Not far away, a window faces the direction of the woman's house.
By the window, a graceful woman stood quietly, while a little further away, another woman elegantly held a teacup and sipped her fragrant tea.
The woman standing there frowned slightly, a hint of worry in her eyes, and asked softly, "Miss, are you sure our incense won't be discovered?"
The seated woman gently set down her teacup with elegant and composed movements, a confident smile playing on her lips, her tone resolute: "Even if all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital were summoned, there would be absolutely no way they could discover it."
"The young lady's skill in making incense is unparalleled. It's just that General Gu Qinghuai's courtyard is heavily guarded, making it very difficult to get close. Fortunately, Gu Zhoushi isn't very bright, which allowed us to successfully plant our people inside," the standing woman remarked.
“You did an excellent job this time as well. If you hadn’t found out that Gu Qinghuai had been taking medicinal baths and using a lot of sea breeze vines these past two days, my plan would probably have been difficult to execute.” A sly glint flashed in the tea-tasting woman’s eyes.
The woman by the window looked curious and asked again, "What if Lin Xihe wasn't with Gu Qinghuai when the drug took effect?"
"No matter who she is, in the end, she'll just be a 'broken shoe' despised by everyone. However, this situation is unlikely to occur. My specially made incense must be mixed with the medicinal power of the sea breeze vine in a warm environment to be effective." The woman tasting the tea was full of regret, but her disgust for Lin Xihe was clearly evident between the lines.
After a moment of silence, the woman sipping tea suddenly chuckled softly. The laughter echoed in the quiet room, sending a chill down one's spine.
"Do you know what's the most interesting thing about this?" The woman sipping tea had a strange glint in her eyes.
"I don't know." The standing woman bowed her head respectfully.
"That's the thing, no one will ever realize that someone secretly drugged them. Everyone will think it was just their own desires and uncontrollable emotions. Isn't that interesting?"
The woman sipping tea raised her chin smugly, her eyes full of calculation.
-------------------
After Lin Xihe arrived at the Gu residence, she instructed Ling Shuang, who was unable to enter Gu Qinghuai's courtyard, to return to the residence with the coachman.
Before leaving, she repeatedly instructed, "Don't send anything else over, especially letters."
She thought to herself that as long as she was careful in everything she did and didn't provoke Gu Qinghuai, given his personality, he shouldn't do anything inappropriate again.
However, the moment Lin Xihe stepped into the Gu residence, her mood inexplicably sank a little.
She walked straight towards Gu Qinghuai's courtyard. As soon as she entered the house, a strong smell of Chinese medicine wafted over her, instantly enveloping her.
Gu Qinghuai was sitting quietly at the round table, which was full of food, but he hadn't touched it at all, clearly waiting for Lin Xihe to arrive.
Upon seeing Lin Xihe, Gu Qinghuai immediately stood up and quickly went to greet her, gently taking her cloak and saying in a soft voice, "If you could have come earlier, the journey would have been easier."
"When I left, it wasn't dark yet, but the carriage accidentally hit a woman on the road. I took her to the clinic, which is why I was delayed," Lin Xihe explained simply before walking to the other side of the round table and slowly sitting down.
A hint of worry flashed in Gu Qinghuai's eyes, and he quickly asked, "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Let's eat. I didn't sleep well last night, and I want to rest early today."
As Lin Xihe spoke, she gestured for Gu Qinghuai to sit down. Her intention was all too clear: she hoped they could finish their meal quickly, have Gu Qinghuai drink his medicine, and then avoid exchanging a single word with each other.
After Gu Qinghuai sat down opposite her, Lin Xihe glanced up and noticed that his complexion was worse than it had been two days ago, with a sickly pallor.
She only glanced at him briefly before quickly averting her gaze, repeatedly telling herself: Don't care about him! Don't care about him!
But in the end, she couldn't help but frown slightly and ask softly, "Has your condition worsened these past two days?"
Gu Qinghuai shook his head slightly, his expression calm: "No, it's probably because the snow has been falling non-stop these past two days that people feel a bit annoyed."
After saying that, the two fell silent and ate their meal in silence.
Seeing Lin Xihe arrive on time to keep him company, Gu Qinghuai felt a surge of relief.
When the servant brought the medicine, he picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp, without making things difficult for Lin Xihe to feed him as he usually did.
The servants cleared away the food one by one, added some charcoal to the stove, and then silently withdrew.
Lin Xihe had taken a bath at home before arriving at the Gu residence. She quickly washed her face and went straight to her small couch.
Gu Qinghuai had just finished a medicinal bath in the afternoon, which had already exhausted him. He felt completely tired, so he turned off the light and lay down on the bed to rest.
Outside, snowflakes continued to fall slowly and steadily, making a sparse, soft sound.
Inside, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xihe felt a sudden surge of heat rising within her, as if a blazing fire was burning inside her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
At the same time, Gu Qinghuai's somewhat pale face kept appearing in her mind, lingering there.
At first, she tried to suppress this inexplicable feeling, but as time went on, the suppressed desires deep inside her grew wildly like weeds, becoming increasingly intense.
Just then, a muffled cough came from the darkness.
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