Lin Feilu was talking to Songyu as they laughed and walked into the palace. Suddenly, they heard a noisy commotion coming from inside the palace along with the cries of Lin Zhanyuan. Lin Feilu felt uneasy, so she sped up and ran in. As soon as she arrived in the yard, she saw Yunyou who was holding a pot of hot water.
Upon seeing her return, Yunyou's eyes started to redden once more despite already crying. She shouted, "Princess".
Lin Feilu asked, "What's wrong? What happened to my brother?"
Yunyou's words were choked as she answered, "His Highness is fine, it's the Madam…"
Lin Feilu hurriedly walked into the room with her, only to find that there was an imperial doctor in the room who was undergoing a medical consultation. Xiao Lan was lying on the bed, unconscious and pale. There were also several conspicuous red bumps on her bare arms and face.
The imperial doctor said, "The bee venom has been cleansed and treated, but the Honourable Lady did fall into the water. With the cold affecting her body, paired with her frightened state, she would require quite a long time to recover and rehabilitate. This is the prescription prescribed by this lowly official, bring the medicine over, and hurry."
Qingyan thanked him before she took the prescription and went outside. Seeing Lin Feilu back home, her eyes were red and she was about to say something. However, Lin Feilu said, "Go fetch the medicine first."
Qing Yan nodded and went out. Lin Zhanyuan laid down by the bed and bawled uncontrollably. Lin Feilu walked over to comfort him for a long time and had Song Yu take him out, before she asked Yunyou, "What happened?"
Yunyou wiped away her tears, and then the matter was revealed.
It turned out that this morning, Xiao Lan received an invitation from Consort Mei who had invited her to an outing in the Royal Flower Garden. Although Xiao Lan knew that the Consort had bad intentions, the other party was a Consort and she was but an Honourable Lady. With the strict heirachic rankings in the palace, she could not refuse and had no choice but to accept the appointment.
Concubine Mei hasn't been in bed with Emperor Lin since she returned from the palace, which resulted in a spreading rumor in the palace that she had fallen out of favor. But despite everything, she still had her noble title, maintained her good image and treated the concubines around her well, so no one dared to accuse her of anything.
She also invited several other concubines on this outing. Consort Mei was no better than she was when she last saw her a few years ago. Yet, she still held Xiao Lan's hand and affectionately addressed her as "sister".
When Xiao Lan remembered that she was most likely the person responsible for the drug dosing back then, she felt a chill in her heart. She did not dare to relax her vigilance and lower her guard during the entire outing.
When passing through a flower garden, a dense swarm of bees flew out of nowhere and rushed towards her in a targetted manner. This group of bees didn't sting anyone else, yet they chased and stung her only. Xiao Lan panicked and ran around, but even so, the bees chased her relentlessly. Finally, she jumped into the lake in front and submerged herself underwater before she was able to escape the catastrophical scene.
Although it was spring, the lake was still cold. Due to her state of shock and remaining in the water for too long, she was already unconscious when she was rescued ashore.
Lin Feilu heard Yunyou cry as she finished speaking and the veins of her temples twitched abruptly with anger.
The imperial doctor had already left by this time and she asked Yunyou in a deep voice, "Was there anything strange when they were viewing the flowers? Why did the bees only chase mother?"
The imperial doctor had already left by this time and she asked Yunyou in a deep voice, "Was there anything strange when they were viewing the flowers? Why did the bees only chase mother?"
Yunyou sobbed, "I didn't know at the time, but now looking back, there was something amiss. When this lowly servant accompanied the Madam, there was the scent of wormwood on everyone else's body. At that time, this lowly servant only thought it was to repel mosquitoes with the arrival of spring. Now that I think about it, it was probably because bees don't like the smell of wormwood."
Lin Feilu calmly listened to her, before she thought about it and asked, "Where is the dress that mother had worn to the garden?"
Yunyou replied, "This lowly servant had changed Madam's attire. It should be in the basin outside as I haven't had the time to wash it."
