If Gu Qishao overheard Long Feiyeâs words, how would he react?
Perhaps heâd be just like Gu Beiyue. The doctor entreated, âYour Highness! There is still unrest in the four directions and the world is under chaos. You must return to the army soon! Ning Cheng and Jin Ziâs tiger troops will definitely be blocked by the snow and wind when winter falls. Itâs very likely Northern Li will use that chance to change their tactics, which means you must guard against them! Even now, the western front is rife with struggles thanks to its many army camps. Their generals have a reputation for being brutal and fierce. If they arenât satisfied, theyâll raise unrest and make the civilians suffer! As for the southâŚYour Highness should understand their situation very well. I expect someoneâs sewing the dragon robes for Your Highness already!â
Seeing Long Feiye refuse to budge, Gu Beiyue went on, âYour Highness, even if you wait in Medical City for a year, Cloud Realm will still be yours eventually! But imagine how many rebellions and battles could happen during that time? Missing out on this year means youâll need to spend three more wresting back the peace and establishing your own kingdom as emperor.â
Long Feiye understood all this.
âYour Highness, neither you nor the princess will be of much help if you stay. Gu Qishaoâs the best choice for hunting down ingredients and combining them. As the princess is pregnant, she cannot do such tasks!â Gu Beiyue finished.
Long Feiye waved a hand to indicate that he didnât have to continue. After a long moment of silence, he said, âIf thereâs anything you need, just tell Xu Donglin. And send me any updates via secret missives.â
âUnderstood,â Gu Beiyue replied seriously.
At the same time, Han Yunxi was in Fourth Young Miss Renâs room, clueless to the truth. The young woman examined her hand and prescribed some medicine for her to try. Han Yunxi was ready to leave when Fourth Young Miss Ren called her back.
âPrincess, please wait,â she said, âLet me help you examine your arm.â
Arm? While Han Yunxi was puzzling over that, Fourth Young Miss Ren murmured hastily, âPrincess, I have a request.â
âWhat is it? Do the walls have ears?â Han Yunxi lowered her voice as well.
âItâs not that, butâŚâ Fourth Young Miss Ren felt helpless. Now Han Yunxi was even more confused. Does this have anything to do with Gu Beiyue? She could tell that the girl liked the doctor. In fact, this was true for all females in Medical City. They liked the young and accomplished unmarried Academy Head. Aside from the elevation in status, anyone who married him would be lucky enough to wake and see his gentle as an April spring breeze smile everyday and be happy for the rest of her life.
Han Yunxi couldnât read Gu Beiyueâs heart, especially after he said things like he didnât love anyone. His mind was a mystery to her.
Fourth Young Miss Renâs voice grew even softer. âPrincess, there areâthere are ears above us.â
Above us? Before Han Yunxi could look up, Fourth Young Miss Ren quickly stopped her. âYou can look later, or else itâll know I tattled!â
Still lost in a fog, Han Yunxi did as she was told. She pretended to leave and walked to the exit, only to glance back and seeâŚ.
âŚand see Lil Thing hanging off the rafters, its round black eyes staring at Fourth Young Miss Ren! It hadnât realized itâd been discovered yet. Fourth Young Miss Ren didnât even dare to lift her head. Just how much did she fear Lil Thing? After being stared at for a few days, Fourth Young Miss Ren initially assumed that Lil Thing liked her and even tried to tease the little squirrel into a hug.
It would have been better if she didnât try, because the action gave hr a fright. Lil Thing clearly saw her as an enemy. When she tried to play with it using a stalk of grass, it almost bit her fingers off. She ran off to find Academy Head Beiyue straight away, but never reached the door before Lil Thing forced her back. Then she tried sending a young medical assistant in her place, but he too, was turned away. Apparently, all matters of the medical academy had been temporarily handed ove to Vice Academy Head Shen while Academy Head Beiyue was refusing all visitors.
Then she thought of seeking out the princess, but Lil Thing blocked her path and almost gnawed through her shoes. Although she couldnât understand the creatureâs cheeping, she understood it was warning her not to tattle or else itâd be in trouble. Fourth Young Miss Ren didnât understand Lil Thing very well, but she had heard of the famous poison beast since her young while growing up in Medical City! Of course she wouldnât dare provoke the animal.
At last, she found her chance today to tell the princess in secret.
â
Han Yunxi studied Lil Thing for awhile, but the always alert squirrel never noticed her.
This fellow, I havenât seen hair or hide of it for days. So it was causing trouble for Fourth Young Miss Ren all this time? But why would it do that?
Fourth Young Miss Ren was her lifesaver. If Bai Yanqing had captured any other doctor, even an obstrtrics one, there was no guarantee they could have sent out those prescriptions successfully. âCough, cough,â Han Yunxi coughed lightly.
Lil Thing didnât react.
Han Yunxi coughed again, catching Fourth Young Miss Renâs attention. Lil Thing still didnât budge, its eyes flaring with animosity as it glared at the other woman. At last, Han Yunxiâs gaze turned cold before Lil Thing vanished in mid-air. Without a doubt, she had sealed it into her poison storage space.
