Peerless Physician: The Path of a Foolish Eldest Daughter's Rise to Power

On New Year's Day, a faint sadness permeated the Changning Marquis's residence. The old lady's three-year mourning period was not yet over when Gu Bai was imprisoned, and the first wife, Madam Zhu, fell ill.

After Gu Yong and Gu Sicheng returned to their residence from the New Year's Day court assembly, they sat at the head of the hall, and the others took their seats in turn. Gu Sicheng bowed to Gu Yong and offered his blessings, and Yang Ziwei also bowed to Gu Yong.

Then, the grandchildren first bowed to Gu Yong, then said auspicious words in turn, and then bowed to Gu Sicheng and Yang Ziwei to offer their blessings.

Finally, the peers exchanged blessings and bows, and the scene became lively, filling the Gu residence with laughter and joy.

Gu Hao took a few boys to exchange the peach charms.

Led by Gu Yong, everyone went to the ancestral hall to light incense and pay their respects. Afterwards, Yang Ziwei led several of the eldest wife's concubines and children to visit the first wife.

Inside the Jade Pavilion, Madam Zhu lay unconscious on the bed. The boys came in, bowed, glanced at Madam Zhu, and then left.

Seeing Zhu's weak and powerless appearance, Gu Xinyao began to gently wipe away her tears.

Wang Mama told Yang Ziwei, "Madam feels weak all over and her limbs ache. The doctor has already examined her."

Gu Xinyue thought to herself that this was a bad cold. She went over and touched Zhu's forehead and found that she had a high fever. She took her pulse. Normally, she wouldn't have the chance to treat her aunt, but now she could have whatever examination she wanted.

She gave Madam Zhu a full physical examination and discovered that the First Madam's health had been damaged in her early years, making her unable to have children. No wonder her eldest aunt only had two children, her eldest brother and her eldest sister.

She wrote out the prescription for Gu Xinyao, "Big sister, this prescription is very effective. Have someone prepare it and give it to Auntie. Auntie will be better in three days."

Granny Wang winked at Gu Xinyue, who found it amusing and asked, "Granny Wang, what are you afraid of?"

Gu Xinyao said, "My third sister isn't stupid enough to harm our mother in front of so many people."

"Young Miss, Third Miss knows nothing about medicine, please stop fooling around."

"You personally prepare and decoct the medicine, and personally feed it to your aunt. Keep the dregs safe; if anyone tampers with it, we'll ask the imperial physician to identify it. What are you afraid of? Go now!"

Granny Wang watched Gu Xinyao until Gu Xinyao told her to hurry up and go, then she left.

Gu Xinyao sat by the bed and watched helplessly as Zhu Shi suffered. She felt sad too, and could only hold Zhu Shi's hand tightly, powerless to help her with the illness.

Gu Xinyue looked at Zhu Shi and then at Gu Xinyao, recalling the rumors that they did indeed look different and had no resemblance in their facial features.

Bored, she thought about the paternity test she had done at Huimin Medical Center last time, and decided that doing it again wouldn't hurt. She took a step forward and started thinking about the paternity test in her mind. After the sample was collected, she found this stool and sat down.

"The parent-child relationship is not established." Gu Xinyao is not her aunt's child; this is quite a juicy story.

Fortunately, she had the idea to do a paternity test for her aunt and Gu Xinyao. If she had done it for her uncle and Gu Xinyao, wouldn't she have misunderstood that Zhu had cheated on her uncle?

Is she her uncle's child? No, her aunt wouldn't treat her uncle's child as her own daughter, and she treats Gu Xinyao as her own.

Whether or not Uncle knew about this matter, the fact that it could be kept secret from Gu Xinyao until she was almost 16 years old shows that very few people knew about it. The only people around Auntie were Aunt Yu and Granny Wang. Aunt Yu had been Zhu's maid since she was a child, and Granny Wang was her dowry nanny.

