After Zhou Gu’s fever subsided, everyone felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
The Duke’s wife was overjoyed and wept. She took Su Rong’s hand and said, "Auntie, I don’t know how to adequately express my gratitude."
Smiling, Su Rong shook her head. "Auntie, there’s no need to thank me."
The eldest princess Sheng An immediately announced, "Quick, arrange a room for her to take a bath and rest! She surely must be tired after this whole ordeal."
The Duke’s wife nodded in agreement. "Our people have already prepared a room for you, let me escort you there," she said to Su Rong.
Su Rong nodded, "Alright."
The Duke’s wife then turned her gaze to Feng Ling.
Instead Su Rong spoke, "Feng Ling will stay with me."
The Duke’s wife nodded again, "Master Ling, we appreciate your efforts."
Feng Ling hurriedly responded, "You’re too kind, madam."
The Duke’s wife personally led the way, while Su Rong bid farewell to Yan Huisheng before following her out of Zhou Gu’s Frost Forest Pavilion.
After they left, the old duke addressed Yan Huisheng, "Crown Prince, would you like to stay here and rest, or return to the Eastern Palace? Dawn is approaching and it will soon be time for the morning court meeting. I fear you won’t get much rest if you return to the palace, perhaps you should stay here?"
Yan Huisheng nodded, "Alright."
The old Duke personally escorted Yan Huisheng to a guest room.
Sheng An, the eldest princess, immediately ordered the butler, "Take the Imperial Doctor Xu to the guest room for a rest. He can leave at dawn."
Doctor Xu was curious about Su Rong’s fever-reducing method and did not refuse. He followed the butler to the guest room.
After everyone else left, only the Duke’s wife and a few others remained. She gestured dismissively to everyone, "You’ve all been standing guard all night. You should go and rest."
The third lady said, "Mother, you should rest. I will stay by Gu’s side until dawn, as I usually don’t need much sleep."
Sheng An, the eldest princess, waved her hand, "If I say you should leave, then you should. Though I may be getting old, I can still handle this. Now that Gu’s fever has broken, he is sleeping peacefully. I will rest in the room next door and have someone keep watch."
The third lady could only nod, and everyone left Frost Forest Pavilion together.
Only Sheng An and her personal wet nurse remained inside. Seeing that the flush on Zhou Gu’s face was gradually fading, she whispered, "It seems Gu’s relentless persistence about this young girl was not in vain. Indeed, the fact that she managed to fight off four groups of assassins in one night to come and save him, truly justifies his feelings."
Her personal wet nurse nodded, "I had asked around. The guards said that Miss Su Qi rode Second Young Master Ye’s precious horse when she came back. He also saw Second Young Master Ye, who had offered Miss Su Qi his horse."
Upon hearing this, Sheng An fell silent for a while, before gesturing to her, "If Gu awakens, have someone call me."
The wet nurse nodded, called for an entrusted servant, gave them instructions, and then helped Sheng An to the adjacent Warm Pavilion for a rest.
After her bath, Su Rong did indeed feel tired and fell asleep almost immediately.
When the Duke’s wife returned to the Frost Forest Pavilion and saw that Zhou Gu was sleeping peacefully, she took a short nap in a nearby room.
An hour later, Yan Huisheng left the Duke’s residence to return to the Eastern Palace. After changing into his court attire, he went directly to the morning court meeting.
When Zhou Gu woke up and opened his eyes, the servant attending to him immediately shouted, "The Fourth Young Master is awake! Inform the princess and the lady immediately."
The news quickly spread, causing a stir throughout the Frost Forest Pavilion.
Sheng An, the eldest princess, and the Duke’s wife, who had never truly been asleep, rushed over immediately.
Zhou Gu’s throat was dry and hoarse as he called out, "Grandmother, mother."
Sheng An, the eldest princess, went to his bedside and patted his hand, "I’m glad you’re awake. You have no idea how much you frightened us all last night. It was a dangerously high fever. Imperial Doctor Xu tried two prescriptions for you and even coaxed you to consume two bowlfuls of medicine. However, your fever would not subside. Thankfully, I sent someone to the Buddha Temple to summon Su Rong."
Zhou Gu was stunned, "You sent for her in the middle of the night?"
"Indeed. Your condition was dire. I heard that she is skilled in medicine, so I sent for her when there seemed to be no other option." The eldest princess recounted how even Imperial Doctor Xu and the physicians from the city’s largest dispensaries couldn’t reduce his fever. But as soon as Su Rong arrived, she gave him two Curative Pills and prescribed a fever-reducing formula. Only then did his fever finally break.
Zhou Gu thought to himself, so it wasn’t his imagination after all. He had indeed heard her voice.
The Duke’s wife added, "She had to fight off four waves of assassins on the hundred-mile journey from the Buddha Temple to the Capital City. When she arrived at Duke’s Residence, she was covered in blood."
Zhou Gu’s face immediately changed color, "Was she injured?"
