Zhao Shu was already prepared to be asked the question. As soon as Huo Danlan finished speaking, she smiled and said, "I have no teacher. When my mother was young, she defied etiquette and did many shocking things. Among them, she collected many medical books. I have read all of these medical books and many prescriptions came from them."

"Pfft," Huo Danlan chuckled for some reason, looking at Zhao Shu with a more inquisitive gaze, but said nothing more, instead slowly removing her face mask, "A-Jun, don't be afraid."

Zhao Shu shook her head, staring intently at the face mask sliding down. When the mask was removed, a fleshy sac larger than an adult man's fist was revealed hanging below her chin, which was indeed quite disgusting.

The fleshy sac was the same color as her skin, without any discoloration or blood streaks. She reached out and touched it; it was soft. "Does it hurt?"

"It used to hurt, but I guess I got used to it and it doesn't hurt anymore. It only hurts a little when I eat spicy food." Huo Danlan's voice was soft, and if you listened carefully, you could hear that it was a little hoarse. If she spoke louder, the hoarseness would be more obvious.

Zhao Shu looked closely at her eyes again. They were very beautiful, like the stars and the sea, and thankfully, they did not cause bulging.

Most cases of endemic goiter are caused by iodine deficiency. Bianzhou is not an iodine-deficient area, which is why Huo Danlan's disease is called a strange disease. Dayong is not an era of universal iodine supplementation, so the possibility of iodine excess can be ruled out. As the eldest daughter of the Huo family, it is also impossible for Huo Danlan to neglect her diet and personal hygiene. So the only possibility is that she was a very picky eater or that she encountered some kind of misfortune when she was young.

The latter is more likely.

Fortunately, it's not a terminal illness, and surgery isn't required for treatment. "Auntie, it might take six months, a year, or even several years to be completely cured. I wonder if you can wait that long."

Huo Danlan was overjoyed and held Zhao Shu's hand, saying, "As long as it can be cured, I can wait no matter how long it takes."

For the first time in so many years, I see hope for a full recovery.

Zhao Shu gave her an encouraging smile, personally helped her wrap the face mask, and then called out to the outside, "Green Ivy."

Green Ivy pushed open the door and entered. "Princess, is there anything you need?"

"Go and fetch the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone."

Green Ivy curtsied and withdrew. A moment later, she brought over a writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and laid them on a high table. "Go down," Zhao Shu said softly to Green Ivy as she ground the ink herself. Green Ivy dared not linger, closed the door, and went to wait for her.

After grinding the ink, he picked up his brush and wrote down a prescription along with a long list of precautions. He handed it to Huo Danlan and said, "There are a few medicinal herbs that need to be bought in coastal towns. If they are not available in coastal towns, then we will have to ask the fishermen to go out to sea to retrieve them."

If only there were iodine. Although she had studied chemistry and memorized the periodic table, she really couldn't remember where iodine came from. She thought it was some kind of elemental substance... purplish-black and quite hard...

Without iodine, even if Huo Danlan's disease is cured in the future, it is very likely to relapse, Zhao Shu began to worry.

Huo Danlan was overjoyed and gave Zhao Shu a big hug, even kissing her on the cheek. "My Ah Jun is so good."

Zhao Shu blushed—no, her young face blushed—and said shyly, "Auntie, you flatter me. It's late, Auntie, please go and rest."

Too shy to notice Huo Danlan's words "my A-Jun," Huo Danlan nodded, tucked the prescription into her bosom, touched Zhao Shu's forehead, her eyes filled with affection, "A-Jun, you should rest early too. Auntie will come to see you again tomorrow."

"Okay, goodnight, Auntie." Back in modern times, Ajiu would say goodnight every night before going to sleep. There was a group chat in the dormitory, and she would send a goodnight message in the group every day before going to bed, saying that it could warm people's hearts.

At that time, many people laughed at her, but now, saying those two words, Zhao Shu truly felt that it had brought them closer together.

After Huo Danlan left, Xiao Guozi and Xiao Zhuzi came in. "Princess, the Fourth Prince has entered the palace," Xiao Guozi said.

"Have you found anything?" Zhao Shu asked, referring to Xiao Zhu Zi, who had always been in charge of intelligence. The fact that she hadn't noticed anything amiss with the Fourth Prince's serious incident made her instinctively feel that something was very dangerous.

Xiao Zhu was in a bad mood. There were too many people to monitor, and there was a serious shortage of manpower. He had recently bribed many people, but it was still not enough.

With his head bowed, he reported, "This servant is incompetent and cannot find any further information related to the Fourth Prince. Please punish me, Your Highness."

"It's alright. He has been building his business for many years, and we can't catch up with him even if we try. We need to be careful in the future and not expose ourselves. Right now, all the forces don't take me seriously, so it's much easier for us to act. But it won't be so easy in the future. Right now, our main task is to develop our power so that we can compete with all the forces in the future."

After saying that, he looked at Xiao Guozi and asked, "Where is Miss Sun Liu?"

"It has been sent back to the Sun family. Miss Sun said she would apologize to you another day and asked me to convey her message that she hopes the princess will not be angry with her." Sun Yun was the first noble lady from a prominent family who was willing to take the initiative to speak with their princess. He naturally hoped that the two could reconcile, otherwise the princess would be too lonely and pitiful.

Zhao Shu smiled upon hearing this, turned around, picked up the unused paper, wrote a few lines, folded it, and handed it to Xiao Zhu Zi. "I'm writing a letter, Xiao Zhu Zi, please take it to Lord Liu Huan."

Xiao Zhuzi took the letter, took out a small piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Shu, saying, "Princess, Lord Xie has returned to the capital. It just happened. As soon as he entered the capital, he led a group of people into the palace. I don't know who he brought with him. The procession was quite grand. The Emperor sent Lord Qiu to personally greet him ten miles outside the city."

Zhao Shu opened the small note, read it, tore it into pieces, and put it into her teacup. The cooled tea quickly blurred the ink on the torn paper, making it impossible to see even a single stroke. "The other princes have made any moves regarding the matter at court tomorrow?"

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