Gu Jiangli's excited expression startled Xie Shiyan.

But after realizing the meaning behind her words, Xie Shiyan was just as excited as she was.

"Wen An is still very young and has only ever been breastfed... Could it be because of this?"

"Apart from that, there's nothing different, right? As for whether that's the reason, we'll find out by trying it."

Xie Shiyan immediately told Doctor Liu about this discovery.

Although he expressed his doubts, he also felt that it was worth a try for now.

After all, there is currently no better prescription available.

Lotus brought the medicinal soup, which used breast milk as a medicinal ingredient, directly into Yue Qiao'e's room.

Horrifying red spots have appeared on Yue Qiao'e's face, and they are on the verge of ulceration.

She looked at the strange color of the herbal soup and had no desire to put it in her mouth.

But Lotus didn't give her a kind look at all, and pinched Yue Qiao'e's chin to force-feed her the medicine.

"Cough cough cough... Lotus, what did you feed me?"

Yue Qiao'e coughed, trying to vomit up the medicine, but she was too weak to do so. She could only learn about the origin of the medicine from Hehua's mouth.

But Lotus didn't even glance at her. She put the bowl in the food box, stood up, and was about to leave.

"Lotus!" Yue Qiao'e shouted, "Do you really not want to acknowledge me as your mother anymore? I was just asking about the origin of this medicine, what's wrong with you saying a few more words?"

Lotus turned her head and glanced at her coldly.

"In your eyes, have you never treated me as your daughter? If that's the case, why should I let your daughter be my mother?"

"You're going to die anyway, so does it really matter whether you drink poison or a life-saving drug?"

She took a step and left.

He strode straight toward Gu Xun in the corner.

He was on the verge of death, as if he were about to die at any moment.

He had also contracted the plague long ago while staying with Yue Qiao'e.

The two are now in the same room, yet they act as if they've never met before.

They are all people who are detrimental to the young lady.

They deserved their current fate.

As Lotus thought this, a sense of joy welled up in her heart.

She knelt down, placed another bowl of medicine in front of Gu Xun, and spoke coldly:

"Master, please drink."

Gu Xun lifted his head from his arms, his lifeless eyes filled with the vicissitudes of life etched by illness.

He glanced at the strangely colored herbal medicine and shrank back a little.

"The person who tested the drug is Yue Qiao'e, so you don't need to give it to me."

His voice was hoarse, which sent chills down one's spine.

The lotus flower, however, showed no fear.

After all, this was the master she had served for many years.

"I begged this bowl of medicine from Miss. It should be of some use. Drinking this bowl of medicine will fulfill our master-servant relationship."

Gu Xun looked at her in surprise and asked:

"What will you do after the bond between master and servant is broken?"

Lotus stood up, directly blocking the light from outside the door.

A shadow fell on Gu Xun's face.

Lotus replied coldly, "In other words, from now on, if Miss tells me to cut off your left hand, I won't cut off your right hand; if Miss wants you to be torn apart by five horses, I won't execute you by slow slicing; if Miss wants you to die, I'll send you to your death."

Lotus spoke in a calm and forceful tone, completely unlike her previous submissive and obedient manner.

Gu Xun's eyes trembled, and anger gave his body some strength.

"I've raised you in the Gu family for so many years, nurturing you with all my heart, and this is how you treat your master?"

Lotus said softly:

"During the time you were locked up here, I took care of your meals, which can be considered as repaying a debt of gratitude."

"As for cultivation, you know in your heart whether or not I have been cultivated."

"Drink this medicine if you like, or throw it away if you don't."

"That's all I have to say, I won't keep you company any longer."

Lotus turned around gracefully and then closed the door.

The sunlight was kept out of the door.

The room was once again filled with a deathly stillness.

Gu Xun looked at the medicine in front of him, and without thinking much, swallowed it directly.

He closed his eyes to rest for a moment, and finally began to talk to Yue Qiao'e.

"Qiao'e, you really shouldn't have gone to Nanlin. After parting ways with Gu Jiangli, you should have come directly to the Gu family to find me. If we had joined forces, we wouldn't have ended up like this."

Yue Qiao'e lay on the bed, looking at the bed curtains above her head, without turning her head to look at her.

She chuckled softly and said:

“Gu Xun, this is the first time you’ve spoken to me since we were locked in this room.”

"I'm just angry that you acted on your own initiative and were so self-righteous, and now you've hurt yourself."

"You're more angry that I'm the one who hurt you, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't I be angry? If you hadn't done all that, I wouldn't have had my tendons in both legs severed and become a cripple."

"Neither of us can escape death, so what's the point of saying all this?"

"I am Gu Jiangli's biological father, she won't kill me." Gu Xun said confidently, "At worst, she'll just imprison me like she did in the Gu family."

Yue Qiao'e revealed a mocking smile, "Hehua is still my own daughter, and she still wanted to send me to my death, didn't she?"

The two fell silent again.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Xun spoke again: "Qiao'e, you were too hasty back then. You shouldn't have been so eager to become a concubine in the Gu family, and even got pregnant with another man's child and claimed it was my offspring."

"If it weren't for this incident, you would have been my aunt long ago."

Yue Qiao'e's sarcasm grew even more pronounced. "Is that so? I used to think so too. If I hadn't lied to you about being pregnant, if I hadn't had Hehua with another man, if I had only been your woman, would things be different today?"

"But now I understand, whether or not there are lotus flowers, you will not let me become a concubine."

"Gu Jiangli is right, you are a cold-blooded and ruthless person at heart."

"You have nothing in your heart but your grand ambition. Family ties and love are just pawns you can use."

Gu Xun's chilling laughter echoed from the dimly lit room.

After a moment, he said to Yue Qiao'e:

"Have you noticed that you're in particularly good spirits right now, and you can talk a lot in one go?"

Yue Qiao'e belatedly realized this.

Her head was no longer dizzy, and her low-grade fever had disappeared.

It felt like I had suddenly gained a lot of energy.

He just spoke such a long passage without even breaking a sweat; that would have been absolutely impossible yesterday.

"Could it be... that medicine?"

Yue Qiao'e turned her head in disbelief and looked at Gu Xun in the dim corner.

The red spots on his neck had not faded, but like her, Gu Xun was also very energetic.

Yue Qiao'e closed her eyes helplessly and murmured:

"This medicine is very effective. It seems that they will soon be able to cure this plague and it will be no match for Gu Jiangli and his group."

————

That very night, Doctor Liu came to Yue Qiao'e's room to take her pulse.

Then he hurriedly ran towards Gu Jiangli and Xie Shiyan's residence.

Upon meeting, Doctor Liu's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Madam, this medicine really works! It has suppressed the symptoms, and Yue Qiao'e is starting to get better!"