CHAPTER 581: CHAPTER 581 HENGHENG

Xique fiercely tried to break the door, but it was latched, and she couldn’t open it.

Caiju quickly ran out and shouted, "There’s a fire!"

However, it was too late at night, and half of the maids were already asleep at this hour.

Even if they weren’t asleep, given the heat, no maid would stay outside to feed the mosquitoes.

Caiju ran all the way but didn’t see anyone.

Instead, because of the dim night, she tripped and fell.

By the time she reached Peony Garden, the maids there already knew that Qingqiu Garden was on fire.

Flames soared into the sky.

The Hidden Guards hiding in the trees were aware of the fire but didn’t move.

Their duty was to protect the study, and no one knew if the fire was an enemy’s ploy to lure them away.

But the Hidden Guards reported to the Prince as soon as they knew about the fire.

The Prince only knew it was in the direction of the main house but didn’t know the specific location.

He rushed to Qingqiu Garden as quickly as possible.

The maids brought water, and the Prince poured it over himself.

With a raised foot, he kicked the door open.

The Prince entered the house just as Xie Jingchen arrived.

At the same time, Su Jin was climbing down from the roof.

The Prince came to Qingqiu Garden to put out the fire, so how could the other servants in the mansion not come? They rushed toward Qingqiu Garden in droves.

The fire was raging.

As the Prince entered the house, tiles from the roof began to fall.

Through the flames, he saw Lady Chi sitting on a small couch.

The small couch was already burning.

She sat there, watching the fire grow larger and larger.

When the Prince arrived, Xique cried and said that Madam had lost her will to live and committed suicide.

The Prince thought it was impossible. Seeing this scene, he was furious.

Yesterday, after being drugged by Princess Nanzhang, she was willing to hit her head against the medicine bowl to protect the child in her womb.

Just one day later, she had lost her will to live.

What happened in this one day that made her lose hope?!

The screen fell, and the Prince kicked it away.

The screen flew past Lady Chi and landed on the bed.

Lady Chi snapped out of her daze.

The Prince had already reached her side.

Before she could react, the Prince grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

Caught off guard, the brocade box in Lady Chi’s hand fell to the ground.

A pair of coral earrings fell from the brocade box.

At the sight of the earrings, the Prince’s body stiffened.

No one was more familiar with these earrings than he was.

He had personally designed the blueprints for them!

He had sneaked into the Donglin Prince Mansion and accidentally broke a piece off a coral tree in her room.

This pair of earrings was crafted from that fallen piece of coral tree.

Along with these earrings, there was also a coral necklace.

"Why are these earrings in your hand?!" the Prince’s voice trembled.

He gripped tightly.

Lady Chi’s forehead twitched with pain.

And with movement, the thick smoke assaulted her senses, making her cough.

The Prince looked into her eyes, shaking her arm, "Are you Hengheng!"

"Are you Hengheng?!"

Under his shaking, Lady Chi fainted.

The Prince held her and bent down to pick up the earrings.

But at that moment, the beam from the roof crashed down.

The Prince dodged with Lady Chi in his arms.

When he turned back, the earrings were already surrounded by flames.

The Prince walked out holding Lady Chi.

"Quickly, call the Heir’s wife!" his voice was more urgent than ever.

The Prince carried Lady Chi outside.

As he reached the gate of the courtyard, he encountered Princess Nanzhang.

The Prince was entirely focused on Lady Chi and didn’t notice Princess Nanzhang.

But Princess Nanzhang noticed what the Prince called Lady Chi.

"Hengheng."

No other term filled her with more hatred and fear!

These two words had been ringing in her ears for eighteen years!

Wasn’t Hengheng the Nanliang Hengyang Princess?

Was the Prince crazy to call Lady Chi Hengheng?!

A wave of unease surged in Princess Nanzhang’s heart.

She couldn’t even walk properly, and Hong Ying had to support her to move forward.

The Prince directly carried Lady Chi to his residence and placed her on his bed.

Princess Nanzhang had never even laid on this bed.

Su Jin hurriedly walked in, and the Prince said, "Quick, quick, check if she has been poisoned."

Su Jin tightly furrowed her brows.

How could Lady Chi have been poisoned?

She was pregnant and was very happy about it.

Su Jin sat by the bed, checked Lady Chi’s pulse, and said, "Father, calm down, Lady Chi just fainted from the smoke inhalation, and the agitation caused by the fetus moving, there’s no danger to her life."

Xique was crying quietly by the side, not daring to cry out loud.

She had been serving Lady Chi ever since she entered the mansion.

She couldn’t imagine what would happen to her if Lady Chi died.

Why would she lose hope and seek death like this?

Su Jin looked at the Prince, "Should we wake Lady Chi with needles?"

The Prince shook his head, "When will she wake up?"

"Half an hour," Su Jin said.

"You all leave," the Prince said.

Su Jin furrowed her brows, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.

She looked at Xie Jingchen.

Xie Jingchen frowned even more.

The words said by the Prince inside the house during the rescue might not have been heard by others, but he heard them.

Lady Chi... seems to be his mother?

No one moved, the Prince shouted angrily, "Get out!"

The maids scurried out.

Su Jin pulled Xie Jingchen out.

Princess Nanzhang’s face was ashen.

She had never seen the Prince so anxious and uneasy before.

Especially when the Prince held Lady Chi’s hand.

His hand was trembling.

He was afraid of losing her!

Princess Nanzhang gripped the maid’s hand, exerting a strong force.

Hong Ying broke out in cold sweat from the pain.

After they left the house, Princess Nanzhang released her grip.

On her wrist, there were four bloody nail marks.

Inside the house.

The Prince held Lady Chi’s hand and took the veil off her face.

Her face hadn’t changed from what he saw yesterday, but the Prince was examining if she had disguised it.

This face showed no trace of Hengyang, except those eyes.

But the Prince searched for a long time and couldn’t find any signs of disguise.

The wait lasted half an hour.

Lady Chi woke up to hear the Prince calling her, "Hengheng."

Almost immediately.

Lady Chi’s eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head, "I’m not."

"You’re not?!"

"Then where did you get these coral earrings?!" the Prince pressed.

Lady Chi couldn’t answer.

Tears fell like a string of broken pearls.

This half-hour was enough for the Prince to figure out why Lady Chi lost hope and sought death.

Duke Chong had threatened to replace the Princely Heir on the grounds that Xie Jingchen’s biological mother was the Nanliang Hengyang Princess.

She wanted to protect Chenchen and sought death as the only way.

"You only thought about Chenchen, did you ever think about me?!" the Prince shook her and asked.

"You’ve been with me for fifteen years, why didn’t you tell me?!"

"How did you get these scars on your face and marks on your body?"

"Why did you pretend to be mute and deceive me?!"

The Prince had many questions he wanted answers to.

While Lady Chi was unconscious, he had warned himself not to rush, to ask slowly, and not to scare her.

But Lady Chi’s denial the moment she spoke angered the Prince.

Wasn’t fifteen years of deception enough?

She wanted to keep him in the dark even longer!

Realizing that the person he longed for had been by his side for fifteen years, yet he hadn’t recognized her.

The Prince felt like he wanted to stab himself.