Chapter 205 Blood Marrow Jade Mushroom

In the years that followed, Lu Yao gradually rose to the position of Imperial Preceptor, while Qiao Fuling remained steadfastly by her side.

After Lu Yao became the Imperial Preceptor, people flocked to her to curry favor, but she always maintained a distant attitude.

As a result, many people turned their attention to Qiao Fuling, who was inseparable from her.

However, the person who came to her door this time was none other than Qiao Fuling's biological mother.

Back then, the Qiao family publicly claimed that their youngest daughter, Qiao Fuling, had passed away. Now, however, Qiao Fuling is openly seen entering and leaving the capital with Lu Yao, putting the Qiao family in an awkward position.

"Isn't that Miss Qiao Si? I saw her at the flower viewing party back then. Didn't the Qiao family say she was..."

"I heard he was abducted during the Lantern Festival. To save face, the Qiao family announced he died suddenly, but actually sent him to their estate. Isn't that how all these wealthy and powerful families operate?"

"Tsk tsk, showing their faces like this, where does the Qiao family put their reputation?"

"Indeed! The matter of Young Master Qiao has caused quite a stir in the city, and now this 'deceased' Fourth Miss has returned in all her glory..."

Qiao's mother stared at Qiao Fuling, her eyes showing no remorse or pity, only undisguised disgust and confusion.

There was a time when, on the night her daughter was given a drug to fake her death, she hid in the side room and cried until she soaked three handkerchiefs.

But now, the heartache of motherhood has long been dried up by the years, leaving only a shackle called family dignity.

Why come back and embarrass yourself?

Why do you have to tarnish the reputation of the Qiao family like this?

All pity for his daughter had vanished.

Now that the Qiao family is in trouble, only the Imperial Preceptor can lend a helping hand, so she has no choice but to come to this unfilial daughter who has a close relationship with the Imperial Preceptor.

In her view, this was something Qiao Fuling owed the Qiao family, and she had to help them with this favor.

"Your elder brother is afflicted with a terrible disease. In the whole world, only the Imperial Preceptor obtained that life-saving medicine, the Blood Marrow Jade Fungus, when he traveled around the world." Mother Qiao said righteously, "You have brought shame to the family for many years. Now is your chance to atone for your sins. Go and ask the Imperial Preceptor for that Blood Marrow Jade Fungus."

Qiao Fuling stared coldly at her mother, whom she had once admired.

"Qiao Fuling has already died once, and this life has been returned to her father and mother. Now she is all alone and owes the Qiao family nothing."

"Outrageous!" Madam Qiao was furious. "If you hadn't shown your face in public, how could the Qiao family have become a laughingstock?"

"Isn't the Qiao family a laughingstock because of my brother?" Qiao Fuling suddenly laughed, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. "Young Master Qiao contracted syphilis, his body was covered in sores, his engagement was broken off by the Sun family, and he was stripped of his academic honors by the Hanlin Academy. Yet Mother said that I brought shame to the Qiao family. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Blood Marrow Jade Mushroom is a miraculous medicine that grows in the miasma-ridden lands of southern Xinjiang. It is shaped like a blood-red lotus flower and blooms only once every hundred years. It can detoxify all poisons, regenerate tissue, and is especially effective for skin ulcers caused by venereal diseases.

Lu Yao once ventured alone into the poisonous swamp and obtained a plant.

Qiao Fuling knew that if she asked, Lu Yao would definitely give it to her, but how could she possibly hurt Lu Yao's feelings for the sake of those family members who abandoned her?

A mocking sneer appeared on Qiao Fuling's lips.

If he simply asked, Lu Yao would definitely take out the Blood Marrow Jade Fungus without hesitation.

How could she hurt Lu Yao's heart for those so-called family members who abandoned her like trash?

Mrs. Qiao's face suddenly turned ashen, her voice filled with gnashing hatred: "Your brother was seduced by those lowly prostitutes! They gave him his venereal disease..."

"Enough!" Qiao Fuling interrupted sharply, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. "Those women are like duckweed, helpless and alone, barely able to protect themselves. How can you force Young Master Qiao? You're throwing mud at the weak! All the Confucian classics Young Master Qiao has read have been eaten by dogs!"

She sneered, her words sharp as knives: "He's just blinded by lust and has fallen into depravity."

Mrs. Qiao suddenly stood up, her armor whistling sharply.

Qiao Fuling, however, had anticipated this and seized her wrist, using a clever move to throw the noblewoman back into her seat.

