Someone targeted Evan Feng with a hidden attack?
Left Shore was stunned!
Summer's face went pale!
The Snow Wolf dropped to its knees!
"Serena, w-what did you say? Evan isn't sick?" Left Shore was the first to snap back to his senses, his voice trembling and uneasy, lips bitten until they bled.
"You heard me right. Someone deliberately harmed Evan." Serena spoke each word slowly, her fists clenched tight, suppressing her fury. "Evan's condition isn't climate maladjustment or innate weakness—he's been struck with gu."
Serena was so furious she wanted to kill someone.
To plant gu on such a small child—does the perpetrator have any conscience left?
"Gu? You're saying Evan was hit with gu, and that's why he's like this?" Left Shore's body swayed, almost unable to keep his footing.
"Yes. I can't yet identify the exact type of gu. But I once assisted Divine Doctor Guile and saw the symptoms in both the Eastlyn young Emperor and the Taishang Emperor. I'm certain the same person is behind all these cases, even if the gu used is different." Serena dropped another bombshell.
"He was hit with gu after arriving in Lyndaria?" Left Shore didn't understand gu, but he was more concerned about when Evan was targeted.
Serena could tell what Left Shore was thinking, so she spoke up for Princess Royal Helena: "Even a vicious tiger won't eat its cubs. Evan being hit with gu does her no good." This was her indirect way of admitting Evan was only struck after reaching Lyndaria.
When Evan was at the Feng residence, with Serena—a well-known physician—present, no one would dare plant gu on him. Gu needs time to mature; if it's discovered before then, the perpetrator could be harmed by their own spell.
"Whether it's beneficial or not, we won't know until we identify the exact type of gu." In Left Shore's mind, Princess Royal Helena was already suspect; his first reaction was to blame her for Evan's condition.
Left Shore wasn't wrong, so Serena didn't refute him. She only said, "I'm not skilled at removing gu. I'll write to Divine Doctor Guile, explain Evan's situation, and see if he should come to Lyndaria or if we should take Evan to Jiangnan."
"No need to write. Let's just take Evan straight to Jiangnan." Left Shore always put Evan's health first, but...
"No. We still don't know who planted the gu or what they're after. If we make a big show of taking Evan to Jiangnan, the person working in the shadows will realize we've caught on. Then they'll use Evan's body to threaten us—do we give in, or not?" Serena looked at Left Shore, trying to persuade him.
"I was too impulsive." Left Shore clenched his fist and lowered his head.
Serena sighed. "I know you're worried about Evan, but don't be too tense. The gu in his body isn't fatal—the enemy just wants to control him. For now, Evan's life isn't in danger."
"Mm." Left Shore answered, but his nerves were still taut. Summer didn't dare speak; only after Left Shore left did she kneel before Serena to plead, "I failed in my duties. Please punish me, Miss."
"You do deserve punishment." Serena ran her household with measured discipline and clear rewards and penalties. With something like this happening, Summer and Spring bore undeniable responsibility.
"You've really let me down. I entrusted Evan to you, and yet someone managed to plant gu on him right under your noses. How did you protect him?"
Spring and Summer, the Four Seasons Beauties, weren't clueless maids—they were skilled in all the tricks and defenses of the inner household. By rights, no one should have been able to succeed under their watch.
Yet somehow, as soon as they reached Lyndaria, someone managed to get through.
"Please forgive me, Miss. It was my lack of skill—I won't ever let it happen again." Summer's face was deathly pale. If anything happened to Evan, even a hundred lives wouldn't be enough for her and Spring to atone.
Blame alone wouldn't solve anything, and besides, any punishment would have to wait until they returned to Eastlyn. Serena asked the question she cared about most: "What happened before Evan fell ill? Who did he come into contact with? Tell me everything."
"Yes, Miss." Summer realized this was her chance to redeem herself, and quickly reported everything that happened on the journey.
After Evan fell ill, Summer and Spring listed every suspicious person and item for investigation.
"Throughout the journey, Evan was always cared for by me and Spring—never anyone else. We prepared everything ourselves. On the way, Princess Royal Helena sent a few sets of clothes for the young master, but Left Shore threw them out. Occasionally, she brought food, but it all went to the Snow Wolf; we never let Evan touch it."
At this, Summer stole a glance at Serena. Seeing no sign of displeasure, she continued: "All along, we never used anything from Princess Royal Helena. Only in the two days before entering the city, when assassins attacked the inn, did things change—the assassins failed, but the inn caught fire."
That was the only real window for an attack. Summer and Spring had considered it, but found nothing suspicious. Summer continued, "Evan's clothes and the food we prepared were all burned in the fire. We had no choice but to buy some clothes on the street. Only after entering the city did Spring and I make new clothes for Evan, using fabric from our own shop—there's no way there was a problem with those."
So, the only possible issue was with the clothes bought on the street that day?
"Before letting Evan wear those clothes, we soaked them in boiling water and left them out in the sun," Summer explained in detail. That's why she and Spring couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.
"What about the food?" Gu worms can't survive without a host—they die quickly from sun exposure or boiling water.
Summer shook her head. "Spring and I made all the food ourselves. Those days, Evan wasn't feeling well and only ate rice broth and egg custard. He didn't finish them—the leftovers went to the Snow Wolf."
"If Evan was harmed, the Snow Wolf would be too. So the food wasn't the problem?" Serena tapped the table rhythmically, her mind racing through possible ways gu could be introduced to a host.
"Did Evan get hurt before this? Any falls or scratches?" After thinking for a long time, Serena could only come up with this possibility.
Summer shook her head at first, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "Yes! On the day we arrived at the Princess's residence, the courtyard wasn't ready yet. Princess Royal Helena came to see Evan and even held him."
Afraid Serena would blame her, Summer quickly explained, "Evan called the Princess 'Mother' that day, so Spring and I didn't refuse her. She held him for a long time and chatted with him—Evan was very happy. But as she was leaving... as she was leaving, the Princess's fingernail accidentally scratched Evan's neck. He bled, and Evan cried out in pain. When Left Shore found out, he ordered us not to let the Princess hold Evan again."
"Scratched? We told her back in Eastlyn that her nails could hurt Evan, so why did she keep them long and end up scratching him before leaving?" Serena didn't want to suspect her—after all, she was Evan's mother—but right now, she was the prime suspect.
"After that, when Evan was sick and feeling unwell, did the Princess come to see him? Did she hold him again?"
Serena's voice trembled ever so slightly...