The surrounding area of Fushou Palace was reinforced with a batch of patrolling guards.
Even the palace maids guarding the entrance had increased in number.
Deep in the night.
Two figures darted across the rooftops of the high walls.
"Master, I'll go lure the guards away."
Leng Ye, dressed in a night-blooming outfit, followed behind Gu Qianying.
Glancing at the patrolling guards, Gu Qianying raised her hand, "Go, be careful."
Leng Ye nodded, turned, and flew towards the ground below the rooftops.
He created a significant commotion.
After deliberately killing one of the guards, he swaggered towards a densely populated area.
"Come quickly, catch the assassin!"
The patrolling guards all gave chase.
Gu Qianying, hidden in the shadows, watched as Leng Ye drew away the patrolling guards.
She stepped into Fushou Palace, passed through the back courtyard, and arrived at a Buddhist hall.
This was where, according to Leng Ye, the Grand Empress Dowager recited scriptures and prayed for blessings.
There were no guards inside or outside the Buddhist hall, and Gu Qianying entered smoothly.
Following Leng Ye's instructions, Gu Qianying approached the waist-high porcelain vase and turned it according to the method Leng Ye described.
In the enclosed Buddhist hall, the walls shifted, and a hidden chamber appeared before her.
Gu Qianying pushed open the door to the hidden chamber and stepped inside.
Upon entering, she was hit by a pungent, thick smell of blood.
Gu Qianying frowned and walked in, guided by the dim candlelight.
Seeing several pools of semi-dried blood on the ground, she followed the direction of the bloodstains.
What met her eyes was a large iron cage, and inside it was a person whose entire body was mangled and bloody, their appearance unrecognizable.
Gu Qianying's arrival seemed to startle the person in the iron cage.
The person cowered in a corner, using hands that were devoid of skin and had broken fingers, all covered in blood, to grip the iron cage tightly. They hunched their head, afraid to look this way.
As if receiving a great shock.
As Gu Qianying approached, she realized that this bloodied and mangled person had lost both legs, and the decaying flesh beneath where their legs should have been emitted a disgusting, foul odor.
If Leng Ye hadn't told her that the person imprisoned in the Buddhist hall by the Grand Empress Dowager was Nangong Mo's wet nurse, Granny Shi.
At this point, she could hardly imagine that the person before her was Granny Shi?
The person who, even when gravely ill, still thought of ways to make things difficult for her and find fault with her, had become like this.
The closer she got, the clearer it became that Granny Shi's wounds were gnawed and rotten, and her exposed skin was also without skin!
Seeing Granny Shi in such a state, Gu Qianying was stunned.
In the Ninth Prince's mansion, although Granny Shi disliked her, there was no deep-seated hatred between them.
For this reason, seeing Granny Shi in such a state, Gu Qianying felt a pang of sympathy.
She cautiously stepped forward and softly called out to her, "Granny Shi, it's me."
The familiar voice suddenly echoed in her ears.
Granny Shi was startled. She trembled and raised her head, looking towards Gu Qianying.
Gu Qianying had already reached her, and they looked at each other through the iron cage.
Gu Qianying's gaze did not waver, allowing Granny Shi to examine her from head to toe.
After a long while.
Granny Shi began to cry with muffled sobs.
She extended her relatively intact right finger through the gap in the iron cage.
The dried blood had scabbed over her palms and the backs of her hands.
Perhaps due to lack of treatment, the flesh below her wrist had become rotten, emitting a foul and pungent smell.
Gu Qianying did not show any disgust. She reached out and took Granny Shi's right hand.
It was then that she discovered Granny Shi could not speak; her tongue had been pulled out.
Her sympathy deepened.
Gu Qianying's gaze turned slightly cold.
That old hag, the Grand Empress Dowager, was truly cruel and ruthless.
The iron cage was impenetrable.
Yet, Gu Qianying split it open with two palms.
Granny Shi swayed precariously, trying to stand up, but unable to due to the loss of her legs.
Gu Qianying supported her.
"Granny Shi, I'll take you away."
Gu Qianying, supporting Granny Shi, tried to carry her on her back to leave, but Granny Shi stopped her.