Lin Feilu asked her to lead the way. After walking over, she picked up the dress still soaking in the tub and took a sniff of the scent. Even after being drenched in the lake, it wasn't enough to wash away the scent of pollen on the dress.
Yunyou smelled it too and gasped in surprise, "This scent is very strange. It's not the scent that Madam would usually use!"
Lin Feilu could guess what had actually happened. It seemed like Concubine Mei took advantage of a moment Xiao Lan had lowered her guard and sprinkled bee-attracting pollen on her, which caused the bees to chase her alone. If Xiao Lan hadn't jumped into the water, she would have been stung badly to the point of disfigurement.
This woman is too evil.
Yunyou said angrily, "Princess! Let's meet the Empress and demand justice!"
Lin Feilu replied with a question, "Do you have any evidence to prove that Consort Mei did it? Did you personally see her sprinkling pollen on mother?"
Yunyou was speechless for a while.
Lin Feilu said quietly, "The people who joined the outing with her today should be her cronies. Since she has made such detailed and perfect preparations, she will not leave evidence behind either."
Yunyou cried and said, "It's all my fault for being stupid, I failed to protect the Madam."
Lin Feilu sighed, "Stop crying, just take good care of mother. Nothing else matters as long as she is alright."
Yunyou wiped away her tears and couldn't help but feel a little bit ruthless, "Princess, are we just going to forget this matter?"
Lin Feilu smiled, "Forget it?" She threw the soaked dress into the basin, wiped the water on her hands and nonchalantly said, "This matter will not be over until I make her suffer."
Yunyou, "!"
The Princess suddenly appeared very intimidating!
Qingyan quickly obtained the medicine and came back. Then, she started concocting the medicine together with Yunyou.
Lin Zhanyuan stopped crying, but his eyes were as red as the little rabbit in his arms. He squatted by the bed to look at Xiao Lan, then at Lin Feilu, before he choked up and asked, "Sister, is mother dead?"
Lin Feilu took his hand and led it beneath the bed covers to hold Xiao Lan's hand. "A dead person has no temperature. Touch it, is our mother's hand warm?"
Lin Zhanyuan touched her hand for a long while with reddened eyes, then he smiled, "They're warm!"
Lin Feilu also laughed, "That means mother isn't dead. She just fell asleep and will wake up soon."
Lin Zhanyuan put a finger on his lips and hushed twice, before whispering, "Then let's not disturb mother's sleep. Sister, let's go out and play."
Lin Feilu nodded, took his hand and left the room.
Lin Zhanyuan now has a little rabbit and Chang Er to accompany him, and his current life is much happier than before. His personality has become more cheerful and even more lively than it was when she first came here. He was only shocked by the scene when Xiao Lan was rescued from the waters this morning, which made him unable to stop crying.
Now that he knew his mother was okay, he soon started playing happily in the yard again.
Lin Feilu sat on the threshold and looked at him, the corners of her lips unconsciously grinned. The daylight gradually dimmed, and the unconscious Xiao Lan finally woke up. Lin Feilu got up when she heard the voice of Yunyou resonating from inside and walked in.
Xiao Lan still looked very weak. She was frightened by this trip, and she would probably suffer a serious illness. Qingyan fed her the medicine and helped her to lie down. She looked at her daughter sitting next to the bed, her voice slightly muted, "I've made Lu'er worry again."
Lin Feilu shook her head, "Just focus on recovering, mother concubine."
Xiao Lan stretched out her hand to touch the irritating bump on her face, but Lin Feilu reached out and held it down, "Mother concubine, they just applied the medicine, don't touch it."
Xiao Lan asked in a light tone, "My face…"
She pursed her lips and smiled, "It's not a big problem. Don't worry, it will get better."
Xiao Lan closed her eyes, only to feel that her heart was blocked by a raging sensation. It took a while before she calmed down, her voice trembling slightly, "Consort Mei is trying to disfigure me. If she realises that this plan turned out unsuccessful, she probably won't let it go just like that."
Lin Feilu held her hand with a calm voice, "Just wait for her next move, then."
Xiao Lan tightened her fingers, fixedly looking at her daughter and mutedly warned her, "Be careful."
