Chapter 51
The brazier in the embroidery room was still burning, but Concubine Liu and Min Rou were ice-cold.
"It's almost time for the midday meal, Sister Rou, I'd like to go to your residence and see your daughter."
Concubine Liu had already stood up, not even allowing the other to refuse.
"Okay, okay!" Min Rou was in a complete state of confusion. She had just been wondering how to make an excuse to go home and see her daughter.
She couldn't possibly say that she had heard the three-month-old princess speak!
"Qiu Li, prepare the carriage immediately!"
Concubine Liu grabbed Min Rou's hand and headed outside.
"Zhang Jia Wet Nurse, carry the princess and wrap her up tightly in a cloak!"
They all moved with great haste, just as the lunch break was beginning.
Just as Concubine Liu was about to get in the carriage, she paused.
"Qiu Li, go and summon Consort Min as well."
Consort Min was the woman who had been secretly practicing swords and spears, according to her daughter!
In no time, the group hurriedly boarded the carriage.
Min Rou was anxious and restless.
Concubine Liu was also desperately worried, constantly looking out the window.
Only Consort Min, upon hearing they were going to the Zhou Mansion for a meal and to see the two well-behaved little girls, was excited to go.
Like the swaddled Xiao Chuchu, Consort Min didn't even feel sleepy, staring out the window and eagerly awaiting their arrival at the Zhou Mansion.
But Xiao Chuchu's excitement was clearly different from Consort Min's. In her heart, she was frantically calling out to hurry up!
'That wicked mother-in-law has drugged my little sister! She's even had the maidservant go get ice blocks!'
'Help! It's the depths of winter now!'
'Ah, that wicked mother-in-law has sent all the servants away!'
"Tell the driver to hurry!" Concubine Liu gripped her handkerchief, her face changing color.
"Consort Min is hungry, get to the Zhou Mansion as quickly as possible!!"
"Little Luzi, you and the guards should ride ahead to the Zhou Mansion! Inform them that I, the princess, am coming to dine, and have them prepare quickly!"
Min Rou was on the verge of tears, looking at Concubine Liu with deep gratitude.
Consort Min was even more stunned, moved beyond words. "Sister Liu, you're really going through so much trouble just for me to have a bite to eat, no, to have a meal. You're so thoughtful."
Concubine Liu's mouth twitched.
This was just an excuse.
Consort Min, who loved to eat, actually believed it, just like the sixth prince she had given birth to.
The eunuch Xiao Luzi that she had brought out of the palace galloped ahead on horseback, and the carriage they were riding in went at a speed as if they were nursing a baby, almost rocking them off the road.
The roads were cleared, and in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the carriage creaked to a stop at the entrance of the Zhou Mansion.
The surrounding commoners were grumbling and cursing.
"What a grand display, who do they think they are, clearing the road!?"
"Rumor has it they're imperial concubines?"
"The emperor's women, they really don't give a damn about us common folk!"
"What, just to eat their meal a little earlier, they won't even let us commoners pass!?"
"How arrogant! Is she the empress?"
The commotion and chatter made both Concubine Liu and Consort Min change expression.
Min Rou was even more anxious.
But Concubine Liu no longer had time to worry about all this, as her precious daughter was calling out again.
'Help! This cruel mother-in-law, upon hearing that mother is coming to dine, hasn't stopped yet! She's gone out to instruct the servant to prepare the food, and then she went back to the room!'
'Ah, she's extinguished the fire in the room and is going to submerge my little sister in ice water!'
'The ice was just bought this morning, it hasn't even melted yet!'
'Mother, hurry, hurry, hurry, a life is at stake!'
Concubine Liu gripped her skirt and clenched her teeth as she jumped off the carriage.
But she wasn't as nimble as Consort Min, who was always reading books and disliked exercise, so she couldn't run fast!
Concubine Liu turned back and grabbed Min Rou's hand. "Which room is your mother-in-law's?"
"This morning, I heard my mother say that the Zhou family's servants went out to buy ice."
"In the depths of winter, what need is there for that? You said your two daughters are seriously ill with wind and cold, with high fevers that won't subside, at the very time you wanted to leave home..."
Consort Min raised her eyebrows upon hearing this. "What does this mean? They're using ice to harm the children at the Zhou family?"
Min Rou was almost about to collapse. "My mother-in-law's room is in the second hall."
Consort Min's eyes bulged with rage, and with a rip, she tore off the troublesome lower part of her dress.
She then snatched the driver's whip and charged into the Zhou Mansion, leaving the slow-moving Concubine Liu and Min Rou behind.
The surrounding onlookers had just been cursing Concubine Liu and Consort Min for disregarding the common people's lives and recklessly driving their carriage.
But now, after hearing just a snippet, they were all boiling with indignation on the spot.
"What's going on, what's going on?"
"Buying ice in the winter? Children with high fevers and serious illness?"