While Gu Xinyue was pondering, Granny Wang brought over the medicine and eagerly fed it to Zhu Shi herself. Gu Xinyue wondered where Granny Wang's previous resistance had gone.

Time slowly passed, and Zhu slowly opened her eyes. She found that there were many people in the room. She asked Gu Xinyao to help her up, and then she sat up with her head on the pillow.

"Today is New Year's Day, and I am ill at an inopportune time," Madam Zhu said slowly. "You may all go out; the family banquet should begin. I am much better now."

Aunt Yu stayed behind to take care of the sick, while everyone else left.

At the family dinner, Gu Xinyue ate absentmindedly, wondering who in the Gu family knew that secret. She kept glancing at her uncle and Gu Xinyao, and occasionally at Gu Hao, wondering if they knew that Gu Xinyao was not their relative.

Back at Lingmeng Pavilion, Gu Xinyue pondered the secret. Xia He asked, "Miss, what happened? You seem to be thinking about something a lot since you got back."

"Chuntao, go and guard the door. Don't let anyone in."

After Chun Tao left, Gu Xinyue whispered, "I've discovered a big secret. Gu Xinyao wasn't born to Zhu Shi. They're not related by blood. I'm wondering if my falling off the artificial hill when I was six years old was related to this."

Xia He was startled for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "What does Miss want me to do?"

"You'll do whatever I tell you to do?"

"This maid will do her best."

"Find a way to let Grandfather know about this, but keep it a secret, so that no one knows we've told anyone."

"Miss, I'll figure something out."

"No one but you can know about this. If they find out they've met your aunt, they'll keep glancing at them, and they might accidentally lose their lives. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Miss."

"Go ahead and do your work. Call Chun Tao in. I'm going to Qingfeng Courtyard."

In Qingfeng Courtyard, Gu Xinyue asked Gu Yong, "Grandfather, can't my third brother be released from prison?"

"Do you know what he did? He often bullies Young Master Qu, snatches his pen and throws it away. He's ignorant and hates pens. He even made someone take off Young Master Qu's pants in the outhouse. He's morally corrupt and has no bottom line. He even made Young Master Qu crawl between his legs. He's so young and has not learned anything good. He's learned to insult people. Let him stay in jail for a while."

"Grandfather, don't be angry, it's bad for your health."

"How can I not be angry? Young Master Qu has been doing his homework for the past few years, no wonder he doesn't understand anything."

"Didn't the teacher notice?"

“Young Master Naqu is also quite talented. He imitated Gu Bai’s handwriting, but his writing was only so-so. Neither father nor son noticed.”

"Now that Young Master Naqu is better, will Third Brother be able to come out?"

"How can it be cured? The imperial physicians have examined him. A heart ailment requires a heart remedy, but the imperial physicians cannot find such a remedy. Lord Qu is upright and honest, and Young Master Qu is his only legitimate son."

"Grandfather, I have a way to restore Young Master Qu to normal. Will my third brother be able to come back?"

"Xinyue, do you have a solution?"

"This matter is simple in some ways, and difficult in others. Find someone Young Master Qu trusts and tell him that the bastards who bullied him are in jail and have repented. They want to come and repent, so he can beat them up and make them crawl between Young Master Qu's legs. Young Master Qu is being humiliated in front of others, and there needs to be a crowd watching, not just the four of them. In the end, they can tell Young Master Qu that he is too outstanding, and no matter how hard they try, they can't catch up with Young Master Qu, which is why they bullied him."

"Hmm, we can give this idea a try. We don't know how effective it will be, but we can try to free that genius boy."

The next day at noon, Gu Bai returned. He locked himself in the courtyard and refused to go out, not wanting to see anyone.

Peony said, "Miss, the Third Young Master has shut himself off since returning to the manor. Did he suffer some injustice in prison?"

"You must have suffered injustice; I wonder if it was in jail?"

"Miss, I thought the Third Young Master would come back beaming and recounting his exploits."

"He was too ashamed to say it."