Chapter Twenty-One: A Slap
Haozhou City has been extremely unsettled lately. Since the fourth day of the month, the streets and alleys have been filled with squads of soldiers carrying swords and guns. Any men or women with even a hint of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) airs are immediately arrested and taken to the yamen for questioning. The neighborhood officials also go door-to-door daily, and anyone found without a household registration or of unknown origin, regardless of age or gender, is taken to the yamen for investigation. As a result, the jails in the yamen are overflowing with people in just a few days. Such unusual behavior naturally sparked much discussion among the common people, but all they knew was that a nobleman from the capital had been assassinated. On the tenth day, Princess Huiwen's entourage entered Haozhou City, and it was then revealed that this nobleman was the eldest grandson of Princess Huiwen and the Duke of Dingguo, the Empress Dowager's nephew, and the steward's cousin—a truly exceptionally noble young master. It was early summer, and Haozhou City was lush and vibrant with life. Princess Huiwen had no interest in appreciating the sights. She went straight to the Grand Eunuch's residence and saw Gu Xiaobai lying on the bed, her face gaunt, her eyes closed, and a dark aura between her brows. Tears immediately streamed down her face. Park went to the bedside, touched his hand, then his face, stomped his foot and cursed, "Which damned bastard is blind? I'll skin him alive and tear out his tendons!" Madam Gu was also in tears, sobbing, "Why hasn't he woken up yet? It's been seven days." Yu Qing said, "Grand Princess, Madam Gu, there's no need to worry. Master Bailian said that Young Master Gu is not seriously injured, but the poison hasn't been cleared yet. After he undergoes acupuncture and is given good medicine, he will definitely wake up in about two days." The Grand Princess was stunned and asked, "Master Bailian from Tianqing Temple? How come he's here?" "Jiaozhi has a hot and humid climate, deep forests and mountains, poisonous insects everywhere, and miasma. Master Bailian originally came south with the Prince to serve in the army. Hearing that Young Master Gu had been poisoned, the Prince sent him to Haozhou." "Very well, I've long heard that he's an expert in pharmacology, especially skilled at detoxifying poisonous insects and miasma." The Grand Princess sighed, glanced around, and saw only an unfamiliar maidservant and Anping serving at the bedside. A surge of anger rose within her, and she asked in a deep voice, "Where is she?"
Yu Qing was taken aback and asked, "Who?"
"Who else could it be?" the Grand Princess said rudely. "The fifth daughter of the Ruan family."
Seeing that her expression was off, Yu Qing cautiously said, "Fifth Miss is in her residence in Xinghua Lane."
"Very well, my little Bai would risk her life for her and she still won't serve her. She really is an ungrateful wretch." The Grand Princess slammed her hand on the bed and raised her eyes high, saying, "Go, wake her up."
Yu Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Grand Princess has misunderstood. It's not that Fifth Miss is ungrateful; it's just that she was also quite frightened that day and has been bedridden ever since. Young Master Gu took the dart for Fifth Miss, but she also sucked the poison out of his body. Master Bailian said that if she hadn't acted in time, even a celestial being reborn couldn't have saved Young Master Gu..."
"No matter how eloquently you speak, it cannot change the fact that Xiaobai saved her." The Grand Princess sneered, interrupting him. Seeing his lips tremble as if he wanted to argue, she reached out to stop him. "You don't need to say anything more. I know you are loyal to Fei Yang. When you see Fei Yang in the future, you will surely praise him. But you must understand that she and your master do not have a proper relationship. It is hard to say whether things will work out in the future."
Yu Qing was greatly embarrassed and stopped arguing, saying, "Please wait a moment, Grand Princess, I will send someone to invite her over right away."
The Grand Princess nodded slightly, then turned to examine Gu Xiaobai. The more she looked at him, the more disgusted she felt. She couldn't help but pinch the back of his hand and scolded, "You're such a fool. Is she worth risking your life for? If you do this again, I will never acknowledge you again."
Whether Gu Xiaobai understood or not, his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and his mouth opened and closed, scribbling out a few words, but they were so mumbled that no one could understand them. The Grand Princess felt both heartache and pity, touching him here and there, sometimes thinking how much thinner he had become, sometimes thinking how unworthy he was…
Half an hour later, she heard light footsteps outside the door. Turning her head, she saw Ruan Bi lifting the curtain and entering. She wore a light green floral dress, still damp with sunlight, fresh and delicate, like a newly grown willow branch—there was not a trace of illness in her. The Grand Princess looked at her, then at the pale-faced Gu Xiaobai lying on the bed, and grew even angrier. She stood up and, without a word, slapped her across the face.
With a "pop," the air vibrated with a buzzing sound.
Yu Qing, who was following closely behind, frowned as he saw five red finger marks on Ruan Bixue's fair cheek.
Unexpectedly, the first thing he did upon meeting her was to be slapped in the face. Even Rao Shiruanbi, who was usually calm and collected, was stunned.
The Grand Princess said bitterly, "You are indeed heartless to the extreme. Xiao Bai's life hangs in the balance as she tries to save you, and instead of staying by her bedside, you dress up in all your finery? I was truly blind before, actually thinking you were sensible and even considering marrying you to Xiao Bai."
Ruan Biwei hesitated for a moment, then finally gave up trying to explain. In truth, she had been taking care of Gu Xiaobai all the way back to Haozhou, and had even accompanied him to the Grand Administrator's residence for two nights. Only after Master Bailian arrived and said that his life was no longer in danger did she return to Xinghua Lane to handle her affairs. Even so, she would still come to check on him every day.
