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

In the temporary reception room set up in the village.

“Miss, we have searched the area around both estates and found nothing unusual.”

Gu Xinyue thought that Gu An and the others were very experienced in the investigation, and they hadn't found it after so many years, so she shouldn't be anxious.

"Brother Gu, what's the safest place?"

"Miss, there is no absolutely safe place."

Some people say that the most dangerous place is the safest place. I often think about which places are safe?

"The people around the Marquis said that the Marquis thought so too. At first, he thought it was related to powerful people, so he searched secretly many times. Later, he searched the surrounding area many times, and the estate at least three times. He searched both openly and secretly, but he still couldn't find it."

"You mean your grandfather searched for your father for the two years he was missing, but without any results. Are you still searching for him now?"

“Miss, the Marquis’s eyes have recovered, so he has continued the search. We are searching in two groups. We are searching according to your plan, and the other group is searching according to their plan. The Marquis has never given up on finding the General.”

"Alright, let's continue searching according to our plan. You all get some rest first, and once you're rested, we'll focus all our efforts on the search."

"it is good."

After Gu An left, Gu Xinyue quietly pondered, resting her chin on her left hand and gently tapping the table with her right thumb.

When Xiahe and Chuntao came in, they found that the fire in the brazier was about to go out. Seeing that their young mistress was thinking about something, they didn't dare to disturb her and thought of bringing another brazier.

"No need to take it, let's go back," Gu Xinyue said.

"Miss, are we disturbing you? We'd like to add some fuel to the fire, in case you're cold."

"No."

Actually, when they came in, Gu Xinyue had already figured it out: thinking only creates problems, doing is the answer. No matter how many times her grandfather had searched here, she would search according to her own ideas, and if she couldn't find it, she would think of other methods.

Back in the house, Gu Xinyue got into bed, wrapped herself in the quilt, and felt so warm. The coldness in her feet was slowly disappearing.

“You guys are all settled now, come up on the kang (heated brick bed) and tell me what you’ve seen and heard.”

It was so cold that they didn't dare to get too close to Gu Xinyue when they sat down, afraid of passing the cold on to their young lady.

“Miss, it’s so warm,” Peony said.

She rubbed her hands together and said, “Miss, not every farmer in this village can grow good crops. There’s a man in this village whose crops yield more than others. Although there are many skilled farmers in the village, everyone respects him the most. His name is Zheng Ping, and he lives not far from the front of our village.”

"Go on."

Peony began to vividly recount Zheng Ping's gossip, while Gu Xinyue listened silently. She, Xia He, and Chun Tao had witnessed the entire process at Huimin Medical Clinic. Although Peony's account today wasn't completely distorted, it exaggerated the facts and differed significantly from what actually happened.

So that's how rumors start: one becomes ten times wrong, ten times wrong becomes a hundred times exaggerated, a hundred times exaggerated becomes a thousand times outrageous, and finally the rumors get out of control. That's probably how her bad reputation spread.

Early in the morning, before the snow had melted, everything was covered in white. Zheng Ping requested an audience early in the morning.

In the reception room.

Upon meeting Gu Xinyue, Zheng Ping got straight to the point: "Miss, we've discovered two suspicious places."

"You said."

"Firstly, my friend recently went to collect firewood on the mountain in front of the village and noticed someone acting suspiciously. That person then disappeared nearby. He searched for a long time but couldn't find out how the person vanished. This morning, we found traces of snow that had been cleared from that area and discovered a very well-hidden cave entrance. I don't know if that cave entrance is dangerous."

"What about the second one?"

“There is a courtyard of twenty or thirty acres in front of your estate. Ten years ago, a middle-aged man and a child of about ten years old lived in that courtyard. Now, ten years have passed, the middle-aged man is over forty years old, and the child is over twenty years old. There has never been a woman in their household. In the past ten years, apart from greeting each other, they have had no social interactions with the people around them. Men in their twenties in the estate have long since married and had children, but they haven’t. Isn’t that strange?”

"Brother Zheng, thank you. Please wait a moment." After saying that, Gu Xinyue said to Xia He, "Call Brother Gu and the other four over here."

"Chuntao, take a hundred taels of silver."

“Brother Zheng, please point out these two places to them, and then you and your friends should stay at home and not go out. We will investigate the rest ourselves. I am worried that it will implicate you.”

Chuntao handed the silver note to Zheng Ping, saying, "Brother Zheng, it's so cold outside, please take it."

Seeing that Gu Xinyue was sincere, Zheng Ping put the money in his pocket.

After Gu Xinyue and Gu An finished their conversation, Zheng Ping led them on their way.

Half an hour later, Gu Ran returned.

“Miss, the people around the Third Prince said that the courtyard was the First Madam’s dowry. She rented it to a father and son ten years ago for a high rent.”

The eldest madam and aunt's dowry shocked Gu Xinyue. She thought for a moment and decided that no matter who it was, she would find out the truth.

Gu Ran handed a scroll of paper to Gu Xinyue and said, "Miss, this is a drawing of the courtyard they made."

"Just keep this to yourself, don't tell anyone, lest something unexpected happens." Gu Xinyue said as she unfolded the blueprints and began to study them carefully.

Why are there so many houses in a courtyard where only two people live? And there are two separate courtyards, which means that more than just the two of them live here. There must be a conspiracy here.

Gu Xinyue considered the manpower available and wondered how to investigate the courtyard. Had they simply rented her aunt Zhu's courtyard? Or was Zhu also involved in the conspiracy? Or was the Zhu family involved? What kind of power did the Zhu family have behind them?

When Gu An returned at noon, Gu Xinyue put down the blueprints in her hand, looked at Gu An and asked, "Brother Gu, how did it go?"

“Miss, that cave entrance is indeed hard to spot. Going in from there leads to a secret passage that leads to that suspicious courtyard. The passage branches off and leads to an abandoned courtyard in the northern suburbs of the capital. I came back to report to you first.”

This news confirmed that there was definitely something wrong with this courtyard, so she decided to focus her efforts on investigating it thoroughly.

"Do you have any idea?"

"We don't have enough manpower. In order to thoroughly investigate that courtyard, we borrowed some people from the Marquis. We are now preparing to take action tonight."

“I don’t think this is appropriate. We don’t know what’s hidden in this courtyard. What if Father isn’t here, and there are some secrets inside that we shouldn’t know? Someone might try to silence us, and then we’ll be in trouble. Let’s ask the Third Prince for help. He can handle things. We’ll only ask Father and not worry about anything else.”

“Miss is very thoughtful. If the Third Prince discovers a secret that has nothing to do with us, he can report it directly to the Emperor. No matter how big the matter is, it will not implicate the Marquis, nor will it implicate the Marquis’s mansion.”

"If we don't have a father, we'll step aside and leave the rest to the Third Prince."