The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 662

Chapter 662: 313 Assassination Attempt (Second Update) Chapter 662: 313 Assassination Attempt (Second Update) Due to the hot weather, the wealthy daughters of the Women’s Institute were suffering heat strokes one after another. Gu Jiao was so busy that she barely had time to rest. She hadn’t visited her great-aunt in the palace for a few days, so she was still unaware of her illness.

“…Yes, no need for medicine, drinking some water infused with Houttuynia cordata would do. It’s also called fish mint, do you have it at home? If not, you can get some from the pharmacy.

“Gu Jiao finished examining an heiress from the Women’s Institute and made a note, “Next one.”

The door opened. In came the Duchess of Rui, whom Gu Jiao had not seen for several days.

This time, the Duchess of Rui did not cut in line. Despite being five months pregnant, she quietly waited her turn for half of 2 hours.

“Why are you here?” Gu Jiao invited her to sit down.

The Duchess of Rui’s complexion was as rosy as ever. The pregnancy was really treating her well. However, her eyes were somewhat red and swollen, as if she had just cried.

“What’s wrong? Show me.” Gu Jiao signaled for her to extend her hand.

The Duchess of Rui shook her head, “It’s not me, it’s Empress Dowager Jing. I visited her yesterday, and she is feeling unwell again…”

As the Duchess of Rui spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.

The Duchess of Rui didn’t used to cry easily, but ever since her pregnancy, her tear ducts were overly active. The smallest things would set her off, and she couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t know why it was happening.

Blame the pregnancy hormones, Gu Jiao handed her a handkerchief.

The Duchess of Rui wiped away her tears and looked up at Gu Jiao with reddened eyes, “Can you come and see Empress Dowager Jing with me when you finish your work today?”

Gu Jiao called Dr. Song over, “Are any doctors going out on calls today?”

Dr. Song replied, “No, everyone is at the Medical Hall today.”

Gu Jiao nodded, “Alright, I’ll have to step out for a while. Please look after things here.”

Dr. Song replied, “Yes.”

Gu Jiao continued, “Don’t forget to have Little Jiang Li clean up the medicinal herbs later.”

Dr. Song replied, “I will.”

After sorting out matters at the Medical Hall, Gu Jiao left with the Duchess of Rui for a nunnery near the Puji Temple.

On the carriage, Gu Jiao learned that Empress Dowager Jing fell ill because she had heard the news of the Emperor being assassinated.

The Emperor was the one she raised like her own son. Empress Dowager Jing had only one daughter, Princess Ning An. The Emperor was like her own son, and she worried about him more than anyone when he was in trouble.

The Duchess of Rui said, “Empress Dowager wasn’t always this frail. One winter, there was a heavy snowfall, and the Nunnery was too cold. The Empress Dowager’s health suffered greatly and she hasn’t been the same since. Over the years, the Emperor has tried various methods to restore her health, but none have been effective. Gu Jiao, do you have a way to treat her?”

Gu Jiao answered truthfully, “Considering the Empress Dowager’s age, it’s best to focus on fostering health and use treatment as a secondary measure. There aren’t any miracle cures.”

The Duchess of Rui looked disappointed.

The two women entered the Nunnery.

Empress Dowager Jing was lying in a sick bed in the Meditation Room. She had just fallen asleep, and the scent of Calming Incense lingered in the room.

A nun who served as her personal maid greeted them, “Duchess of Rui, Doctor Gu.”

The maid, Cai, extinguished the Calming Incense in the brazier and pushed open the windows to ventilate the room, protecting the pregnant Duchess of Rui from inhaling the incense.

The Duchess of Rui looked at Empress Dowager Jing’s pale face and asked, “Aunt Cai, why does the Empress Dowager seem even weaker than she was yesterday?”

Aunt Cai sighed, “The Empress Dowager is extremely worried about the Emperor and has lost her appetite. She hasn’t eaten a grain of rice since yesterday… I got worried and secretly burned some Calming Incense.”

The Duchess of Rui felt heartbroken.

The Duchess and her husband, Duke of Rui, were both part of Duke Ning’s faction. Duke Ning and Empress Dowager Zhuang were in the same camp. The Emperor made a great effort to remove Empress Dowager Zhuang from power and to make Empress Dowager Jing the reigning Empress Dowager. However, this seemed to be a power struggle only between the Emperor and Empress Dowager Zhuang that did not involve others.

The Duke of Rui and his wife got along quite well with Empress Dowager Jing.

Cai brought over a stool for them to sit on.

Gu Jiao sat by the bed and took Empress Dowager Jing’s pulse.

Empress Dowager Jing was not sleeping peacefully. The moment Gu Jiao touched her wrist, she woke up.

Seeing Gu Jiao, a smile spread across her pale face, “Gu Jiao is here.” She turned to the Duchess of Rui with reddened eyes and said helplessly, “I already said I’m fine, why did you have to come here and bother Gu Jiao? Why couldn’t you just stay at home and take care of your baby? I’ll have to write a letter to the Duke to keep you in check.”

The Duchess of Rui choked out, “His Highness wouldn’t stop me from coming. His Highness is even more worried about your health than I am.”

“Ah, you guys…” Empress Dowager Jing shook her head, seemingly at a loss for words.

Gu Jiao finished assessing Empress Dowager Jing’s pulse.

Empress Dowager Jing looked at Gu Jiao and said, “I’m fine, it’s just the heat. I always feel this way during the summers. Gu Jiao, there’s no need to trouble yourself over me.”

