Gu Chengzhi looked up at Gu Liyue and smiled. "Are you feeling better, sister?"
Gu Liyue's eyes welled up with tears instantly. How could her fourth brother be in need of a stroll? Clearly, he knew what had happened and was afraid that she might take it hard, so he came here especially to comfort her.
Gu Chengzhi couldn't sit for long, and he even had to be extremely careful when walking, for fear of hurting his injured hands and legs. Seeing Gu Liyue's concern, he only said with a smile, "Lying in bed all day long, I feel like I'm growing mold on my body. It's really comfortable to be able to stay with you for a while."
It was a fine day today. Gu Liyue asked someone to move the imperial concubine's couch to a sheltered spot in the yard. She helped Gu Chengzhi lie down and covered him with a quilt. "The doctor said that you should wait until a full month has passed before you can get up and move around. It's only been ten days since the injury. How could you be so reckless?"
Gu Chengzhi leaned on the couch and asked, "Sister, do you think there's a big chance for Lu Jinchen to survive?"
Gu Liyue hung her head. "I don't know. I always feel that he'll be fine. How could anything happen to him?"
Gu Chengzhi laughed. "Do you know? When he was a kid, he and I once scared his father by taking a fake - death medicine. Then I went to the prince's mansion and cried, saying that he was dead. One time, two times, three times. Each time, we really scared Prince Liang. Later, when I went there again, Prince Liang chased me with a bamboo stick and said that he deserved to die outside."
Gu Liyue was stunned. "You guys did such things?"
Gu Chengzhi nodded. "Yes. Don't look at Lu Jinchen being so proper now. He did quite a few naughty things when he was a kid. The most excessive one was when he threw the princess's undergarments into someone else's yard. Prince Liang chased him for three streets in a rage."
Gu Liyue didn't know how to react at all.
Gu Chengzhi continued, "Lu Jinchen also didn't miss many chances to drug the princess. Once, during a palace banquet, he got the dishes mixed up and put the drug in the queen's bowl. The queen had diarrhea and vomiting for three whole days and couldn't get out of bed. Prince Liang knelt in front of the palace for three days, asking for strict punishment for Lu Jinchen and even wanted to revoke his heir - apparent status."
"What happened later?"
Gu Chengzhi thought for a while. "Later? Later, Lu Jinchen took the fake - death medicine again and 'died' in the palace, which made the emperor and Prince Liang have a big fight. The emperor said that as long as he was alive, Lu Jinchen would definitely be the heir of Prince Liang."
Gu Liyue frowned. "The emperor loves him very much."
"Yes, he does." Gu Chengzhi said, "After that incident, Lu Jinchen moved out of the prince's mansion and never used the fake - death trick to scare Prince Liang again. From then on, father and son completely stopped having any contact with each other."
After saying that, he looked up and smiled. "Liyue, I somehow feel that Lu Jinchen might be scaring Prince Liang this time too."
Gu Liyue hung her head, and tears fell one by one.
Gu Chengzhi wanted to comfort her, but as soon as he exerted a little force, his hand hurt.
Gu Liyue quickly held him down and nodded. "Yes, I also think that Lu Jinchen must be scaring Prince Liang by doing this."
After the Dragon - Head - Raising Festival, perhaps due to over - exertion in state affairs, the emperor suddenly fell ill. It was said that when he was bedridden, he kept calling Prince Liang's pet name.
Two days later, a warlock examined the feng shui of the palace and said that there was a person in the palace who was carrying a great calamity. If this person wasn't removed, the emperor would never get better.
The queen was so anxious that she conducted investigations everywhere. Finally, she found that the person carrying the great calamity was none other than Xu Nian in the dungeon. In a hurry, she gave an order to have Xu Nian taken out of the dungeon and transferred to another prison.
Early in the morning, Gu Zhongxian packed his luggage and told Jiang Shi, "Sister - in - law, please take good care of the family. Now, my elder brother and nephews are not in the capital. The emperor is in a coma, and the queen doesn't trust others. She has ordered me to escort Xu Nian to the mountain - mausoleum prison outside the city. It may take about four or five days for me to come back."
Jiang Shi nodded. "Don't worry. We won't go out on weekdays."
Gu Zhongxian sighed. "I don't know why, but my right eyelid has been twitching for the past two days, and I've been feeling restless... Sister - in - law, Zhi'er is disobedient. If he wants to make a fuss, don't spoil him blindly. And Liyue. She doesn't like to cause trouble, but trouble always seems to find her."
Jiang Shi nodded repeatedly. "I remember. With me around, I'll definitely take good care of them. You don't need to worry, brother - in - law."
Gu Zhongxian left with a worried look on his face. Everything in the marquis's mansion returned to calm again.
Early the next morning, Lu Yunxi left the palace and dragged Cheng Yinyin to the Gu family to see Gu Liyue.
Gu Liyue welcomed the two of them into the yard. While asking someone to serve tea, she said, "You can leave the palace now? The emperor... uh, the empress dowager allowed you to come out?"
Lu Yunxi pouted. "The emperor is ill, and the palace is in a complete mess. The empress dowager's health has always been poor, so she can't control me."
Gu Liyue said helplessly, "Since the palace is in such a mess, you should be more obedient and stop making them worry."
Lu Yunxi laughed. Pointing at the milk, she said, "I want to drink that. Yinyin, do you want some? This milk with honey is so sweet."
Gu Liyue asked in confusion, "You've drunk it at my place? Why don't I remember?"
Qin Caiyin often came, but Lu Yunxi didn't leave the palace very often and liked to make a ruckus. Gu Liyue really couldn't remember when she had let Lu Yunxi taste the milk with honey made by the Gu family.
Lu Yunxi said carelessly, "Who doesn't know that you like to drink milk with honey? Your fourth brother always remembers you when he goes out. He asks which kind of honey - flavored tea in the teahouses outside is good, saying that you like honey - flavored tea and milk tea. There's even a special chef in your family making it for you. I guess no one in the whole capital doesn't know about it."
Cheng Yinyin also smiled. "We all know that your four elder brothers dote on you."
Gu Liyue said helplessly, "Alright. Maybe besides kids, I'm the only one who likes such sweet things."
Cheng Yinyin asked, "Why haven't you been going out recently? Yesterday, I went out with Miss Qin. She said that she invited you but you didn't go."
Gu Liyue said, "At first, I wanted to accompany my fourth brother. Later... Yesterday, my second uncle left. He told me again and again that since they were all not in the capital, I should stay at home well and not go out to cause trouble."
"Eh!" Lu Yunxi waved her hand. "You're so well - behaved. How could you cause trouble? And, are you really that obedient?"
Gu Liyue tapped her on the forehead. "You should be more obedient too."
Lu Yunxi stuck out her tongue. "Don't worry. I didn't run out by myself. I've fully recovered. The empress dowager allowed me to stay outside the palace for a few days, so I came out."
Gu Liyue sighed. "I guess it's because you pester the empress dowager every day, and she had no choice but to let you out of the palace, right?"
"Not at all. I'm not that childish." Lu Yunxi shifted her gaze and whispered, "How's your fourth brother? I want to go and see him."
Gu Liyue stood up. "Okay. I'll ask someone to announce our arrival first. I'll take you there."
Lu Yunxi quickly held her down. "No. You just call someone to take me there. I'll go by myself. I don't need you guys to accompany me."