novelraw Chapter 185
Chapter 185
Old Madam Qi was so frightened that she immediately stood up.
"Master, you take care of them. I'm going to check on Zhou'er and Tang'er."
Hearing this, Old Master Qi quickly asked, "Did Zhou'er find Tang'er?"
Old Madam Qi did not have time to answer him. She quickly picked up the bundle from the ground and ran swiftly toward Ye Chutang.
Ye Chutang caught the collapsing Qi Yanzhou just in time and laid him flat on the ground.
She placed her bloodstained fingers against his pulse.
Qi Yanzhou's condition was not good.
He had been stung by a hornet.
After being poisoned, he had not used his internal energy to force the venom out.
Instead, he had used his internal energy to enhance his lightness skill, searching everywhere for her.
This caused the toxins to spread rapidly throughout his entire body.
After finding her and confirming she was safe, the breath of energy Qi Yanzhou had been holding onto finally dissipated, and he fainted.
Fortunately, he was practically a walking medicine jar. Whether it was toward medicine or poison, he possessed a certain degree of immunity.
Ye Chutang took an antidote pill from her space and fed it into Qi Yanzhou's mouth.
Although it was not a targeted cure, it still had some effect.
This way, she would have enough time to find He Zhe and get the proper antidote.
"Tang'er, are you alright? What happened to Zhou'er? I brought the medicine you bought, can we use it?"
Old Madam Qi's voice arrived before she did, her words brimming with worry.
Ye Chutang stood up and quickly supported the old madam, who had run so fast she almost tripped.
"Mother, please don't worry. A-Zhou is not in any serious danger. You stay here and take care of him, and I will go find the antidote."
Old Madam Qi grabbed Ye Chutang just as she was about to leave and asked with deep concern, "Tang'er, will it be dangerous?"
Ye Chutang looked at her mother-in-law, who never forgot to worry about her safety even when her own son was in trouble, and felt a profound warmth in her heart.
"Mother, rest assured, it is not dangerous."
"Then you must come back quickly. If Zhou'er wakes up and doesn't see you, he will be anxious."
"Alright, I will go and return quickly."
Ye Chutang walked over to Han Chong, whose face was swollen from hornet stings.
"Care to chat in private?"
Although Han Chong had never explicitly revealed his identity to her, she knew he was the Emperor's man.
Han Chong also had something to say to Ye Chutang, so he nodded.
The two walked away from the crowd and stood under a large tree by the lake.
Before Ye Chutang could even speak, Han Chong reprimanded her in displeasure, "Has Miss Ye forgotten that you are a blade planted in the Qi family by the Emperor!"
Yet, from the black-bellied snakes to the hornets, this woman had been helping the Qi family all along!
"You clearly had many opportunities to kill Qi Yanzhou. Why did you save him?"
Ye Chutang looked at Han Chong as if she were looking at an idiot.
"If I were to kill him so blatantly, my reputation would be utterly ruined."
Han Chong frowned in displeasure. "Then you should have at least stood by and watched, rather than helping the Qi family!"
"I am currently Qi Yanzhou's wife. If I don't help him, who should I help? I want the antidote in the Emperor's hands, but I also want to retreat unscathed without leaving a stain on my name. This is the agreement the Emperor and I reached long ago."
"Furthermore, you had a plan but didn't inform me. How was I supposed to know you needed my cooperation?"
Han Chong was a single-minded man and was left completely speechless by her retort.
Ye Chutang stared at his swollen face, curled her lips into a mocking smile, and got down to business.
"Do you know why the hornets attacked indiscriminately?"
Han Chong had already thought about this question and had come up with an answer.
"Naturally, it was to act as a smokescreen."
If only the Dragon Guards were left unharmed, it would be far too obvious, and the spearhead of suspicion would definitely point straight at the Emperor.
Ye Chutang shook her head. "Wrong. It's because those men in black are Northern Barbarians, and they never intended to let anyone leave here alive."
Han Chong was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood the Emperor's actions.
"What does it matter if we are used as a borrowed knife to kill? To serve the Emperor with absolute loyalty is our honor."
From the moment the Dragon Guards received their mission, they never expected to return alive.
The best way to bury a secret is to kill everyone involved.
The Emperor did nothing wrong!
Ye Chutang looked at the brainless royalists and sneered in exasperation.
"I won't stop you if you have a death wish, but if anyone wants me dead, I'll see them dead first!"
These words caused the murderous intent radiating from Han Chong to surge.
"What, do you intend to harm the Emperor?"
"If he wants to kill me, then he is no longer the Emperor; he is my enemy."
