Seeing that it was Yingzi, Gu Meiting hurried over to ask, “How is Beiyue?”

“He’s fine. The family head sent me to find some medicine,” Yingzi answered, unwilling to reveal too much in front of this couple.

Gu Meiting glanced at the Blood Spirit Grass in Yingzi’s basket. Though she felt a pang of reluctance, she didn’t dare ask more about it — after all, it was meant for Jun Beiyue.

In her heart, she still held some wariness toward Jun Beiyue. After all, he was the hope of the Gu family. If the Gu family fell, what kind of eldest young lady would she even be?

“Take whatever you need. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to come ask me anytime,” Gu Meiting said warmly.

Jiang Chen, who rarely spoke, added, “Guard Yingzi, don’t be shy. Take whatever you need.”

Yingzi nodded, though inwardly he sneered coldly. If his master had already accepted the Gu family, his master would be the master of this storehouse — this couple wouldn’t even have the standing to be so generously “granting” things here, especially Jiang Chen, an outsider!

He really dared to think of himself as the master of this place!

Yingzi had already found the medicinal herbs Physician Gu had asked for, and had no wish to linger. He said flatly, “You two, I’ll be on my way.”

“Mm, hurry along. Beiyue’s waiting for his medicine. I’ll go see him again later,” Gu Meiting said pleasantly.

But the moment Yingzi left, she immediately asked, “Jiang Chen, what exactly is that Blood Spirit Grass?”

“Fresh Blood Spirit Grass — it was probably just brought into the storehouse. It takes twenty to thirty years to mature. If a normal person takes it, it strengthens the dantian and boosts internal energy. If a patient takes it, it replenishes both qi and blood — nothing could suit Mother-in-law better.”

Jiang Chen rubbed his nose, speaking as though it were nothing important.

“Twenty, thirty years… when did such a treasure get added to the storehouse? The medicine our Yuan’er has been taking was at most ten years old.”

Gu Meiting sighed with feeling. Though her heart ached over the treasure, she didn’t dare think too much of it, only lamenting, “Ugh, it’s your fault. Why did you have to argue? If you’d come sooner, this wouldn’t have happened!”

But Jiang Chen only sneered coldly. “Coming sooner would have made no difference. The way your father dotes on Jun Beiyue, if this thing were sent over, it would surely be passed straight on to him.”

“It would not! My father always puts my mother first!” Gu Meiting immediately protested.

“Fine, fine, I won’t argue with you.” Jiang Chen looked impatient, yet went on anyway. “Even if it reached your mother’s hands, can you guarantee she’d actually take it herself, and not send it straight to Jun Beiyue? He’s about to wake up — he’s the hope of your entire Gu family!”

Gu Meiting’s face darkened more and more, and she said nothing.

Jiang Chen glanced at her, a flicker of cold amusement passing through his eyes, and feigned a sigh. “Meiting, if Jun Beiyue really does take over the Gu family, we…”

He trailed off deliberately. Gu Meiting understood perfectly well what he meant, and said unhappily, “Don’t think about that so much. I believe Beiyue isn’t that kind of person. We’re all one family — why bring up things like that?”

Jiang Chen scoffed inwardly, but kept up his careless act, searching for medicine while sighing, “Ah, once you’ve seen Blood Spirit Grass, nothing else looks worthwhile anymore. What a pity, what a pity. The people under Jun Beiyue really ought to know gratitude — Madam was injured for Jun Beiyue’s sake. It’s one thing if Guard Yingzi doesn’t understand the herb’s effects, but surely Physician Gu should know. If he has any thought for Madam’s hardship, he ought to yield the Blood Spirit Grass to her, shouldn’t he?”

That was as far as he needed to go.

Gu Meiting had already been harboring the thought herself, and now she could no longer hold back. She turned and went chasing after Yingzi.

Jiang Chen didn’t so much as glance at her leaving. His eyes narrowed slightly as he casually picked out a few herbs, then wandered off toward the weapons storeroom, lingering there for a long, long while before he was willing to leave.

But when he reached the main gate, the guards stopped him.

“Young Master, forgive us, but by the rules, we must inspect what you’re taking with you,” a guard said respectfully.

Jiang Chen shrugged and handed over the medicine basket, though a flash of resentment crossed his eyes. He knew it well — in the eyes of everyone in the Gu family, high and low, he would always be an outsider!

If he’d been with Gu Meiting, who would dare stop him or search him like this? But the moment Gu Meiting left, he was left behind to be treated like any other servant going through routine procedure!

After a long, careful inspection, the guard logged each item one by one, then asked, “Young Master, what are these herbs for…?”

Naturally, once the inspection was done, they had to ask the purpose too.

Jiang Chen was furious inside, but his face remained calm and mild. “My wife is ill. The eldest young lady told me to fetch some herbs to nourish her.”

The guard nodded and made a respectful gesture of invitation before letting him pass.

