"Ahhh, so stupid, I can't watch anymore."
Jiu Jiu stepped forward and kicked him in the calf. "Utterly foolish! From now on, you're not allowed to tell anyone I'm your child when we go out. It's embarrassing!"
"Little County Princess, was it you who detoxified His Highness, right?" Qing Wu asked cautiously.
Xiao Jiuyuan was about to scold Qing Wu for speaking nonsense.
But then he remembered what he had witnessed in the imperial study—the little figure before him extracting a worm from his own chest.
The words on the tip of his tongue were instantly swallowed back.
"Who else but me has such great skill?" Jiu Jiu snorted.
She counted off the things she had done today on her fingers, one by one. "I went through all the trouble of stewing him in that big iron pot, carried him all the way to sit on that shiny golden chair, and wielded that huge sword to pick out the worm…"
"I'm exhausted! If it weren't for you, this useless father of mine, would I have to work so hard?"
The more Jiu Jiu spoke, the heavier her resentment grew. Unable to hold back, she kicked Xiao Jiuyuan's calf twice more.
Xiao Jiuyuan's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
His deep eyes fixed on Jiu Jiu's small face, a cold glint flashing in their depths.
"How did you know how to detoxify me?"
After a long pause, Xiao Jiuyuan finally asked Jiu Jiu.
Jiu Jiu's eyes instantly widened. "You doubt me?"
"I worked so hard to save your life, and you actually doubt me?"
Jiu Jiu's face flushed red with anger. She poured the Gu insects out of her small gourd, shouting that she was going to stuff them back into Xiao Jiuyuan's body.
Cold sweat beaded on Qing Wu's forehead.
Quick as lightning, he scooped the Gu insects into a porcelain bottle.
"Little County Princess, please calm down. His Highness the Crown Prince didn't mean it that way…"
After collecting the Gu insects, Qing Wu hurriedly went to stop Jiu Jiu, who was about to beat up Xiao Jiuyuan, so busy he couldn't stop moving.
Jiu Jiu, held back by him, retreated two steps, her small fists still waving in the air. "No more detoxifying for you! Just wait to be eaten up by the worms!"
"Little County Princess, don't be angry. His Highness the Crown Prince isn't doubting you. He's worried about you… yes, His Highness is worried that you might be affected by the severe poison in his body, worried that you might get hurt." Qing Wu quickly tried to smooth things over.
Jiu Jiu glared at him, puffed up with anger. "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? I don't believe such nonsense."
"This is infuriating! This useless father—whoever wants him can have him. I don't want him anymore."
"You're Qing Wu, right? From now on, you're my little dad. You call me 'Great King,' and I'll call you 'little dad.' We'll address each other separately…"
Before Jiu Jiu could finish her words, Qing Wu, drenched in cold sweat, covered her mouth.
"Little County Princess, I apologize for the offense!"
Qing Wu then bowed to Xiao Jiuyuan and said, "Your Highness, please rest for a while. This subordinate will go invite Old Lion to examine Your Highness."
With that, he picked up Jiu Jiu and swiftly left like a gust of wind.
Once outside the Crown Prince's bedchamber,
Qing Wu set Jiu Jiu down.
"Little County Princess, where are you going?"
Jiu Jiu strode forward on her short legs, and Qing Wu hurriedly chased after her to ask.
Jiu Jiu snorted, puffing out her cheeks. "Step aside! I'm going to clean house!"
Qing Wu's eyelids twitched.
He thought to himself, surely it couldn't be what he was imagining?
He tentatively asked, "What house does the Little County Princess intend to clean?"
"Don't pretend you don't know!"
Jiu Jiu glared at Qing Wu, tilting her chin up as she commanded him, "You, go find me a stick."
"Make it a thick one. Today, I'm going to give him a good beating and let him know who's in charge of this family."
Qing Wu's lips twitched.
A daughter beating her father.
And this father is none other than the Crown Prince.
The Little County Princess is truly trying to turn the world upside down!
"Little County Princess, please calm your anger!"
