Chapter 284

Infant Void Heavenly Son said.

Unlike yesterday, today Infant Void Heavenly Son's attitude toward Mu Yuanzhi was noticeably more warm, perhaps because his headache had eased.

"My junior fellow disciple's medical skills are truly superb; Your Majesty can rest assured letting him treat you." Mu Yuanzhi said.

Nine Thousand Years Old said: "In that case, I also really want to meet the Princess's junior fellow disciple."

"There will be an opportunity." Mu Yuanzhi glanced warily at Nine Thousand Years Old.

She asked Infant Void Heavenly Son: "How does Your Majesty feel now?"

Infant Void Heavenly Son touched his head and said: "I feel much better; Princess, you are truly more skilled than the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Institute!"

"It's just a small effort." Mu Yuanzhi said humbly.

Anyway, she also got the answer she wanted.

"Trouble, beloved official, send the Princess out; I need to rest a bit." Infant Void Heavenly Son smiled at Nine Thousand Years Old.

"I will obey the decree."

Nine Thousand Years Old sent Mu Yuanzhi out; others came forward, but since Nine Thousand Years Old was here, they didn't ask Mu Yuanzhi at this time, and would talk about it when they returned to the Accompanying Palace.

"Shall we continue the tour, honored guests?" Nine Thousand Years Old asked.

"Sure, trouble, Grandfather Yao, please continue leading the way." Mu Yuanzhi said.

Although today's harvest was not bad, since we've come, we might as well take a good look around here.

Nine Thousand Years Old smiled and nodded: "Please follow me; ahead is the Imperial Garden, filled with various rare and exotic plants transplanted from all over the country, dazzling to the eye."

Upon reaching the Imperial Garden, the eyes were filled with flowers vying in beauty, too beautiful to take in, breathtaking.

Even though accustomed to the scale of royal gardens, Mu Yuanzhi still marveled at the birdsong and floral fragrance here; truly beautiful!

Walking along, Mu Yuanzhi suddenly stopped in a section of the botanical garden and walked over suspiciously.

Gu Rongjin also followed over to see what the daughter-in-law was looking at.

"What is this?" She seemed to have seen this kind of plant in ancient texts.

It closely resembled the medicinal plant "Dead Vine Water" that only grows in certain tropical rainforests!

This Dead Vine Water has hallucinogenic effects; locals also believe it can cure illness and communicate with spirits.

The more she looked, the more it resembled it.

But Mu Yuanzhi wasn't entirely sure, since she had only seen it a few times in books and could have mistaken it.

But this isn't a tropical rainforest; can it survive here?

"The Princess seems quite interested in it." Nine Thousand Years Old leaned over and smiled: "This is Creeping Vine; that's what we call it here."

"Oh? What was its original name?" Mu Yuanzhi asked.

"It's untraceable; this plant has existed since before the former emperor's time, only found here, never seen elsewhere in the Infant Void."

Mu Yuanzhi asked again: "Is it purely an ornamental plant? I think it could be used medicinally."

"As for that, I don't know; Princess, you're more knowledgeable—perhaps you could take a specimen back to study."

Mu Yuanzhi raised her eyebrows skeptically: "We don't even know what this plant is used for, yet they dare to grow it in the Imperial Palace? What if a mischievous prince or princess accidentally plucks it and takes it away?"

"There should be no problem growing it in the Imperial Garden; besides, it has been here since the former emperor's time—we shouldn't just transplant it away, right?" Nine Thousand Years Old said.

Mu Yuanzhi nodded: "In that case, we won't stand on ceremony—I'll take a specimen back to study."

"Princess, do as you please."

Mu Yuanzhi put on gloves, plucked a specimen, and stored it away.

Afterwards, Nine Thousand Years Old led them on a tour of the Imperial Palace; it was already late, and both meals were sent from the Imperial Kitchen, with Nine Thousand Years Old eating together with them.

The way he eats is as graceful as his gestures; he doesn't even have the bearing a eunuch should have—let alone a fake eunuch, he's hardly pretending at all!

Nobody thinks he looks like a eunuch at first glance, right?

Pei Di's information won't be wrong; this fake eunuch is really bold.

After dinner, the Ninth Lord sent them back to the companion palace; when saying goodbye, he put on a reluctant expression, saying, "You all go rest; if anything comes up, you can contact me anytime."

He turned his gaze to Pei Di: "Young master, you can also come find me anytime to spar, or to become my disciple."

"I already said I don't want to take you as my teacher." Pei Di was blunt, and after saying that he turned and left.

The Ninth Lord wasn't annoyed either: "Really just a child."

He also turned and left.

"Xiao Yuanzhi, quickly tell us what you gained today," Gu Rongjin asked eagerly.

Mu Yuanzhi: "Let's talk about it after we go back inside."

After they returned to the sleeping palace and dismissed the attendants, Mu Yuanzhi then began to say what she had discovered today: "The little emperor has been afflicted with a gu poison!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked, especially Pei Di and the Pei clan; these two were different from them, having had no contact with real gu techniques, so their faces showed extra surprise.

Pei Di: "Gu? Elder sister Mu, are you referring to the Miao gu?"

Mu Yuanzhi: "I'm not sure if it's the Miao kind, but the power should be about the same."

The Pei clan felt a lingering fear: "How frightening, the Son of Heaven actually could be afflicted with gu, and not even know it?"

"Actually it's not that scary; my disciple is an expert at dispelling gu." Gu Rongjin said.

Pei Di: "You mean the Qilin?"

"'Mm, he's from the Miao region, can't you tell?' Gu Rongjin retorted."

"'Of course I can tell.' The Father Emperor should know, right? He also never told him."

Qishi Huai: "In that case, the little emperor looks so weak entirely because he's been afflicted with gu?"

"'That's basically right, but we still need to wait for the Qilin to come for specifics.' Mu Yuanzhi said."

Qishi Huai: "The Qilin will come, right?"

Gu Rongjin: "He'll definitely come; his senior sister is here, and this sis-con guy has an excuse—how could he not come?"

「Then today, the plant I took from the botanical garden inside the Imperial Garden, the Nine Thousand Years said it was a Man Teng Luo plant, but I suspect it's actually dead vine water, a hallucinogenic plant that only exists in certain tropical rainforests. 」

Pei Di went 'hmm' with their mouth.

Hallucinogenic?

「Little Di, what's wrong? Could it be that you picked it when you were young? 」 Gu Rongjin teased.

Pei Di furrowed their brows and said: "I really did once, out of playfulness, want to pick it, but the Nine Thousand Years stopped me, and he scolded me at that time."

Qi Shihuai: "So that's why your relationship is so bad."

Pei Di was speechless: "It's naturally not that simple."

「But he's still pretty good, knowing to stop you from picking something so dangerous. 」 Gu Rongjin said.

Pei Di hummed, "Is he afraid that I'll find out about his schemes?"

「Then I could just kill you outright. 」 Gu Rongjin made a throat-slitting gesture.

It's just the son of a little hostage; kill him if you want, after all, the emperor back then wouldn't care.

Mu Yuanzhi played with this plant: "Once I study it, I'll know the answer."