Ten days later, at Prince Ning’s mansion.

Prince Ning looked at the Princess, whose face was deathly pale as she stumbled to her feet, and worriedly furrowed his brow: “Princess, are you feeling any better?”

“Your Highness, don’t worry. This consort feels… still, still alright…”

Princess Ning’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, both hands clutching her stomach. Feeling her intestines churning again, her expression changed: “No good, this consort still needs to relieve herself.”

With that, she hurriedly got off the bed.

The three personal maids Qiangwei, Baiwei, and Ziwei quickly supported Princess Ning toward the privy in the back.

Prince Ning’s face turned iron-blue with rage as he fiercely punched the paulownia wood square table with drum legs and束腰: “This is too arrogant! Qiangwei, come here and tell this Prince exactly what happened today!”

Qiangwei in the privy shuddered, forcing herself to remain calm. When she reached the bedchamber, she fell to her knees with a thud and kowtowed: “Your Highness, please calm your anger.”

Prince Ning sat in his round-backed chair, pounding the table: “Speak!”

“Yes. Today this servant accompanied the Princess to the palace as usual to pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress. Her Majesty said she had newly made almond tea that was quite good and specifically wanted to reward the Princess with a bowl. The Princess dared not refuse and drank it on the spot. Then on the way back, she started having stomach troubles…”

Qiangwei’s palms were sweating and her face was ghastly pale, forcing herself to stay calm. Because if she failed this time, not only her life but Li Wenhan’s life would be forfeit.

Prince Ning didn’t suspect anything, grabbing the teapot from the table and hurling it violently to the ground.

The sharp sound of shattering porcelain was particularly jarring, frightening all the palace maids and eunuchs in the room to kneel and kowtow: “Your Highness, please calm your anger!”

“What an Empress! What a Cao family! They really don’t take this Prince seriously at all!”

Prince Ning flew into a rage, pacing angrily around the room and cursing: “Just a small business friction, and this Prince hasn’t done anything even though that old bastard has been pushing his luck. Now that Cao bitch dares to take the opportunity to harm this Prince’s consort! Do they take this Prince for a dead man!”

The Princess now supported herself on a maid’s hand, hunched over with trembling legs as she walked out.

Seeing that the Prince showed no signs of suspecting or blaming her, Qiangwei quickly rose to help the Princess lie down again.

The Princess’s face had turned blue-green and she was extremely weak.

From leaving the palace until now had been only two hours, but she had run to the privy at least ten times. No one could withstand such torment!

The Princess lived in luxury and had always been healthy with few illnesses to torment her. Naturally she couldn’t bear such suffering. This sudden ordeal had nearly turned her face green, and she sobbed pitifully:

“Your Highness, please calm your anger. Don’t conflict with Her Majesty the Empress over this consort. This consort suffering a little grievance doesn’t matter.”

“How does it not matter? You are this Prince’s consort. The Empress treating you this way—where does that leave this Prince? Where does that leave our Prince Ning’s mansion?”

Prince Ning irritably planted his hands on his hips, breathing heavily as he forcibly suppressed his rage:

“The Cao family’s arrogance and tyranny isn’t just from today! That Qin Meng is such a remarkably talented person, yet his household has nearly been treated like the Cao family’s back courtyard. They say they’ll barge into his inner residence and they barge in, they say they’ll ransack trunks and cabinets and they ransack them. That Cao bastard got his way at Qin Meng’s house, but if he thinks this Prince is also a soft persimmon, he’s got the wrong idea!”

He turned back to glare angrily at the eunuch by the door: “Where’s the Imperial Physician! Why hasn’t the Imperial Physician come yet!”

The little eunuch trembled all over from the shouting and said with a mournful face: “In response to Your Highness, this servant has already gone to fetch them, but Imperial Uncle Cao says he’s been feeling unwell these past few days and has requested all the on-duty Imperial Physicians to his residence to examine him. This servant still needs to find Imperial Physicians who aren’t on duty.”

Hearing this, Prince Ning became so angry his rage reached the heavens, kicking over a chair: “That bastard Cao, I’ll f*ck your grandmother!”

The palace servants in the room were so frightened they didn’t dare breathe, all kneeling and curling up into balls.

The Princess’s face changed again as she tremblingly got up: “No good, no good, need to go again…”

Watching the Princess being supported to the privy again, Prince Ning raged: “If there are no Imperial Physicians, get regular doctors! Are you all dead! Do I need to teach you such things? Where’s the Crown Prince? Where are the others? Their mother-consort is ill and they don’t know to attend her sickbed? What kind of rules are these!”

“Yes, yes, this servant will go immediately!”

With the Prince in thunderous rage, the maids and eunuchs scattered like headless flies, running to fetch people.

Prince Ning had three sons and one daughter under his knee. The legitimate eldest son had been adopted by the Emperor years ago, but later when the Emperor had the Crown Prince, he sent this one back, so the Crown Prince’s status was actually quite awkward.

However, the Crown Prince was after all born to the Princess. With the Princess ill, the Crown Prince was very worried and quickly brought the Crown Princess upon receiving news. The Second Master, Third Master, and Princess Jialan who had not yet married also hurried over, attending to the Princess at her bedside with caring inquiries.

