Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince
Chapter 315: This Prince Will Settle Accounts with You Later

Chapter 315: Chapter 315: This Prince Will Settle Accounts with You Later

In the afternoon, a sudden downpour broke out.

The summer rain always arrived unexpectedly, and by the time Qi Yu walked to the back yard, her body was already drenched.

Feng Yue was startled when he saw her coming through the heavy rain.

Qi Yu’s lips were pale. Upon entering the room, she took out the antidote she had been tightly guarding and handed it to Liu Wensheng, "Eat this, and the poison in your body will be neutralized."

Liu Wensheng glanced at her and always felt something was off about the person in front of him.

Feng Yue wanted to check the pills further, but Liu Wensheng had already swallowed them. Seeing him frowning and standing there foolishly, Liu shouted, "Get me a cup of water."

Feng Yue then snapped back to his senses and quickly got him a cup of clear water.

After Liu Wensheng finished drinking a cup of water, he asked somewhat worriedly, "Do you feel any discomfort?"

Liu Wensheng shook his head, "None at all."

He believed that if Qi Yu weren’t completely certain, she wouldn’t joke about his life.

Therefore, what she gave must certainly be the real antidote.

Feng Yue observed carefully for a while longer, and seeing that he indeed had no adverse reactions and even seemed a bit rosier, he finally felt relieved.

Liu Wensheng, seeing Qi Yu soaked to the bone, furrowed his brows and said, "With such heavy rain, why didn’t you use an umbrella?"

Qi Yu bent her lips slightly, "I forgot."

That was indeed something she would say, but Liu Wensheng always felt that her demeanor and tone were somewhat off.

She looked like a puppet that had been drained of its spirit, losing the vivacity of her usual days.

Her eyes were unfocused, and standing there, she indeed seemed somewhat bewitched.

Liu Wensheng couldn’t set his mind at ease and was just about to tell Feng Yue to send her back.

But then Qi Yu waved at them and said in a faint tone, "I’ll go back first."

Feng Yue stopped her, "I’ll go find an umbrella for you."

Qi Yu ignored him and walked into the rain without saying a word.

Feng Yue wanted to stop her, but it was too late; he could only watch as she gradually disappeared into the curtain of rain.

Turning back, he said to Liu Wensheng, "What’s wrong with her?"

Liu Wensheng was also puzzled and replied with a displeased tone, "How should I know?"

The two men exchanged looks, both appearing somewhat helpless.

Meanwhile, Qi Yu had already reached the white jade bridge by the riverbank. The rain drenched her, and water droplets slowly streamed down from her hair, soaking her eyebrows and eyes.

Because of the heavy rain, the servants of the Prince Residence were not walking outside.

Thus, as she walked along the way, no one came out to hold an umbrella for her.

Qi Yu didn’t mind these things; she had intentionally walked in the rain.

She couldn’t quite say whether there was more anger or more chill in her heart.

Chen Shi’s words pained her more than this incessant rain; he said that Qingzhou had already lost a hundred thousand people, his entire family had also perished in that epidemic.

The officials in Qingzhou were indifferent. As soon as they discovered someone had contracted the epidemic, they burned the people alive.

The local doctors petitioned him to report this to the Emperor to ask for external help, but all were rejected.

Chen Shi had escaped under the cover of the night. He had traveled all the way to the capital city, originally intending to inform the Prefect of Jingzhao about the situation in Qingzhou.

But Prefect Jingzhao, Gu Qing, was another coward, indifferent because Qingzhou was far from the Emperor’s immediate reach—who would care?

He had Chen Shi thrown into jail, starved him for a few days and beat him repeatedly before finally releasing him.

Chen Shi had always thought that the capital under the Emperor’s feet was the safest place, but upon his arrival in the capital city, he almost lost his life.

Only then did he realize that it doesn’t matter whether it’s under the Emperor’s feet or a remote place like Qingzhou, there are officials who fail to act everywhere.

At his wit’s end, Chen Shi had initially contemplated a death to end all troubles, but he happened to hear that the Imperial Hospital within the Imperial Palace was recruiting Imperial Physicians.

