After the emperor had a big argument with Prince Yu, he left the palace the next day and stopped living there.
Just when Gu Jiangli thought the emperor was holding a grudge against Prince Shangyu, she discovered that the two seemed to have "reconciled."
To avoid attracting attention, the emperor chose to leave through a side gate.
Before they parted, Gu Jiangli saw that the emperor still had his signature smile on his face. If she hadn't overheard the conversation between Prince Yu and the emperor in the room, she would have thought that nothing had happened between them.
Prince Yu was the same; he treated the emperor with utmost respect and deference.
Anyone who sees it will think it is a beautiful painting depicting the friendship between the ruler and his subjects.
Before getting into the carriage, he deliberately turned back to look at Gu Jiangli and said meaningfully to Prince Yu:
"Prince Yu, you have a good wife."
Prince Yu turned his body to the side, blocking Gu Jiangli's view and responding to the emperor:
"Thank you for bestowing this marriage upon me personally, Your Majesty. Otherwise, I would not have been able to obtain such a wonderful wife."
The emperor smiled, got into his carriage, and rode away.
After that, Gu Jiangli lived an exceptionally happy life in the Prince's Mansion.
The mistress also showed her great care, which she knew was because of the child in her womb, but she accepted all the care without question.
Eight nannies were hired to take care of her, providing for her every need. With so many people looking after her, she didn't suffer much pain except for being a little heavier.
Her child was also exceptionally well-behaved, growing up peacefully and steadily in her womb.
The prince would occasionally bring her back little trinkets from outside to cheer her up.
In her room, besides the mistress, the prince, and some servants who came every day, there was also one person who came frequently.
That's Aunt Du from the backyard.
Aunt Du came almost every two or three days, completely acting as a doctor.
At first, she seemed a little unsure about taking her own pulse, but she became more and more skilled and composed as time went on.
Their diagnostic skills are in no way inferior to those of doctors brought in from outside.
So much so that every time she came to Gu Jiangli's place later, she would be very excited, and her eyes would sparkle with a dazzling light as soon as she felt Gu Jiangli's pulse.
But starting when she was eight months pregnant, Aunt Du's demeanor became increasingly solemn when she came here.
Gu Jiangli asked her, "Why have you been looking so worried lately? You've checked the baby's pulse, isn't the baby perfectly healthy?"
Aunt Du replied earnestly, "There's nothing wrong with the princess's child, it's just that the closer you get to giving birth, the more nervous I become."
"What's there to be nervous about? The baby is healthy and will be born safely."
Aunt Du pursed her lips, remained silent for a moment, and then said:
"Your Highness, you are a good person, and there are some things I don't want to hide from you."
Gu Jiangli's interest was piqued by her words. "It seems you have some secrets to hide. Tell me about them."
Aunt Du hooked her finger, as if she had gone through a mental struggle, and then made up her mind and said:
"Your Highness, I learned my medical skills from my father. He was a famous doctor in the village, and everyone said he was a good doctor, but something still happened to him later."
"A few years ago, my father treated a pregnant woman who was having a difficult labor. The woman had already been in labor for two days before her family asked my father to come and help her."
"When my father arrived, it was too late; the child had already died inside his womb."
"But the family didn't believe it. They all said that the child couldn't have died in the womb before it was born, and they wanted the father to save the child."
"No matter what my father said, they didn't believe him. In the end, in order to save the woman's life, my father had no choice but to remove the stillborn fetus."
"Unexpectedly, this became the father's fault, and people said that the father killed the child."
"They made my father pay compensation and came to our house to cause trouble every day."
"Later, whenever my father treated someone, they would go to that patient and exaggerate, saying that my father was not qualified to be a doctor and that he had killed someone, etc."
"From then on, my father never treated anyone again. Later, he fell ill himself. When I went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for him, people would say that I was the daughter of a quack doctor buying medicine to make poison and harm people. Many pharmacies recognized me but were unwilling to sell me medicine."
"My father died with resentment, and I had no way out. I was destitute and almost retaliated against by that family by being taken to a brothel and sold."
“The mistress found me and brought me to the Prince’s mansion as a concubine. She said it was better than me being alone, helpless, and starving.”
As she said this, she looked up at Gu Jiangli, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Your Highness, you are the first person I have treated. I am grateful for your trust in me, but I am also very afraid that my abilities are insufficient..."
As Gu Jiangli listened to Aunt Du's past, he felt deeply that the person in front of him was also a pitiful person.
I did nothing wrong, yet I was harmed to this extent.
With her pregnant belly protruding, she pulled Aunt Du to her side, saying, "Don't be afraid, I believe in your abilities."
She placed Aunt Du's hand on her stomach, saying, "You see, he definitely believes you too."
The baby's heartbeat inside her was steady, which softened Aunt Du's expression.
Gu Jiangli suddenly spoke up: "Aunt Du, would you like to be a doctor?"
Aunt Du exclaimed in astonishment, "What?"
“Be a doctor,” Gu Jiangli said earnestly, “like your father, be an upright doctor and diagnose patients by taking their pulse.”
“Me?” Aunt Du pointed to her face with one finger, then waved her hand in denial, “How could I? I am just a woman, and already a concubine of the prince. No concubine can be a doctor and treat people.”
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