Chapter 774 My Aunt Has Arrived (Second Update)

At midnight, the crescent moon hung high in the sky, and Renshou Palace was completely silent.

"Jiaojiao—"

On the phoenix bed, Empress Dowager Zhuang was jolted awake from her sleep.

She opened her eyes and saw the familiar tent ceiling. She was momentarily dazed.

"Empress Dowager, what's wrong?" Upon hearing the commotion, Eunuch Qin, who was on duty outside the door, hurriedly pushed the door open and came to Empress Dowager Zhuang's bedside.

He lifted the curtain and hung it up with the hanging hooks.

This summer was not as sweltering as in previous years, and with ice basins placed in the palace, Eunuch Qin felt a refreshing coolness upon entering, while Empress Dowager Zhuang was covered in sweat.

Empress Dowager Zhuang was still panting, shaken.

Eunuch Qin looked at her with concern: "Empress Dowager, did you have another nightmare? Did you... dream about Miss Gu again? I think I just heard you call Miss Gu's name."

Empress Dowager Zhuang lifted the thin silk quilt covering her body. Eunuch Qin, knowing she was about to get out of bed, quickly reached out to help her.

Empress Dowager Zhuang sat up with his help. When Eunuch Qin was about to kneel down to help her put on her shoes, she waved her hand and said, "That's enough."

In Bishui Hutong, no one waited on her, and she still had to do chores; she was used to it.

Empress Dowager Zhuang walked to the window wearing her shoes.

Eunuch Qin lowered the curtains, walked over and opened the window, and lit another piece of incense that Gu Jiao had prepared before leaving.

Empress Dowager Zhuang gazed at the starry sky and the lonely crescent moon, and sighed sadly: "They've been gone for so long, I wonder how things are over there? Did Gu Yan survive?"

Eunuch Qin laughed and said, "Young Master Gu is a lucky man, he will surely turn misfortune into good fortune. Besides, he has Miss Gu and Lord Xiao by his side. Doesn't the Empress Dowager trust their abilities?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang gazed into the distance: "The State of Yan is an unshakeable mountain. Individual abilities are insignificant and laughable before this mountain. But even so, these two children will not give up, will they?"

What is the Empress Dowager saying? He can't quite understand.

Empress Dowager Zhuang said calmly, "How laughable is it for a mayfly to try to shake a tree?"

The more Eunuch Qin listened, the more confused he became.

Empress Dowager Zhuang gazed in the direction of the Yan Kingdom: "These past few days I've been having bad dreams."

Eunuch Qin asked respectfully, "What...did you dream about?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang said with lingering fear, "I dreamt that Jiaojiao was lying in a pool of blood on the land of Yan, never to return to my side."

Eunuch Qin hurriedly said, "You're just too worried about Miss Gu. What you think about during the day, you dream about at night! Besides, dreams are often the opposite of reality. If you dream of bloodshed, you'll find unexpected wealth in real life!"

Empress Dowager Zhuang nodded thoughtfully: "It seems there is such a saying."

Eunuch Qin smiled broadly: "How could this servant possibly flatter you?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang continued to gaze into the distance: "I remember telling you that before I was sixteen, I was the eldest daughter of the Zhuang family; after sixteen, I was the Empress of Zhao; and at forty, I became the Regent Empress Dowager of Zhao. I have lived my whole life for the Zhuang family, for the court, and for the state of Zhao. Now that I am this old, I don't have many years left to live, and I want to live for myself."

Startled by these words, Eunuch Qin trembled and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, may you live to be a hundred years old!"

Empress Dowager Zhuang calmly said, "I don't want Your Majesty either. I only want my beloved Jiaojiao back."

...

Bishui Hutong.

After the old chief priest finished writing the last memorial, he placed it on the table and weighed it down with an inkstone.

He let out a long sigh: "That should be it, right? I've explained everything that needed to be explained... But even if I haven't explained everything clearly, it doesn't seem to matter much. The court doesn't necessarily need me anyway."

He was adept at Machiavellian tactics in officialdom.

He was better than a thousand troops when it came to getting things done, but when it came to assisting the emperor in governing the country, someone like Chief Minister Yuan was needed.

"If I have made any oversights, Old Yuan will take care of it for His Majesty. There is no need for me to worry about it."

As the old chief priest spoke, he took out a bundle that had already been packed from the cabinet.

Finally, he picked up the document on the table that he had finally managed to forge over a month, and said with a look of grim determination, "Aheng, your master has come to find you!"

He shouldered his bag and left the house.

Thunder rumbled in the sky; it looked like it was going to rain.

He had to hurry to the post station, where carriages and horses were already prepared.

He removed the latch and carefully opened the courtyard gate.

A flash of lightning startled the old woman, illuminating her eerie little figure in the doorway.

The old chief priest was so frightened that he almost died on the spot!

The old priest swiftly pulled his three souls and seven spirits back into his body, and said in a huff, "Zhuang Jinse! What are you doing!"

Zhuang Jinse said expressionlessly, "I want to go too."

