Chapter 30

"Ah..." The intense pain made Gu Qiancheng involuntarily groan, his hands tightly gripping the blanket as he drew in and exhaled deeply, trying to ease the piercing pain in his ankle.

"Miss, Miss, what's wrong with you?" Mama Sun was instantly startled awake and hurried over. In her haste, she knocked over a chair and almost tripped herself.

"Nothing... bring the lamp over." The intense pain was just a momentary thing; once he regained his composure, it would be fine. Gu Qiancheng could endure this pain.

"Miss..." Mama Sun brought the lamp over and, seeing Gu Qiancheng's pale face, thought he had been woken by the pain from his wound. She was heartbroken and, for the first time in front of Gu Qiancheng, complained: "Old Master is too heartless. Since he called you back, why doesn't he take better care of you? You are his own granddaughter, after all."

Gu Qiancheng gave a self-deprecating smile: "What's the point of being a granddaughter? No matter how close a granddaughter is, she's not as close as a son. Old Master has more than just me as a granddaughter."

Old Master is not a saint. If she were still as weak and useless as before, Old Master would definitely let her fend for herself. The Gu family's daughters, though well-cared for, are not lacking in number.

Gu Qiancheng waved his hand, signaling Mama Sun to shine the lamp on his foot. When Mama Sun saw Gu Qiancheng's left foot, which was bruised and bleeding, she almost dropped the lamp: "Miss, how could this happen? Your foot, your foot..."

When the old doctor examined it earlier, it was only severely swollen. Now it was bruised and bleeding, contrasting sharply with his pale calf.

"Miss, bear with it. I'll go find someone, I'll go get a doctor, I'll be back soon." Mama Sun was about to rush out in a panic but was pulled back by Gu Qiancheng: "Mother, don't go. I did this to myself, it's not serious."

Gu Qiancheng didn't tell Mama Sun that the doctor had deliberately delayed his treatment, fearing she would be angry and go to argue with someone.

Hearing this, Mama Sun knelt down with a thud and slapped her own face: "It's all the old woman's fault. I promised to take care of you, but I fell asleep. Miss, what are we going to do now? If your foot is crippled, how will you live the rest of your life? Miss... I'm sorry, I deserve to die."

"Timely treatment will prevent it from being crippled." Gu Qiancheng quickly held Mama Sun's hand: "Bring me the medicine the doctor left, and find six pieces of wood, as wide as a ruler and as tall as a finger. As for the thickness, like a wooden box lid would be fine."

"Okay, okay, I'll go get them right away. Miss, don't move, wait for the old woman..." Mama Sun, hearing there was still hope, didn't even think about how a well-cared-for young lady like Gu Qiancheng could know such things.

Mama Sun was afraid that if she delayed, Gu Qiancheng's leg would be crippled, so she quickly brought the items Gu Qiancheng needed. The wooden pieces were the hardest to find, but fortunately, Lady Gu had sent many things today, some of which were in wooden boxes. Mama Sun directly dismantled these boxes and secretly took a knife from the kitchen to cut the pieces to the size Gu Qiancheng needed.

Fearing that the wooden pieces would hurt Gu Qiancheng, she carefully smoothed the edges, which left her hands bloody. Gu Qiancheng sighed lightly but said nothing.

Mama Sun's kindness, he would remember.

Although the doctor didn't cure Gu Qiancheng's foot, he didn't deliberately harm him. At least the herbs prescribed were appropriate, which reassured Gu Qiancheng.

With the right herbs, Gu Qiancheng wasn't afraid his left leg would be lame. After applying the medicine, he used the wooden pieces to stabilize the injured area and then wrapped it with bandages, layer by layer, ensuring no one could tell from the outside.

"When did Miss learn to bandage wounds?" Calming down, Mama Sun remembered this. Gu Qiancheng's movements were very skilled, not at all like a novice.

"A motherless child has to know more." Gu Qiancheng said calmly. Mama Sun's heart ached, and she didn't ask further, only saying with red eyes: "If Lady Gu were here, she would be heartbroken to see you suffer so much."

On this side, the master and servant had deep feelings, and the wound on Gu Qiancheng's foot was re-bandaged. The future would only get better, not worse. But on Gu Qianxue's side, things were not good...

