Chapter 758 We’ve Met Several Times, Your Highness!
Shao Wanru had to pa.s.s through Shao Yanru’s room before entering her room.
When they arrived at the door of Shao Yanru’s room, a little eunuch came out in a hurry and almost b.u.mped into Shao Wanru. Yujie pulled her to take a step back so that the little eunuch didn’t b.u.mp into her.
The little eunuch didn’t expect to come across someone here. After freezing for a moment, he suddenly bowed to Shao Wanru and asked with a smile, “Is this the Fifth Miss Shao from Duke Xing’s Mansion?”
“Exactly!” Yujie said.
Shao Wanru looked the little eunuch up and down, wondering if the little eunuch unfamiliar to her was sent by Chu Liuyue. Now that he sent a little eunuch here, did it indicate that he thought highly of Shao Yanru?
“Fifth Miss, my master wants to ask you something about the First Miss Shao. Fifth Miss, please follow me!” The little eunuch said with a smile. It seemed that he came out to lead Shao Wanru to meet Chu Liuyue rather than to fetch the ointment.
Shao Yanru, who was lying on the bed in the inner room, clenched a corner of her quilt in hatred with her face changing dramatically. The palace maid, who had submitted herself to her, was so useless that she failed to stall Shao Wanru and let her come over.
She winked at Shuqi, who was standing on one side. Shuqi glanced at her hesitantly and then at the imperial physician who was sitting in the chair beside the bed and feeling her pulse. If Shuqi also went out, Shao Yanru would be left alone with the imperial physician in the room, who was a man anyway despite his old age!
Seeing that Shuqi was hesitant and kept glancing at the old imperial physician, Shao Yanru realized what Shuqi was thinking. She took a deep breath and waved her other hand slightly as a hint that Shuqi didn’t need to go out. It was indeed inappropriate for Shuqi to go out at this time, but she was eager to know what Chu Liuyue and Shao Wanru were talking about.
“Imperial physician, how is my condition?” Shao Yanru asked.
The imperial physician put down his hand and said slowly in a low voice, “It should be fine, but you might have sprained your ankle, so you should be careful these days.”
In fact, there was nothing serious with her. Just now, the imperial physician had treated her. However, Prince Yue thought that everything about the candidates should be taken seriously, especially not long after a candidate was poisoned and disfigured. Shao Yanru’s getting hurt might cause other trouble, so the imperial physician had better take it seriously.
As such, the imperial physician had to come over to feel the First Miss Shao’s pulse for the second time. In order to show he attached great importance to it, he specially sent the little eunuch following Prince Yue here to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine to fetch the ointment for treating the First Miss Shao’s sprained ankle.
It was the First Miss Shao’s maid who said that the First Miss Shao had sprained her ankle but was not seriously injured. In this case, it was more appropriate to let the First Miss Shao’s maid apply the ointment to her ankle. In the course of feeling her pulse, the imperial physician found her pulse condition was very peaceful and she seemed to be fine except for palpitation caused by being frightened.
“Thank you, imperial physician!” Shao Yanru thanked him softly.
“First Miss Shao, you’re over courteous!” The imperial physician said with an amiable smile and narrowed eyes.
“Let me walk you out!” As Shuqi said, she came over and deftly helped the imperial physician pack up the medicine chest on the table.
Shao Yanru closed her eyes slightly in approval, only glancing at the imperial physician in front of her through her narrowed eyes and frowning unconsciously. The situation was a little different from what she had expected.
Shouldn’t Prince Yue stay in front of her bed at this time? Why did he stay away from her and only leave a little eunuch behind to act on her instructions? When the little eunuch met Shao Wanru, he even led Shao Wanru to meet Chu Liuyue. If it weren’t for Chu Liuyue’s instruction, the little eunuch would never have done that.
She had thought that Chu Liuyue probably didn’t stay in her room for fear of tarnis.h.i.+ng her reputation. She had sent Shuqi to check it out, and Shuqi found that Chu Liuyue was standing in a pavilion not far from her room and seemed to be worried about her. After the imperial physician took her pulse, he asked the imperial physician to feel her pulse again, which convinced Shao Yanru that Chu Liuyue really cared about her.
But why did he invite Shao Wanru over? She somehow felt threatened. It was not convenient for her to go out, so she sent Shuqi out.
After packing up the medicine chest, Shuqi drew a bulging pouch from her sleeve, handed it to the imperial physician, and said, “Thank you for making this visit. We may have to trouble you again in the future!”
The imperial physician accepted it with a smile, and then picked up his medicine chest and walked out, accompanied by Shuqi.
The little eunuch and Shao Wanru were not at the entrance at the moment. When they walked past the corridor, Shuqi looked at the pavilion where Prince Yue had been. Sure enough, she saw the Fifth Miss standing there and bowing to Prince Yue.
At the sight of this, she stopped, wondering why Prince Yue wanted to meet the Fifth Miss.
The imperial physician also stopped in the corridor. Glancing at the maid, who came out in the name of walking him out, and glancing calmly at Prince Yue, who was in the pavilion, he turned to leave quietly.
He had thought that the First Miss Shao was a well-behaved lady, but it turned out that she tried to spy on Prince Yue. The First Miss Shao didn’t deserve her good reputation and now even seemed to have an ulterior motive.
