Huaishang was somewhat bewildered, and not daring to ask the prince directly, he invited Song Jingyang to the Four Seas Tower alone.
"Jingyang, tell me, what's going on with this medicine? I'm still completely confused," Huaishang asked earnestly after pouring Song Jingyang a cup of wine.
He had been away for too long, and when he returned to the capital, he found that many people around the prince had changed.
He was a meticulous and thoughtful person, so for the past two days he had been pondering whether this medicine was indeed ordered by the prince.
If so, what does the prince want him to do? If not, what do others want to do to him? And what is the prince's attitude towards this?
The Huaishang is twisted into a pretzel shape.
"So that's why you're being such a tightwad today, treating me to dinner!" Song Jingyang slapped the table. "Add more dishes! Four dishes are enough for anyone!"
Huaishang was indeed stingy; normally, he would have simply pretended not to hear, but now that he needed Song Jingyang's help, he could only call over the waiter, "Add another serving of tofu with scallions, and another serving..."
"Braised pork knuckle!" Song Jingyang blurted out, "You think this is feeding rabbits? Huaishang, what are you saving all that silver for? Are you planning to take it to your grave?"
Huaishang considered the price of the braised pork knuckle, his smile became somewhat forced.
Song Jingyang picked up a piece of cabbage with his chopsticks. "Don't think I don't know, the reason you've been single for so many years is because you're unwilling to spend money to get married."
This fellow was different from him. He was handsome and didn't have the stern face that made him unapproachable like the prince. So even when they were both serving the prince, he was the most popular with women in Huaishang.
Song Jingyang was very dissatisfied.
But what happened before is one thing, but now that Xiu'er is also sending medicine to Huaishang, Song Jingyang gets angrier and angrier.
But when he asked Xiu'er, Xiu'er said he was sick.
The problem is he's sick, why don't you send him medicine?
However, Xiu'er stepped on his foot and then ignored him.
Hearing him mutter, Huaishang couldn't help but ask, "So you like Xiu'er?"
"I like her... she's clean-cut, efficient, and loyal..."
Huaishang exclaimed in surprise, "But she's just a maid!"
"So what if she's a maid? Wasn't my mother a maid too?" Song Jingyang said dismissively. "Anyway, she's different from others."
"If she were a princess's maid, that would be one thing... but a lady's maid is still a bit too low in status," Huaishang said truthfully.
"It's still a very small matter, the Prince and his wife don't even know what's going on yet, let alone us."
The prince is constantly getting humiliated, yet he's basking in his glory? Isn't that just courting death?
Besides, Xiu'er's loud and boisterous personality is a good match for him; no one else would do, and he's not afraid she'll run away.
"Alright, enough about me. I'm not going to eat this braised pork knuckle for nothing. Just tell me what happened," Song Jingyang said.
Huaishang sighed, "As you know about what I just mentioned, something I did a few years ago angered the Prince, and he still doesn't like me and keeps me far away..."
That's why he's so terrified now.
"What you did wasn't very ethical. You knew perfectly well that the prince didn't like women, yet you still sent him to a pleasure boat..."
Huaishang also felt very wronged. It was the first time the prince had come to the capital, and who would have thought that he would be tricked into taking that kind of dirty drug on the way.
What could he do?
He also spent one hundred taels of silver to buy a clean courtesan—all the courtesans on the pleasure boats who wore light pink flowers were courtesans. This one hundred taels of silver was not "reimbursed" at all because the prince was furious, and he didn't even dare to mention it again.
She dared not ask the prince whether the courtesan was innocent or not, nor did she know whether the hundred taels of silver were worth it.
This matter has become a major worry for Huaishang.
To make matters worse, he was frequently sent on missions by the prince afterward, and he felt that the prince was still angry about that incident.
Having spent money and still suffering bad luck, Huaishang was about to suffer internal injuries from holding it in.
Song Jingyang: "If it were me, I'd just throw the prince into that water. What drug couldn't be countered then?"
Huaishang didn't want to speak.
The braised pork knuckle finally arrived. Song Jingyang gnawed on it while complaining, "After eating Madam's cooking, anything outside just feels like a compromise."
Huaishang was already bleeding, and hearing him say this only made her more helpless. She said, "Then don't take it. Tell me about this medicine."
"How would I know?" Song Jingyang said. "I only know that the medicine was prepared by the madam. You also know about the incident that happened later. Everyone said that our prince was eating kidney-tonifying pills like they were food. Bah! Who could afford that?"
Huaishang: "..."
"You know, those kidney-tonifying pills, each one so small, cost 198 coins! A bottle of twenty pills costs nearly four taels of silver, and even then, they're still in short supply!"
Huaishang: "Has the silver been given to the Prince or is the Lady keeping it herself?"
Song Jingyang: "I don't know, I've already handed it over to the Prince."
The meal Huaishang nearly half a tael of silver. Although it had already set a record for the lowest price in a private room at Four Seas Tower, it still made him feel so bad that he couldn't bear to think about it.
The key issue is that Song Jingyang couldn't give a clear explanation either.
So what exactly does this medicine mean?
Tang Zhuyun was explaining the matter to Prince of Jin again, "Your Highness, I don't like Huaishang. I just love the house because of the owner. Do you understand?"
She felt the love and encouragement of her family, and now she also had a sister-in-law who doted on her. She couldn't be happier, and she smiled as she spoke to the Prince of Jin when she returned.
"If you agree to one thing, I will allow you to marry into the Huaishang. That promise still stands," the Prince of Jin reiterated.
Tang Zhuyun: Please, if I've done something wrong, please punish me according to the law. Don't try to scare me by mentioning the child's father; I'm a coward. Thank you.
Therefore, she flatly refused and, in turn, put the Prince of Jin in a difficult position.
"Your Highness, if you do me a small favor, all the profits from my kidney-tonifying pill business, which makes a fortune every day, will be yours. How about it?"
The Prince of Jin narrowed his eyes, a mocking glint in them. "So young and already out of your mind? Didn't I say, what's yours is mine? You're trying to use my things to negotiate with me?"
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
Stay calm, stay calm, solving the problem is the most important thing.
"I belong to the prince, so aren't my affairs also the prince's affairs?"
The Prince of Jin was speechless.
Tang Zhuyun regained the upper hand, and said in a sycophantic tone, "Your Highness, this matter is actually not difficult for you at all. You see, you know that Linlin is my son, and now my sister-in-law is pregnant again. We can't let Linlin continue to occupy the title of my elder brother's eldest son..."
"Since when have illegitimate sons been ranked in terms of status and worth?" Prince of Jin's voice was icy. "After Tang Baixin marries, the legitimate sons he bears will be the most valuable."
Tang Zhuyun: "... You can't say that. I also want to take care of Linlin. I don't want to acknowledge him as my son, but how about adopting him? I'll raise him myself, and I certainly won't spend the prince's money."
Moreover, the Prince of Jin himself liked Linlin very much, so there was no reason for him not to agree.