Cold-faced Empress

Fu Siying, covered in injuries, was sent back to the Prime Minister's residence by Prince Mu's men, instantly causing unease and shock throughout her family.

Not only the Fu family, but after the news spread, everyone in the entire capital was waiting to see the Fu family suffer.

The guards of Prince Mu explained that Miss Fu was accidentally injured by an arrow that Prince Mu used to shoot geese, which led to much speculation among the crowd.

The most common opinion is that the term "accidental injury" is just a euphemism. Prince Mu definitely wants to deal with the Fu family, and he just happened to target Miss Fu.

For a time, everyone in the capital city avoided the Prime Minister's residence like the plague, and no one wanted to have anything to do with it.

Faced with her father's question once again, Fu Siying could no longer bear it: "He accidentally hurt me, Father, you don't need to be so anxious!"

Prime Minister Fu slammed his fist on the table: "How could it be an accidental injury! The wild geese were in the sky, and you were in the sky too?"

These words left Fu Siying both amused and exasperated: "His archery skills are poor; the arrow missed its mark and landed on me!"

"Then why didn't it hit your head? Ha, poor archery skills? Go ask any of the military generals of the court, which one would dare say that Prince Mu's archery skills are poor?"

"That's all because they flattered him under his tyranny. Prince Mu's archery skills are just not good!" Fu Siying said indignantly.

Unable to get the truth out of Fu Siying, Prime Minister Fu looked worried and said, "Yingying, this is a matter of life and death for our family. You can't treat it like a joke."

Fu Siying was also worried: "Father, please don't worry, it won't involve the lives of our whole family. It was an accident! Once I recover, I'll settle this score with Prince Mu."

You should really rest!

Seeing that Fu Siying spoke with absolute certainty, Prime Minister Fu had no choice but to believe her for the time being. However, he still had to keep his feet on the ground and go to the homes of various officials who were attached to Prince Mu to inquire about the shady dealings, fearing that his life was in danger.

Madam Li sighed, picked up the medicine bowl and blew on it: "Yingying, if there's a real secret, you absolutely can't hide it from your father and mother."

"Don't worry, Mother, everything will be alright."

Fu Siying leaned back on the soft couch, her brows slightly furrowed. She was getting increasingly agitated from the interrogations from her family about the capture of the fugitive, all because she had to keep it a secret from Prince Mu. Adding to her irritability was the fact that both her arms were temporarily useless, requiring her to rely on others for everything, which made her even more ill-tempered.

Just as Madam Li was about to feed Fu Siying her medicine, Qingyin reported that Madam Wei and her cousin had arrived.

Not wanting to disappoint those who had come to visit, Li thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "Your anger should have subsided by now. Your aunt and cousin have come to visit out of kindness. Would you like to see them, at least to make a show of it?"

"I won't see them!" Fu Siying's heart skipped a beat. Feigning displeasure, she said irritably, "I'm afraid my injury was caused by the evil energy they brought!"

Before she could even get started, she died. Before she could even cause any trouble for Wei Lanling, she was first harmed by Prince Mu and the man in blue.

Thinking of the man in blue, Fu Siying frowned. She truly couldn't imagine who that man in blue could be. A wanted criminal?

Fu Siying's words made Li frown, her worry deepening.

Seeing that her daughter was in a bad mood and didn't want to talk to Wei and her daughter, Li put down the medicine bowl and went out of the house to see people.

Fu Siying could vaguely hear her mother saying outside, "Siying is sleeping. Thank you for coming to visit, sister and Lanling. Siying is fine."

Faced with the polite refusal, Madam Li stammered a few words of concern, while Wei Lanling said shyly, "Aunt, this is..."

Before she could finish speaking, a maidservant rushed outside to report: "Madam, the two ladies of our family and the two young ladies from our paternal lineage have arrived. They said they heard that the eldest young lady was injured and came to visit her!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Siying, who was in the inner room, had just frowned when she saw her mother hurrying into the room.

“Your two aunts and two cousins ​​are here. You can’t just ignore them. Get ready, I’ll go greet them.”

Before Fu Siying could respond, Li hurriedly left.

Seeing Madam Fu, Li, hurrying about, Wei Lanling, who was outside the house, couldn't help but ask her mother in a low voice, "Our family?"

Madam Li also quietly replied, "Yes, the main branch of the Fu family. Your uncle was just the adopted son of Old Madam Fu. After entering officialdom, he separated from the main branch and settled down on his own."

Wei Lanling said thoughtfully, "I knew it. I didn't see my uncle's parents. I thought they had passed away."

After a pause, Wei Lanling suddenly narrowed her eyes and asked, "Then wouldn't the main branch of the Fu family have even greater power?"

"They may not necessarily have great power, but they have a deep family background and can be called a 'family of officials and nobles'."

"A family of high-ranking officials..."

The more these four words rolled over the tip of my tongue, the hotter they felt.

Fu Yunzhi came out of the room and saw that Madam Wei and Wei Lanling were still outside. She quickly shrank back and said to Fu Siying, "Sister, Aunt Wei and Wei Lanling haven't left yet."

Fu Siying raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Ignore them. You go with Mother to greet the guests."

"it is good."

After pondering alone for a while, Fu Siying beckoned Qingyin to her side and whispered a few words in her ear.

Having been neglected for several days, Qingyin immediately went to do errands for the young lady without saying a word. As she left the room, she encountered Wei Lanling asking if Fu Siying had woken up.

"Miss is awake, but we have guests in the manor, and I'm afraid I haven't been able to entertain you properly. If Madam Wei and Miss Wei have nothing else to do, it would be best if you went back to your room to rest."

"It's alright, you go about your business."