Lin Feilu nodded with a smile.
After such an incident, it was impossible for her to leave Mingyue Palace again in a short time. The graces of the Emperor Lin were all granted to her. Which means, as long as Xiao Lan was not favored for a day, someone would always come to her door to insult her.
Lin Feilu felt that she was a bit like the guardian of the Mingyue Palace now. Only with her presence can the safety of the people in this palace be guaranteed.
When it was time to go to Jinyun Palace in the afternoon, Noble Consort Xi did not see the little bean after she woke up from a nap and asked the palace maid beside her in a cold tone, "Did that girl decide to be lazy today?"
The palace maid replied, "Noble Consort, this lowly slave heard that the Fifth Princess's birth mother, Honourable Lady Lan, encountered a beehive in the Royal Flower Garden and was attacked by the bees this morning before she jumped into the lake. She was barely alive when she was rescued."
Noble Consort Xi's hand that held her teacup froze and her eyebrows furrowed, "With whom?"
The palace maid replied, "I heard that it was an invitation made by Consort Mei for all the palaces to enjoy flower viewing. A lot of people attended the outing." She lowered her voice and said, "It is quite odd now that I speak of it. There were so many people there at the time, yet the bees did not pursue the other and only stung Honourable Lady Lan alone. I'm afraid there is something strange about this situation."
When Xi Tan first entered the palace, she had never engaged in palace faction fighting. But whoever dared to engage in a palace faction fight with her, she would make them regret their actions.
However, she had seen her fair share of fights amongst the harem and she knew that only a handful of concubines in the palace were truly innocent. Little Fifth Princess has been in the limelight recently, so it is inevitable for jealousy to be directed towards them.
Xi Tan said, "Send over some tonics that can help replenish nutrients in the body. I don't really need the ones that my elder brother gave me, so please send them altogether."
The palace maid adhered to the order and took the items. Before she could even walk out of the palace gates, she ran into Songyu who was sent by Lin Feilu to relay a message. After hearing what she had to say, Xi Tan nodded lightly and let Songyu hold on to the items. Quietly, she spoke, "Go back and tell Little Fifth Princess, if she encounters any problems at all, I will support her."
Songyu accepted the order and excused herself.
If Xi Tan caught wind of it already, then the other palaces would naturally know about it as well. Apart from Consort Xian, the other people who were eager to please the Fifth Princess also sent a fair amount of items to Mingyue Palace.
Even Consort Mei had sent someone over, the palace maid claiming that her Consort was also frightened this morning and she was now bedridden. However, she felt very guilty that she couldn't personally visit the Honourable Lady Xiao Lan and could only send some supplements in hopes that she could recover soon.
Lin Feilu smiled and had the maid accept it. When she left, Yunyou was so angry that she wanted to throw the items away.
Lin Feilu stopped her, "Why throw it away? Leave it so we can eat it. Good things shouldn't be wasted, after all."
Yun You said fiercely, "The cat is crying and the mouse is falsely compassionate(1); who's to say that these things may very well be poisoned!"
(T/L note: A mouse wouldn't be compassionate if a cat was feeling sad. Same philosophy, an enemy wouldn't do good things for you if they wanted you gone, unless there were ulterior motives)
Lin Feilu asked her to put everything away, "Her people personally delivered it, so she can't just brush it off if something happens. A person who cherishes her reputation as much as Consort Mei would dare not do such a thing in public."
Consort Mei cherished her reputation a lot as she groomed an image of being a gentle and kind figure in public. Naturally, she wouldn't let something like the incident of the bee attack stain her good reputation as well.
It didn't take long for people to catch wind of the matter and began gossiping. Apparently, the 'reason' as to why the bees only chased Honourable Lady Xiao Lan and stung her alone was because she heard that there were many concubines going to watch the flowers and apparently, there may be a chance to meet His Majesty. Therefore in order to be in the limelight, she applied a lot of scented powder on her body.
In the end, she did not meet His Majesty but got stung by the bees instead. Not only did she lose her reputation, but she almost lost her life as well.
