"Mother, what should I do? My reputation is completely ruined. I might as well just die, sob..."
"Don't talk nonsense, don't say such things. It's alright, the servants there have already been quietly dealt with by your mother, no one will spread rumors, you can rest assured."
Hearing this, Gu Ziran finally felt relieved, but upon further thought, she started to worry again: "Mother, but regarding the Ninth Prince, I have no face to see him. He drove me out, will he start to dislike me from now on? Mother, what should I do?"
Gu Ziran was at a loss.
Madam Han patted her hand, comforting her, "It's nothing, it's nothing. If it doesn't succeed once, we can try a second time."
"But, Eldest Sister... is about to wake up, I no longer have a chance."
"My child, you can put your heart at ease. She will not have another chance to wake up!"
Madam Han's words held a hidden meaning. Gu Ziran suddenly looked at her, her face filled with shock: "Mother means..."
At this moment,
Night fell, a cool breeze swept through,
In the front courtyard's sleeping quarters,
Caixia, pretending to be Gu Qianying and lying on the bed, gazed at the moonlight outside. She was a little worried about their Princess Consort and also afraid that their Prince would discover what they were doing.
Tossing and turning, she finally lifted the bed curtains, intending to get up.
Ji Wuyi, who was sitting by her side, frowned and stopped her: "What are you doing? Lie down quickly, don't let others find out."
Caixia's movement to get up halted. She turned over and lay back down, but she turned her face towards him: "Physician Ji, why hasn't my Princess Consort returned yet? Could something have happened?"
"Shut your crow's mouth. My junior sister is blessed with good fortune, she will definitely return safely."
Ji Wuyi continued to fiddle with the medicine box beside him. From the outside, it looked as if he was administering acupuncture to the person on the bed, saving her.
At this moment, a figure appeared outside the window. She poked a small opening in the paper window and peered in. Upon seeing Caixia's face, she was shocked.
Putting on a veil, she prepared to leave, but after a moment's thought, she opened the medicine powder in her hand, then bit her finger, using her blood to dissolve the powder into a bloody liquid. She poured it into a bamboo tube and passed it through the opening in the paper window, letting it flow into the sleeping quarters. Then, she turned and quietly left.
Neither Ji Wuyi nor Caixia noticed what she had done, nor did they even see the fleeting black shadow outside the window.
As an unknown scent slowly spread within the sleeping quarters,
Ji Wuyi and Caixia finally noticed it.
"What's that smell? Physician Ji, do you smell it?" Caixia glanced outside, her heart filled with confusion.
As a physician, Ji Wuyi was sensitive to smells, especially those with toxic properties.
"Lie down quickly, don't let anyone see through the pretense. I'll go and check."
He immediately got up and walked towards the door.
However, before he could reach the door, he suddenly noticed something wriggling outside the window.
He frowned and went to investigate alone. But just as his hand touched the window frame, the window suddenly burst open, and dozens of venomous snakes swarmed in.
Ji Wuyi's pupils widened. He retreated repeatedly.
Caixia, seeing Ji Wuyi retreat several steps and noticing the paleness on his face, grew even more suspicious: "Physician Ji, what's wrong?"
Following Ji Wuyi's gaze, Caixia's mouth fell open: "Snake... snake..."
"Ugh!"
Ji Wuyi immediately ran over, covered Caixia's mouth, and whispered sternly, "Don't shout. The Prince is right outside. Do you want to die!"
The dozen or so venomous snakes scattered, with several heading straight for Caixia.
Caixia broke out in a cold sweat, forcing herself not to scream. But facing the snakes' attacks, she didn't know how to react.
At that moment, she didn't realize that the snakes crawling towards her feet were venomous.
However, as a physician, Ji Wuyi could distinguish between ordinary snakes and venomous ones.
Therefore, as he was trying to figure out how to drive away the venomous snakes, Caixia let out a muffled groan through gritted teeth.
Ji Wuyi exclaimed softly, "Caixia!"
Two venomous snakes coiled around Caixia, flicking their forked tongues at her. One of them bit Caixia's shoulder fiercely.
Caixia flung it off. By now, her complexion was poor, her lips were dark, and she clutched her shoulder before collapsing.
The other snake, which had coiled around her body, was grabbed by Ji Wuyi by its seven-inch spot with one hand and flung away.
"Caixia! Caixia! Wake up!"
Ji Wuyi called out softly.
But he dared not make too much noise, as their deception could not be known to the Ninth Prince, Nangong Mo.
However, he had to drive away the snakes and wake Caixia at the same time, and he was overwhelmed.
"Mmm~"
Distracted, Ji Wuyi failed to notice that he had been bitten by a venomous snake.
The wound, stained with venom, oozed black blood, which made the other venomous snakes restless.
He sat on the ground, leaning against the bed, and with difficulty, raised his hand to drag his medicine box over.
The medicine box contained some pills that could alleviate the poison, allowing him to hold on until his junior sister arrived.
"Hiss~"
Sensing the alluring scent of the venom, the remaining snakes swarmed him, covering Ji Wuyi entirely.
The pain of being bitten left Ji Wuyi with no strength to resist. But he also thought that if outsiders discovered the situation inside now, his junior sister, Gu Qianying, would be guilty of deceiving the emperor.
"Mmm~"
With all his might, he tore off the snakes coiled around him.
The wounds on his body, riddled with bites, were covered in snake venom.
Ji Wuyi knew he had no chance of survival. Supporting himself with one hand on the ground, he struggled to climb onto the bed. He reached out, grabbed Caixia's outer skirt, and pulled it off, then dragged her down from the bed.
If outsiders saw this, at least no one would be able to tell that the maid Caixia was impersonating the Ninth Princess Consort.
As for Gu Qianying, he believed that with her intelligence, she would not put herself in a predicament.
After doing this, Ji Wuyi had no strength left. He sat down by the pillar, watching the remaining five or six uninjured snakes that still wanted to bite him slowly crawl towards him. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Even now, he endured, not daring to make a sound.
His consciousness gradually blurred, and he seemed to hallucinate, seeing the person he longed to see.
"Junior sister~~"
Ji Wuyi raised his arm with difficulty, trying to grasp the familiar shadow in his illusion, but he grasped at empty air.
"Junior sister, senior brother did his best. The rest depends on your own fate. Junior sister, my name is Xu Zichen. The name Ji Wuyi sounds unpleasant. If there is a next life, I will name you, alright? Hahaha..."
"No! Not good at all!"
A sudden voice reached his ears.
Ji Wuyi looked in the direction of the voice, relieved, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "You finally... returned..."
At the same time,
At Madam Han's residence,
"What? Is what you're saying true?" Madam Han carefully tidied her newly colored fingernails, turning to look at A Qiu, who was kneeling on the ground.
A Qiu had already shed her night-traveling clothes and changed into maid attire.
"Replying to Madam, everything your servant says is true, and I dare not deceive Madam."
Madam Han stood up, picked up the scissors handed to her by a maid, and walked to the flowerpot to trim the branches: "Oh, so a maid is impersonating herself and hiding in the room. Where did she go then?"
"Your servant does not know, but your servant still did as Madam instructed. I presume that by now, the physician and the maidservant by Miss Gu's side have been bitten to death by venomous snakes."
"If they're dead, they're dead. It's a pity that only two servants have died."
Unsure of what she was thinking, Madam Han's flower-trimming action stopped. She handed the scissors to the maid, turned around, and her mood suddenly brightened: "Go, invite the young lady over. Her second chance has arrived!"