After saying that, Wei Lanling pulled her mother aside and whispered, "If we don't take this opportunity to visit my cousin, she will never forgive me so easily in the future. Mother, how about we go inside with the ladies of the Fu family to visit Cousin Siying later?"

"it is good."

……

With a beaming smile, Li led her two sisters-in-law into Fu Siying's courtyard.

"Yingying's arms are both injured, making it difficult for her to move around. We'll have to trouble the elders to take care of her. Once she's better in a few days, I'll have her go to our ancestral home to pay her respects to the old lady."

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang, the second wife of Fu, who was following closely behind, laughed and said, "So it was an arm injury. We thought it was an injury to both legs that made it difficult for you to move around. If it really was a leg injury, I'm afraid the old lady would have to come and visit Siying herself."

Madam Zhao, the third wife of Fu, laughed in agreement, but her laughter was dry and weak.

The two young ladies remained silent, walking with their eyes averted, displaying an air of demureness.

Just as Li was about to say something more, she looked up and saw that Xiao Li and Wei Lanling were still guarding the courtyard.

Li frowned, not wanting to drive away the Wei family mother and daughter in front of her own sisters-in-law, so she simply said, "These are my younger sister and niece from my maternal family. Their husbands have no one left, so they came to stay with me a few days ago."

Lady Li appeared reserved: "This humble servant is Lady Li, and greets the two ladies."

Madam Zhang, the second wife of the Fu family, glanced at Xiao Li and smiled coldly. This kind of woman, without a husband and forced to live under someone else's roof, was simply not worthy of Madam Zhang's attention.

Seeing that Madam Zhang, the second wife of the Fu family, was elegant and refined, with the demeanor of a lady from a prominent family, Wei Lanling softened her voice and said, "This humble girl, Wei Lanling, greets the two ladies."

Her fresh and elegant appearance was naturally more pleasing than that of Xiao Li Shi. Zhang Shi glanced at Wei Lanling a few more times, but still remained silent. It was Fu San Madam Zhao who politely praised, "The girl is quite pretty," which made Wei Lanling feel rather flattered.

Upon learning that the mother and daughter still wanted to visit Fu Siying, Li had no choice but to agree in front of the guests.

A group of people entered the room with considerable noise, and Fu Siying was sitting at the table, pretending to be struggling to drink her medicine.

Madam Li hurriedly asked, "Why are you taking your medicine by yourself? Where is Qingyin?"

"I asked her to prepare tea and snacks for my aunt and cousin."

Fu Siying stopped moving, and the porcelain spoon in her hand fell into the bowl with a "plop," making a loud sound that made Madam Fu frown.

Seeing that the opportunity was ripe, Wei Lanling quickly said, "Let me give my cousin the medicine."

As he spoke, he walked over to Fu Siying, picked up the medicine bowl, scooped up a spoonful of medicine, and blew on it, looking very serious.

Fu Siying looked at Wei Lanling and saw Wei Lanling smiling ingratiatingly at her, so she smiled back and said, "Thank you, cousin."

However, when Wei Lanling scooped up a mouthful of medicine and brought it to Fu Siying's lips, Fu Siying said without even tasting it, "It's too hot."

Wei Lanling quickly blew on it before sending it off.

Fu Siying said coldly, "It's gone cold again."

Sensing that Fu Siying was deliberately making things difficult, Wei Lanling immediately put on a pitiful expression of grievance and forbearance. She scooped out another spoonful of medicine. To ensure the temperature was just right, Wei Lanling took a sip herself first before bringing it to Fu Siying's lips.

To her surprise, Fu Siying immediately showed disgust and said disdainfully, "Cousin, this is my medicine. How am I supposed to drink it if you've touched it?"

At this moment, Qingyin and her maids brought in fruit, tea, and snacks to serve. Fu Siying immediately said, "Qingyin, get me a different spoon; this one is dirty!"

"Yes."

Wei Lanling, feeling humiliated by the suggestion that the medicine was dirty, trembled as she held the bowl of medicine.

Fu Fangrui, the daughter of Madam Fu the Third, disliked Fu Siying's imperious manner and said sarcastically, "Siying is so difficult to serve, no wonder she had to drink her medicine alone just now."

Upon hearing this, Wei Lanling turned to look at Fu Fangrui, her face showing gratitude. Fu Fangrui scoffed dismissively.

Fu Siying glanced at Wei Lanling with a half-smile and said, "That's right. I'm so difficult to please, why is my cousin going out of her way to serve me? Offering help for no reason is just..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Lanling trembled so much that she could barely hold the medicine bowl.

"I'm clumsy and can't serve my cousin her medicine. Let her maid do it."

After saying that, Wei Lanling put the medicine bowl on the table and tried to get up and move.

Just as she stood up, for some reason, Wei Lanling suddenly swayed to the side.

Seeing that she was about to fall to the side, Wei Lanling quickly braced herself against the table. With that effort, she knocked the medicine bowl off the table and onto the ground!

"Snapped"!

The medicine bowl shattered into pieces, and the medicine inside splashed onto the tips of Fu Siying's embroidered shoes.

"Ah, the medicine!" Wei Lanling exclaimed in shock. "I'm so sorry, cousin! I'm so clumsy. I don't know what I kicked, that's why I lost my balance and knocked out your medicine. I'm so sorry, sob..."

Tears welled up instantly. Wei Lanling cried and hurriedly squatted down to pick up the medicine bowl, even reaching out to lift Fu Siying's skirt to look for any fragments underneath.

Fu Siying remained motionless, waiting for her to flirt.

Sure enough, as soon as her skirt was lifted, Wei Lanling cried even harder: "Cousin, the tips of your shoes are all wet. Let the maid change your shoes."

The toes of my shoes...are wet?

Upon hearing those four words, the women in the room all wore inscrutable expressions.