This incident became a great joke to laugh about after dinner amongst the people of the palace. After Qingyan heard it, she became very angered once again, but Lin Feilu didn't care about it much.
Those mouths belonged to other people. Paired with the fact that Consort Mei was deliberately spreading the rumors, those who believed it will continue to believe it. Hence, it was useless to refute. It was just empty gossip, after all, as only the ones who could be hurt by those remarks were the ones who actually cared.
By the time Emperor Lin knew about the incident, Lin Feilu hadn't gone to the Imperial School for two days. Peng Man didn't talk about the rumors in the palace, but informed His Majesty that the Fifth Princess's Honourable Mother fell into the water and was seriously ill, also mentioning that the Fifth Princess has been personally taking care of her recently as well.
After that, he asked carefully, "Your Majesty, do you want to take a visit to the Mingyue Palace?"
After that, he asked carefully, "Your Majesty, do you want to take a visit to the Mingyue Palace?"
To be honest, Emperor Lin was not yet mentally prepared to meet Xiao Lan and her idiot son.
He lowered his head and said nothing, but Peng Man understood what his Majesty meant and didn't say anything more. After a while, Emperor Lin suddenly raised his head and questioned, "How many people are there who serve in the Mingyue Palace?"
In an abrupt haste, Peng Man wasn't aware either, so he hurried off to find someone to look through the roster. Then, he replied, "In the Mingyue Palace, there are now only two palace maids who are serving the Honourable Lady Xiao Lan, one maidservant tending to the Fifth Princess, and an elderly maid who is old in age."
Emperor Lin frowned and commented, "How can they be tended to with this mere amount of people? The Fifth Princess is still so young, and yet she alone had to take care of her mother," He thought for a while and relayed an order, "Notify the Imperial Household Department to reallocate some servants according to the allowances by the position of Honourable Lady. Take a group of servants to tend to them— there must be no mishaps nor mistakes."
In terms of the normal status of an Honourable Lady, Xiao Lan should have two close maidservants, one head palace maid, two other palace maids and two eunuchs to serve her.
However, since Xiao Lan fell out of favour before, causing the palace staff assigned to walk away, leaving them behind. Now that Emperor Lin has made an official decree, the Imperial Household Department naturally did not dare to neglect it and immediately whitelisted the palace staff who weren't currently serving anyone else in the palace. After a selection process, they were sent over to the Mingyue Palace.
Emperor Lin couldn't break through the obstacle in his heart as he was unwilling to go to Mingyue Palace. His offerings were not scarce however, sending gifts to the palace one by one. Except for the silk satin, the rest of his gifts were basically tonics. These tonics weren't for the Fifth Princesses— anyone with a discerning eye would be aware that they were for Xiao Lan.
In addition, the palace staff who transferred over to the palace in irked jealousy collectively agreed that Xiao Lan had obtained a blessing in disguise.
After hearing this, Consort Mei broke three tea cups in her palace and gritted her teeth. She cursed, "A blessing in disguise indeed. However, it depends on whether or not she has a life long enough to enjoy this blessing!"
The palace maid Xixiang, who went with the Consort into the palace as her family's dowry, was the person that Consort Mei trusted the most. While ordering people to clean up the living quarters, she whispered comfortingly, "Why should the Consort get angry over such an inconspicuous person?" She gently massaged the consort's forehead and said as she smiled, "We have already arranged our people to infiltrate the palace. Their every move will be in the hands of the Consort from now on, so there's no need to worry about not being able to 'toy' with them."
Consort Mei opened her eyes before she curled her lips and smiled.
…
Suddenly there were many people in the Mingyue Palace. This made Qingyan and Yunyou become unable to get accustomed to it for some time. Xiao Lan was still ill, so Lin Feilu was the one who methodically arranged the tasks for the newly arrived palace workers.
Before they came, the new palace staff had heard that the Fifth Princess was clever, cute and very favoured, but they didn't expect that the same five-year-old girl to be the one actually calling the shots in this palace. Listening to her childish yet clear voice admonishing them to be faithful in protecting their Madam, they all hurriedly responded.
