Jia Huan picked up the silver needle and fiercely stabbed it into Xiao Ju's Baihui acupoint. Her body convulsed violently, and the pain that instantly spread throughout her body made Xiao Ju wish she could die immediately.
Once, twice!
This kind of pain was almost unsolvable.
"I, I'll talk!"
Her will broken, Xiao Ju could no longer hold out. Jia Huan stopped.
"Yes, yes..."
Suddenly, Xiao Ju's eyes turned bloodshot. A 'huffing' sound came from her open mouth. Nan Shiying immediately stepped forward, but it was too late.
Looking at Xiao Ju's lifeless pupils, Nan Shiying's expression turned somewhat grim.
"Your Highness, this?"
Jia Huan was flustered. Had he been too rough?
Nan Shiying didn't look up, only extended her hand to Jia Huan: "Knife!"
There were many torture instruments in the dungeon, but no small, thin-bladed knives like surgical scalpels. The smallest knife Jia Huan could find was a dagger.
Nan Shiying took the dagger, thrust it fiercely into Xiao Ju's heart, then twisted her wrist, rolling the tip inside Xiao Ju's heart before pulling the dagger out.
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Jia Huan swallowed, only to see a blood-stained, worm-like creature impaled on the tip of the pulled-out dagger.
"What is this?" Jia Huan's eyes widened instantly.
"Gu!"
Nan Shiying's face was ashen, almost frozen. She had mocked the imperial palace for being like a sieve, but she never expected the prince's manor to harbor remnants of Miao Jiang!
No wonder she didn't care about the lives of her family; perhaps those people weren't her relatives at all.
"Jia Huan, closely monitor the entire manor these days and see who suddenly falls ill!"
Xiao Ju's sudden death clearly meant that the person controlling her had discovered something, prompting the mother worm to directly manipulate the offspring worm to bite through the blood vessels in Xiao Ju's heart, causing cardiac arrest. If the offspring worm lost its host and gradually died due to a lack of nutrients from the host, the mother worm would remain unharmed. However, since she had killed the offspring worm before it died naturally, the mother worm controlling it would undoubtedly suffer a backlash.
Therefore, the only way to narrow down the scope now was to monitor the entire prince's manor.
"Yes!"
Jia Huan acknowledged the order, but...
"Your Highness, I'm afraid the number of guards is insufficient!"
"I will mobilize the Xuan Guards to conduct the screening together!"
If that were still not enough... she wondered if Master could summon Sheying.
...
"Sheying?"
Ji Jinmo gave Nan Shiying a deep look, his expression somewhat peculiar.
Nan Shiying nodded: "Yes, Sheying!"
When it came to surveillance and tailing, there was no one more suitable than Sheying. As for her infatuation with Ji Jinmo and her hatred for Nan Shiying for taking him away, Nan Shiying didn't pay much attention to it.
Ji Jinmo seemed displeased. He put down his prayer beads, which didn't fall gently as usual but rather between being placed and thrown, making a crisp sound. Nan Shiying looked up at him: "What's wrong?"
She wasn't just slow to realize; she was practically oblivious.
"Nothing!" Ji Jinmo shook his head, only saying, "Sheying has other tasks."
"What tasks?" she asked.
Ji Jinmo replied, "I've sent her into the palace!"
Nan Shiying almost spat out her tea: "Into the palace? To seduce the Emperor?"
Ji Jinmo: "..."
"Surveillance, tailing!" He pressed down on a bulging vein!
"Oh, I see!"
So it was just tailing!
Her face showed an expression of 'that's all,' as if she were bored from not finding any amusement.
Ji Jinmo took a deep breath and picked up his prayer beads again.
"By the way, Master, if you catch the Miao Jiang remnants in the manor, can you reward one person to me?" Nan Shiying put down her teacup and suddenly asked.
Ji Jinmo knew who she wanted, or rather, he had been waiting for her to ask.
"Alright!"
He agreed without hesitation.
"Thank you!" Nan Shiying smiled radiantly, as bright as the midday sun.
...
Wei Rulan suddenly fell ill!
The doctor in the manor could not diagnose the cause or prescribe treatment.
"My Lord, please save Madam!"
Wei Rulan's maid knelt in the path Ji Jinmo took to the morning court. The morning mist carried a cold wind, and the maid kneeling on the ground was already frozen through, her body so stiff that she couldn't even make a lunging movement.
Ji Jinmo looked down at her, exuding a cold, unapproachable aura: "The manor has a mistress. Do you need to beg me?"
As killing intent permeated the air, the maid felt as if her neck were being cut. She trembled and said, "My Lord, Madam's illness came on so suddenly and is so severe. The manor's doctor is helpless. If a doctor with superior medical skills cannot be found to treat Madam, she might not survive. At such a time, this servant can only beg you, My Lord, begging you to invite an imperial physician from the palace to see Madam, considering Madam has been in the manor for so many years!"
Wei Rulan is so seriously ill?
Ji Jinmo frowned. Was it a coincidence, or...
He thought for a moment and said, "This Lord understands!"
...
"What a hassle!"
Nan Shiying, disguised as a man, sneaked out of the manor, boarded Ji Jinmo's carriage on the way back, went around in a circle, and returned to the starting point.
They got off the carriage together, entered the manor, and headed to the residence where Wei Rulan lived.
"Greetings, My Lord!"
The servants knelt on the ground. The maid in Wei Rulan's room hurried to lead Ji Jinmo inside.
Wei Rulan lay on the bed with a pale face, her beautiful brows furrowed tightly, seemingly too weak from the pain to even groan.
Hearing that Ji Jinmo had arrived, she struggled to get up.
"No need!"
Ji Jinmo's cold voice carried a hint of detachment: "Feng Luan, go and examine her!"
Nan Shiying thought Ji Jinmo was truly heartless, but considering how she had been tormented by the Gu worms for so many years, she wished she could kill Wei Rulan without any concrete evidence.
"Yes, My Lord!"
Nan Shiying replied neither subserviently nor obsequiously, then walked to Wei Rulan's bedside. The maid, with great foresight, brought a chair. Nan Shiying sat down and felt Wei Rulan's pulse.
The pulse was strange, but it did resemble the backlash of Gu worms. However, it could only be said to resemble it, and whether it was true remained to be debated.
"What did Madam eat before falling ill?" she asked, looking up.
The maids replied, "Just meals. Madam's appetite hasn't been good recently, so she rarely eats fruits or pastries."
"Is there anything else besides that?"
"Oh, yes, Madam also ate a few preserved plums."
"Where are the preserved plums?"
"They were delivered by a servant from the manor's procurement department."
"Alright, I understand!" Nan Shiying stood up!