Unconventional
Gu Jinghong was both amused and exasperated by her teasing. Just as she was about to speak, a deep voice sounded from behind her.
"When did my royal palace become a consultation hall for the Medicine Master Valley?"
Xiao Chengyan walked slowly down the corridor, his gaze falling on the two who were almost glued together, especially Xuan Ru, who was holding Gu Jinghong's arm and leaning against Gu Jinghong very intimately.
He frowned slightly, almost unconsciously.
Gu Jinghong felt his arm loosen, and when he turned around, he saw that Xuan Ru had immediately let go of his arm when she saw Xiao Chengyan arrive, and had given a proper bow.
She pouted and said, "Your Highness, I am honored. Jinghong and I have not seen each other for a long time, and we couldn't help but feel emotional. Your Highness is so busy with state affairs, you can't possibly interfere with even our intimate conversations, can you?"
Xiao Chengyan glanced at her indifferently, walked to the main seat and sat down, naturally separating the two of them.
"We can talk about private things later. I urgently called you back this time because there's something important."
His tone shifted, becoming serious: "It's about the 'Intestinal Piercing Curse'."
Xuan Ru's playful smile vanished instantly. She looked abruptly at Gu Jinghong, her eyes filled with surprise: "The Intestine-Piercing Fiend? You told him about something so important?"
She thought it was a secret between the two of them.
Xiao Chengyan turned around, frowning as he looked at Xuan Ru: "Xuan Ru, I don't understand what you mean?"
So Ah Hong is supposed to keep secrets from you, but shouldn't be honest with me?
Upon hearing this, Gu Jinghong subconsciously lowered her eyes.
Xuan Ru just chuckled: "N-nothing... Ah Hong, you asked me to come and deal with that 'Intestinal-Piercing Demon,' what exactly do you want me to do?"
Gu Jinghong met her gaze and smiled: "Naturally, we need your help. In the entire capital, besides you, who else understands the properties of this insidious poison better? We need an absolute authority to prove the difference between 'Intestinal Piercing Curse' and ordinary plague."
Xiao Chengyan listened and nodded.
Gu Jinghong continued to explain to Xuan Ru, "We want to ask Director Tan of the Imperial Medical Academy to review and verify all the medical records and death reports from the Southwest that year. Director Tan's conclusions will be irrefutable evidence. However, Director Tan is a medical fanatic, and someone needs to explain the properties of that pill to him... We are not knowledgeable in medicine and cannot explain it clearly."
Xuanru listened and nodded, "That is indeed an important matter."
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she leaned closer to Gu Jinghong: "So... is Director Tan handsome? How much is his salary?"
Gu Jinghong's eyes slowly widened...
If Xiao Chengyan ever wanted to completely separate Gu Jinghong and Xuan Ru, this is the time.
Just then, a voice announced from outside the hall: "Your Highness, Headmaster Tan Xuan has arrived."
"Please," Xiao Chengyan said.
Xuan Ru seemed quite interested in this Dean Tan, and looked out the door with a grin.
Before long, a physician dressed in the robes of the Imperial Medical Academy, who was of advanced age but still vigorous, walked in with a steady gait, carrying a medicine box.
His expression was calm, his gaze clear and focused. He first bowed to Xiao Chengyan: "This old minister greets Your Highness."
"No need for such formalities, Dean Tan," Xiao Chengyan said, raising his hand in a gesture of support.
The moment Tan Xuan and Xuan Ru's eyes met, time seemed to stand still.
Tan Xuan's calm expression was gradually replaced by astonishment and disbelief.
His eyes widened slightly, his gaze fixed on Xuanru's brows and eyes, as if he had seen something impossible, or as if he had traveled through a long period of time to see a shadow etched deep in his memory.
The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Gu Jinghong and Xiao Chengyan exchanged a glance and remained silent.
Xuan Ru felt a little uncomfortable as her nose was touched, and she frowned slightly.
In the eerie silence, Tan Xuan's lips trembled slightly, and in a muffled voice, filled with longing and shock, he uttered two words: "If...is...?"
Xuanru's playful expression froze instantly.
Hearing her mother's name called by this strange man, and looking at the face that resembled her by six or seven points, a sharp, cold light flashed in Xuan Ru's eyes, and she subconsciously straightened her back.
"Senior, you have mistaken me for someone else. I am Xuan Ru."
The tone was distant.
Tan Xuan's face turned deathly pale. He stared at her face in disbelief, his lips trembling slightly: "You...you also..."
Xiao Chengyan coughed twice and said in a deep voice, "Head of the Imperial Academy, Master Xuangu was invited by me to help break the 'Intestinal-Piercing Curse.' This matter is of great importance, and the review and verification of the medical cases in the Southwest will require your oversight."
Tan Xuan snapped back to reality, his gaze struggling to leave Xuan Ru's face.
After the immense emotional shock, an even heavier sense of responsibility weighed on me.
His voice was hoarse, but his eyes remained resolute: "Your Highness, rest assured. The 'Intestinal-Piercing Demon' is a scourge to the country and its people, and I... cannot shirk my duty."
Gu Jinghong squinted at Dean Tan, then looked at Xuan Ru.
Clearly, Xuanru's appearance and the "Intestinal Piercing Curse" itself triggered the reasons he had to confront.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Ru merely glanced at him coldly: "In that case, there's no time to lose. If you need me to explain the medicinal properties to the head of the academy, let's begin now."
She looked at Tan Xuan, then suddenly took a step forward, slowly extending her left hand, wrist up, and holding it horizontally in front of her.