After excusing the palace staff, Lin Feilu called Qingyan and Yunyou into the room and whispered, "Don't leave personal matters to them for the time being and be alert at all times."
After excusing the palace staff, Lin Feilu summoned Qingyan and Yunyou into the room and whispered, "Don't leave intricate personal matters for them to do with for the time being and be alert at all times."
Qingyan was taken aback, "Is the princess worried that someone amidst them might be harbouring evil intentions?"
"Who knows," Lin Feilu recalled the palace fight dramas that she had seen and smiled sweetly, "It wouldn't be wrong to be careful."
As she expected, that night, Lin Feilu heard the sound of a small stone thrown against her window in the middle of her sleep.
She froze for a moment before she grabbed her coat and silently walked to the window. She paused, before opening the window abruptly when another stone was thrown.
The cold air of the spring night came blowing in. The silver moon outside the palace looked like a silver mirror and the grass tufts outside the walls swayed slightly. She pressed her mouth to hold back her laughter and said with a soft voice, "Your Highness, I saw you."
Even after she waited for a while, there was still no movement. She finally couldn't help but laugh, leaning out of the window with her little hands supporting her frame, "Your Highness, stop hiding, I'm really cold."
There was a little movement outside the courtyard wall.
After a gust of wind, Song Jinglan who was dressed in black flew down with the night wind. He stood in front of her window with a helpless smile on his face.
She usually saw more of his gentle and elegant appearances in white clothing, but now that he was dressed in black with styled-back hair, there was a bit of a youthful spirit that was rare to see in him on any ordinary days. She first admired the value of his appearance, and then she lowered her chin and said, "His Highness isn't asleep in his chambers although it's the middle of the night. And apparently, he is not afraid of being caught by the guards either."
Song Jinglan lowered his head slightly, with a strand of stray hair flicking at the corner of his eyes, "The guards can't catch me; I was caught by you."
Lin Feilu spreaded her hands out, "Just thinking about it, I knew there was only one person who would do stuff like this," Then she folded her hands against her chest and blinked, "So, what information does Your Highness have for me?"
Song Jinglan looked at her for a while, before he shook his head in amusement and said in a low voice, "Be careful of the new maid who has a mole on her eyebrow who has entered your palace today."
Lin Feilu had been wary long ago, and it was not surprising to hear his reminder, but she curiously asked, "How did Your Highness find out?"
Song Jinglan gave it some thought before he tentatively replied, "I saw it?"
Lin Feilu, "…You shouldn't use a questioning tone when you tell lies, right?"
The boy lowered his gaze and laughed. After doing so, he raised his hand to cover the wide open window with a gentle voice, "Go to sleep, I'm going back."
Lin Feilu yawned and waved at him obediently, "Good night, Your Highness."
"Good night?" He repeated, then laughed again, "Well, good night."
He turned around with a slight tiptoe and leapt over the wall. Lin Feilu looked at his figure and suddenly shouted, "Your Highness!"
The boy stood on the wall and turned around slightly, his feet surrounded by creeping purple bellflowers.
He saw the little girl smiling as she said, "You look so handsome this way!"
He scaled down the wall, and when he looked back, his silent eyes reflected a small sliver of starlight from the night sky as he formed a faint smile.
After getting up the next day, Lin Feilu began to pay attention to the palace maid with a mole on her eyebrow. Her name was Yuyin, and she was about the same age as Qingyan. She was born with a pair of low-angled eyebrows and her appearance looked rather honest. She was also conscientious and diligent in completing tasks. If it was not for Song Jinglan's reminder, it would have taken her a long time to notice the girl behaving rather oddly.
Although the pretty lady didn't say who she was working for, Lin Feilu used her clever little brain to know that it was Consort Mei who arranged this fateful meeting.
Arranging 'Eyeliner' here to infiltrate the palace, is she trying to pull tricks on us? Perhaps she wants to use poisoning? Or did she just want to monitor our movements?
Lin Feilu didn't tell anyone else about this incident temporarily, including Xiao Lan, to ensure that they wouldn't be acting suspiciously in front of the spy.
