She was a lowly maid, her substitute, so she had to serve that tyrant in her place! But why was she chosen?
Chunhua felt the chill from the ice bed beneath her rush into her body, and her heart turned cold too!
Nameless put away the bronze mirror and took out a string of pendants from his sleeve. The pendants were completely transparent and sparkling. At the center of the pendants was a soft substance the size of a mung bean, faintly emitting a strange red light.
In fact, this soft red substance is a top-grade poison called Heartbreak Powder. People poisoned by this poison will not die instantly, but after taking it, they will experience various hallucinations in their minds. It can evoke the most painful things in the world in the poisoned person, and then they will be tormented to death by these hallucinations.
The nameless man gently spun the pendant, and with a very faint, crisp sound, a small hole appeared in the center of the pendant, just enough to release the soft substance.
Wuming handed the pendant to Chunhua and said coldly, "You have two choices: either you take it now, or you keep it safe and wait for the right time to let Yiyang take it!"
Chunhua took the pendant, staring at the red in the center. The red in her eyes grew larger and more blurred. Trembling, she brought the pendant to her lips, closed her eyes slightly, and parted her red lips.
Nameless stared nervously at Chunhua. This girl, could she really be so foolish as to commit suicide? His index and middle fingers unconsciously clenched together, the antidote for the Heartless Powder held between them. This antidote was refined from a thousand-year-old dew, and there was only one in the world.
Chunhua was ultimately a lowly life, so lowly that she would rather live on like this than swallow the poison. She opened her eyes, closed the pendant, and gently placed it on her fair and slender neck.
Without a word, Nameless loosened his grip and withdrew the antidote. "There's food on the table. Eat and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow they'll send you to the palace!"
After saying this, Wuming turned and left.
Chunhua glanced at the food on the table, but had no appetite. She lay down silently, gently stroking her face, missing the owner of that face.
Chu Xiyin woke up with a start. Last night, she had a nightmare in which Chunhua turned into a female ghost, crying to her with her face covered in blood.
Early in the morning, Chu Xiyin ran to Yichuan's room and knocked on the door for a while. She only heard from the maid that the prince had gone out before dawn.
Chu Xiyin returned to her room dejectedly, having probably gone to the morning court session. She had wanted to ask about Chunhua's condition, but now she would have to wait for the prince to return.
Chunhua didn't sleep a wink all night. She lay on the ice bed, her eyes wide open, staring motionless at one spot like a corpse. Her appearance was quite frightening.
Wuming checked her breathing, pulled her up, tidied her up, and changed her into a plain white dress.
When Qi Yu saw Chunhua, his eyes were filled with shock. He hadn't expected that Wuming's disguise skills had reached such a masterful level. He stared at Wuming in disbelief. Wuming smiled faintly, a hint of ambiguity flashing in his eyes.
Upon seeing Chunhua, even the usually composed Fourth Prince could not hide his surprise.
"Chunhua greets the Fourth Prince!"
The Fourth Prince was taken aback, startled by Chunhua's greeting. He awkwardly tugged at the corners of his mouth, a barely perceptible hint of guilt in his eyes.
Wuming leaned against the window, watching Chunhua get into the carriage, before gently closing the window with a sense of relief. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he opened the window and jumped out.
He was too careless and made such a fatal mistake!
Chapter 30 A Private Night's Arrangement
The carriage was about to depart.
The nameless figure landed steadily on the ground like a swallow. He called out urgently, "Your Highness, wait..."
Perhaps because he was in such a hurry, his voice even carried a hint of a woman's sharp softness.
His bamboo hat was blown off by the wind the moment he flew down, and his long, black hair fell to the ground. Qi Yu hurriedly tried to help him pick up the hat, but it was too late; the Fourth Prince had already leaned out of the carriage. Fortunately, a black veil covered his face, and the Fourth Prince could only see his charming eyes and delicate eyebrows.
"What is it?" Yi Chuan got off the carriage and approached him.
"I forgot something important," Wuming said, smoothing his messy hair from his forehead.
Seeing that Chunhua had also gotten off the carriage, Wuming hurried over. Before Chunhua could react, Wuming grabbed her chin tightly and forced a pill into her mouth.
Terrified, Chunhua thought he was going to kill her and frantically scratched at his chest. Unexpectedly, she touched a soft mound on his chest.
"Damn it! We've been discovered!" Qi Yu's eyebrows shot up, and a murderous aura surged in his eyes. Wuming seemed to sense Qi Yu's murderous intent; he turned around and gently shook his head.
