"Don't overthink it. I have an insider by her side. That girl has been serving in her chambers since she was very young. She only passes messages and has not done anything against her conscience."
Perhaps feeling a bit stronger, the new Empress Chen, the moment Gu Qianying released her hand, immediately grabbed Gu Qianying's wrist.
Her tone was very sincere, as if afraid Gu Qianying would suspect her of anything.
Gu Qianying, held by Chen, did not pull away. She looked into Chen's eyes, her cold gaze both questioning and probing, "So, the private and unsightly illness on your lower abdomen, Empress, was your doing?"
Meeting Gu Qianying's gaze, Chen was a little timid and flustered, "Yes... it was me. She hurt me before, that's why I..."
She was so vicious; she didn't know if Gu Qianying would still consider her a friend.
"Mm,"
Gu Qianying replied indifferently and then averted her gaze.
Chen was slightly stunned. Looking at the red mole behind Gu Qianying's left ear, her voice was a little agitated, but she tried to keep it steady as she spoke, "Don't you think I'm vicious?"
She didn't know when it started, but Chen never used "This Empress" when conversing with Gu Qianying.
She didn't know if it was out of trust or intentional.
"It's also too kind of you not to have poisoned her to death directly."
Gu Qianying's cold words made Chen pause. She thought Gu Qianying would find her vicious and hold a grudge against her.
Sensing Chen's gaze, Gu Qianying simply replied, "Although I am a physician by profession, I am not a saint. I save those I deem worthy of saving and kill those I deem worthy of killing. This is my way of being; righteousness and kindness do not belong to me."
After checking the two infants again, she instructed Lu Zhu to bring them to Chen's side.
Infants needed nourishment, and breast milk was the most nutritious substance, essential for their daily intake.
However, Chen was still somewhat frail, and her milk quality was not very good.
But at this moment, it was not the time for dietary supplements, so she could only feed them as much as possible.
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open at this moment.
Nangong Mo and Ouyang Qinglin entered simultaneously, both holding long swords.
The long swords in their hands were stained with blood.
"Are you done?"
One of them turned his back to inquire about the situation inside, while the other went to close the door.
At this moment, the two cooperated quite well.
Outside the door, a hundred men in green were still holding their ground.
The ground was strewn with corpses. Emperor Ouyang Ting of Xia had already returned to his Hall of Mental Cultivation under the escort of his guards, as did the imperial concubines. Only a detachment of imperial guards remained to contend with them.
Ouyang Ting had issued a death order.
These imperial guards naturally could not retreat.
But casualties were numerous. Some of the men in green were also injured, but their martial arts were excellent, and they did not allow the imperial guards to break into the Zhongyang Palace.
Inside the room,
Gu Qianying, having finished tidying up, looked back at Ouyang Qinglin and Nangong Mo. She frowned slightly, briefly assessing them, then took out the remaining gauze and walked to Ouyang Qinglin's side. She took his lightly injured right hand, wiped away the blood, and bandaged his wound, saying, "You're too careless. You're injured and you don't even know it."
Her soft fingers gently brushed across the back of his hand.
Ouyang Qinglin's body stiffened. He looked up at Gu Qianying, his eyes slightly heated.
At this moment,
Standing on the other side, Nangong Mo's anger churned within him, like an overloaded boiler about to explode. The deep pupils of his eyes were icy cold.
His white robe, stained with blood, fluttered in the cool breeze blowing through the window. The hand under his sleeve, cut by swords, was still dripping blood. He strode up to Gu Qianying, pushed Ouyang Qinglin aside, turned to face Gu Qianying, and said with suppressed anger, "My hand is also injured!"
Saying this, Nangong Mo raised his injured left hand.
At this moment, he told himself that as long as Gu Qianying bandaged it for him, he would not hold her disregard for him against her.
"Your esteemed Ninth Imperial Uncle, don't you have hands? Can't you bandage them yourself?"
Even as she said this, Gu Qianying still threw the gauze in her hand to Nangong Mo.
Nangong Mo's face darkened. Looking at the wad of gauze in his hand, he exuded a chilling aura and gritted his teeth, growling, "Gu... Qianying... you...!"
Gu Qianying looked up and met his gaze, her voice clear and cold, "What? Your esteemed Ninth Imperial Uncle, are you angry? Oh, no, I should call you Silver-Masked Gentleman. That half silver mask is very exquisite.
I presume you must have expended considerable effort to make it. Oh, and also, when this Silver-Masked Gentleman was showing affection with the Empress, did you ever think of me, Gu physician, whom you deceived, played with, and who almost died from exhaustion trying to concoct an antidote for the poison you were afflicted with?"
Every word was a taunt, a sarcasm.
Nangong Mo was stunned at first, then looked at Gu Qianying again, his eyes filled with guilt, "Qianying, it's not what you think. This King and the Empress..."
His words trailed off as Gu Qianying turned away and went to re-treat Ouyang Qinglin's wound.
He removed it and re-bandaged it. Although it was redundant, Ouyang Qinglin loved watching Gu Qianying bandage his wounds. She was very serious and responsible, and she was beautiful... his eyes were filled with Gu Qianying's reflection.
But Gu Qianying's actions almost made someone spit blood.
Ignoring his bleeding wound, he threw the gauze on the ground.
He strode up to her, grabbed her as she was busy, and once again pushed Ouyang Qinglin aside. Ignoring the gazes of everyone present, he lifted Gu Qianying's chin and kissed her.
"Mmph!"
Gu Qianying was stunned, her eyes wide open.
Time seemed to stand still.
Lu Zhu, blushing, covered her eyes.
Beside them, Chen covered the eyes of the two infants with her wide sleeves. She also turned her face away, silently chanting "see no evil."
Not far away,
Ouyang Qinglin's eyes turned red. Under his red sleeves, his hands were clenched tightly.
"Nan... gong... Mo!"
He roared furiously and raised his palm, intending to strike Nangong Mo.
"Slap!"
A crisp slap broke the silence.
Everyone looked towards the sound.
The slap mark on Nangong Mo's cheek was deep.
He looked coldly at Gu Qianying, whose lips were slightly swollen.
"Ninth Imperial Uncle, please conduct yourself with dignity!"
Her voice was as cold as ice, and her gaze towards him was equally chilling.
"Gu Qianying! Don't you understand this King's feelings? Is your heart made of stone?"
Nangong Mo couldn't understand why Gu Qianying treated him this way.
He had always kept her in his heart, in the past, now, and in the future. But why couldn't she treat him a little better?
"Ninth Imperial Uncle's feelings, I naturally don't understand. The person who should understand them, the person who understands them, isn't it the Empress of Xia? When did it become me?" Gu Qianying sneered.
She had been deceived first, played with afterward, and now she was being asked to understand his feelings?
How ridiculous!
"Gu Qianying, in this King's heart, there is only..."
"Rumble!"
The ground where Gu Qianying and Nangong Mo stood suddenly cracked and collapsed, and the two fell straight down.
"Little things!"
Ouyang Qinglin exclaimed. The moment they fell, he lunged forward and fell with them.
The events happened too suddenly. Lu Zhu, Chen, and the men in green who had rushed in were all stunned.