My Cold-Hearted Wife Chapter 100

In the evening.

Princess Rong’an drank a little sugar water, but still clamped her teeth shut and refused to eat congee.

Cheng Danruo did not force her. “The stomach and intestines are damaged. Even if she forces herself to eat, it will be hard to digest. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

She did not say “fasting” at all, only that her stomach was unwell.

However, this bit of consideration seemed especially annoying to Princess Rong’an. “Someone come, drive her out.” She still knew to find a reason. “She offended me yesterday. Drag her away and slap her face!”

The palace servants looked helpless, but no one moved.

Even ordinary palace maids did not have the habit of slapping faces. When a female official committed an offense, only the Directorate of Palace Discipline could deal with it. Even the consort would not privately punish anyone, let alone a princess.

In fact, everyone felt sympathetic toward Cheng Danruo, and they also knew that if even a female official was implicated, they themselves would only have a harder time.

Cheng Danruo showed no change in expression and said, “Please calm down, Your Highness. It does not matter if you do not eat, but please take your medicine.”

The palace servants hurriedly brought the medicine bowl.

Princess Rong’an used the same trick again, knocking it over and refusing to drink, looking at her provocatively.

“It seems the Princess does not trust my medical skill,” Cheng Danruo said respectfully. “I will invite the imperial physician at once.”

She withdrew.

An hour later, the imperial physician hurried to Xiefang Palace again before the palace gates were locked.

He diagnosed the pulse from behind the curtain, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, “The Princess’s pulse is no longer as floating and soft as before. There is no longer any serious concern.”

At last he was willing to give a solid, definite answer.

However, Cheng Danruo said, “The Princess refuses to take her medicine. Is the prescription perhaps a little too bitter? Could the formula be changed?”

The imperial physician put on a stern face. “Medicinal ingredients complement one another. How can they be changed at will? You also study medicine. Do you not even understand the principle that good medicine tastes bitter?”

“You are right to correct me,” Cheng Danruo said with a slight smile. “But no matter how good the medicine is, it must enter the mouth before it can be effective. If the Princess cannot drink even a drop, what use is a good prescription?”

The imperial physician’s hand, stroking his beard, paused.

Cheng Danruo said softly, “Change the prescription. Write one that the Princess can take. You know as well that I only understand rudimentary medical principles and can only rely on you.”

The imperial physician secretly drew in a cold breath.

A veteran old fox who had spent years navigating the palace – how could he fail to see Cheng Danruo’s meaning?

She was unwilling to take the blame herself; if there was blame to bear, it would be borne together with the Imperial Medical Institute. And as long as the Imperial Medical Institute stood in front, the charge of failing to cure Princess Rong’an would never fall on a mere medicine manager of the Bureau of Food.

After all, the medicine manager’s proper duty was simply to manage prescriptions.

Yet even having seen through it, he was still helpless. “Then let us switch to stomach-nourishing pills.”

If it were changed to pills, would Princess Rong’an eat them?

One knew without thinking that she would not.

But this was not important at all.

After seeing off the imperial physician, Cheng Danruo did not return to the Ganxi Office. She stayed at Xiefang Palace, sleeping in Cui Jing’s room.

The palace servants who had been close to Cui Jing sorted through her belongings, preparing to send them to her parents, but the bed, table, and chairs were left behind.

In the cabinet there was a small packet wrapped in tea leaves; opened, it gave off the fresh fragrance of tea. The bronze kettle in the corner was so polished it could reflect a person – who knew how many times it had been used to brew tea. Long strands of hair lay scattered beneath the bed, left behind inadvertently by the young girl…

Everywhere in the room were traces of that dead palace maid.

Yet Cheng Danruo slept very well. She had not closed her eyes all night the night before, and today she fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

When she woke the next day, she had only just finished washing up when she heard Palace Matron Hong’s voice from the main hall.

She was lecturing the Princess. “Your body and hair are received from your parents. If you do not cherish your own body and worries His Majesty like this, is that your filial piety?”

Cheng Danruo: I almost forgot about this.

She pricked up her ears and heard Palace Matron Hong say, ” Records Supervisor Wang, you will stay here today and read the Classic of Filial Piety aloud to the Princess.”

“Yes,” Wang Yongxu’s clear voice rang out. “Confucius was at home, and Zengzi was attending him…”

Palace Matron Hong came out of the hall and, seeing Cheng Danruo face to face, said without the slightest mercy, “You, come with me.”

She called the person to a quiet corner and scolded her outright. “Clever fool! What sort of idea was that? If the Princess’s mind cannot be turned around, then everything you said will amount to deceiving the sovereign and betraying the throne.”

“Yes,” Cheng Danruo said. “I know.”

Palace Matron Hong asked, “Then you think you can certainly handle it?”

“Not necessarily,” Cheng Danruo said. “I am not confident. It is only an attempt.”

