This man was a nephew of the butler at the Su mansion. With his uncle to protect him, the man had been a tyrant on this street until he accidentally pissed off the third prince and was almost killed.

  The Su family butler begged his master to invite an imperial physician to see his nephew, but the doctor said that there was nothing he could do.

  They had only come to the Daoist nun as a last resort. Every other doctor said that there was no hope for the patient, but Gu Bailu’s signboard claimed that she could cure all illnesses.

  Gu Bailu wasn’t an expert in internal injuries, so she used a pill of Dragon Spirit Blood.

  After it was processed, the pill didn’t smell of blood at all. Even a seasoned doctor wouldn’t be able to tell what it was made from.

  The butler’s nephew was taken back after he ingested a pill. He was up and about by the next day, and brought gifts to thank Gu Bailu.

  Word got around, and all of a sudden, Gu Bailu, this roadside fortune teller, turned into a divine doctor whom everybody came to for treatment.

  Gu Bailu could only add a line on her sign: One complicated illness a day.

  If she gave everybody a Dragon Spirit Blood pill, those pills would become worthless, since the rarer something was, the greater its value.

  Besides, she didn’t want Qian’er to shed too much blood. While it took very little blood to make the pills, it was still unethical to make pills with human blood.

  As for patients who could be treated with prescriptions, Gu Bailu didn’t turn any of them away.

  A lot of them were poor, and she didn’t charge them for her services. She simply considered it as doing good deeds and cultivating merit.

  The butler was in high spirits after his nephew recovered, and the master of the Su family naturally noticed. He asked the butler, “So your nephew is alright now?”

  If his nephew had really died, the butler should be asking for leave rather than being so happy.

  “Thank you for your concern, master, that boy is fine now. He was saved by a panacea from a Daoist nun,” the butler replied happily.

  The current master of the Su family was Su Muwei’s father. He had been brooding over the fact that someone from his house was almost killed by the third prince. Hearing that the nephew had recovered, he was rather happy, and asked further, “Who is this Daoist nun you mentioned?”

  The Su family had always paid attention to Su Muwei’s health and feared that the family would lose its prestige when she was gone.

  Though the third prince had beaten up the butler’s nephew in a fury, he still sent someone to apologize out of deference to the crown prince.

  The master of the Su family was thus well aware that his daughter couldn’t die. As long as she was around, the crown prince would protect the Su family.

  Though the Su family had a lot of disciples with immense spiritual power, the competition among the four major families of Heavenly Wind Empire was very fierce, and the Su family ranked first only because of the crown prince’s help.

  “I heard that they’re from a temple in Xuan City of Southern Glory Empire. The temple is in disrepair and they require funds for the renovations, which is why they’ve come out to tell fortunes and treat illnesses. It’s a pair of pretty Daoist nuns, one old and one young, and they’re good at what they do.”

  The butler didn’t stop praising them.

  The master of the Su family asked curiously, “Are they really that good? They were able to treat an internal injury which even the chief imperial physician couldn’t cure?”

  “Master, I dare not lie. My nephew is absolutely fine now. After ingesting her pill, he recovered in one night, and there were no side effects at all. It’s truly a miracle.” The butler whispered, “Would you like me to invite them here, master?”

  He wanted to introduce the Daoist nuns to his master and see if they could treat the young lady’s disease.

  But he also knew that the crown prince was a paranoid person who wasn’t impressed by just anyone.

  569 The Darkest Days

  He didn’t dare casually recommend anybody, or he would be punished if anything happened to the young lady.

  Now that his master had asked, he felt that there was no harm in trying.

  The master of the Su family nodded. “It won’t hurt to meet them.”

  He would meet them first to see if they really were capable or just phonies. Though they had cured the butler’s nephew, that might just have been a lucky coincidence.

  Besides, even if they could cure the butler’s nephew, that didn’t necessarily mean that they could cure his daughter.

  Muwei had been getting better, until that goddamn maid escaped. If she had drunk the maid’s blood for another year or two, she might have already recovered.

  “I’ll make the arrangements right now.”

  The butler took his nephew to the street in person with a bunch of gifts.

  Gu Bailu waited three days, but there was no response from the Su family. She was wondering if she had to try something else, when the butler came.

  Gu Bailu glanced at him. “You’re too kind, Butler Su. I can’t use so many things. You might as well give me some money.”

  Butler Su was stumped for a moment, before he took out two notes worth two hundred taels of silver. “Of course.”

  Qian’er stretched out her hand and accepted the notes.

  But her eyes moved across Butler Su’s face. It was this man who would escort Su Muwei to the crown prince’s residence after Lu Fenying took Qian’er in. He had been quite condescending and scolded her a lot.

  At that time, Qian’er’s Dragon Spirit Blood had yet to be discovered.

  Every time Butler Su delivered things for the Su family, he was always cold to Qian’er as he felt that she was a threat to Su Muwei because she was too pretty.

  He even set many traps for Qian’er. She was almost always assigned to empty the chamber pots.

  It was at that time when, to save her own life, Qian’er accidentally revealed the fact that she had Dragon Spirit Blood, and Lu Fenying learned of it.

  Then, her endless suffering and torment began.

  She was bled every day until she passed out. After she lost blood, she would be fed ingredients and herbs to stimulate the regeneration of blood, even when she wasn’t hungry, to the point that she stopped tasting anything.

  But Lu Fenying still wouldn’t let her go. Feeling that her blood wasn’t enough, he wanted her to have a baby to fulfill Su Muwei’s needs so that she could get better sooner.

  Qian’er always remembered the nights when she was raped by Lu Fenying, who showed no gentleness but simply regarded her as a baby-making machine.

  He asked the experienced maids to calculate the days when Qian’er was mostly likely to get pregnant. During those days, he would come every night and then leave without saying anything after he was done, as if it was just routine.

  Qian’er wanted to escape, but the crown prince’s residence was too huge and complicated. She was trapped there and couldn’t leave.

  She probably would still be mired in that dark abyss if she hadn’t discovered the amazing effect of the tea she made.

  It was only because this Butler Su had tried to kill her that she had been forced to use her blood to save her life.

  All her suffering stemmed from this man.

  Qian’er could barely conceal the depths of her hatred toward this man. Slipping the notes into her pocket, she turned around so that she wouldn’t betray herself.

  “Qian’er, let’s go.” Gu Bailu patted her shoulder.

  Qian’er stared at her. “Where to?”

  “The master of the Su family has invited us over.” Placing one hand on Qian’er’s shoulder, Gu Bailu said, “We can have a nice meal.”

  Qian’er frowned. “Can I not go?”

  She didn’t want to meet anyone from the Su family; she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to conceal her feelings and would ruin everything.