Shen Ruxu's throat suddenly seemed to be blocked, and she was so scared that she couldn't breathe. After thinking carefully for a while, she stammered, "I...I went out to gather herbs that day, got lost and wandered into the dilapidated temple...I did meet Miss Gu once, but I didn't know she was the prince's wife at that time, nor did I notice she was pregnant..."
Sitting in the tiger skin armchair, Zhao Changdu knitted his eyebrows coolly and glanced down at her, "Didn't notice?"
Shen Ruxu didn't dare to look at the man in the eye, lowered her head and said, "The lady was still early in her pregnancy at that time, and I was also frightened...so I simply couldn't calm down enough to take her pulse...so I probably misdiagnosed her pulse. I ask the prince to be understanding..."
Zhao Changdu gave a cold snort. His thin lips clicked at these words, "Oh, to be understanding?"
When he first fell off the cliff and was chased by several assassins, Shen Ruxu was still able to calm down and treat his injuries while escaping.
And now, she actually said that she was frightened and couldn't accurately determine a pregnant woman's pulse?
This woman is ruthless, to say the least.
Shen Ruxu's fingers trembled slightly, "Ruxu is innocent, I swear."
"What a innocent soul you claim to be." Zhao Changdu stood up and walked over to stand in front of her, lowering his eyes to look at her panicked eyes, "You are Yu Gu's disciple. I, the prince, looked upon you highly, but that is not the capital for you to be arrogantly unruly."
Under the man's wolf-like staring, Shen Ruxu's pretense of calmness almost collapsed.
"I didn't..."
Zhao Changdu lowered his eyelids, extremely indifferent, and said coldly next to her ear, "Ying is more important to me than my own life. The child in her belly is also my offspring. If you dare to harm her or the child in the slightest, I, the prince, will make you understand the taste of a fate worse than death."
Shen Ruxu's face changed slightly and turned ghastly pale in an instant, "Prince, I—"
Zhao Changdu had already run out of patience with her. "Huai An."
Huai An walked in silently, "Yes, sir."
Zhao Changdu's expression returned to being cold and aloof. His handsome yet merciless face was completely without ripples, "Take her away, twenty military rod beatings. This time I'm giving you a chance due to the fact that you once saved my life. I won't have you killed immediately, but if there is a next time, twenty rod beatings won't be enough to settle things."
Huai An said, "Yes, sir."
Upon hearing these words, Shen Ruxu collapsed, falling heavily to the ground.
Twenty rod beatings...
It would take her life!
"Prince, please spare me! If Teacher Gu knows that the prince has treated me this way, she will definitely be unhappy!" Shen Ruxu crawled over desperately, trying to hug the man's legs.
"Get back." Zhao Changdu's eyes were cold and frosty, with a chilly and oppressive aura radiating from his body.
Even with Shen Ruxu's thick skin, she knew that pleading now would be of no use...
Her vision went dark, and the hatred in her heart for Gu Ying deepened another layer.
...
When Gu Ying woke up again it was late into the night. At some point, more than ten royal physicians had come into the big tent, and it was quite lively as they lined up to take her pulse.
Yin Lan sat on the side of the bed, helplessly raising the corners of her mouth, "Mistress, you're finally awake."
Gu Ying was still confused, "Who are these people?"
The doctor who was taking her pulse at the moment smiled and said, "Mistress please don't move, I'm almost finished here. Next up will be Dr. Li."
Gu Ying was dumbfounded.
Sure enough, when one doctor had finished, another would come up. They kept putting their hands on her wrist.
Yin Lan smiled behind her hand, "These court physicians were all called by the prince. He said to take good care of the mistress and carefully examine her illness, as well as check whether the little prince in the mistress' belly is safe."
Gu Ying laughed helplessly. By the time the doctors had finished looking her over, she amusingly said, "The prince is truly making a mountain out of a molehill. Now that I know I'm pregnant, of course I'll be more careful with myself and not be willful anymore."
Yin Lan said, "How is this making a mountain out of a molehill? Mistress, you've been through a lot along the way. The little prince in your belly is still in a precarious state. Having several doctors come to take a look and letting the maids feel more at ease as well as the mistress herself feeling more at ease is not a bad thing, right?"
She was right about that.
Gu Ying caught several of the doctors and asked them about the baby's condition. They all said the baby was doing alright for now. A master had performed acupuncture on her which had stabilized the vital energy in the womb. As long as she nursed the fetus calmly going forward, it would be no major incident.
Gu Ying listened carefully. To be fair, Shen Ruxu was quite talented. At least regarding the medical field, none of these people could compare to her.
"Yin Lan, where is Shen Ruxu?"
Yin Lan pursed her lips, "The prince found out what happened to us in the dilapidated temple along the way. Considering she made merit by helping with the disaster relief and saving the mistress and little prince, he gave her a mild punishment of twenty rod beatings. She's still lying in the tent now."
Gu Ying felt somewhat complicated inside. A woman taking twenty rod beatings...was almost the same as taking her life.
But this was all her just deserts, after all she almost harmed her own child...
In her previous life she had spent endless effort trying to have a child, and later resigned herself when it seemed impossible, barely eking out an existence in the dilapidated temple for ten years.
By now her heart was hardened long ago. Anyone who wronged her, she would directly retaliate.
This child was something she had missed out on once, only to regain it.
Even if she directly killed Shen Ruxu, so what?
Yin Lan went on to vividly describe the scene when the prince punished Shen Ruxu. "Mistress, you wouldn't know, this servant girl is usually scared of the prince, but I didn't expect that when the prince truly got angry he could frighten people into pissing themselves without even moving a muscle. This servant girl was only watching from the side, but just the prince's expressionless, cold and abstinent face frightened all of us onlookers to trembling anxieties. Let alone Shen Ruxu who was kneeling in front of the prince. Her face was as white as paper, she nearly fainted on the spot."
"Not to mention this servant girl still has lingering fears..."
Gu Ying had seen the prince's angry countenance before. Hearing Yin Lan's description, her heart also tightened up.
"Awake?"
The two women were speaking when someone from outside suddenly lifted the curtain and walked in, emanating coldness and nobility.
Yin Lan's whole body stiffened as she hurriedly got up and gave up her seat by the bedside.
With just a look from Zhao Changdu, he seemed to freeze the atmosphere in the entire tent. Those dozen or so doctors didn't even dare to move a muscle.
Gu Ying leaned against the pillows, watching as the man's tall figure approached her, unable to help swallowing nervously.
He really was quite frightening when angry...
Zhao Changdu walked over to Gu Ying and sat down beside her, wrapping her small hand tightly in his big palm. The frosty look in his eyes held a trace of tenderness. "Feeling better?"
Gu Ying smiled gently, "Much better."
What Zhao Changdu liked best was seeing the young lady's smile. Not caring about whether there were outsiders present, he brought his handsome face close, his dark eyes gazing deeply into her charming visage. Then he kissed the corner of her mouth.
Her soft cherry lips were simply intoxicating.
He greedily sucked on her petal-like lips, sampling their sweetness before finally releasing her. His thumb lingered on her cheek, seemingly caressing her. "Ying looks much better now."
Her arched brows were like distant mountains, cherry red lips like swelling rouge, bright crimson eyes like peeled eggshells.
Every part of her attracted him.
Gu Ying didn't have his audacity. Her earlobes instantly burned. "Ah Du, there are still people here."
