Chapter 140 It's Smash! (First Update)

Madam Gu usually had the peonies brought out for her to admire, and she would only go to the flower room herself when the weather was too cold.

It's actually quite a distance from Songheyuan to the flower room, but since she was traveling by sedan chair, she was sheltered from the wind and rain, which made her quite comfortable.

The sedan chair soon arrived outside the flower room.

The trusted nanny lifted the curtain and helped Old Madam Gu out of the sedan chair.

Madam Gu noticed the wide-open wooden door immediately, and her gray eyebrows furrowed: "Who's looking after the flower room today? Aren't you worried that the flowers inside will freeze to death with the door so open?"

The trusted nanny quickly pointed a servant in to take a look.

The servant went in to take a look and came out to report, "I didn't see the gardener."

This made Old Madam Gu even angrier. If there was no gardener, it meant that the gardener had abandoned his post and had been gone for who knows how long, with the gate left wide open the whole time!

While sending someone to fetch a gardener, Madam Gu, supported by her trusted nanny, entered the flower room.

Gu Jiao had been squatting on the ground observing the flowers, but her view was blocked by the potted plants behind her. Now that she had finished observing them, she stood up.

Upon seeing the extra person, Old Madam Gu and her trusted nanny were so frightened that their hearts trembled!

"Who is it?" Old Madam Gu asked sternly.

Gu Jiao turned her head away indifferently.

Gu Jiao's clothes and appearance were neither like those of a rich young lady nor a servant in the mansion. She was quite young, about the same age as Gu Jinyu.

Looking at Gu Jiao's right cheek alone, one could say she was as beautiful as a fairy, but there was a large, bright red birthmark on her left cheek. Old Madam Gu said she had never seen such a disfigured person before!

Madam Gu's brow twitched: "Where did this wild girl come from? She actually ran into the Marquis's mansion's flower room?"

The trusted nanny and maids standing nearby were also surprised. Yes, where did this wild girl come from? The Marquis's mansion is not a vegetable garden where outsiders can come and go as they please.

Could he be the servant's son or relative?

But that doesn't mean we can barge into the old lady's flower room.

Gu Jiao looked Old Madam Gu up and down and roughly guessed her identity.

Gu Jiao looked at the white flower in her hand, then at Gu Laofanren, who looked like a ruffled chicken, and hummed thoughtfully.

Madam Gu was even more bewildered.

What was this girl's reaction?

Faced with the choice between revealing her identity and turning away, Gu Jiao chose the former and walked towards Old Madam Gu.

Madam Gu, however, thought she was about to assassinate her and shouted excitedly, "Quickly! Stop her!"

The crowd rushed forward and reached out to grab Gu Jiao.

Madam Gu retreated repeatedly, trying to avoid this terrifying battlefield. Unfortunately, she was careless in her retreat and accidentally bumped into the flower stand behind her.

She lost her balance and fell over, leaning against the flower stand. In her panic, she reached out to grab the flower stand in front of her, trying to steady herself, but the flower stand couldn't withstand the weight and was pulled down by her.

Dozens of potted plants on the flower stand crashed down, and before Old Madam Gu could even cry out, she was instantly buried under the rubble.

The trusted nanny gasped. She hadn't been paying attention for a moment, how could such a thing have happened?

No one cared about grabbing Gu Jiao anymore; they all turned around to rescue Old Madam Gu.

Gu Jiao shrugged innocently.

This time it's not her fault, is it?

Amidst the flurry of activity, Gu Jiao shook her head, took the bunch of small white flowers she had picked, and left the flower room.

Although the greenhouse and the Yao family's courtyard are separated by only one wall, the road is long and requires a detour.

Granny Fang finally managed to make her way to the flower room with small, hurried steps, circling half of the manor. Seeing Gu Jiao emerging from the flower room, she gasped, "M-M-..."

Before she could even utter a sound, Gu Jiao lightly leaped over the wall and returned to Yao's courtyard.

The old housekeeper, questioning her existence: "..."

When Granny Fang took small, quick steps and circled half of the Marquis's mansion back to Yao's courtyard, she felt as if her old legs no longer belonged to her!

Granny Fang leaned against a pillar under the eaves, panting heavily.

Gu Jiao sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, playing with a bunch of white flowers on the stone table in front of her.

These flowers are so beautiful, pure white and elegant, otherworldly and refined.

