Chapter 26: Gu Xinglang of the Previous Timeline
Because Qingyu grabbed for the bowl, its contents ended up splashing all over her face instead. The bridal chambers fell silent except for her shrieks.
Yu Xiaoxiao was rather lost as she looked towards Wang momo. “The medicine’s not scalding.” It wouldn’t burn her face, so why the wretched screaming?
Wang momo only smiled coldly at Qingyu, who had covered her face with her hands. Yu Xiaoxiao pulled those hands away and said, “Enough, don’t yell. Let me see your face.”
The tepid medicine hadn’t harmed Qingyu’s face, but her makeup was ruined. Rouge and powder mixed with the dark green hue of the decoction to turn her cheeks ghastly.
“Your Royal Highness, this is third young master’s medicine, ah,” Qingyu wept, “Even if you’re angry at this servant, you shouldn’t throw out third young master’s medicine.”
Wang momo was furious. She was just beginning to think the Gu Clan wasn’t half bad when this little vixen showed up!
Yu Xiaoxiao was even more lost. “Am I supposed to be angry at you? What did you do?”
Qingyu choked. She couldn’t very well say that she wanted to climb into third young master’s bed without sounding rude.
“Momo,” Yu Xiaoxiao brought Qingyu to Wang momo’s side. “Take her out to wash her face.”
Wang momo hauled Qingyu by her shirt and headed for the exit. Gu Xinglang and Gu Xingnuo had remained silent throughout the entire exchange. Old Madam had said she’d gift Qingyu to Gu Xinglang. Although nothing had happened between the pair in the prisons, Gu Xinglang couldn’t very well cast this eldest servant girl aside just because he was free and married to the princess now. The Gu Clan wasn’t capable of such heartless acts, so they knew the best solution was for her to join Gu Xinglang’s household soon. However, it was impossible for them to tell Princess Linglong all this at once.
“Were you hurt by the fire?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked as she sat on the bed.
“Princess,” Gu Xingnuo spoke up, “You can speak with Xinglang first, I’ll take my leave.”
“Mm, see you later, big brother,” Yu Xiaoxiao nodded towards him.
The eldest Gu grandson left as if fleeing for his life.
“Say something, ah. Didn’t the new house catch on fire?” Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t notice Gu Xingnuo fleeing as she repeated her question.
“I wasn’t hurt,” Gu Xinglang said after his brother left. “Second brother brought me out.”
“And those two little ones?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.
“They’re fine as well,” Gu Xinglang replied. “Your Royal Highness, just then Qingyu was–”
“Qingyu?” Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t wait for him to finish. “That’s not a bad name. She’s your servant girl?”
“She’s–”
“I’ll help you treat your legs,” Yu Xiaoxiao lifted the covers over Gu Xinglang’s knees and rolled up his trouser legs again. Once again, she examined the wounds as she said, “It’ll be a difficult surgery, but it’s not my first time doing an operation. You needn’t fear.” While she was fighting, fractures and injuries like this were commonplace. Yu Xiaoxiao could never be so confident if Gu Xinglang had internal injuries, but reconnecting tissue was easy enough.
“There’s no need for the princess to console me,” Gu Xinglang said.
Yu Xiaoxiao raised her head to look at him. “I never console people.” Her voice was so serious that Gu Xinglang was struck dumb for a while.
Finally, he said, “Y, you know medicine too?” First he’d heard that she was a delicate, virtuous beauty, then that she was an extremely valiant fighter, and now she was some miracle doctor too? They’d already invited all of the famous doctors in the capital city, who said his legs were hopeless. Would she have any solutions?
“Those in charge of killing are in charge of burials too,” Yu Xiaoxiao explained.
Gu Xinglang fell silent. What did that have to do with medical skills?
“You don’t understand?”
Gu Xinglang shook his head.
“Someone who can hack people down need to save them too,” Yu Xiaoxiao explained. “As a drillmaster, urk, I mean my master–my master taught me medical science too. Or is it medical skills?”
There were some foreign terms to Gu Xinglang’s ears, but he got the general gist. The high level expert not only taught Her Royal Highness martial arts, but how to heal.
“I know you were framed,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “Let’s heal your injuries fist, then take revenge. We’ll pay them back for all the injustice.”
“You believe me?” Gu Xinglang asked.
Yu Xiaoxiao nodded. “If you were a bad guy, I wouldn’t bother with you at all.”
A strange feeling filled Gu Xinglang’s chest, a mix of joy and grief. For a second, he couldn’t tell which was which. Currently, his young wife was sitting at his bedside, still dressed in her wedding robes. Her expression looked ready to beat someone up, but the warmth in her gaze was like the sun. Gu Xinglang sighed and told Yu Xiaoxiao, “Princess, thank you for trusting me.”
“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before,” Yu Xiaoxiao muttered for herself while studying his face.
Gu Xinglang finally laughed. “When Your Royal Highness was three years old, I saw you in the palace.” At that time, his mother had gone to pay respects to the empress dowager, who was so taken with the seven-year-old Gu Xinglang that she set their betrothal agreement.
“Three years old?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked offhandedly. “Then, what did I look like?”
Gu Xinglang shook his head. “I didn’t see Your Royal Highness’s face.” At that time, the young princess had been sleeping soundly in the empress’s arms and the blankets had obscured her features.
“The Defender General’s Estate,” Yu Xiaoxiao muttered to herself. She stared at Gu Xinglang’s face a while longer before remembering him. As the cruel female emperor, she had ordered the excavation of a barren hill east of the capital to uncover a few skeletons, then buried them with full honors after inviting an eminent monk to say prayers for the bodies to give their souls passage into the afterlife. A certain skeleton in the pile had been placed in her personal mausoleum to accompany her in death, but its name had been Gu Qinghui (顾清辉).
“Who’s Gu Qinghui?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.
Gu Xinglang knitted his brows. “Qinghui is my courtesy name.” Had no one told the princess these things before her marriage?
“So Gu Qinghui is your name too?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.
“Yes,” Gu Xinglang nodded.
Yu Xiaoxiao raised her hand to stroke Gu Xinglang’s forehead. She remembered that his skull had been stabbed through with a nail to prevent his soul from reincarnating into another life.
“What is it?” Gu Xinglang asked. He didn’t think much, just assumed that his hair had gotten messy from lying down for so long.
“Nothing,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “It’s great that you’re alive.”
Gu Xinglang paused before he rested his hand over Yu Xiaoxiao’s. “Thank you.”
“The days will get better,” Yu Xiaoxiao said as she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. Cheering up a bit, she added, “Gu Xinglang, I’m telling you now, some things are just fate.”
The cruel female emperor could neither pass her days with the third young master or rest with him in death, but they’d become husband and wife first thing in this lifetime. She had already resolved one of the cruel female emperor’s regrets, so Yu Xiaoxiao was certain her life would improve without retracing the other’s steps.
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