After angering Regent Sima Rui and causing him to leave, Gan Qiongying and Gan Lin returned to the Bixi Palace.
The siblings got together and played a few games of chess, but both of them were terrible at the game, each worse than the other. The pieces on the table were all tangled and messy, and neither the white nor the black pieces showed any strength.
Gan Qiongying racked her brains, because she did indeed know how to play chess because she had Duanrong's memories. However, she and Duanrong were now sharing a brain, which did not allow her to come up with any unexpected winning strategies.
Therefore, the back-and-forth between Gan Lin and himself was like two rookies pecking at each other, which was not very interesting.
When Eunuch Li was asked to remove the chessboard, it was already close to midnight.
Gan Qiongying suggested, "Why don't we go catch some fish in the pond in the backyard?"
Upon hearing this suggestion, Eunuch Li's eyelids twitched. Given Gan Lin's current physical condition, it was already a feat to have lasted this long. If he went into the water in the middle of the night, he would probably be half dead.
Is Princess Duanrong staying in the palace to help His Majesty, or is she staying to take His Majesty's life?
The less impressive one was that Gan Lin readily agreed to Gan Qiongying's request.
She reminisced, "I've had so many dreams where I'm catching fish with my sister in the palace."
Those were Gan Lin's happiest memories from when he was a little boy and imprisoned in the palace.
They couldn't openly catch fish in the big pond; they could only catch small fish in a small muddy pond that flowed past their yard.
Covered in mud, with tiny fish barely enough to eat, Gan Lin would present them to Duan Rong like a precious treasure.
Once a handful was collected, Duanrong would quietly start a fire, squeeze the bellies of the small fish clean, trim the scales slightly, and then roast them for Ganlin to eat.
It had no seasonings whatsoever, and it was incredibly fishy, but it was the best thing Gan Lin had ever eaten at that time.
It's meat, after all.
Gan Lin was filled with nostalgia for a moment, and he actually stood up from the table and asked Eunuch Li to put his boots on him.
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Li disregarded the risk of offending the emperor and immediately prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing and saying, "Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
"Early autumn nights are already chilly. The Imperial Observatory has been observing the celestial phenomena for the past two days, and there has been continuous autumn rain. Now the wind outside is carrying the smell of earth, which is penetrating straight to one's bones. Your Majesty has just vomited out the poisonous blood in your stomach. Physician Xiao said that Your Majesty must take good care of yourself so that you may be able to fully recover! Your Majesty must not go into the water at this time!"
Gan Lin's face hardened, and he grabbed the chess pieces and threw them to the ground, hitting Eunuch Li in the face with them all. He shouted, "Insolence!"
Gan Lin was surprised that Eunuch Li was so bold; he didn't want Gan Qiongying to know about this at all.
He suddenly let out a low growl, startling Gan Qiongying, who was sitting opposite him.
However, Gan Qiongying couldn't care less about getting up and jumping now. When she heard Eunuch Li mention Gan Lin vomiting blood, she immediately asked anxiously.
"What happened? Li Quan, please tell me the details!"
"Sister..."
"Shut up!" Gan Qiongying pointed at Gan Lin and said, "You dare to keep this from me? I think you're itching for a fight!"
Gan Lin immediately pursed her lips.
When he was little, he was often beaten by Princess Duanrong. As a boy who was only a few years old and had no mother to take care of him, he was naturally sensible at a young age. Every time Princess Duanrong held him down and spanked him, Gan Lin felt particularly ashamed.
However, no matter what she thinks of in the past, Gan Lin feels an indescribable sense of nostalgia.
Both of them looked at Eunuch Li. Despite Gan Lin's gaze that threatened to exterminate his entire family, Eunuch Li seemed somewhat like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, since he was just an eunuch and didn't have nine generations of relatives.
If there is anyone in this world that Eunuch Li truly cares about, it is Gan Lin in front of him. In Eunuch Li's eyes, Gan Lin is not an emperor at all, but a child he raised from childhood. If he doesn't care, who will?
He had to make Princess Duanrong understand His Majesty's suffering, something His Majesty would never say, so naturally it was up to him to say it.
Therefore, he recounted in detail the incident of Gan Lin vomiting blood, as well as the previous situation of Gan Lin having internal poisoning and persistent high fever.
Gan Lin propped his forehead with his hand, fiddling with the chess pieces on the table, secretly resolving that once his elder sister left the palace, he would definitely teach Eunuch Li a lesson.
That's a bit too fast.
Having served in the palace for many years, Eunuch Li's stories were naturally full of ups and downs. Gan Qiongying listened with bated breath, her heart pounding. Finally, Eunuch Li told her that Gan Lin's imperial physician had helped him vomit out the poisoned blood, and that as long as he took good care of himself, he would definitely recover.
Gan Qiongying was overjoyed, but what she feared most was that Gan Lin's body had been tormented by the old witch for so long, and he was afraid that he would not live much longer.
Now that she learned that Gan Lin might recover, Gan Qiongying was overjoyed. She reached out and slapped Gan Lin's hand, knocking the chess pieces out of his hand and scattering them all over the ground.
"You didn't even tell me about such a great thing!"
Seeing Gan Qiongying so happy, Gan Lin smiled as well, but he couldn't feel a sense of relief.
Because they are still in this palace, as long as they are here, as long as he is the emperor, it will be difficult for them to escape the control of the Empress Dowager.
The reason Gan Lin didn't tell Gan Qiongying about vomiting poisonous blood was because he was afraid that one day... he would be forced to drink that nourishing soup again, and his body would be even more severely damaged at that time.
When his older sister finds out, she will be heartbroken and sad, and she doesn't know what she should do for him.
Thinking of this, Gan Lin even felt a bit angry and glared fiercely at Eunuch Li on the ground.
Eunuch Li immediately prostrated himself in gratitude; how could he not understand Gan Lin's meaning?
However... His Majesty is still young and clearly has a chance to live. He shouldn't be so dejected. The only thing that can bring him some brightness is Princess Duanrong.
If His Majesty cannot catch him, then Eunuch Li will naturally catch him for him.
Gan Qiongying inquired about some details of Gan Lin's recovery, and Eunuch Li answered them one by one.
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