The celadon cup rolled off the table and shattered into dust.

Qiao Fuling smoothed out the wrinkles on her sleeves, a cold smile in her eyes. "Mrs. Qiao is not gentle and compliant enough."

She turned to the guards outside the door and said, "Show the guest out."

Young Master Qiao's venereal disease worsened day by day. The festering sores spread from his hidden parts to his whole body, and eventually even his face was covered with festering sores.

The imperial physicians all shook their heads, saying that this was "a case of lewdness and evil entering the marrow, incurable by any medicine."

When he died, his body was so rotten that he was no longer recognizable as a human, and the entire Qiao mansion was filled with a stench like rotting flesh.

Even the servants who collected the corpses had to cover their noses before getting close.

The Qiao family spread rumors everywhere, accusing and defaming Qiao Fuling.

"I heard that Young Master Qiao passed away this morning..."

"His entire body was rotten, not a single piece of healthy flesh was intact; even the old woman who collected the body vomited three times..."

"Qiao Si Niang was truly heartless to leave her brother to die..."

When Qiao Fuling heard this, she just sneered.

As dusk settled, Qiao Fuling stepped into the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

The madam was about to step forward to stop him, but she fell silent when she saw the jade pendant from the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion on the man's waist.

"Call the girls out."

Qiao Fuling's words were powerful and resounding, bringing the noise in the room to an abrupt halt.

When the women, some looking sickly and others forcing smiles, gathered in the hall, Qiao Fuling took out a gilded brocade box.

The moment the lid was lifted, the room was filled with fragrance.

It was that Blood Marrow Jade Fungus that could revive rotting flesh.

"One piece for each person, to be taken sublingually." She personally distributed the Ganoderma lucidum to each trembling hand, "It can cure venereal poisoning."

The girls all knelt down in unison, tears blurring their rouge: "Miss Qiao, this...this is too precious..."

“Miss Qiao…” the leading girl’s voice choked with emotion, “This elixir is priceless, we…we are just…”

They were all sold in for one or two taels of silver.

Qiao Fuling helped her up, saying, "Your lives are worth far more than this."

The news reached the Qiao residence.

"She actually... she actually gave the elixir to those vile women?!" Madam Qiao shrieked, overturning her teacup. "That wretched child! She's trying to drive me to my death!"

The butler added tremblingly, "I heard... those girls took the medicine, and their sores have all scabbed over..."

Qiao's mother's eyes widened, and she fell straight backward.

She actually fainted from anger.

Meanwhile, Qiao's father was experiencing another defeat in the imperial court.

Those secret letters of factional strife hidden beneath the memorials, those gold and silver transactions in the dark rooms, were suddenly all laid bare in the bright sunlight.

The emperor's furious red brush fell, and the Qiao family suddenly collapsed.

The entire Qiao family, except for the married daughters, were to be exiled.

On the day of her exile, Qiao Fuling stood on the city wall and gazed into the distance.

As Qiao's mother was being escorted by the officials with her hair disheveled, she suddenly looked up and saw a figure on the city wall.

She struggled frantically to rush over, shouting, "It's all your fault, you ungrateful wretch! You're the one who ruined the Qiao family!"

Qiao Fuling simply stood there quietly, a faint smile curving her lips.

As she turned to leave, she heard Lu Yao whisper behind her, "Are you going to save them?"

"No need." Qiao Fuling took Lu Yao's arm and walked towards the Imperial Preceptor's residence without looking back. "My family has always only included you."

Nine lifetimes of reincarnation.

In her first life, she was abducted to a brothel, where she pierced the madam's throat with a hairpin and set the brothel on fire.

In her second life, she was sold as a bride to bring good luck in a marriage. She strangled her groom in the bridal sedan chair, and her wedding dress was stained with blood.

In her third life, she was offered as a sacrifice to the river god, but she killed the priest on the altar and overturned the statue.

...

Gu Yuzhen and Lu Yao stood at the entrance of Wangjia Village, looking at each other.

All memories have been restored.

Gu Yuzhen is Qiao Fuling.

Lu Yao reached out to touch Gu Yuzhen's face, but stopped in mid-air, her fingertips trembling slightly.

“Fuling, I’m late…” she sighed softly, “This thousand-year cycle of reincarnation has caused you suffering.”

Gu Yuzhen's lips curled into a familiar smile, "Not too late, just in time... Watch me kill them all again."

A mountain breeze suddenly arose, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

The long-held wish of a thousand years has finally been fulfilled.