Having grown up in poverty, he had learned some medical skills. He couldn’t treat complicated diseases, but he was somewhat knowledgeable about common illnesses.

Moreover, his ability to memorize was extraordinary; he could remember things after a single glance, which for others might require several more.

The selection at the Imperial Hospital involved a written exam first, focusing on prescribing for various illnesses.

With his past experiences and excellent memory combined, Chen Shi had excelled in the competition.

After entering the Imperial Hospital, he had simply wanted to settle for a livelihood there, but visions of the hundred thousand lives that were burned alive haunted him in his dreams.

The images of his parents and little sister at their deaths were also deeply etched in his heart.

Determined, Chen Shi had intended to face the Emperor directly, even if it meant offering a remonstrance at the risk of his own life.

However, as an insignificant figure, he simply couldn’t meet those of higher standing, and could only prescribe daily for some eunuchs and palace maids.

One day, Chen Shi suddenly overheard the palace attendants discussing the Empress. He learned that since giving birth to a daughter, the Empress had not been pregnant again.

An idea struck Chen Shi, reminding him of some recipes he had learned in Tulan while in Qingzhou, which could help women regulate their bodies and conceive more easily.

Thus, he approached the Empress.

Initially, things progressed very well, and the Empress’s complexion genuinely improved with the treatment from those recipes.

But gradually, the Empress, realizing her belly was still not stirring, grew furious.

Helpless, Chen Shi had no choice but to reveal a secret technique he had heard of in Tulan.

After hearing this, the Empress showed a pleased expression and decided to adopt the secret technique.

He was only responsible for deceiving everyone on behalf of the Empress; how to actually achieve this was up to the Empress herself.

Qi Yu believed Chen Shi had told everything he knew and also entrusted him with the antidote intended for the Empress.

But she was well aware of the Empress’s tactics; if it was just a fake pregnancy, it would eventually be exposed.

The cold rain hit her body, making her shiver involuntarily.

In a flash of lightning, a thought suddenly struck Qi Yu.

Switch the baby!

Right, the Empress couldn’t possibly conjure a child out of thin air; she could only secretly switch one child for another.

Qi Yu trembled with a chilling sense of dread from head to toe.

The corpses in the Grandmaster Residence lingered in her mind; now, her thoughts were a tangled mess, akin to a jumbled ball of yarn that couldn’t be unraveled.

Seeing the rain, Li Bo remembered that the Prince had left without an umbrella and personally stood outside with an umbrella waiting.

Mingjue had just alighted from the carriage when Li Bo hurriedly went up to him, anxiously asking, "Prince, you haven’t gotten wet, have you?"

Shiqi could only silently retract her umbrella, standing alone under it, feeling somewhat lonely.

Upon entering the front hall, Mingjue asked, "Has the Princess returned?"

Li Bo placed the umbrella in the corridor, recalling that the first thing Qi Yu had asked upon returning was similar, and he said with a smile, "The Princess has already returned; she just came in and asked if the Prince had returned?"

Upon hearing this, a trace of a smile appeared on Mingjue’s frosty face.

However, the smile didn’t last long because he saw a solitary figure drenched by the rain not far away.

Li Bo followed his gaze, and startled, exclaimed, "Oh dear," and quickly added, "We need to hurry and have the kitchen prepare a bowl of ginger soup!"

Mingjue strode forward, picked up the umbrella from the ground, walked over to Qi Yu, and enveloped her under the umbrella.

He suppressed his anger and brought her back to her room before reprimanding the maids busy carrying water on either side, "Are you all blind! Go down and take your punishment later, and if there’s a next time, you’ll be thrown out of the Prince Residence!"

The maids all meekly responded, "Yes."

As Qi Yu was about to take off her drenched clothes, seeing him become angry, she quickly turned around and said, "This isn’t their fault; it was my mistake."

Seeing her like this, Mingjue felt both distressed and angered, and with a cold face, he said, "Hurry up and change out of these clothes. I’ll settle the score with you in a moment!"