The room instantly became very quiet, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Gu Qianying felt a blush creep onto her face.
Bai Qi, standing behind Nangong Mo, pursed his lips, holding back a laugh, daring not to make a sound.
"Grumble!"
Another sound.
Gu Qianying's face turned even redder.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, she picked up the teacup in front of her. The tea had long gone cold. As she reached for it, a hand suddenly blocked hers.
"Drinking cold tea can lead to irregular menstruation for women, making conception difficult."
Whoosh!
It was as if all the blood in her body had rushed to her face. She glared at Nangong Mo, her cheeks flushed crimson, "You... you..."
"You silly girl, there's no need to be so shy. You can rest assured, in the coming days, this King will take good care of you. Wherever you are, this King will be there!"
He looked at her with doting eyes.
With a clang.
She abruptly stood up, the teacup falling to the ground.
He quickly reached out and caught the teacup with one hand.
Seeing that Nangong Mo had caught the teacup, Gu Qianying said nothing. Instead, she turned around and gave a slight bow to Nangong Mo, "This humble lady needs to rest. I request Ninth Imperial Uncle to depart."
Even in her past life, she had never discussed a woman's menstrual cycle or children with the scumbag Nan Rongqi. Although she had become the Crown Princess to the scumbag, she remained rather reserved about trivial matters concerning a woman's body.
And now, Nangong Mo was actually discussing menstruation with her?
Nangong Mo was neither a physician nor a street doctor; he was an outsider. Discussing such matters with her was inappropriate.
"Sit down."
How could Nangong Mo possibly listen to Gu Qianying's words?
"Ninth Imperial Uncle, this humble lady is an unmarried young lady of the household. Your noble status... please do not let your reputation be affected because of this humble lady..."
"Sit down and accompany this King for a meal. Otherwise, this King will sleep here tonight!"
Nangong Mo's voice interrupted Gu Qianying's words indifferently.
Gu Qianying: "..."
Facing such a rogue like Nangong Mo, Gu Qianying felt both like crying without tears and utterly helpless.
In order to persuade Nangong Mo to "show mercy" and leave her boudoir quickly, Gu Qianying remained silent and accompanied Nangong Mo for the meal.
Although she did eat a little, in order to make Nangong Mo leave quickly, she only ate a few bites.
However, the person watching her eat was not pleased.
"Why are you eating so little? This King doesn't mind if you're fat!"
"......."
Gu Qianying was too weary to comment on how infuriating Nangong Mo's "annoying to death without paying the price" tone was.
When she could bear it no longer, she directly called out to Lu Zhu, "Lu Zhu, this young lady is tired. See the guest out!"
Gu Qianying stood up.
Lu Zhu ran in, but before she could do anything, she was grabbed by Bai Qi with one hand and hoisted over his shoulder.
Lu Zhu clawed wildly on his back, "Old Bai, let go quickly..."
Mmmph!
Bai Qi covered Lu Zhu's mouth with his hand, preventing her from speaking.
Seeing that Bai Qi had carried Lu Zhu out, Gu Qianying was furious.
"Ninth Imperial Uncle!"
Nangong Mo reached out and pulled her forcefully. With a sweep of his long arm, he actually pulled Gu Qianying into his embrace.
Gu Qianying was startled and, as she tried to struggle, a voice sounded in her ear, "Don't move, or this King will... eat you."
He looked at her up close.
"This King is not a guest. This King is your betrothed husband-to-be. If you don't like this King staying here, this King will leave. However, this King's legs are currently paralyzed, and you angered this King so much with your recent recklessness that he almost passed out. As this King's fiancée, and the one who caused this King to almost pass out, you should take full responsibility for this King."
Gu Qianying, held by Nangong Mo, listened to him speak at such close range.
The breath he exhaled brushed against her cheek, making her face flush and her ears tingle.
"You... you let go of me quickly, or I... I..."
"Or what will you do? Bite me?"
The words he spoke felt like feathers landing on her heart, tickling her and leaving her flustered.
"Ninth Imperial Uncle, please conduct yourself with propriety!"
She glared at him furiously, her voice sounding slightly different.
The door to the room had been closed at some unknown time, and the maids serving inside had all quietly withdrawn.
Outside, a figure flashed by quickly, and the reflection on the window then moved away.
At this moment, Nangong Mo released Gu Qianying, but did not put her down. He simply said to her indifferently, "Why don't you remove the meddlesome people in your courtyard? What use are they?"
As Nangong Mo spoke, he casually waved his hand.
With a clang.
Not far away, the incense burner, lit with a calming incense, was knocked to the ground by Nangong Mo's powerful internal energy. The burner overturned, scattering incense ash all over the floor.
In the blink of an eye, several small white insects crawled out of the ash. The insects wriggled and scurried about. Once they moved out of the area with the ash, they stopped moving.
Gu Qianying glanced towards the door, then her gaze fell upon the small white insects that had died outside the ash's range. A coldness spread in her eyes.
Someone was monitoring her and intended to poison her with incense!
Gu incense was a type of Gu poison, requiring cultivated Gu worms to administer the medicine. The daily incense served as a Gu incense carrier, which would then produce more Gu worms late at night. Thus, over time, her room would be filled with numerous Gu worms.
Once afflicted by Gu incense, one's body would feel as if it were being bitten by thousands of insects and ants, causing unbearable discomfort. In severe cases, it could even lead to facial disfigurement.
Who could be so venomous?
Gu Mingyue? Madam Han? Or Gu Yumei?
"Don't be afraid. With this King here, no one can harm you."
A sudden sentence interrupted Gu Qianying's thoughts.
It was this sentence that made her feel a warmth in her heart.
It was only then that Gu Qianying realized she was still being held by Nangong Mo.
She quickly stood up and got down from Nangong Mo.
Seeing the blush still lingering on her face, Nangong Mo looked at her and teased, "What? Do you want this King to continue holding you?"
He spread his arms, "Come then, this King is happy to oblige."
"......"
Gu Qianying ignored Nangong Mo and immediately turned to walk forward. She went to the incense burner and looked at the small white insects on the ground that had long since died. Her brows furrowed slightly.
Gu incense was not meant to be discovered.
Even she, a master of poisons, found it difficult to detect this poison.
How had Nangong Mo noticed it?
"This King usually likes to smell unique incenses. For this reason, Bai Qi has found all the unique incenses in the capital for this King. This King smells incense daily. A few days ago, this King also casually flipped through some books on the types and production of incense. Having smelled many incenses and read many books, one can discern the grades of incense. The scent of the ordinary incense in your room is different, and this King can naturally smell it."
As if sensing Gu Qianying's confusion, Nangong Mo explained casually.
In reality, it was not accidental; he had specifically learned some methods of making incense a long time ago.
Ten years ago, some little girl had coaxed him into believing that boys should be like girls, learning needlework, tea ceremony, embroidery, and the art of making incense, and so on.
This way, he would have common topics with the girl he liked and would not be disliked by her.
Well, he had learned a bit of tea ceremony, and some superficial knowledge of making incense.
However, he had never managed to learn needlework or embroidery.
It wasn't that he didn't want to learn, but after learning two skills, he had become a "labor" master for a certain little girl.
That girl, drinking the tea he brewed and smelling the incense he made, would then say that it would be even more perfect if she could eat the pastries he made.