As soon as the words left her mouth, Gu Jinze stood up straight with his eyes closed and spat out three mouthfuls of foul-smelling black water in succession.
It was Hongyu’s first time witnessing such a sight; instantly pale with fright, her hands holding the Taiji diagram trembled uncontrollably.
Tangtang didn’t notice, however. Pulling out her peach wood sword, she leaped up and poked hard at Gu Jinze’s upper abdomen.
“Pfft—” Gu Jinze sprayed out another large mouthful of black blood and collapsed limply onto the bed. The yellow talisman stuck to his forehead turned grayish-black and drifted down with his movement.
Tangtang wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and let out a long breath. “Sister Hongyu, you don’t need to hold the Taiji diagram anymore~ Third Brother is fine now!”
Hongyu’s tense nerves relaxed, and she fell sitting onto the ground with a thud.
Good heavens! It was far too terrifying just now; she actually thought the Third Imperial Grandson had turned into a corpse!
Realizing her own thoughts, Hongyu quickly spat twice in her heart.
The Third Imperial Grandson had been cured by the Young County Princess, so he would certainly live to a hundred!
After recovering for a moment, Hongyu’s hands and feet went soft as she changed the soiled bedding.
Just as she was planning to take it out to burn, she was stopped by the Young County Princess with a stern face: “Sister Hongyu, do you have scissors?”
Hongyu looked over in confusion. What did the Young County Princess need scissors for?
Could it be that she wanted to cut it into pieces before burning it?
Tangtang’s gaze, however, remained fixed on the pillow in Hongyu’s arms.
It was bad enough that black qi was rising from Third Brother’s head, but it was actually rising from his pillow too!
Hongyu brought the scissors, and under Tangtang’s direction, cut open the corn-grain filled pillow. A talisman paper abruptly appeared before their eyes.
“County Princess… this…” Hongyu’s pupils shrank, clearly frightened.
How could there be a talisman paper inside the Third Imperial Grandson’s pillow!
Tangtang made no sound, picking up the talisman paper with a frown. Looking closely, it was actually identical to the talisman paper inside the Gu worm!
As expected! Third Brother was an eye of the formation too!
Tangtang was so angry she laughed aloud, the talisman paper gripped tightly in her palm.
As for Second Brother… he must be one too!
Using blood-related biological mother and sons as formation eyes—was it a sacrifice, or stealing the lifespan of Mother and her brothers?
Tangtang stood up abruptly and kicked the pillow fiercely.
No matter which one it was, she wouldn’t allow it!
The Imperial Study
“Has my Jinhuai truly fully recovered?” Emperor Mingde asked in a mix of surprise and joy.
“In reply to Your Majesty, the Eldest Imperial Grandson is no longer in any danger!” Physician Liu said, pulling out the half-corpse of the Gu worm: “This is the culprit, and it has already been eliminated by the County Princess!”
Emperor Mingde stood up, took three steps in two to reach Physician Liu, stared at the half-corpse of the Gu worm for a long while, and suddenly laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! Good! Excellent! My sweet darling is truly amazing!”
Physician Liu wanted to say something more, but was astonished to find that the Emperor before him had a ruddy complexion and was full of energy, without coughing up a single drop of blood!
This… Could he have remembered wrongly, and the Emperor hadn’t coughed up blood in the first place?
“The matter of the Eldest Imperial Grandson’s recovery and the County Princess removing the Gu must not be spread outside!” Emperor Mingde stared at the two imperial physicians and warned.
“We understand!” The two imperial physicians answered in unison.
The matter of the Eldest Imperial Grandson being afflicted with Gu was far too suspicious; even if they had a hundred times the courage, they wouldn’t dare leak it.
Emperor Mingde waved his hand: “Retire! Wang Zhong, send ten thousand taels of gold to the Eastern Palace for my sweet darling to play with counting, and send some tonics over as well!”
His eldest granddaughter removing the Gu must have taken a lot of mental and physical effort, so she needed proper nourishment.
Wang Zhong agreed with a face full of joy. The Young County Princess was not only capable but also delightful, and he liked her very much too.