Qingyan and Yunyou were very vigilant after receiving instructions. Yuyin had just arrived at Mingyue Palace, which was precisely the time where she needed to gain their trust. Hence, she probably wouldn't act rashly for the time being.
If the enemy doesn't make a move, I won't make a move. Lin Feilu didn't plan to alert the enemy of her knowledge, so she planned to just observe for the time being before she made any decisions.
As someone who would be bearing an unspeakable secret, no matter how good she was able to pretend, her reaction and performance at certain times would definitely be different from normal people if nothing else.
After observing her for a period of time, Lin Feilu discovered that Yuyin paid special attention to Xiao Lan's daily life.
Qingyan and Yunyou would not let the newly arrived staff enter the house nor were they allowed to handle any of the owner's personal matters. Another maid would go over to other areas to wait, but Yuyin did not do so. Instead, she would still wait outside by the door. She had a loyal and honest look on her face, as if she was awaiting her orders at any time, but in fact, her eyes would secretly glance into the house.
What Xiao Lan ate, what she did and said— all of those traits seemed to be her surveillance content.
Other than that, there were no other actions from her.
She watched Xiao Lan quietly every day and Lin Feilu did the same as she observed Yuyin, which felt strange and interesting. She thought it was rather boring as she was unable to go out recently, but now, this has added a lot of fun into her life.
It was a rainy day in spring and the steady droplets of water fell continuously, cooling down the warm weather. After a long day of rainfall, Lin Jingyuan, who hadn't seen his sister Little Lu, rushed over.
He knew that because of Xiao Lan's affairs, Little Lu had not been in a good mood recently, so he had asked Kang-an to send her a bunch of interesting and fun stuff on a daily basis.
As soon as he came over today, he took her and said, "I heard that the Imperial Household Department has recently brought in many exotic flowers and plants. My mother consort went to see them the day before yesterday and said it was really quite interesting. Let me take you to enjoy the flowers and relax!"
Xiao Lan's illness had gradually been recovering recently and she was already able to walk. She looked at Lin Feilu and laughed softly, "Go with the Fourth Prince and have a look. You haven't been out to play for a long time, I don't want you to get bored to the point where you'd become sick."
Lin Feilu couldn't really reject Lin Jingyuan's enthusiasm, so she nodded in agreement.
Then, Lin Jingyuan happily took her to enjoy the sight of the flowers.
The palace appeared to have everything, but in fact, according to modern life standards, everything was severely lacking.
Take these flowers as an example: their sights were limited to the flowers in the palace and hence, it would gradually become a common sight. If there was a variety that they hadn't seen before, it would be regarded as an exotic flower before being introduced to the palace. These flowers were to be admired by Emperor Lin and his other concubines.
The Imperial Household Department had introduced four kinds of rare flowers this time, all of which they had never seen before. Although Lin Feilu didn't have much knowledge about flowers, she still portrayed an expression of disbelief when she saw the large, white flowers with huge leaves and thick rhizomes in the floral shed.
Wait, aren't these giant hogweeds?
When her grandmother was still alive, she would go back to the countryside to accompany her every summer vacation. These kinds of large and white flowers could be seen everywhere in that small village. Her grandmother said that they were called 'large hogweeds' and that she shouldn't touch them, otherwise her skin would come off.
She didn't believe in heresy, so she picked one and the liquid from the flower flowed all over her hand. In the afternoon of the next day, the palm of her hand had started to hurt excruciatingly, gradually becoming red and swollen with blisters. Although it was cured later, she still had scars on the back of her hand because she scratched her skin at the time, and it was only cleared when she grew up using beautifying medicines.
She researched about it on the Internet and found that the botanical name was 'Giant Hogweed'. It was a highly poisonous plant with juices that contained furanocoumarin. Once it came in contact with the skin, it would cause sun-induced Dermatitis, which would combine the toxicity with the sunlight in two days to produce a burning sensation and blisters.
Of course, it depends on each person's physique. Some people would have painless red bumps after contact. But after that, the bumps may turn into purple or brown scars that would last for several years and become sensitive to sunlight.
