Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1046 He Yinuo Fattens Birds

"The smell of medicine?" Tao Yanyan didn't dare to be careless and called Shuang'er over again.

Shuang'er said firmly, "This servant did not find any medicine on her."

He Xiaoqi got anxious, her bird face almost contorted with urgency. She hopped and skipped around, flying up and down, shouting, "It's here! It's here! It's suffocating me!"

People, believe the birds this once, the birds didn't lie!

"Alright, alright, I believe you." Tao Yanyan held the parrot in her hands, lost in thought: "Animals are more sensitive than humans. It's probably just that our sense of smell can't detect it."

"Tomorrow I will have Imperial Physician Liu take the Empress Dowager's pulse to check her condition and also to probe her health." The people He Linzhang sent to investigate should be arriving in Yuecheng soon, and news should be sent back shortly.

The next day, He Xiaoqi still refused to get close to the Empress Dowager, only playing around with the other children. While the Empress Dowager was having her meal, Physician Liu went to take her pulse. Seeing Gu Yuanyuan serving the Empress Dowager so attentively, he smiled and said, "This Miss Gu is quite diligent. She must be tired after these few days. Shall I take her pulse as well?"

Gu Yuanyuan was overjoyed. The doctor in front of her was clearly a highly skilled physician. If she wasn't mistaken, he must be an imperial physician. Naturally, she wanted the imperial physician to take her pulse. If she missed this opportunity, she wouldn't get another chance.

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Liu." Her hand was extremely sore and swollen, and taking her pulse would put her at ease.

After a long examination, Physician Liu said, "The young lady is in good health and there is nothing seriously wrong." He then packed up his medicine box and left.

He Linzhang and Tao Yanyan were already waiting in the room. Physician Liu came over and reported: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, this Miss Gu is indeed without medicine in her body, but perhaps because she has been taking medicine for many years, the medicine has penetrated into her internal organs and has long become one with her. Humans cannot smell it, but animals can smell it."

He Linzhang's eyes darkened slightly: "Is it a medicine that changes a person's appearance?"

Although it is hard to imagine, it cannot be said to not exist, otherwise the current situation cannot be explained.

Physician Liu nodded hesitantly: "Forgive my ignorance, but I do not know either. However, it is impossible for two people's faces to be exactly the same. Her body has been eroded by drugs for many years, and she looks very much like the Empress. I believe there must be a connection between the two."

"They really went all out." Tao Yanyan sighed softly. "I'm curious who has so much free time to come up with this idea."

There's no point in thinking about it anymore. Everyone should put this aside for now. They need to reach the Xia Kingdom before the first snowfall, otherwise the roads will be blocked by the heavy snow, delaying the Xia King's coronation ceremony.

In the following days, the Empress Dowager had Gu Yuanyuan serve her in various ways. Gu Yuanyuan dared not refuse because she wanted to maintain a docile and diligent image. While the other maids took turns serving, she went to stand before the Empress Dowager as soon as she opened her eyes, only able to rest briefly after the Empress Dowager went to sleep each day.

She also wanted to take a break while the Empress Dowager took her afternoon nap, but Eunuch Qin and Mu Yu kept a close eye on her, making it impossible for her to have any rest.

After serving as the Empress Dowager's personal maid for half a month, Gu Yuanyuan was starting to feel overwhelmed.

As the group approached Yuecheng, Gu Yuanyuan excused herself, citing homesickness and sorrow, and went to rest in Xianglan and the others' carriage. With Gu Yuanyuan no longer by the Empress Dowager's side, He Xiaoqi finally dared to fly back and be affectionate with her.

"I've missed you so much!" He Xiaoqi snuggled into the Empress Dowager's arms and rubbed its head against her.

The Empress Dowager stroked its smooth fur: "These days you've been away from me, and I see you've been eating to your heart's content; you've gotten quite plump, haven't you?"

He Xiaoqi paused with its tail and poked its head out: "How much can it eat? It's just picking up the scraps that Fifth Sister left behind to fill its belly."

She spoke so pitifully, as if it were a little beggar with no one to feed it, but everyone knew that He Yinuo's mouth never stopped all day long, so she naturally had a lot to say, and raising a little fat bird was no problem at all.

Looking at its smooth skin and bright fur, the Empress Dowager raised an eyebrow: "Since no one is feeding you properly, you should come back and I will raise you myself."

He Xiaoqi tilted her head: "That won't do."

The four words were decisive and clear; to even hesitate for a moment would be disrespectful to the food.

Lotus flower pastry, walnut pastry, egg yolk pastry, wife cake, preserved vegetable cake, scallion cake, dried fish, dried pork, dried duck... so many different kinds of delicacies, even if it only tastes a little bit of the scraps, it makes its bird life complete. The little bird isn't stupid enough to give up the entire food forest.

The Empress Dowager glanced at it and sighed softly, "It can't be tamed. Perhaps... it should be stewed."

!

He Xiaoqi jumped back three steps, but then felt that the chances of being stewed were even greater if she did that, so she jumped back three steps and rubbed against the Empress Dowager's clothes, looking pitiful: "No stewing, no stewing, we're so close, Grandmother and I are the best, the very best, the very best."

The Empress Dowager couldn't help but laugh, but she still kept a stern face: "See? You've only been fed scraps by He Yinuo for a few days, and you've already learned all of her catchphrases."

The Empress Dowager pretended to be jealous of her granddaughter and asked a bird to coax her.

How could the bird be a match for the Empress Dowager? It was completely under her thumb and had to use all its tricks to coax her, telling little stories and singing songs. It was so busy that it almost exhausted itself.

When it finally rested at night, it discovered that its once-proud and beautiful voice had become hoarse.

"Gah, gah gah—cough cough—" He Xiaoqi cleared her throat, looking completely bewildered.

He Yinuo, after tasting the pear juice, thought for a moment and handed the last sip to it: "Clears the throat and soothes the lungs, relieves cough."

He Xiaoqi was extremely grateful.

“Snatch…some…a few…a few…oh…Yu…Ni…the…world…first…falling…hao…cough cough…”

He Yinuo patted its head: "No need to thank me, we're best sisters!"

He Xiaoqi paused in her pear juice eating: "I... am... my... brother."

This time, He Yinuo lost her composure. She shouted, "How could you be my brother? Aren't you always hanging around me and my sister, listening to gossip? If you're the brother, what gossip are you listening to? And why are you talking so much?"

He Xiaoqi said with a wronged expression, "Didi... just won't listen to gossip?" Her voice was too hoarse, her pronunciation was inaccurate, and it was difficult for her to speak.

I'm a natural at talking, but if I don't even listen to gossip, how will I have anything to talk about with others? The more you listen, the more you can talk!

Fortunately, He Yinuo was easygoing and plump, and she didn't dwell on it for long before she came to terms with it. However, she would have to avoid discussing this fat bird with her girlfriends in the future.

The investigators sent by He Linzhang and Mu Yu returned one after the other, and their findings differed somewhat from what Gu Yuanyuan had said.

"Your Majesty, Gu Yuanyuan did indeed live with her mother in a secluded alley in the east of Yuecheng. Two neighbors can testify to this, but those two neighbors did not live in that alley for long, and the neighbors from even earlier times have disappeared without a trace."

"Have you recognized the face?"

The subordinate replied, "One of the two neighbors is blind and can only hear people talking, while the other is seventy or eighty years old and doesn't recognize people."

He Linzhang narrowed his eyes: "So, it's worthless. Oh well, she's just bait anyway. Let her take off her veil these days and show herself more often. Let's see if there are any of her cronies in Yuecheng."