Who didn’t know that Gu Lianzhang’s martial arts were immeasurably deep? If he personally made a move, who could guarantee their safety? They dared not resist and melted into the crowd, calling for their soldiers to charge.
However, the soldiers hesitated. Their original goal was to rescue the Crown Prince and eliminate traitors. Since Wei Shu was now deemed a criminal who murdered the monarch, and with a new Emperor established without pursuit of their crimes, many threw down their weapons. The once fierce rebel army disintegrated.
Gu Lianzhang observed for a moment, noting the retreating rebel army, before turning to leave.
Halfway, he was stopped by an Eastern Factory commander who said, “Chief Supervisor, there’s a secret passage in the palace. Wei Shu and the Crown Prince’s wife have escaped!”
Gu Lianzhang’s heart skipped a beat. A secret passage he didn’t know about? What about Ruan Ning?
Before the commander could react, Gu Lianzhang vanished, his voice echoing: “Seal all exits and capture Wei Shu and the Crown Prince’s wife!”
Min Shi had been transferred to Nanjing and, if no one was secretly sabotaging him, he would not have known about Ruan Ning and Gu Lianchang being together or returned to the capital so smoothly.
Gu Lianchang looked uncertain, fearing Ruan Ning still had feelings for Min Shi. At that moment, Ruan Ning stood on tiptoe and gently kissed him, softly saying, “Don’t worry.”
“Ning Ning!” Min Shi felt heartbroken, thinking she was trying to save him.
“Min Shi, leave. I stopped liking you long ago,” Ruan Ning said, waving him off. “I’m doing fine here. Don’t come looking for me again.”
She hooked arms with Gu Lianchang, who felt more at peace despite the blood on his sword. Ruan Ning then whispered, “Something’s wrong with Xiu Xin. I never instructed her to keep people from entering. We must catch her.”
Gu Lianchang realized the previous scene was ambiguous and that Xiu Xin’s actions were intended to mislead him into thinking Ruan Ning was meeting her old lover. He struggled to understand who wanted this outcome and why.
He felt he was missing clues in the situation, such as the Virtuous Concubine’s sudden suicide and Xiu Xin’s motives. Finding Xiu Xin might provide the answers he needed.
But after searching everywhere, they couldn’t find Xiu Xin.
In the darkest moment before dawn, the rebellion was completely suppressed. The Eastern Palace’s personal guards suffered significant casualties, with the remaining captured. The Imperial Guards and Tiger Cavalry soldiers mutinied, killing their commanders and surrendering. However, Wei Shu and Qin Zhi were still unaccounted for.
“Qin Zhi,” Gu Lianchang recalled, “Bring all the people she has used. I want to interrogate them personally.”
From her proposal to collaborate, to fainting and returning to the Eastern Palace, to the palace fire, traces of the Crown Princess were evident. Wei Shu’s hesitation suggested the uprising wasn’t his doing.
Qin Zhi had already taken over the late Empress’s people, and her spies were spread throughout the inner palace. Gu Lianchang interrogated her less important subordinates for an entire day, piecing together Qin Zhi’s actions.
“What was Xiu Xin’s purpose in getting close to the Empress Dowager?” Gu Lianchang asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
“Xiu Xin? We don’t know if she’s the Crown Princess’s person,” the captured subordinates replied, shaking their heads in confusion.
An old palace maid trembled, saying, “This servant vaguely heard a female official near the Crown Princess mention that she may have someone at the Empress Dowager’s side, but I don’t know if it was Xiu Xin.”
“Raid the Qin family. Detain all male and female relatives in the imperial prison for interrogation. Find Qin Zhi within three days!” Gu Lianchang ordered, sensing that Qin Zhi had more tricks up her sleeve.
He hurried to find Ruan Ning, who was guarding the mourning hall, looking pale and exhausted. Disregarding the surprised looks around him, he quickly walked over and supported her, softly asking, “The Empress Dowager?”
“Commander,” Ruan Ning replied, slightly dazed and exhausted from keeping vigil. She had been kneeling for so long, unable to rest, and could only eat cold food.
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is not feeling well. This subject will escort her back to the palace to rest,” Gu Lianchang said.
Wei Ying added, “Mother’s complexion does not look good. There’s no need to come today. Rest assured and recuperate. I am here.”
Ruan Ning held Gu Lianchang’s hand, feeling weak and puzzled, saying softly, “It’s only been a few hours of kneeling. How can I be this tired?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, her body slid down. Gu Lianchang carried her horizontally, rushing to the Kun Ning Palace.
“Summon the imperial physician! Quickly!”
The physician tried but couldn’t diagnose any illness. Ruan Ning didn’t feel pain, just fatigue, yet Gu Lianchang’s brow furrowed tighter.
“Summon all the famous doctors in the capital to the palace. Ensure the Empress Dowager’s health!” he ordered.
Ruan Ning grabbed his sleeve, “I should just be tired. It’s nothing.”
Gu Lianchang remained alert. Everything seemed strange, and he had to ensure safety.
The next afternoon, the Qin family confessed possible hideouts for Qin Zhi, and the Eastern Factory’s subordinates went to investigate. By nightfall, a wandering doctor suggested that the Empress Dowager might have been poisoned by a curse.
“I traveled in Yunnan and Guizhou years ago. The mountain people there have this type of poison. The symptoms are similar, but the curse is complex. It’s hard to determine the exact type without the person who placed it,” the doctor said helplessly. “Commander Gu, I cannot confirm the Empress Dowager’s exact condition.”
“How can it be treated?” Gu Lianchang asked urgently.
“I don’t know,” the wandering doctor lowered his head, hesitant to speak.
Ruan Ning felt dizzy. When was she cursed? She had no idea!
“Carefully recall, when Xiu Xin last saw you, was there anything strange?” Gu Lianchang asked patiently, suppressing his anxiety.
Ruan Ning thought long before recalling that her first action was grabbing her wrist. She rolled up her sleeve to examine it. Her skin was smooth, with no marks, but she did feel a subtle pain at the time.
“Mountain people usually place a curse by first inducing the victim to take medicine to prevent sudden death when the curse enters the body. When the time is right, they guide the curse into the body through the skin with blood. The Empress Dowager felt pain in her wrist, which might be when the curse was introduced,” the wandering doctor explained.
Ruan Ning looked at Gu Lianchang, feeling frustrated. How could it be like this? She had originally suspected that Wei Shu and Gu Lianchang might confront each other, using her as a hostage, but a curse? How could this be resolved?
“Don’t be afraid,” Gu Lianchang said, holding her hand tightly. “I’m here. Nothing will happen.”
On a winter noon, Qin Zhi and Wei Shu were captured in the suburbs and brought before Gu Lianchang.
“Where is Xiu Xin? How do we cure the Empress Dowager’s parasitic poison?” Gu Lianchang asked expressionlessly.
Qin Zhi remained calm, saying, “Xiu Xin is dead. Ruan Ning is infected with a mother-child parasite, with the mother parasite planted on me. If you want Ruan Ning to live, you’d better listen to me.”
The mother-child parasite consists of one mother parasite and numerous child parasites. If the mother parasite dies, all child parasites will also die. Xiu Xin, a parasite breeding expert, had carefully maintained the mother parasite. While serving Ruan Ning, she secretly administered medication and found Ruan Ning during the chaos in the inner palace, successfully planting the child parasite on her.
