The Prince’s Birth Mother Was Near Death and Needed Snow Lotus to Survive, but He Used It to Stew Bird’s Nest Soup for His Favorite Concubine’s Foot Bath

On the journey to his fief, I and Prince Jing's birth mother were attacked by bandits and desperately needed reinforcements. But Prince Jing, who was closer, killed the scout who came to deliver the message. He even sent someone to berate us: "Born into a military family, and you can't even handle a few petty bandits? What use are you?" To stop me from sending anyone else to disturb him and his beloved concubine as they enjoyed themselves, he cut off the communications route to the capital entirely. I fought desperately with the elderly and the women and children, unable to be everywhere at once, and watched helplessly as my mother-in-law was struck by a stray arrow. Meanwhile, his beloved concubine assumed the role of mistress of the household and built the Star-Catching Tower at the new Prince's residence in the fief. She even hosted the local wealthy families and boasted at the banquet: "Prince Jing adores me. Once the Star-Catching Tower is finished, I'll climb to the top with all of you and pluck the stars!" To save my mother-in-law, I had no choice but to go to the Heavenly Mountains myself and gather snow lotuses for medicine. But when I brought the snow lotus to the prince's residence, wounded all over, and begged him to send the medicine to my mother-in-law, he ordered his men to keep me outside the gates: "Your mother is a lowly maidservant. How could she deserve such a miraculous herb?" I knelt in the pouring rain for a whole day and night before Prince Jing finally came down from the Lovers' Bridge with his beloved concubine. By then, his mother, who had been his only family, had already crossed the Bridge of No Return.