“Your Highness, how is the Prince Consort?”

Mu Jiulu looked down at him, her cold gaze scraping past the delicate youth.

“None of your business.”

Jin Ying laughed: “It’s his fate. I told you, Your Highness, that you would regret it.”

“I believe I also told you not to let me see you again.”

Jin Ying became a bit aggrieved: “But I came to the National Preceptor’s mansion first.”

“That’s the reason you’re still alive. Get out.”

Jin Ying narrowed his eyes: “Your Highness is being too overbearing.”

“Alright, I’ve said what I needed to say. Young Master Jin, please return to the palace first. Your Highness, please calm down.”

Wan Qi Xing Yin spoke up. This time Jin Ying didn’t talk back and obediently left.

“Your Highness, please sit.”

“I find it dirty.”

Mu Jiulu said coldly. Wan Qi Xing Yin felt a bit helpless.

“Why are you arguing with a child?”

Mu Jiulu: “No one can slander him.”

“Your Highness didn’t come to me just because of this pouch, did you?”

Mu Jiulu’s expression was grave: “That’s right. Now there’s an epidemic in the capital. Do you have any way to resolve it?”

Wan Qi Xing Yin shook her head regretfully: “I’m sorry, I don’t know medical arts.”

Mu Jiulu punched the corridor pillar beside her. Wan Qi Xing Yin watched with some trepidation.

Surely they’re not going to tear it down a fourth time!

“Then speed it up for me. He can’t die.”

Wan Qi Xing Yin frowned: “This is the last thing you have left.”

Mu Jiulu spoke resolutely: “Speed it up.”

Wan Qi Xing Yin refused in a deep voice: “I can’t. It’s already going against Heaven’s will. How can I speed it up further? Even if you can bear it, aren’t you afraid the young emperor will die prematurely?”

Mu Jiulu’s face was as dark as water: “Then what do you want me to do? Watch him die of illness? I have all this luck but still can’t save him? Wan Qi Xing Yin, don’t push me.”

“You…”

Wan Qi Xing Yin had seen her this crazy last time, also for him. She just didn’t understand why one person was worth so much to her.

“I understand. Give me some time.”

After Mu Jiulu left, Gu Tingsong, who had just finished dealing with the capital’s border defenses, barged in and split open a corridor pillar of the Stargazing Pavilion with one slash.

Wan Qi Xing Yin: “……”

The fourth time!

“General, please calm down.”

“How can I calm down? You clearly said that if my son married before the age of twenty-five, it would dispel the bloody disaster in his fate. Now he has contracted the epidemic and is about to die of illness. Wan Qi Xing Yin, you dare deceive me!”

Wan Qi Xing Yin wearily pressed her forehead, her left hand involuntarily gripping the iron ruyi scepter on her arm.

These two people…

“General, don’t be anxious. I guarantee your son will be safe and sound.”

She said this just before Gu Tingsong could swing her sword a second time. Gu Tingsong glared at her.

“Are you telling the truth?”

“It’s true. Please show mercy, General.”

Gu Tingsong angrily put down her sword. Wan Qi Xing Yin also released her left hand.

“General, please return first. Good people have Heaven’s protection. Your son will recover.”

Wan Qi Xing Yin really didn’t want to see these two people anymore. Her words were full of dismissal.

Gu Tingsong was still anxious to go see her precious son. Having received her guarantee, she had no time to linger and left in a hurry.

In Weirui Courtyard, Gu Sui had been taking medicine for several days but showed no signs of improvement. He was barely conscious for an hour or two each day, sleeping the rest of the time.

When he heard that the epidemic originated from the welcome gift Zhu Ning had given him, Gu Sui let out a bitter laugh after a while.

“Am I fated to clash with money?”

For the first ten years he was burdened by debt. Now that he finally had money, a pouch for holding money had dragged him into such a predicament.

He really felt his life was bitter.

“At least I have baby with me.”

Gu Sui was just like Zhu Ning back then, with a deathly aura between his brows. A dark color flowed through Mu Jiulu’s eyes as she embraced him and gently patted his back.

“Mm, I’ll always be by your side.”

*

“Your Highness, we have news!”

Half a month later, Yan Wu reported with a solemn face. Mu Jiulu immediately stood up.

“What is it?”

“One piece of good news: the imperial physician has found a prescription to treat the epidemic.”

“That’s great!”

“But there’s also a piece of bad news. The people sent to intercept the Princess of Liang failed. She has now returned to Liang Province, and there’s unrest in the Western Regions. They’re gathering troops at the border of Chaoyang City. It looks like they’re preparing for a large-scale attack.”

Mu Jiulu rubbed her fingertips, her eyes deep and dark: “She’s actually bold enough to collude with the Western Regions.”

Chaoyang City was a place of balance. Once occupied by the Western Regions, the Central Plains border would have a hard time. Mu Jingyao would become a sinner for all ages.

Mu Jiulu found her audacity laughable.

“Liang Province borders Chaoyang City. She’s made quite a nice plan for herself. I wonder if she can handle it.”

Yan Wu lowered her hands and said: “Your Highness, should we have Yingge start to act?”

Mu Jiulu waved her hand: “It’s not time yet. For a mere Mu Jingyao, I’ll wait for her to bring her troops here.”

When she learned that this epidemic was the beginning of Mu Jingyao’s plan, she had already anticipated her intentions.

Gu Sui was the young general of the Gu family, so naturally he had opportunities to contact the Gu family’s army.

The reason Mu Jingyao put the trigger in the brocade pouch was to have Gu Sui spread the epidemic to the army.

However, Mu Jiulu had implemented strict prevention and control measures as soon as the epidemic started. Although some people in the army were infected, isolation was timely and it didn’t spread on a large scale.

But a few days ago, Mu Jiulu spread news about the epidemic spreading in the army, and had Gu Tingsong make a show of panic response, causing public anxiety.

Mu Jingyao probably thinks her scheme has succeeded and is gloating right now.

Little does she know that after learning about the culprit who made Gu Sui ill, Gu Tingsong has been sharpening her knife every night, who knows how many times.

Mu Jiulu was inviting the enemy in.

She just feared Mu Jingyao wouldn’t dare to come.

The only thing she had been worried about for the past half month was Gu Sui’s health.

Fortunately.

It’s still in time.

Yun Mu had also accidentally contracted the epidemic a few days ago. He was the first person to try the prescription developed by the imperial physician. After taking one dose of medicine, the red rashes on his body noticeably subsided.

A trace of joy finally appeared on Mu Jiulu’s long-worried brow.

Gu Sui’s illness couldn’t be delayed any longer. In recent days, he had been conscious for less and less time, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to drink medicine. Towards the end, it was almost all fed to him by Mu Jiulu.

This time was no exception.