Though Ziqing meant it as a threat, before Baili Weisheng could even respond, she immediately drove her five fingers straight into his shoulder like claws. Baili Weisheng cried out in pain at once, shoving Ziqing away violently and retreating to a safe distance, yet still not forgetting to clutch the poison vial tightly!
Ziqing wanted the poison, but even more, she wanted to test him.
He had been able to tell at a single glance that Jun Beiyue had been poisoned by a drug-poison back at the Gu clan, and that he had come back to life at Qinse Sea Valley. If Ziqing had harbored doubts about this fellow before, now she was thoroughly suspicious of him!
How could she not seize this opportunity to test whether he was truly that same black-clad figure capable of exhaling poisonous mist?
Ziqing made no further move, waiting to see what would happen. To her surprise, Baili Weisheng pulled out a whole array of small vials and jars from his wide sleeves, quickly located one, and hastily swallowed its contents!
An antidote?
“Heh heh, Little Qingqing, did I forget to mention that not only am I well-versed in matters of heaven and earth, but my sleeves also contain absolutely everything!” Baili Weisheng said with a brilliant smile, his hands moving swiftly as he gathered everything back up in an instant. Ziqing’s attention was drawn away, and by the time she noticed, her poison vial had been swept up along with everything else.
Finally, Ziqing’s expression darkened, and she said sharply, “My poison!”
Baili Weisheng instinctively stepped back, though whether it was genuine fear or mere pretense, it was impossible to tell.
Yet the moment Ziqing, unable to bear it any longer, doubled over and collapsed forward, he rushed to her side without a moment’s hesitation, immediately feeding her the poison, measuring out the exact dosage with remarkable precision.
This poison truly was like a drug!
The instant she took it, Ziqing immediately felt considerably better, collapsing onto the ground, eyes closed, letting out a long, relieved sigh!
She had never touched actual narcotics before, but she understood the dangerous nature of this kind of addiction all too well. The suffering she’d just endured had still been bearable—but had it dragged on any longer, she couldn’t have been certain of the outcome.
Once the relief set in, she found she didn’t have much strength left. She glared coldly at Baili Weisheng—this fellow was frustratingly clever; she hadn’t managed to extract anything useful from him at all.
“How did you know exactly how much I needed?” Ziqing asked flatly.
“Wasn’t it enough?” Baili Weisheng asked with an entirely serious expression.
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Ziqing said, displeased. “Just who exactly are you?”
“Ah, I already told you—I know everything about everything, and I have everything too! That’s Baili Weisheng for you!” Baili Weisheng said with a laugh, thoroughly rascally, yet his smile remained so clean and pure, like a blooming lotus flower.
“Then why did you come here at all? The Prince Yao’s estate isn’t somewhere you can just wander into as you please!” Ziqing pressed further, curious what nonsense he’d come up with next.
Yet Baili Weisheng answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “Little Qingqing, I came to take you home to meet my parents. Are you coming or not?”
Ziqing was so infuriated she nearly coughed up blood. If he didn’t have leverage over her, she would have already called for Jun Beiyue to tear this insufferable scholar’s mouth apart!
Seeing Ziqing’s fierce yet weakened state, Baili Weisheng smiled with perfect innocence, generously pressing the poison vial back into her hand, saying quietly, “Little Qingqing, don’t worry about this. I absolutely, positively will not tell Jun Beiyue! Having a poison addiction isn’t such a big deal, really—just take a bit now and then, and you’ll be fine!”
At these words, Ziqing nearly lunged forward to bite him. Wasn’t this exactly what a threat sounded like?
Seeing that Ziqing had gotten the message, Baili Weisheng finally released his grip on the poison vial, calmly straightening his robes before turning and sauntering off with brazen ease, as though this weren’t the heavily guarded Prince Yao’s estate at all.
Ziqing lay there for a while before her strength returned, and she stood up sharply. If Xuanyuan Lige’s target was Jun Beiyue, was Great Zhou, was the Realm of Three Boundaries itself—
Then what exactly was Baili Weisheng’s purpose in coming here?
There seemed to be countless suspicious things about him, and yet also nothing at all—it could all simply be misunderstandings! The only thing she could say for certain was that this fellow had a sharp, wicked tongue, but his heart didn’t seem to be bad.
