Chapter 987: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Princess Fuyun was indeed a rare beauty. Though she was already in her thirties, her skin remained fair and flawless, without a single wrinkle or blemish. Her features were refined and elegant, with a trace of sharpness between her brows. Dressed in a deep purple palace gown, she appeared regal and poised.
She cast an indifferent glance at the young maid kneeling below to greet her, but said nothing. Instead, she looked to the maidservant beside her.
The maidservant understood at once, lifted her chin slightly, and glanced at the young maid with contempt as she asked coldly, “What has happened over there?”
The young maid didn’t dare look up at her, and with her head bowed, she said in a small voice, “Another physician came today, but their carriage entered through the main gate. Later, that physician stayed in the Seventh Young Master’s courtyard for half an hour before leaving. Only then did I realize—it was a woman! I thought it seemed suspicious and came to report to Your Highness.”
A woman?
Surprise flashed across the maidservant’s face as she quickly looked toward Princess Fuyun.
Although female physicians were rare, they did exist. What was puzzling, however, was what kind of physician could enter the Cui Manor through the main gate? Even the imperial physicians from the palace entered through the side gate.
Princess Fuyun’s brows furrowed slightly. She personally asked the maid, “What did the woman look like? Did you find out her identity?”
The young maid was caught off guard that the princess addressed her directly and answered in a fluster, “R-Replying to Your Highness, that woman looked very young, with delicate and refined features. If she hadn’t been carrying a medical case, I wouldn’t have guessed she was a physician. But I couldn’t get close to the Seventh Young Master’s courtyard, and all the people around him are from the Old Madam’s side. I wasn’t able to find out who the female physician is.”
Princess Fuyun seemed thoughtful as she glanced at the maidservant beside her.
The maidservant immediately said, “If she entered through the main gate, either her medical skills are extraordinary, or her identity is unusual. There are a few female physicians in the capital, but none with exceptional reputation. However…”
She paused, and seeing the princess raise her brows slightly, continued, “Just because there’s no well-known female physician in the capital doesn’t mean there isn’t one elsewhere. Besides, I haven’t heard of any princesses or county princesses from other royal households studying medicine. This female physician must’ve been invited by the Old Madam from somewhere else!”
Princess Fuyun neither agreed nor disagreed, and asked the young maid again, “How was her medical skill? Has that bastard child woken up?”
The young maid shook her head quickly and said obsequiously, “Reporting to Your Highness, when I left, the Seventh Young Master—oh, I mean, that bastard—had not yet awakened. I vaguely heard the Old Madam crying inside. That bastard likely won’t make it.”
Princess Fuyun's expression remained unchanged, though a trace of delight flickered across her face. “Since that’s the case, I must go have a look. After all, I am his legitimate mother.”
The maidservant quickly flattered her, “Your Highness is magnanimous. If it were any other princess’s household, they wouldn’t even acknowledge a concubine-born child, let alone visit him!”
Princess Fuyun slowly stood, her bright red lips curving into a smile, though it was as sharp as a blade. “That bastard is my husband’s only son. Naturally, I must be attentive.”
The maidservant immediately lowered her head, not daring to speak further.
Everyone in the Cui household and even in the princess’s residence knew that the bastard child was a thorn in Her Highness’s side. If not for the fact that he had lived far away in the south for all these years, protected closely by the Old Madam, and that Her Highness still had to consider her husband’s position, he would likely have died long ago.
Any time the topic of offspring was brought up, even her closest maidservants dared not speak more in front of Princess Fuyun. It was known that in her nearly twenty years of marriage to the third master of the Cui family, she had borne no children.
Princess Fuyun changed into a bright red palace gown and, leading more than ten maidservants and mamas, made a grand entrance into Cui Ping’an’s courtyard.
The gatekeepers didn’t dare stop her at all and only shouted loudly, “Princess Fuyun has arrived!”
The shout clearly carried into Cui Ping’an’s bedroom, where the Old Madam and Cui Qingrou heard it plainly.
The Old Madam stood up and had a nearby maid straighten her clothes. A trace of mockery flickered in her eyes. “The Seventh has been sick for days, and she didn’t even send anyone to inquire. Now she’s come in person—has the sun risen from the west?”
Cui Qingrou glanced at her unconscious nephew on the bed and said worriedly, “Let’s hope she doesn't cause trouble for him while he’s sick.”
Her words weren’t without reason. Back when Princess Fuyun married into the Cui family, Cui Ping’an’s mother was already pregnant. Though she had to become a concubine, she remained deeply loved by the third master. He never cared for Princess Fuyun, and on the wedding night, no matter how others tried to persuade him, he didn’t go to the bridal chamber and stayed instead with Cui Ping’an’s mother.
That incident made Princess Fuyun, who already harbored jealousy, utterly despise her. The next morning, when Ping’an’s mother went to pay her respects, Princess Fuyun had prepared a kneeling cushion lined with nails. That time, Ping’an’s mother nearly miscarried.
And it wasn’t the only time. The third master had a quick temper, and Ping’an’s mother, afraid that conflict with Princess Fuyun would damage his career, never dared tell him.
Thus, she lived in constant fear, and her pregnancy went poorly. In the end, she suffered complications during labor and died from postpartum hemorrhage.
Even so, her death didn’t quench Princess Fuyun’s jealousy. On the contrary, because she had borne the third master’s first child, the princess turned all her resentment onto Cui Ping’an.
Although she hadn’t directly killed him, he constantly fell ill or met with minor accidents. On his fourth birthday, someone tried to curry favor with the princess by pushing him into a frozen lake in the dead of winter. That time, Cui Ping’an almost died…
(End of chapter)
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