Chapter 363 Meeting Liu Nanshi

However, Gu Qianhan's outward emotions quickly disappeared.

He almost instantly regained his original indifference and composure: "I'm going to find the abbot to interpret the divination. If you want to listen, just follow me."

Shen Wantang and Gu Qianning exchanged a glance and followed him without hesitation.

He walked ahead, while the two men spoke quietly behind him.

"Ah Tang, you really guessed right. My second brother didn't actually ask for a marriage match. How strange. If he didn't ask for a marriage match, what else could he be asking for?"

"Naturally, things more important than marriage include the health and safety of family members, and so on."

“You don’t understand my second brother. He doesn’t care about these things at all. When my mother used to come to burn incense, she would always ask for a peace charm. She would try to force it on my second brother, but he wouldn’t take it. He said that these things were useless and were a burden. The only peace charm he took was given to him by our aunt. Our aunt is the Empress, and he couldn’t refuse her. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have taken it.”

Shen Wantang smiled faintly. She really wanted to say that she actually understood Gu Qianhan better than Gu Qianning thought. Gu Qianhan might not have cared about the safety of the Gu family before, because no one expected that the once-powerful Gu family would be wiped out.

But now, for Gu Qianhan, nothing is more important than the safety of the Gu family.

The group soon arrived at the side hall where the abbot was meditating. Just as Gu Qianhan was about to knock on the door, the door opened.

A young woman with a maidservant came out from inside.

The woman's brows, which had been furrowed, immediately relaxed upon seeing Gu Qianhan, and a gentle smile appeared on her beautiful face: "Qianhan, what a coincidence to meet you here. Did you also draw a fortune stick? I wonder what kind of fortune stick you drew?"

Gu Qianhan said indifferently, "Miss Liu, please move aside, you're blocking the doorway."

Gu Qianning, who was behind him, immediately whispered to Shen Wantang, "She is Liu Nanshi, the eldest daughter of Grand Secretary Liu."

Shen Wantang naturally recognized Liu Nanshi, but it was from her previous life; she had not met Liu Nanshi in this life.

Liu Nanshi's reputation is extremely high, and she can even be said to be on par with Gu Qianhan. However, Liu Nanshi is a woman, unlike Gu Qianhan, who is a man and can show his face in public at will. Therefore, many people have only heard of her title as the number one talented woman in Dafeng, but have never seen her in person.

When Liu Nanshi heard Gu Qianhan tell her to move aside, she took half a step to the side, but not completely.

She and her maid were still blocking half of the door, so if Gu Qianhan wanted to go through, he would inevitably bump into her.

Gu Qianhan didn't move. Even though he saw through Liu Nanshi's little scheme, he didn't react at all. He remained indifferent and cold, and directly called his sister to break the deadlock: "A Ning, come here, you go first."

Gu Qianning immediately pulled Shen Wantang forward and politely and skillfully greeted Liu Nanshi: "Nanshi, you've come to the temple too. Come, let me introduce you. This is my good friend, Shen Wantang, who is also the heir apparent of the Ning Prince's Mansion. Ah Tang, this is the daughter of the Grand Secretary, Liu Nanshi."

Shen Wantang and Liu Nanshi then exchanged greetings.

Despite Gu Qianning's apparent drowsiness while listening to Buddhist scriptures, she is remarkably adept at handling relationships with women from wealthy and influential families.

“Nan Shi, it’s been quite a while since we last met. I was sick before the New Year and couldn’t invite you over. Now that I’m fully recovered, let’s have tea and admire the flowers together sometime.”

"Ah Ning, you were actually sick? Look at me, I didn't even know. And you, why didn't you tell me you were sick? I have a doctor in my household with extremely high medical skills. If he treats you, he will surely help you recover faster."

"It wasn't anything serious, just a cough. The imperial physician examined me, but the prescription wasn't very effective. Later, Ah Tang prescribed a new one for me, and I got better immediately."

Liu Nanshi glanced at Shen Wantang: "I didn't expect that the Crown Princess is also proficient in medicine. The prescription she wrote is even more effective than that of the imperial physician. Thanks to you, I thank the Crown Princess on behalf of A Ning."

Gu Qianning was taken aback. She had been being polite to Liu Nanshi, so why was Liu Nanshi taking the initiative and thanking Shen Wantang on her behalf?

Although she had known Liu Nanshi for a longer period of time and they had frequent interactions due to their families' arranged marriage, she had never truly opened her heart to Liu Nanshi.

Moreover, the marriage between the two families had already fallen through. Her excuse that she was sick and that's why she didn't invite Liu Nanshi to the Gu family was just a polite remark. The real reason was clear to them—the marriage was off, the in-law relationship couldn't be formed, and Liu Nanshi had no reason to go to the Gu family anymore. Now, she had to avoid suspicion and try not to have any contact with Gu Qianhan.

In terms of closeness of relationship, Gu Qianning is definitely closer to Shen Wantang and more distant from Liu Nanshi.

Gu Qianning felt uncomfortable and was in a daze, but Shen Wantang was very calm: "I'm not an expert in medicine. I just learned a few prescriptions from my maternal grandfather. It's good that A-Ning trusts me and dares to take the medicine I prescribed. I should thank her."

"After A Ning recovered, she even sent me a thank-you gift. Even Madam Gu sent me a thank-you gift, which made me quite ashamed. It was just a small matter and not worth mentioning. If Miss Liu also wants to thank me, then I will truly feel ashamed to the point of having nowhere to hide."

Now it was Liu Nanshi's turn to be slightly stunned. Madam Gu actually gave Shen Wantang a thank-you gift? Could it be that Shen Wantang's medical skills are really that amazing?

No wonder Gu Qianning and Shen Wantang acted like best friends, even closer than before; it turned out that Gu Qianning's illness had been cured.

Liu Nanshi had no way of knowing how good Shen Wantang's medical skills were, but she could sense from just a few words that Shen Wantang was not simple—she spoke in a seemingly gentle manner, but in fact she was sharp-tongued, and she even secretly mocked her for thanking Gu Qianning.

No wonder she was chosen by Princess Ning to be Xiao Qingyuan's heir apparent despite her humble origins; she truly has some skills.

Gu Qianning felt that Shen Wantang's words were both beautiful and satisfying. Shen Wantang treated her illness, so why should Liu Nanshi thank her on her behalf?

As soon as her second brother's reputation was ruined, the Liu family hurriedly rejected the marriage proposal, not giving the Gu family any room to salvage the situation. Her mother was so angry that she couldn't eat for several days. The fact that she didn't give Liu Nanshi a hard time was a testament to her excellent upbringing!

Liu Nanshi acted as if nothing was wrong and tried to get close to him. Could it be that she still had feelings for her second brother?

Gu Qianning's heart stirred, and she asked Liu Nanshi, "Nanshi, did you have the abbot interpret the divination slip? How was it? Was it a good one?"

She actually wanted to ask Liu Nanshi if he had drawn a marriage fortune slip, but unfortunately, she couldn't ask anyone else so directly, except for her own second brother.

Liu Nanshi shook her head: "Today's luck is bad, it's the worst possible outcome."

As she spoke, she took out the skewer and showed it to Gu Qianning.

Of course, she only showed Gu Qianning the side with the "worst fortune" sign; the side with the inscription was naturally not meant to be shown to anyone.