"Just to prevent the daughter-in-law from leaving?"
The commoners didn't leave, gathering at the entrance of the Zhou Mansion to take a look.
The guards at the Zhou Mansion wanted to go inform their master, but were all kicked down by Consort Min and the earlier-arriving Xiao Luzi.
"Get out of the way!"
Consort Min roared furiously, "Whoever blocks me will get a whipping, and I'm not joking!"
With that, she stormed into the second hall.
With a bang, she kicked open the door of the room.
Looking left and right, she rushed into the warm room and saw the flustered, completely distraught Mrs. Zhou!
She was panicked and frantic, holding the three-year-old girl in her hands, trying to pull her out of the ice water and hide her under the blankets.
But how could she hide it? In the warm room, the wooden tub for bathing the child was floating with three large blocks of ice, emitting a chilly mist!
The little girl stuffed into the bedding was still shivering!
The bedding was soaked through, completely icy cold to the touch!
"You old hag! Are you even human!?"
Consort Min, seeing this outrageous act for the first time, lashed Mrs. Zhou's back in her fury.
"Ah!"
Mrs. Zhou let out a shrill scream, a bloody mark appearing on her back!
Consort Min, who was naturally bold, had only been restraining herself in the palace all these years. Now that she was out of the palace and witnessed such a despicable and hateful act, she could no longer hold back.
After the first lash, still unsatisfied, she threw the whip to the ground.
Reaching out, she directly grabbed Mrs. Zhou and threw her into the ice water tub!
"I'll let you soak!"
"You black-hearted, foul-lunged old hag!"
Concubine Liu and Min Rou rushed in, quickly having someone light the brazier and send for the doctor.
As they spoke, they immediately stripped the little girl of her wet clothes and wrapped her in a clean cloak.
"Close the door and the windows!"
Fortunately, the little girl's hair was still dry, indicating she hadn't been soaked for too long.
Concubine Liu, looking at the three-year-old child gradually regaining her rosy lips under the cloak and cotton blanket, heaved a huge sigh of relief.
'Wow, Mother is amazing, she arrived just in time.'
'Aunt Min is also awesome, when I grow up, I want to learn martial arts too. Whoever dares to bully me will get two good punches!' Xiao Chuchu exclaimed excitedly.
"Ah, murder! Let me go!"
"I'm freezing to death!"
Mrs. Zhou, a woman in her forties, was screaming miserably and shivering in the ice water tub.
But Consort Min kept pressing her down, not letting go, and upon hearing her words, glared. "You submerged your three-year-old granddaughter in ice water, and extinguished the fire, so how come you didn't feel cold?!"
The commoners outside the Zhou Mansion had seized the opportunity to join the spectacle.
Gathered around the doorway, upon hearing this, they immediately erupted in an uproar.
"Goodness, the old mistress of the Zhou family has a rotten heart!"
"Harming her own granddaughter, forcing her own daughter-in-law, my goodness, what kind of people are in the Zhou family!"
"I was wrong to misjudge Concubine Liu and Consort Min, they are good people!"
"It's all thanks to Concubine Liu and Consort Min that the child in the ice water still has a chance to live!"
"Concubine Liu and Consort Min are truly kind-hearted!"
The common people were simple.
Liking or disliking someone depended solely on whether they saved people or harmed them.
Concubine Liu and Consort Min's reputations were instantly spreading through the streets.
But Xiao Chuchu didn't laugh, even though the doctor who came to check on the little girl said she was fine, the cold hadn't penetrated her bones, and she just needed to drink some hot soup.
'Sister Rou, you should take the child back to your parents' home today.'
'Your husband isn't human.'
'Just now, when they were bringing in the ice, he was there. Now that the wicked deed is done, he's gone, not around, pretending to have nothing to do with it, when in fact he was the mastermind!'
Min Rou clenched her fists.
'Who would have thought, when his own daughter was submerged in ice water, he deliberately wasn't there, and was flirting with the daughter of the Minister of Justice instead.'
[Shameless! Summoning me to Lan Shan Temple, claiming it's to pray for the health of my two daughters!]
Min Rou nearly coughed up blood, her eyes rimmed with red as she trembled.
"Concubine Liu, thank you for today."
"I'm going to go find Zhou Muxin and demand a divorce right now!"
She turned and hurried toward the terrified servant by her mother-in-law's side. "Tell me, where is Zhou Muxin?"
Consort Min cracked her whip.
Concubine Liu closed her eyes. She heard her daughter's silent cries, and could not expose the truth, but she could guide others to it.
"Was our carriage just now not the same one that passed Zhou Mansion's carriage?"
"Is that the direction of the East Market?"
The servant flinched, falling to his knees and immediately confessing, "The Young Master went to Lan Shan Temple, beside the East Market."
"Bind him up! Take him with us! Let's be off!" Concubine Liu said firmly.