“Don’t be afraid. The humans in the mortal world now are scarier than ghosts.” Qingwan whispered.
Qian Fu’s face instantly turned pale. He thought for a while about what he had experienced these days before he said, “You’re right, my lady.”
Qingwan looked up and thought, “Though I do have some knowledge about poisons, I’m still not as skillful as my aunt. Sigh, what a pity. Aunt has not left anything behind.”
Qian Fu said in disgust, “This Gu household is seriously lack of compassion and empathy. They took all the valuables from the second mistress after her death and did not even leave the acupuncture needles for our lady. What a bunch of heartless people.”
Yue Niang was staggered by the conversation. She suddenly pushed open the room doors, dashed to the entrance of the courtyard and shouted at the two servants, “Our lady is still hungry. Go to the kitchen and bring over any hot food you can find.”
Though the servants were reluctant to leave, they did not dare to let their lady go hungry.
Once Yue Niang noticed that they were out of the courtyard, she closed the door behind her and entered the lady’s room. She then opened the box and took out a hard pillow embroidered with flowers.
“What are you doing, Yue Niang?”
“My lady, this pillow is left behind by the second mistress. She wanted me to keep it for survival.”
Qingwan did not quite understand what she meant and asked, “What did she mean by that?”
Instead of explaining, Yue Niang took a pair of scissors and tried to remove the threads sewn on the pillow. The more she tried to remove them, the more anxious she became. In the end, she decided to throw away the scissors and use her hands to tear the pillow apart.
Snap.
Countless pieces of paper and balls of cotton were seen flying in the air.
Gu Qingwan stretched out her hand and grabbed onto one of the pieces. Her eyes were wide with amazement when she saw the content on the pieces of paper.
…
It was past midnight in winter.
Deep in the bamboo grove, a slim figure was standing with a smile on her face. Her silhouette seemed to merge with the dark sky.
When the calamity was approaching, her grandfather knew that everything was coming to an end. He decided to pass all of Qian family assets and medical prescriptions to Qian Fu, in the hope of him to hand them over to her aunt. His only hope was to leave a chance of survival in the Qian household.
On the other hand, her aunt sewed all her savings and medical prescriptions she had kept over the years into the pillow before she died. She had obviously felt despaired the moment she was forced by the Gu family to consume the poison.
The lives and deaths of the commoners were all dependable on the Emperor. The moment the Crown Prince enraged the Emperor over that incident, the entire Qian household was implicated and no one could survive from it…
At that time, her aunt had no one she could trust to hand over her large amount of funds. Hence, she decided to hide them into a pillow and gave it to Yue Niang. Her wish was to protect this loyal servant who had been with her since young as well as granted her a lifetime of wealth.
However, Yue Niang did not only choose to stay, she decided to protect Qingwan. Now, she had handed over the prescriptions and funds to her.
This was something her family had left for her. What should she do so that she would not disappoint them?
…
Qian Fu and Yue Niang stayed by the lady’s side.
Under the moonlight, both of their faces seemed to be in agony.
Since noon, their sixth lady had been standing there motionlessly for more than 10 – 12 hours.
A sad and soft sigh was heard. Gu Qingwan gradually turned around. Her eyes seemed exceptionally bright in the dark night.
“Uncle Fu, about the Qian household case, what did the yamen say?”
Qian Fu cried, “The yamen reported the case on the following day to the capital’s Administration Office and Inspection Department, they said…they said…”
“What did they say?”
“The Qian household case was simply a natural disaster. There was no arson evidence.”
“What about the 36 medical halls under the Qian household?”
Qian Fu cried, “All 36 medical halls were confiscated by the officials, my lady.”
This outcome was just as she had expected to be.
Qingwan felt anguished about what had happened, but she appeared calm in front of them.
“Uncle Fu, Yue Niang, the Qian household is not dead yet.”
Her voice was very gentle, yet firm.
“I want to open a Qian household medical hall in every city and every prefecture on this land. “I want everyone on this land to be proud of consuming our medicine.”
Qian Fu and Yue Niang were dumbfounded as they stared intensively at their lady.
The lady in front of them seemed to have matured overnight. Her slim and small body emitted a strong and determined aura, and her actions were as firm as before. She revealed a gentle smile on her face.
Qian Fu and Yue Niang had a strange feeling. It was as if this lady in front of them was the only girl in this world that could revive their hopes.
…
It was early morning in winter.
The weather was deadly cold.
The fire, which Yue Niang had woken up in the middle of the night to light up at the fireplace, had extinguished then.
After noticing that no one in the Gu family had cared about the sixth lady, the two servants were lazy to even serve their night duties. Yue Niang was the only one who was busily taking care of the lady.
Qian Fu, who was old and limped, was ordered to clean the toilets by the management of the Gu household. It was the toughest task in residence. The only advantage was that he was allowed to move around every courtyard, which meant that it was easier for him to inquire information now.
The wood block in the early morning sounded. Yue Niang noisily got out of her bed, carelessly put on a cotton-padded coat and took the lamp. She then quietly tiptoed into the room to tuck in her lady’s blanket.
“Ah!”
Yue Niang was surprised when she saw her lady staring at her with her big eyes.
“My lady, you didn’t sleep the whole night again?”
Qingwan put down her medical books and yawned. She asked, “What’s the date today?”
Yue Niang adjusted the lamplight brighter before she went forward to hug her lady. She said, “The moment you started reading your medical books, you’ll forget about the dates. It’s the 30th today.”