Just then, Prince Jing came over and immediately his gaze darkened upon seeing the tear stains on the Princess Consort’s face. He said, "What happened? Did someone from the backcourt upset you?"
"No, it’s just that I heard from nanny that during the two days I was unconscious, the Prince has been taking care of me. I’m simply too moved."
As the Princess Consort spoke, she tried to perform a courtesy, but Prince Jing stopped her, "Enough, when there are no outsiders, there is no need for such formalities."
The Princess Consort did not insist, "Why has the Prince come over?"
Heaven knows how much she didn’t want to face Prince Jing at that moment.
Seeing him filled her heart with guilt, regret, and rendered her unable to think straight.
"I naturally came to see you," he said, and waved at Nanny Liu who was still standing by, "Go on, you can leave. The Princess Consort will be well cared for by me."
"But..." Nanny Liu was worried that the Princess Consort was not yet clear-headed. What if she misspoke once she herself left?
This gesture, however, angered Prince Jing, "What, does my word carry no weight?"
The Princess Consort spoke up to explain, "Nanny is just concerned about me. Please forgive her, Your Highness. But as I am currently not in good health, I really can’t serve the Prince. Perhaps the Prince would be better off... visiting the other sisters instead."
The Princess Consort struggled to face Prince Jing, yet pushing her own man towards other women was a feeling equally hard to bear.
Prince Jing saw the difficulty on the Princess Consort’s face and mistook it for genuine concern for him, bending his lips into a smile, "You need not worry, my dear. I am not here to do anything, just to keep you company."
The sky was already dark, and he needed to attend the morning court the next day, plus he was hurried to say farewell to that girl, so he really didn’t have the energy for anything else.
By then, Nanny Liu had already silently turned away and left.
With the Prince speaking so, the Princess Consort couldn’t very well insist on sending him out. If Nanny Liu stayed, it would truly show a lack of tact.
True to his word, Prince Jing did nothing. The couple lay quietly on the bed, with Prince Jing wrapping his arm around his wife, his heart couldn’t help but ache, "From now on, just speak up about anything that’s bothering you. I am not the kind of man who can’t take advice. Don’t keep everything to yourself and end up hurting yourself in the process."
The Imperial Physician had said that the Princess Consort’s loss of consciousness was due to excessive worry. The only thing Prince Jing could think of that would cause her such distress was the intrigue of the backcourt.
He himself was not a lustful person. The concubines and the Princess Consort in the residence were all picked by his parents. He didn’t particularly favor any of them.
As far as he was concerned, any woman in the residence with status was his, and he slept with them in turn according to their rank each month.
In fact, the presence or absence of these women didn’t really make much of a difference to him.
Those without children could be dismissed, but dealing with the two concubines who had status and another concubine who had children was not so easy.
The Princess Consort was pensive. Little did she know that due to her recent unconsciousness, Prince Jing was already planning to clean up the backcourt.
Early the next day, Ye Jiu rose before dawn.
Everything had been packed the day before, filling an entire carriage. Even then, a lot had been placed in her personal space.
Ye Jiu had Su Ning split the manpower of the residence in half to follow her upon departure. These people were trained by Sikong Mo, and capable martial artists were hard to come by. She needed to keep a few useful individuals by her side.