Nonsense! She’s Not a Bad Woman! - Chapter 98

The thirty strokes of the cane left Xiao Ying unable to even walk. Yet none of the servants in the manor stepped forward to help. Qiao Yihuan couldn’t command them either, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and support Xiao Ying all the way back to Mingxiang Pavilion by herself.

“Xiao Ying, Yanran knows medicine. I’ll go ask her to treat your injuries!”

Xiao Ying’s face was deathly pale. She answered weakly, and Qiao Yihuan hurried off toward the Princess’s residence. But when she arrived, Liu Yanran refused to come with her.

“Yihuan, it’s not that I won’t help you,” Liu Yanran said gently. “It’s just… my medical skills aren’t that great. Why don’t you find a real physician instead? That would be safer.”

She declined tactfully. The truth was, she didn’t dare set foot in the Minister’s estate—she didn’t even dare leave the Princess’s residence. She feared that madwoman Qiao Wanyan might send people to drag her away again.

If she were caught this time, she would never escape her clutches.

Even now, whenever she thought back to that night in the Apothecary Valley, her heart trembled with terror. For days afterward, she suffered constant nightmares. Only after staying in the Princess’s estate for some time did she finally begin to sleep peacefully again.

Qiao Yihuan hadn’t expected her to refuse. “But Yanran, back in Yongzhou, when I was injured, it was you who treated me. This punishment isn’t as bad as that time. Why won’t you help me now?”

Liu Yanran looked troubled. “Yihuan, it’s not that I don’t want to—it’s that I truly lack the skill. I’m saying this for Xiao Ying’s sake. Please find a real physician. Don’t waste time.”

Qiao Yihuan studied her deeply before sighing. “Fine. If you don’t wish to go, I won’t force you. I’ll head back then.”

She turned and left. On her way out of the residence, she happened to run into He Baozhu.

He Baozhu immediately noticed her anxious expression. “Yihuan, what’s the matter? Did something happen? Or is your sister’s cold still not cured? You seem so worried.”

Really—were doctors in this era so useless? How long had it been, and her sister’s cold still wasn’t better? In the modern world, a cold was just a minor illness. Were colds in this era somehow deadlier?

Qiao Yihuan hesitated.

“Come on, don’t hold back with me,” He Baozhu urged warmly. “If there’s something you need, just say it. If I can help, I will.”

Qiao Yihuan pressed her lips together, then whispered, “Actually… this morning, I ran into Wanyan when she was in a bad mood. Xiao Ying spoke up and displeased her, so Wanyan ordered her to be caned. I don’t have much money on me, so I went to ask Yanran for help, but she refused. I really don’t know what to do now.”

“What? The cane?” He Baozhu was stunned. “What exactly did Xiao Ying say that made your sister punish her like that?”

Qiao Yihuan paused for a moment before answering. “It wasn’t anything terrible. It’s just… Wanyan ignored me when I greeted her. Xiao Ying felt indignant on my behalf and muttered a few words. I scolded her right away, but Wanyan still wouldn’t let it go.”

Her face was filled with self-blame, her delicate features clouded with sorrow, as though she truly had no idea what to do.

He Baozhu patted her shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry. I’ll send someone to fetch a physician to the Minister’s estate. You go back first.”

Qiao Yihuan’s eyes filled with gratitude. “Thank you, Princess!”

He Baozhu indeed sent someone straight to the Imperial Medical Bureau. When the imperial physician arrived at the Minister’s estate and discovered the patient was merely a maidservant, he froze for a moment but said nothing.

He asked a few questions, didn’t even examine the wound, simply prescribed a medicine, and then left.

Still, as an imperial physician, he was competent enough. After one night, although Xiao Ying still ached, she was at least able to get out of bed and walk on her own.

Xiao Ying hadn’t slept the entire night. She lay flat on the bed, face buried in the pillow, her mind consumed with only one thought—how to help her young mistress vent her anger.

What if…

What if Second Miss couldn’t attend the Longevity Festival?

She would surely be furious, wouldn’t she?

And when her own mistress presented that flawless offering she had prepared with the help of the princess and the young marquis, she would definitely shine at the festival. By then, wouldn’t Second Miss be even more incensed?

As dawn broke, the first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling across the earth. Xiao Ying slowly dressed herself, fixed her hair and makeup, then stepped out toward the kitchen.

Because she had lost the use of one arm, every movement of hers was sluggish. After struggling for over an hour, she finally managed to simmer a bowl of lotus seed soup. Placing it carefully into a food box, she carried it single-handedly toward Yongning Pavilion.

Although the palace banquet would only be held in the evening, with noble officials and their families entering the palace in the afternoon, Qiao Wanyan was already taking her time dressing up.

Xiao Ying waited respectfully at the doorway for instructions. Soon, light footsteps approached. She looked up—and for a moment, she forgot to breathe.

Qiao Wanyan walked with a grace as delicate as flowing water. Her gown of iridescent brocade shimmered like a fleeting epiphyllum blooming on a summer night, dazzling in its brilliance. The dress, perfectly cut, accentuated her slender waist, exuding a beauty that was impossible to put into words.

Her features were exquisite, her brows dark without powder, her lips red without rouge. Between her brows bloomed a golden petal ornament, delicately carved, adding a hint of charm to her youthful grace and shy softness.

With just one glance, her beauty was beyond the reach of words like “celestial” or “peerless.”

Even Xiao Ying could not help but be dazed.

Qiao Wanyan lightly brushed her temple hair. “What are you here for?”

Xiao Ying snapped back to herself. “Replying to Second Miss, this servant knows that I offended you yesterday by speaking out of turn. It was a grave mistake, and Second Miss has shown mercy by not selling me off. This servant is grateful.”

She raised the food box in her hands slightly. “I personally spent the whole morning making snow fungus soup. I added poria and angelica root—it will make the skin delicate and smooth. I hope Second Miss won’t despise it.”

Qiao Wanyan glanced at the box, her lips curving into a faint smile.

In the original story, this was the point when Xiao Ying secretly slipped laxatives into her mistress’s calming soup. The medicine was slow-acting, not taking effect until the middle of the night, tormenting her into severe diarrhea that forced her to miss the palace banquet the next day.

But last night, Xiao Ying had been beaten under Wanyan’s orders—she hadn’t had the chance to act. And so, now she had come personally with her “heartfelt” gift.

This bowl of soup, once consumed, would conveniently unleash its effects right at the palace banquet.

“Zi Yuan,” Qiao Wanyan called lazily, “go find one of the gate boys and have him deliver this snow fungus soup to Mingxiang Pavilion. Tell them it was sent by His Highness the Crown Prince for Qiao Yihuan.”

Xiao Ying stiffened. “This servant made it especially for Second Miss! Why would you send it to the Eldest Miss, and even lie that it came from the Crown Prince?”

Qiao Wanyan’s smile was sweet, almost innocent. “I ate quite a bit this morning and truly can’t drink another drop. But since you put in so much effort, how could I refuse? I can only let my dear elder sister enjoy your thoughtfulness for me.”

“As for—why we should say it was from the Crown Prince…”

She chuckled softly. “You and I both know the answer. Why say it out loud?”

Xiao Ying’s face froze.

Qiao Wanyan waved her hand casually. “Lock her up in the side chamber. Before Qiao Yihuan leaves the estate, they are not to meet again.”