Shen Jingyi hurried over with Xia Zhu and Qiu Ju.
As they drew closer, they saw a patterned snake as thick as a child’s arm coiled at Xiao Tingting’s feet.
Just looking at it made one’s scalp prickle with fear.
“Ah—! Why is there a snake here?!”
Shen Jingyi screamed in terror. She was most afraid of things like this.
“Secondary Consort, don’t come any closer! It’s a venomous snake!” Xia Zhu warned anxiously.
Looking at the small child sitting on the ground, Shen Jingyi said urgently,“What should we do then? Go get a stick!”
“No need. I can catch it.”
Qiu Ju cautiously approached the snake. In a swift motion, she grabbed it firmly at its vital point, then slammed it hard against the ground twice. The snake immediately went limp and stopped moving.
Shen Jingyi rushed over and crouched beside Xiao Tingting, gently comforting her.“It’s alright now, it’s alright. Tell Secondary Mother Consort where you were bitten.”
“W–woo… my foot hurts so much…” Xiao Tingting sobbed.
Hearing this, Xia Zhu quickly removed the child’s shoes and socks. Sure enough, there was a bite mark on her ankle, and the area around the wound had already begun to turn dark.
Without hesitation, Shen Jingyi tightly tied her silk handkerchief around the child’s upper thigh to prevent the poison from spreading through the bloodstream.
Then she turned to Xia Zhu and said urgently,“Xia Zhu, hurry and get someone—bring the imperial physician immediately!”
At the same time, Qiu Ju had already thrown the snake aside and pulled a pill from her person.
She crouched down and gently placed the pill into Xiao Tingting’s mouth.
“This is a Qingxin Pill. It can slow the spread of the snake venom.”
As she spoke, Qiu Ju swallowed one herself, then said to Shen Jingyi,“Secondary Consort, this poison won’t wait for the physician. I need to suck out the venom now.”
Shen Jingyi looked at Xiao Tingting’s face and saw that her lips were already beginning to turn black.
The situation was critical. Shen Jingyi nodded immediately.“Alright—do it. But… will this put you in danger?”
Qiu Ju was deeply moved that Shen Jingyi was still concerned about her at such a moment.
She answered firmly,“Please don’t worry, Secondary Consort. I’ll be fine. Saving her life is what matters most.”
With that, Qiu Ju bent down without hesitation and began sucking the venom from the wound.
She pressed her lips to the bite mark, forcefully drew out the poisoned blood, then spat it aside.
Little by little, more dark blood was expelled.
Just then, anxious cries could be heard approaching from afar:
“Little Princess! Little Princess, where are you?!”
“Little Princess, please answer us!”
Hearing the voices, Shen Jingyi knew the people attending Xiao Tingting had arrived. She quickly called out,“Over here! We’re here!”
Moments later, the wet nurse arrived with two young maids, all of them panting heavily.
When they saw the scene before them, their faces turned deathly pale.
“Ah—ah! Little Princess, what happened?! What did you do to our Little Princess?!”
One of the maids burst into tears, choking as she cried,“Little Princess, what’s wrong? Please don’t scare us!”
Shen Jingyi quickly explained,“Don’t panic. Tingting was bitten by a venomous snake. Qiu Ju is sucking out the poison.”
The wet nurse’s eyes flickered as if she had thought of something, then she looked at Qiu Ju and Xiao Tingting with worry.
“How could there be a snake here? We’ve never encountered one before. Thank goodness we ran into Secondary Consort today—otherwise our Little Princess would have…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence before her eyes reddened.
Shen Jingyi felt there was something hidden in her words and didn’t want to hear any more. She coldly said,“Enough. Be quiet.”
At that moment, one of the little maids squatted beside the dead snake. Not paying attention, she accidentally touched it and immediately screamed in terror.
“Ahhh! A snake—there’s a snake here!”
Xiao Tingting, who had been drifting in and out of consciousness, was startled awake by the sudden scream and began crying again.
By now, most of the poison had been sucked out, but Qiu Ju’s face was pale as paper. Her lips had turned faintly purple, and she was dizzy and unsteady.
Seeing this scene, the wet nurse knew she was in serious trouble.
Still, clinging to a sliver of hope, she said,“Secondary Consort, let me hold the Little Princess.”
She reached out to take the child.
But Shen Jingyi would never hand her over.
A child wandering alone in the back garden picking flowers, only to encounter a venomous snake—based on what Shen Jingyi knew of the Prince’s residence, this was far too suspicious.
She sidestepped the wet nurse’s outstretched hands. Xiao Tingting also refused to go to her, wrapping her little arms tightly around Shen Jingyi’s neck and refusing to let go.
Now that Xiao Tingting was temporarily out of danger, it wasn’t suitable to stay under the blazing sun.
Shen Jingyi stood up while holding the child and instructed another maid to help support Qiu Ju. Together, they moved toward the pavilion.
They had just sat down when Su Wan arrived in a flurry, leading a group of people.
The moment she stepped into the pavilion, she snatched Xiao Tingting into her arms and angrily demanded,“Secondary Consort Shen, what exactly have you done to my daughter?!”
Seeing her daughter pale as death and limp in her arms, Su Consort’s heart felt like it was being cut by knives. Tears streamed down her face as she said harshly,“If anything happens to my daughter, I will never let you off!”
Shen Jingyi was furious as well.
She had saved the child, yet now she was being treated as if she were the culprit.
She shot back without yielding,“What do you mean you won’t let me off? What did I do? If I hadn’t happened to see her today, your daughter might already be dead. Is this how you treat your daughter’s lifesaver?”
There was doubt in Su Wan’s eyes, but she stubbornly retorted,“My daughter is fine every other day—why did something happen only when you were here? Could it be that you knew something was wrong here and deliberately came?”
Her tone carried suspicion.
Shen Jingyi was not afraid in the slightest. Sitting calmly, she replied,“Instead of questioning me, you’d do better to thoroughly investigate the people around Tingting. When I found her, there was no one with her. A child this young wandering alone into the garden to pick flowers is already dangerous in itself.”
Hearing this, Su Wan’s face changed drastically.“What did you say? No one was with her?”
She immediately turned toward the kneeling wet nurse and two maids, her voice full of fury.
“Nurse! What is going on here? How could you let the Little Princess come out alone?!”
The wet nurse began crying and explaining desperately,“Your Consortship, you’re mistaken! We were following her closely. We only turned away briefly to fetch something, and she disappeared!”
Su Wan was already overwhelmed and decided to leave the matter for the Prince to handle later.
“Men! Gag their mouths and take them away for now. We’ll interrogate them later.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the maids and servants who had come with her stepped forward. They stuffed cloths into the three women’s mouths, bound them with belts, and dragged them away.
Su Wan lowered her head and gently comforted her still-sobbing daughter.“It’s alright now. The physician will be here soon.”
Then she turned to a maid beside her and ordered,“Go check why the physician hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Yes.”
The maid quickly knelt, saluted, then ran off.
Before long, Xia Zhu returned together with that maid, leading Prince Xuan and an elderly man with a white beard—around fifty years old—hurrying toward them.
When Prince Xuan entered and saw Shen Jingyi there, he froze for a moment.
“Greetings, Your Highness,” everyone said in unison.
“Rise,” Prince Xuan said, then urged anxiously,“Physician Hu, quickly take a look at the Little Princess.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Physician Hu hurried forward and began checking Xiao Tingting’s pulse.