Chapter 14: The Snake in the Garden
Although Gu Yao looked friendly and even smiled as wide as a cornfield, Lin Xueyi knew better than anyone not to trust this snake.
In the novel, Gu Yao was the daughter of the wealthy Gu family, a household famous for its medicine business. She had grown up as a pampered young lady, surrounded by comfort and never lacking anything.
Unfortunately, everything changed last year.
The Gu family’s business began to fall apart after a scandal revealed that Gu Murong—Gu Yao’s father—had actually been secretly selling fake medicine while mixing cheap herbs into expensive prescriptions for years.
The scandal spread across the capital overnight. Families who had once trusted the Gu family demanded answers, and many merchants immediately cut ties with them. Their shops lost customers one after another, and their once-respected name was dragged through the mud.
But strangely enough, even though many people had already grown suspicious of the Gu family’s business, their medicine shops had still not lost their licenses. Most people believed the Gu family had powerful connections with the nobles.
What they didn’t know was that Gu Murong had simply been bribing officials to keep the investigation from moving forward.
However, that solution could not last forever.
As the Gu family grew poorer, Gu Murong could no longer afford to keep paying bribes. It was only a matter of time before the truth caught up with him.
That was exactly why Gu Yao had set her sights on Physician Liu.
If she could become his disciple and successfully treat Rong Shuyan’s long-standing illness, the entire capital would see her as a skilled physician in her own right. By then, people might slowly forget the Gu family’s scandal and begin to trust the Gu name again.
Unfortunately, Gu Yao was far too greedy. She had even begun dreaming of becoming Rong Shuyan’s wife or at the very least, one of his concubines.
"Even a Princess Consort can always learn more from books," Lin Xueyi replied to Gu Yao. "Knowledge doesn’t belong to any one person. The more I learn, the better I can take care of His Highness."
"You’re absolutely right, Princess Consort," she said with a graceful bow. "I was only worried that you might tire yourself by reading so many books."
Lin Xueyi chuckled softly. "Thank you for your concern. But compared to taking care of a seriously ill prince, reading a few extra books is hardly exhausting." She closed the book in her hands with a smile. "Still, it’s kind of you to worry about me."
In the book, these two poisonous snakes had never crossed paths because they lived in different habitats. And since the original Lin Xueyi had died so early, Gu Yao had never needed to waste her time finding a way to get rid of her.
However, now that Lin Xueyi was still alive, standing right in front of her, healthy and very much in the way. To Gu Yao, she had become the biggest obstacle to winning Rong Shuyan’s heart.
"What kind of medicine are you planning to make, Princess Consort?" Gu Yao asked with a gentle smile. "I can help you gather the medicinal herbs if you’d like."
Lin Xueyi narrowed her eyes slightly, but she kept smiling. Knowing how cunning Gu Yao was, she was certain the woman would purposely pick the wrong herbs.
However, instead of avoiding her, Lin Xueyi thought this could be the perfect opportunity to trap the snake and drive her out of the palace.
[This snake is far too poisonous for Yanyan. I need to get rid of her.] She thought.
"How thoughtful of you, Physician Gu," Lin Xueyi replied warmly. "The weather has been getting colder lately, so I’d like to make some Golden Wound Medicine to help ease His Highness’s swelling."
Gu Yao’s eyes lit up for a brief moment before she quickly hid the reaction behind another gentle smile.
"Golden Wound Medicine?" she repeated. "I know the recipe well. Please wait here, Princess Consort. I’ll gather the herbs for you."
"Thank you," Lin Xueyi replied with a bright smile.
Gu Yao gave a graceful bow before slowly looking around the medicinal garden. From the way she searched, it was clear she was trying to find herbs that looked almost identical to the ones used in Golden Wound Medicine but would produce a completely different effect.
Lin Xueyi wasn’t completely confident that she could recognize every medicinal herb correctly. After all, none of the medical books had illustrations, making it difficult for a beginner like her to identify the plants by appearance alone.
Although that was the case, she could always take her time studying the medicinal herbs more carefully later.
About fifteen minutes later, Gu Yao finally returned with a bamboo basket in her hands and offered it to Lin Xueyi.
"Princess Consort, these are the herbs needed to make Golden Wound Medicine," she said with a gentle smile. "If some of them look a little different, please don’t worry. The weather has been quite cold lately, making it harder for the herbs to grow. Because of that, some of them don’t look as healthy as they usually do."
Lin Xueyi accepted the bamboo basket from Gu Yao with a warm smile. "Thank you, Physician Gu. You’ve been a great help. Thanks to you, all I have to do now is prepare the medicine. If everything goes well, I should be able to give it to His Highness tomorrow."
After saying that, Lin Xueyi left the medicinal garden. As usual, Mei Lu, who was always by her side, followed her back to her chamber.
"Princess Consort, please let this servant carry the basket for you," Mei Lu offered.
She reached out to take it, but Lin Xueyi gently moved the basket to her other hand.
"It’s alright," she said with a soft smile. "I can carry it myself."
If the basket really contained something dangerous, she didn’t want anyone else touching it. That way, if something went wrong, an innocent person like Mei Lu wouldn’t be caught up in it.
"Instead, could you ask someone to find a few mice for me?" Lin Xueyi asked in a quiet voice.
Mei Lu blinked in surprise. "Mice?"
Lin Xueyi gave an awkward smile. "I’m sorry for asking for something so strange, but I really need them."