A woman lay unconscious on the bed.
The room was furnished simply yet luxuriously, with nothing on the floor or table.
Seeing this, Lan Qingqing was startled. When she saw Gu Qianying, who lay on the bed, unharmed, she clenched her handkerchief tightly.
How could this be? Hadn't that wretched woman Gu Qianying been quietly taken out and killed by the butler?
But why was it like this now?
Upon entering the bedchamber, Nangong Mo ignored Lan Qingqing. He pressed a button on the armrest of his wheelchair and went to the bedside, looking at the woman on the bed with deep affection.
He reached out and took her hand.
"Qianying, this King is back."
As if afraid she would leave, Nangong Mo held her hand tightly.
After some time, Nangong Mo called Bai Qi and asked, "Is Du Chun's medicine ready?"
Bai Qi reported truthfully, "Not yet. Physician Du says this medicine needs to be simmered for the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
Nangong Mo frowned, his voice very cold, "Tell him to hurry!"
"Yes, Master."
Bai Qi retreated, holding his breath.
At this moment, Lan Qingqing still stood behind Nangong Mo. She had stayed in the room under the guise of attending to them and had not left.
"Qianying, are you hungry? When you wake up, will this King personally cook delicious food for you?"
Nangong Mo looked at Gu Qianying, who was still unconscious. Her long, curled eyelashes struck him as very beautiful.
"Qianying, when you wake up, this King will take you to the market to buy rouge. This King has heard that girls love rouge the most."
"Qianying, when you wake up, this King promises you that in this entire capital, you can do whatever you wish. With this King's pampering, it won't matter even if you turn the capital upside down."
He spoke to her words he had never spoken to anyone else, and never spoken so many words to anyone.
Only in front of her did his aura not feel so icy cold.
His solitary tenderness belonged only to her.
"Qianying, this King will not go anywhere. I will wait here, waiting for the first person you see when you wake up to be this King."
At this moment, Nangong Mo's eyes were only on Gu Qianying.
His deep affection, however, was seen by Lan Qingqing beside him. Her shock was quickly replaced by endless hatred.
That damned little slut Gu Qianying! Why did she deserve the Ninth Prince's favor! Why!
A face contorted by hatred appeared in the candlelight, becoming even more hideous.
No!
She could not allow that little slut Gu Qianying to continue monopolizing the Ninth Prince's favor.
Regardless of whether this plan succeeded or not, she would definitely find a way to dig that vixen Gu Qianying out of the Ninth Prince's heart!
Gu Qianying was not worthy of the Ninth Prince at all. Only she, Lan Qingqing, was worthy of the Ninth Prince!
Loosening the handkerchief in her hand, Lan Qingqing walked over with a feigned look of concern. "Your Highness, you must be exhausted after being out for so long. Please go and rest. Qingqing will attend to things here alone."
If she was left alone, she could "properly attend" to that damned slut Gu Qianying.
As she spoke, Lan Qingqing secretly touched the needle and thread bag hidden on her person.
Although she hadn't done the work of a lowly maid in the past few days, she had kept the needle and thread bag used by maids with her.
The torture of needles, piercing the ten fingers, the needles entering the meridians—she imagined Gu Qianying, that wretched woman, could endure such torture.
As she lowered her gaze, a sinister and venomous glint flashed across her eyes.
"No need."
Nangong Mo did not look at her. His gaze remained fixed on Gu Qianying.
His cold words almost drove Lan Qingqing mad.
"It's alright, truly alright. Qingqing can stay here and inform Your Highness as soon as the Princess wakes up, alright?"
Lan Qingqing continued to persuade Nangong Mo with her words, but in her heart, she desperately wished that after Nangong Mo left the room, she could use needles on Gu Qianying and, if she could also pour something filthy and disgusting into Gu Qianying's mouth, she thought no one would discover it.
If she were discovered, she could lie and say that although the Ninth Princess was unconscious, she had experienced the strange occurrence of incontinence.