Seeing that she remained silent, the Grand Princess was furious and raised her hand again.
Yu Qing quickly stepped forward and blocked Ruan Bi's path, and the blow landed on Ruan Bi's face.
"Your Highness, please calm down. Fifth Miss comes to see Young Master Gu every day, but there is a difference between men and women, and it is not proper for her to stay by his bedside." Out of a selfish desire to protect Prince Jin, he did not want to tell the Grand Princess that Ruan Bi had stayed by the bedside for two nights.
The Grand Princess snorted coldly, sat back on the edge of the bed, and said in a low voice, "Get out."
Ruan Bi remained calm and composed, curtsied, and withdrew. The bright sunshine outside made the five finger marks on half her cheek particularly noticeable. Han Xing glanced at them and complained, "You really are something, why didn't you explain? You said Young Master Gu saved you, but it was clearly him who led you to the slope. If he had led you forward earlier, you wouldn't have encountered this group."
Ruan Bi smiled but didn't say a word.
Back in Xinghua Lane, Dongxue cried out in distress upon seeing Ruan Bi's cheek. After learning the reason, she couldn't help but curse Princess Huiwen, then went to the kitchen to boil some eggs. Ruan Bi lay on the couch, eyes closed, letting Dongxue roll the egg across her cheek, gradually becoming sleepy.
Dongxue gave her a push and said, "It's already noon. If you sleep now, you definitely won't be able to sleep tonight."
"Let me get some sleep first. I went to bed late last night anyway."
Hearing her slurred speech, Dongxue knew she was indeed sleepy. "I heard from Hanxing that you were drawing until the wee hours last night, what exactly were you drawing?"
"It's a granary, so it's fireproof and moisture-proof."
What do you need this for?
"Naturally, it's for storing rice."
"The young lady asked Zhou Zhuzi to collect grain from nearby prefectures and counties, just to store it in the granary?"
Ruan Bi gave a soft "hmm," her drowsiness growing stronger.
"Girl, there are only a few of us, what use is so much rice?" Dongxue asked, puzzled.
"There has been very little rain this year, so the early rice harvest will likely be reduced. We're harvesting it now to prepare for any eventuality."
Dongxue thought for a moment, but still couldn't figure it out, and said, "Miss, Miss Lan has sent a letter."
Ruan Bi opened her eyes, took the letter, peeled off the seal, and looked at it.
Seeing her brows furrow, Granny Zheng asked anxiously, "Miss, what did Miss Lan say? Is the Old Madam feeling any better?"
Ruan Bi shook her head slightly and said, "Aunt Lan said that Grandmother vomited blood again two days ago. Doctor Xu said that if this continues, it will eventually become hemoptysis, and then medicine will be ineffective..."
“I’ve advised her before to control her temper and anger, but she just won’t listen. What will we do if this continues?” Granny Zheng said, tears streaming down her face.
"Aunt Lan also said that the audit results are in. It turns out that the eldest mother did indeed embezzle nearly 50,000 taels of silver, all of which is with Uncle in Zhuozhou. In a fit of anger, Grandmother stripped the eldest madam of her power to manage the household affairs. Second Aunt thought it was time for her to take charge, but instead, the position was given to the newly arrived Third Aunt. She was furious and has already taken the Third and Seventh Misses back to Yangzhou, vowing never to set foot in the Ruan residence again."
"Madam is really confused. How can we hand over the position of head of the household to the Third Madam? Won't the Ruan family fall into the hands of the Third Master?" Granny Zheng said anxiously, her eyes wide. "No, no, Miss, you must quickly write a letter to persuade Madam not to let the Third Madam take charge, but to let Miss Lan manage it."
"Mom, do you think Grandma wants Third Aunt to be in charge?"
Granny Zheng was only anxious for a moment, but she understood the underlying meaning. After a long silence, she sighed and said, "In the end, he got what he wanted." She paused, then nudged Ruan Bi's arm and said, "Miss, think of a way to help the old lady this time."
"Let me think about it," Ruan Bi said, closing her eyes. Soon, sleepiness washed over her, and she drifted off to sleep without realizing it. She didn't know how long she slept, but suddenly felt someone watching her. Startled, she opened her eyes and saw Gu Xiaobai's handsome face right in front of her.
"You're really alright, that's wonderful!" Gu Xiaobai said happily. Her eyebrows relaxed, and her smile was dazzlingly bright.
Ruan Bi felt a warmth in her heart and said softly, "You're awake."
Xiao Bai nodded emphatically, his heart filled with joy, staring intently at her. After a moment, he finally noticed the handprint on her cheek, frowned, and asked, "Who hit you? Tell me, and I'll go hit them back."
These words chased away the last vestiges of sleepiness in Ruan Bi, and she quickly looked around. She saw a large group of people standing at the door, including Princess Huiwen, Duke Dingguo, Madam Gu, Master Gu, Gujing Bank, Yu Qing, and a group of people from her own household. They all had strange expressions, especially Princess Huiwen, whose face turned pale and then red.
She was extremely embarrassed and quickly sat up.
Gu Jingyi walked gracefully closer, smiling sweetly as she said, "Fifth Sister, my little Bai brother just woke up and insisted on checking if you were alright. We couldn't stop him no matter what we did."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
