"Done."
Sensing movement from this side, Rong Zhi looked at Chu Qingze, "The effect of the medicine this time isn't strong. It'll only make them sleep for a night. I'll stay here, you two hurry and find Gu Zhou."
"Alright," Chu Qingze agreed.
Xia Yunting also heard the commotion and came out of the cellar. Before leaving, Rong Zhi cautioned the two, "Although Old Master Zhang said Gu Zhou is loyal to him, Old Master Zhang has been ill for so long, people's hearts are fickle. You can't trust his words entirely. Be careful on your journey."
"We know."
Nodding, the two left with the letter.
Rong Zhi dragged the two bothersome people aside. Looking at the pot that showed no signs of activity, she turned and took a small porcelain bottle from a room. She poured the contents into the stove. With a 'whoosh,' flames suddenly erupted, burning fiercely.
She added more firewood several times. The flames grew more and more intense, and the broth in the pot began to boil, quickly emitting a strong medicinal scent.
By the time the moon was high in the sky, only a bottom layer remained in the entire pot of broth, and it had become extremely thick, resembling an ointment. Rong Zhi picked up a long shovel, stirred it a few times, and then let it dry.
The two people in the courtyard were still unconscious.
Rong Zhi thought, these two inexplicably fell asleep, and they would surely be suspicious when they woke up. Why not...
She entered the room and soon emerged holding an incense stick. The incense had already been lit, with light yellow smoke rising from the tip. Rong Zhi covered her nose and circled the incense around their nostrils a couple of times. Seeing that they had inhaled quite a bit, Rong Zhi then placed the incense on the ground and extinguished it.
Chu Qingze's method of using inverted incense could confuse memories. When they woke up tomorrow, they wouldn't know if what happened today was real or a dream. She had personally examined the ingredients of the incense; its properties were very mild and wouldn't arouse suspicion.
After completing all this, Rong Zhi deliberately dragged the two into Chu Qingze's room. After thinking for a moment, she brought in the strangely shaped skeletons Chu Qingze had placed in the courtyard and had each person hug one. With that done, Rong Zhi dusted off her hands and went back to her room to sleep.
When dawn broke, Rong Zhi was awakened by a clatter.
The sound came from Chu Qingze's room. Rong Zhi opened her eyes, already guessing what had happened.
In Chu Qingze's room, the two spies stood on the ground, faces filled with shock and confusion. Beside them were two stacked skeletons.
Rong Zhi feigned surprise and shouted, "What are you doing?"
The two turned around. One of them suddenly changed his expression, "How did we get here? What did you do to us?"
"You should be asking yourselves that! Why are you in Doctor Chu's room? Could it be that you two..."
She pointed at the two men, then at the skeletons on the ground.
"You didn't do anything to them..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but her shocked tone was enough to make people's imaginations run wild.
The two exchanged glances again, their memories starting to falter.
"How did we fall asleep yesterday?"
"I don't remember," the other man's face was grim.
In reality, it wasn't that they didn't remember, but in their memories, they seemed to have done something extremely unspeakable to that skeleton, something they would absolutely never reveal.
"I... I don't remember either."
The two wore matching constipated expressions. Rong Zhi chuckled inwardly. The inverted incense was working. She wondered what strange dreams they had.
She continued, "I say, Yun Heng asked you to help, not to do these things. Why don't you go back and tell Yun Heng that we can handle the medicinal ingredients ourselves, we don't need anyone's help."
Her tone clearly conveyed disdain.
The two looked as if they had eaten something foul.
One of them's expression changed, his tone much gentler than yesterday, with a hint of flattery, "No, no, we're just following orders. Miss Lin, right? Don't worry, we won't cause you any trouble. Looking at your small frame, you probably can't do heavy work, let us two do it."
Rong Zhi looked troubled, "It's not about causing trouble for you. This mansion, and these..." she gestured at the skeletons on the ground.
"These are all Doctor Chu's belongings. If he finds out you did... this sort of thing to his belongings, I'm afraid..."
"Miss!" Before he could finish, the other man came over and stopped him.
"Miss, we drank too much yesterday and don't remember what we did. We hope you can forgive us."
As he spoke, he slipped a piece of silver into her hand.
Quite sensible.
Rong Zhi nodded.
"Alright." She pocketed the silver and then pointed at the large pot in the courtyard.
"Then you two go and shovel out the stuff in the pot and help me move it into the house."
"No problem."
He beckoned to the other, signaling him to go and work. The other glanced around, asking with some confusion, "Why are two people missing?"
"Yes, where is Doctor Chu? And that brother named Xia Lei?"
It was then that the two realized that they had slept in Doctor Chu's room last night, so Doctor Chu must not have returned all night. And Xia Lei hadn't shown his face since they arrived.
"They went up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs," Rong Zhi replied calmly.
"Collecting herbs at night?" the other asked, suspicion in his voice.
"Some medicinal herbs grow better at night, ensuring their efficacy. If you don't believe me, you can go up the mountain and see for yourselves."
The two exchanged a look of doubt and suspicion, but said nothing, and went to the pot to get busy.
Rong Zhi knew they would be suspicious, but what did suspicion matter? They had no evidence.
