The sneeze echoed in the silent night sky, dislodging the snow from the treetops. The person beneath them shivered and looked up abruptly.
Nan Shiying offered an apologetic, sheepish smile. "Sorry, sorry, you were just too slow!"
She wiped her nose and leaped down from the tree.
"You..."
"You hid so well!"
The Xuan Wei guards, who had been lying in wait in the courtyard, swarmed forward. The dark surroundings were suddenly illuminated, and by the candlelight, Nan Shiying could clearly see the other's face, eliciting a sigh of admiration.
No wonder it was Qin Yurou who had revealed herself before, and not this 'fiery-tempered' Bai Xinxin. It turned out this one was the most deeply hidden and calculating.
"Why?"
Bai Xinxin clenched her teeth, unable to comprehend why they were still guarding the courtyard.
Nan Shiying's mind went blank, rendering her deaf to Bai Xinxin's indignant questioning. Of course, she had no intention of clarifying matters for Bai Xinxin. She waved to Xuan Yi, "Take her down!"
Bai Xinxin knew there was no retreat. A bloody hue suddenly appeared in her eyes. Nan Shiying drew her silver needle, flicked her wrist, and the needle cut through the air, immobilizing the surging蛊 (gu) worms within her.
Xuan Yi apprehended her with no effort.
Nan Shiying stepped forward and rummaged through Bai Xinxin's person for a long time, eventually retrieving a small porcelain bottle from her embrace. She shook the bottle; the sound of liquid and something knocking against the inner wall reached her ears.
"What is this?" Nan Shiying asked.
Bai Xinxin turned her head away, refusing to say another word.
Nan Shiying grabbed her chin and forcefully dislocated it, preventing her from biting her tongue to commit suicide.
"Suppress her!"
Nan Shiying waved her hand and tucked the small porcelain bottle into her own embrace.
...
"Gu worms!"
The Poison Elder shook the bottle, not opening it, but pricking a small hole with a needle and sniffing the scent.
"This is a good thing!"
Nan Shiying had heard and seen much of this lately, so she naturally understood what gu worms were. No wonder Ji Jinmo's gu worms had become restless when he entered Wei Rulan's room. This thing, called gu worms, was also known as child worms. Of course, unlike ordinary child worms, it originated from a Gu King, and could be used as a child worm or implanted in a young child to cultivate them into a mother worm.
Naturally, this thing could also be used as medicine.
However, to kill it would be to alert the snake.
After handing the item to the Poison Elder, Nan Shiying visited the dungeon. Wei Rulan had indeed been poisoned, but the toxin was not strong, nor was it fatal; it only appeared severe. She hadn't taken any medicine in days, and lying in the cold, damp dungeon, her condition had actually improved.
"Nan Shiying, you bitch!"
Wei Rulan lunged at Nan Shiying with bared teeth and claws. After a few days, her face was pale, her hair dry and yellow, her clothes wrinkled and dirty; she looked like a beggar by the roadside.
Before Xuan Yi could make a move, Nan Shiying raised her foot and kicked her back.
Wei Rulan's back hit the cold wall, distorting her features in pain.
"If you don't want to die, stay put!"
Jia Huan brought over a chair, and Nan Shiying calmly sat down, looking down at Wei Rulan as if she were a stray dog.
Wei Rulan struggled to get up from the ground, her face filled with hatred as she glared at Nan Shiying. The withered grass clutched in her hand made a "crunching" sound.
The tough grass dug into her palm, drawing blood.
Nan Shiying's gaze swept over her bloody hand and landed on her face.
"Why was Bai Xinxin's medicine bottle in your hand?" she asked.
Wei Rulan's teeth gnashed, and she merely sneered. Nan Shiying sighed and glanced at Jia Huan. Jia Huan, understanding, stepped forward and stomped on Wei Rulan's hand, grinding it down.
Wei Rulan, having never endured such torment, cried out with a distorted voice. Nan Shiying asked again, "Why was Bai Xinxin's medicine bottle in your hand!"
"It... I tricked her..."
"Heh~"
Nan Shiying couldn't help but laugh. She thought it was remarkable that Wei Rulan still believed herself to be the smartest person in the prince's mansion. Tricked? It was likely Bai Xinxin who tricked you!
"What did you take it for?" she asked again.
Having fallen to this state, Wei Rulan had nothing left to fear. She suddenly raised her head. Her brows, furrowed with pain, were filled with deep resentment and malice. She roared at Nan Shiying as if she had gone mad, "What did I take it for? To poison you, of course!"
"How dare you receive the Prince's sole favor? What are you? Qin Yurou is at least a noble-born daughter. What are you? You are lowly trash! The Prince used to visit me, but now he's either in the front courtyard or at your Xin Yuan Pavilion. Why? I'm not reconciled, I'm not reconciled!"
Wei Rulan truly was unreconciled. If the Prince had remained as distant and cold as before, it would have been fine. But now, seeing the Prince's tenderness towards Nan Shiying, how could she ever be reconciled?
"Oh!"
Nan Shiying could not empathize. She simply said to Wei Rulan, "Do you know why you ended up in this state?"
"Heh, what do you want to say? That it's because you offended me?"
Nan Shiying shook her head. "Bai Xinxin is a spy planted in the mansion. It wasn't you who tricked her; it was she who tricked you. What's in that bottle isn't poison, but gu!"
"Do you know the Prince was infected with gu?"
Wei Rulan's eyes widened in shock, and she even forgot her pain.
"No, that's impossible!"
"You're lying to me, you're lying to me!" Wei Rulan refused to believe it, vehemently denying it. She recalled all her past experiences, ignoring a detail she hadn't considered before.
Why was it Qin Yurou who made the first move against Nan Shiying, and not Bai Xinxin!
Connecting all the dots, Wei Rulan suddenly looked up. "Why are you telling me this? You..." Her voice abruptly stopped, and with a bitter expression, she spoke with difficulty, "You want me to die?"
In fact, Wei Rulan was quite intelligent.
Nan Shiying nodded noncommittally. "Madame Rulan is gravely ill and has succumbed to a malignant disease!"
As she spoke, Nan Shiying smiled at Wei Rulan. "How about that? In this way, you've preserved the lives of all your family members. You can be considered to have died for a worthy cause!"
Wei Rulan gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with hatred, so intense it was almost overflowing. It was as sharp as knives, wishing to flay Nan Shiying alive, one slice at a time!
"Do you think you've won?"
Wei Rulan's voice was laced with the deepest malice, a ferocious smile spreading across her entire face. "Nan Shiying, I will wait. I will wait for the Princess of Dali to send you down to accompany me!!"
"Hui An!"
Mentioning the Princess of Dali, Nan Shiying's tone was quite familiar. "I told you the scene on the pavilion was a play we put on, do you believe me?"