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Princess Xinyang fainted without any warning.
However, the servants in the courtyard remained calm and composed under the organization of Yu Jin, each person orderly carrying out their tasks.
Princess Xinyang was carried by Yu Jin to the bed.
Gu Jiao didn't expect that the gentle and delicate Yu Jin had such strength. However, Yu Jin was not someone skilled in martial arts after all; this exertion of strength had drained her completely.
She gasped for breath in a disheveled manner, with thin beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Lady Yu Jin, shall I go and fetch a physician?" A servant girl asked.
Yu Jin nodded at first, but after a moment, she seemed to think of something and shook her head.
Then, she looked at Gu Jiao, who hadn’t taken the opportunity to escape, and asked with a piercing gaze, "Physician Gu, can I trust you?"
……
The dusk was approaching.
Xiao Liulang finished his day's work at the Hanlin Academy and as he came out, he immediately noticed Little San anxiously pacing at the entrance.
Little San was a coachman from the medical hall who often accompanied Gu Jiao on her house visits.
Xiao Liulang instinctively looked behind Little San and saw a quiet and closed carriage. His intuition told him that Gu Jiao wasn’t inside the carriage.
"Little San, what's wrong?" Xiao Liulang approached and asked.
Upon hearing Xiao Liulang's voice, Little San turned around abruptly, his face filled with panic, "Brother Xiao, Gu girl has disappeared!"
Xiao Liulang frowned, "When did she disappear? Where did she go missing?"
Little San was in a state of distress, "Just... Just a moment ago..."
Xiao Liulang reassured him, "Don't panic. Take your time and explain."
Little San knew he couldn't continue in such a frantic state. He had at least been in the presence of the Emperor alongside Gu Jiao before. He needed to stay calm, he had to stay calm...
Little San calmed down his emotions and explained what had happened in front of the bakery.
Xiao Liulang furrowed his brow and asked, "You mean she disappeared all of a sudden?"
Little San replied, "Yes, exactly. I was holding a pancake in one hand and a food box in the other. I even told her to eat the pancake while it's hot, or it would become soft and lose its crispness. She replied with an 'okay,' but when I turned to look at her, she was gone! I mean... what I mean is... she disappeared! I asked the couple who owns the bakery, but they didn't see anything either! I searched everywhere... I searched the whole street, but couldn't find her..."
Xiao Liulang promptly went to the scene of the incident with him.
"Where did you park your carriage at that time?" He asked Little San.
Little San found a spot about half a zhang* away from the bakery. He gestured and said, "Here! The horse was standing here, and the carriage was here!" [T/N: *1 zhang is around 3.3 meters]
After completing Gu Jiao's order, the bakery closed as they ran out of ingredients, and no more customers came.
Xiao Liulang carefully examined the scene and suddenly squatted down, picking up a broken charcoal pencil.
Charcoal pencils weren’t a common writing tool, and ordinary people wouldn't use it. Gu Jiao loved using it, and there was a special pocket in the inner layer of the pouch Grandaunt gave her specifically for storing charcoal pencils, which could be taken out and cleaned if it got dirty.
She usually kept one or two pieces in there.
However, the charcoal pencil in Xiao Liulang's hand wasn’t the one Gu Jiao usually used.
Her charcoal pencils had been processed to have a softer texture.
This kind of charcoal pencil in his hand was used by a specific person, and Xiao Liulang had only seen it in one place.
……
In the courtyard of a certain residence in Zhuque Street, Princess Xinyang woke up peacefully.
Yu Jin had been by her side, and when she saw Princess Xinyang open her eyes, she smiled faintly and said, "Princess, you're awake? How do you feel?"
Princess Xinyang had fainted before, but it was the first time she woke up feeling so relaxed. She didn't have a headache or body aches, as if she had just casually taken a nap.
Yu Jin could tell from her complexion that she was recovering better than before. She smiled and said, "Princess, you fainted earlier, and Physician Gu treated you with acupuncture."
As she spoke, she stood up and took a step back, bowing, "I made a decision without authorization, please punish me, Princess."
Princess Xinyang looked at her helplessly and said, "You know I won't punish you."
Yu Jin smiled faintly in response.
Princess Xinyang asked, "Where is that girl?"
Yu Jin looked back and said, "She's in the yard."
In the colorful courtyard, under a flourishing tree, someone was reluctantly continuing their work, their little face turning black.
