The Eldest Princess Is So Annoying! - Chapter 16

Cuizhu and Taohua helped Mu Xu to her feet. Although they felt sorry for her, they were neither in a position nor permitted to criticize their master’s actions.

Sharp-eyed Taohua immediately noticed the bloodstains on the stone stool.

“Miss Mu, you’re injured!”

Only then did Mu Xu open her hands. Sure enough, several scratches marked her knuckles, with tiny beads of blood still seeping from them.

No wonder the stone had felt so rough against her hands earlier. But with Qie Ge threatening Jiang Huaisheng’s life, Mu Xu had been desperate to save him and had no attention to spare for anything else.

Now that Jiang Huaisheng was safe, Mu Xu could not have been happier.

She smiled. “It’s nothing serious. Applying some herbal medicine will be enough.”

Cuizhu ran back inside, took a bottle of wound medicine from a bundle, and brought over a basin of clean water.

She wrung out a cloth and carefully wiped the fine grains of sand from Mu Xu’s scratches.

“Miss Mu, you must take good care of your hands. What will you do if they leave scars?”

Mu Xu smiled. “Don’t worry. They’re only on my knuckles. Even if they scar, who would ever see them?”

Cuizhu raised her eyes and looked at Mu Xu.

Seeing nothing but innocence in her gaze, she realized Mu Xu had no idea what she meant.

Cuizhu said nothing, but inwardly, she began taking the matter even more seriously.

“This wound medicine is good, but the slightest carelessness could still leave scars. It would be wonderful if we had some Ice Jade Salve.”

Taohua sighed, then added, “It’s our fault for being so useless. We’ve served in the residence for more than ten years, yet we’ve never managed to earn even the smallest reward.”

Both of them looked as though they were facing a terrible crisis.

Mu Xu had only suffered a minor injury. Why were they making such a fuss?

But she could see that the concern in their eyes was entirely genuine.

Mu Xu was only sixteen and understood nothing about relations between men and women, much less intimacy between two women. She therefore did not understand the implication behind Cuizhu’s words and merely assumed they were worrying too much.

She felt both touched and honored by their concern.

Before Mu Xu could reassure them, inspiration suddenly struck Taohua.

“I remember that a Sister from Yaoguang Courtyard received a reward from Her Highness a few days ago—a box of Ice Jade Salve. This servant will go to the residence and ask her for some.”

Just then, a maid entered and bowed to Mu Xu.

“By Her Highness’s special command, this servant has brought Miss Mu some Ice Jade Salve.”

Taohua was overjoyed.

“That’s wonderful! With Ice Jade Salve, there won’t be any scars!”

Seeing Taohua so happy, Mu Xu smiled as well.

Qie Ge’s actions were beyond her expectations. She had actually sent someone to deliver medicine.

Perhaps…

Perhaps Qie Ge was not quite as terrible as Mu Xu had imagined.

Taohua accepted the Ice Jade Salve and applied it to the wounds.

Strangely, when the salve touched the broken skin, Mu Xu felt no stinging pain. Instead, it was cool and soothing, immediately arousing her curiosity.

Seeing her expression, Cuizhu explained, “This Ice Jade Salve is an ancestral secret formula belonging to Imperial Physician Wang, Director of the Imperial Medical Academy. After applying it for several days, not only will the wound heal without leaving a scar, but it is also said to nourish the skin and preserve one’s beauty.”

Mu Xu understood.

So it was that miraculous!

Once Mu Xu had finished applying the salve, the maid said, “Her Highness instructed this servant to ask Miss Mu why she trusts her so readily. Are you not afraid that she might have put something in the Ice Jade Salve?”

Mu Xu’s expression changed dramatically.

With lightning speed, she plunged her hands into the basin and began washing them.

She moved so quickly and forcefully that water splashed all over her clothes.

She did not care about that.

She was only furious with herself for lowering her guard around Qie Ge and even thinking that Qie Ge might not be so terrible after all.

