The old concubine's hand loosened little by little, and after the original desperate momentum suddenly dissipated, the illness that had been suppressed in her body rushed up and her breath surged.
She coughed heart-wrenchingly, and the cloudiness in her eyes grew more intense, as if a breath was stuck in her throat, turning her face purple, and her breathing was as heavy as the wheezing of an old bellows.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Ayane quickly grabbed Princess Cheng's wrist and pulled her away. She turned forward and helped the old princess onto the pillow with one hand. Suddenly, she turned her head and coughed up blood again.
"Mother!"
"grandmother!"
Both Princess Chen and Xie Yin were frightened by the scene before them.
Xie Yin hurriedly shouted outside: "House doctor, house doctor, come in quickly!!"
The two doctors who were talking to Prince Cheng outside hurried in. Seeing that the old concubine was coughing up blood again, the old doctor from the Imperial Medical Bureau stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Why are you coughing up blood again? Didn't it stop just now?"
He reached out and unbuttoned the old concubine's collar a little, then put his hand on the side of her rapidly breathing neck, feeling her pulse fading, and his face suddenly changed.
"Quick, get my silver needle and bring the hanging ginseng soup over here."
The palace doctor of Prince Cheng's mansion hurried out after responding, and the servant beside him took a silver needle and handed it to the old doctor. He then took the silver needle and pierced it directly into the side of the old concubine's neck. Then he asked the servants in the room to come forward, lay the old concubine flat on the bed, and quickly inserted two more needles.
The court physician who had just left the outer room came in hurriedly and handed the medicine bowl in his hand to the imperial physician. The imperial physician wanted to feed the medicine to the old concubine, but the old concubine clenched her teeth and was semi-conscious. He tried several times but failed.
Seeing that she could no longer feed him the life-saving ginseng soup, the old concubine's face turned pale.
Princess Cheng stepped forward quickly: "I'll do it!"
She approached and pinched the old concubine's jaw, put her fingers against her mouth, and with a strong push, she stuffed her knuckles in first, causing the old concubine's teeth to get stuck on her fingers and press painfully.
Princess Cheng just frowned, then reached out to take the medicine bowl and poured it into her mouth.
She swallowed the ginseng soup subconsciously, and after she had barely drunk half a bowl, the imperial physician hurriedly said, "That's enough."
Princess Cheng pulled her hand away, and blood was already on her knuckles.
"Princess!" Ayane hurried forward.
Princess Cheng put the bowl aside and watched the old doctor help the unconscious old princess to lie down. Then she covered her fingers with a handkerchief and said, "How is mother?"
The old doctor had a complicated expression as he looked at the blood oozing from Princess Cheng's fingers. The previous incident in Prince Cheng's Mansion had already spread throughout the capital, and everyone knew that Prince Cheng "colluded" with the Duke of Song's Mansion to deceive Princess Cheng.
Everyone knew that Prince Cheng was wrong, and His Majesty had also issued an order to punish him, but not many people outside cursed Prince Cheng.
Everyone felt that although Prince Cheng's behavior was against benevolence and righteousness, it was not incomprehensible. The marriage between the Song and Lu families concerned the Queen, and the misfortune of the Song Mansion would also implicate the Prince's Mansion. Although Prince Cheng was wrong in deceiving, it was understandable. On the contrary, Princess Cheng blamed her husband's family for the sake of a niece, "abandoning her husband and children", which showed that she could not distinguish the importance of the matter and was too cold-hearted.
The old doctor had also heard the rumors about Princess Chen, but now, looking at her bloody fingers, and then looking at Prince Chen and the Crown Prince, who looked anxious but just stood there anxiously without doing anything, he suddenly felt that the rumors were not credible.
The old doctor was silent for a moment, then whispered, "The Concubine is extremely ill and there is no hope of recovery. If we can invite the miraculous doctor Qin to give her acupuncture, perhaps she can extend her life for a few days."