Believing that Ye Chutang was a threat to the Emperor, Han Chong immediately struck at her.
"You're courting death!"
Ye Chutang watched Han Chong with cold eyes, remaining completely motionless.
"Do you dare to kill me?"
The sharp sword pressed tightly against Ye Chutang's slender neck, not daring to advance another inch.
Without the Emperor's orders, Han Chong indeed did not dare to kill Ye Chutang.
After all, she had not actually done anything detrimental to the Emperor.
"I will be watching you!"
After saying this, Han Chong prepared to withdraw his sword.
But Ye Chutang unexpectedly snatched the sword and thrust it into Han Chong's chest.
However, she did not strike to kill; the tip of the blade only pierced his skin by half an inch.
"You don't dare to kill me, but I dare to kill you."
With that, she tossed the blood-tipped sword onto the ground.
Han Chong stared at his blood-stained chest, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He had always believed he was unafraid of death.
But the moment the sword pierced his skin, the fear of death gathered from every part of his body into his heart, making him unable to breathe, as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar.
Upon realizing that Ye Chutang was only playing a trick on him, a profound sense of relief at having survived washed over him.
He steadied his emotions, picked up the sword from the ground, and thrust it into a tree trunk.
Firstly to wipe the blood off, and secondly to intimidate Ye Chutang.
"Miss Ye..."
Before the words of warning could leave his mouth, he was interrupted by Ye Chutang.
"Now, your life belongs not only to the Emperor, but also to me."
Han Chong's brows furrowed deeply.
"What do you mean by that, Miss Ye? Do you happen to have a handwritten edict from the Emperor allowing you to command us?"
Ye Chutang looked at the surface of the lake, where dead hornets floated, and shook her head.
"I don't have an edict from the Emperor, but I saved your life."
Han Chong scoffed coldly, "Not stabbing me to death with a sword counts as saving my life?"
Ye Chutang gave a light chuckle, answering his question with one of her own.
"If the hornets hadn't disappeared and kept attacking you, would you still be alive?"
Although the Dragon Guards possessed formidable martial arts skills, human stamina is limited.
When they could no longer run or swing their swords, they naturally wouldn't be able to save their own lives!
Han Chong looked at Ye Chutang warily. "You can control the hornets?"
"No, but I can kill the person who controls them. Therefore, I not only saved your life, but the lives of everyone here!"
"How are you going to prove that?"
Ye Chutang turned around and pointed at the tallest towering tree, saying, "The corpse is right under that tree."
After saying this, she asked, "How many people did you catch?"
"Twelve. Seven are dead."
"There were sixteen in total. I killed the one controlling the hornets, which means there are three left. They are all hidden spies planted in the capital by the Northern Barbarians. We must find every single one of them."
No matter how corrupt the Beichen Kingdom was, it would not tolerate the covetous designs of foreign tribes.
Han Chong immediately said, "I will take my men to search for them, and verify whether you are lying while I'm at it!"
With that, he strode away.
"Halt, I haven't finished speaking."
Han Chong hesitated for a moment, then turned around and asked, "What else does Miss Ye want to say?"
"Give me the authority. I want to interrogate the five captives you took alive."
She needed to find the antidote, and interrogation was the fastest way to do so.
"Why?"
Ye Chutang casually spun a lie. "The hornets were fed with poison. I must know exactly what kind of poison it is in order to concoct the antidote, and my medical skills are far superior to those of your traveling physician."
Han Chong could not deny that.
"Follow me."
He led Ye Chutang over to Wu Chenggang.
"The hornets are venomous, and Madam Qi can cure the stings. Do not stop her from doing whatever she needs to do."
Wu Chenggang had been stung severely. His face was swollen beyond recognition, his eyes puffed shut into mere slits, rendering him unable to speak.
He merely grunted twice in agreement.
Han Chong called away the Dragon Guards who had sustained lighter injuries, leading them off to hunt down the Northern Barbarian spies.
Ye Chutang looked at the five Northern Barbarians whose jaws had been dislocated, and crouched down.
Picking up a dry twig from the ground, she poked around inside their mouths to inspect their teeth.
Once she confirmed that their poison-hiding teeth had been extracted, she singled out a woman and snapped her jaw back into place.
She got straight to the point: "Where is He Zhe?"
A wave of shock washed over the woman.
"Pah!"
She tried to spit right in Ye Chutang's face.
But Ye Chutang was faster. She grabbed the woman's chin and forcefully twisted her head to the side.
The disgusting wad of spit landed squarely on her companion's face.
Ye Chutang was not angry. She patted the woman down but failed to find anything useful on her.
"Soft bones, but a tough temper."