Palace Matron Hong laughed in extreme anger. “I am afraid you do not know how to write the characters ‘reckless and presumptuous.'”

“There is no method that is guaranteed to succeed. If principles are explained a thousand or a hundred times, will that be of any use?” Cheng Danruo retorted. “You should have explained everything clearly to her already. Why is the Princess still so willful?”

Palace Matron Hong said coldly, “Are you accusing me?”

“You know that is not what I mean,” she said. “Why will the Princess not listen to reason? Because she knows she is a princess and that His Majesty is the supreme sovereign. She believes she is entitled not to follow reason.”

Palace Matron Hong frowned deeply. “What nonsense are you saying? Is the Princess someone you can gossip about?”

“The Princess takes herself hostage, relying on nothing more than her parents’ love. As long as His Majesty softens, she will do the same again next time. By then, it will not be only Cui Jing who dies,” Cheng Danruo said.

“His Majesty is wise,” Palace Matron Hong sighed, and much of her feigned anger dissipated. “Do not think too much.”

This sounded like a casual remark, and Cheng Danruo ignored it, speaking only to the matter at hand. “Only if His Majesty does not soften will the Princess bow her head.”

The most fundamental point in dealing with Princess Rong’an was to draw the Emperor into their camp.

She had given the Emperor a reason not to soften and won time. As long as Princess Rong’an knew that the Emperor would not soften because of her tantrums, she would give in.

Palace Matron Hong was silent.

Why had she used filial piety to pressure Princess Rong’an? For the same reason.

The Princess had to be wrong, the Emperor had to be right, and a father could not bow to his daughter.

“As for Young Master Han, I still need your help,” Cheng Danruo said. “We must resolve this as quickly as possible. We cannot delay any longer.”

If matters did not develop as the Emperor hoped, all several dozen palace servants of Xiefang Palace would suffer disaster. They were all young girls of seventeen or eighteen, nineteen or twenty; to have their lives ruined here would be too unjust.

Palace Matron Hong closed her eyes and sighed with genuine feeling. “Young Master Han is not the difficult part. What is difficult is the Princess’s heart.”

But Cheng Danruo shook her head. “Deceiving people is not difficult. The conscience is what is difficult.”

At noon, a senior palace maid came in carrying a tray.

Princess Rong’an glanced at it, swallowed the “I won’t eat” that had been on the tip of her tongue, and looked in surprise at the thing beside the medicine bowl. It was a set of vivid sugar paintings – butterflies, lanterns, goldfish – stuck on a small straw holder, utterly adorable.

These were things from outside the palace.

“Who sent them?” She rose, her eyes clinging to them. “Was it my cousin?”

The palace maid said, “They were sent by Young Master Han.”

Princess Rong’an’s smile froze, and then she said coldly, “Throw them away.”

“Yes.” Unlike what she had expected, the palace maid did not try much to persuade her, and turned to take them out.

Princess Rong’an felt somewhat uneasy.

The palace prohibitions were strict. Without the Emperor’s tacit permission, even if Han Xu had a hundred times the courage and ten thousand kinds of ability, he could not have sent anything in.

Father… had he made up his mind to marry her to Han Xu?

Hungry, her lips dry, Princess Rong’an looked toward the corner of the bed, took out a small silver flask, and drank a mouthful of sweetened goat’s milk from its mouth.

This was what her wet nurse had secretly given her. Only she knew her own heart. Although she too tried to persuade her, as long as she made up her mind to do something, she would certainly help her.

Jianing had been like this, Wang Yongxu had been like this, and this time would be no different.

As the sweet goat’s milk entered her mouth, her stomach was no longer painfully hungry, but the sweetness in her mouth made her thirst even more for water.

Princess Rong’an had never known that thirst could be such a painful thing. Her mind could not think; she simply wanted to drink water. She had meant to ration it, but she could not control herself at all and drank all the goat’s milk in one breath.

Thirsty, so thirsty, so hungry.

She dozed off in a daze, and when she woke, she secretly looked outside, planning to slip out for water while the palace servants were absent. But two palace maids stood beyond the curtain. Hearing movement from within the bedchamber, they immediately asked, “Your Highness?”

Princess Rong’an gritted her teeth and did not answer.

Silence returned.

In the evening, a fragrance drifted over. The palace maid brought hot congee. The base of the congee was chicken broth with the oil skimmed off – clean and brimming with a fresh savory aroma – with a spoonful of meat paste added, along with pickled refreshing side dishes, especially tempting.

“Please have some, Your Highness,” the palace maid urged.

Princess Rong’an barely held herself back. “Get out.”

The palace maid sighed and carried the congee out again.

But after a while, she came back looking deeply troubled. “Your Highness, Young Master Han has sent something again.”

Princess Rong’an did not even look. “Throw it out!”

The palace maid immediately fell silent and withdrew with light steps.

Outside the door, the voices of the palace servants could faintly be heard talking.