As Qi Yu hesitated, Chunhua suddenly covered her throat, opened her mouth in pain, and tried to speak, but could not make a sound.
“Chunhua, I’m sorry, I forgot. Your voice is different from hers. I’ve never heard her voice before. Just in case, I had to do this. If you ever gain your freedom, I will give you the antidote.” Wuming slowly lifted the black veil from his face. “Remember what I look like. If you must hate, then hate me!”
Chunhua was stunned by the woman's face. Her beauty was completely different from Chu Xiyin's. It had a bewitching charm, as well as a coldness that made people unable to get close to her.
The Fourth Prince was also shocked! He wasn't shocked by her beauty, but rather by the fact that he never expected the Poison Doctor's only disciple to be a woman!
"Liang Siqi greets the Fourth Prince!" Liang Siqi gracefully walked up to the Fourth Prince, her alluring eyes lowered, and said, "Siqi has no intention of hiding anything from Your Highness, it's just that last time I secretly escaped from Lord Mo's residence, which led to Miss Xiyin being captured..."
Qi Yu stepped forward and interrupted her, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with Siqi. It's all my fault for releasing her without authorization because of my own selfish desires..."
"Never mind, it's all in the past." No wonder Yi Chuan always felt that Wu Ming's voice was a bit strange, as if he had heard it somewhere before. It turned out that she was imitating Hua Shao's voice, only with a slight change in tone.
Liang Siqi's father was Liang Zheng, the former Imperial Censor of the Ziling Dynasty. Liang Zheng, disapproving of Yi Yang, risked his life to remonstrate with him. As a result, he was cruelly executed by Yi Yang, torn apart by five horses.
After Liang Zheng's death, Madam Liang entrusted Xiao Siqi to Qi Gui's care, and then chose to drown herself to follow her husband.
Perhaps because she had witnessed her father's death, Xiao Siqi showed no fear whatsoever when she first saw the various organs displayed in Qi Gui's organ exhibition room. She stared at the limbs for a long time, her eyes cold and her face expressionless.
There was another reason Qi Gui took her as his disciple: she liked drinking blood. Of course, she didn't like it from the start. The first time Qi Gui served Siqi a bowl of chicken blood, he lied and said it was human blood. Siqi held the bowl, trembling. Qi Gui let out a cold laugh. "Someone like you, what makes you think you can avenge your father? You're even afraid of blood, what makes you think you can be my disciple?"
With a determined effort, Liang Siqi drank the bowl of blood in one gulp.
“Remember, you’re not learning medicine from me, you’re learning poisons. From today onward, you must understand the toxicity of various poisons.” With that, in the dark room, venomous snakes, centipedes, ice toads… all sorts of poisonous creatures attacked her. The small, thin girl huddled helplessly in a corner, trembling.
The poison was attacking her body, and she thought she was going to die. In her hazy state, she heard a boy crying out wildly in her ear, "Father, save her! She's dying, save her..."
The boy's tears dripped onto her face. Though they were a little cold, they were the only warmth she had felt since her parents passed away. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the boy's tightly furrowed brows, like two caterpillars standing upside down. For a moment, she forgot the pain in her body and laughed out loud.
Qi Gui did not give up the cruel training of Siqi because of his son's pleas and Siqi's pain.
Qi Yu said he would take Siqi away, but Siqi refused no matter what. Because she wanted revenge!
So, in a fit of anger, Qi Yu went to Yunwu Temple to become Mo Yun's apprentice, while Siqi continued to stay by Qi Gui's side to learn medical skills.
Four years have passed, and Qi Yu has never returned to Guilian Residence, but his longing for Siqi has only grown stronger with each passing day.
For four years, Siqi had never left Guilianju, but her longing for Qiyu had only grown stronger.
If there is any hatred that can surpass love, then there is only one possibility: the love between them is not deep enough.
That day, Qi Gui called Siqi to his side and told her that Yi Yang was going to select twenty women to enter the palace, and asked her if she was willing to go.
Siqi readily agreed; entering the palace was her only chance to get close to her enemy. For four years, she had mastered all of Qi Gui's lifelong skills, but had been unable to see her enemy. Now, how could she miss this golden opportunity?
Qi Yu recognized Liang Siqi at a glance among the twenty women.
Why? How could she sacrifice herself like this for revenge? Why? Why didn't she want to leave with him that day?
Qi Yu's eyes were filled with anger. He hated her indifference; he hated that she didn't care about him!
Liang Siqi recognized Qi Yu at a glance. If it were before, she would have burst out laughing at his furrowed brows. But now, she only dared to timidly avoid his gaze. She had made up her mind, and no one could stop her!