With that, Ye Chutang pulled a small black bottle from her robes.
"Smiling Spring Breeze, the most potent aphrodisiac in the capital. I am sure you will love it."
She poured out two black pills. "Since your martial arts skills are so high, I will need to double the dose."
The woman struggled frantically.
"Bitch! Kill me if you dare!"
"Do not worry, I will not kill you. I just need you to strip beneath a man of the Beichen Kingdom and bear his child."
"No! You can't!"
She would rather die ten thousand times than suffer such humiliation!
Ye Chutang pinched the woman's cheeks, using brute force to pry her mouth open.
Under her terrified gaze, she shoved the two aphrodisiac pills into her mouth.
She pressed her fingers against the woman's throat and stroked downward.
The pills were swallowed.
Ye Chutang released the woman, looking at her with a beaming smile.
"Gesang, I have already killed Lu Ge. No one is coming to save you. You can either live in humiliation, or confess and be given a quick death. The choice is yours."
The woman named Gesang refused to believe Ye Chutang's words, shaking her head frantically.
"Impossible! Lu Ge is so powerful; there is no way he could die!"
Lu Ge had been lurking in the capital for twelve years. He was courageous, strategic, highly skilled in martial arts, and could even control hornets.
How could he possibly be dead?
"Do not try to trick me, I..."
Before Gesang could finish her sentence, she attempted to bite her tongue to commit suicide.
Ye Chutang struck with lightning speed, landing a punch that knocked out half of the woman's teeth.
"Lu Ge sold all of you out."
She relayed all the information she had coaxed out of Lu Ge to Gesang.
Then, she watched as the faith in the woman's eyes crumbled bit by bit.
Gesang opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. The stark white teeth mixed in the bloody puddle seemed like a cruel, silent mockery.
The aphrodisiac was already taking effect within her body, causing her exposed skin to flush a tantalizing shade of pink.
Her strength was being drained away bit by bit, while her terror steadily magnified. Uncontrollably, soft, sultry moans began to escape her lips.
Ye Chutang reached out and stroked Gesang's face, a wicked smile playing on her lips.
"You Northern Barbarians hate the Qi family to the bone. How would you feel about being forced to bear a child for a man of the Qi family?"
These words caused Gesang's increasingly unfocused eyes to abruptly snap back into focus.
"Let me die... I beg you!"
Ye Chutang looked at the four angry Northern Barbarian men, the smile on her lips deepening.
"How about making a brothel your final destination?"
The moment her words fell, she pulled the blade from the waist of a nearby official and severed the leg tendons of all four men.
"This way, you won't be able to run. A little muscle-softening powder will be enough to reduce you to men's playthings."
These words made the four men struggle like madmen.
But apart from accelerating the bleeding from their wounds, it was of no use.
Ye Chutang forced the four men's jaws shut and stood up.
With a sharp clang, she sheathed the bloodstained blade.
She looked down at the five of them from above. "Whoever tells me where He Zhe is, I will spare them from humiliation."
After speaking, she began to count down.
"Three, two..."
Not wanting her body and soul to be defiled by the filthy Beichen people, Gesang spoke up through her tears.
"I will tell you! When I was captured, I saw He Zhe fleeing toward the eastern hillside. He is skilled in poison; you won't be able to catch him."
Having said that, she wept bitterly.
"Give me the antidote, I beg you!"
Ye Chutang looked at the naive Gesang and sneered.
"Filthy Northern Barbarian spy, no one will touch you. Endure it yourself."
The Northern Barbarians wanted to kill her; she would have to be crazy to keep her promise.
She kicked away the corpses piled on top of He Zhe and crouched down to check if he was truly dead or just feigning death.
Taking advantage of the inspection, she collected all the bottles and jars hidden on his person.
No heartbeat, no pulse, and his body temperature was very low.
Had Gesang not mentioned that He Zhe was feigning death, he surely would have deceived everyone.
Having already obtained the antidote, Ye Chutang directly snapped He Zhe's neck.
Merit points +5241.
"Even death is too good for you!"
Just as she finished speaking, the Dragon Guard who had been watching her demanded, "Why did you kill him?"
Ye Chutang stood up and looked at the Dragon Guard with a smile.
"He was already a corpse, so how could it be considered killing?"
"That woman clearly said he was feigning death."
"So, you would rather believe a Northern Barbarian spy than me?"
The Dragon Guard was rendered speechless by her retort.
They had checked these corpses earlier and confirmed they were all dead.
He asked, "The poisoner is dead. How does Miss Ye plan to cure the poison?"
"I have my own ways."
After saying this, Ye Chutang returned to Qi Yanzhou's side.
