Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1206: Chapter 1208 The Situation Has Become Even More Chaotic_1

Throughout this day, the palace had still sent no news, suggesting that the Empress Dowager and Princess Diao Bin hadn’t discovered any useful information.

Come evening, Jianqi reported that a door guard had gone out to gamble and ended up crippled by someone. Now he couldn’t even get out of bed, so Jiang Xuexiang decided that the servant had violated the residence’s rules by gambling, settled his wages, gave him some money for medical expenses, and dismissed him.

”Oh? Achun did it?” Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow. Could it really be such a coincidence?

Jianqi nodded, ”The young master arranged it.”

Bai Ruozhu chuckled lightly. He had said he would handle it, and sure enough, it was brutally simple. No wonder he said she wasn’t cruel enough, as she was often too easy to bully.

She had been counting on her great-uncle to only remind Jiang Xuebin with a few words.

As night fell, Little Dengdeng had already fallen asleep, and Bai Ruozhu too lay in bed, still clothed under the covers. Jiang Yichun came back and seeing his wife and child, he wanted to talk to Bai Ruozhu, but seeing how soundly she slept, he couldn’t bear to wake her.

He shook off the chill from his body, took off his outer robe, and carefully climbed into bed.

Bai Ruozhu was a light sleeper; his scent filled her nostrils, and she opened her eyes.

”Back already? Is it cold outside?” she asked, still groggy.

”It’s not cold. Your husband has a strong constitution,” Jiang Yichun said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

”Did you apply medicine to your wounds?” Bai Ruozhu asked while sniffing. Without waiting for Jiang Yichun’s response, she knew he hadn’t bothered with the medicine.

She sat up at once, threw on a jacket, and was about to get out of bed when he grabbed her arm and said, ”It’s not necessary; missing it once won’t matter.”

”No, if you can get better sooner, why delay? Besides, we can chat,” Bai Ruozhu insisted, getting up, taking the medicine, and started to carefully apply it to his wounds.

Jiang Yichun’s face was filled with happiness. His wife truly cared deeply for him.

”Ruozhu, I’ve found out where Diao Yao is kept,” Jiang Yichun suddenly said.

Bai Ruozhu paused with her hand, not expecting to find out so quickly.

”Where?” she inquired.

”In a secluded yard of the Leng Palace, where someone recently died, so nobody goes there. That area is close to the side of the Taiye Pool, indeed, as Ning Yu calculated, there’s an abundance of water around her,” Jiang Yichun explained.

Plentiful water. It turned out to be just the Taiye Pool in the palace, not any river or sea...

”Do you know who captured her?” Bai Ruozhu asked.

”It seems to be related to Imperial Concubine Liu, as her subordinates are watching over Diao Yao,” Jiang Yichun continued with a pause, ”But you cannot simply report this to the Empress Dowager as it is, nor say that we were the ones who found out.”

By then, Jiang Yichun had finished applying the medicine, he got up and put his undergarment back on, so that his wife wouldn’t see his gruesome wounds.

”If they couldn’t find out but I could, wouldn’t the Emperor and the Empress Dowager realize that I have a faction inside the Inner Palace? It might expose the forces behind me,” Jiang Yichun said.

Bai Ruozhu nodded, ”I understand. I will go to the palace to remind the Empress Dowager, saying that Chu Hai has awakened and suspects that Diao Yao was captured by someone from the Inner Palace, probably in a place near water.”

”That’s also good, it’s better for the Empress Dowager and the rest to find it themselves,” Jiang Yichun said, ”Or let Ning Yu calculate it.”

Just mentioning this, Bai Ruozhu felt a surge of anger in her belly. Wasn’t it all because Chu Hai refused to reveal Diao Yao’s time of birth? Otherwise, couldn’t they have asked Ning Yu for a more detailed reading?

”Alright, rest for now. Even if we’re going to the palace, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning,” Jiang Yichun said as he wrapped his arm around Bai Ruozhu’s shoulder and lay back down on the bed.

