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The question reminded Chu Jiu of something; she took out a paper bag and passed it to him. “The Grand Duchess asked me to bring this roast goose back for you. It’s not bad. You can have it as a snack.”

“Did my mother really get you to do this for me?” Lu Tingchen took the bag from her, opened it, and peered inside with an air of disbelief.

“Of course. The Grand Duchess instructed me to do so.” Chu Jiu turned away.

!!

“If it was my mother’s instruction, then why doesn’t my father get a portion?” Lu Tingchen swiftly exposed her lie without holding back.

This made Chu Jiu a little uncomfortable—she found the smile on the man’s face to be slightly annoying. She reached her hand out. “Give it to me if you don’t want it. I’ll have it as my snack.”

“Did I say I didn’t want it?” Lu Tingchen avoided her hand and took out a drumstick in front of her to take a bite out of it. “Mmm. It’s not bad.”

Chu Jiu pursed her lips. When the man looked over at her, she quickly turned away. Her heart thumped a little faster than usual and she pushed all the other items in her hands into his arms, then said, “Help me put these somewhere, while I’ll go assist the Grand Duchess.” With that, she rode off on her horse.

Lu Tingchen took a bite of the roast goose as he watched the woman leave. A small smile appeared on his lips.

He could tell that Chu Jiu’s attitude toward him had changed slightly after her trip with his mother.

He wondered what his mother had said to Chu Jiu and secretly marveled at how amazing his mother was.

Chu Jiu followed Ling Lihua and entered the tent.

The two soldiers had deposited Ji Lingxiu onto a bed that they had set up hastily.

“There’s nothing else for you to do now. Go on ahead and stand guard outside. Don’t let anyone enter without my permission,” Ling Lihua ordered. The two soldiers bowed at her and left.

Once they had left, Ling Lihua woke Ji Lingxiu up and asked gently, “Miss Ji, there’s an aphrodisiac poison in your body. There is no cure for this particular poison. If you want to rid yourself of it, the only thing you can do is soak yourself in an ice bathtub for four hours. However, there is a price to pay. You will end up being sterile and you will never get pregnant again. Are you willing to accept this treatment?”

Ji Lingxiu was suffering from the poison’s effect and was not in her right mind, but she still understood what she was being told. “I can accept that…”

“Does that mean you agree to be soaked in the iced bathtub?” Ling Lihua asked again.

“I agree…” Ji Lingxiu’s eyes were wet. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she felt unusually uncomfortable as she squirmed about. The sensation was quite difficult for her to endure.

However, Ling Lihua remained cautious as she remembered what had happened in the past with Ji Linghui. She went to the table and drafted a contract. She passed it to Ji Lingxiu. “Knowing how your family is, I can’t treat you so readily. I don’t want to take on any responsibility, lest it leads to trouble in the future. You should press your fingerprint on this.”

Ji Lingxiu was conflicted. She knew what her situation was. She would have been destroyed if she did not bump into Ling Lihua.

Compared with the possibility of never becoming pregnant, she would rather remain chaste.

She lifted her hand. “I’ll give you my fingerprint…”

Ling Lihua helped press her finger onto the ink and imprinted it onto the contract.

After it was all done, she handed the contract to Chu Jiu. “Keep this for me.”

Chu Jiu took it from her.

She understood why the Grand Duchess did this.

It was because of Ji Linghui and she agreed that it was better for the Grand Duchess to be careful.

If not for the fact that they could not walk away from saving someone, it would have been best if the Grand Duchess did not involve herself with anything involving Ji Lingxiu.

However, it was indeed a sympathetic situation for a lone woman to be in such a situation. Moreover, Ji Lingxiu did not do any serious wrongs, so it was difficult to turn a blind eye to her predicament.

Ling Lihua took out a set of gold needles and said to Chu Jiu, “Get someone to bring a bucket of ice water here. I will give her some acupuncture to relax her muscles and clear her veins, so she won’t pass out when she soaks in the icy water.”

“Alright.” Chu Jiu immediately went off to carry out the instructions.