Chapter 404 Princess Xinyang (Second Update)

"Long Yi!"

It wasn't until someone called him from the other end that the Dragon Shadow Guard finally let Gu Jiao go.

Gu Jiao didn't dare to stay a moment longer and fled, chirping as she ran away!

When Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Hutong, Xiao Liulang also finished his shift at the Hanlin Academy and went home. He drew a basin of water by the well to wash his brushes.

Gu Jiao walked over slowly.

Heaven knows how terrified she was of the Dragon Shadow Guard catching up. She used all the energy she had when she was escaping after stealing weapons in her past life. She plopped down on the small stool opposite Xiao Liulang, panting heavily.

Xiao Liulang looked at her, puzzled, and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

“…No.” Gu Jiaosheng said dejectedly, “I just played with charcoal pencils all afternoon.”

Xiao Liulang wasn't surprised that she was dressed as a man. She always wore Gu Yan's clothes when she went out, and later Yao Shi made several sets of clothes for her separately.

His gaze fell on Gu Jiao's dark little hands, assuming she had gone to play with Xiao Jingkong and didn't suspect anything. However, his own expression became dazed for a moment, as if he remembered something from a long time ago.

Gu Jiao noticed Xiao Liulang's dazed expression. She leaned forward slightly and asked, "Husband, what's wrong?"

Xiao Liulang snapped out of his daze, fetched another copper basin, filled it with water, and made her wash her hands.

"It's nothing," he said, looking down. "I played with it when I was a kid."

But I wasn't really playing; I was captured and tortured!

Gu Jiao secretly vowed that her little sack would come in handy someday!

Hiss—

My hands are so sore.

The next day, after breakfast, the family went to school or their shifts. Gu Jiao happened to have a house call that morning to remove the stitches from a patient who had had their wound stitched up a few days earlier, and it was on her way to the Hanlin Academy.

The two rode in Liu Quan's carriage to the vicinity of the Hanlin Academy.

The streets were blocked by Hanlin officials and probationary scholars on duty, and carriages could not get through.

Xiao Liulang got off the carriage.

"I'll see you off," Gu Jiao said, getting off the carriage as well.

Xiao Liulang did not refuse.

Xiao Liulang remained silent throughout the journey.

"Husband, are you unhappy?" Gu Jiao asked.

"What?" Xiao Liulang was slightly taken aback.

“You seem unhappy lately.” Gu Jiao paused, then corrected her wording. “It’s not that you’re unhappy, it’s just… you seem to have something on your mind.”

Ever since she rescued her aunt, things have been like this. Gu Jiao thought back carefully and realized that nothing major seemed to have happened that night. If she had to say, it was probably that the Dragon Shadow Guard pinched her cheek.

Hmm.

She was angry too.

Her husband can only have his cheeks pinched by her.

"No." Xiao Liulang's eyes flickered slightly as he denied it. "I'm not unhappy."

As they were talking, the voices of several Hanlin officials could be heard from ahead.

"Hey, have you heard? Princess Xinyang has returned to the capital!"

"Are you serious? Princess Xinyang has really returned to the capital?"

"I heard it with my own ears, there's no doubt about it!"

"Why would she come back to Beijing? Wasn't she supposed to never come back in this lifetime?"

"Yes, isn't she afraid of being reminded of the young marquis who died in the fire?"

...

As they were talking, they entered the Hanlin Academy, unaware that Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao were right behind them.

Xiao Liulang's expression didn't change much, but if you paid attention, you could see that his body was slightly stiff.

Seeing that he seemed completely unconcerned, Gu Jiao refrained from asking him any questions.

After escorting Xiao Liulang to the entrance of the Hanlin Academy and watching him walk in, Gu Jiao turned around and returned to Liu Quan's carriage: "Uncle Liu, I'm going to Zhuque Street."

"Okay!"

Liu Quan drove the carriage to Zhuque Street.

This is one of the streets closest to the palace, and it is said that the residents here are either native locals or the wealthiest and most powerful people in the capital.

The family Gu Jiao was visiting lived at the east end of Zhuque Street, and due to recent road construction, carriages could not enter the area.

"Then I'll wait for you here," Liu Quan said.

"Thank you, Uncle Liu." Gu Jiao got off the carriage and walked towards the patient's home with her small basket on her back.

He was a thirty-year-old scholar who accidentally injured his right hand, which he used for writing. The injury went almost all the way around his hand, from the back to the palm, and Gu Jiao stitched it up with more than a dozen stitches.

He was healing well, and Gu Jiao removed his stitches and let him move around a bit.

"How are you feeling?" Gu Jiao asked.

"It's...it's alright." He was hesitant to exert himself at first, but after moving a couple of times, he felt only slight pain and no other discomfort. "Will I still be able to write in the future?"

"Of course you can," Gu Jiao said. "Practice slowly, don't rush, and don't be afraid."

"Great!" He was overjoyed, but then, as if remembering something, he suddenly became furtive. He walked to the door, looked around, and only after confirming that no one was around did he whisper to Gu Jiao, "By the way, Doctor Gu, your medical skills are so good, can...can you cure tuberculosis?"

