In short, Gu Qingqiu is the only daughter of a former general. General Gu's achievements overshadow the emperor's, which displeases the emperor. However, General Gu is also deeply loved by the people, so he must maintain a good public image.

Finally, the Emperor came up with a solution: he arranged a marriage for General Gu's daughter, Gu Qingqiu, to his younger brother, Chu Yunhan.

This was supposed to be a joyous union of two powerful people, but it actually concealed the Emperor's sinister intentions, because Gu Qingqiu had a secret that few people knew—she had been in poor health since childhood and had been diagnosed by the imperial physicians as infertile.

Although Gu Qingqiu was in poor health, she had quite a temper. Because of her health condition, General Gu doted on her and gave her whatever she wanted since she was a child. Therefore, after Gu Qingqiu married into Chu Yunhan's mansion, she acted like the mistress of the house and did not allow any woman to get close to Chu Yunhan, for fear that he might accidentally give birth to a child.

Chu Yunhan harbored resentment towards Gu Qingqiu, but Gu Qingqiu came from an extraordinary background and was betrothed by the Emperor, so he could only avoid seeing her.

This can be described as killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, it prevents powerful princes from marrying into other forces and from having children of high status. On the other hand, it makes the general a relative of the royal family by marriage, which can further erode his military power.

But to everyone's surprise, Gu Qingqiu's condition worsened less than half a year after she married into Chu Yunhan's household. Many imperial physicians came to the palace to diagnose her, but none of them could make a difference. General Gu was extremely anxious, but then his concubine gave birth to a baby boy. As a result, General Gu paid less attention to Gu Qingqiu.

Gu Qingqiu remained unconscious for a whole year, so it's understandable why the people in the manor treated her that way.

I don't like the mistress, but I have no choice but to serve her.

Only Ziyun, the maid who accompanied the bride, was truly dutiful.

Gu Qingqiu sat lazily in the courtyard, basking in the sun. She wished she could live a life free from anyone's care and avoid contact with others to prevent any accidents.

However, her illness was indeed strange. Gu Qingqiu sent Ziyun to fetch a few books, saying that she would read them when she was bored. One or two of them were related to medicine. Combined with her previous reaction to being unconscious, Gu Qingqiu was very certain that someone had given her a slow-acting poison called "Heart-Rending Poison," and her current reaction seemed to be the first "plateau" in response to this slow-acting poison.

Rumor has it that the Heart-Rending Poison is a rare poison from the Western Regions. In fact, the effects of a single dose on the body seem negligible. Even with silver needles, the toxicity cannot be detected. In fact, even doctors with less skill cannot diagnose the signs of poisoning when taking the pulse.

However, the reason it is considered a rare poison is that there is absolutely no way to counteract it. Once ingested, the toxicity will remain in the body for a long time, not to mention that Gu Qingqiu has been taking it for so long.

No wonder the doctor who came to diagnose her looked hesitant to speak; perhaps he knew the inside story of Gu Qingqiu's poisoning but was afraid that his words would lead to his death.

Gu Qingqiu found it extremely funny. In fact, she wasn't angry at all; in fact, she was somewhat grateful for the poison, which allowed her to spend a few less years in this world of punishment.

According to the book, the first plateau period of this poison occurs after one to two years of continuous consumption. At that time, the poisoned person will wake up from a deep sleep and their physical condition will appear to improve, but this is actually a sign that the poison is deeply toxic.

As a slow-acting poison, even at the lowest dose, it would cause someone to die mysteriously within five years. In other words, if Gu Qingqiu did not increase the dosage, she might live for another three to five years.

That's good. It will only take three to five years to end a world of punishment. I just wonder if the soup and broth she drinks every day after she wakes up will also be laced with Heartbreak.

Otherwise, Gu Qingqiu wouldn't be able to play on her phone or watch TV dramas every day. At most, she could only talk to Ziyun. Sooner or later, she would suffocate.

Gu Qingqiu felt that she had become less talkative since she came to this world. She didn't know if it was because Ziyun was too noisy and had spoken first, or because her body was always weak and powerless, so she didn't want to talk.

Or perhaps... it's because they still carry the memories and emotions from the previous world.

...

Gu Qingqiu thought her peaceful days could continue indefinitely, but this tranquility was shattered one night by the commotion in the mansion.

The startled cries of several servants disturbed Gu Qingqiu's elegant moon-viewing. Bored, she walked to the courtyard gate and watched the servants coming and going with panicked expressions.

Someone noticed Gu Qingqiu, but only hurriedly bowed, called out "Madam," and left.

Then, Gu Qingqiu heard a man's urgent roar from not far away: "Get out! All of you get out! Nobody is allowed to come any closer!"

Then came the sound of several women crying and the footsteps of several people walking around.

It's human nature to watch the excitement, especially when a doctor who looked somewhat familiar came out from next door.

Gu Qingqiu called out to the person, "You, come here."

The white-bearded doctor was taken aback when he saw Gu Qingqiu. "Madam... what are you doing here?"

Gu Qingqiu raised her chin and pointed in the direction the doctor came out, "What happened to him?"

"This..." The doctor hesitated for a long time before telling the truth: "The prince has been tricked by a villain and is now unable to control himself. We have no way to deal with him for the time being and are worried that the prince will hurt himself, so we can only tie him up first and then find a solution."

Gu Qingqiu clicked her tongue in amazement, "Truly, what goes around comes around. No one escapes the wrath of Heaven. How could someone as skilled in poison as the Prince fall for someone else's trick?"

The doctor's face immediately turned to horror, his legs went weak, and he knelt directly in front of Gu Qingqiu, his voice trembling as he said, "Madam...you...how could you..."

Gu Qingqiu had only made a casual bluff, but she didn't expect the other party to actually know. She found it somewhat amusing and asked, "What kind of poison has the prince been poisoned with? How come none of you have a solution?"

The doctor was surprised that Gu Qingqiu didn't seem to want to accuse anyone at all, and he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. He downplayed the seriousness of the matter and said, "Actually... it's not serious. This kind of poison with exaggerated external symptoms doesn't actually cause much damage to the body. It's just a bit hard to bear. It was the prince's own request to tie him up."

Seeing that the doctor didn't want to tell the truth, Gu Qingqiu lost interest, said "Oh," and turned to go back to her room to rest.

Throughout the night, Gu Qingqiu could hear intermittently Chu Yunhan's suppressed and painful roars, the cries of the women, and the continuous sound of footsteps.

Putting everything else aside, it really affects my sleep.

The soundproofing in this prince's mansion is terrible!

The commotion didn't subside until dawn.

Gu Qingqiu finally closed her heavy and tired eyelids, but she was woken up by Ziyun to feed her medicine not long after she fell asleep.

Looking at Ziyun's concerned eyes and how soundly she was sleeping, Gu Qingqiu felt envious of someone else's sleep quality for the first time.

She slowly lay back down in bed. "Leave me alone, I need to catch up on my sleep. Go ask what happened last night."

Ziyun covered Gu Qingqiu with the blanket and replied softly, "Yes."