Granny Wu took the dagger and gripped its handle tightly. She looked at Rabbit with the same vengeful glee she had looked at Yu Zi.
After composing herself, she unhesitatingly slashed the dagger across Rabbit’s face again and again. Rabbit’s face became a bloody mess.
However, due to the painkillers she had taken, Rabbit felt no pain.
In Great Xia, as night just fell.
Yu Zi infiltrated the residence of the wealthiest merchant in the capital, hoping to collect some money and flee.
The Great Xia was in chaos. The imperial palace had been looted by the Treasure Carrier, and the Grand Princess’s mansion was also completely ransacked. The Emperor and the Grand Princess themselves were so poor that feeding and clothing themselves had become a problem.
The eunuchs, maids, and concubines in the palace had all become noticeably thinner from hunger, and many palace staff had secretly absconded with their meager salaries.
The court officials were instead attacking each other, forming factions, and some even wanted to support the physically disabled Second Prince to ascend the throne.
The new Emperor, helpless, had no choice but to reveal that, except for the Eldest Prince, all other princes and princesses were not the Emperor’s biological children. This meant that only he, Xia Hongqian, had the qualification to inherit the throne.
This royal scandal plunged Great Xia into further turmoil. Several generals who commanded troops even harbored ambitions of seizing the Great Xia empire for themselves.
Coupled with Beiqiang’s covetous gaze towards Great Xia, the nation was truly teetering on the brink.
Yu Zi could not return to Beiqiang either. Years ago, she had abandoned her spy mission in Qinghuang for Gu Canglan, and Beiqiang would surely not let her off the hook.
Therefore, she planned to abduct some wealth and go into hiding in Meizhou or another continent.
She was carrying a large sack and was about to escape when suddenly, several knives were thrust into her face out of nowhere. She cried out in surprise, alerting the guards in the mansion.
“Guards! There’s a thief!” the guards shouted in alarm.
In an instant, numerous guards armed with sabers swarmed in, surrounding Yu Zi.
However, what the guards found peculiar was that before they could even act, the female thief was being stabbed again and again by invisible knives. Blood soaked through her clothes and pooled on the ground.
What… was going on? Was there a ghost? The guards looked around fearfully into the darkness.
Could Gu Canglan have severed the life-linking蛊? Damn Nangong Ruoli!
Yu Zi, seizing the moment the guards were stunned, gritted her teeth, endured the severe pain, and leaped onto the rooftop, fleeing into the night in disarray.
After evading the pursuing guards, she landed in a secluded corner.
The moment she steadied herself, a sharp pain shot through her chest. Nangong Ruoli was trying to kill the sub-蛊?
Yu Zi was greatly alarmed.
She wanted to immediately find a place to transfer the mother-蛊, but it was too late. After just a few steps, she clearly felt that the sub-蛊 within the other person had already died.
If the sub-蛊 of the life-linking 蛊 died, the mother-蛊 would also be severely injured. Although she would not die so easily, her skin would fester and maggot-ridden, and slowly, she would become a living dead person, neither human nor ghost.
Yu Zi retreated into the shadows, harboring intense hatred for Nangong Ruoli.
She clutched her wound, her mind constantly pondering one question: what method had Nangong Ruoli and the others used to transfer the sub-蛊 from Gu Canglan’s body?
Normally, she was keenly aware of any movement of the sub-蛊, but this time, her mother-蛊 had shown no reaction, leaving her completely unaware of what had happened to the sub-蛊.
How had this been achieved?
Soon, Yu Zi gave up thinking, as her entire body suddenly became scorching hot, her skin burning as if on fire.
The skin was reacting so quickly. Yu Zi shuddered at the thought of her skin festering and becoming maggot-ridden.
She absolutely could not let anyone see her, or she would surely be mistaken for a monster. She summoned all her strength to stand up, wanting to find a safe haven.
Qinghuang Kingdom, Princess’s Mansion.
After the life-linking 蛊 was removed, Gu Canglan felt a sense of relief. He wanted to strengthen his body, gradually recover his health, and strive to live longer. He had been separated from Ruoli and Si Yue for over thirty years, and now he was determined to spend quality time with them.
From then on, he was inseparable from Granny Wu. Everyone in Liang Sheng’s household said that Lord Gu’s attachment to his wife had reached the level of the Imperial Son-in-law.
Reaching the level of the Imperial Son-in-law? No, he, Gu Canglan, refused to accept this. He was determined to far surpass the Imperial Son-in-law!
The custom of doting on wives in Liang Sheng’s family had always been competitive. With Gu Canglan’s addition, the competition became fierce, putting great pressure on the unmarried young men. In the future, how much would they have to dote on their wives to catch up to these seniors?
Half a month later, Third Uncle and Mei Qing, Zhao Dazhuang and Tian Guihua got married.
The mansion hosted over a dozen tables for the wedding banquet. Both couples wore bright red wedding attire and bowed to heaven and earth.
To attend their wedding, Liang Sheng had invited Zuo Ye and Zuo Yun, the children, as well as Shi Sheng and Dali.
Tian Dou and Tie Zhu embraced each other excitedly, calling each other brother. From now on, they were family. Tian Dou had a father, and Tie Zhu had a mother, and their parents would have many more younger siblings in the future.
As a child, Prince Yu couldn’t help but feel his eyes moisten as he watched his biological parents kowtow and bow in their red wedding attire.
Many years ago, who could have imagined that Consort Mei would end up with Baili Rongmo, who was thought to be “dead”? Who could have imagined that he, the former Prince Yu of Great Xia, was Baili Rongmo’s biological son?
The fate in this world was truly wondrous.
Zuo Ye nudged him with his arm, teasingly asking, “Crying?”
“Of course not, I, Young Master Baili, would never cry like a woman,” Prince Yu quickly wiped away his tears with his hand, raising his head proudly, forcing a stiff smile.
“Pathetic. Cry if you want to, why pretend?” Zuo Ye chuckled.
Prince Yu gritted his teeth, “Zuo Ye, if it weren’t for the fact that you are my cousin and Xiao Heilian’s husband, I would have beaten you.”
“You can’t beat me,” Zuo Ye raised an eyebrow.
Prince Yu was speechless. Alas, he really couldn’t defeat this fellow.
The wedding banquet was lively. Everyone understood the excitement of Third Uncle and Zhao Dazhuang, so they consciously refrained from getting them drunk. These two men, who had been single for many years, had to work hard tonight, so they absolutely couldn’t get drunk.
As they entertained guests at the banquet, both of them were distracted, their thoughts already on their new wives.
The crowd found these two love-struck souls a bit of an eyesore at the banquet, so they pushed them towards the bridal chamber.
Red candles flickered, and red curtains swayed.
Third Uncle and Mei Qing remembered the night they spent on Soulful Cliff and quickly got into character.
Mei Qing blushingly said that since she and Jing Yu did not raise him together when he was young, she wanted to have a few more children and become parents with Third Uncle in the future.
Third Uncle whispered into Mei Qing’s ear, saying he would work doubly hard to make Mei Qing pregnant soon.
With that, the two of them began their diligent efforts.
On the other side, Zhao Dazhuang and Tian Guihua also unanimously agreed to enthusiastically respond to the Princess’s call and have more children, until Tian Guihua could no longer give birth.
Anyway, Zhao Dazhuang was now a high official with good salary and benefits, and Tian Guihua would work in the Imperial Kitchen in the future. They could afford to raise as many children as they wanted.
Before long, the two were responding to the Princess’s call with practical actions.