The old chief priest's eyes flashed, and he hid the bundle behind his back: "Go, go, go... go where? Where are you going? I can't understand what you're saying in the middle of the night!"

Zhuang Jinse, with a bundle slung over her shoulder in one hand and a kitchen knife raised in the other, her eyes filled with murderous intent, said, "Will you take it or not? If you don't, I'll kill you."

The old chief priest: "..."

-

The Great Yan, the Hall of the Imperial Preceptor.

The king was so angry with the crown prince that his headache worsened. The royal advisor had his disciple brew him a calming and pain-relieving soup. After taking it, the king fell into a drowsy sleep under the influence of the medicine.

Having washed away his disguise, Gu Chengfeng paced back and forth in the corridor outside the secret room.

He didn't say anything, but he was so nervous that he started biting his fingers.

Xiao Heng stood quietly opposite the secret chamber. Everyone from the Imperial Preceptor's Hall had left, and even the two assassins guarding the secret chamber were standing outside the gate of the Qilin Hall.

Xiao Heng appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was deeply worried about Gu Changqing's situation.

But the king arrived earlier than expected and began the rescue of Gu Changqing earlier, so there should be... a chance of recovery, right?

"Will my older brother be alright?" Gu Chengfeng asked.

This was the thirty-seventh time he had asked.

Xiao Heng answered him patiently, just as he had thirty-six times before: "I believe in your older brother, and I believe in her too."

Gu Chengfeng bit his finger and muttered, "Yes, that girl may not be good at other things, but her medical skills are quite good. She can definitely cure my older brother. My older brother can pull through... he can... my older brother isn't even married yet... he can't just die like this..."

Xiao Heng didn't interrupt his monologue.

He looked up at the dark clouds on the horizon.

The road they were about to take was an extremely arduous one, filled with unknown dangers, and everyone was at risk of sacrifice at any moment.

They were already weak and outnumbered, and Gu Changqing's accident undoubtedly made their already fragile camp even worse off.

The fact that such a terrible price was paid simply for bringing down the crown prince suggests just how difficult the road ahead will be.

Even so, they still had to keep going without hesitation.

Three full hours passed before Gu Jiao finally emerged from the secret room.

The moment the iron gate opened, Gu Chengfeng rushed inside, shouting, "How is my older brother?!"

Xiao Heng followed closely behind and entered.

Gu Jiao took the small medicine box and closed the passage to another dimension. At first glance, the secret room returned to its previous emptiness.

However, both Xiao Heng and Gu Chengfeng had seen that operating room when they brought Gu Changqing in.

It is real.

Yet it truly disappeared.

This was the first time they had ever truly felt the secret from Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao said, "He's in the intensive care unit and is still in critical condition."

Strangely enough, in the past, when she came in, she could only see the operating room. The operating room had several doors, and in the past, she could only open the door that connected to the secret room.

Today, another door opened, behind which was an intensive care unit.

She guessed that as her strength recovered, her damaged brainwaves were also repaired to some extent, which allowed her to have a greater connection with the small medicine box, thus opening up more dimensional spaces for the small medicine box.

"My brother will get better, right?" Gu Chengfeng had never looked at Gu Jiao with such pleading eyes.

Gu Jiao said, "I will do everything I can to save him."

She would not give up even if there was only a sliver of hope.

Gu Changqing, you shouldn't give up on yourself either.

I don't want you to become the bricks beneath my feet; I want to fight alongside you.

"How are you?" Xiao Heng asked Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao shook her head: "I'm fine, you can go out now."

"Hmm." This wasn't the place to talk, so Xiao Heng carried the sleeping Shangguan Yan out of the secret room.

Gu Jiao had to go back to her room to change her clothes before coming back in.

Gu Chengfeng was the last one.

He gazed at Gu Jiao's slender yet seemingly boundless back, and thought of the secrets she held that he could not comprehend.

He opened his mouth and called out to her.

"Are you a god from heaven?"

Gu Jiao stopped in her tracks, turned halfway back, and looked at the shadow on the ground: "It could just be a demon."

Gu Chengfeng was stunned.

This road is dangerous. I'll walk it alone. Don't come any closer or make any more sacrifices.

"It doesn't matter!"

Gu Chengfeng clenched his fist and looked at her back, saying, "Whether you are human or ghost, god or demon... it doesn't matter."

"Aren't you afraid?" Gu Jiao stopped and asked him.

Her abilities and knowledge are beyond the comprehension of people in this time and space, making her easily mistaken for a monster.

Gu Chengfeng was terrified inside, but he refused to admit defeat: "How could demons possibly get hurt? They bleed the same blood as us."

Gu Jiao: "Really?"

Gu Chengfeng coughed lightly: "Hey, big brother is injured. I'll protect you from now on."

Gu Jiao continued walking forward, a faint smile playing on her lips: "Beat me first, then we'll talk."

Gu Chengfeng's face darkened.

There's no double reward at the end of the month, so you don't need to save your monthly tickets; you can use them now.

(End of this chapter)