Seeing her like this, Li Shimin smiled: “What, did I scare you?”

“A little.” Yunyi pressed her chest, then looked down and noticed Li Shimin holding a bow and arrows, asking curiously: “Is Second Young Master going to practice archery?”

“No, I just returned from hunting with Fifth Brother. I was thinking of coming to see you, and coincidentally met you here.” Ever since the snow lotus incident, especially after confirming that Yunyi had indeed known how to paint since childhood, Li Shimin had lowered his guard, making their relationship closer than before, like friends.

Of course, this was only Li Shimin’s wishful thinking. Yunyi had never considered him a friend, and there would never truly be those two words between them.

“By the way, you still haven’t told me what you were thinking about?” Faced with Li Shimin’s inquiry, Yunyi repeated what Nanny Yang had said, then asked: “By the way, does Second Young Master know which two distinguished guests are coming? Are they… easy to get along with? Will they be very picky?”

Li Shimin’s expression turned cold, saying indifferently: “One is called Wang Wei, the other Gao Jinya. Both are the Emperor’s favored ministers, sent by His Majesty to visit my father. As for whether they’re easy to get along with, I wouldn’t know, since I’ve only met them once before.”

Hearing these two names, Yunyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had never met these two officials, so it seemed she didn’t need to worry about her identity being exposed. “How is First Young Master’s leg ailment? Has it improved?”

Mentioning this matter, Li Shimin appeared very happy: “According to Physician Xu, the situation is very good. In another ten or so days, we should be able to see results.” He continued with emotion: “Big Brother’s leg ailment is not only his own heartache, but also Father’s and us brothers’ heartache. Now that it can be cured, it’s truly joyful. I hope everything goes smoothly and peacefully, without any complications.”

Yunyi smiled gracefully: “It will. I believe First Young Master will surely experience a reversal of fortune.”

Li Shimin smiled and was about to speak when a delighted voice came from nearby: “Second Brother, look quickly! I shot a sparrow. I thought there wouldn’t be any sparrows at this time. There are more over there – shall we go shoot some more together?”

Li Zhiyun ran toward Li Shimin carrying a longbow almost as tall as himself, holding a rabbit in one hand and a sparrow in the other. The rabbit was still alive, struggling constantly.

Li Shimin looked at the long arrow shaft protruding from the sparrow and said with amusement: “You used an arrow to shoot a sparrow?”

Li Zhiyun was momentarily stunned by the question, then said matter-of-factly: “Of course! How else would you hunt sparrows? Although Master taught me lightness skills, I still can’t catch them with bare hands.”

Li Zhiyun was born to Wan Shi. Li Jiancheng and Li Xuanba both disliked him, and only Li Shimin was willing to associate with him. Every time he returned to the estate, he would take him hunting, so he was closest to Li Shimin.

“Second Brother will teach you a better method that’s definitely more convenient than what you’re doing now and will catch more.” Hearing this, Li Zhiyun was overjoyed and was about to pull Li Shimin away when he noticed Yunyi standing to the side. His face immediately darkened: “What is she doing here?”

He remembered this woman. Mother said it was this person who killed A’mu. When A’mu had just died, he was so heartbroken he couldn’t sleep for several days, only feeling somewhat better in recent days.

Li Shimin had also heard about that matter and immediately said: “Meixue couldn’t be the murderer who killed A’mu.”

Li Zhiyun turned his head away without speaking. From his appearance, he obviously didn’t believe Li Shimin’s words. Just then, Wang Fu rushed frantically to Li Shimin, too panicked to bow properly before saying: “Second Young Master, something terrible has happened! First Young Master… he’s been poisoned!”

Hearing this, Li Shimin’s expression immediately turned horrified as he urgently asked: “What happened? How could Big Brother be poisoned?”

Wang Fu said with a bitter face: “This slave can’t explain clearly either. You should hurry and go see for yourself.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shimin was already striding quickly toward Qingchun Garden. After hesitating for a moment, Li Zhiyun also dropped what he was holding and followed him to Qingchun Garden.

Watching their retreating figures, Yunyi’s lips curved into a cold smile. Smoothly and peacefully… the Li family should never expect to have those four words!

Li Shimin hurried to Qingchun Garden. Upon entering the flower hall, he saw Li Jiancheng leaning pale against a soft couch, his face covered in cold sweat. The gauze on his left leg had been removed. The upper part looked fine, the same as normal skin color, just with some additional silver needles, but from the knee down, the entire lower leg was a strange black color. Drops of black blood dripped from a cut opening into a bowl. Jirong knelt on the ground with a panicked expression, a bloody gash on her forehead as if she’d been struck by something, slowly seeping bright red blood.

Li Shimin said in shock: “Big Brother, what’s going on? Why is your leg like this?”

Li Jiancheng pointed angrily at Jirong: “This wretch actually poisoned the medicine powder she gave me! For the past few days, I felt my leg was somewhat red and itchy, and I felt unwell, but she said this was a normal reaction to bone healing and told me to endure it. The bandages were supposed to be changed tomorrow, but I really couldn’t stand the pain and itching, so I had Wang Fu remove the gauze, and then discovered it had become like this.”

Jirong said frantically: “No, this slave didn’t poison First Young Master. This slave also doesn’t know why it became like this.” When she first saw Li Jiancheng’s leg, she too was startled, unable to understand how the Tendon-Mending Muscle-Regenerating Powder she had worked so hard to develop had become poison.

“Still lying!” Li Jiancheng grabbed something nearby and threw it at her, hitting Jirong’s arm and making her cry out in pain. Li Jiancheng tried to calm himself and said coldly: “For this past half month, I’ve only used the medicine you brought. If not you, then who else could it be?”

Jirong sobbed: “It really wasn’t this slave. This slave is wronged!”

Seeing Physician Xu finish writing a prescription and hand it to a servant, Li Shimin quickly asked: “Physician Xu, what poison has my big brother been given? Is it serious?”

Physician Xu said with a grave expression: “First Young Master has been poisoned with a type I’ve never seen before. This poison is very toxic. Fortunately, First Young Master absorbed it through the skin, so it can still be treated. If it had been ingested orally, he might already be dead. However…”

Li Shimin’s heart, which had just relaxed, tensed up again because of those two words. He asked nervously: “However what?”

“This poison has already penetrated First Young Master’s wound. I’m afraid… it will affect First Young Master’s leg ailment that was just starting to improve.” Hearing this, Li Jiancheng immediately panicked. He struggled to sit up and stared intently at Physician Xu: “Affect the leg ailment? What do you mean by that?”

Physician Xu sighed: “Once poison enters the limbs and bones, it’s very difficult to eliminate. I’m worried the toxins will remain in various acupoints throughout First Young Master’s left leg. When that happens, even with more Tendon-Mending Muscle-Regenerating Powder, First Young Master’s leg ailment cannot be cured!”