"How about this? Tomorrow, after you've freshened up and changed into new clothes, I'll gather everyone in the Donggong to pay their respects to you, letting the servants witness the Little County Princess's authority."
Upon hearing this, Jiu Jiu immediately stopped in her tracks.
She looked approvingly at Qing Wu. "You're right. Since I'm new here, I should establish my authority first."
"In that case, go tie up my useless father. Tomorrow, I'll give him a good beating in front of everyone in the Donggong to show him who's in charge."
He should go tie up the Crown Prince?
Qing Wu shuddered all over.
His lips twitched as he hurriedly advised, "Little County Princess, that's not appropriate! Since you're new here, it's best not to make too many enemies. Why not start with the servants who have bullied you before?"
"This way, you can both make an example of them and vent your anger."
Jiu Jiu thought for a moment and nodded. "You're right. We shouldn't rush things."
She reached out to pat Qing Wu's shoulder.
Unfortunately, Qing Wu was too tall, and she couldn't reach.
Qing Wu, perceptive as ever, crouched down so the Little County Princess could pat his shoulder.
"You're good. From now on, you're my servant number two."
Patting Qing Wu's shoulder, Jiu Jiu generously accepted him as her second servant.
Qing Wu broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead and quickly changed the subject:
"Little County Princess, you must be hungry, right? I've had some food prepared for you."
While Jiu Jiu was eating, Old Lion had already begun examining Xiao Jiuyuan.
"Strange, truly strange! In my decades of traveling the jianghu, I've never seen anything so bizarre."
After examining Xiao Jiuyuan, Old Lion was utterly astonished.
Zhui Ying, standing nearby, quickly asked, "Old Lion, since His Highness can stand and walk, does that mean the poison in his body has been neutralized?"
"Not at all. The Crown Prince's body doesn't just contain poison; there are also Gu insects, as well as certain toxins I introduced over the past three years to save his life."
"Originally, the Gu insects and the other poisons in the Crown Prince's body balanced each other, maintaining a delicate equilibrium. Once that balance is disrupted, the Crown Prince's life would be in grave danger."
Stroking his beard, Old Lion answered Zhui Ying's question.
Zhui Ying grew even more anxious. "Old Lion, could you please get to the point? Has His Highness's poison been neutralized or not?"
"What's the rush? I'm getting there. If you keep nagging, I'll poison you mute." Old Lion glared at Zhui Ying.
Zhui Ying was about to ask more when Xiao Jiuyuan interrupted, "Zhui Ying, let Old Lion continue."
"Yes." Zhui Ying stepped back and fell silent.
Old Lion nodded in satisfaction and said to Xiao Jiuyuan, "Your luck is truly extraordinary. Such a miracle would happen to you."
"If even one of the poisons in your body had been neutralized, you would have faced a backlash from the others. In that case, you would have had no chance of survival!"
"The brilliance of the person who treated you lies in their ability to simultaneously weaken the toxicity of all the poisons in your body. Moreover, when the Gu insects rebelled, they used a pure yang substance to suppress them, then used Malevolent Aura as a guide to forcibly extract the Gu insects from your body."
"While these steps may sound simple, executing them is as difficult as climbing to the heavens. Just the first step—simultaneously weakening all the toxins in your body—is something I cannot achieve."
Old Lion grew more and more excited as he spoke. "Crown Prince, who exactly is the master who treated you? Could you introduce me?"
After a long silence, Xiao Jiuyuan finally looked at Old Lion and said, "I will convey your meaning, Old Lion. Whether he will see you still depends on asking that master."
When mentioning the word "master," Xiao Jiuyuan's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
Old Lion didn't notice and hurriedly nodded, "That's only right, that's only right."
After Old Lion left, Xiao Jiuyuan said to Zhui Ying:
"Go bring that girl here."
Zhui Ying immediately accepted the order and left.
Just as he stepped out the door, he heard commotion from outside.
Faintly, phrases like "save the Little County Princess" and "the Little County Princess is in critical condition" could be heard.
Xiao Jiuyuan's face abruptly changed.