Tan Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted—"Hanging a gourd to inquire about the heart."
This is not a pulse diagnosis, but a gesture with ancient traditions.
Among highly skilled physicians, this means: "I am entrusting my pulse diagnosis to you. What I say next will be proven by the pulse, and there will be no falsehoods. Please also respond with the pulse to see if you are being honest."
This is the kind of candor a gambler would show when revealing their hand, something they would never use unless it involves something extremely serious or they have a deep distrust of the other party.
Dean Tan glanced at Xuan Ru with a complicated expression, then stepped forward, extended his left hand, and gently touched Xuan Ru's wrist.
The two men's right-hand fingers almost simultaneously and precisely landed on each other's "inch, gate, and ruler" three parts.
The moment their skin touched, their entire demeanor changed.
All outward emotions—Xuanru's coldness, Tanxuan's grief—were instantly concealed.
They listen to the subtlest emotional fluctuations of the other person through the pulse at their fingertips, judging the truth or falsehood behind every word.
Gu Jinghong had seen Xuan Ru with this expression before, and she knew that it was absolutely not the right time to interfere.
Just as she was about to reach out to pull Xiao Chengyan away, she felt a hand with distinct knuckles interlock with hers, and then with a gentle pull, her body was pressed tightly against a firm embrace.
Xiao Chengyan glanced at her without saying a word and left with Gu Jinghong.
His palms were very hot, and the heat seemed to spread from her palms to her arms and then envelop her whole body.
The hall door slammed shut.
As soon as they were out of sight, Xiao Chengyan suddenly pressed Gu Jinghong against a vermilion pillar under the corridor.
His arm braced against her ear, forming a restraining posture, his tall figure completely enveloping her.
All the restraint he had maintained in the hall crumbled instantly; his gaze became deep and burning, and his hot breath brushed against her cheek.
Gu Jinghong sensed something was wrong, so her eyes widened, she looked around, her mind racing, and she hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, do you think they... can speak well?"
Xiao Chengyan looked at Gu Jinghong with a complicated expression: "...Ah Hong, you have such a good memory, why can't you...change how you address me?"
"Change the way you address me?" Gu Jinghong blinked. "For example..."
“Yanlang. Isn’t it all good…” Xiao Chengyan smiled deeply, revealing a long, narrow dimple on his cheek.
Gu Jinghong looked surprised: "Yanlang? I was just joking back then..."
Xiao Chengyan's expression was quite serious: "A joke? I'm not joking. A few days ago, I asked the Empress Dowager to ask the Emperor for the decree. The decree to grant the marriage will be issued soon. What's wrong with calling Yanlang?"
Gu Jinghong patted Xiao Chengyan's shoulder, signaling her to lower her voice: "But even after marriage, you still have to call him Your Highness!"
Xiao Chengyan lightly flicked Gu Jinghong's forehead: "That's for formal occasions. In such a private setting, you should naturally call me Yanlang."
Gu Jinghong didn't know how to describe her mixed feelings. The word "inkstone" was on her lips, and she struggled for a long time before finally lowering her head and sighing: "...I can't say it."
Xiao Chengyan reached out and ruffled her hair, as if he were sighing softly, but it seemed like he wasn't: "Don't make things difficult for yourself. Just pick something that's easy for you to say. Just one thing, you can't call me Your Highness anymore."
Gu Jinghong's eyes darted around: "...Ayan."
Actually, this form of address is a bit disrespectful, but since Xiao Chengyan calls her Ahong, she thought that calling her "Ayan" would be a kind of "symmetry" in a way.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chengyan was so easily satisfied. When Gu Jinghong finished saying the word, a satisfied smile immediately appeared on his face: "Mm."
Gu Jinghong secretly covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Does Ayan think that Aru and Dean Tan's talks will yield any results?"
Xiao Chengyan's expression suddenly became much more serious: "It's definitely possible. Chief Physician Tan's actions just now have already 'broken his composure.' Tan Xuan is a physician of high integrity. Even in front of my father, he only focuses on medical skills and doesn't care about anything else. If I asked him to look through medical records, he would probably have more reasoning than I do. But just now... Xuanru has clearly awakened another side of Tan Xuan."
Gu Jinghong nodded: "Yes, although Aru seems impulsive, she is indeed reliable when it matters."
When Xuanru was mentioned, Xiao Chengyan seemed to remember something and moved a little closer to Gu Jinghong.
The two were so close that they almost touched each other.
"Between sisters, there's no need for formalities? Hmm?" Xiao Chengyan's voice suddenly deepened as he repeated her words, his fingertips caressing the sensitive flesh of her waist. "Did I give you permission?"
Gu Jinghong's heart pounded like a drum at his sudden attack, her breath slightly ragged, but she forced herself to remain calm and met his gaze, a smile curving her lips: "Your Highness is so busy with state affairs, do you even have to interfere with your sisters' private conversations?"
"I will manage it." He said decisively, lowering his head to get closer, his nose almost touching hers, his burning gaze fixed on her lips. "I will manage everything concerning you."
His kiss landed forcefully, carrying a hint of punishment, yet it transformed into endless tenderness in its ebb and flow, making one succumb.
After a long while, he finally released her, slightly out of breath, and pressed his forehead against hers, saying in a hoarse voice, "Do you know you were wrong now?"
Gu Jinghong's cheeks were flushed, her breath unsteady, and she was about to speak—
"Clang!"
A sharp cracking sound of porcelain shattering suddenly rang out from inside the flower hall!
Immediately following was Xuan Ru's low, yet chillingly shocked and furious shout: "What did you say?! Say it again!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