People! These trivial matters, though embarrassing, were unavoidable.
Lan Qingqing's thoughts made the glint in her eyes even more venomous.
Nangong Mo, with his back to her, did not notice the expression on her face. He said impatiently, "Noisy!"
"Your Highness..." Lan Qingqing was unwilling.
"Get out!" Nangong Mo shouted coldly.
Lan Qingqing's expression was as ugly as a palette.
"Yes, Your Highness. Qingqing takes her leave."
Opening the door, as she left, Lan Qingqing glanced at Gu Qianying, who lay on the bed. The hatred in her heart for Gu Qianying seemed to have fermented.
Gu Qianying, you little slut, just you wait!
After leaving the bedchamber, Lan Qingqing first went to find Steward Qi, but Steward Qi was not in the mansion. She didn't see him, and her doubts remained unresolved.
She then went to the courtyard where the wet nurse lived.
Meanwhile,
Nangong Mo stayed in the bedchamber to accompany Gu Qianying. When the time it took for an incense stick to burn was up, Du Chun entered with people carrying the medicinal soup.
Upon arriving, Du Chun handed the bowl of soup to a maid. "Go, quickly feed the Princess this medicine. If it cools, it will lose its effect."
"Bring it here!" Nangong Mo said coldly at this moment.
"A'Mo! This..." How could he? Du Chun tried to stop him.
How could a dignified prince stoop to feeding medicine!
"Du Chun!"
A cold utterance made Du Chun lower his head.
The maid quickly handed the jade bowl of medicinal soup to Nangong Mo and immediately retreated.
"All of you, get out!"
Nangong Mo disliked having too many people in the bedchamber.
In a moment, only Nangong Mo was left in the bedchamber. He held the medicinal soup and personally fed Gu Qianying.
He fed her one spoonful at a time.
But Gu Qianying's swallowing speed was very slow.
Nangong Mo frowned and simply drank all the medicinal soup himself.
He leaned down, pinched Gu Qianying's chin, and looked at her at close range with his exquisitely beautiful face.
His thin, sensual lips covered hers, and the intensely bitter medicinal soup flowed from his mouth into hers.
To prevent Nangong Mo from noticing anything amiss, Gu Qianying had already pricked herself unconscious with a silver needle before he entered.
At this moment, she had no idea how Nangong Mo fed her the medicine, nor did she know that after feeding her the soup, Nangong Mo personally changed the dressing on her chest wound.
Du Chun was a male physician, and there were no female physicians in the mansion. For tasks like applying medicine, Nangong Mo felt it was best to do it himself.
The next day, Gu Qianying woke up, and the first thing she saw was an exquisitely beautiful face.
Nangong Mo had stayed by Gu Qianying's side all night. During this time, Gu Qianying had woken up once, but she had fallen asleep again due to extreme tiredness.
When she woke up this time, she realized that Nangong Mo was asleep, leaning by her bedside.
His head was pressed below her abdomen, and his hand was tightly clasped with hers.
At such close proximity and in such an intimate posture, she felt somewhat flustered.
Gu Qianying wanted to withdraw her hand and move Nangong Mo's head away, but as soon as she moved, Nangong Mo woke up.
She quickly closed her eyes, continuing to feign sleep.
After Nangong Mo woke up, his gaze lingered on Gu Qianying's face for a moment, and a faint smile curved his lips. "Awake?"
Gu Qianying kept her eyes tightly shut, continuing to pretend to be asleep.
At this moment, she didn't know what expression to use to face Nangong Mo.
"Hmm, it seems you're not awake yet."
At some point, Nangong Mo had already left his wheelchair and sat by the bedside. "It's still early, and this King didn't rest well last night. So, Princess, accompany this King to sleep a bit longer."
As he spoke, Nangong Mo took off his outer robe and casually tossed it on the floor.
He lay down close to Gu Qianying, his large, warm hand encircling her head, letting Gu Qianying rest her head on his arm, while his other hand rested on her slender waist, gradually moving upwards...