Since Gu Qingqiu regained her appetite, the Wangfu kitchen has been preparing many delicious dishes for her. Recently, Gu Qingqiu has fallen in love with braised lion's head meatballs and salt-baked chicken, and she clamors for them every few days.
Chu Yunhan originally forbade Gu Qingqiu from eating these heavily salted and sugary foods, but Gu Qingqiu pleaded that there weren't many foods she could taste anymore, so Chu Yunhan softened and only strictly controlled the amount Gu Qingqiu ate.
During the meal that day, Gu Qingqiu picked up a braised lion's head as usual, but unexpectedly spat it out after only two bites.
Ziyun quickly handed over a handkerchief. "Madam, is the taste not to your liking? Is it too salty or too bland?"
"No, I think it's quite delicious." Gu Qingqiu also felt strange that she suddenly spat out the food, so she picked up another braised lion's head and stuffed it into her mouth.
Unexpectedly, just like before, he spat it out again after only chewing it a couple of times.
Chu Yunhan then realized something was wrong. He moved the plate of braised lion's head meatballs in front of Gu Qingqiu to a distance away, saying, "The ingredients might not be fresh. Don't eat it."
"Huh?" Gu Qingqiu watched expectantly as the servants removed the braised lion's head meatballs, reluctantly but obediently saying, "Alright..."
Deprived of her source of joy, Gu Qingqiu could only resignedly scoop up the millet porridge in front of her. Unexpectedly, after taking a couple of sips, she felt something was wrong and asked, "Ziyun, did the kitchen put red beans in the millet porridge today? I can't taste any red beans."
"Red beans?" Ziyun tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said blankly, "There aren't any?"
Chu Yunhan was the first to react. He snatched the millet porridge from in front of Gu Qingqiu and saw that it was covered with red streaks of blood.
When she looked up again, blood was already trickling down Gu Qingqiu's lips.
"You..." Chu Yunhan hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wanted to hand it to Gu Qingqiu to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Unexpectedly, Gu Qingqiu suddenly couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand and start coughing violently. When Gu Qingqiu lowered her hand again, she clearly saw the bloodstains on her palm and suddenly realized, "...So it wasn't Hongdou."
Then, under everyone's tense gaze, she fainted, but Chu Yunhan caught her with lightning speed. "Quick! Go and call the imperial physician!"
Gu Qingqiu's fainting spell seemed to expose all the lies she had told to the light of day.
Her condition did not improve at all; on the contrary, it worsened day by day.
Many highly skilled doctors were coming and going in the room, but Gu Qingqiu remained unconscious and covered in cold sweat.
Chu Yunhan paced anxiously outside the door, his palms sweating profusely.
After several hours, someone finally came to report: "The lady has woken up!"
Chu Yunhan stopped in his tracks, about to rush into the room but then hesitated, grabbing a servant and saying, "Have the imperial physician come out for a moment."
The servant tiptoed into the room and brought out the imperial physician.
"What's going on?" Chu Yunhan asked anxiously. "What happened? He was fine this morning, how did he turn into this after just having breakfast?"
"This..." The imperial physician was also in a dilemma. Just because she looked fine on the surface didn't mean she was really fine. Gu Qingqiu's internal organs had already been infiltrated by the toxins!
However, in order to appease the prince, the imperial physician could only change the subject, saying, "It seems that the toxins that accumulated before have had a small flare-up. Now, the lady's throat is full of blood stasis, and she may not be able to speak for the time being. Does Your Highness think we should make a small incision in the lady's neck to release the blood stasis, or should we give her a nourishing herbal decoction to slowly dissipate the blood stasis?"
"You're asking me? Are you the imperial physician or am I?" Chu Yunhan said coldly, "I don't care what method you use, if anything happens to her again, you'll have to deal with it yourself!"
"Yes, yes, yes! This old man will go and prepare the medicine right away!" The imperial physician was so frightened that he dared not speak his anger and immediately took his leave in a panic.
Chu Yunhan took a deep breath and tried to put on a calm expression as he entered the room.
Gu Qingqiu was awake, but her eyes were half-open, and she looked unwell. Seeing Chu Yunhan enter, she forced a smile and mouthed, "I'm—okay—".
Chu Yunhan sat down on the edge of Gu Qingqiu's bed, tenderly took one of her hands, and gently stroked it.
Gu Qingqiu's hands were so thin they were just skin and bones. Chu Yunhan felt increasingly distressed as he touched them, and tears unknowingly streamed down his face.
Upon seeing this, Gu Qingqiu tried to reach out to touch Chu Yunhan's cheek, but her hand fell limp due to exhaustion.
Chu Yunhan quickly grasped Gu Qingqiu's hand again, brought it to his lips and kissed it lightly, murmuring, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this now. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Hot tears fell onto the back of Gu Qingqiu's hand, making her feel a tremor deep in her soul. Chu Yunhan... was crying for her.
Gu Qingqiu's memory of how long Chu Yunhan cried and what he said was unclear; she had closed her eyes again in a daze at some point.
Thanks to the imperial physician's skillful treatment, although Gu Qingqiu was still unable to get out of bed, she was at least able to speak.
However, Chu Yunhan might not even let Gu Qingqiu say much, as if he was afraid that saying a few more words would consume a lot of Gu Qingqiu's life force.
Gu Qingqiu found it strange. Chu Yunhan clearly cared about her, but why wouldn't he say he loved her?
Finally, one day, Gu Qingqiu found a rare opportunity to be alone with the imperial physician.
The imperial physician was intently inserting needles into Gu Qingqiu's arm when Gu Qingqiu lazily asked, "What are you doing?"
"...to invigorate the meridians," the imperial physician replied, whether truthfully or as a consolation was unclear.
Gu Qingqiu had no energy for maneuvering and bluntly asked, "How much longer can I live?"
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