"You’re an expert among experts, a prestigious Dragon Shadow Guard of the State of Zhao, the most impressive martial artist in the world; why on earth do you like getting hit by this?" Gu Jiao said resentfully, not forgetting to break another charcoal pencil.
And then she felt that this expert seemed even happier!
...Quite puzzling indeed.
When Princess Xinyang walked out with Yu Jin, she saw the scene of the two of them crouching on the ground, seemingly writing on the ground with charcoal pencils.
Yu Jin had been by Princess Xinyang's bedside all this time, unaware of what had been happening. Yu Jin couldn't help but chuckle.
"Princess." She said, "Long Yi hasn't played with anyone for a long time. The last time was with Little Marquis when he was young..."
Princess Xinyang interrupted her calmly, "Yu Jin, he's dead. Don't mention him again."
Yu Jin lowered her gaze and said, "...Yes."
Gu Jiao continued playing with the charcoal pencil until she felt a pang of hunger in her stomach, signaling the end of her work for the day.
Yu Jin wanted Gu Jiao to have a meal, but Gu Jiao declined.
She had been missing for so long, and Little San must be worried sick. Xiao Liulang might have even found out that she was missing. She needed to hurry back.
Out of gratitude for the Lingzhi mushroom, she didn't plan to take any medical fees, but Yu Jin insisted on paying her, and she accepted it.
She just considered it payment for a torturous day of pencil-breaking!
Gu Jiao tucked the hundred-taels silver banknote into her pouch.
Compared to Marquis Xuanping, who only gave her a copper coin, Princess Xinyang was truly generous.
Gu Jiao was brought here by Long Yi, but she couldn't let him take her back.
Yu Jin thoughtfully arranged for a carriage.
"I'll see you off." She said.
As soon as she finished speaking, a servant girl walked briskly towards them, taking small steps. "Lady Yu Jin, it seems like the peony plant is not doing well."
"Which one?" Yu Jin asked.
"The one that the princess loves the most." The servant girl replied.
Gu Jiao understood and said, "Lady Yu Jin, go take care of the peony. You don't need to see me off."
Taking care of the peony could wait for a little while. However, Yu Jin could tell that Gu Jiao didn't care for such formalities, so she smiled and said, "Alright, you take care. The carriage is at the entrance. Just let the coachman know where you want to go."
"Okay." Gu Jiao agreed and bid farewell to Yu Jin before heading towards the main gate of the residence.
The gate was slightly ajar, opening inward.
In the split second that Gu Jiao pulled the door open, she caught sight of Xiao Liulang raising his hand to knock on the door.
Both of them paused for a moment.
Gu Jiao hadn't expected him to find his way here, while Xiao Liulang hadn't expected the door to open on its own and Gu Jiao to come out at that very moment.
"Are you okay?"
"Why did you come here?"
They spoke simultaneously.
Xiao Liulang was still catching his breath, with tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, showing how exhausting and urgent his journey had been.
He glanced at the courtyard behind Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao's eyes flickered, and she stepped across the threshold, closing the courtyard gate. "Let's go."
Yu Jin heard the voice of an unfamiliar man. Feeling slightly uneasy, she walked over and took a look, but Gu Jiao had already left with Xiao Liulang.
Yu Jin asked the coachman, "Where is Physician Gu?"
The coachman replied, "Someone came to see her just now, and she left with him."
Someone came to see her?
She had been brought here by Long Yi. What kind of person could have guessed that she was brought here by Long Yi?
Yu Jin couldn't make sense of it, puzzled as she followed a few steps behind, only to arrive at the corner of Zhuque Street and see a carriage disappearing into the night.
On the quiet street, Little San drove the carriage with a sense of relief.
Finally, he had found Gu girl. He no longer had to worry and be on edge.
Brother Xiao was really amazing. He guessed right away that Gu girl had come to Zhuque Street.
But how did he figure it out?
The same question flashed through Gu Jiao's mind, but she quickly found the answer.
No wonder he was able to stop Long Yi from killing her, and no wonder Long Yi pinched his face.
Long Yi was indeed verifying something, and he had verified it.
In this case, it made sense why Long Yi suddenly became so close to her.
Although Gu Jiao didn't want to equate being close to being forced to break charcoal pencils, if someone else had hit Long Yi's face with a broken piece of pencil, she feared that not just a few charcoal pencils would be broken, but even the person themselves.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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