âIâm really sorry about this. I didnât discipline it well and caused you trouble,â Han Yunxi apologized, then pressed, âDid you have any misunderstandings with Lil Thing?â
Fourth Young Miss Ren wanted to cry. âPrincess, thatâs the poison beast!â
Han Yunxi was left speechless. Finally she said, âDonât worry, there wonât be a next time. Iâll bring it back and teach it a lesson. In the future, Iâll have it make things up to you.â
âNo need no need! Princess, youâre too polite!â Fourth Young Miss Ren quickly waved her hands. The best thing for the princess to do is to take Lil Thing out of Medical City. Otherwise, itâll hold a grudge and make my days miserable.
Han Yunxi smiled helplessly. âActually, I donât understand it either. Iâll have Gu Beiyue talk to it later; maybe heâll glean a few clues.â
âAcademy Head BeiyueâŚcan talk to it?â Fourth Young Miss Ren grew curious.
Han Yunxi smiled. âLil Thing adores Beiyue. Even Iâm ranked second, and Iâm its master. Back in Tianning, Lil Thing would always be running off to his house and stay there the entire day. Whenever it cheeped, Beiyue knew what it wantd to do.â
Lil Thing was throwing a temper tantrum in the poison storage space. Without a choice, Han Yunxi could only release the creature and hold it firmly in her hands, covering up its eyes. Lil Thing grew quiet then and didnât fuss anymore.
Seeing this, Fourth Young Miss Ren calmed down, then asked, âThenâŚAcademy Head Beiyue must like it a lot too?â
Han Yunxi chuckled softly. âGu Beiyue is a man who likes cleanliness too. If he didnât like Lil Thing, why would he hold this furball with his bare hands? Or let Lil Thing burrow into his sleeves?â
Fourth Young Miss Ren stared at Lil Thing before a flickr of envy rose to her eyes. How happy must it be to be a squirrel whoâs constantly at his side?
If Lil Thing could still understand human speech, itâd be thrilled to hear Mama Yunxi talk about the gentleman Beiyue liking it! But after losing too much of its power, it didnât understand a thing. It peeked through Mama Yunxiâs fingers to spy on Fourth Young Miss Ren, its eyes filled with hostility. It could tell that Fourth Young Miss Ren liked its gentleman and that he treated her very well. Of all the woman in the medical academy, Fourth Young Miss Ren had the closest relationship with the gentleman.
It had to be on guard! It wanted to chase her away!
In its heart, only Mama Yunxi was a worthy match for its gentleman. No one else could compare. Once upon a time, Lil Thing wanted to recover faster so it could communicate telpathically with Mama Yunxi and have her tell the gentleman itâd stay with him for a lifetime. But after being trapped in Bai Yanqingâs poison storage space, suppressing its temper, and finally leveling up enough to share its thoughts, it had actually hurt the gentleman with its own claws. After Bai Yanqing was captured, it began to hope for a day when it could return to the gentlemanâs embrace once again. Yet it couldnât even meet his eyes now, much less burrow into his arms. It was afraid of hurting the gentleman or seeing its disdainful gaze.
Now it desperately wished it could communicate with Mama Yunxi again, if only to beg the gentleman through her not to settle for making do with itself. Fourth Young Miss Ren sensed Lil Thingâs hidden enmity and began to tremble.
âFourth Young Miss?â Han Yunxi waved her hand in front of the girl until she recovered. She was afraid to ask before, but dearly wanted to know what Gu Beiyue was doing these days.
After some hesitation, Fourth Young Miss Ren tried timidly, âPrincess, will Academy Head Beiyue leave the medical academy this time?â
After taking his position, Gu Beiyue had entered closed door cultivation, then left the city and only returned recently. Fourth Young Miss Ren was afraid that heâd go off somewhere again.
âHe shouldnât be, I donât think?â Han Yunxi knew Gu Beiyueâs plans very well, but she didnât want to reveal too much since it concerned Gu Qishao.
Fourth Young Miss Ren was delighted. She didnât know what to say, but kept smiling at Han Yunxi. When you liked someone, your eyes would light up at the sight or mention of their matters. It was impossible to hide such joy. Seeing Fourth Young Miss Renâs shining pupils, then recalling Gu Beiyueâs denial of love, made Han Yunxi sigh softly to herself. She wasnât nosy enough to barge into Gu Beiyueâs personal affairs, especially when he was going to be busy these days. He probably had no time to think about romance either.
After bidding Fourth Young Miss Ren farewell, Han Yunxi brought Lil Thing back with her. In the rooms, she placed it on the table and gave it a stormy glare. No matter how I teach it a lesson, Lil Thing canât understand me. But a glare like this should be enough to pass on my warning.
Of course Lil Thing knew Mama Yunxi was trying to discipline it, but it stubbornly refused to admit its wrongs. By the time Long Feiye and Gu Beiyue appeared, they saw human and squirrel locked in a staring contestâŚ