After more than half the morning, the two had already retrieved all the medicinal paste from the pot. Rong Zhi took it into the room to make pills and then instructed them to clean the pot.
Perhaps feeling guilty about the morning's events, the two dutifully went to scrub the pot. However, a sense of unease arose in Rong Zhi. These two had been gone for a whole night and morning, why weren't they back yet? Had something gone wrong?
As she was thinking, footsteps could be heard from outside.
Chu Qingze and Xia Yunting returned, dusty and travel-worn. As soon as they returned, the two scrubbing the pot immediately fixed their gaze on them. Seeing their empty hands, suspicion arose on their faces.
"Why did you take so long? And you came back empty-handed? Where are the medicinal herbs I asked you to collect?"
Rong Zhi's tone was leisurely, but as she spoke, she subtly gave the two a look. Chu Qingze immediately understood, "The weather has been too hot these past two days, and the medicinal herbs aren't growing well. We'll go again in a couple of days."
Xia Yunting gave Rong Zhi a barely perceptible nod, clearly indicating that the matter had been handled.
"Doctor Chu, where did you go to collect herbs?"
A voice suddenly came from behind.
Chu Qingze frowned and said coldly, "What? Do I need to report to you where I'm going?"
"No, it's just that we saw the divine doctor didn't return all night, so we were a bit worried."
One of them said, his gaze falling on Chu Qingze's shoes. The soles were clean, without a speck of dirt or grass, not looking like they had been up a mountain at all.
"You're not my wife, so stop worrying about things that don't concern you. Just focus on your work."
Chu Qingze rolled his eyes at him, "I'm going to change my clothes first."
He said and entered the room.
The faces of the two scrubbing the pot stiffened. They remained silent, only accelerating their pace.
The next moment, a cry of alarm came from the room.
"Who did this?"
He carried out two skeletons and looked at Rong Zhi with a questioning gaze. Rong Zhi looked at the sky at a 45-degree angle, pretending not to know anything, but Chu Qingze had already understood.
"You two entered my room?"
He turned to the two men, his voice not loud, but filled with anger.
"Doctor Chu, about this matter, we can explain..." one of them began to speak, but received an even sharper gaze before he could finish.
"Explain what? Are you here to help or to cause trouble? I didn't invite you here. If you're unwilling to do the work, then leave!"
His voice grew louder and angrier. The two were in the wrong and their minds were in a muddle. They couldn't think of a reason to retort and could only let Chu Qingze vent his anger.
Unbeknownst to them, Chu Qingze was intentionally trying to drive them away. The more he scolded, the more enthusiastic he became.
Rong Zhi gave Xia Yunting a look. Xia Yunting walked closer, and Rong Zhi quietly asked, "How did it go?"
Xia Yunting said, "We tested him. That person is reliable. He said he would dismiss all of Zhang family's employees as soon as possible. All of Zhang's property deeds are here."
As he spoke, he pulled open his collar, revealing a stack of papers hidden inside – all property deeds.
"It went so smoothly, I thought it would take some effort."
Rong Zhi's eyes lit up, "Without these things, the Blood Drinking Pavilion will suffer a heavy loss."
Meanwhile, Chu Qingze had almost cursed the two spies into pieces.
These two were top figures in the Blood Drinking Pavilion, yet they were being berated like grandsons. If it weren't for their mission, they would have already taken action.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and clean the pot, then bring another pot of water!" Chu Qingze was parched from scolding. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it down, feeling a sense of relief.
The corners of the two men's mouths twitched, their faces turning the color of a bruised eggplant. They endured the urge to kill and went to do as instructed.
Chu Qingze then looked towards Rong Zhi. Rong Zhi and Xia Yunting seemed to have finished their conversation. He was exhausted, having used every curse word he knew.
"How was it? Did we do a good job?" He flashed Rong Zhi a proud smile.
"Brilliant."
Rong Zhi gave him a thumbs up.
Although Chu Qingze had vented his anger, this unusual behavior had, after all, aroused suspicion in the two men.
"You know, did they feed us some sort of aphrodisiac? Why do I feel like my memories aren't my own anymore?"
"I have the same feeling."
The two looked at each other and spoke simultaneously, "What did you dream about last night?"
Then, their faces both darkened simultaneously.
"They must have done something to us. I think this matter needs to be reported to the Hall Master."
"I'll go."
As soon as the words fell, he vanished.
It was already night. The two were in a room temporarily prepared by Chu Qingze. This operation had not alerted anyone, or so they thought.
On the other side, Rong Zhi and Xia Yunting had already taken note of the departing figure.
"Rushing to report so eagerly." Xia Yunting's tone held a hint of disdain.
"I'll bet you a pack of dried meat, he'll be scolded when he gets back."
"Why do you say that?"
"I told them you went up the mountain to collect herbs. They didn't see any herbs, so they must be suspicious of you. But they have no evidence. Reporting with such an unconfirmable result, how could he not be scolded?"
As if she could already see the man being scolded, Rong Zhi couldn't help but curve her lips.
"Bet or not?"
"No bet," Xia Yunting stroked her head, "I think the same as you."