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Xiao Liulang had known Gu Jiao for so long, and never had she been in such an embarrassed appearance since she stopped being mentally challenged.
He had only touched her jinchuang medicine and she suddenly flared up, not only snatching away the small sachet of slippery medicine he had torn open, but also leaping over to press down the whole bed of medicine like Little Eight leaping over to protect his food.
Her little face had reddened, her eyes were moist, and the corners of her eyes were slightly flushed, not knowing if it was from anger or shame.
Of course, it was from anger.
What the heck was up with this little medicine chest?! It had to screw around at the critical moment!
Gu Jiao was so angry that the little voices in her head were all mouthing off!
"Don't touch the medicine here!" She said fiercely.
However, her angry little appearance didn’t have much deterrence. Xiao Liulang merely thought of Gu Yan seeing her current appearance. The twins usually looked like two different people based on their personalities, but when they blew their top, they were undeniably twins.
Xiao Liulang looked at her leisurely.
"These, these medicines are very expensive! I don't need such good medicine! There’s a bottle of jinchuang medicine from the medical hall at Grandaunt's desk, take that!” Gu Jiao was angered into confusion by the medicine box, completely forgetting that Xiao Liulang was simply unable to recognize these things.
On the contrary, it was her clumsy denial that made Xiao Liulang strangely interested in these slippery little things.
Forget it, it was her medicine, let her use it as she wished.
After all, it wasn’t possible to steal one back to his room for research just because of his curiosity.
When Xiao Liulang went to Grandaunt's room to fetch the medicine, Gu Jiao had already cleaned up the scene, and the small medicine chest seemed to have sustained a blow it shouldn’t have endured, discarded on the table and quiet as a chicken.
Xiao Liulang applied medicine to Gu Jiao’s wounds.
The wounds didn't look like a normal graze so he asked, "How did you get this?"
He wouldn't normally ask such a question, but he blurted it out before he could stop himself, making even himself surprised.
Gu Jiao's eyes moved around and, with a composed face, replied, "It’s just… from exercising. I didn’t fight!"
Xiao Liulang said calmly, "Did you exercise all the way to the nunnery?"
Gu Jiao looked at him with a shocked face.
While applying medication to her, Xiao Liulang said slowly, "You smell of sandalwood and the soles of your feet are covered in moss, which can only be found on the path between the temple and the nunnery.
Gu Jiao: “...”
She was busted again.
"I was asked by Rui Wangfei to make a house visit to the nunnery and on my way back, I encountered some ruffians and taught them a lesson." Gu Jiao explained lightly.
Hearing that she had been asked by Rui Wangfei to visit the nunnery, Xiao Liulang's brows furrowed, "The nunnery near Puji Temple?"
"Yes." Gu Jiao nodded.
Xiao Liulang further questioned, "To visit Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing?"
"Yes." Gu Jiao nodded again, not questioning how he knew that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing resided in the nunnery.
Xiao Liulang suddenly fell silent.
Gu Jiao looked at him. In fact, her wound was really fine…
After Xiao Liulang finished cleaning the last wound, he told her, "Don't go to the nunnery for house visits in the future."
"Why?" Gu Jiao asked, puzzled.
Xiao Liulang mused for a moment before saying, "It's best to have less contact with other people from the imperial family."
Gu Jiao: "Oh."
Meanwhile, Ning Wang finished visiting Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing and returned to the palace to report to the Emperor.
"Is the imperial concubine mother well?" The Emperor asked with concern.
Ning Wang replied, "Upon hearing the news of Your Majesty's assassination, Imperial Concubine Dowager was grief-stricken for a few days. Today, third sister-in-law went to visit her, informing her that Your Majesty has recovered and returned to the palace, thus, she has eased her worries and is no longer in any danger."
The Emperor sighed in relief, "I knew she would be worried. Old Third and his wife were thoughtful."
Ning Wang spoke up, "Your Majesty, there is one more matter."
The Emperor looked at him, "What is it?"
Ning Wang bowed, "Third sister-in-law was attacked on her way back to the palace."
The Emperor frowned slightly as he asked, "Was she injured?"
Ning Wang shook her head, "No, she was just startled. Third sister-in-law and the fetus in her womb are both safe."
"Third daughter-in-law is blessed." The Emperor thought of Ning Wangfei who had recently miscarried, and couldn't help but sigh.
The first, second, and third sons had all married, but none of them had given him an imperial grandson yet. To say that he wasn't disappointed at all would be false, but descendants were all predestined and couldn’t be forced.
"Have the assassins been captured?" The Emperor asked in a deep voice.
Ning Wang replied shamefully, "We finally caught a living witness, but he committed suicide by taking poison before we can interrogate him."
The Emperor pondered for a moment, "Go investigate the State of Chen’s hostage prince."