If that liquid entered the eyes, it might have even caused blindness.
As a summary, it was highly toxic! Extremely so!
But the reproduction ability of that particular plant was especially strong. It also has a strong vitality as it could be seen blooming everywhere on the country's roadside.
It will not perish even by burning, and when the spring breeze comes, it will just reproduce once more.
The Imperial Household Department is really talented indeed. They actually introduced this highly poisonous plant into the palace as an exotic flower and planned to plant it? Do they want the palace to be conquered by this aggressive plant, perhaps?
But it's not surprising to think about it. These giant hogweeds were a sight to behold and were quite fascinating with white flowers growing in clusters. It was historically introduced as an ornamental plant in Europe, Britain and other places.
Seeing that she had been staring at those big white flowers, Lin Jingyuan couldn't help but ask, "Little Lu, do you like this flower?" Before she could answer, Lin Jingyuan ordered the palace servant next to him, "Send a few of these plants to the Mingyue Palace!"
Lin Feilu was planning to refuse— who would want to keep this poisonous thing! But suddenly there was a flash of inspiration in her mind. Thinking of something, she swallowed her words as she smiled and watched the palace servant place the large, white flowers into the pots, moving them to the Mingyue Palace.
The giant hogweeds were still very beautiful. Once they were moved to the Mingyue Palace, it attracted everyone's attention as they looked around with their interests piqued.
Lin Feilu instructed Qingyan, "Take care of these flowers in the future, and don't touch them— their juices are very precious."
Lin Feilu told Qingyan, "Take care of these flowers in the future, and don't touch them — their juices are very precious."
Qingyan asked curiously, "Does the juice of this plant hold any effects?"
Lin Feilu didn't say anything more. She only pursed her lips and smiled mysteriously.
Qingyan was ordered to place these potted flowers under the porch, and according to the princess's request, she couldn't touch them at all. In the evening, Lin Feilu took a pair of scissors, walked to the flowerpot, and cut a section of flowers and leaves.
Qingyan was taken aback, "Princess, what are you doing?"
Lin Feilu shushed her, put the cut flowers and leaves into a granite mortar before she ran into Xiao Lan's room.
Soon, there was the sound of pounding against the granite mortar in the room. Qingyan was curious, and 'Eyeliner' Yuyin was even more curious as she pretended to be sweeping the leaves of the corridor. In fact, she has been paying attention to the movements that occured in the house.
After the passing time of an incense stick, she heard Lin Feilu shouting inside, "Qingyan, come in with a pot of hot water."
Qingyan accepted the order and quickly brought the hot water in. Yuyin had to obey her instructions of not going inside, so she could only hear Qingyan laugh in surprise, "What's the application on the face of the Honourable Lady?"
Lin Feilu probably stopped her questioning as the entire house became dead silent.
After a while, Qingyan came out with a basin of water. Yuyin continued to sweep the floor as she looked into the basin, but all she could see was numerous turquoise debris floating on the surface of the water. She looked at the large white flowers arranged under the porch, thinking of what she had just heard, and then she knew what they did.
It turns out that the Fifth Princess grinded this wonderful flower to apply onto the face of the Honourable Lady Xiao Lan?
This was the first time she had seen this strange flower and she didn't know the effects it had. Could it be any good for the skin?
Yuyin suppressed the doubts in her heart and continued to observe.
Later, she discovered that the Fifth Princess would cut a section of the large and white flower twice a day— once in the morning and once in the evening to collect the juices. Then, she would proceed to mash it and apply it onto Xiao Lan's face.
A few red marks had surfaced on Xiao Lan's face after she was stung by the horde of bees. Although she was not disfigured, the marks did not fade away. But after a week, Yuyin found that the red marks on Xiao Lan's face had disappeared!
Not only did the red marks disappear, but her skin seemed to be much more supple and fairer than before, as if water could be pinched out of it!
She couldn't help but glance at the plants that were kept under the porch. Most of the flowers had been cut by the Fifth Princess, leaving only a lonely flower bud.