Other people in the imperial palace were not clear about the case related to the mixed poison from the Xu State, but several imperial physicians in the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine were very clear about it. The First Miss Shao was involved in the case. The victim was said to be the Third Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Now the Miss invited over by Prince Yue should be the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion!
The imperial physician shook his head and adjusted the medicine chest on his back, thinking the First Miss Shao of Duke Xing’s Mansion was so narrow-minded that she even poisoned her sister. Was there anyone she didn’t dare to hurt?
She was not trustworthy!
Shao Yanru did not expect that a slight negligence today would bring her trouble caused by the imperial physician’s distrust of her.
Chu Liuyue stood in the pavilion with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at Shao Wanru with a scrutinizing look in his bright and cold eyes.
After bowing deeply to him, Shao Wanru, who followed the little eunuch over, lowered her head and stood aside.
A gust of wind blew over, lifting her loose overall, which brought out her slender figure. Although she was dressed in thick winter clothes, he could see her graceful figure.
Chu Liuyue’s eyes became deep.
“Fifth Miss, do you still remember me?” Chu Liuyue asked. He, who had a clearly defined face, exuded naturally cold and intimidating air.
Such a person gave a sense of righteousness as if he would not do anything shady behind the scenes. But in fact, not only had he done shady things, but he also had colluded with Shao Yanru to carry out plenty of plots.
In the end, he even gave an order to kill her.
She took a deep breath, and the cold air came into her nose and suppressed the b.l.o.o.d.y smell in her throat. It made her clearly realize who she was and who the person in front of her was at the moment. Now she was no longer the humble painter Chu Liuyue could deal with as he wanted!
“Your Highness, we have met several times!” Shao Wanru said respectfully. She didn’t raise her head and just stared at the bluestone ground under her feet.
Although she acted respectfully, she spoke coldly, not acting like those Misses from aristocratic families who became shy at the sight of him. Chu Liuyue frowned and felt a little displeased.
Besides, he was quite displeased with her reply, which made him sound like the one who tried to hit on her.
“Fifth Miss, when we first met in Jiangzhou, you were still young. Unexpectedly, you’ve grown up now.” Chu Liuyue said slowly. Despite his cold tone, he showed a little gentleness, which made him different from the cool man he usually was.
He fixed his eyes on Shao Wanru’s beautiful hair worn up in a simple bun fixed by nothing other than a very simple pearl hairpin.
She lowered her brows in an extremely respectful and graceful manner. At the thought that as a girl as ravis.h.i.+ng as a flower, she had such a temperament, he admired her even more, while feeling like to see the real side of this gentle and respectful girl. It was rare to see a girl of the hairpin age with such a temperament!
In fact, he needed this kind of girl, who could remain stable at any time, to be the mistress of his mansion. In the past, Chu Liuyue had always thought Shao Yanru an extremely stable Miss and appreciated her a lot. However, the Fifth Miss Shao in front of him looked even steadier, although she was obviously younger than Shao Yanru.
“Your Highness, I was not sensible at that time in Jiangzhou and must have offended you!” Shao Wanru answered in a rigid manner.
“After we parted in Jiangzhou, it has been three years. If I could foresee that you would attend the consort selection, I should have made friends with you at that time!” Chu Liuyue softened his tone.
It seemed that he said that openly without suggesting any love affair. But if others heard it, they would definitely doubt whether there was a love affair between them at that time, so that Prince Yue said that in such a regretful voice.
“No one could foresee the future back then, and it’s the same now. Your Highness, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see my Eldest Sister. I heard that she fell, and I’m wondering how she is!”
Shao Wanru raised her head and said with a smile. After she finished speaking, she bowed sideways and turned to leave.
Her treating him without proper respect made her completely different from the respectful girl she had been a moment ago. Chu Liuyue looked at Shao Wanru in surprise, as he didn’t expect that Shao Wanru would dare to do so. Did she know who she was talking to?
“Fifth Miss Shao, aren’t you going to ask how the First Miss Shao fell?” As an idea came into his mind, he blurted it out with a faint smile on his cold face.
He thought that Shao Wanru was not only exceedingly beautiful but also interesting.
After saying that, he turned to walk up to Shao Wanru in a few steps and blocked her way.
There was only a narrow exit in the small pavilion, and Chu Liuyue stood at the exit of the pavilion. If Shao Wanru wanted to leave, she had to squeeze past him, which certainly was very indecent.
Shao Wanru pulled herself together and raised her head slowly. Originally, she didn’t want to have any contact with Chu Liuyue, who killed her directly in the last life. However, she couldn’t afford to offend him now, so she naturally didn’t intend to offend him at this time. But now Chu Liuyue obviously didn’t intend to let her go.
She didn’t know whether it was Chu Liuyue’s or Shao Yanru’s idea, but in any case, since he wouldn’t let her go, she decided to stay and see what he was up to!
“Your Highness, since you know it, can you tell me what happened to my Eldest Sister?” Shao Wanru stepped back slowly with a pleasant smile and said.
Under the corridor, when Shuqi saw Chu Liuyue prevent Shao Wanru from leaving the pavilion, she hurriedly turned to get in the room with her face changing dramatically. However, as soon as she entered the room, she saw a person under the window and almost screamed in fear!