Before the chaos at Zhen Bao Ge erupted, Jiang Yi had already quickly exited the main entrance.
As soon as she stepped out, her legs weakened. She leaned against a tree in front of the door, her face alarmingly pale. “Help me into the carriage…”
The maid was startled by Jiang Yi’s pallor. “My lady—”
“Help me into the carriage!” Jiang Yi commanded sternly.
Jiang Yi usually spoke gently to her servants, and this was the first time the maid had heard her raise her voice. Without further delay, the maid half-supported, half-dragged Jiang Yi into the carriage.
Once seated inside, Jiang Yi felt like she could breathe again, but overwhelming fear washed over her.
“My lady, what’s wrong?” The maid asked urgently, seeing Jiang Yi’s distress.
Jiang Yi leaned against the cold carriage wall, her face ashen and her smooth, fair forehead covered in sweat.
She looked as if she had just been pulled from the water, gasping for air with a mixture of fear and relief, too preoccupied to respond to her anxious maid.
What had happened?
She had merely been browsing Zhen Bao Ge. How had she become a target? And who were those two men?
She had been drugged unconscious. If she hadn’t been rescued today, the consequences—
Right, her rescuer had claimed to be one of Prince Yan’s men!
Jiang Yi suddenly remembered something and tugged at her maid forcefully. “Tell the driver… to go directly to Prince Yan’s residence…”
“What?” The maid was stunned by this sudden request.
According to etiquette, even for ordinary families, let alone a household like Prince Yan’s, relatives needed to send a visiting card in advance before calling.
What had come over her mistress?
“Hurry!” Jiang Yi pushed her maid.
The maid, infected by Jiang Yi’s urgency, crawled to the carriage door, lifted the curtain, and called out, “Old Iron Head, go to Prince Yan’s residence.”
The driver turned his head, holding the reins. “Not returning to the Earl’s mansion?”
The maid glared at the driver. “Go where the mistress says.”
“Alright, hold on tight.” The driver cracked his whip, turning the carriage around and speeding off.
Jiang Yi clutched her handkerchief in silence, the atmosphere in the carriage almost solidifying.
The maid wanted to speak several times but didn’t dare break the heavy silence, secretly wondering what had happened.
She suddenly remembered falling asleep at Zhen Bao Ge, and her face turned pale.
The carriage stopped, and the driver’s voice came through. “Miss, we’ve arrived.”
The maid poked her head out. “Old Iron Head, go tell the doorkeeper.”
The driver ran over to knock on the door.
“No visiting card?” The doorkeeper waved the driver away.
Recently, more and more people have been trying to claim connections with the Prince’s household. They couldn’t let just anyone in.
The driver, an honest man naturally intimidated by the Prince’s residence, didn’t dare argue when dismissed and turned to leave silently.
The doorkeeper took another look at the carriage parked nearby, feeling it looked somewhat familiar.
“Wait—” The doorkeeper called the driver back. “May I ask which household you’re from?”
The driver replied, “The eldest miss from the East Peace Earl’s mansion is here to see the Princess Consort…”
The doorkeeper nearly fell over. He grabbed the driver’s wrist and said, “Brother, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
Turning away the Princess Consort’s sister at the gate—if the Prince found out, he’d be finished!
The doorkeeper glared at the driver, thinking to himself: Who knew this man could be so sly? Luckily, he had asked one more question.
Inside, Jiang Si was playing with A Huan.
At just over two months old, A Huan had grown into a chubby, fair-skinned baby with big eyes who loved to smile.
But suddenly, little A Huan’s face scrunched up, and he began to cry.
“Did he wet himself?” Jiang Si, still in the clumsy stage of new motherhood, quickly checked. “He did!”
Before the wet nurse could take the child, Er Niu, who had been lying nearby, suddenly stood up. With practiced ease, he trotted to a low cabinet, picked up a diaper with his mouth, and brought it back, indicating that Jiang Si should change A Huan quickly.
Jiang Si took the diaper, looking at Er Niu’s proud expression with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
Er Niu had only been observing for a short while, yet he had learned to fetch diapers for A Huan. If he kept learning, wouldn’t he be changing diapers soon?
The wet nurse, deftly changing A Huan’s diaper, praised, “This servant has never seen a dog as clever as Er Niu.”
A Man pouted and said, “Of course not! Our Er Niu is a fourth-rank official of the imperial court!”
Although the wet nurse had heard this before, she was still shocked every time.
Goodness, fourth rank! In an ordinary family, having a seventh-rank county magistrate would be considered a great blessing from their ancestors.
There was no comparison—humans couldn’t even match up to a dog!
As the room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, a maid entered to report that Jiang Yi had arrived.