Chapter 89 Applying Medicine (Second Update)
Lord Gu ordered a thorough investigation into the poisoning of Madam Yao.
According to the two maids, the medicine was brewed and delivered by Granny Fang. They were sent by Granny Fang to deliver things to Gu Jinyu, and they knew nothing after that.
"Summon Granny Fang!" Lord Gu ordered coldly.
A short while later, a servant came to report: "Your Excellency, Granny Fang has gone missing!"
Lord Gu's large hand suddenly clenched into a fist.
Soon, he remembered that Granny Fang had a niece-in-law in the manor: "Where is that maid named Cui Cui? Bring her here to me!"
"Yes!" The servant acknowledged the order and left.
To avoid attracting attention, Granny Fang did not take Cuicui away.
When Cuicui realized that something seemed wrong, she hurriedly packed her bags and left, but unfortunately, she was too late and was caught by the guards of the manor.
When she was brought before Lord Gu, she learned that Yao had been poisoned.
It's obvious to anyone who poisoned her that it was Granny Fang.
Cui Cui knelt on the ground with a thud, trembling as she cried, "My lord, spare my life! I didn't do it! I know nothing! I'm innocent!"
Lord Gu said, "Injustice? Then I ask you, how exactly did Madam faint?"
Cui Cui stammered, "Yes...yes..."
Lord Gu sneered, "Fine, keeping this tongue is useless, so let's just pull it out!"
Cui Cui's body trembled: "I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! It was Granny Fang... Granny Fang told me to do it! She told me to deliberately tell the news I overheard to Madam!"
Lord Gu's heart tightened: "What did you say?"
Cui Cui said fearfully, "I...I told you...Miss isn't her biological daughter...she was switched at birth..."
"You insolent fool!" Lord Gu was so angry that he smashed the teacup beside him!
Cui Cui lay prostrate on the shards of the teacup, her hands bleeding, yet she dared not move an inch: "Master, spare me... It was Granny Fang who forced me..."
Lord Gu was worried that this would happen, so he never dared to tell Yao the truth. He would rather never acknowledge the child than have anything happen to Yao!
But his carefulness allowed two lowly maids to reveal the truth!
He said sternly, "The lady has treated her well! Why did she do this?"
Cui Cui sobbed, "This servant doesn't know... Aunt... no... it's Granny Fang... She makes me do things... and never allows me to ask why... This servant doesn't know why she wants to frame the Madam... If this servant doesn't obey her, she'll have her nephew beat me to death! Your Highness, please understand, what this servant said is all true!"
"Ha, you listen to her more than you listen to me and my wife. What? Are her words imperial edicts?" At this point, how could Lord Gu not see that Cui Cui's words were half true and half false?
It's true that Granny Fang instructed her, but her wolfish ambition is even more real. If she hadn't coveted the benefits Granny Fang promised her, why would she have risked her life for Granny Fang?
She probably wouldn't get anything out of him. Lord Gu waved his hand dismissively: "Drag him away and beat him to death with sticks."
"My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare me—"
The guards didn't give her a chance to beg for mercy. They simply stuffed a rag into her mouth and dragged her away to be executed.
The guards of the manor split into four groups to capture Granny Fang. They finally found her trail when it got dark, but unfortunately, Granny Fang had already hanged herself from a big tree.
"Dead?" In the study, Lord Gu's face turned cold.
Huang Zhong was a warrior, and he lacked the cunning to scheme and plot, but when it came to examining corpses, he had been among piles of dead bodies and had seen countless deaths. How could he not tell that Granny Fang had been hung on the tree after she had already breathed her last?
Lord Gu's expression turned grave: "So...she had someone silence her?"
Huang Zhong dared not speak rashly about whether or not to silence her, but he was certain that Fang Mama was murdered by him.
Lord Gu remained silent for a long time: "I understand. These days, you should strengthen the security of the manor. Apart from Granny Fang, send away all the other people around Madam."
"yes!"
Lord Gu went to Madam Yao's room.
Granny Fang, despite being ill, stayed inside the room, and her complexion was not good.
Lord Gu said to her, "Go and rest. You don't need to come over tonight."
Granny Fang did not immediately leave, but paused and then dared to ask, "My lord, do you really want to take your wife back to the capital?"
"What's wrong?" Lord Gu asked.
Granny Fang said earnestly, "I know that the Marquis's mansion dotes on the Madam, but apart from the Marquis himself, I'm afraid no one in the entire mansion would welcome the Madam back."
Lord Gu clenched his fists: "She is my wife, and I will protect her. You don't need to worry about her!"
"My lord..."