Mo Yun ordered painters to create portraits of twenty women and dispatched men to send the portraits to the palace as quickly as possible. As he had expected, Yi Yang was very satisfied with the twenty women. Therefore, Mo Yun sent Qi Yu, Hua Shao, Xiao Dong, and Xiao west to escort the twenty women into the palace.
Coincidentally, the carriage Liang Siqi was riding in was being escorted by Qi Yu.
As the carriage traveled along the road, Qi Yu sprayed a hypnotic powder into the carriage.
When Hua Shao and his group found out, they saw only four women sleeping in the car.
Hua Shao was a smart man and naturally knew what had happened! He ordered Xiao Dong and Xiao Xi to return to Yunwu Temple by the same route and report to Mo Yun that a woman had jumped out of the car and escaped, and Qi Yu was tracking her. Mo Yun didn't believe it, but he had no other choice. So he made up a reason and asked Yi Yang to give him another day.
That night, Qi Yu led Liang Siqi to escape to a small wooden house.
When Liang Siqi woke up, she stared at Qi Yu's back and said coldly, "Why did you do this? Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day?"
Qi Yu's shoulders trembled slightly, but he did not answer.
"I live only to kill that tyrant. He killed my father and drove my mother to suicide by drowning. I have no family left in this world!" Liang Siqi's eyes became empty. For the past four years, hatred had sustained her until now. Now, even her only chance for revenge was gone. What was the point of her living?
"And me!" Qi Yu's voice was a little stiff, but very warm.
Women's hearts are fragile, especially in front of the person they love. No matter how cold she may seem on the outside, at this moment, his simple three words are enough to melt her frozen heart.
He wanted to tell her not to live in hatred, that the past was the past, and that living well was the greatest revenge against her enemies. But he said nothing. He simply clumsily cupped her face and then forcefully sealed her lips with his.
He ruthlessly crushed all the torment she had endured over the years. Hatred could not ultimately prevail over love.
His lips covered her eyes, and the coldness in her eyes instantly transformed into endless allure.
That night, he would have her. That night, she would become his woman.
Qi Yu forcefully removed her clothes and caressed her soft skin. Her body had been ravaged by poisons for years, leaving faint scars everywhere. But her skin was soft and elastic, making it irresistible to touch.
He kissed every scar on her body, as if he wanted to swallow them into his own body.
A tear fell into the whirlpool in the hollow of her abdomen. The tear was warm, and that warmth spread throughout the whirlpool, causing an unquenchable heat to rise within her body.
His cold lips, tinged with hot, wet tears, made her body tremble violently. His kiss gradually softened, intertwining with hers.
Suddenly, he penetrated her body and possessed her.
Two hearts that had been longing for each other for so long finally came together at this moment.
Qi Yu originally intended to elope with Liang Siqi, but he feared it would implicate his father and Mo Yun. So he took Siqi back to Guilian Residence, where Qi Gui happened to be away. Siqi then used her disguise skills to disguise herself as a man.
After settling Siqi in, Qi Yu rushed back to Yunwu Temple to apologize to Mo Yun.
Mo Yun didn't blame him too much, after all, he was a friend's son. Besides, since things had come to this, he could only try to make amends.
He ordered Qi Yu to find a woman to replace Siqi in the palace within a day.
Everything else was fine, except for the portrait that had been sent to the palace, which was giving Mo Yun quite a headache. Oh well, as long as the woman they found wasn't any less beautiful than Siqi, the Emperor probably wouldn't blame them too much.
Qi Yu, Hua Shao, and their companions searched for beautiful women throughout Ziling City. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to encounter Chu Xiyin.
Qi Yu always felt guilty towards Chu Xiyin. If it weren't for his selfish desires, this innocent woman wouldn't have suffered so much.
Qi Yu held Liang Siqi's shoulder, and she nestled in his arms, looking incredibly thin.
"Your Highness, should we set off now?" Qi Yu asked.
Yi Chuan composed himself, turned around, and then suddenly looked back and said, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have met Xi Yin."
Liang Siqi paused for a moment, then looked up at Qi Yu and gave him a charming smile.
Sitting in the carriage, Chunhua was filled with anxiety. It wasn't until they entered the palace and saw the magnificent buildings that her heart gradually calmed down.
Given her previous status, she probably would never have reached a place like this in her entire life.
"Are you Xiao Lan?" Yi Yang looked at the woman in front of him, unable to hide his excitement.
Chunhua nodded hurriedly.
"Raise your head and let me see you!"