Chapter 250
Chapter 250
As they spoke, mistress and maid reached the door to the main room.
The door stood open. Inside, all remained silent.
Zhao Wan had always feared neither heaven nor earth, yet now that she was actually here, she could not help feeling apprehensive.
As for Xiaoxizi beside her, her hair was standing on end and her heart was practically in her throat.
Seeing the princess about to step inside, she could not stop herself from grabbing her.
“Your Highness, have you forgotten… who used to live here?”
Zhao Wan stopped in her tracks.
Xiaoxizi continued in a trembling voice, “It was His Highness’s favorite… concubine. Her surname was Du.”
Of course Zhao Wan remembered.
Ten years had passed, but the incident had left a profound impression on the young princess.
She had been seven that year. Her mother, Princess Consort Wu, had fallen ill with a strange disease and could no longer manage the inner household.
That same year, Concubine Du, the most favored of Prince Wu’s many concubines, had become pregnant.
Zhenxia Courtyard had consequently become the center of everyone’s attention.
Her father had often taken the young Zhao Wan to visit Concubine Du, telling her to talk more to the “little brother” inside her belly.
Everyone in the inner household knew that Prince Wu had always wanted a son, preferably a strong, sturdy boy who would one day dominate the battlefield as he did.
They had therefore all taken it for granted that Concubine Du was carrying a son.
The ten months of pregnancy passed quickly, and her delivery drew near.
But on a night of driving wind and rain, Concubine Du disappeared.
When Prince Wu learned of it, he sent people searching inside and out for a long time. They practically turned all of Liangzhou City upside down, yet found no trace of her.
Where could a living person have gone, especially a pregnant woman about to give birth?
It remained an unsolved mystery in the household to this day.
From then on, Prince Wu’s Mansion seemed to fall under a curse.
Every concubine who became pregnant would die for no apparent reason before her child was due, and the circumstances were always strange.
Whispers began to spread through the mansion. The missing Concubine Du must have become a vengeful ghost and begun haunting the estate. Having failed to bear His Highness a son herself, she would not allow anyone else to do so either…
Afterward, right up until Prince Wu’s death, not one of his many concubines managed to give him a son.
More frightening still, everyone who later lived in Zhenxia Courtyard claimed that it was haunted. They heard strange sounds at night and saw eerie shadows.
The courtyard had stood empty ever since. Even servants who occasionally went in to clean did not dare linger…
Remembering all this, Zhao Wan was frightened too. But having come this far, she felt that preserving her dignity mattered more.
“No one knows what really happened when Concubine Du disappeared. All this talk of a vengeful ghost taking lives is just something people in the mansion made up. I don’t believe it!”
With that, she braced herself and charged inside.
Helpless, Xiaoxizi hesitated for a moment, then had to follow.
Once through the door, Zhao Wan called out, “Miss Xia? Are you there?”
She called several times, but no one answered. Only the faint sound of dripping water came from behind the folding screen.
“Xiaoxizi, light the lamp.”
The order made Xiaoxizi panic even more, but she could not disobey the princess. She could only make her way to the table.
Strangely, no matter how she blew on her firelighter, it would not catch.
She tried several times, growing frantic. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a faint glimpse of a dark shape on the screen.
Terrified, she flung the firelighter away and clapped a hand over her eyes.
“Your Highness, there really is a ghost!”
Zhao Wan looked where she pointed, then rolled her eyes. “What ghost? That’s plainly a piece of clothing!”
She gave her maid a swat on the head and went straight behind the folding screen. Steam still rose from the tub, but no one was in sight.
She remembered Xiaoxizi saying that Xia Ximo might well have fainted from fright.
If that was true, she might drown in there…
Alarmed, Zhao Wan forgot everything else and hurried to the tub. Unable to see clearly, she could only reach in and feel around.
Her searching hand seemed to catch a handful of hair…
Her expression changed. Slowly, she pulled the hair upward until a head floated on the surface.
“Ah!”
Princess Fenghua screamed, and mistress and maid fled the room at once.
Yet as they reached the courtyard gate, they saw a figure standing outside. It was Ren Fengjue.
Zhao Wan had yet to recover from her fright. The sight of Young Marquis Ren made her panic even more.
With a stiff expression, she approached the gate and deliberately asked, “What are you doing here so late?”
Ren Fengjue saw the panic in her eyes immediately.
Knowing Princess Fenghua, he guessed that she must have been playing some nasty trick on someone, and that it had gone wrong…
One look at the maid’s costume beside her told him the rest.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Your Highness?” he countered.
Zhao Wan raised her chin slightly. “I came to see Miss Xia, of course.”
“What a coincidence. So did I.”
“…”
Seeing him come to visit Xia Ximo at this late hour, Zhao Wan guessed that he must be worried about her.
Very few people could occupy Ren Fengjue’s thoughts like this. At least, Zhao Wan had never seen it before.
At that thought, the princess’s already unpleasant expression darkened further.
Deliberately, she said, “I’ve just checked on her. Miss Xia is bathing. Surely this isn’t a suitable time for you to visit, Young Marquis?”
Ren Fengjue glanced toward the main room. Seeing it completely dark, he frowned.
“Are you certain Miss Xia is bathing, Your Highness?”
Guilty though she felt, Zhao Wan sounded utterly sure of herself. “Yes. I even heard water inside.”
Her evasive eyes told Ren Fengjue that she must be lying.
Without another word, he walked straight in.
Zhao Wan could not help cursing him. “Ren Fengjue, you lecher! I told you the young lady is bathing, and you still dare barge in!”
Ren Fengjue ignored her entirely, though he did pause when he reached the door.
He was about to call out when a figure slowly approached the doorway.
He looked up. It was Xia Ximo.
She did indeed look as though she had just finished bathing. Her long black hair hung loose around her, and she had changed into clean clothes. A faint, cool fragrance drifted from her.
Ren Fengjue involuntarily took another two steps back.
Zhao Wan, meanwhile, stood at the courtyard gate looking as if she had seen a ghost. She opened her mouth but could not speak.
The maid beside her hastily pulled her away. “Your Highness, let’s hurry out of here! There really is something wrong with this courtyard.”
Only after mistress and maid had left did Ren Fengjue ask, “Nothing happened just now, did it?”
“No,” Xia Ximo said calmly.
Somewhat reassured, Ren Fengjue handed her several medicinal plasters. “These… will work better if you change them every four hours.”
Xia Ximo took them and asked, “Anything else?”
He quickly shook his head. “No. Get some rest.”
“Mm.”
He turned to leave, then suddenly thought of something and looked back. “The princess may pick on you. If she does anything to offend you behind my back, you must tell me.”