A tiny act of kindness had clouded her judgment.

How could someone as wicked as Qie Ge possibly be kind enough to send her medicine?

She must be trying to torment her again!

The maid continued, “Her Highness also instructed this servant to tell Miss Mu that the Ice Jade Salve is perfectly safe. She did not put anything in it.”

Mu Xu gritted her teeth.

Her face flushed red with anger.

She had been tricked again!

“Her Highness also instructed this servant to tell Miss Mu to rest early. Tomorrow, at the hour of the Snake, Her Highness will come and escort Miss Mu to the Cai residence to pay respects to the Right Chancellor.”

The maid paused and bowed.

“This servant takes her leave.”

“Miss Mu, although the weather is pleasant, you should still change your clothes. You mustn’t catch a chill,” Taohua said.

Neither Taohua nor Cuizhu had ever personally served Qie Ge. Everything they knew about her temperament came from what others had said.

Yet they had never heard that Her Highness enjoyed tormenting people in this particular way.

It seemed the future female Prince Consort truly received unique treatment.

The resentment in Mu Xu’s heart refused to fade.

She simply could not understand how a woman like Qie Ge could exist in this world!

After returning to the residence, the maid went to report to Qie Ge.

She was clever by nature and had a silver tongue. On the way back, she had already guessed part of the truth: Her Highness had most likely wanted to tease the future female Prince Consort.

When making her report, she vividly reenacted everything that had happened.

Qie Ge laughed even more happily after hearing it, as though she could already picture Mu Xu’s panic and anger.

The maid even received a reward afterward.

Night fell.

Only after Qie Ge had retired did Qingqian withdraw from the room.

She quietly closed the door and was about to return to her own quarters when a maid approached and bowed.

“Sister Qingqian, Aunt Jingshu asks you to go and see her.”

Master was calling for her?

Joy surged through Qingqian’s heart, although not the slightest expression appeared on her face.

“All right. I’ll go immediately.”

Her steps became exceptionally light as she happily headed toward Qingzhu Pavilion, where Jingshu lived.

The moment she entered Qingzhu Pavilion, she saw Jingshu standing beside the bamboo grove.

“Master!”

A trace of delight colored Qingqian’s voice.

“Kneel.”

Qingqian looked at Jingshu’s back in confusion.

What was wrong?

“Kneel!”

Qingqian had once been a pitiful child.

When she was two years old, she had been abducted and sold by a human trafficker. That very day, the late empress happened to be traveling outside the palace in disguise. As her personal maid, Jingshu naturally accompanied her.

The late empress was kindhearted. When she saw that the trafficker intended to sell Qingqian to a brothel, she ordered Jingshu to rescue her and later brought the child back to the palace.

From then onward, Jingshu personally raised Qingqian.

All of Qingqian’s martial arts had also been taught by her.

Naturally, Qingqian would never disobey Jingshu.

She dropped to her knees.

“Master…”

“Let me ask you: who is your master?”

Qingqian did not understand why Jingshu would ask such a question.

“Master…”

Jingshu raised her voice.

“Answer me!”

Qingqian knew Jingshu was angry, but she did not understand why.

“Qingqian’s master is Her Highness Qie Ge, Eldest Princess of the Kingdom of Canglan.”

“It seems you have not forgotten.”

Jingshu continued, “Then answer another question. Who is Miss Mu?”

Now Qingqian understood.

Master was angry because of how she had behaved during the day.

Jingshu had always been solemn and rarely smiled. The number of times Qingqian had seen her smile could be counted on one hand.

Yet today, during her very first meeting with Miss Mu, Jingshu had smiled at her.

Qingqian had become angry because of that and behaved as she had.

But she had only intended to frighten Miss Mu.

How could she genuinely have allowed the stone stool to crush her feet?

“She is Master’s future Prince Consort. Qingqian knows she was wrong.”

Jingshu said, “Fifty lashes. Go to the disciplinary chamber and receive your punishment.”

“Yes, Master!”