She opened a bundle filled with medicine. While pretending to rummage through it, she slipped the five bottles she had found on He Zhe inside.
After uncorking and sniffing them one by one, she quickly determined which bottle contained the antidote.
Just to be safe, she first poured out a single pill and handed it to Ye Jingchuan.
"Your mother is dying. This medicine might save her, or it might kill her. It is up to you to decide whether or not to give it to her."
Ye Jingchuan stared at the black pill in Ye Chutang's palm, his eyes filled with conflict.
Seeing this, Ye Chutang added another sentence.
"Those hornets were raised on poison. The longer the toxins remain in the body, the higher the chance of death. If this medicine can save your mother, it can save you."
The implication was clear: she wanted Ye Jingchuan to choose between himself and Old Madam Ye to test the medicine.
If he chose Old Madam Ye to test the medicine and it proved useless, he would bear the infamy of matricide.
If he chose to test it on himself and it proved useless, he would die.
Ye Jingchuan hesitated for quite a while before reaching out with a hand swollen like a steamed bun to take the antidote.
Enduring the agonizing pain all over his body, he fed the antidote into Old Madam Ye's mouth.
Ye Chutang knew exactly how selfish Ye Jingchuan was, so she wasn't the least bit surprised by his choice.
She reached out and checked Old Madam Ye's pulse.
The pulse was erratic, slow, and weak, but it wasn't a dead pulse.
She withdrew her hand and said to Ye Jingchuan, "The antidote is effective."
A look of joy surfaced on Ye Jingchuan's toad-like face, making him look incredibly hideous.
"Give me the antidote."
His words were slurred, his mouth swollen like a sausage from the hornet stings.
Ye Chutang shook the medicine bottle in her hand, estimating the amount of antidote pills inside.
There should be about thirty or forty pills.
It would be enough to save those with more severe symptoms.
Naturally, Ye Jingchuan was one of them.
Ye Chutang held up an index finger. "Five hundred taels for one pill. First come, first served."
Ye Jingchuan: "..."
Adding up everything he had on him, it was only a little over one thousand three hundred taels.
Even if he spent it all on the antidote, it wouldn't be enough to buy three pills!
While Ye Jingchuan was hesitating, Ye Chutang returned to Qi Yanzhou's side.
She lifted his shoulders and fed him an antidote pill.
Old Madam Qi asked nervously, "Tang'er, will Zhou'er be fine after taking the antidote?"
She actually wanted to ask about the fire poison.
However, with so many people around, it wasn't convenient to ask aloud, so she blinked twice at Ye Chutang instead.
Ye Chutang understood Old Madam Qi's hint and nodded.
"Yes, Ah Zhou will be fine after resting for a day or two."
Just as Ye Chutang finished speaking, Qi Yanzhou slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing that entered his sight was his beloved.
He immediately sat up straight, placed his hands on Ye Chutang's shoulders, and looked her up and down.
"Ah Tang, are you alright? Why is there blood on you?"
He had wanted to ask earlier, but he had fainted from the poison.
Ye Chutang helped Qi Yanzhou up.
"I'm fine. This blood is Lu Ge's, the Northern Barbarian spy who controlled the hornets."
"Those men in black are spies planted in the capital by the Northern Barbarians?"
Ye Chutang nodded. "Today is a blessing in disguise. We have cleared out all the spies planted in the capital by the Northern Barbarians."
"What about Lu Ge?"
"Dead. Right under that tallest tree. He reaped what he sowed and was stung to death by his own hornets."
She knew Qi Yanzhou had a lot to ask, but she didn't have time right now.
"Ah Zhou, you rest first. I'm going to save the others."
Ye Chutang walked quickly towards Qi He'an.
Qi He'an was still lying on his stomach on the ground, groaning in pain.
Concubine Xu saw Ye Chutang coming over and asked with concern, "Madam, are you injured?"
Ye Chutang shook her dress. "This is not my blood. How is Third Brother?"
"He'er... he's swollen from the hornet stings and is in terrible pain."
Qi He'an turned his head to look at Ye Chutang, his face as red as a boiled shrimp.
"Second Sister-in-law, I'm fine. As a man, I can endure this little bit of pain."
Ye Chutang looked at his heavily swollen rear and asked, "Is this the only place you were stung?"
"Yeah. After I got stung, I ran deep into the woods and managed to escape further harm."
After speaking, Qi He'an scratched his head awkwardly.
"Second Sister-in-law, I didn't abandon you all. I just knew that coming back would only be a burden, so I thought of protecting myself first."
"You did the right thing. Don't blame yourself."
Ye Chutang poured out an antidote pill and handed it to Qi He'an.
