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As the night fell heavily, Little Jing Kong rode Liu Quan's carriage back to Bishui Alley.
Dark Guard A, who was responsible for protecting him, leaped into the house from the carriage roof.
"JiaoJiao! JiaoJiao!"
The first thing Little Jing Kong did when he entered the house was to call for JiaoJiao, regardless of whether Gu Jiao was there or not.
Fortunately, Gu Jiao was indeed at home today.
She had come to treat Uncle Zhao next door. In the evening, Uncle Zhao's grandson suddenly ran to the medical hall, saying that Uncle Zhao had fallen and couldn't get up. Gu Jiao hurried back from her task.
Uncle Zhao's fall was accidental, resulting in sprains in his right wrist and right ankle, causing unbearable pain and preventing him from getting up. While examining Uncle Zhao's injuries, Gu Jiao also checked for other issues and incidentally discovered that he had high blood pressure.
It wasn’t too severe, so Uncle Zhao hadn't felt much about it in his daily life.
However, if it progressed to unbearable discomfort, the situation would become very serious.
After treating Uncle Zhao's injuries and prescribing some blood pressure-lowering medication, Gu Jiao heard Little Jing Kong's voice as she returned to the east room.
Gu Jiao put down her little medicine chest and went out.
"JiaoJiao!"
Little Jing Kong rushed into Gu Jiao's arms.
The five-year-old little fellow was no longer the same as when he first arrived, only able to cling to Gu Jiao's thighs. Now, he could barely reach Gu Jiao's waist by tiptoeing.
Gu Jiao would usually bend down, letting Little Jing Kong throw himself into her arms.
When she made this gesture, she didn't show the same motherly tenderness as Yao shi did. In fact, she was somewhat stiff, and her expression was overly calm. But the moment she wrapped her arms around Little Jing Kong, the sense of security which blocked out all the chaos behind her was unmatched by any embrace.
Little Jing Kong breathed in Gu Jiao's scent and closed his eyes, feeling at ease, "JiaoJiao."
Gu Jiao rubbed his little head, "Did you go to the palace?"
Gu Jiao had heard from Yao shi.
"Yeah!" Little Jing Kong nodded eagerly. "I went to see Grandaunt and little big brother!"
Gu Jiao held his hand and walked towards the backyard, "Are Grandaunt and your little big brother okay?"
Little Jing Kong said happily, "Yes, they're both fine! No, wait, little big brother is not very well."
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao asked.
Little Jing Kong sighed, "It seems like something happened to his mother, but I don't know what happened. I'm worried about him."
Something happened to Princess Ning'an?
Gu Jiao paused, "I'll inquire about it later."
"Okay!"
The two arrived at the well, and Gu Jiao drew a bucket of water to wash Little Jing Kong's hands.
Fortunately, Little Jing Kong was a tough kid, not at all delicate. If it were Qin Chuyu, he would probably have been wailing from the cold weather long ago.
Gu Jiao found the well water in winter to be quite warm, suitable for bathing directly.
But the family members didn't allow it.
After washing his hands, Little Jing Kong went to practice martial arts. It was the set of fist techniques taught by Gu Changqing. He practiced every day, at least once, sometimes three or four times, without interruption.
Gu Jiao felt that training once a day was enough to keep fit, so there was no need to work so hard.
Little Jing Kong was not just training for physical fitness though. He wanted to protect JiaoJiao and his chickens.
And since there was no harm in practicing more fist techniques, Gu Jiao let him do as he pleased.
Further in the night, Gu Jiao learned about the Emperor's coma from an assassination attempt.
In the study next door, Gu Jiao, Xiao Heng, and Old Chief sat on cushions around a low table.
"We knew she would make a move, but we didn't expect it to be so ruthless..." Old Chief let out a sigh.
They spread the case of the Heavenly Music House to the public, forcing the Emperor to investigate the case and provide an explanation to the people. Then, there was Hua Xiyao's confession.
The original intention was to force the other party to act.
After all, a person would only reveal their flaws once they made a move.
Old Chief pondered, "I thought she might resort to some self-suffering ruse to make the Emperor soft-hearted. Or perhaps she would destroy the confession letter before the Emperor could see it, and then send someone to assassinate Hua Xiyao. But how did she end up stabbing the Emperor?"
