"I asked Second Master when he was awake, and he said he ate the spoiled food from that day..."
When Qiaoniang talked about it, she felt both sorry for her and amused.
She asked Gu Xingzhi, "The food smells so bad! Why would you eat it? Are you that hungry?"
Gu Xingzhi looked regretful: "How was I supposed to know! I thought someone had come to say hello, and the prison warden took pity on me and brought me sour soup noodles... sour soup noodles, but it tastes just like that!"
When Gu Xingzhi was a merchant in the far north, he once tasted sour corn noodles. Local farmers washed and crushed dried corn, soaked it in cold water in a cool, shady place in the kitchen for over ten days to allow it to ferment naturally until it turned sour. Then they shaped it into balls, dried them in the sun, and mixed them with water to form a runny dough, which was then cooked in a pot using a special tool. It had a sour and fragrant taste; it wasn't particularly expensive, but its unique flavor left a lasting impression on Gu Xingzhi after just one bite.
Although sour soup noodles are not a delicacy, they are quite time-consuming to make. Gu Xingzhi was so hungry that he completely forgot that few people in Shuojing knew how to make sour soup noodles, and why would anyone in prison bother to make such a thankless and laborious dish?
And so, Gu Xingzhi became what he is today.
Gu Yaoniang was stunned.
Am I that hungry...? Even if I really mistook it for sour soup noodles, Gu Yaoniang couldn't understand how something that could be confused with spoiled food could really be delicious?
I'm afraid my second uncle has really gone crazy from hunger.
"So now... it's rising rapidly?"
Gu Yaoniang managed to squeeze out these words. She felt somewhat embarrassed discussing her second uncle's diarrhea, and her face flushed.
Qiaoniang said with some worry, "The doctor said that Second Master is now very weak. He has never seen anyone with such severe diarrhea. He vomits everything he eats and has lost a lot of weight."
Gu Yaoniang and Qiaoniang exchanged a glance, both thinking of the person Bishuang had mentioned—
“Some people who ate these yellow noodles vomited and had diarrhea that wouldn’t stop. They would vomit whatever they ate and starve to death after a few days. It was like an epidemic.”
His eyes were filled with worry.
-
A foul smell permeated Gu Xingzhi's courtyard; it was a putrid odor mixed with the bitter taste of medicine, creating an indescribable, nauseating smell.
Gu Yaoniang's face didn't look very good.
Gu Pingsheng cautiously glanced at his sister, even his walking was done with a sense of trepidation.
Gu Yaoniang found it amusing, but had no mood to joke with him.
This was the scene Princess Ruining witnessed upon entering. Princess Ruining's visit to the Gu family was a formal affair, undertaken under orders, and she arrived with a retinue of guards and soldiers, displaying great pomp and circumstance.
Several minor officials from the Ministry of Revenue also came with them.
When Gu Yaoniang saw this scene and thought about what the emperor had said about Princess Ruining leading her, she understood the purpose of the princess's visit.
They're probably here to seize the Gu family's money and assets.
The Gu family members hurriedly greeted her, and Princess Ruining, having clearly also smelled the strange odor, frowned.
"Princess, please forgive me! My second uncle is ill in prison and is still bedridden. Please don't blame him."
Having said that, she led Princess Ruining toward the Gu family's study. Suddenly, Gu Yaoniang's eyes widened as she looked at a tall guard in the princess's entourage. The guard winked at her when he saw her looking over.
Gu Yaoniang then looked at Princess Ruining. Princess Ruining followed her gaze, her face expressionless, but she nodded almost imperceptibly.
Gu Yaoniang felt her heart race and her steps quicken unconsciously.
Upon entering the study, she invited Princess Ruining to sit in the seat of honor. Princess Ruining instructed the guards who had accompanied her to remain outside the study, and then closed the door.
Gu Yaoniang remembered Lu Zhaoan, whom she had just seen, and was about to ask him when she heard a rustling sound from the back window. Lu Zhaoan poked his head in through the back window.
The guard's short, tight-fitting clothes made him look even taller and more handsome, but this seemed very out of place when he was crouching down and carefully climbing in through the window.
Lu Zhaoan felt somewhat embarrassed by their stares, but he pretended nothing was wrong, calmly walked to the table, and greeted Gu Yaoniang.
Gu Yaoniang smiled and bowed in return.
Princess Ruining then took Gu Yaoniang's hand, looked her up and down, and said, "Don't reminisce yet, let me see you. Yaoniang, how are you?"
Gu Yaoniang had no intention of telling others about what happened in prison, but if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have said anything more.
Princess Ruining looked her up and down: "You've lost some weight. You just said your second uncle was ill, what happened?"
At this point, Gu Yaoniang's expression turned worried again: "Before we left, we ate several spoiled meals. The last one had a particularly strong smell, and Bishuang said it might be bad for our health, so we didn't eat much of it. Second Uncle separated from us, so he didn't know. With no other food, we could only fill our stomachs with this. Second Uncle then..."
To save face for her second uncle, Gu Yaoniang deliberately did not tell the story that he had mistakenly thought spoiled food was delicious.
Princess Ruining frowned: "I think they're really bold! How dare they make things difficult for you like this!"
Lu Zhaoan, however, seemed unfazed: "Princess, please don't be angry. Such things are common in prison."
“Yes, Princess, spoiled food usually doesn’t cause this much harm to the body. It’s the yellow noodles. Bi Shuang said she once saw someone die after eating them, vomiting and having diarrhea.”
Gu Yaoniang couldn't hide her worry. Wasn't this exactly how Gu Xingzhi looked now?
Princess Ruining gasped: "It's that serious!"
Lu Zhaoan was also filled with surprise and doubt.
Princess Ruining raised an eyebrow, her expression turning angry: "These people are really something! They're getting worse and worse! Yaoniang, it's my fault for dragging you all down with me."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
