Chapter 7: This Is True Love

The next morning.

Jiang Rong woke up from her dream, and the bed was already empty. The maid, Yingxia, hurriedly approached with a respectful smile and whispered:

“Miss, what big incident happened last night? Why is Sister Yingchun missing?”

Jiang Rong frowned slightly. Perhaps because she had killed Yingchun in this life, Xie Lingxi hadn’t dealt with her people anymore.

Coincidentally, Yingxia still had some use.

“Her attempt to harm the Crown Prince was uncovered, and she has been burned,” Jiang Rong said indifferently. “I am now very satisfied with this marriage. Anyone who dares to plot against the Crown Prince, I will kill them.”

Yingxia stared in shock—this shouldn’t be.

Even giving Sister Yingchun ten times the courage, she wouldn’t dare to harm the Crown Prince!

Moreover, a few days ago, the young lady said she hated Xie Lingxi to death—either she would die, or I would. How come after sleeping with that wastrel for a night, her words have changed?

Yingxia thought to herself, she must secretly report her lady’s change to Madam.

“Where is the Crown Prince?” Jiang Rong, allowing them to dress, asked.

“The Crown Prince got up a quarter of an hour ago and went to the study,” Yingxia replied, then muttered: “Such a wastrel, I don’t see what the study is useful for.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yingxia felt a cold gaze fall upon her.

“If you dare to speak disrespectfully of the Crown Prince again, I’ll send you to keep company with Yingchun,” Jiang Rong said slowly, her lips curling slightly. “You’ve always liked lively places. The western city’s graveyard is quite crowded. Do you think that suits you?”

“Miss, forgive me, I deserve to die!” Yingxia knelt down in fright.

In the Jiang family, the madam could protect them, but now they are in the Xie family. Once Madam learns the news, her body might already be cold…

“Wait outside the study. When the Crown Prince comes out, ask him to come over and join us in serving tea to Grandmother.”

Xie Lingxi’s study — Mo Yan Zhai.

“Young Master, this is your Tianshan Snow Lotus. I’ve been rushing all the way here on horseback to retrieve the medicine,” Xiao Nanxing handed a jade box to Xie Lingxi, sounding troubled:

“Among the nine miraculous medicines, this is the only one we have. It’s going to be difficult to gather all nine to prolong Young Madam’s life.”

“This is truly intriguing. Such a sheltered young lady who rarely leaves her home, what kind of grudge could she have that would lead to her being poisoned with such a vicious toxin? The poison from the underworld is undetectable by ordinary doctors. When it manifests, the victim suffers unendurable pain and eventually commits suicide due to unbearable agony.”

Xie Lingxi responded indifferently, “Order it to be collected—the remaining eight herbs. Use this to decoct the medicine and send it to her.”

“Yes!”

Unaware of the details, Jiang Rong didn’t know that their first encounter was at a temple.

She fainted in a peach grove on the back mountain.

Xie Lingxi asked Xiao Nanxing, who was accompanying her, to check her pulse. It turned out she had been infected with the strange toxin for a year, with symptoms recently appearing within the past month.

He planned to extract Jiang Rong from the Jiang family.

Shen Wenyuan was untrustworthy.

A person could only be kept in his residence for peace of mind.

Xiao Nanxing prepared the herbs to decoct, but still felt puzzled.

People say the Crown Prince is a wastrel, and Jiang Second Miss is fond of looks.

But he knew very well that his young master’s wastrel image was merely a façade to confuse the royal court. He simply couldn’t imagine that the deeply scheming, chaste, and single-minded young master who was dedicated to his imperial ambitions would indulge in romantic feelings.

However, Jiang Rong was infected with a strange toxin. To save her, the Crown Prince didn’t hesitate to use his treasured Tianshan Snow Lotus.

He was also seeking the remaining eight miraculous medicines for her.

If this isn’t love, then what is?

……

At the North King’s Residence, Songhe Hall.

“Grandmother, Grandmother’s grandson and granddaughter-in-law pay respects and offer tea,” Jiang Rong and Xie Lingxi knelt side by side before the Dowager Mistress, holding their tea cups.

“Good, good!” The Dowager Mistress smiled as she took the cup, her gaze carefully observing Jiang Rong, her expression kind and gentle.

After drinking the tea, she personally handed Jiang Rong an ancestral jade bracelet.

“Thank you, Grandmother—” Jiang Rong respectfully bowed to the old lady.

In her previous life, Xie Lingxi had saved her and turned into a living corpse. She thought she would be driven out by the furious Dowager Mistress, but the old lady treated her like her own granddaughter.

Most of Jiang Rong’s skills were taught by her. In her heart, this elder was like a real grandmother.

After offering tea to her grandmother, Jiang Rong and Xie Lingxi stood up.

The North Prince, guarding the northern border, was not in the capital. The North Princess Consort, Madam Chen, was deceased, and no one else in this household was worthy of their offering tea.

The Dowager Mistress held Jiang Rong’s hand and introduced her to everyone present.

But Jiang Rong’s gaze swept the room, recognizing many familiar faces.

Seated on the left was Consort Zhao, daughter of a count, mother of the eldest son, Xie Yuanwen, married to Lady Qiao. On the right was Consort Li, daughter of a prefect, mother of the eldest daughter, Xie Ruo’e.

Besides them, there was Xie Ruojiao, and a curious five-year-old child with big round eyes—Xie Ling’an—and Xie Lingxi, all children of the late King Chen.

The Chen family was a martial family under the North King’s command.

The wives and concubines of the North King came from fairly ordinary backgrounds.

Because the North Prince’s Residence was the only foreign-ranked prince’s estate in Daxia, sharing the same throne, with hereditary rights and holding heavy troops, it was the most powerful noble in the dynasty.

To reduce suspicion from the imperial family, the North Prince’s Residence always kept a low profile, never forming factions, and never marrying into powerful families.

Jiang Rong, who later managed the North Prince’s Residence for ten years, knew these secrets well. She also suspected that Xie Lingxi’s longstanding pretense of being a wastrel might be a way to protect the North Prince’s Residence.