Lord Gu's eyes blazed: "I will not allow anything to happen to her again!"
Granny Fang didn't argue further, and bowed slightly to Lord Gu: "This servant takes her leave."
Lord Gu kept the news of the Yao family's courtyard a secret, preventing Gu Yan and Gu Jinyu from finding out.
An hour later, Madam Yao slowly woke up.
Lord Gu sat by the bed, took her hand, and asked softly, "You're awake? Is anything bothering you?"
Yao shook her head weakly, staring intently at him: "Where is my child? Where is my child?"
Now that things had come to this, Lord Gu had nothing left to hide. He tightened his grip on her hand, took a deep breath, and said, "She was here just now."
Ms. Yao became excited again.
Lord Gu, fearing she might faint again, quickly supported her shoulders and said, "Don't get agitated, let me finish. She's fine, I've found her, and once you've recovered, I'll take you to see her."
Without hesitation, Yao replied, "I'm all better!"
Lord Gu said, "I know, I know, but it's too late today. If you go over there, you'll only disturb her rest. I promise you tomorrow morning."
Only then did Yao lie back down.
She looked at him, puzzled: "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Lord Gu remained silent.
Madam Yao frowned: "Don't you want to acknowledge that child back?"
Lord Gu was so frightened that his heart trembled. His strong will to survive made him make a decisive decision between telling the truth and lying: "Nothing of the sort! Don't overthink it! She is my own flesh and blood, how could I not want to acknowledge her? It's just... I've already made a mistake once, and I don't want to make the same mistake again."
Lord Gu told Madam Yao about the medicinal ingredient.
"...I wanted to wait until I got her blood and fused it with Yan'er's before telling you. But Yan'er gets along very well with her. I think if it weren't for the blood connection, Yan'er wouldn't like her so much."
Madam Yao was taken aback: "Yan'er has seen her too?"
Lord Gu nodded slowly: "...Yes, she is the little medicine boy from Huichuntang."
"Do you have a portrait of her?" Madam Yao couldn't wait to see what her daughter looked like.
Lord Gu hesitated: "This..."
"Please, my lord," Yao pleaded for the first time.
Lord Gu felt uneasy over a portrait of a brat.
But Lord Gu still went ahead and painted it despite his reluctance; it seemed he could never refuse Lady Yao.
However, when Yao excitedly unrolled the scroll, her smile froze: "What did you paint?"
Circles and crosses?!
Is this round or square pancake a face?
Are those two asymmetrical little green beans eyes?
Are their nostrils sticking out to the sky?
And his mouth is crooked too!
Lord Gu coughed awkwardly and said in a serious tone, "It's because she's ugly."
I absolutely refuse to admit that my drawing was ugly!
The talented Lord Gu had a secret that no one knew: his calligraphy and painting were terrible. Outsiders only knew that Lord Gu's calligraphy was hard to come by, but they didn't know that he dared not let anyone see it.
"You're the ugly one!" Yao threw the painting back into his arms, threw off the covers, and was about to get out of bed.
Lord Gu guessed what she was up to at a glance and said nonchalantly, "Are you going to ask Yan'er for a portrait? Hehehe, he can't even draw as well as I can."
Yao, who really wanted to kill him: "..."
In the end, Yao obtained a portrait of her daughter.
It was drawn by Gu Jinyu.
Lord Gu did not tell Gu Jinyu the truth, but only asked her to draw the appearance of the little medicine boy. Gu Jinyu was very good at drawing, and could be ranked at least in the top three among the noble ladies in the capital.
Lord Gu brought the portrait to Madam Yao.
When Yao saw the little girl in the portrait, she was suddenly stunned.
It was late when Gu Jiao returned to the village; the sun hadn't set yet. Smoke curled from chimneys, and the aroma of food filled the air, creating a rustic, lively atmosphere.
The Gu family has been very quiet lately.
I heard that Old Master Gu lost his position as village head, and the Gu family's dozens of acres of tenant land were also taken away. Those tenant lands were originally allocated to the Gu family by the higher authorities. Although they were called tenant lands, the annual rent was only a little over a hundred catties, which was no different from giving them away for free.
This is thanks to both Old Master Gu and Gu Dashun.
But now, it's all gone.
Gu Jia's life became increasingly difficult.
I heard that Gu Dashun is almost unable to pay his tuition.
However, this had nothing to do with Gu Jiao, and she couldn't be bothered to pay them any attention.
Gu Jiao's back was burning with pain, but she didn't pay much attention to it and went to the kitchen to cook dinner.
Xiao Jingkong was squatting in the backyard feeding the chicks. Halfway through, he picked up a little yellow chick and walked over: "Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao, Xiaoqi isn't eating! Is it sick?"