Early the next morning, Jiang Yichun resumed attending court, while Bai Ruozhu ate breakfast with Little Dengdeng before heading to the palace to see the Empress Dowager.

Upon seeing the Empress Dowager, she told her about Chu Hai waking up and, following her discussion with Jiang Yichun, suggested that Chu Hai had made some guesses, which, combined with Ning Yu’s divination, provided some direction for the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager wasn’t entirely without influence within the palace. Hearing this, she immediately sent people to investigate again, this time with a much clearer scope—places with water.

Bai Ruozhu saw that the Empress Dowager caught on quickly and was just about to take her leave when a panicked palace maid ran in, disregarding decorum as she shouted, ”Empress Dowager, you must come and see, the princess has fallen ill!”

”What? How could Princess Diao Bin fall ill out of the blue? What exactly happened?” Although the Empress Dowager’s questions were detailed, she was already too restless to stay seated and stood up to rush out of the palace.

The palace maid followed the Empress Dowager, saying, ”The princess was fine during the morning meal, but suddenly, she started frothing at the mouth and fell unconscious. Her entire person...”

”What about her? Don’t hem and haw!” The Empress Dowager’s tone became several degrees colder.

”She seems to have aged a lot,” said the maid carefully.

Following behind, Bai Ruozhu’s heart skipped a beat. Why had Princess Diao Bin suddenly fallen ill? Was it poisoning or a medical emergency? Or was it related to the curse on her body?

Why did all of this have to coincide at such a critical juncture? The situation was indeed becoming more chaotic.

She followed the Empress Dowager to Princess Diao Bin’s Liuhui Palace and saw for herself that the princess was unconscious, her appearance extremely alarming.

Because she had fallen suddenly, Princess Diao Bin’s wig had come off, revealing a head of white hair. Her complexion was sallow, and wrinkles and age spots had appeared around her brows and eyes, as if she had grown old age spots overnight—it was no wonder the maid thought she had aged a great deal.

”Empress Dowager, quickly send someone for Ning Yu,” Bai Ruozhu reminded in a low voice from behind. It seemed that Princess Diao Bin’s condition was no ordinary illness; it must be the curse acting up.

Coming back to her senses, the Empress Dowager said urgently, ”Yes, quickly go to the Astrology Tower and summon Master Ning!”

Upon hearing this, the eunuch Hao Mu hurried out of the Main Hall and sent a swift-footed Little Eunuch to relay the imperial decree to the Astrology Tower.

Bai Ruozhu stepped forward to take Princess Diao Bin’s pulse and quickly confirmed what she had suspected at first glance.

”How is it?” the Empress Dowager asked cautiously, fearing she might hear bad news.

”According to the pulse, the princess hasn’t been poisoned, but there are signs of aging in her vital signs. It can only be the result of a curse,” Bai Ruozhu said helplessly.

”How could this happen, how could this happen...” The Empress Dowager collapsed into a seat, her phoenix headdress askew, yet she was completely unaware of it.

Bai Ruozhu went to help the Empress Dowager, soothing her softly, ”You must calm down. The curse can be broken; there is still hope.”

”Yes, yes, I need to stay calm. Diao Bin still needs me to protect her,” the Empress Dowager said, sitting upright, her tone slightly frantic.

Just then, a series of footsteps was heard from outside. Bai Ruozhu turned her head to see a figure in a bright yellow garb rushing in like a gust of wind.

”What exactly has happened to Diao Bin?” the emperor’s voice was so cold it seemed capable of freezing, causing the princess’s favorite maid to tremble and fall to her knees with a thud.

Before the maid could explain, the emperor glared fiercely at Bai Ruozhu and yelled at her, ”Aren’t you the Divine Doctor? Didn’t an Immortal teach you Medical Skills? What are you waiting for? Quickly save Diao Bin for me!”