According to her pulse, Empress Dowager Jing didn’t have any major illness. She just had stagnant heart qi, insufficient blood qi, and weakened vitality.

“You can’t stop eating.” Gu Jiao said.

Aunt Cai hurriedly said, “Listen to what Dr. Gu said. Will you start eating now?”

Empress Dowager Jing laughed, “It’s too hot, I can’t eat.”

The wife of King Rui said, “Dowager Duchess, His Majesty has returned to the palace.”

Dowager Duchess Jing immediately froze in surprise: “Really?”

The wife of King Rui responded, “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Miss Gu Jiao. Miss Gu Jiao would not lie.”

The hopeful gaze of Dowager Duchess Jing fell upon the face of Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao nodded, “His Majesty has indeed returned to the palace.”

Dowager Duchess Jing asked nervously, “Is he… unhurt? I heard he was attacked and injured somewhere. I don’t know how serious it was…”

Gu Jiao said truthfully, “He has recovered; His Majesty is hale and hearty.”

Dowager Duchess Jing breathed a sigh of relief, “Amitabha, well done, well done.”

“Now that you have an appetite, I shall have some vegetarian dishes prepared,” said the cheerful Mother Cai, turning to Gu Jiao and the wife of King Rui, “If you do not mind, why not stay with the Dowager Duchess for a meal before you leave? I’m worried that if you leave right away, the Dowager Duchess might shirk her meal again.”

Dowager Duchess Jing scowled at Cai, “How could you expect the young ones to get accustomed to the meals prepared in a nunnery?”

“They’ll get used to it! Won’t they, Miss Gu?” said the wife of King Rui, winking at Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao had no objections.

She was quite curious about the ancient vegetarian dishes she hadn’t tried before.

As it turned out, Gu Jiao had overestimated the culinary skills of the nunnery. Though Little Jingkong was also mostly vegetarian, the vegetarian dishes prepared by Gu Jiao or old Priest were not only diverse, aromatic and full of flavor, they were also full of youthful joy.

Gu Jiao was looking at a bowl of blanched tofu, blanched bean sprouts, scallions mixed with cucumbers… Even she, who was not a picky eater, thought that this meal was really too… plain.

Perhaps because she had finally put her mind at ease, Dowager Duchess Jing had a decent appetite, eating half a bowl of rice, a little vegetarian dish, and even drinking a bowl of tofu soup.

The wife of King Rui really couldn’t get used to the food. She had grown up in luxury, placing the taste of the dishes served today on the same level as eating dirt. After a few mouthfuls, she was unable to eat any more.

Dowager Duchess Jing laughed at her, “I told you that you would not get accustomed to it.”

The wife of King Rui cleared her throat and said, “I… it’s just my pregnancy affecting my appetite, and it’s not because I can’t get used to it.”

Dowager Duchess Jing laughed.

After eating, the wife of King Rui chatted with Dowager Duchess Jing for a while before being chided by her to get on the horse carriage back to the city, along with Gu Jiao as it was getting late.

On the carriage, the wife of King Rui said with deep sympathy, “Dowager Duchess has truly suffered a lot. She has been eating these terrible foods for the past few years…”

“It’s not that bad.” Said Gu Jiao.

The wife of King Rui said, with a heavy heart, “That’s not considered bad? It’s so plain… tasteless… She’s really pitiful… She was the most pitiful woman of the former emperor…”

Gu Jiao paused for a moment and said, “Isn’t the Empress Dowager the most pitiful?”

The wife of King Rui asked, puzzled, “What could the Empress Dowager possibly need to feel pitiful about? She’s the master of the six palaces and the overlord of the court. Her power is boundless, and she is more prestigious than the late emperor. She is nowhere near pitiful.”

Although the wife of King Rui favored the Prince Ning’s cause, as a daughter-in-law, she favored the gentle and caring Dowager Duchess Jing more. Empress Dowager Zhuang was too strong and ruthless, lacking human touch, which kept the wife of King Rui from daring to associate with her.

She felt more at ease with Dowager Duchess Jing.

But her grandmother-in-law… was truly the loneliest person.

Gu Jiao did not argue with the wife of King Rui. Everyone had their own viewpoint, and there was no need to impose one’s will on another.

It was enough that she took extra care of her grandmother-in-law.

Even the care others didn’t provide, she would provide on their behalf.

The horse carriage rode leisurely along, the wife of King Rui gradually grew sleepy and leaned her head on Gu Jiao’s shoulder, closing her eyes to sleep.

Gu Jiao also felt a bit sleepy.

As she slightly closed her eyes, intending to take a short nap, suddenly she heard a very covert and extremely fast noise in the air.

She suddenly opened her eyes, and quickly raised her hand, reaching towards the wife of King Rui’s side just in time to catch a cold arrow that had been shot!

The wife of King Rui woke up from the chill of the arrow, her body trembling, “What’s happened?”

When she opened her eyes, she saw a metallic arrowhead reflecting a cold light!

She then looked at Gu Jiao’s hand that had caught the arrow and broke into a cold sweat.

If it weren’t for Gu Jiao’s quick reflexes, she would have been…

Her face turned deathly pale in an instant, “Miss Gu…”

Gu Jiao’s eyes hardened, a cold look crossing her face. She grabbed the back of the wife of King Rui’s head with one hand and tucked her into her arms, spinning to the side!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three arrows whistled past, grazing her long hair to hit the carriage wall where they had just been sitting!

Gu Jiao looked at the carriage window pierced with several holes, her eyes cold. She spun the arrow in her hand around and sent it whistling back!