Fei Pin Ying Qiang

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Regarding the new autumn clothes, Qi Yunruo arranged for them to be made according to rank. That said, Qi Niqun took the initiative to inform him of Consort Wei"s pregnancy, and that her clothes must be made with the best materials. On the other hand, Consort Ji"s clothes were still made to abide by protocol.

Back when Consort Ji had managed the household, although she had never asked the textile workshop to use better quality material for her clothes, the supervisors were clever and naturally would do so to please her. After the princess consort had entered the estate, these same supervisors were afraid that others would call them ruthless, that others would accuse them of being too powerful. As such, when the princess consort first arranged for the spring season"s clothes, they used the best materials for the higher-rank concubines. However, this time the estate"s princ.i.p.al wife and Secondary Consort Wei were both pregnant. It was possible that they would both give birth to a son. Not only that, but Qi Yunruo was managing the estate, and he was a strict and unbiased person. He didn"t give face to even the princess consort"s people. Therefore, the servants working in the textile workshop only used common materials for Consort Ji"s autumn clothes.  

Qi Yunruo"s current status was ambiguous. There was no protocol surrounding what he should wear. He felt that as long as he had enough clothes it was enough. This time, he only wanted two sets of outer robes. While the servants measured him, he didn"t specify any preference for material. He also was not very knowledgeable of such things. The textile workshop decided on its own to use the best embroidered brocade for his outer robes. One was a shade of sapphire. One was a light yellow. 

The moment Consort Ji"s people came to throw her allotment of clothes and jewelry in Qi Yunruo"s face, he stood in shock. 

Pei Er"s expression was one of reluctance, whereas Consort Ji"s steward eunuch directly said, "Young Master Qi really does not want to give our master any face! Our master cannot wear such things in public. You can keep it for yourself." 

Qi Yunruo furrowed his brow. He slowly said, "What is Consort Ji unsatisfied about?"

The steward eunuch broke into a cold smile. "Young Master Qi, just look at the material used for your own clothes. Now compare it to the material used for our master"s things."

"Everything has been done according to protocol."

The eunuch acted as if he were listening to a huge joke. "Protocol? Her Highness, the princess consort gave stewardship to her dowry escort who was also her brother. A man! Is this what they teach as protocol in Count Ziyang"s estate? This slave dares to ask, which man is managing Count Ziyang"s estate?"

Qi Yunruo sucked in a deep breath, face betraying helplessness. In his heart, the most important thing wasn"t that the eunuch had insulted Count Ziyang"s estate, but how to get Consort Ji"s people to leave. 

The eunuch saw that he wasn"t talking, eyes sinister and ruthless. "Ah, this slave has forgotten. Count Ziyang isn"t interested in men s.e.xually. Could it be that a number one courtesan or a regular courtesan manages that estate? Hmph! What Young Master Qi has been taught since young should not be how to manage a household, but how to serve men!"

All of a sudden, Qi Yunruo lifted his head. His eyes were wide. He squeezed the armrest with all his strength, knuckles glowing white.

The steward eunuch wasn"t the slightest bit afraid. Realizing he had hit Qi Yunruo"s sore spot, his expression grew excited. "Hmph! Since the rules have been muddled since the beginning, Young Master Qi is just targeting my master. How is that fair?" 

Qi Yunruo slowly rose to his feet, expression cold enough to freeze.

"…Is Young Master Qi angry? This slave did not tell any lie. Could it be that Young Master Qi"s mother is from Zhiya House¹?"

Pei Er saw that the situation had grown strange. A moment later, she heard a scream. Qi Yunruo had actually grabbed the tray with the tea set from the table and hurled a cup full of steaming tea at the eunuch"s forehead. Upon collision, the eunuch collapsed to the ground.

His chest shook from anger, one hand supporting his weight on the table. His mind grew dizzy, almost to the point where he couldn"t see what stood before him.　　

The steward eunuch threw a huge fuss as he got back on his feet.

Meanwhile, Pei Er jumped from fright, so afraid that she couldn"t even utter a word. At this point, Lulan had rushed over to support Qi Yunruo to sit. Liusu hesitated for a second, before walking faster than usual out of Lakeside View House.

"…Just you wait!" shouted the steward eunuch. Then he returned to Frost Autumn Courtyard with his injury in plain sight. In fact, he wanted to show off the b.l.o.o.d.y injury, to let everyone know what had happened to him. But most importantly, to let Secondary Consort Ji see.

Pei Er"s face was pale. In her opinion, the situation had went out of control.

One hour prior.

After Consort Ji"s steward eunuch had prepared to make things even with Qi Yunruo, he went to the outhouse meant for the interior eunuchs. And he heard one of the lower-ranked eunuchs say, "That Young Master Qi is ferocious. In your opinion, do you think Eunuch Xia would get any benefits out of the situation?"　　

