Chapter 201: Chapter 201: You’re Not the Only One Reaping What You Sow
Her personal handmaid didn’t want to suffer with her in Anle Hall.
Under the circumstances, Tao Wanxin could understand and even accept Yin Xiang finding a better master.
But the moment the man spoke, Tao Wanxin realized how terribly wrong she had been.
Yin Xiang belonged to Prince Yong.
Body and soul.
All the news Yin Xiang had gathered was exactly what Prince Yong wanted her to know.
She had fallen into someone’s trap, become someone’s pawn.
Now, Tao Wanxin no longer wanted to think about it. Her hands, hidden beneath gray sleeves, clenched so tightly that her nails nearly pierced her palms.
She said with a detached air, "I have no regrets. Why should I have regrets?"
But her sunken eyes were already brimming with tears, her expression a stark contrast to her words.
Ji Qingwu looked at her haggard form and said, "I’m not here to persuade you of anything. Prince Yong begged me to come. On my way, I reviewed your recent medical records. The situation is not good."
Tao Wanxin knew her own physical condition.
Prince Yong had bribed the managing matron here to have an Imperial Physician take her pulse, yet the two of them had never once met face-to-face.
She said, "Good or not, what does it matter? My father’s life is forfeit, the Tao family is finished. I have nothing left to live for. I might as well just follow them in death."
Hearing her defeatist words, Ji Qingwu’s gaze fell to her lower abdomen. "Are you willing to give up this child?" she asked.
Tao Wanxin said, "With a disgraced mother like me, being born would just be a life of suffering."
Ji Qingwu shifted her gaze and saw a half-eaten bowl of yellow millet porridge on the cabinet behind Tao Wanxin.
Her body was emaciated, clear proof she had no appetite here. On top of that, she had learned of Mr. Tao’s imprisonment today and was overcome with grief. Yet, she had still forced herself to eat half a bowl. ’What else could it be for?’
The medical records the little eunuch had shown Ji Qingwu were a thick stack of paper. Not a single day had been missed since Princess Yong entered Anle Hall.
If she truly didn’t want this child, she could have simply refused to see the Imperial Physician.
’How could she possibly want to abandon a child she had longed for for so many years, just because she was disappointed in Prince Yong?’
’As long as there was a sliver of hope, a mother would never be willing to give up.’
Ji Qingwu could see she was just being stubborn. "If the mother’s body is weak, the child in the womb will grow slowly," she said. "Even with the formula I gave you before, there is still a chance of miscarriage."
Hearing this, Tao Wanxin’s brows knitted even more tightly.
Ji Qingwu continued, "But there is an even greater risk. If this goes on, I’m afraid you, Princess Consort, will give birth to a mentally deficient child."
"If one day you no longer wish to live, Princess Consort, you can end it all. Throw yourself down a well or hang yourself with a rope. But the abandoned, simple-minded child you leave behind will have a much harder time."
Upon hearing the words "mentally deficient child," Tao Wanxin glared furiously at her. When she then heard the talk of suicide, her face twisted. Stirred up by Ji Qingwu’s words, she could no longer maintain her facade.
"If you don’t care, Princess Consort, then just pretend I never said a thing."
Ji Qingwu gave a nonchalant smile.
"That matron in charge, Granny Cao, said I can only stay for a little while. I see the hour is getting late. Since you’re unwilling to let me take your pulse, Princess Consort, I’ll be on my way."
Tao Wanxin’s throat worked, but though she wanted to say something, she couldn’t get the words out.
Ji Qingwu turned and walked out without the slightest hesitation.
Tao Wanxin watched her departing figure, and tears suddenly streamed from her eyes.
From behind came the sound of a woman’s sorrowful wails, unabated, crying without any of the image or dignity expected of a lady from a scholarly family.
"You’re all pushing me! My father, the Prince, and even the child in my womb!"
"Not a single one of you cares what I want! The things I don’t want to do, every single one of you insists..." Her sobbing grew weaker.
’What did Mr. Tao force her to do? And Prince Yong forced her, too?’
When Ji Qingwu turned back, Tao Wanxin had already cried herself into a faint, collapsing against the cabinet behind her and knocking the porridge bowl to the floor.
When Tao Wanxin awoke, she found herself half-leaning into a soft, fragrant embrace, just like when her mother held her as a child.
But her birth mother had hanged herself long ago, and there was no one left in the Tao family who truly cared for her.
She was the child of the late madam, and she had to work harder than her younger sisters just for her father to notice her existence.
Mr. Tao loved poetry and literature, so she read the classics day and night, earning the reputation of a talented lady among the noble families of Lin’an.
But her father’s love never came from the heart. He would only dispense a bit of it after weighing whether she was worthy of his affection.
’But if she could do it all over again, she would rather have been illiterate. Then she wouldn’t have been pushed to the forefront by Mr. Tao, nearly falling to a point of no return...’
Seeing her stare blankly at the mold spots on the wall, Ji Qingwu spoke.
"You’re awake?"
Ji Qingwu pulled back the hands that were pressing on two of her major acupoints, helped her lie flat on the bed, and shook out her own sore wrist.
Tao Wanxin’s hand grasped at the empty air, trying to hold onto that warmth.
Ji Qingwu took a step back and stood before the simple plank bed. "Your body can’t withstand any more major emotional turmoil, Princess Consort. Otherwise, not even I will be able to save you."
Tao Wanxin said with a self-mocking laugh, "Why save me? I’m just reaping what I’ve sown. I was a poor judge of character; I deserve to be toyed with."
After such an intense emotional release, having purged the turmoil from her heart, she seemed to have come to terms with many things.
Ji Qingwu tucked her hand into the yellowed quilt. Not at all repulsed by the filth of the simple bed, she even tucked in the corners for her.
Her tone was calm as she said, "You’re not the only one reaping what you’ve sown right now."
Tao Wanxin’s downcast eyes suddenly widened, staring directly at Ji Qingwu.
Ji Qingwu said, "Do you want to know who that person is, Princess Consort?"
Tao Wanxin didn’t speak, but a light flickered in her eyes.
"When your medical records show improvement, then I will tell you."
Ji Qingwu said, "This time, I really am leaving."
After a few steps, Tao Wanxin called out to her, "Qingwu."
Her eyes dimmed as she asked, "My father’s case... is there truly no chance of a reversal?"
Ji Qingwu turned back, observing her expression. "For the Tao family to save your life alone is already the greatest fortune."
Tao Wanxin looked both sad and, at the same time, relieved.
"He should have died long ago."
Ji Qingwu, who had reached the doorway, halted.
’Tao Wanxin hates her father that much?!’
"He deserves to go to hell. They all deserve..."
’They?’
Ji Qingwu rubbed her little finger, watching Tao Wanxin lying there, muttering to herself.
’She didn’t know the details of Mr. Tao’s case. But Princess Yong might know more secrets than anyone else.’
Ji Qingwu said, "Get some rest. I’ll come see you again next time."
She walked out the main gate of Anle Hall.
She braced herself.
Just as she expected, a figure darted out from behind the stone lion at the gate.
"Fifth Cousin, how is Wanyin?"
"She’s still alive," Ji Qingwu snapped.
"And more specifically?" Prince Yong asked, confused.
"She’s on the verge of death," Ji Qingwu said.