It was no wonder when the flowers were moved back that day, the Fifth Princess had said that the juices were precious. However, Yuyin did not expect that lathering the juices over the face would have such benefits for the skin!
Yuyin has been monitoring Xiao Lan's daily life since she came to the Mingyue Palace, but Xiao Lan was really a very boring person— not once did she step out of her house. She read, embroidered in the room or played with her son, which made it difficult for her to report any useful information back to Consort Mei. Over at Consort Mei's side, she was already getting a bit frustrated.
At present, she was ecstatic when she discovered the news. After having lunch, she just found an excuse to leave the Mingyue Palace. Through the method that she had discussed with Consort Mei beforehand, she managed to provide the information to the Consort.
Lin Feilu came out of the room without seeing the 'surveillance object', so she turned around and asked Qingyan, "Where is Yuyin?"
Qing Yan replied, "She accidentally lost one side of her earrings so she went out to look for them."
Lin Feilu looked at the rain falling on the porch and yawned, "When will the rain stop?"
Qing Yan smiled and said, "This humble servant heard from the others yesterday that the people from the Royal Astronomy Supervisors have estimated that it will take one or two days. It's about time the sun comes back up; the quilts are starting to smell a bit musky."
She looked at the lonely, big, white flower that was soaked by the rain and said with a smile, "These flowers were cut by the Fifth Princess to the point where only the flower stems are left. Now that I think about it, this lowly servant keeps thinking that the crushed juices of these flowers seem to have a similar smell to the Hu Gua (cucumber)."
'Hu Gua' was another name for cucumber. But in order to avoid the Emperor's royal character, it was called Hu Gua.
(T/N: Cucumber is called 'Huang Gua' in Chinese, but the Emperor is called 'Huang Shang'. They had the homophones of the same pronunciation although it was a different word. To avoid that, they changed the name entirely.)
Lin Feilu smiled and did not answer.
She thought to herself, that's because it is a cucumber, so how could it not smell like one?
She hid the cucumbers in Xiao Lan's room early in the morning every day. After cutting the giant hogweed and bringing them in, the cucumbers were the ones that were actually pounded. The red marks on Xiao Lan's face were a bit inflamed, so it's good to use cucumbers to moisturize and eliminate the inflammation. Using cucumbers for skincare and moisturizing were top-notch methods, so of course it would work.
Although they were green-turquoise coloured, they couldn't be seen after the smashing process. She didn't tell the truth to Qingyan, but secretly told Xiao Lan, which was why Qingyan really thought that she had really used the giant hogweeds for the facial application.
Xiao Lan's skin was already in a good state, but it really depended more on her mood.
Seeing that Consort Mei was about to suffer, how could she be in a bad mood?
She puts on a cucumber mask every day and she has her children by her side. She was eating well and sleeping soundly— it would be odd if her skin wasn't getting any better.
After half an hour, Yuyin came back. Lin Feilu, who was holding Chang Er and playing with Lin Zhanyuan under the porch, looked up and saw her trotting in under an umbrella. She smiled and asked, "Yuyin, have you found your earring?"
Yuyin smiled shyly,"I found it. Thank you, princess, for your concern."
Lin Feilu thought that there were actually quite a few actors in this palace.
Yuyin returned safely to Mingyue Palace, whereas Consort Mei had also received the message.
There was a continuous drizzle outside the house as Consort Mei sat on her side and looked at Xixiang suspiciously, "Is this true? Why had this Consort never heard of it? And how did the little girl know?"
Xixiang thought for a while and said, "Yuyin is credible, this matter is probably real. This lowly servant has heard that the Fifth Princess was very close to a new Imperial doctor named Meng Fuji from the Imperial Hospital, and also heard that Meng Fuji's parents were both knowledgeable rural doctors. Perhaps that Meng Fuji informed her, but I don't really know either."
Consort Mei nodded thoughtfully. She pondered for a long time before she ordered, "Order someone to get some pots of this flower from the Imperial Household Department."
Xixiang accepted the order and left. Soon, pots of the large and white flowers were moved to Consort Mei's palace.