“What did the Princess say?”

“Throw it out. Take it and burn it.”

“Eh? What a pity. It’s a kitten – it really looks alive. He went to such trouble… Are we really burning it?”

“Stop jabbering. What good is effort? If the Princess does not like it, there is no place for him.”

“You are right.”

Nothing but a pack of sycophants who fawn on the powerful.

Princess Rong’an thought with disdain, as her stomach rumbled without cease.

Why had the wet nurse not come yet?

Her stomach felt as if it were on fire. It was so unbearable.

After endless waiting, the wet nurse finally came and waved the palace servants away. “I will keep watch tonight.”

Once the palace servants had withdrawn, she immediately pressed a small flask into her hand. “There is rice broth inside. Have a little, Your Highness.”

What use was rice broth? Princess Rong’an bit her lip and said quietly, “Really – you did not even bring me some pastries.”

“The imperial physician said that with the spleen and stomach damaged, cakes and pastries cannot be digested and are likely to be thrown up,” the wet nurse said. “Rice broth nourishes the stomach.”

Princess Rong’an was starving. She could not care about much else and hurriedly drank the broth, draining it in one breath. At last her stomach felt much fuller.

She breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “Has Father still not relented?”

The wet nurse said, “I went to ask Eunuch Shi today.”

Her spirits lifted. “What did he say?”

“He said that because of the Princess’s matter, His Majesty has also lost his appetite for tea and food today. He keeps puzzling over what is so bad about Young Master Han,” the wet nurse said. “I asked him, when it comes to being good, could anyone be better than Young Master Xie?”

Princess Rong’an could not help nodding. “Exactly.”

“Your Highness, perhaps we have all been mistaken,” the wet nurse said. “Young Master Han is not quite the same as we thought.”

Princess Rong’an curled her lip. “What is different about him? Is he not also after the position of imperial son-in-law?”

“Young Master Han says his family is from Anhui, but his ancestors were in Heyang, Henan – a branch of Master Changli’s descendants, who migrated to Anhui in the previous dynasty,” the wet nurse said. “That is a prestigious clan.”

“Their ancestors may have been prosperous, but are they not fallen now?” she said disdainfully.

“You are mistaken again. The Han family has a metropolitan graduate who holds office in Shu. Although that branch of the family does not serve in office, Young Master Han is also a scholar who writes excellent calligraphy. For generations they have farmed and studied.”

Princess Rong’an sneered. “No matter how good he is, can he be better than my cousin? And if he were truly good, why would he come to compete to be imperial son-in-law?”

Was it good to be an imperial son-in-law?

It looked good – duke, marquis, earl, imperial son-in-law, a noble kinsman of the first rank – but the post of commandant-escort to the imperial son-in-law was an empty title. One could not participate in government affairs, nor take concubines. Generally, any man with some ambition would not do such a thing.

Of course, Xie Xuanying was different.

Daughters of noble houses did not enter the rear palace – yet had not Empress Xie been made empress? They had the affection of childhood sweethearts. With the post of imperial son-in-law, her cousin would no longer have to look to his elder brother’s face.

The wet nurse seemed to have been persuaded and said with a smile, “Your Highness is indeed more perceptive than me.”

If she urged her again, Princess Rong’an would inevitably grow suspicious, but being persuaded so quickly made it seem like mere idle talk.

“Tomorrow, I will find a way to get some congee. Would that be all right?” the wet nurse asked.

After only a short while, Princess Rong’an was hungry again. She could not bear such torment and reluctantly agreed. “Do not let anyone find out.”

“I know.”

But that night, Princess Rong’an could not sleep at all. Her stomach felt as if a hole had been hollowed out of it, burning so painfully that she could barely stand it.

The third day.

When the palace maid brought something in again, Princess Rong’an was already utterly fed up.

She was both hungry and thirsty, her mood at its absolute worst. It would have been strange if she could muster any interest in looking. “Throw it out. Whoever sends anything again, I will punish her to kneel for a day.”

The palace maid helplessly carried it out just as it was.

“Someone come, take this paper kite out and throw it away.”

“Yes… eh, sister, there are words on the paper kite.”

“What words?”

“Snowdrifts reveal the bright and elegant, the rising sun wishes to accompany… What does that mean?”

“The first line contains the Princess’s name. The latter is-is…” The palace maid could not answer and could only say, “Why bother with so much? Throw it out.”

Inside the room, Princess Rong’an showed a look of disdain.

“Snowdrifts reveal the bright and elegant, cold blossoms lend lushness” is a poem by Liu Hedong, while “This journey has no end, the rising sun wishes to accompany” is by Wei Suzhou.

These two lines by Han Xu concealed both their names, and read together they also carried a meaning of declaration of love.

Perhaps the other party was not an ignorant good-for-nothing.

But she still did not want to marry him.

When would Father be willing to relent?

She was truly so hungry and so thirsty.