Chapter 007: The Five Poison Bag

In the blink of an eye, May arrived, and the fragrance of mugwort leaves wafted throughout the Ningguo Mansion.

Zhao Ruyi, who had already changed into summer clothes, started making Five Poison sachets with colorful threads with her daughter.

Meanwhile, the Zhou family prepared a large basin of glutinous rice and bamboo leaves to make zongzi.

"Sister Ruyi, why are we making Five Poison sachets?" the little girl asked, propping her chin on her hand and watching Zhao Ruyi embroider on the frame with curiosity.

"Of course, it's to ward off evil spirits!" Zhao Ruyi replied without lifting her head from her embroidery.

"Why do we need to make so many?" The little girl glanced at the basket of needles and threads next to Zhao Ruyi, which already had three or four completed Five Poison sachets.

"It's for giving to others, of course!" Zhao Ruyi smiled, put down her needle and thread, and first tapped the little girl's nose, then picked out a pink Five Poison sachet from the basket and hung it around the little girl's neck.

The sachet contained mugwort leaves, calamus, and Atractylodes, and it smelled fragrant. The little girl was delighted and couldn't bear to let it go.

Zhou Rui's family marveled at the lifelike embroidery on the sachet. "Your craftsmanship is truly inherited from your mother. We used to ask your mother to make small things for us, and she never refused. Whenever she had free time, she was either embroidering or making sachets. She was never idle."

Zhao Ruyi smiled as she listened.

In her previous life, she had also made many small things to give to others, but unfortunately, some people did not appreciate her kindness. When it was time to turn against her, no one showed mercy.

This made her understand a truth: some people are worth befriending, while others are not worth the effort to please.

In just two or three days, almost everyone in the Xizhao Hall had a Five Poison sachet made by Zhao Ruyi tied around their waists, and the sachets were specially decorated with colorful threads, looking particularly exquisite.

Even Tianfu had received one.

However, he had only worn it for half a day before Song Wuji casually took it off.

The sachet Zhao Ruyi made for Tianfu was a gourd, symbolizing "good fortune." The gourd was embroidered with a gecko, centipede, scorpion, toad, and snake using colorful threads, and two phoenix tail knots were also tied to it, showing that she had put a lot of thought into it.

"Well, someone secretly gave you a sachet?" Song Wuji teased Tianfu as he held the sachet in his hand.

Tianfu's face turned red, but he still tried to explain for himself, "This was made by Ruyi. Everyone in our mansion has one, not just me!"

Song Wuji raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone in the mansion has one? Then why don't I have one?" Song Wuji looked displeased as he glanced at Tianfu.

Tianfu regretted it! He didn't expect that he would inadvertently sell out Ruyi.

But he also didn't expect that Ruyi had made one for everyone in the mansion, so how could he have left out the Crown Prince alone?

Now that the Crown Prince asked him for the reason, how could he know what the reason was!

"Alright, I won't make it difficult for you. Go and call Ruyi for me, I'll ask her myself!" Song Wuji casually threw the sachet on the desk and picked up a book from the table.

Feeling guilty for causing trouble for Ruyi, Tianfu sought out Zhao Ruyi and explained the situation to her in a stuttering manner.

Zhao Ruyi was surprised.

In the entire mansion, she had not intended to make sachets for the Crown Prince and Baoqin. One was because she was worried that they wouldn't appreciate it, and the other was because she felt it was completely unnecessary.

But the Crown Prince was actually angry for not receiving a sachet, which was completely unexpected for her.

She hurried back to her room, rummaged around for a while, and then took a needle and thread basket to the Crown Prince's study.

In the study, Song Wuji's anger had not subsided.

He deliberately ignored Zhao Ruyi, who had entered with her head down, and continued to lie half-reclined on the couch, pretending to be engrossed in reading.

Naturally, Zhao Ruyi didn't dare to disturb him and could only wait obediently on the side.

But she didn't know how long she had been standing there. Her left foot shifted to her right, then back to her left. Both of her feet were almost numb, and the Crown Prince still hadn't spoken.

Could he be asleep?

But there was a book in front of the Crown Prince, and she couldn't see clearly.

Since the kite incident, Zhao Ruyi had felt that the Crown Prince was a person with a cold exterior but a warm heart and was reasonable. Therefore, she was not afraid of him.

Looking around, she found that there was no one else in the study, and even Tianfu had been sent away by the Crown Prince. So, a bold idea popped into her mind.

She tiptoed to the Crown Prince's side, gently took the book that was blocking his view, and happened to make eye contact with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was staring at her.

"Zhao Ruyi! You have some nerve!" Song Wuji sat up and slapped the couch, clearly getting up in a hurry, and started coughing.

Seeing this, Zhao Ruyi quickly picked up the tea from the side and knelt down, saying, "It's my fault, it's my fault. Please have a sip of water first and calm down, Your Highness!"

"I'm at fault? What did I do wrong?" Song Wuji looked at her with a displeased expression, but still took the teacup from her hand and took a sip.

"I... I did everything wrong..." Zhao Ruyi bit her lip, regretting her rashness. "I shouldn't have not made a sachet for Your Highness, and I shouldn't have come forward without permission, causing Your Highness to be angry and cough..."

Upon hearing Zhao Ruyi's words, Song Wuji's pent-up frustration seemed to ease a bit.

"Why is it that everyone in the courtyard has received something, except for me? Do you still consider me as your master?" Song Wuji's mind was still tangled up with this matter.

Zhao Ruyi, feeling unjust, listened and sympathized.

She hadn't done anything wrong, yet it seemed like Bao Qin was always at odds with her. If she didn't try to please Bao Qin, she might end up being treated unfairly.

But how could she say such things in front of the crown prince?

She had to come up with an excuse for herself: "It's not that I don't want to serve the crown prince, but his belongings are unique. I need to put in more effort, right?"

With that, she took out a sewing basket she had brought and hesitantly said, "Unfortunately, I only have some scraps of fabric. It's fine for us servants to use them to make pouches and sachets, but the crown prince is our master. How can he wear such crude things? It would be a subject of ridicule, wouldn't it?"