Ning Wang asked, "Imperial father suspects it's him? The limelight of his assassination of imperial father hasn’t passed yet. It should be unlikely for him to commit another assassination so soon, right
The Emperor responded, "He has a previous record and is highly suspicious. What's more, we didn't get conclusive evidence last time and only managed to cut off one of his aides. If it is really him this time, he can no longer be allowed to get away with it!"
Ning Wang hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands, "Yes, this son will go investigate."
After Ning Wang left the imperial study, the Emperor called for Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei still had bandages on his arm and neck, but he couldn't stay idle and came to work early in the morning.
He bowed and said, "Your Majesty."
"Zhen remembers that there is a thousand-year-old ginseng in the storehouse. Have someone take it to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing to supplement her body."
Eunuch Wei hesitated, saying, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is also ill. How about…"
The Emperor interrupted him coldly, "How about what? Send her a ginseng too? Ha, half of the State of Zhao is hers, her Renshou Palace can't lack a single ginseng!"
Eunuch Wei sighed and answered, "Yes, this servant shall go and get it and have it sent to the Imperial Concubine Dowager immediately."
The Emperor continued, "Also, summon Eunuch He. Recently, there have been some incidents on Zhen’s side, and Zhen is worried that the other party won’t give up and involve imperial concubine mother. Zhen wants to send a few dark guards over to imperial concubine mother’s side."
Alas.
If only His Majesty was half as concerned towards the Empress Dowager as he was towards Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, his relationship with the Empress Dowager wouldn’t be what it was today.
Eunuch Wei harbored deep-seated prejudice against Empress Dowager Zhuang in the past, but after spending a few days in Bishui Alley nursing his wounds, he saw how Empress Dowager Zhuang interacted with the little miracle physician's family, how she get along with the neighbors, and he even saw the care she showed for the Emperor that night.
He felt that Empress Dowager Zhuang might not be as what they had assumed.
Of course, this didn’t mean that she was a good person, but at least she wasn’t as wicked as they had thought.
There was an irreconcilable conflict between the Emperor and Empress Dowager Zhuang, and as long as Empress Dowager Zhuang didn’t relinquish her interference in politics, reconciliation between them was impossible.
Eunuch Wei didn’t think that the Emperor had to reconcile with her completely, but rather… Couldn’t the Emperor find another way to deal with her?
Empress Dowager Zhuang was obviously someone who yielded to gentleness, not force!
Your Majesty, what about coaxing her? Lower her alertness, numb her emotions, and coax her until she is confused and dazed, then that’s when you drop the net! Isn’t that an excellent plan!
As a loyal servant, Eunuch Wei felt it was his duty to relieve his master's worries.
He went to the storehouse to find the thousand-year-old ginseng for Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, and also found a box of valuable snow lotus, which wasn’t quite as valuable as the thousand-year-old ginseng but nevertheless precious, to give to Empress Dowager Zhuang, saying it was a token of filial piety from the Emperor.
……
Gu Jiao, who was tired during the day, slept soundly at night.
Xiao Liulang wasn’t so fortunate; he had been busy all day, yet his heart was still burning.
Nowadays, life at home wasn’t as difficult as before. The original coarse bed curtain was replaced with a muslin curtain, which was actually quite breathable.
Little Jing Kong, who was so afraid of the heat, fell asleep snoring.
On the other hand, Xiao Liulang tossed and turned until late at night before finally falling into a deep sleep.
However, he didn’t sleep for long before he had an unspeakable dream.
But since he had never actually experienced it, he was unable to make sense of it, and so he woke up in a daze.
After sobering up, Xiao Liulang cursed himself for his beastly behavior. How could he do such a thing to her in a dream…
He got up and read through the Buddhist scriptures until his mood had completely calmed down before lying back on his bed.
But this night was destined to be filled with many dreams.
He had another dream, but it wasn’t about Gu Jiao, instead it was about his childhood.
The dream version of himself was roughly the same age as Little Jing Kong, a tiny little bean walking down a path paved with stones and entering a fragrant courtyard.
He was too little back then and wasn’t quite familiar with the people in the palace.
A kind voice sounded above his head, "Do you want to eat? It’s a delicious chestnut cake."
He took a piece of chestnut cake, and passed out in the middle of eating it.
Xiao Liulang woke up immediately!
This was the incident when he was four years old and was poisoned by Empress Dowager Zhuang. This memory had long become blurred, but his subconscious would reject anything made by chestnuts.
It was probably the first dream that stimulated his mind. It unexpectedly made him recall the memories that had been buried since childhood.
He did not dream of the person's face, but he clearly saw the other party’s hand.
It was a left hand, and there was a mole on its wrist.
Grandaunt's left wrist had no mole.
The one who poisoned him that year was not Empress Dowager Zhuang!
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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