Another one said, "Master Consort Ji originally had her eyes on one of the maidservants for the task. However, she used Eunuch Xia instead, who is a steward eunuch. In the master"s eyes, he is not much different from us lower-ranked eunuchs."　　

"If he can act harshly, show off his power, then he can suppress Young Master Qi until he can no longer recover. This situation has both pros and cons…" 　　

"Also, as Master Consort Ji"s personal maidservant, older sister Pei Er cannot personally argue with Young Master Qi²!"

Liusu kneeled before Qi Niqun, and with much difficulty, she relayed what had happened. 　　

With a neutral expression, Qi Niqun said, "It split his forehead open?"

"…Yes. Eunuch Xia was bleeding from the head."

Qi Niqun said coldly, "Currently, he is the one managing the estate. He must be responsible for what his actions."

A frown slid its way across Liuyue"s face. "Liusu, Her Highness, the princess consort is getting further into her pregnancy and His Highness has already ordered that if it isn"t a big issue, she should not be disturbed. But look at you. You even come and report to us the matter of Third Young Master hitting an insignificant eunuch. In your heart, Third Young Master"s hardships are more important than Her Highness. Also, Third Young Master has done everything on his own volition. Her Highness is afraid of making things awkward for Third Young Master, and now that he has encountered trouble, he wants the princess consort to support him?!"  

Liusu suddenly felt panicked. She took in the impatient appearance of her eldest miss. Her eyes held back tears as she rose to her feet and ran off. 

Once they could no longer see Liusu"s figure, Liubai sighed. "She indeed is not loyal to the same person we are. Liusu really cannot do what is right anymore."　　

Qi Niqun slowly said, "A servant will become like its master."　　

Consort Ji was furious. In her mind, she had been severely wronged. Yet in the end, Qi Yunruo dared to put his hands on the servants she had sent to reclaim justice for herself. He had injured her people. He definitely had a lot of guts.

Eunuch Xia sobbed as tears and snot ran down his face. "But no matter what we say, he is still a master. Whether this slave spoke nicely or poorly, it didn"t matter.  He even talked badly about your honored self, Secondary Consort Ji. This slave could not help but say a few mean things because of this, yet he grabbed something from his side and threw it at me. The tea was even steaming."

Consort Ji narrowed her eyes. Her gaze was sinister and ruthless. "If we don"t get rid of him, the people of the prince estate will copy him. Then who would put this secondary consort in their eyes by then?"

Come noon, once Li Chen returned to the estate, Eunuch Xia bandaged his forehead and kneeled before him. "May Your Highness come see our master. These past few days your honored self has not visited and our master has been bullied to death."　　

Li Chen arched a brow. "What happened?"　　

"May your honored self come see the secondary consort first."　

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Li Chen sighed. Then he directly made for Frost Autumn Courtyard. Eunuch Xia lowered his head, his eyes revealing a smile from his plan bearing fruit. However, Su Ge knew every detail of the situation. It"s just that he did not react as fast as Eunuch Xia. Watching as Li Chen left, he sighed lightly and followed suit.

Consort Ji"s face was free of makeup, eyes red. She dressed plainly, her clothes made of common cloth, her only hairpin made of common wood. She kneeled at the entrance of her residence, and Li Chen had heard her sobs since a while ago. He went to help her to her feet and asked, "Sweet Ru, what happened?" 

The moment Consort Ji heard the prince say the nickname he used to call her, she felt the small wrongs she had received grow to the max. She leaned against his chest and sobbed loudly. "May Your Highness cast off³ this concubine."

Li Chen sighed. "What on earth happened?" Then he turned to Pei Er. "Fetch some warm water for your master to wash her face. What kind of servant are you? You actually let your master kneel in such cold weather." 

Consort Ji did not stop crying. Eunuch Xia"s eyes darted left and right, expression full of mourning. He kneeled to the ground and said, "May Your Highness try to understand and sympathize with us. Our master has been severely wronged. After Young Master Qi started managing the estate, he has not treated us well, punishing us often and rewarding us rarely. And he even skimps on our things. Regarding this matter, this slave does not want to speak too much. However, this time our master"s new autumn clothes were not much different in quality from the maidservants". Our master considered for Your Highness" sake, and as such was unwilling to make this matter public. But this slave could not hold it in and went to argue with Young Master Qi. Who knew that Young Master Qi would harm this slave like this?!"

Li Chen glanced at Su Ge, who had his head lowered. Then he shifted his gaze back to Eunuch Xia. "It was Young Master Qi who did this?"

Consort Ji"s sobs grew even louder.

Eunuch Xia said, "The people at Lakeside View House can act as my witness. If this slave spoke even a lick of lie, then may heaven strike this slave down.”