"Wuwuwu, wuwuwu..."
It wasn't the pain from her wounds, but rather the overwhelming emotion of seeing Gu Qianying that made Granny Shi cry out with muffled sobs.
Several times Gu Qianying tried to take her away, but she was refused.
She extended her bloody finger and wrote two words on Gu Qianying's palm.
Gu Qianying's pupils contracted sharply.
After Granny Shi finished writing the two words, she collapsed softly at Gu Qianying's feet, her breath gone.
At this moment.
Gu Qianying's eyes welled up with tears.
She reached out with a trembling hand and closed Granny Shi's wide-open eyes.
Granny Shi suffered from a hidden illness and was already critically ill, her life force depleted.
Even if her legs had been functional, she wouldn't have lived for many more days after being taken out.
If Granny Shi had wanted to hold on for a few more days, no matter how difficult, Gu Qianying would have taken her out.
But at this moment, Granny Shi had given up on her own.
She felt a sense of sorrow, but more so, a deep heartache.
When leaving the Buddhist hall, Gu Qianying still took Granny Shi with her.
She did not wish for Granny to continue suffering here; she wanted to give Granny a peaceful home.
Behind the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall.
She buried Granny Shi there.
After coming down from the back mountain.
Meng Qinghua intercepted her.
"Qianying, news has come from the military camp that the two people you sent to hide in the camp were killed last night. The Gu family's army is also trapped on their way back from the expedition. General Gu and Gu Yefeng were just appointed to the camp when people sent by the imperial court sidelined them. They now have no real power. Nan Rongqi, that bastard, truly left a contingency plan."
Meng Qinghua handed the letter from the book to Gu Qianying.
He kept track of matters in the military camp and the movements of the imperial court.
Unfolding the letter, Gu Qianying glanced at it, her icy eyes gathering a layer of frost.
Clenching the letter in her hand, the moment she opened her palm, the letter had already turned to ash.
"Send a message to Empress Chen of Xia, borrow troops from her to rescue the Gu family's army. After killing the commanding officer, bring the Gu family's army back to our country and secretly hand them over to my brother. To my grandfather, tell him to continue feigning weakness to cover for my brother, allowing my brother to quickly consolidate the army. Those who disobey, kill!"
As she spoke, a bloodthirsty glint flashed in Gu Qianying's eyes.
On the back mountain, the wind was strong, blowing her hair.
Looking at Gu Qianying's exquisite profile.
Meng Qinghua was stunned.
After being rescued by Old Man Bai and living incognito in the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall for many years, he had lost his former fighting spirit.
Even upon hearing of the massacre at the Ninth Prince's mansion and Nangong Mo's disappearance, he had not considered returning to his family to avenge Nangong Mo.
Later, he learned that Nangong Mo was not dead but had become Xiao Linzi, hidden within the Du Medical Sacred Hall.
At that time, he felt that as long as the person was alive, nothing else mattered.
And now, looking at the ambitious Gu Qianying.
Meng Qinghua felt a moment of disorientation, suddenly recalling the spirited times of six years ago.
"Good!"
With a single word, "Good!", Meng Qinghua's tone changed, and his previously lazy and leisurely demeanor also transformed at this moment.
Gu Qianying turned to look at him and smiled, "Have you thought it through?"
This question was incomprehensible to outsiders.
But Meng Qinghua understood it perfectly.
"Yes, I've thought it through."
"Good, I understand. Hand over the affairs of the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall to Cai Xia and Lan Qingqing, and then you may leave."
Gu Qianying knew very well that Meng Qinghua was a man with a past, and he possessed both talent and ability.
The Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall, in the end, was just a medical hall, and it would eventually return to the righteous path of treating and saving people.
And with Meng Qinghua unable to manage the琐事 here, she had to entrust them to others.
Lan Qingqing and Cai Xia were both her people, and both knew some medical skills, making them the most suitable to manage this place.
"Alright, I understand."
Saying this, Meng Qinghua took out a bamboo dragonfly from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Qianying.
"This is something I carved myself. I hope you like it."