"This is the antidote. The swelling will go down after you take it. I'll go check on those four."
Old Master Qi hurried over to meet Ye Chutang. "Tang'er, how are you and Zhou'er doing?"
"We are both fine. Don't worry. How are the concubines?"
"Concubine Su and Yun'er were stung severely. They're burning up and delirious. Concubine Gao and Yao'er are faring slightly better."
Ye Chutang looked down from above at Concubine Gao and Qi Jingyao, who were still relatively lucid.
"I have the antidote. Five hundred taels a pill. Do you want it?"
Qi Jingyao retorted feebly, "We're all family, yet you're actually asking for money?"
Ye Chutang glanced at the unhealed wound on Qi Jingyao's forehead and let out a sneer.
"Just how thick is your skin to say something like that? Don't forget what you did the night before our exile."
Qi Jingyao remained stubborn as a mule. "I already staked my life to prove my innocence. What more do you want?"
"Then don't buy the antidote. Just wait for death."
These words sent Qi Jingyao into a panic. She quickly cried out, "I'll buy it! I'll buy it!"
She crawled over to Concubine Su and pulled out all the silver banknotes from a hidden pocket in her sash.
She counted them. There was roughly eight hundred taels—not enough for two antidote pills.
She stared at the meager amount of banknotes, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"I... My mother and I only have this much."
Ye Chutang took the banknotes. "I'll give you the antidote for now. You can work off the remaining two hundred taels later."
Qi Jingyao felt humiliated, but she didn't dare argue.
She was afraid of dying.
Biting her lip, she struggled to force out a single word: "Fine."
Ye Chutang poured out two antidote pills and handed them to Qi Jingyao.
Seeing that color was quickly returning to Qi Jingyao's pale face after she took the antidote, Concubine Gao spoke up.
She hurriedly said, "Madam, I want to buy two pills as well."
Although her family hadn't gone to the Ten Mile Pavilion to see her off in order to avoid suspicion, they had secretly given her three thousand taels in banknotes when she went out to buy supplies.
It was enough for her to live comfortably on the journey to exile.
So, Concubine Gao readily took out one thousand taels and exchanged them for two antidote pills.
Ye Chutang then went over to the Zhao family's area and got straight to the point.
"Five hundred taels for one antidote pill. Do you want them?"
It wasn't that she was being a saint; rather, the hornet venom wasn't acute and wouldn't kill anyone immediately.
The officials had enough time to fetch a doctor to save them. She was merely exploiting everyone's fear to make a quick profit.
The Zhao family had already lost a concubine, and they were terrified, fearing they would be next.
Pale-faced, Zhao Mingxu agreed immediately. "Yes, I want them!"
He was the Emperor's full brother and had accepted the mission to destroy the Qi family. Before he set off, the Emperor had given him a substantial amount of banknotes.
His wives' and concubines' families had also contributed plenty during the send-off at the Ten Mile Pavilion.
Consequently, the Zhao family was not short on money.
Ye Chutang asked, "How many do you need?"
Although it pained Zhao Mingxu to part with the money, he didn't want anyone else in the Zhao family to die.
"Nine."
He pulled a handful of large-denomination banknotes from his robe, counted out four thousand five hundred taels, and handed them to Ye Chutang.
After giving Zhao Mingxu the nine pills, Ye Chutang shook the bottle in her hand.
She spoke loudly enough for Ye Jingchuan to hear on purpose, "There isn't much antidote left."
Ye Jingchuan panicked, just as she expected. "I want two pills!"
He didn't want to die, and Ye Siyin was his only remaining child; she couldn't die either.
As for Concubine Jiang, she would have to rely on her own luck.
He simply didn't have enough silver to buy any more.
Having earned another thousand taels, Ye Chutang left with satisfaction.
On her way back to Qi Yanzhou's side, she passed by Wu Chenggang.
"Officer..."
She had barely opened her mouth when Wu Chenggang interrupted her. "I don't have five hundred taels."
Although the salary for escorting exiles was decent and offered chances for graft, his wages hadn't been paid yet. Since the journey had only just begun, he hadn't had many opportunities to squeeze money out of the prisoners.
Ye Chutang smiled. "You misunderstand, Officer. I wanted to tell you that if you dissolve the remaining antidote in water and drink it, it can reduce swelling and neutralize some of the toxins."
"How much?"
"It's free. I only ask that you make things a little easier for me on the road ahead."
"As long as you don't try to escape or cause any trouble."
"Naturally. Please wait a moment, officer."
Ye Chutang walked over to Qi Yanzhou's side, took his right hand, and checked his pulse.