Deyin Hall, Eastern Palace
Looking at the glittering gold in front of her, Tangtang’s eyes went wide and fixed.
In disbelief, she confirmed again and again: “Uncle-Aunt Wang, is all of this really given to Tangtang by Imperial Grandfather?”
The wrinkles on Wang Zhong’s face bloomed with smiles, without the slightest impatience: “Young County Princess, this is all given to you by the Emperor, along with those medicinal herbs and tonics, which are also for you!”
Tangtang’s eyes beamed, her small hand unable to resist touching the gold ingots.
Wow! So this was what touching gold felt like!
Ten thousand taels of gold—Tangtang was rich! She could dig Master up and get him a new coffin board!
Tangtang took two ingots of gold and walked up to Wang Zhong: “Uncle-Aunt Wang worked hard taking care of Imperial Grandfather, take these to buy some pastries to eat!”
Wang Zhong felt a warmth in his heart and waved his hands repeatedly: “I cannot, I cannot! This was given to you by the Emperor!”
Serving the Emperor was his duty and blessing as a servant, how could he accept a reward!
That the Young County Princess thought of him made him deeply grateful already.
Tangtang’s small face was flushed red, her dark, big eyes full of seriousness: “Good things should be shared with family. Uncle-Aunt Wang takes care of Imperial Grandfather, so you are Tangtang’s family too!”
Wang Zhong’s eyes grew hot. As a eunuch with no sons or daughters, no one would offer sacrifices to him after he died.
The Young County Princess didn’t despise him for being a eunuch and actually treated him as family…
“This servant thanks the Young County Princess!” Wang Zhong accepted the gold with trembling hands.
In the future, even if he had to risk his life, he would protect the Young County Princess!
Having just returned to the Imperial Study, Wang Zhong reported the matter of the Young County Princess giving him gold.
Emperor Mingde looked at the gold in front of him and remained silent for a long while before saying: “My sweet darling is pure and kind-hearted, a good child! Keep it!”
Only after the Emperor spoke did Wang Zhong carefully put the gold away.
This was awarded by the Young County Princess; he must cherish it properly.
…
Tangtang was beyond happy to receive the gold. She distributed one thousand taels of gold each to Father, Mother, and her three brothers, gave one ingot each to Hongyu, Cuiyu, and Moyu, and stuffed all the rest into her small pouch.
During dinner, while gnawing on a chicken leg, Tangtang asked: “Father, after Tangtang cures Mother and Second Brother, can I visit Qixia Temple once?”
Master was lying all alone in the small dirt mound; Tangtang missed him a little.
Gu Yanzhao had gentle eyes as he rubbed the top of her head: “Of course. When the time comes, Father will accompany you back! I have already ordered people to craft your master’s coffin and tombstone!”
Tangtang blinked her eyes. Father still remembered… She thought Father had already forgotten.
She had even planned out using the remaining gold to hire people to make the best coffin board and tombstone for Master…
Tangtang sniffled, buried her face into Gu Yanzhao’s arms, and spoke in a muffled voice: “Thank you, Father! Father is the best father in the world!”
Master didn’t need to worry about Tangtang anymore; Tangtang had the best father, mother, and brothers in the world!
Gu Yanzhao had a smile on his lips as his large hand patted his little daughter’s back stroke by stroke.
It was originally a heartwarming scene, but in the next moment, Tangtang was heard exclaiming: “Oh no! Bad news! Third Brother still has the Sleepy Talisman stuck on him!”
At that time, she was only focused on checking the talisman inside the pillow and forgot to peel off the Sleepy Talisman.
If Third Brother kept sleeping, he would wet the bed!
Thinking of this, Tangtang hurriedly jumped out of Gu Yanzhao’s arms and sprinted all the way toward Xuezhu Courtyard.
Sure enough, as soon as Tangtang peeled off the Sleepy Talisman, Gu Jinze opened both eyes and ran outside bare-footed without even having time to put on his shoes.
His face flushed red, he ran while shouting: “Quick, move aside! Don’t block me from going to the latrine!”