Imperial Physician Gu’s words and tone finally made Bai Mengmeng realize something was very wrong.
She cried out abruptly in fury, “Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing aren’t dead?”
Even as the outburst wrenched at every wound on her body, sending pain through her organs, she couldn’t spare it a thought, glaring furiously at Imperial Physician Gu as though she might lunge forward and strangle him at any moment.
Imperial Physician Gu instinctively stepped back several paces, sensing now that something was indeed wrong—something must have happened in that tornado, and Bai Mengmeng was clearly tied up in it.
“Why would Prince Yao be dead!” Imperial Physician Gu demanded sharply.
“Shouldn’t he be?” Bai Mengmeng said, her eyes blazing, laughing coldly as she shot back, “Shouldn’t he be dead? I was so good to him, so good, and he got my whole family killed, and I didn’t even blame him for it. But him! How did he treat me? I was going to hand myself over to the Eastern Qin Empress in exchange for something, and he didn’t even look at me! Is he dead? Is he?”
Facing Bai Mengmeng’s fury, Imperial Physician Gu felt a chill crawl over him. Incredulous, he pointed at her and cried out, “It was you… it was you!”
“You’re the one who stabbed Prince Yao!”
Bai Mengmeng froze for a moment, then burst into wild laughter. “Of course it was me!”
At this moment she was far from irrational—still laughing, even, before her expression suddenly twisted again. “He isn’t dead? How could he not be dead!”
Imperial Physician Gu couldn’t accept this fact for a moment, retreating step by step to the doorway.
Bai Mengmeng, bearing through the agony wracking her organs, forced herself upright through sheer will. “Don’t you dare leave! You explain yourself—why isn’t Jun Beiyue dead! Why? And Han Ziqing—where is she? I want to see her! I want to see her!”
If Jun Beiyue wasn’t dead, if Han Ziqing hadn’t been swept away by the great wind, did that mean Han Ziqing had misunderstood Jun Beiyue?
Bai Mengmeng desperately wanted to know—this mattered to her even more than news of Han Ziqing’s death would have.
Faced with Bai Mengmeng’s emotional instability, Imperial Physician Gu had no idea what to say, and could only let her shout and curse.
After all, her body couldn’t bear so much strain—before long her vision blurred and she fainted, and only then did Imperial Physician Gu dare approach.
He checked her pulse carefully, a flash of suspicion crossing his eyes, then immediately instructed the apprentice to prepare silver needles—he would personally administer acupuncture to her.
This woman’s injuries were all internal, but she could still be saved.
“Master, should we tell the Second Prince about this?” the young apprentice asked timidly.
Imperial Physician Gu’s face turned cold at once. “For now, no one is to say anything. If the Second Prince asks, tell him she still hasn’t woken. Understand?”
“Understood,” the apprentice nodded seriously.
That night, Imperial Physician Gu found an excuse not to go to Jun Beiyue’s side, staying instead in the little room to administer needles to Bai Mengmeng, not leaving until morning.
Three nights passed this way, and finally, on the fourth night, Bai Mengmeng woke up groggily.
This time, she clearly felt much better, and her emotions weren’t as volatile. She looked coldly at Imperial Physician Gu beside her, the corner of her mouth curling into a cold smile.
“You saved me.”
Imperial Physician Gu nodded while packing away his needles and medicines.
“Why save me? What, did Han Ziqing tell you to save me? If she wants something, just say it directly.”
Bai Mengmeng had no idea of the full picture—she assumed that since she’d been saved, Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing must have been rescued as well.
There was no way Jun Beiyue would have saved her himself—it must have been Han Ziqing’s doing, Han Ziqing coming to settle scores with her.
Good. She’d been itching for exactly this opportunity!
This account needed settling properly! She’d always wanted to ask Han Ziqing—between the two of them, who had truly helped Jun Beiyue more?
But to her surprise, in response to her challenge, Imperial Physician Gu merely smiled coldly. Unhurried, he finished tidying his things and sat back down.
These past few days he’d thought everything through thoroughly, and had already formed his calculations. Tonight, he had a whole night to talk slowly with Miss Bai.
Bai Mengmeng was clever—seeing Imperial Physician Gu’s demeanor, she immediately sensed something was off. Just as she was about to ask, Imperial Physician Gu spoke first with a smile, “Miss Bai, this old man recalls General Baihu is a rough sort of man, but he does understand propriety. How is it that the daughter he raised with his own hands has no manners at all?”
“Cut the nonsense, what exactly do you want?” Bai Mengmeng narrowed her eyes, studying him, gradually realizing this old physician was no simple man.
“Miss Bai, Prince Yao’s consort has been missing a full three months now. Prince Yao lies gravely wounded. No one asked this old man to come save you.”
Imperial Physician Gu paused here, watching Bai Mengmeng’s face change dramatically before continuing with satisfaction, “Though this old man is a healer and cannot stand by and watch someone die, still… Miss Bai, having your life pulled back from the brink, don’t you think you at least owe this old man a word of thanks?”
At this, Bai Mengmeng’s phoenix eyes narrowed into thin lines. “Imperial Physician Gu, this young lady doesn’t care for saying thanks. But… this young lady always repays a debt. If there’s something you need my help with, why not… say it plainly?”
Imperial Physician Gu broke into a smile at once. “Heh heh, Miss Bai truly is a clever one. If Prince Yao had a worthy helpmate like you, he wouldn’t have fallen to such a state, gravely wounded as he is now.”
“Worthy helpmate?” Bai Mengmeng was stunned for a moment, then laughed mockingly at herself. “Could it be that Imperial Physician Gu isn’t satisfied with Han Ziqing either!”
“The helpmate is Prince Yao’s to choose—whether we underlings are satisfied or not is hardly our place to say. It’s only that, with the princess consort’s whereabouts unknown, this old man estimates she likely won’t be coming back. While the prince lies gravely wounded, we might as well scout out a candidate for him!”
The words were never spoken plainly, but both of them were clever enough to understand each other perfectly.
In the end, Bai Mengmeng couldn’t help herself—those three words, “worthy helpmate,” held too much allure for her. She got straight to the point. “Imperial Physician Gu, you’re clearly very dissatisfied with Han Ziqing. What exactly happened?”
Imperial Physician Gu’s voice suddenly turned sharp. “What happened? Miss Bai, this old man would like to ask you that. That day at Mingsha Mountain, only the few of you were present—what exactly happened? Why did you strike at Prince Yao!”
“I hate Han Ziqing!” Bai Mengmeng blurted out.
“You hate Han Ziqing, yet you wounded Prince Yao?” Imperial Physician Gu pressed. He was scheming to keep Bai Mengmeng around for his own use, but this matter still nagged at him.
“I… I…”
Unexpectedly, Bai Mengmeng stammered, then suddenly choked up. “I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want to, but I couldn’t have him, no matter what I did I couldn’t have him, so all I could do was kill him!”
As she spoke, she grabbed hold of Imperial Physician Gu’s arm, tears streaming down her face even as she looked strangely elated. “Imperial Physician Gu, do you know? I drove a blade into Beiyue’s heart, I pulled him close and held him, how happy I was, being able to die together with him, I was satisfied, truly! Imperial Physician Gu, do you know—at that moment Han Ziqing was standing right behind Beiyue watching, and she didn’t understand a thing, she was almost crying… hahaha…”