Later in the evening, Princess Huizhen noticed Huiling staring at Cuilian from time to time, as if she trying to signal something. She narrowed her eyes slightly, but didn't say anything.
After dinner, Princess Huizhen returned to her palace. Once the doors were shut, she whirled around, slapping Cuilian sharply across the face.
Cuilian shrieked and staggered backward. Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn't dare retreat.
"Princess... what… what did I do wrong?"
After getting shouted at by her mother, Huizhen was in no mood to deal with a traitor.
"What did you do wrong?" she shouted. "You bitch! Why are you hanging out with Huiling? Did you betray me for her? Do you want to spoil my relationship with the queen?"
One side of Cuilian's face was red and swollen, and the corner of her mouth was bleeding slightly. "No, no... you've got it wrong, princess, I wouldn't betray you!"
Princess Huizhen snorted. "She complimented your hairpin! She never does anything like that."
Cuilian fell to her knees, prostrating herself in front of Huizhen. "Princess, she's trying to fool you! She wants to harm our relationship!" How could a compliment from one princess lead to a beating from another?
"Oh? And what does she gain from harming our relationship?" Princess Huizhen pulled out the plum blossom hairpin from Cuilian's hair, and slashed at the maid's face. An angry red wound appeared and began bleeding heavily, but Cuilian resisted the pain and did not scream.
Princess Huizhen squinted suspiciously at her maid.
"Princess, you... please do not be fooled by Princess Huiling! She wanted to harm our relationship, and use me..." Cuilian cried. She had been loyal to Princess Huizhen for years. She couldn't let this be how it ended.
Nanny Shao heard the shouting and gasped when she saw Cuilian bleeding on the floor. Her face paled and she kneeled in front of the princess. "Princess! Princess, please! Spare Cuilian this time!"
Shao Cuilian was the niece of Nanny Shao, and she was the one who recommended her to the palace.
Princess Huizhen snorted as she played with the ornate hairpin. "Who allowed you to wear this? Huh? Cuilian, did you forget the rules in the palace? Servants like you are not allowed to wear jewelry with color!"
Her smile was full of malice. "I will spare your life. But I will not spare you this!"
As she ended her sentence, she slashed Cuilian, creating another bloody wound on her swollen face.
Cuilian cried, bowing all the way to the floor once more. "Thank you, Princess, for your mercy! Believe in me! I will be loyal to you..."
Seeing her sincerity, Princess Huizhen threw the hairpin to the ground next to Cuilian's face and stepped on it till it broke before leaving.
Cuilian and Nanny Shao remained on the floor until the princess' footsteps could no longer be heard.
Nanny Shao held Cuilian's shivering hand. She'd always seen her niece as the daughter she never had.
She said, "Cuilian, come on, let me take care of your wound..."
Cuilian was frozen on the floor, traumatized.
Nanny Shao carefully helped her to her feet, then brought Cuilian into her small attic. Using a pot of water she had set aside, she carefully cleaned the girl's wounds.
"So cruel..." Nanny Shao whispered. It was perfectly quiet, but she looked around and out of the window with suspicion. She then closed the window and whispered to Cuilian, "Cuilian, I have a secret to share..."
When Nanny Zhao's story was finished, Cuilian stared at her for a while. "Don't worry, Nanny... I will remember."
Nanny Shao nodded and lapsed into silence. After a while, someone knocked on the door. Nanny opened it to reveal Princess Huizhen's personal maidservant, Fujin.
Also a Qi Artist, she was the princess' favorite servant.
Fujin smiled and whispered, "Cuilian, I heard that you made the princess angry. What did you do? Perhaps I can help!"
Nanny Shao and Cuilian shared a confused glance. Fujin had always treated them poorly. What caused the sudden change?
"Why are you looking at me like that? I just want know what happened!" Fujin smiled and stuffed a note into her hand.
Cuilian looked down and realized that it was worth 1,000 taels of silver. That was as much as she could hope to make in her life!
Fujin smirked. "Now, how about you tell me what happened?"
Nanny Shao's eyes dimmed as she invited Fujin to sit down.
* * * *
The next day, Hua Qiyue was preparing to bring Tianci to Prince Nan, as it was his final appointment. They needed to be there by nine o'clock.
As they left the mansion, they heard servants gossiping about the Third Madame and Hua Xiaoyi seeking treatment from Prince Nan.
It was not secret that Hua Xiaoyi had been disfigured, but rumors said the treatment would cost 10,000 taels of silver, and it was common knowledge that the Third Madame didn't have that kind of money.
This was a matter for another time. Hua Qiyue was just happy that Hua Mengshi and her mother with something other than ruining her life.
The news of Eunuch Li's visit had spread across the household, and all the servants looked at Hua Qiyue with a certain amount of trepidation.
Many of them had been openly hostile to Hua Qiyue in the past, or simply ignored her. Now that she was wealthy and in the Emperor's favor, she'd been giving gifts to her servants frequently. If they had been nicer to her, maybe they, too, would have been rewarded.
Now, they were all trying to ingratiate themselves, in the hopes that perhaps she would consider their service worth a reward.
They were also murmuring about Hua Mengshi feeling ill.
Hua Qiyue snickered at that. Of course, Mengshi was ill — when she'd found out about Qiyue getting a reward directly from the emperor, she'd been so angry, she'd fainted!
Hua Qiyue walked forward boldly, ignoring the servants swarming around her like bees. They were already late, because she'd decided to cultivate in her room rather than the world of the gourd.
Hua Qiyue and Tianci shortly arrived at Prince Nan's residence, accompanied by Lvxin and Youshui.
The doorman gave Hua Qiyue a curious look. He'd seen her many times over the past weeks, but every time she appeared to be a different person.
Prince Nan's residence was much more luxurious than Hua Mansion, and the maids were beside themselves with excitement., whispering to each other as they walked.
Youshui said, "I heard that Prince Nan was a peasant until the emperor crowned him for his medical skills!"
"Yes, it is truly impressive!" Lvxin replied.
Hua Qiyue pursed her lips and smiled. Holding Tianci's hand, she walked into the hall.
Yun Shimo was drinking tea, which was not unusual, but this time, he had company. Ji Feng and Ji Jing were with him, also sipping tea. Upon seeing them enter, Yun Shimo stood expressionlessly and quickly examined Tianci. The little boy seemed much healthier than when Hua Qiyue had first brought him here.
As Yun Shimo led Tianci away for his treatment, Ji Jing called out to Hua Qiyue.
"Come, Sister Qiyue, join us for tea. We're skipping the matches until the next tier starts so we can spend more time with you!" Ji Jing smiled warmly.
Ji Feng looked at Hua Qiyue gracefully, with unrestrained delight in his eyes.