"Granny," she began, "who planted the flowers in that greenhouse?"

Granny Fang waved her hands, unable to speak, "I'm exhausted!"

Gu Jiao didn't urge her, and had a servant pour her a cup of hot tea.

After drinking a few sips of hot tea, Granny Fang finally caught her breath.

She staggered over to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao said, "Let's talk while sitting down."

"Thank you, Miss." Granny Fang was a woman who valued rules very much, but she truly couldn't hold back any longer. She sat down on the stone bench beside Gu Jiao and said, "The flowers in the flower room were planted by the manor's gardeners. Whatever flowers the old lady liked, the gardeners would plant them. Generally... there were mostly peonies, but also some peonies, clivia, and water lilies. There were other flowers too, like the crabapple blossoms. I haven't been to the flower room many times; I only know about them from the servants in the manor."

After a pause, as if remembering something, Granny Fang added, "However, Aunt Ling can also grow flowers, and she grows them better than the gardener. The old lady now mostly entrusts them to her care."

Gu Jiao narrowed her eyes: "I understand. Where is she?"

Granny Fang realized something and asked, "Young Miss...why are you suddenly asking about this? Is there a problem with the flower room?"

"There are problems, and we need to find out who did it." Gu Jiao didn't even consider whether it was intentional or unintentional. She didn't believe there were so many coincidences in the world, otherwise Yao Shi wouldn't have been poisoned in the manor.

Some people found Yao a nuisance and wanted to get rid of her.

Granny Fang naturally thought of this as well, but she didn't expect it to be related to the flower room.

"This servant will go and inquire about it."

Granny Fang went to inquire about Aunt Ling's whereabouts, only to find that Aunt Ling was not at home at the moment; she had gone back to her parents' home to visit relatives.

"I'll come another day." Gu Jiao picked up the flower. "Don't let Madam go out in the wind these next few days."

"Yes!" the old woman replied.

She glanced at Gu Jiao, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Perhaps she still disapproved of some of the young lady's actions, but it is undeniable that when the madam was in trouble, the young lady was the one she could truly rely on.

Meanwhile, Gu Changqing returned to the Marquis's residence.

As soon as he entered the mansion, he heard that something had happened to Old Madam Gu, so he went to Old Madam Gu's courtyard.

Old Madam Gu was badly injured by the flowerpot; her body was covered in bruises, and her forehead was even cracked.

"What happened?" Gu Changqing asked.

The trusted nanny said, "A wild girl has come to the manor from who-knows-where. She bumped into the old lady and caused her to fall in the flower room."

Listen to this! He fell down on his own, but he insists on blaming someone else.

Old Madam Gu pressed the gauze on her forehead and said angrily, "It must be a thief! Go and catch her right now!"

If it's a thief, then of course it needs to be caught.

Gu Changqing ordered his men to seal off the mansion.

Gu Jiao's carriage was stopped by a guard as soon as it arrived at the gate of the mansion.

The guard said, "The manor has been robbed. The young master has ordered that no one is allowed to freely enter or leave the manor!"

Granny Fang said sternly, "Look carefully! This is Madam's carriage! Would there be a thief in Madam's carriage?"

The guard said, "Excuse me!"

Gu Changqing's personal guards only obeyed his orders. Not only could Yao's carriage not pass, but even the old lady's carriage could not pass.

As the two sides argued, Gu Changqing heard the commotion and walked over with a cold expression.

The old woman bowed to him and said, "Young Master."

Gu Changqing glanced at the carriage behind her: "Madam, are you going out?"

Granny Fang opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know how to answer.

Gu Jiao lifted the curtain of the car window and looked at Gu Changqing, who had a dignified expression: "It's me who wants to go out."

Gu Changqing's expression immediately froze.

After learning that the boy was Gu Yan, he naturally guessed Gu Jiao's identity. It would be a lie to say he wasn't shocked, but it would be pretentious to say he was still shocked after so many days.

He looked at Gu Jiao with a complicated expression.

Gu Jiao had only just learned that this person was actually Gu Changqing, her half-brother with Gu Yan.

No wonder I dreamed about him.

No wonder he hasn't come for so many days.

They should have guessed their own and Gu Yan's identities by now.

This is really... I don't know how to put it.

The two families, who were clearly at odds, were strangely entangled by chance—he saved Xiao Jingkong, then he saved him, and then he saved Gu Yan.

