Lin Feilu was talking to Songyu as they laughed and walked into the palace. Suddenly, they heard a noisy commotion coming from inside the palace along with the cries of Lin Zhanyuan. Lin Feilu felt uneasy, so she sped up and ran in. As soon as she arrived in the yard, she saw Yunyou who was holding a pot of hot water.
Upon seeing her return, Yunyou’s eyes started to redden once more despite already crying. She shouted, “Princess”.
Lin Feilu asked, “What’s wrong? What happened to my brother?”
Yunyou’s words were choked as she answered, “His Highness is fine, it’s the Madam…”
Lin Feilu hurriedly walked into the room with her, only to find that there was an imperial doctor in the room who was undergoing a medical consultation. Xiao Lan was lying on the bed, unconscious and pale. There were also several conspicuous red bumps on her bare arms and face.
The imperial doctor said, “The bee venom has been cleansed and treated, but the Honourable Lady did fall into the water. With the cold affecting her body, paired with her frightened state, she would require quite a long time to recover and rehabilitate. This is the prescription prescribed by this lowly official, bring the medicine over, and hurry.”
Qingyan thanked him before she took the prescription and went outside. Seeing Lin Feilu back home, her eyes were red and she was about to say something. However, Lin Feilu said, “Go fetch the medicine first.”
Qing Yan nodded and went out. Lin Zhanyuan laid down by the bed and bawled uncontrollably. Lin Feilu walked over to comfort him for a long time and had Song Yu take him out, before she asked Yunyou, “What happened?”
Yunyou wiped away her tears, and then the matter was revealed.
It turned out that this morning, Xiao Lan received an invitation from Consort Mei who had invited her to an outing in the Royal Flower Garden. Although Xiao Lan knew that the Consort had bad intentions, the other party was a Consort and she was but an Honourable Lady. With the strict heirachic rankings in the palace, she could not refuse and had no choice but to accept the appointment.
Concubine Mei hasn’t been in bed with Emperor Lin since she returned from the palace, which resulted in a spreading rumor in the palace that she had fallen out of favor. But despite everything, she still had her noble title, maintained her good image and treated the concubines around her well, so no one dared to accuse her of anything.
She also invited several other concubines on this outing. Consort Mei was no better than she was when she last saw her a few years ago. Yet, she still held Xiao Lan’s hand and affectionately addressed her as “sister”.
When Xiao Lan remembered that she was most likely the person responsible for the drug dosing back then, she felt a chill in her heart. She did not dare to relax her vigilance and lower her guard during the entire outing.
When passing through a flower garden, a dense swarm of bees flew out of nowhere and rushed towards her in a targetted manner. This group of bees didn’t sting anyone else, yet they chased and stung her only. Xiao Lan panicked and ran around, but even so, the bees chased her relentlessly. Finally, she jumped into the lake in front and submerged herself underwater before she was able to escape the catastrophical scene.
Although it was spring, the lake was still cold. Due to her state of shock and remaining in the water for too long, she was already unconscious when she was rescued ashore.
Lin Feilu heard Yunyou cry as she finished speaking and the veins of her temples twitched abruptly with anger.
The imperial doctor had already left by this time and she asked Yunyou in a deep voice, “Was there anything strange when they were viewing the flowers? Why did the bees only chase mother?”