Prince Ning sat in the outer room with a dark expression, sulking.

Before long, a doctor arrived. After taking the Princess’s pulse, he actually had no clue and immediately turned pale with fright, kowtowing to the Prince: “This, this, the Princess has contracted what appears to be an acute condition. This old man has never seen such symptoms and dares not rashly prescribe medicine. Your Highness should quickly invite more skilled Imperial Physicians for consultation.”

“Acute condition? Acute condition my ass!” Prince Ning was so angry he nearly kicked the doctor flying. “The Princess has been poisoned!”

The doctor was frightened pale, his beard trembling: “Your Highness, please calm your anger. This old man has never seen such a vicious drug…”

The implication was that he couldn’t treat it, didn’t dare treat it, and asked the Prince to seek other experts.

Though Prince Ning had a reputation for being debauched and tyrannical throughout the world, he treated his Princess with considerable respect. At least the Princess’s position had remained unshakeable for many years. Moreover, Princess Ning was his person—whoever dared bully the Princess clearly didn’t take him seriously.

Today the Empress actually dared find an opportunity to drug Princess Ning during her palace visit. Prince Ning’s explosive temper had already reached its limit by now, especially since the doctors he wanted to summon had all been invited to Imperial Uncle Cao’s residence!

In the time it took to speak, the Princess had already relieved herself twice more and was nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Seeing the situation was truly dire, Prince Ning thought for a moment and said: “Someone come, prepare my horse!”

“Yes!” The servants didn’t dare ask questions and hurriedly ran to prepare Prince Ning’s horse.

Only Crown Prince Ning dared to boldly ask: “Your Highness, where are you going?”

As both Crown Prince and a formerly adopted imperial son, he could only address Prince Ning as “Your Highness.”

Prince Ning said gravely: “To the Qin residence.”

Crown Prince Ning said in surprise: “Your Highness, you…”

Prince Ning glanced at the Princess whose face was blue-green and looked like she might expire at any moment, only leaving behind: “Take good care of the Princess. This Prince will immediately find a doctor and return.” He left the mansion and galloped away at full speed.

At this time, Qin Yining was in her room holding Er’Bai while reclining against a noble consort’s couch reading a leisure book. Er’Bai’s fluffy little paws stepped on Qin Yining’s belly—not much weight, but somewhat ticklish. Qin Yining couldn’t help but read while stroking Er’Bai’s round little body.

Bingtang, Song Lan, Ji Yun, and Qiu Lu were all gathered around the Eight Immortals table doing needlework and chatting. The bedchamber was filled with peaceful, warm atmosphere.

Just then, a little maid’s voice came from outside.

“Fourth Miss, Fourth Miss!”

Hearing the voice, Qin Yining looked up toward the half-open window and asked the maid downstairs: “What is it?”

“Prince Ning has come! He didn’t enter the mansion but is right now at the mansion gate, saying he wants to see Miss and Miss Bingtang!”

He’s come!

Qin Yining suddenly stood up.

Er’Bai, whom she had accidentally forgotten, slid to the ground with a confused expression, landing on his bottom.

Qin Yining quickly picked up the little rabbit, confirmed Er’Bai was fine, then relaxed, handing Er’Bai to Qiu Lu and instructing Bingtang: “Come with me to see.”

“Yes.”

“Miss, I’ll come with you too,” Ji Yun said.

“Good.”

The three left the bedchamber and saw the neighboring young ladies and their attendants all poking their heads about, obviously having heard the little maid’s words and being very curious about why Prince Ning had come looking for Qin Yining.

Someone had also swiftly gone to relay this news to Qin Huaiyuan, who was fishing by the fish pond.

Qin Yining brought Bingtang and Ji Yun to the mansion gate.

Prince Ning held a riding whip in his hand, standing beside a date-red horse with furrowed brows and a dark expression, apparently lost in thought.

Qin Yining curtsied: “Greetings to Your Highness. May I ask what business Your Highness has with this humble woman?”

Seeing Bingtang beside Qin Yining, Prince Ning said: “To be frank, the Princess is unwell and we cannot summon Imperial Physicians, so this Prince has come specifically to ask Miss Tang for help in saving someone!”

Qin Yining showed surprise on her face, asking despite knowing the answer: “How could Imperial Physicians not be summoned? What happened to the Princess?”

Mentioning this made Prince Ning angry: “That son of a bitch Cao Bingzhong claims he’s ill and actually summoned away all the Imperial Physicians! This Prince sees it as clearly deliberate!”

Speaking of this, Prince Ning looked at Qin Yining and said quietly: “Today the Princess entered the palace to pay respects to the Empress and ended up being drugged. This Prince found a doctor to examine her who said there was no cure. But the skilled Imperial Physicians can’t be summoned, so this Prince came to find Miss Tang.”

Qin Yining showed an incredulous expression: “Imperial Uncle Cao would actually… Very well, Bingtang, quickly go back and get your medicine box. Ji Yun, hurry and have someone bring horses. Saving people is like fighting fire—we can’t bother with carriages. We’ll ride horses for speed.”