Gu Jiao looked at her half-brother with a leisurely air, resting her chin on her hand: "Aren't you letting me leave?"

Gu Changqing was slightly taken aback by her calm and composed tone.

Doesn't she have any burdens at all?

Regarding their identities.

"No." Gu Changqing came to his senses and said to the guard, "Let them pass."

"Yes!" The guard didn't ask any further questions and respectfully stepped aside.

Granny Fang was puzzled. Judging from the way the young lady and the young master were acting... did they seem to know each other?

Gu Jiao lowered the curtain, and the carriage had only taken two steps when she suddenly stopped it again, lifted the curtain once more, and threw out the bouquet of white flowers.

Gu Changqing caught it instinctively.

In fact, based on Gu Changqing's previous training, he should have avoided anything thrown by others. Even he himself didn't understand what happened just now.

He looked at Gu Jiao strangely.

Gu Jiao didn't say anything more, but simply pulled down the curtain and then left in the carriage.

Those around were completely baffled.

What's going on? That girl... gave their young master a flower?

Gu Changqing didn't think she would send him flowers for no reason. He looked at the flowers in his hand, frowned, and fell into deep thought.

Gu Changqing thought of the greenhouse.

Gu Changqing summoned the gardener from the manor: "Do you recognize this flower?"

The gardener said, "These are flowers from the greenhouse."

Gu Changqing asked, "What kind of flower is it?"

The gardener shook his head: "This servant does not know."

Gu Changqing said coldly, "You planted it yourself and you didn't know?"

The gardener was embarrassed. He wasn't a real gardener, but just a servant who looked after the flower room. He had worked for the old gardener for a while, and after the old gardener was dismissed, he became the new gardener.

He said, "These flowers were not planted by this servant, but by Consort Ling."

Gu Changqing dismissed the gardener and summoned the family physician.

The physician in charge of the palace was not knowledgeable about flowers, but if this was not an ordinary flower, but a medicine, then that would be a different story.

"Your Highness, this is datura! Be careful! It's poisonous!"

Gu Changqing frowned: "Poisoned?"

The physician said, "Yes, this flower is poisonous whether it's white or red. The seeds are the most toxic, followed by the flowers and leaves. It can also be used in medicine; the anesthetic powder we use is mainly made from it."

"Can you get poisoned just by touching it?" Gu Changqing asked.

"That's not true. The young master is in good health. Let alone touching him, even eating a little bit won't bother him," the physician flattered.

What kind of talk is that? Does he just swallow poison all the time?

The physician continued, "But if someone is too weak, just smelling its fragrance can affect them, causing either excitement or depression."

Gu Changqing then asked, "If someone who already suffers from excessive worry is frequently exposed to its fragrance, will it worsen their condition?"

The doctor nodded: "Yes, in severe cases, hallucinations may occur, and even more so, suicidal thoughts or loss of reason are not uncommon."

Gu Changqing thought of Yao Shi, who almost perished with Gu Chenglin that day.

He said thoughtfully, "Is this kind of flower common?"

The physician said, "It's common; it grows in the mountains. It's just a pity that most people don't recognize it. They pick it just because it looks pretty and bring it home, and as a result, they get poisoned."

That night, Aunt Ling returned to the mansion.

As soon as she entered, she saw Gu Changqing's servant waiting there.

She asked, "Is there something you need?"

The servant said, "Aunt Ling, the young master is looking for you."

Aunt Ling was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, I understand."

Aunt Ling went to Gu Changqing's courtyard.

Gu Changqing was practicing his sword in the courtyard. When he saw her coming, he quickly put away his sword and tossed it to a servant.

"Please come and sit down, Auntie," he said.

The two sat down on the stone bench.

A servant brought tea and snacks.

Gu Changqing said, "These are newly made snacks from the kitchen. I specially saved them for you, Aunt. Please try them."

Aunt Ling took a bite and said, "It tastes good."

Gu Changqing said, "Auntie, please eat more if you like. These flower cakes are made with fresh flowers from the flower shop."

Aunt Ling smiled and asked, "What flower is it? It smells so good?"

"It's this kind of flower!" The servant smiled and took out several datura flowers from behind his back.

Aunt Ling's expression changed immediately, and she spat out the pastry in her mouth!

(End of this chapter)