“We’ll wait for Madam Li to send an invitation,” Xiao Yi replied after pondering for a moment.
Duoduo tilted her little head. “All right. I’ll listen to you, Daddy.”
Xiao Yi’s expression softened when he heard her.
“That Nina—I hear you get along quite well with her?”
Duoduo nodded.
“Daddy, Nina said that people from Miaojiang are actually very easy to get along with.”
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Xiao Yi’s lips.
“Bad people never admit that they’re bad.”
Duoduo blinked, unable to understand why her father was so prejudiced against Nina.
Nina had never done anything to Daddy, had she?
Seeing Duoduo staring thoughtfully at him, Xiao Yi deliberately put on a stern expression.
“What? You think your father is wrong?”
Duoduo shook her head. “No. I just think you’re very wary of Nina.”
“One can never be too careful, especially when it comes to people from Miaojiang,” Xiao Yi said seriously.
Duoduo sighed helplessly.
“All right, Daddy. I’ll be more careful.”
Seeing that Duoduo was only humoring him, Xiao Yi’s eyes flickered.
“What has she been teaching you?”
At the mention of this, Duoduo immediately became excited.
“Daddy, I asked Nina if there was a gu worm that could make someone show signs of poisoning.”
“She said there was!”
“Then she told me what symptoms the most common poisonous gu worms could cause.”
“Daddy, Nina said that one kind of gu worm starts out as nothing more than a thread.”
“After someone swallows it, it remains inside their body.”
“The strange thing about this gu worm is that its poison only becomes active after the host has been poisoned.”
Duoduo told Xiao Yi, bit by bit, everything she had learned from Nina.
“Nina also said that once the gu worm’s poison is activated, the host will vomit blood.”
“But because the poison itself comes from a gu worm, not a single physician can diagnose it.”
“Not even the imperial physicians!”
As Duoduo spoke, a mysterious look appeared on her face.
“Daddy, do you want to know how to tell whether someone has a gu worm inside them?”
Xiao Yi was still stunned by what Duoduo had said earlier.
Then her next question left him at a loss for words.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
Duoduo wore an expression that seemed to say, “I knew it.”
“Nina said that kind of worm really likes a certain fragrance.”
“If you wear a sachet with that fragrance and stay near someone who has been infected with a gu worm…”
“It’ll react within one or two breaths.”
Interest appeared in Xiao Yi’s eyes.
“What kind of reaction?”
“The infected person will feel nauseous and sick, and may even vomit.”
Xiao Yi was somewhat taken aback.
“That’s all?”
Duoduo nodded. “Mm-hmm! If the gu worm has grown large, the infected person might even faint on the spot!”
Xiao Yi’s expression turned solemn.
“Gu worms can grow?”
Duoduo’s face was filled with seriousness. “Yes!”
“Nina said that some gu worms may simply depend on their host to survive.”
“But some are meant to take a person’s life from the very beginning!”
“Some gu worms can even control the victim’s thoughts, allowing the person who planted the gu to manipulate them.”
A chill glinted in Xiao Yi’s eyes.
No wonder their ancestors had always been so wary of the people of southern Xinjiang.
Duoduo tilted her head. She noticed that her father’s expression had grown rather grim.
“Did Nina tell you how to find out whether someone has planted a gu worm inside you?” Xiao Yi asked after a long silence.
Duoduo sat up straight and gently shook her head.
“The person who plants the gu is usually someone close to the victim.”
“That’s because gu worms can’t just be planted casually.”
“First, the person who plants the gu has to cultivate a bond with the worm, so that they can communicate with it heart to heart.”
“That way, once the gu worm enters its victim, it will obey its master’s commands.”
“If the gu fails, the person who planted it will suffer backlash.”
“At best, they’ll be injured. At worst, they’ll lose their life!”
By the time Duoduo finished speaking, her expression had become solemn as well.
When Nina had explained this to her, she had given Duoduo a very serious warning.
Once she learned how, she must never casually plant a gu worm in anyone else.
“Backlash?” Xiao Yi repeated those two words unconsciously.
He remembered that when Nina had arrived, she had said that her master had lost a battle of gu manipulation against her and been injured by the backlash.
Failure… Backlash…
Xiao Yi connected the two words in his mind.
“Duoduo, are you saying that if the gu worm is injured or the attempt fails, its original master will be injured as well?”
“Am I right?” A trace of tension entered Xiao Yi’s voice.
Duoduo thought carefully for a moment, then nodded with certainty.
“That’s what Nina said!”
A glimmer of excitement flashed through Xiao Yi’s eyes.
“Yunxiao!”
He called toward the outside.
Yunxiao, who had been talking to Lüdou outside, immediately pushed open the door and entered.
“My lord, this subordinate is here!”
“Go and investigate at once!” Xiao Yi said as he thought.
“Have your people find out who in the palace has fallen ill recently.”
“Count everyone who has been sick within the past month!”
“As long as they’re connected to the palace, investigate them all!”
“Don’t leave out a single person!”
Yunxiao stared at him, dumbfounded.
“My lord, there are far too many people in the palace. We won’t get results anytime soon.”
If they only needed to investigate the palace’s masters, it would be manageable—just the emperor and the imperial consorts.
They could have the results within half a day.
But the palace eunuchs, maids, imperial chefs, Imperial Guards…
This was a massive undertaking.
Whenever the emperor or an imperial consort fell ill, they were treated by the imperial physicians, and records of their routine examinations were kept.
As for the servants, some simply gathered medicinal herbs themselves and toughed it out.
The Imperial Guards, meanwhile, were allowed to leave the palace and consult physicians outside.
By now, Duoduo had already guessed what her father wanted to investigate.
“Yunxiao, just have them find out whether anyone has been recovering on their own instead of consulting a physician.”
“The symptoms should be sudden vomiting of blood, followed by fainting and then listlessness.”
“Also, find out whether they’ve been near Taiji Hall or have gone in and out of it.”
Although confusion still lingered in Yunxiao’s eyes, the range Duoduo had given him was much narrower.
“Yes! I’ll have people investigate at once!” Yunxiao said with a bow and prepared to leave.
“Have them investigate discreetly. Don’t alert anyone,” Xiao Yi reminded him.
“Yes, my lord!” Yunxiao replied, retreating from the room.
Duoduo blinked her big eyes. “Daddy, do you suspect someone?”
Xiao Yi slowly shook his head.
“No.”
“However, our people reported that the Second Prince has vomited blood several times already.”
“The Fourth Brother and the Fifth Brother, on the other hand, haven’t shown any reaction.”
“Your father doesn’t know whether he’s looking in the right direction.”
“Who cares? We’ll investigate first and worry about it later!” Duoduo flashed Xiao Yi a radiant smile.
“What if you just happen to guess correctly?”
Duoduo’s words made Xiao Yi laugh.
