Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 409 Bullying
Upon seeing Li Mingguang, Li Baizhou shrank back, looking extremely anxious. He whispered, "I'll wait here for my elder brother, the Crown Prince."

Li Mingguang leaned over, put his hand on Li Baizhou's shoulder, and said with a smile, "My brother is busy right now and probably won't be able to come out for a while. Let the three of us take you back today."

"Thank you for your kindness, Second Brother, but no need, I..."

"What? Are you looking down on me?" Li Mingguang's smile vanished abruptly, his face darkening, his tone unfriendly. "Do you think only the Crown Prince is your elder brother, and I'm not?"

Li Baizhou quickly shook his head: "No, that's not what I meant."

"That's good." Li Mingguang's smile returned. "Let's go, we'll take you back now."

The two princes following behind him chimed in, "That's right, Fifth Prince, you mustn't let down the Second Prince's deep affection for you."

Li Baizhou didn't want to go with them, but he was short and weak, and no match for the three of them. In the end, he was forcibly taken away by the three of them, half pushing and half dragging him.

The scene before Yan Ciwan changed again, and she found herself in the Hundred Beasts Garden.

The zoo housed many rare animals, exclusively for the royal family to admire and play with. At this moment, Li Mingguang pulled Li Baizhou to the door of a room with its doors and windows tightly closed.

"Xiao Wu, I accidentally left a jade pendant here last time. Could you go inside and get it for me?"

Li Baizhou felt uneasy. He murmured softly, "I want to go home."

Li Mingguang patted his head hard and said with a smile, "As long as you can help me get the jade pendant back, I'll take you home right away."

The two princes had already taken the keys from the head eunuch and opened the door.

Looking at the dark room, Li Baizhou subconsciously stepped back, his heart filled with resistance and fear.

But Li Mingguang didn't give him a chance to refuse. He pushed him hard on the back, causing him to stumble and take two steps forward. As soon as he entered the room, Li Mingguang closed the door, and the two princes, being very perceptive, locked it.

They tossed the key back to the head eunuch.

"Keep a close eye on him, don't let him out, and don't let any outsiders get close to this place." After saying this, Li Mingguang swaggered away with his two henchmen.

Yan Ciwan was unable to move. She couldn't see the inside of the room through the door, but she could hear Li Baizhou banging on the door and crying out.

"Second brother, please open the door, I need to get out!"

His shouts alerted the others in the Hundred Beasts Garden. One of the palace maids, feeling sorry for him, said to the head eunuch, "This room is specifically for raising snakes. There are dozens of snakes inside. The Fifth Prince is still young. What if he gets hurt? Why don't we release him?"

The head eunuch was also in a dilemma. He said with a worried expression, "But the Second Prince specifically instructed me before he left not to let him out. If I disobey the Second Prince's order, how will I explain myself when he questions me later?"

The palace maid, recalling the Second Prince's behavior, felt a little uneasy.

She frowned and sighed, "They're all brothers, why did it have to come to this?"

The head eunuch said, "You know perfectly well that the Second Prince's birth mother is Consort Xie. Consort Xie has the Xie family's backing, and now the Xie family is incredibly powerful. Who would dare to provoke them? It's just that the Fifth Prince's birth mother is a slave and is not favored by the Emperor. She has no support in this harem. Even if the Second Prince deliberately bullies the Fifth Prince, the Fifth Prince and Consort Jiang have nowhere to reason with him."

"But the Fifth Prince is a prince after all. If something happens to him, the Second Prince will definitely be fine, but won't we who work in the Hundred Beasts Garden be in trouble?"

"Don't worry, the snakes in this room are all kept in cages, they can't hurt anyone."

"But we can't keep the Fifth Prince locked up like this forever, can we?"

The head eunuch thought for a moment and said, "After an hour, you can secretly send a message to His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness is kind-hearted and he will definitely not stand by and watch someone die. If he intervenes, the Second Prince will not dare to cause too much trouble."

"it is good."

Yan Ciwan waited in the Hundred Beasts Garden for an hour. During this time, Li Baizhou kept banging on the door and crying, until his voice became hoarse, which was truly pitiful. By the time Crown Prince Li Xuanhe arrived at the Hundred Beasts Garden, it was already dark.

He ordered his men to unlock the door and rescue Li Baizhou from inside.

Li Baizhou was so frightened that his face turned pale and he trembled all over, his face was covered with tears, and his pupils were somewhat dilated.

Seeing Li Xuanhe was like seeing a lifeline for him. He grabbed Li Xuanhe's sleeve tightly and called out in a trembling voice, "Royal brother."

Then he closed his eyes and fainted.

Li Xuanhe hurriedly ordered, "Summon the imperial physician!"

After a period of chaos and turmoil, Yan Ciwan returned to the palace. She saw Li Baizhou lying on the bed, his eyes closed and his face pale.

Jiang Meiren sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes red and swollen, clearly having just cried.

A palace maid came in and reported, "His Highness the Crown Prince and the Imperial Physician have already left. This is the prescription left by the Imperial Physician."

Jiang Meiren took the prescription, looked at it, and said, "Let's get the medicine according to the prescription."

"Yes."

The palace maid took the prescription and left.

Jiang Meiren stayed by Li Baizhou's bedside the whole time, taking care of him without leaving his side.

When Li Baizhou woke up, he opened his eyes and saw his mother. Overwhelmed with grievance and fear, he couldn't help but break down and cry.

Jiang Meiren held her son tightly in her arms and gently comforted him, "Azhou, don't be afraid, Mother is here. It's all over now, everything is alright."

Li Baizhou cried and shouted, "I never want to go to school again, I'm not going anymore!"

"Okay, I won't go anywhere else from now on."

……

After much effort, Consort Jiang finally managed to coax Li Baizhou to sleep. Then, a palace maid returned with a long face, saying, "The Imperial Hospital won't give me any medicine."

"Why?"

"They said that the ingredients listed in the prescription just happened to be unavailable."

Consort Jiang didn't believe such a coincidence could happen. She guessed that the Second Prince must have spoken to the Imperial Hospital to prevent them from giving the Fifth Prince medicine.

She planned to use her savings to buy the medicine through connections, thinking that spending more money would eventually allow her to get the medicine.

At that moment, a eunuch ran in and announced that the Empress and the Crown Prince had arrived.

Jiang Meiren quickly washed her face, tidied her appearance, and went out to greet them.

"This humble servant respectfully welcomes Your Majesty the Empress."

Empress Liang was thirty-two years old this year. Her black hair was styled into a high bun, with a red peony adorning her eyebrows. Her eyes were like water, and her appearance was pure and refined. She should have been an absolute beauty, but unfortunately, she was too thin and looked somewhat frail and sickly.

She inquired about Li Baizhou's situation.

Jiang Meiren forced a smile: "A-Zhou was just frightened, he's fine. He just fell asleep, I'll go and wake him up now."