After much turmoil, the child in Gu Qianxue's belly was ultimately lost, miscarried.

It truly fulfilled Gu Qiancheng's words: if the child didn't miscarry within six months, it would be born prematurely.

"It's Qiancheng, Master... It's Qiancheng, it must be her. She envies that the Prince of Chu likes Qianxue, and she resents Qianxue for taking her position as the Princess. That's why she made Qianxue miscarry. Master, you must do something for Qianxue." Lady Gu, upon hearing the doctor announce that the child in Gu Qianxue's belly was gone, was devastated. She collapsed into Lord Gu's arms, crying her heart out.

"My poor daughter, my poor daughter..." Lady Gu was truly heartbroken. With the loss of the child in Gu Qianxue's belly and the events on the wedding day, it was uncertain whether Qianxue could even enter the Zhao Wang's palace, let alone become the Prince's consort.

Gu Qiancheng, that wretched woman, had destroyed her daughter's future, the possibility of becoming the Prince's consort, the Empress, and even the Empress Dowager.

"Wah... wah..." Lady Gu wished she could tear Gu Qiancheng apart and blamed herself for being too soft, not having killed Gu Qiancheng earlier, allowing this trouble to live and ruin her daughter's future.

"Stop crying, you'll alarm Old Master." Lord Gu was also angry, but with Old Master protecting Gu Qiancheng, he didn't dare do anything to her.

"Master, you're still thinking about Qiancheng at a time like this. Our daughter has suffered greatly. If not for Qiancheng's interference, Qianxue would already be the Prince's consort, and you and the Prince of Zhao would be in-laws. In the future... Qianxue would have great fortune, and the first person she would honor would be you, but everything has been destroyed by Qiancheng." Lady Gu, lying in Lord Gu's arms, spoke in a very low voice.

What "great fortune" meant, they both understood. Although the Emperor favored the Crown Prince, the Prince of Zhao was older and had been in the court for many years, with military power and many supporters, making him a strong candidate for the throne.

If the Prince of Zhao ascended the throne, Qin Yunchu would be the Crown Prince, and Qianxue would be the Crown Princess, and the future Empress.

Lord Gu gritted his teeth, his eyes wide, clearly taking Lady Gu's words to heart. He didn't care about the presence of others and cursed: "Wicked girl, that wicked one, I should have strangled her when she was born to prevent her from growing up to harm her own sister."

Lady Gu never considered that Gu Qiancheng was already betrothed to Qin Yunchu. If the wedding had proceeded normally and Qin Yunchu became the Emperor, Gu Qiancheng would also have become the Empress, and Lord Gu would have been the father-in-law of the Emperor. Clearly, Lord Gu hadn't thought of this, or he had ignored it, not treating Gu Qiancheng as his daughter.

This was the effect Lady Gu wanted. Seeing her goal achieved, she stopped fanning the flames, wiped the tears from her face, and said in a falsely strong voice: "Master, it's too late to blame Qiancheng now. No matter how smart Qiancheng is, she's still a child and doesn't understand the honor of the family. We should think about how to solve the current problem. Qianxue is in this state, and I'm worried about the Gu family's reputation."

Lady Gu's righteous appearance made Lord Gu very heartbroken, and he hugged her: "I'm sorry for the suffering you and Qianxue have endured."

"I'm not the one suffering. Qianxue is the one who thinks of her sister all the time but has been harmed by Qiancheng. If things go badly, her whole life will be ruined." Lady Gu bit her lip, looking as if she had a thousand grievances but didn't want anyone to know.

"Rest assured, I won't let Qianxue suffer in vain. This suffering is for the Prince of Chu, and the Zhao Wang's palace must give us the Gu family an explanation." Lord Gu immediately ordered someone to go to the Zhao Wang's palace to inform the Prince of Zhao and the Princess of Zhao about Qianxue's miscarriage. At the same time, he personally went to Old Master's courtyard to apologize and ask Old Master to take charge of the situation.

Now, the matter couldn't be hidden. They could only think about how to maximize their interests.

The relationship between the Gu family and the Zhao Wang's palace couldn't be severed...