She pulled Hehua to sit on the bed and instructed, "The imperial physician will come to see you first. You can leave the physician here and tell him that I am not feeling well and need to be treated. Ask the physician to wait for me for a while, and I will be back soon."

Lotus asked worriedly, "My lady, are you going alone? Where are you going?"

Gu Jiangli patted Hehua's hand and replied with a light smile, "Go beat someone up."

————

Inside the Lanfang Palace.

Gu Jiangru let several palace maids massage her back and legs while she ate fruit, feeling quite pleased with herself.

"Hmph, Lotus is just a lowly... a servant. She dares not to bow to me. Does she think that just because her master has moved into Guangming Palace, she can act all high and mighty as well?"

"Tch, her mistress is still of lower rank than me, but she still has to bow to me."

Gu Jiangru looked arrogant and slapped her a few times, which made her feel refreshed.

Although the slap was directed at Hehua, Hehua is now Gu Jiangli's personal maid, so it's no different from hitting Gu Jiangli himself.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became, her lips practically curving into a wide smile.

"Gu Jiangli, His Majesty is only curious about her now. He'll get tired of her in a few days. Once she moves out of Guangming Palace, I'll see how she, a mere Jieyu, can compete with me!"

At that moment, the door was pushed open from the outside by Gu Jiangli with a "bang".

Her strength was so great that the wooden door slammed shut, startling Gu Jiangru inside.

"Little sister, you have quite the nerve! You're only one rank higher, yet you don't even want to acknowledge me as your older sister?"

Upon seeing her face clearly, Gu Jiangru panicked for a moment, but anger quickly replaced that panic.

She angrily pointed at the servants guarding the door and scolded them:

"Are you all useless idiots! You didn't even announce our arrival!"

With his hands behind his back and a broad smile, Gu Jiangli said, "Sister, don't make things difficult for them. I was too quick; they didn't have time to announce my arrival before I came in."

Gu Jiangru looked displeased: "What brings you here, sister? For so many days, you've been hiding in Guangming Palace, and it's been so hard for me to even see you."

Gu Jiangli approached Gu Jiangru with a smile and said:

"I've come to return my things."

Gu Jiangru was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What else?"

With a "slap", a hand landed on Gu Jiangru's face.

Gu Jiangru's head was knocked to the side, and a huge palm print appeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

All the servants let out a short gasp of surprise.

Gu Jiangru covered her face, turned around in utter surprise, and couldn't believe what had just happened.

Gu Jiangli smiled faintly, as if he hadn't been the one who had just made the move.

She shook her hand and replied gently, "Another slap."