"I told you you didn't know how to raise chickens. See? You're going to kill it."
It was Xiao Liulang's teasing voice.
Xiao Jingkong angrily turned his head, put his hands on his hips and stomped his feet: "I didn't! Xiao Qi won't die! I've been taking good care of it!"
"Let me see." Gu Jiao held out her hand.
Xiao Jingkong placed Xiao Qi in Gu Jiao's palm with a pitiful expression.
He spoke confidently, but his eyes were red.
It's clear the little guy is genuinely worried that he'll raise Xiaoqi to death.
Gu Jiao patted the chick's belly and laughed, "It's full and can't eat anymore."
"Huh?" Xiao Jingkong opened his big, dark eyes and looked at the chick, scratched his head, and asked with a resentful look, "Xiao Qi, did you steal food again?"
Chick: "Chirp!"
Xiao Jingkong took the chick back, made an angry face at her brother-in-law, and then put Xiao Qi back in the chicken coop.
Xiao Liulang glanced at him with amusement, then turned his gaze to Gu Jiao's face, noticing that she looked paler than usual.
"Dinner is ready, let's eat," Gu Jiao said.
Xiao Liulang paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."
Gu Jiao didn't have much of an appetite at dinner.
Xiao Jingkong, holding his bowl and chopsticks, asked her, "Jiaojiao, are you full too?"
Xiao Liulang glanced at her with a complicated expression.
The old lady also looked at her.
Gu Xiaoshun also looked up, surprised, and said, "Sister, you look so pale? Are you sick?"
Xiao Jingkong put down his chopsticks, got up, and stood on the stool: "Nonsense! Jiaojiao won't get sick!"
"I'm not sick."
He wasn't sick; he must have been injured.
It hurt, but she was used to this kind of pain in her previous life, so she didn't pay any attention to it. She forgot that this body itself was already weak, so how could it withstand a whip from a military general?
As night fell, Gu Jiao's condition worsened.
The dark night sky was filled with lightning and thunder, casting the room in flickering light.
Little Jingkong was lying on his little pillow on the bed, drooling in his sleep.
Xiao Liulang opened his eyes, glanced in the direction of the door, hesitated for a moment, sat up, first pulled the blanket that Xiao Jingkong had kicked over back up, then put on his clothes and went to Gu Jiao's room.
Gu Jiao used to lock the door, but one night Xiao Jingkong was awakened by a nightmare and came to her with a pillow but couldn't open the door. He cried for a long time.
After that, Gu Jiao stopped locking the door.
Xiao Liulang pushed open the half-closed door, and a faint smell of blood wafted into his nostrils.
Xiao Liulang frowned, paused for a moment, and then stepped into the house.
"Gu...Gu Jiao".
He called her name but she didn't respond, so he went to her bedside.
He reached out and touched Gu Jiao's forehead; it was burning hot!
Another flash of lightning startled him, illuminating the room as bright as day. Xiao Liulang saw the blood-stained clothes on the chair.
His expression changed, and he picked up the blood-stained clothes, only to find that it was a small garment.
The cheap fabric, which wasn't exactly soft, had been worn on her delicate skin, and the bloodstains concealed a faint, girlish fragrance.
Xiao Liulang, his ears burning red, saw the location of the bloodstains and confirmed that Gu Jiao was injured on her back. He took a deep breath, intending to turn Gu Jiao over and then go to fetch a doctor.
As soon as his hand approached Gu Jiao, it was grabbed by Gu Jiao's cold little hand.
She said arrogantly, "You're up in the middle of the night, trying to take advantage of me?"
Xiao Liulang was embarrassed for a moment, and explained, "No, I am..."
"Don't take too much," Gu Jiao mumbled, then drifted off to sleep.
So... was it sleep talking?
Xiao Liulang's breathing quickened, and cold sweat broke out.
However, this is not the most terrifying thing.
He turned his head casually, and another flash of lightning startled him, illuminating the old woman's eerie little figure in the doorway.
His hair stood on end!
The old lady entered the room expressionlessly and placed a bottle of wound medicine on Gu Jiao's table.
Xiao Liulang's back shirt was soaked.
He couldn't tell whether he was more afraid or more guilty.
After all, his hand was still on her chest, and although she had pulled him there, it looked like he had taken the initiative.
"Auntie, please don't misunderstand..."
"Aren't they a couple? What's there to misunderstand?"
The old lady put down the wound medicine, snorted, and left.
Seriously!
A dark and windy night!
Hurry up and give her a great-grandchild!
(End of this chapter)
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