Chapter 198 - 197: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager (Part 14)

Chapter 198: Chapter 197: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager (Part 14)

Prince Kang returned to the mansion and hurriedly left behind his servants, rushing towards He Zhenyu’s courtyard.

His face was full of rage and his body carried resentful energy, making the servants he encountered quickly avoid him.

Upon reaching the outside of the courtyard, Prince Kang saw the tightly shut gates.

He kicked the door furiously.

Today was the time that Anning told Helan Zhi about, and Helan Zhi, sticking to the schedule, took her servants and lots of items to meet He Zhenyu.

Before closing the door, Anning had told Helan Zhi that He Zhenyu would have a fever for at most three days, and after three days, he would recover.

Counting the days since He Zhenyu’s vaccination, Helan Zhi eagerly awaited the end of these three days.

Now, the full three days were finally up, and no bad news had come from He Zhenyu’s courtyard, so Helan Zhi knew that He Zhenyu must be alright; the medicine indeed worked.

Her face bright with a smile, she walked over lightly.

Just then, Helan Zhi saw Prince Kang kicking the door in anger.

She quickly walked over and bowed deeply to Prince Kang: "Greetings to father."

Prince Kang, still furious, did not look pleased to see Helan Zhi: "What are you doing here?"

Helan Zhi, still quite composed, had seen Anning and Prince Kang fight before and had heard the disgraceful things Prince Kang had said. She no longer had any feelings for Prince Kang, and even if he scolded or hit her now, she wouldn’t take it to heart.

"Father, I am here to visit Yu’er."

Prince Kang took a deep breath, attempting to speak calmly to Helan Zhi.

However, seeing Helan Zhi’s face, which resembled Anning’s, he couldn’t calm himself.

"Do you know about your brother’s vaccination?"

Prince Kang directly questioned Helan Zhi.

Helan Zhi nodded: "I know about it."

Prince Kang, enraged, raised his hand to hit her: "You wicked girl, since you knew, why didn’t you inform me?"

Helan Zhi took the slap stoically, her face reddening instantly.

She didn’t cry and her expression grew even more indifferent: "Father, you manage countless affairs, how could I bother you with such a trivial matter?"

"You, you..."

Prince Kang wanted to hit Helan Zhi again, but just at that moment the door opened.

Anning, looking somewhat tired, stood at the doorway. Seeing Prince Kang hit Helan Zhi, she didn’t care about her fatigue and rushed forward to kick Prince Kang: "You grow bolder by the minute, daring to hit my daughter, He Tingzhang! You really have the nerve! Acting timid as a mouse outside, yet throwing your weight around at home."

Seeing Anning, Prince Kang felt somewhat cowed.

He had been hit by Anning twice before, and now his whole body ached at the sight of her.

"You... How could you decide on Yu’er’s matter by yourself? You let him get vaccinated, do you know how dangerous that is? You..."

Prince Kang pointed at Anning, accusing her righteously.

Anning laughed: "Dangerous? He Tingzhang, shall I remind you, who is the one that really puts the Prince Kang Mansion in danger? If not for you, why would my Yu’er have to suffer this? Do you think he doesn’t feel pain when his young flesh was cut open for vaccination? He’s scared, but he had to do it, because he has a father like you, you forced him into this."

Prince Kang wasn’t a fool.

Instantly, he understood the meaning behind Anning’s words.

And because he understood, he became even more furious: "Nonsense, you judge others by your own low standards, how could our Prince Kang Mansion come to this?"

"Hehe."

Anning really didn’t want to talk to him anymore, she took Helan Zhi into the yard: "Lanzhi, Yu’er is fine now, come, mother will take you to see him."

Prince Kang also wanted to enter and take a look, but Anning ignored him, so he shamelessly entered the yard.

As he walked, he still asked Anning: "Is Yu’er really alright? Is that method really effective against smallpox? This method is to be presented to Your Majesty..."

Anning rolled her eyes: "I’m not that selfish. Since Yu’er tried it and it’s fine, of course, it should be presented to the court. Don’t think you are the only selfless one and everyone else is narrow-minded and vile. No, you are not selfless either. If you were free of selfish desires, you wouldn’t support a little Emperor who knows nothing to ascend the throne."

Prince Kang’s face turned red with embarrassment.

If it were not to confirm that He Zhenyu was really fine, he would probably have turned around and left.

Upon entering the room, he saw He Zhenyu sitting on a chair with a slightly pale face.

His spirits were still not too bad; aside from being a little thinner, he did not look like he had been ill.

"Yu’er, how are you feeling?"

Helan Zhi, seeing that He Zhenyu was alright, looked particularly happy.

She circled around He Zhenyu, constantly asking him questions, and even took out some snacks and fruits she brought to persuade him to eat more.

On the side, Anning instructed the servants to prepare some good food and bring it over; she needed to nourish He Zhenyu well.

He Zhenyu ate a few snacks and drank several sips of water before taking the time to speak to Helan Zhi: "Sister, I’m fine. Aside from a fever in the past three days, there was nothing else. Look, my face and body are clear, not a single pockmark."

Helan Zhi carefully looked and indeed, He Zhenyu’s skin was still as good as ever without any traces of pockmarks.

"So this cowpox really works."

Helan Zhi understood what He Zhenyu being unharmed represented, and she became especially excited: "Mother, vaccinate me tomorrow as well. Yu’er has tried it, I will try again. If indeed there are no issues, we can vaccinate all the common people. Imagine how many lives could be saved."

Anning nodded with a smile: "Alright, we will vaccinate you too, and the other servants in the home who haven’t had smallpox will also be vaccinated in batches."

Prince Kang, watching Anning and her children talking and laughing intimately, didn’t know why but he felt an uneasy taste in his heart.

Since his youth, he had always wanted to be with He Yiqiu, for He Yiqiu, he never cared about anyone or anything.

Over all these years, he had never cared for his wife and children, and his relationship with his children was also very distant and cold.

He originally thought that he cared only about the Empress Dowager, not so much about how his children were.

But now, seeing the good relationship between Anning and her children, and the warm atmosphere in the room, he unexpectedly cared.

This kind of familial warmth, Prince Kang had never felt before, and he found it quite upsetting.

If...

He thought, if he could turn back now, properly mend his relationship with his wife and children, would this room filled with intimacy then be a complete family of four?

But thinking of the Empress Dowager, he quickly dismissed the thought.

No, he could not do that.

The Empress Dowager was lonely and depended entirely on him; without him, the Empress Dowager couldn’t survive.

Prince Kang felt a surge of anger towards his own desires to be close to his wife and children.

He felt it was a betrayal to the Empress Dowager.

He grimaced, stood up, and hurriedly left.

Originally, he wanted to confront Anning and He Zhenyu about what they were doing, why they were secretly vaccinating with cowpox, and why they released the information without informing him in advance.

But now, he had no mood to ask anymore.