Princess Consort Rui glanced at the maid beside her, and the maid retreated in fear.
"It is not that I cannot let you see it, but the place where I was bitten..." Princess Consort Rui explained to Duoduo.
Since Duoduo was merely a child of four or five, Princess Consort Rui felt there was nothing inappropriate about showing her.
"All of you, step down!" Princess Consort Rui ordered.
"Princess Consort!" The maid behind her was greatly surprised.
After all, the guards hidden in the room were all left behind by Prince Rui to protect the Princess Consort.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Princess Consort Rui's tone suddenly became sharp.
"Yes!" The maid hurriedly waved her hand, leading everyone out of the room.
Duoduo noticed that the few heavy breathing sounds had also disappeared.
It seemed that Princess Consort Rui trusted her.
Duoduo looked at Princess Consort Rui. "Is the bite mark on your waist?"
Princess Consort Rui looked astonished and blurted out, "How did you know?"
As soon as she said it, Princess Consort Rui realized the answer.
Since Duoduo claimed to know medicine, it was only natural that she could deduce where the bite was.
"I need to see the wound," Duoduo looked at Princess Consort Rui with an expression of complete candor.
Princess Consort Rui nodded. She held onto the chair to stand up, and Duoduo hurriedly reached out to support her.
Princess Consort Rui felt a warmth in her heart.
What a good child!
Duoduo supported Princess Consort Rui into the bedchamber, and Princess Consort Rui sat down on the soft couch.
She turned sideways, gesturing for Duoduo to examine her.
Duoduo lifted the clothes and saw a patch of pitch-black against the pale white skin.
"It is actually this poisonous?"
Duoduo was somewhat surprised. She placed her right hand over the bitten area to examine it carefully.
Princess Consort Rui only felt a warm little hand press against her. The area that had been somewhat numb actually began to feel slightly hot.
"Why wasn't this treated after the imperial physician saw it?"
Duoduo found it strange.
Normally, when bitten by a venomous snake, shouldn't the bitten area be cut open to squeeze out the poisoned blood?
Princess Consort Rui revealed a bitter smile.
"How could they treat this location? Besides, its current appearance is already after the imperial physician applied medicine."
Duoduo understood.
The bodies of noble ladies could not be left with scars.
Because of the location of Princess Consort Rui's wound, it was inappropriate for the imperial physician to operate, and the maids did not dare to do it.
Furthermore, Princess Consort Rui was pregnant and in poor health, making them even more afraid to act rashly.
After weighing the options, the imperial physician had adopted a conservative treatment method.
Duoduo withdrew her hand. She pondered for a moment and looked at Princess Consort Rui with a serious face.
"I can try, but I cannot guarantee that I will definitely be able to save the child in your womb. Are you willing to give it a try?"
Princess Consort Rui looked at Duoduo's extremely serious little face and gave another bitter smile.
"Let us try it then. After all, everyone else is out of ideas."
"If my royal child truly cannot come into this world safely, at least I, as a mother, have done my best."
Duoduo nodded.
"Since ancient times, no treatment is given for free. Although I don't have absolute certainty of saving you, I still must collect a consultation fee."
Princess Consort Rui was amused.
"Alright! Isn't it just a meeting gift?"
"I have plenty of hairpins, bracelets, and jade pendants in my storehouse. Later, I will give you a few."
"This jade pendant of yours is meant for a man to wear; it does not suit you. Later, I will give you a few that look much better."
Duoduo shook her head and began fumbling in her sleeve.
"This is the meeting gift Second Uncle gave me, and I like it very much!"
"Third Uncle also gave me an identical one, so I can even take turns wearing them!"
Duoduo's words made Princess Consort Rui's eyes flicker.
"So it is a jade pendant given by Prince Ling. No wonder I thought it looked like a man's pendant."
Duoduo finally fished out a small bottle. She carefully pulled out the stopper and took out a dark red pill.
"This is a detoxifying pill I made myself. Swallow this first."
Duoduo handed the pill to Princess Consort Rui.
Princess Consort Rui hesitated for a moment. "Is this pill harmful to the child?"
Duoduo shook her head. "Of course not. Since you have chosen to trust me, you should not doubt me."
Looking into Duoduo's incredibly clear eyes, Princess Consort Rui gritted her teeth, took the pill, and swallowed it.
She had already decided in her heart that if Duoduo dared to harm her child, she would absolutely not let her off easily!
The pill melted as soon as it entered her mouth. Princess Consort Rui only felt her mouth water as a fragrant aroma traveled from her throat straight to her head.
Just based on this, Princess Consort Rui's heart settled back into its proper place.
She continued to chat idly with Duoduo.
"Why did Prince Ling give you this jade pendant as a meeting gift?"
Duoduo checked her pulse, waiting for the medicine to take effect before administering acupuncture.
"Second Uncle said that I do not have a single decent piece of jewelry on my entire body, which brings shame to the royal family."
Duoduo retracted her hand and picked up the jade pendant at her waist to play with it.
"I heard this jade pendant was a gift from Imperial Grandfather!"
"Since Second Uncle gave it to me as a meeting gift, he must surely dote on me!"
"Therefore, I wear this jade pendant all the time. I am very grateful to Second Uncle."
Watching Duoduo's innocent and radiant expression, Princess Consort Rui inexplicably thought of her own daughter.
A sense of pity for Duoduo welled up in her heart.
Princess Consort of Pingyang had never given birth to a child, and coupled with Duoduo's background, Princess Consort of Pingyang definitely had not treated this child well.
This resulted in the child having no jewelry at all, which was why she was laughed at by Prince Ling.
Princess Consort Rui immediately slipped a jade bracelet of excellent quality off her wrist and was about to put it onto Duoduo's wrist.
"This is my meeting gift to you. Whether you succeed or not, it is yours."
Duoduo raised her head and looked at Princess Consort Rui with large, clear, and bright eyes.
Duoduo flashed an obedient smile at Princess Consort Rui and pushed the bracelet back.
"Leave this for Big Sister. I do not like wearing these types of jewelry."
"I run around everywhere every day. If I were to lose this, my heart would ache terribly."
After saying this, Duoduo pulled a small cloth bag from her robes.
"Please lie on your stomach. I will use silver needles to draw out the poison."
Princess Consort Rui helplessly put the bracelet back on her wrist and lay down on her side.
Duoduo slowly lifted Princess Consort Rui's clothes, exposing her waist.
She suddenly noticed that the black patch from earlier seemed to have shrunk a bit.
Duoduo tilted her head and recalled her earlier observation; she was not mistaken.
The darkened area had indeed gotten smaller.
Duoduo remembered that just now, she had touched the snakebite with her right hand.
Duoduo opened her right palm; it was flawlessly white and unchanged.
A bold idea suddenly formed in Duoduo's mind.
Duoduo carefully placed her right hand over the blackened skin.
Princess Consort Rui waited a moment but did not feel the expected needle prick. Instead, she felt Duoduo's small hand resting against her waist.
If Duoduo had not been a child, and a little girl at that, Princess Consort Rui might have had other thoughts.
Behind her, Duoduo stared nervously at her own right hand.
Sure enough, she saw the blackness on Princess Consort Rui's back slowly moving toward the palm of her right hand.