Since he now held something over her, she’d simply have to wait and see what he’d try to use it for next.
By now, dawn was nearly breaking. Jun Beiyue hadn’t come after her, and Ziqing felt relieved—yet also, inexplicably, a faint sense of disappointment she couldn’t quite understand herself.
She had originally lived in the East Garden as Prince Yao’s consort, but since her return, she’d been living with him in the West Garden instead. That man could be terribly wicked when he wanted to be, yet when it truly mattered, he behaved like a proper gentleman.
Every night, he simply held her close as they slept, and each morning he would steal a kiss on her forehead—nothing improper at all.
Lying on the couch, Ziqing drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the poison craving, she didn’t wake up until nearly noon.
“His Highness left early this morning. He took Shiliang and Guxi with him on a long journey, and had this servant come inform you,” Hongyi reported honestly.
Ziqing hesitated for a moment. “Did he come by earlier?”
“His Highness left in a hurry, and simply instructed this servant to come tell you,” Hongyi said quietly, sensing faintly that her mistress wasn’t pleased. She had no idea what had happened between the two of them, but His Highness’s face had been quite dark when he left this morning!
Ziqing didn’t press further, flexing her fingers. Time to practice the qin. If there truly was a secret hidden within “Requiem of Parting,” she needed to at least manage to play the entire piece through!
The reason Xuanyuan Lige had never been able to play to the very end was that he harbored some inner demon, some lack of sufficient willpower. Ziqing had no idea exactly how far her own willpower could carry her, but at the very least, she needed to catch up to Xuanyuan Lige’s level as quickly as possible!
Once Ziqing began practicing, she continued for an entire day.
Night had grown deep, yet still there was no sign of Jun Beiyue returning. Only Guxi came back to report, “My lady, His Highness has gone to seek out a physician. He won’t return for a few more days.”
“Who’s fallen ill?” Ziqing asked, puzzled.
Guxi looked timid, not daring to answer. Ziqing flew into a rage. “How have I taught you all before? Are you his people, or mine?”
Guxi, alarmed, immediately dropped to her knees. “Please don’t be angry, my lady. His Highness, considering your special constitution, sent Yingzi to search for a poison master, but wasn’t reassured, so he went personally to find a poison physician. His Highness… His Highness said that if Your Highness won’t cure the poison herself, then he’ll have it cured for you right here at the estate!”
Ziqing fell silent, her expression blank. Guxi didn’t dare even rise from her knees—this was the first time she’d ever seen her mistress lose her temper so severely.
Having gone without her dose for only a few days, she’d already found it unbearable—how much worse would it be to have the poison entirely purged from her body?
Back when she had secretly gone to cultivate the poison, the moment it had begun flowing through her internal organs, Ziqing had known—she could never be without it again.
After a long silence, Ziqing finally said flatly, “Go tell him—I’ve already said it. I’m not curing this poison.”
Guxi didn’t dare argue at all, immediately accepting the order and withdrawing. Hongyi and Physician Gu exchanged glances nearby, not daring to say a word out of turn—there was no doubt the two of them were now at a complete standoff over this matter.
Ziqing said nothing further, striking the strings with a resounding “twang,” launching directly into the climax of “Requiem of Parting,” the rhythm growing increasingly turbulent in tandem with her mood, a fierce, murderous intensity radiating outward instantly!
Hongyi and Physician Gu simply couldn’t bear it, hastily withdrawing. Yet up on the rooftop, Baili Weisheng, without his usual mischievous demeanor, listened intently with an unusually serious expression, as though terrified of missing even a single beat.
Not until the sky had grown faintly light did the sound of the qin in the East Garden gradually fade and finally disappear entirely. Ziqing, utterly exhausted, slumped forward against her guqin, brow furrowed tightly. No one dared say she’d simply played through the night out of bad mood—no one knew that she hadn’t been able to stop even if she’d wanted to; had it not been for the fact that she still didn’t understand the passage that followed, she likely wouldn’t have been able to stop at all!
Just as Ziqing reached the peak of her exhaustion, a panicked voice suddenly called out from beyond the door. “My lady, my lady, the Princess Imperial has arrived early—she’s less than three miles from the city gates!”
…