"This concubine is petty and low, and cannot compare to Her Highness, the princess consort,” said Consort Ji. “Yet when it"s all said and done, this concubine has attended your honored self for over three years and has given Your Highness Sweet Jing. Now this concubine cannot even protect the servants that serve me loyally. Your Highness…"

Li Chen patted Consort Ji"s shoulders. He slowly said, "If this is truly the case, then this prince will take action for you."

Consort Ji"s heart trembled. She realized the situation did not play out as she had expected. The prince"s tone was too insipid.

Li Chen rose to his feet. "This prince will now check on Little Qi. If Little Qi really acted arrogantly, this prince will not let Sweet Ru be wronged. Su Ge!"

"This slave is present," Su Ge quickly said.

"Open the storage. Bestow Consort Ji twenty bolts of various colors of Lingluo and two boxes of jewelry."

“This slave will do as ordered."

Li Chen said to Consort Ji, "Rest well. This prince will return to visit you on another day." Then he directly made for Lakeside View House.

On the way, Su Ge dared not to breathe even too loudly. Li Chen asked, "What actually happened?"

"This slave had investigated earlier and found many differing testimonies. However… right before Your Highness returned to the estate, Lakeside View House summoned the estate"s physician. Young Master Qi had suddenly caught a high fever and fell unconscious."

In an instant, Li Chen stopped in place. Then his strides grew longer as he rushed to Lakeside View House.

When he arrived, he found Qi Yunruo laying in bed, face red and eyes screwed tight. Li Chen furrowed his brow. "How did this happen?"

In a soft voice, Lulan said, "Today Consort Ji sent some people over. They said very unpleasant things. At that time, master had not been feeling well. After forcing them to leave, he did not even have the strength to lift a tea cup anymore. As soon as this slave had summoned Physician Lu, master already fainted." 

Li Chen sat down at the side of the bed. Reached out to stroke Qi Yunruo"s forehead. His face was so hot it could scare someone. As Li Chen looked at the several layers of covers, he asked Physician Lu, "How is Little Qi?"

The estate"s Physician Lu bowed. "This small one has asked the maidservants who attend to this young master about his diet and health. Afterward, this small one has found out what caused this young master"s sickness. Part of it should be exhaustion. Also, he was too angry today. These two factors coupled and quickly caused him to fall ill. Now the most troublesome thing is that this young master cannot take medicine while unconscious, and as such cannot lower his fever."

Li Chen said faintly, "Go and prepare the medicine for now."

"Understood. This small one will return."

The people in the house did not dare to speak. Granny Song, who was currently outside the residence, had a face full of worry. She summoned a low-ranked servant girl and gave her some instructions in a soft voice. 

Their previous plan had been for the eldest miss to take back the stewardship from Third Young Master in the future. If the eldest miss was not feeling well later on, then Granny Song would a.s.sist her. Could her own capabilities not compare with that disrespectful and annoying brat"s? Granny Song was considered one of the princess consort"s closest people. What a pity that Granny Cheng, who had come from the imperial palace, did not regard her highly. She would need to show those people some of her means. That she could hold the power. That she was higher than them by a level.

Too bad that currently, Granny Song did not dare to think such things. She hoped that Consort Ji would forcefully deal with this disrespectful and annoying brat. In the current situation, whether it"d be him out of luck or the other party was anyone"s guess.

Granny Song had heard Eunuch Xia"s words. But she did not feel they were wrong. He had that kind of mother, yet he didn"t want people to talk about him like that. He was just a little cheap sp.a.w.n that was lying to himself.

Meanwhile, Li Chen held the bowl of medicine with one hand and stirred it softly with the other. Qi Yunruo"s lips were closed. After waiting for the medicine to cool, Li Chen took a sip of it and bent down.

After Qi Niqun heard the news from a low-ranked servant girl, she hesitated before saying, "Help me put on some clothes. We"re going to Lakeside View House."

"Yes."

As soon as she was fully dressed, she boarded her palanquin, her expression calm throughout the trip. Once they had arrived at Lakeside View House, Qi Niqun used a servant girl"s hand for support as she went inside, one hand supporting her abdomen as she walked.

The moment Lulan and Liusu caught a glimpse of Qi Niqun, they were shocked. Curtsying, they said, "Paying respects to Her Highness, the princess consort."

The corners of Qi Niqun"s eyes glistened with tears. "How is my younger brother?"

Qi Niqun, what a snakeeee. And Liusu is looking dumber and dumber.

I"m so proud of our little radish yunruo for sticking up for himself though. Who thought it was bada.s.s, "cause I thought it was bada.s.s.

And li chen personally feeding him medicine ahhh

AND it"s even mouth-to-mouth AHHH

Next chapter is pretty good too. See you guys during the regular update on September 21, 2019 at 12 pm EST!

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