"Don’t worry, she wasn’t injured. When I brought her in, I specifically checked her after she took off her outer garments. She was indeed unharmed. The blood was from the assassins she fought," the Duke’s wife sighed, "She said there were Nanchu assassins as well as Daliang assassins. They all rushed to save you and she killed them all. When she told the Crown Prince about it, he immediately dispatched men to handle the matter. She said that she didn’t let a single person who tried to kill him last night go."
Zhou Gu nodded, "Was the Crown Prince also here?"
"The Crown Prince heard about your high fever and came over as well. He stayed with you all night until your fever broke. He rested in the residence for an hour and has now gone to the morning court session," said Princess Sheng An, her expression becoming gentle as she spoke of the Crown Prince. "Our heir apparent is indeed benevolent and righteous."
As she finished speaking, she asked Zhou Gu, "Are you hungry? Shall I have the kitchen send you some food?"
Zhou Gu nodded.
The Duke’s wife immediately ordered the food.
Soon, someone delivered some light porridge and side dishes. Zhou Gu, being an ambidextrous swordsman, could also use chopsticks with his left hand. He refused Princess Sheng An’s offer to feed him and ate on his own, one bite at a time.
Seeing her grandson eating so well, Princess Sheng An felt content, "Who could expect the young girl to have such excellent knowledge of medicine? Even the Imperial Doctor Xu from the Imperial Medical Bureau and the physicians from the medical hall in the Capital City cannot match her. It’s incredible that one so young could be this brilliant."
Zhou Gu said, "She knows a lot."
Princess Sheng An nodded, "I can see that, she is outstandingly competent. Xie Yuan has indeed nurtured her with great care."
If they had taken her advice back then and raised her in the Duke Residence, they couldn’t have shaped Su Rong into who she is today.
Having sweated profusely all night, Zhou Gu, after his meal, said to Princess Sheng An and the Duke’s wife, "Grandmother, mother, you should go and rest! I’m better now and can take care of myself."
"How can you take care of yourself? I will have someone stay here to look after you," Princess Sheng An said, seeing that Zhou Gu was full of spirits, thus she refrained from insisting on staying around.
Zhou Gu nodded.
After Princess Sheng An and the Duke’s wife left, Zhou Gu had someone help him clean up behind the screen, change into dry clothes, and when he came out, his bedding had been replaced with new ones. Although his fever had broken, he still felt weak and went back to bed.
He asked the servant, "Has Lady Su Qi woken up?"
The servant shook his head, "Not yet, she has only been asleep for a little over an hour."
Zhou Gu thought about it and agreed, then closed his eyes. He couldn’t sleep, so he just laid there with his eyes closed.
After Yan Huisheng left the morning court session, he went to see the emperor in the Imperial Study Room.
The emperor had already heard about the commotion in the Duke Residence last night. The dire straits Zhou Gu was in caused a major stir, it was impossible for him not to know. He also knew that Princess Sheng An sent for Su Rong from the Buddha Temple.
He did not let Yan Huisheng wait long. After discussing matters with a court minister, he saw Yan Huisheng.
Yan Huisheng bowed, "Your Majesty, last night, Great Aunt Sheng An sent someone to the Buddha Temple to fetch Su Rong. On her way to the Capital City, she encountered four groups of assassins. I was at the Duke Residence at the time, and after seeing her and hearing about it, I immediately sent people out of the city. Those who were killed have all been brought back to the city and are now in the morgue in the city’s government office. The large morgue is now filled with the bodies of assassins who tried to kill Zhou Gu and assassins from last night who tried to kill Su Rong."
The emperor had known about it earlier, as Yan Huisheng had ordered people to bring back a large number of bodies, making quite a big commotion. Someone had already reported it to him.
The emperor was greatly angered, he asked, "Who are these assassins who intended to kill Su Rong?"
Yan Huisheng replied, "Su Rong fought with them and said there were assassins from Nanchu as well as from Daliang, but the people I sent only found one object on the assassins. We don’t know whether this object is from Nanchu or Daliang."
He handed over the object they had found to the emperor, it was a floral hairpin, "This is it, please take a look, Your Majesty."
The emperor, upon seeing the item, frowned, "Why is it always a woman’s item?"
Yan Huisheng was also frustrated, "I would also like to know the answer."
The emperor took the hairpin and examined it carefully, without noticing anything special. However, the hairpin was exquisite, clearly not an ordinary item, but rather a precious one. He handed it to Eunuch Yu An, "Yu An, take a look."
Yu An received it and scrutinized it for a while. His expression changed, "Your Majesty, this... this hairpin looks familiar to me, but I am not very certain, I need to check the records."
The emperor’s heart sank. Since Yu An found it familiar and needed to check the records, it must be something from the palace. He gestured, "Go immediately."
Yu An immediately left.
The emperor looked at Yan Huisheng, "Last night, did you see Su Rong? Did she talk in detail about what happened during the assassination attempt?"
Yan Huisheng nodded.
The emperor said, "Tell me about it."
Yan Huisheng repeated Su Rong’s account to the emperor.
After listening, the emperor was silent for a while before saying, "It seems like Xie Yuan has trained her very well."
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