open a shop in the capital?" Prince Heng had also known of her little shop in Lucky Town.
Xiao Hua nodded. "You are right. It is certainly something I'm pondering over. But this matter could be discussed later. Please just consider the tea to be my meeting gift for your beautiful wife."
A little wary of Xiao Hua’s fixation on his wife’s beauty, Prince Heng wondered if the rumors of Xiao Hua liking to watch beauties were true. But the Third Prince’s beautiful looks would certainly make everyone believe the rumor to be the truth.
Prince Heng: Do I need to guard my wife against the spicy chili?
Actually, Xiao Hua would only generously praise someone that she had only glanced at once as beauty only because it was Le Xiao Ting's face! Who would be a fool to call themselves ugly out loud?
No one other than Heise and her husband knew the truth that she was praising herself anyway!
With that decided, they went to Prince Heng's residence, which was also Xiao Hua's first visit.
When Xiao Hua stepped down from her carriage, a very familiar-looking lady welcomed them. She nearly tripped over her own legs if not for Duan XiYing's timely support.
"Third Princess Consort, this is my mother-in-law, Madam Wan." In just one sentence, he informed both parties of each other's identity.
However, even without Prince Heng's introduction, Xiao Hua would have guessed who this lady was. She has the same face as Le Xiao Ting's mother, except that she was younger with more flesh on her body which gave her a healthier-looking appearance.
Xiao Hua tightened her grip on Duan XiYing's hand, searching for comfort and strength to pass this heart-aching ordeal.
She had lost count of how many times she had woken up crying from her dream of her mother. Slowly, time helped her to ease the pain and longing but seeing the familiar face ripped off the band-aid over her beginning to heal her heart.
"Greetings to the Third Princess Consort," Madam Wan politely saluted and her words quickly had Xiao Hua tidy up her expression.
Only Prince Heng, Duan XiYing, and Da Bei caught her momentarily vulnerable expression as she gazed at Madam Wan's face.
"I heard Madame Heng is a beauty, but seeing Madam Wan, the rumor had not been exaggerated."
Madam Wan was certainly happy hearing the praise, as her daughter looked more like her than her husband. "This old lady dared not to accept Your Highness' high praise."
"I only spoke the truth." Xiao Hua smiled. "May I visit the beautiful Madam Heng?"
Prince Heng laughed and escorted Xiao Hua towards the room where his wife was resting. He knew that his mother-in-law would think too much with Xiao Hua's words.
Just as Prince Heng predicted, Madam Wan was cautious and worried that her daughter had a new love rival, but the rival was actually the newlywed wife of the Third Prince? Madam Wan did not dare to think too much and hurriedly followed them.
Wan Ting was not asleep and happily welcomed the visitor with a pale and tired face. It was a little similar to Le Xiao Ting’s face that had stayed up late for a few days to catch up with a novel that has more than two thousand chapters.
Wan Ting could not leave the bed with her weak body, so she could only salute while laying down.
"Do not worry, Madame Heng. It is your husband that requests my help to treat you." Xiao Hua smiled pleasantly, very happy with what she saw.
Despite being sick, Wan Ting looked like a sick beauty where no decent gentleman would dare not to offer his aid! Le Xiao Ting mourned and questioned why she could not look this way.
Alas, this was because their temperament was too different!
Using the excuse of hiding the family secret recipe, only Prince Heng and Wan Ting will be allowed to see her process of brewing.
But this honor was too much for Wan Ting to accept, no matter how courageous her behavior was. "Is it alright for me to watch? I can close my eyes…"
"It's alright for you to watch, but I would request for the information not to be shared," Xiao Hua said and was already starting brewing.
Prince Heng helped Wan Ting to sit up and feed her the tea. Her illness was not serious, so the tea effect was more obvious on her.
"I... I feel better!" Wan Ting exclaimed with large eyes and squeezed her husband's hand rather tightly. Her body no longer feels sore and aching.
The heavy rock pressed on Prince Heng's heart could finally be lifted. "That's good."
Even Xiao Hua's mood was lifted at the great result. "I'm glad that it worked. Although working hard is admirable, having enough rest is equally important!"
Wan Ting smiled without a hint of the arrogance of her ability from Xiao Hua’s praise. "I only work this much because of the attack!" Her tone was one of complaint but without malice.
"You are now pregnant, there is no need for you to help with others available," Prince Heng said.
"Pregnant?" Xiao Hua blinked as if she had heard an alien word.
After the invited physician confirmed Wan Ting was well and her pregnancy was safe, the Prince household was very happy but conscious enough to celebrate only among the family.
They also have special guests consisting of the dazed Xiao Hua and Long Zhu.