Lady Sheng raised her eyebrows and said, "Ah, it’s you. I’ve heard of you, you’ve achieved great success in Lingnan, and the Emperor has awarded you the title of Divine Doctor. I heard that you also treated the Empress Dowager’s leg, is that true?"
Gu Youyou couldn’t help but want to facepalm; Lady Sheng’s way of talking was truly tiring. Did she really not know, or was she pretending not to know? And she had heard?
Everyone in the Imperial Palace knew about her treating the Empress Dowager’s leg ailment; she had visited the Imperial Palace several times and often encountered other concubines paying respects to the Empress Dowager. The only one she had never seen was Lady Sheng.
At the Empress’s birthday feast, the other concubines were also there, but just like Madam Ru, Lady Sheng claimed to be ill and did not attend.
Gu Youyou, with downcast eyes, responded, "It was indeed I who treated her."
Lady Sheng broke into a smile and said, "It’s really not easy for a young girl like you to possess such superb medical skills."
Laughter came from a distance, and Lady Sheng frowned. She saw a group of colorfully dressed women approaching. She said lightly, "I won’t disturb your enjoyment of the lotus pond anymore. Long Yi, let’s return to the palace."
"We respectfully see off Lady Sheng..."
Watching Lady Sheng walk away, the three by the lotus pond sighed with relief. Cui Yingying said, "Princess, Master, let’s go back. It’s good that we ran into Lady Sheng who is easy to talk to. If we had encountered the Empress, and she knew the Princess was out in the Imperial Garden at this hour, there would be trouble."
Gu Youyou knew that this was the time when the Princess should be studying. She just thought that life in a feudal society was indeed tough and exhausting.
They wanted to leave, but it didn’t mean others would let them go.
From a distance, a sharp-eyed concubine spotted Gu Youyou and called out loudly, "Hey, you there, stop!"
With no other choice, Gu Youyou had to stop with the two little girls in tow.
As fate would have it, the person who called out to her was none other than Noble Lady Xu, with whom Gu Youyou had a bit of a quarrel.
"It’s you?" Noble Lady Xu exclaimed in surprise.
"This commoner has seen Noble Lady Xu," Gu Youyou said dutifully, leading the two little girls in a greeting.
Noble Lady Xu hummed in acknowledgement and allowed them to stand. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Gu Youyou’s dress, and she hurriedly asked, "Where did you buy that dress?"
Gu Youyou honestly replied, "This was given to me by Miss Du from Manxiu Building to repay me for saving her life. If Noble Lady likes it, you can have someone go to Manxiu Building and order a set."
"Really?" Noble Lady Xu, forgetting the past grudge against Gu Youyou and that she should have been making trouble for her, said, "Of course I have to make a set. I like green; make me a set in green, just style."
She immediately gave orders to a Palace Maiden, "You all go out of the palace tomorrow and have them make a set of clothes at Manxiu Building."
Gu Youyou didn’t want to get entangled with Noble Lady Xu and thus led the two young ladies, saying, "If Noble Lady has no further business, this commoner will take Ninth Princess and Miss Cui back to Liuying Hall; the Princess has not yet completed her studies for the day."
Noble Lady Xu was in a good mood that day and did not trouble Gu Youyou. She said, "Go ahead!"
They left the palace without having seen the Fire Lotus, much to Gu Youyou’s regret.
Personally seeing the habitat of that rare lotus would have undoubtedly been a great help in her research for an antidote.
The poison within Jin Zijin was different from their cold poison. As long as the poison from the Fire Lotus was neutralized, even if the beads remained in his body, there should be no issue.
However, she had no idea how, so many years ago, Jin Zijin ended up poisoned in such a peculiar way.
From a distance, she could see that Lin Qianqing was already waiting at the palace gate. This girl.