“Thank you for your trouble,” Jiang Chen said politely with a nod, the angrier he grew inside, the gentler his smile became on the outside — though no amount of gentleness could ever produce that genuine air of refinement.

He did not head toward the main residence to find Gu Meiting, but went straight to Madam Gu’s quarters instead.

Back at the main residence, Yingzi had only just stepped into the great hall when Gu Meiting came rushing in right behind him, breathless.

“Eldest young lady, is something wrong?” Yingzi asked, puzzled. Physician Gu had also come out.

Yingzi had no time to think about that. The moment he saw Physician Gu, he handed over the herbs first, saying happily, “Old Gu, everything you asked for is here. And I stumbled onto something good too — guess what it is?”

Physician Gu could tell at a glance what herbs were in the basket. He smiled. “It’s all here?”

“Heh heh, here’s the key part — Blood Spirit Grass, and fresh too! Our master’s really in luck!” Yingzi said, immediately drawing the Blood Spirit Grass out from behind his back!

Physician Gu clapped his hands and stamped his foot the moment he saw it. “Good! Good! Wonderful, what a treasure!”

“It’s fresh — quickly, let’s crush it for the master to take!” Yingzi urged. He of course recognized this Blood Spirit Grass; it was a superb treasure for stabilizing internal energy. His master had absorbed the internal energy of both the Gu family head and Madam Gu — if these two strands of energy could be stabilized and drawn into the dantian, it would be of enormous benefit, both to his master’s internal cultivation and to the meridians and blood throughout his body!

Physician Gu of course knew the herb’s effects, and the fresher it was, the stronger those effects would be. Both men had completely forgotten that the eldest young lady of the Gu family was still standing right there, and were about to hurry off to crush the herb.

“Wait, both of you!” Gu Meiting suddenly called out sharply.

Physician Gu and Yingzi both froze at once, only then remembering that the eldest young lady was still in the room.

“Go on ahead. I’ll handle this,” Yingzi said in a low voice, turning to approach her.

“Physician Gu, wait a moment. I have something to say about that medicine.” Gu Meiting was quite direct.

A flicker of unease crossed Physician Gu’s eyes, but he had no choice but to stop. He knew very well that Blood Spirit Grass was not only excellent for treating internal injuries — it was also of tremendous benefit for a young child suffering from a cold!

If a child caught a severe chill and ran a persistent fever, a single dose of Blood Spirit Grass would show results almost instantly, restoring them right away. And what the body failed to fully absorb would be stored in the dantian — so if that child later cultivated internal energy, the herb’s effects would be activated, expanding the dantian and doubling the results with half the effort!

“Eldest young lady, is something wrong with the medicine? I took it right in front of you,” Yingzi said flatly, more or less guessing what Gu Meiting had come for.

But no matter what, he was absolutely not letting go of this herb!

“Of course there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just…” Gu Meiting said, looking toward Physician Gu, her tone heavy. “Physician Gu, you know my mother’s condition right now… her health was never good to begin with, and now, after saving Beiyue… sigh… if…”

Gu Meiting trailed off, but Physician Gu immediately understood what she meant. Just now, his mind had been entirely occupied with Gu Meiting’s cold-stricken son — he’d forgotten that Madam Gu was also injured!

This Blood Spirit Grass would be an absolute lifesaver for Madam Gu!

As Physician Gu hesitated, Yingzi said in a low voice, “If she truly cared about her mother, she wouldn’t have let Jiang Chen leave. I clearly saw him already at the gate.”

“Yingzi, whatever the case, it was Madam Gu who saved our master. She’s put it this way now — if we still refuse to yield the medicine, it just won’t look right,” Physician Gu said quietly, clearly troubled.

“Our master needs this medicine too! A chance like this is so rare — who’s to say our master won’t wake up the moment he takes it!” Yingzi still insisted, unwilling to part with such a treasure.

“Yingzi, even though the Gu family’s motives for saving our master weren’t pure, for Madam Gu’s sake, we can’t be ungrateful. If the master knew, he would certainly be displeased with us,” Physician Gu urged again.

Seeing the two of them whispering to each other, Gu Meiting quickly spoke up again. “Physician Gu, don’t misunderstand. This is by no means my parents’ idea. It’s me, as a daughter, wanting to fulfill my filial duty — so… don’t laugh at me, but I’ve come to ask directly.”

Filial duty?

Yingzi sneered inwardly. If this woman knew what filial duty meant, she should have pushed her husband into that cave back when the Gu family was so slow to emerge!

And yet, a grown man ranked among the best in internal energy within the Gu family still didn’t dare show his face at the main residence to this day!

“Yingzi, this… let’s just yield it. Our master doesn’t necessarily need it,” Physician Gu said quietly. With Gu Meiting having said all this, if they still refused, wouldn’t that make them the ungrateful ones?

Yingzi understood the reasoning too. He took a deep breath and said harshly, “Fine, I’ll bring it over myself. Who knows — if it ends up in her hands, she might secretly give it to that precious son of hers!”