"She smashed the Emperor." Xiao Heng corrected.
"It's the same thing." Old Chief cleared his throat, "The Emperor is truly pitiful."
Xiao Heng: Your expression clearly doesn't agree with that.
Gu Jiao felt thirsty and went to drink tea.
Xiao Heng subtly took the lukewarm tea she had and exchanged it with his untouched cup of hot tea.
His gaze didn't fall on Gu Jiao, and his expression remained neutral, as if it was just a casual gesture. He said, "The Emperor must have seen the confession letter and chose not to believe her, maybe even intending to detain her, before she took the risk to act against him. There are two doubtful points: first, why didn't the Emperor believe her? Second, there's a Dragon Shadow Guard by the Emperor's side. How did she manage to attack the Emperor despite the Dragon Shadow Guard?"
Empress Xiao had never witnessed the prowess of the Dragon Shadow Guards and couldn't imagine how swiftly they acted. No one could easily harm the Emperor under the watch of the Dragon Shadow Guards, let alone escape unscathed.
"I'm puzzled by the first point." Xiao Heng said.
Gu Jiao nodded.
She was too.
The Emperor's deep affection for Princess Ning'an made it seem unreasonable to suspect her based solely on a confession letter.
Unless something else happened in the imperial study that shattered the Emperor's affectionate view of Princess Ning'an in an instant.
Old Chief stroked his graying beard and said, "Back then, the fall of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing came too quickly. I always felt that there was something between her and the Emperor that we overlooked."
Xiao Heng said, "As for the second doubt, I have a speculation."
Old Chief looked at him, "Go on."
Xiao Heng analyzed, "She couldn't have bypassed the Dragon Shadow Guard to attack the Emperor. Either she diverted the Dragon Shadow Guard's attention or defeated them somehow. Since she wasn't aware that Sun Ping would deliver the letter, it's unlikely that she diverted them in advance."
"So, she could defeat the Dragon Shadow Guards?" Old Chief looked at Gu Jiao. "JiaoJiao, does she have martial arts skills?"
Gu Jiao took a sip of the hot tea handed to her by her husband, feeling warmth spread through her stomach. She shook her head and said, "I haven’t noticed."
Old Chief frowned, "Could she be a hidden expert, like Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, who used drugs to alter her pulse and hid her martial arts skills?"
Gu Jiao said, "If that were the case, her body would show signs of weakness, but she doesn't have any."
Xiao Heng spoke up, "To deal with the Dragon Shadow Guards, martial arts skills are not necessarily required. Everything in the world has its balance. The Dragon Shadow Guards come from the State of Yan. I believe the State of Yan must have a way to deal with them."
At the same time, several people thought of the hidden force in collusion with the Heavenly Music House.
Could it be that the meticulous maneuvers of that group of people were out of fear of the Heavenly Music House’s Young Owner?
In any case, with Empress Dowager Zhuang's capability, would it really be difficult to issue a decree to depose one princess?
The only reason why they were still lowering themselves to play mind games was partly to probe the State of Yan forces that were lurking in the shadows.
Xiao Heng paused and said, "Hua Xiyao cannot continue to stay in the Ministry of Justice."
The Emperor couldn't discern the authenticity of the confession letter, but the Heavenly Music House’s Young Owner could spot the flaw at a glance. After all, the confession letter didn't reflect Hua Xiyao's true experiences, and its narrative tone was also off. The only similarity was the handwriting, but in the case of two falsifications already, it wasn't difficult to guess that the handwriting had also been tampered with.
The Heavenly Music House’s Young Owner understood that so far, Hua Xiyao had not betrayed her. However, the situation was different now. She had taken such a big risk, and the risks she faced were much greater than before. Hua Xiyao's existence would always be a threat to her.
Xiao Heng didn't feel sorry for Hua Xiyao's life. It was just that Hua Xiyao had always been one of the key witnesses against the Heavenly Music House’s Young Owner.
After several discussions, on the same night, Hua Xiyao was secretly sent to the medical hall and became Mo Qianxue's next-door neighbor.
Hua Xiyao: "..."
Mo Qianxue: "..."
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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