"I'll send someone to invite her!" Princess Chen turned and looked at Ayane.
Unexpectedly, Lingyin shook her head and said, "Princess, the Empress Dowager in the palace had an emergency last night. Madam Qin went into the palace before dawn and cannot come out for the time being."
The Empress Dowager has not been in good condition for some time, and this emergency is particularly serious. Even the governor went to the palace early in the morning. He would never let Madam Qin abandon the Empress Dowager to treat the Concubine Dowager of Prince Cheng's Mansion.
Xie Yin said anxiously: "My grandmother is already in this state, why don't we ask her to come out of the palace to get a few injections and then send her back to the palace? The Empress Dowager is not leaving immediately..."
"Shut up!"
Princess Cheng turned around and shouted, "Do you think you can just comment on the Empress Dowager?"
Are you going to die?!
Seeing that the old doctor had a strange expression on his face, Prince Cheng also reacted and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Doctor Sun, don't listen to his nonsense. I am worried about your safety and have no intention of offending the Grand Empress Dowager. The Grand Empress Dowager's golden statue must be taken care of by her, but here is Mother..."
He choked up a little as he spoke: "Please, Doctor Sun, do your best."
Doctor Sun looked at Prince Cheng, who was filled with sorrow, and pretended not to have heard what Master Xie had just said. He sighed and said, "I will do my best. If Madam Dowager can wake up before the night comes, we may have a chance to invite Madam Qin to come tomorrow. Otherwise..."
He shook his head, and even though he didn't say anything, everyone in the room understood what he meant.
Whether the old concubine can survive depends on tonight.
Princess Cheng looked unhappy, and the eyes of Prince Cheng and his son were red.
Princess Cheng glanced at the old concubine on the bed and whispered, "Sorry to bother you, Doctor Sun. Please do your best."
When they came out of the house, Princess Cheng called out to Xie Yin, "Have I ever told you to think twice before you act or speak? Do you know that if what you just said gets out, people will think that you are dissatisfied with the Grand Empress Dowager and disrespectful to the royal elders, and your future will be ruined?"
Who is the Empress Dowager?
She is the most honorable elder in the royal family today. No matter how Emperor An treats her in private, at least in the eyes of outsiders, the lives of everyone in Prince Cheng's Mansion are not as important as the Empress Dowager.
Xie Yin was already dissatisfied with being scolded in public just now, and now when he heard Princess Cheng's words full of teachings, his eyes suddenly turned red.
"Mother, do you still care whether I will be ruined in the future? Song Tangning is the only one in your heart and eyes. You even gave up me and father for her. Do you know what people outside say about me? Do you know how those people talk about the palace?!"
"Xie Yin..."
"That's enough!"
Xie Yin has always had the mentality of a young man, and even though he has been down and out during this period, he has not changed at all. He has been suppressing his dissatisfaction, and now it suddenly explodes and he can no longer hold it back.
"Ever since the incident at Xiashan, you have been blaming me. I know I was wrong for not caring about Song Tangning and causing her to almost fall to her death, but wasn't she wrong?"
"She made a scene after returning to the capital, causing the palace to be in such a state. If it weren't for her father, he wouldn't have lied to you for the sake of the palace. But in your eyes, neither I nor my father can compare to Song Tangning. If you could think of me a little bit, you wouldn't have followed her to Jiyun Lane, and you wouldn't have watched me being laughed at and scolded, and watched the palace of Prince Cheng fall into decline!"
"After you left, grandma fell ill and couldn't get up. I sent you a message a long time ago asking you to come back to see grandma, but you ignored me. Now that grandma is about to die, you finally came back. Are you satisfied..."
Snap——
Princess Cheng never expected that Xie Yin would look at her like this. She raised her hand in anger and slapped Xie Yin in the face, causing him to turn his head away.
When Xie Yin looked up again after covering his face, his eyes were red: "Sometimes I really doubt whether I am your biological son..."