“Yes!”

Ji Yun and Bingtang obeyed and ran into the mansion.

Prince Ning was very satisfied with Qin Yining’s perceptiveness. Combined with the Qin family being harassed by the Cao family today to such a degree, he actually felt some kinship of shared fate and couldn’t help cursing:

“That Cao bastard is too arrogant, ordering the Empress to drug this Prince’s consort, then using the excuse of summoning away all the Imperial Physicians. This is clearly trying to put the Princess to death!”

Qin Yining asked puzzledly: “But what could this be for? What reason could Imperial Uncle Cao possibly have to oppose Your Highness? You are a Prince after all.”

“Prince? That Cao bastard doesn’t take this Prince seriously at all! Just some small business friction days ago, and he actually used such vicious methods, leveraging the Empress’s authority to suppress people!”

The more Prince Ning thought about it, the angrier he became, wishing he could take a knife directly to the Cao family.

Qin Yining pressed her lips together, showing an expression of being caught in a difficult position without being able to comment much.

Prince Ning didn’t expect Qin Yining to say anything and didn’t hold it against her, just continued sulking by himself.

Before long, Ji Yun and Bingtang arrived successively.

The three mounted their horses and followed Prince Ning at full gallop straight to Prince Ning’s mansion.

Along the way, Qin Yining carefully controlled her silver-white steed, and her anxious heart finally relaxed halfway.

Her scheme had originally required waiting several more days to catch a flaw in the Cao family before implementing it, intending to use the Princess’s matter to create conflict between Prince Ning and the Cao family, dealing the Cao family a double blow.

What she hadn’t expected was that Imperial Uncle Cao would actually fall ill and summon away all the on-duty Imperial Physicians.

Qin Yining had instructed Manager Zhong to pay attention to the Cao family’s movements these days. Upon learning that Imperial Uncle Cao was ill and had transferred away the Imperial Physicians, she immediately moved up her plan.

The laxative in the almond tea rewarded by the demonic empress was something she had arranged for Qiangwei to administer.

Even if Prince Ning could find Imperial Physicians today, that specially made laxative of Bingtang’s was something no one could cure, because it required coordination with the Tang family’s unique acupuncture techniques. In the end, Prince Ning would try anything as a last resort and still have to come begging to their household.

This way, her first decisive kick had been delivered.

What she wanted wasn’t to kneel and tearfully beg herself, but to use this matter to create a rift between the Cao family and Prince Ning, to make Prince Ning voluntarily seek out Bingtang, and to make the conflict between Prince Ning and the Cao family irreconcilable, making Prince Ning automatically choose sides.

Perhaps what she was doing was too despicable.

Qin Yining’s heart wasn’t without guilt either.

But having no choice, she could only make Princess Ning suffer a little. Fortunately, that drug only caused diarrhea and wouldn’t be life-threatening.

Returning to the Prince’s mansion, Qin Yining naturally followed Prince Ning with Ji Yun and Bingtang all the way to the bedchamber.

By this time, Princess Ning had nearly fainted from diarrhea.

Qin Yining approached the bed, curtsied to Princess Ning, then stepped back to stand with Prince Ning’s sons, daughters-in-law, and Princess Jialan.

Bingtang quickly stepped forward, set down her medical box, and took Princess Ning’s pulse.

Crown Princess Ning was a beautiful woman in her early twenties who was quite curious about Qin Yining’s group. But because they were brought back by Prince Ning, and there was a girl who looked barely over ten treating the Princess, the Crown Princess couldn’t figure out the visitors’ identities.

Princess Jialan had met Qin Yining once and asked curiously while looking at Bingtang: “Miss Qin, does this maid beside you understand medicine?”

Princess Jialan’s words let everyone know Qin Yining’s identity.

Qin Yining said quietly: “Miss Tang inherited her father’s profession and has excellent medical skills.”

Hearing the three words “Miss Tang,” no one failed to understand Bingtang’s identity. After all, when Qin Yining had taken in the orphan of Imperial Physician Tang, no noble family didn’t know about it.

Everyone quieted down, watching Bingtang expectantly.

After carefully examining the pulse, checking the Princess’s complexion and tongue coating, Bingtang took out needles and skillfully gave the Princess several acupuncture treatments.

Seeing her insert needles, Prince Ning asked: “Meng Ge’er, can you tell what poison the Princess has been given?”

Bingtang nodded: “Your Highness, what the Princess has isn’t really poison—just a type of laxative improved by the palace. While not life-threatening, it can make someone miserable for several days. It’s not incurable either. After taking one prescription and combined with my needles, she’ll recover.”

Hearing this, Prince Ning finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

After the acupuncture, Princess Ning felt her stomach no longer hurt and didn’t feel the urgent need to relieve herself. Her complexion improved considerably, and she smiled gratefully at the little girl who had given her the treatment.

Bingtang felt somewhat guilty since she had prepared this drug, so she smiled obediently at the Princess and turned to write a prescription, instructing the eunuchs to brew the medicine.

But just then, the mansion’s steward hurried in anxiously: “Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress heard that the Princess was unwell and has come personally to visit. Her imperial carriage has already entered the mansion!”