"Tuberculosis? Pulmonary tuberculosis?" Gu Jiao asked, looking at him.

The scholar said in a low voice, "That must be it. I heard my mother say that the other time, she told me not to go to their house anymore."

Gu Jiao said, "Tuberculosis is contagious to some extent, so your mother was right not to let you go."

The scholar sighed, “I understand. I don’t blame my mother. It’s just… a real pity. Their family isn’t well-off. They’ve lived here for generations and were once quite prominent, but now they have nothing left. If this illness isn’t cured soon, I’m afraid their whole family will be dragged down and they’ll have to sell their house.”

Gu Jiao asked, "Here? Do they live on this street too?"

"Yes." The scholar nodded. "She is...my classmate's...mother."

Classmate? Not quite a crush yet.

Gu Jiao saw through it but didn't say anything: "Where do you live?"

Half an hour later, Gu Jiao appeared at the back gate of another residence at the east end of Zhuque Street.

That's right, it's a backdoor.

The scholar dared not go out through the front door, fearing that his parents would catch him. He led Gu Jiao through the back door through a small street, but unfortunately, they were caught by his mother halfway there.

In his haste, he gave Gu Jiao directions.

He also paid the consultation fee.

Gu Jiao stared at the half-open back door: "This should be...right here? Strange, why is nobody here?"

Yes, I heard that this family had fallen on hard times and had long since dismissed their servants. During the day, his classmate was studying at the academy, and only his classmate's sister and the patient were at home.

However, because tuberculosis is contagious, the patient was admitted to the secondary ward at the back and almost never allowed his two children to come over.

Therefore, Gu Jiao was right to go through the back door; once inside, she could see the patient's room.

Which one?

Gu Jiao stepped across the threshold.

The courtyard was very clean, with some flowers planted on both sides. Gu Jiao didn't know much about flowers, but she thought these flowers were even more beautiful than those in the Imperial Garden.

It's quite unlike the scholar who was bedridden and spent his days in a passive manner, to have the leisure to grow flowers while ill.

A low cough came from one of the side rooms.

Gu Jiao put on the mask she took out of the small medicine box, went to the room, and gently pushed open the door.

There was actually someone inside, sitting on the roof beam. Gu Jiao didn't notice him, but he spotted Gu Jiao immediately.

However, he did nothing and let Gu Jiao approach the bed.

The bed was covered with curtains, and Gu Jiao gently lifted them aside.

She had expected to see a sallow-faced, terminally ill, and wretched tuberculosis patient, but instead she saw an indescribable beauty and radiant face.

She was covered with a thin blanket, her jet-black hair as smooth as satin, which made her skin appear as delicate as white porcelain.

Unfortunately, Gu Jiao only glanced at her before turning to her side in her sleep, facing inwards, and Gu Jiao could no longer see her face.

But the stunning beauty she had just caught a glimpse of was still vividly lingering in Gu Jiao's mind.

"Is this really the tuberculosis patient that the scholar was talking about who was on the verge of death?"

It's not that tuberculosis patients can't be beautiful, but when they are seriously ill, their complexion will be poor. In addition, the scholar kept giving her a heads-up along the way, telling her not to be frightened by the patient's appearance, that she was disheveled and dirty, etc.

Is this what you call unkempt and dirty?

There is no one in the world more pure and elegant than her.

Gu Jiao was also confused about what was going on; she hadn't yet realized that she had gone to the wrong house.

She gently took out one hand and took the other person's pulse.

Judging from the pulse, it doesn't seem like tuberculosis.

She then took out her stethoscope, listened carefully, and finally determined that it was not tuberculosis.

It is myocarditis, which is also a type of heart disease.

Heart disease is a very complex illness, and all types are quite difficult to treat.

Fortunately, her heart condition was not so severe that she needed surgery, but we still can't be careless. Judging from her appearance, she must have suffered a lot in her daily life.

This type of heart disease responds well to anti-blockers and amiodarone, but the research institute has its own specially developed drug that is even more effective.

Gu Jiao opened her small medicine box and took out a box of special medicine. She planned to put it in her own porcelain bottle, but found that the porcelain bottles in her small basket were all used up.

There happened to be several medicine bottles on the table. Gu Jiao picked one up, poured out the pills, and smelled them.

"This is just a high-grade health-preserving pill; it doesn't really have any specific medicinal effect." Gu Jiao poured out the pills from the bottle, put the white tablets of the special medicine inside, attached a small cloth strip to the bottle, wrote down the usage and dosage, and then got up and left.

In the front courtyard, a woman in her early thirties, wearing a light green cloak, helped the Crown Princess onto the carriage.

"Lord Yu Jin, please wait a moment," the Crown Princess said gently.

The woman addressed as Lady Yujin said calmly and politely, "Thank you, Crown Princess, for visiting the Princess and bringing her medicine. I will inform the Princess that the Crown Princess has come once she wakes up."

Dragon Shadow Guard: I saw it all! ╭(╯^╰)╮ Give me your monthly votes, and I'll tell the princess!

(End of this chapter)