As he spoke, he snatched the Blood Spirit Grass back from Physician Gu’s hand. Though displeased, he kept up a polite front toward Gu Meiting, saying solemnly, “Eldest young lady, please don’t say such things. It was my own impatience for my prince that made me forget Madam was also injured. Madam is our benefactor — never mind this medicine, even if it cost Yingzi’s own life, Yingzi would gladly give it up!”

Gu Meiting was overjoyed and was just reaching out to take the Blood Spirit Grass when Yingzi pulled it back again. “Eldest young lady, let’s go. I’ll deliver it myself.”

Gu Meiting forced a smile, though inwardly she’d been hoping to have Jiang Chen deliver the Blood Spirit Grass to smooth over her father’s anger. With no choice, she went along with Yingzi.

But the moment the two of them stepped outside, a strong gust of wind blew straight into their faces!

Gu Meiting stopped short. Having lived on the island for so long, she was very sensitive to sea winds, and the moment she caught its scent, she felt a jolt of alarm. “This storm — it’s not going to be a small one!”

Yingzi paid it no mind and hurried toward the east wing. But before he even reached the door, he could already hear Gu Jun’s scolding from a distance — and the one being scolded was none other than Jiang Chen.

“Dawdling over everything, dawdling! Do you realize your delay this time nearly cost two lives!”

“Jiang Chen, since I allowed you into the Gu family, I never treated you as an outsider. When I taught you internal energy, it was exactly the same as what I taught Beiyue. But let me tell you now — if Beiyue hadn’t been wounded in the chest, his internal energy today would be at least ten times stronger than yours! Do you know what ten times means?”

…

The family head scolded on and on for a long while, but there was no response from Jiang Chen at all — no argument, no admission of fault, not even a single acknowledgment.

Instead, every so often, Madam Gu’s weak voice of persuasion could be heard.

“All right, all right, husband. Chen’er just had something come up that delayed him — isn’t he rushing back now?”

“Chen’er, it’s not your fault, it’s fine, it’s fine. Is someone looking after Yuan’er? Don’t have everyone come running to me — I don’t trust the servants to watch him properly.”

…

Gu Meiting glanced at Yingzi, a bit embarrassed. Hearing that her father had stopped scolding, she stepped inside.

“Mother, are you all right? It’s all my fault — I didn’t know Jiang Chen was with Yuan’er, and I went looking everywhere for him.” Gu Meiting looked full of self-reproach. In truth, it wasn’t that she hadn’t been able to find Jiang Chen in time — she’d simply spent a great deal of effort persuading him to come save the child, which had taken a good while.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Is Yuan’er any better?” Madam Gu asked, immediately shifting the topic to her grandson. Whenever Gu Jun grew angry, that little grandson became the best shield for Jiang Chen and Gu Meiting.

Gu Meiting was about to speak when Jiang Chen, uncharacteristically, spoke up first. “He’s a bit better, but not fully recovered. I’m afraid it might come back. Doctor Hua’s medicine this time doesn’t seem to be working very fast.”

“Has the fever gone down?” Gu Jun asked anxiously.

“It’s gone down, but he’s still asleep and won’t wake, no matter how much we call him,” Jiang Chen said. Gu Meiting eyed him suspiciously — hadn’t her son already woken up once before?

“Doctor Hua, hurry and go check on him again. Or better — have Physician Gu go along too. Beiyue’s condition is stable now, Physician Gu can spare the time, can’t he?” Madam Gu said, looking toward Yingzi.

Yingzi wasn’t one to dislike children, but he found this kind of exaggerated, overwrought concern deeply distasteful. He avoided Madam Gu’s question and instead pulled out the Blood Spirit Grass, saying flatly, “Madam, I just found this while searching for medicine for our master in the storehouse. It’s very beneficial for your health. Physician Gu asked me to bring it over for you to take.”

“Blood Spirit Grass!” Doctor Hua exclaimed in alarm. “When did the storehouse get something like that? This… this is a treasure rarely seen even once in decades!”

“Is that so? How does it work?” Jiang Chen asked at once.

Doctor Hua, delighted, answered without a second thought. “This herb is excellent nourishment for anyone — whether injured or in normal health, whether elderly, young, or a child. For the injured, it stabilizes qi and nourishes the constitution. For martial cultivators, it can double the effect of internal cultivation with half the effort. And for a child, especially one running a high fever from a chill, the effects are practically instantaneous!”

The moment those words left his mouth, Yingzi immediately grew uneasy, while Jiang Chen smiled gently. “It seems Guard Yingzi really has come across something wonderful.”

Gu Meiting’s attention was entirely fixed on the second half of Doctor Hua’s words, her expression complicated as she stared at the Blood Spirit Grass.

Madam Gu, however, was overjoyed. “Wonderful, wonderful! Doctor Hua, hurry and take this medicine to Yuan’er!”