Teng Yuyi quickly ran through everything in her mind, feeling confident that her plan was flawless. She spoke first: “May I ask why the Young Prince sought me out?”

Lin Chengyou cast a glance at her and replied lazily, “I remember telling you that night – I don’t care what you do with the itching bugs, just don’t harm others or tarnish Qingyun Temple’s reputation. Yet you not only used the bugs to harm someone but nearly made me take the blame. Teng Yuyi, do you think you can manipulate everyone in the world as you please?”

Teng Yuyi wore a shocked expression: “I don’t quite understand Your Highness’s words. Though I obtained some bugs out of curiosity to play with, I’ve never taken them outside the residence. When you say I schemed against someone, what exactly do you mean?”

Lin Chengyou looked at her with amusement: “Quite a convincing act. Are you so certain I can’t prove you harmed someone?”

Teng Yuyi shook her head innocently: “I truly don’t know what I’ve done wrong—”

Before she could finish, she suddenly paused: “Could Your Highness think I was the one who planted the bugs on Young General Duan? You were there last night, surely you heard – as soon as Young General Duan was infected with the itching bugs, Madam Dong Er from the Capital Prefecture recovered. He was infected by Madam Dong. How could Your Highness suspect me of planting the bugs?”

Lin Chengyou stroked his chin: “I was going to give you a chance to confess voluntarily, but it seems you won’t believe it until you see the coffin. I’ll count to three now. You’d better think carefully before answering – confessing yourself is one thing, but if I have to tell it, that’s quite another matter.”

Though Teng Yuyi maintained a calm exterior, she was beginning to feel uneasy inside. Could there have been an oversight somewhere? Impossible.

She had orchestrated everything perfectly – having someone poison Duan Ningyuan while having Uncle Cheng secretly give Madam Dong the antidote powder. The two events linked together seamlessly. Then by exposing both incidents simultaneously at Old Madam Duan’s birthday celebration, everyone would naturally conclude that Duan Ningyuan’s bugs were transmitted from Madam Dong. This way, it wouldn’t be traced back to her, nor would it affect Qingyun Temple’s reputation.

Even if Lin Chengyou knew she had bugs, he couldn’t prove whether they were transmitted from Madam Dong to Duan Ningyuan or deliberately planted by her. Without concrete evidence, what grounds did he have to confront her?

With this thought, she regained her composure.

Lin Chengyou observed every subtle expression on her face. Interesting – he’d seen many cunning people before, but rarely one so righteously brazen. Who would imagine, looking at Teng Yuyi’s flower-like face, that she was so adept at plotting against others?

He continued counting: “Two.”

The black panther, perfectly in sync with its master, touched its face with its paw and exhaled its second breath.

Teng Yuyi stared at Lin Chengyou, suddenly feeling less certain. Recently, in her rush to break off the engagement, she had perhaps acted too hastily. Though she had thoroughly punished the Duan family last night, a vague shadow lingered in her mind, as if she had overlooked something crucial, making her uneasy.

Unfortunately, she had been too elated last night and went straight to sleep without careful consideration. This morning had been busy, leaving no time to review everything from the beginning.

What exactly had she overlooked? While maintaining a calm exterior, she pondered internally. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind, and she froze.

Terrible – that was where the flaw lay. A few days ago, seeking only fierce revenge, when handing over the bugs she had instructed Uncle Cheng: “Plant several bugs on Duan Ningyuan, let him suffer thoroughly.”

At the time, it had felt satisfying to say, but she had forgotten to first verify with Juesheng Qizhi how many bugs Lin Chengyou had planted on Madam Dong.

If Lin Chengyou had only planted one or two bugs, yet Duan Ningyuan had over ten, Lin Chengyou would know as soon as he went to administer the antidote. That many bugs could not possibly have been transmitted from Madam Dong.

No wonder he was confronting her today. While others might be fooled, Lin Chengyou certainly wouldn’t be. What should she do now? Lin Chengyou wasn’t easy to deal with. Should she confess to him? Would he become angry and spread the word of this incident?

The black panther, seemingly sensing Teng Yuyi’s tension, got up and circled her once, lifting its head to exhale another breath.

Lin Chengyou’s smile deepened as he was about to speak the final number.

Teng Yuyi’s heart tightened, and she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth: “I’ll tell you!”

“One,” Lin Chengyou said with a wicked smile. “Too late.”

Teng Yuyi argued: “I spoke up first, Your Highness said ‘one’ after, how is that too late?”

“The three counts I mentioned referred to it.” Lin Chengyou pointed at Juannu. “It just exhaled three times, didn’t you hear?”

Teng Yuyi drew in a sharp breath.

“When you hesitate and refuse to tell the truth, how can you blame Juannu for not giving you a chance?” Lin Chengyou was utterly shameless. “You used my bugs to scheme your way out of marriage without asking if I was willing to be dragged into such matters. You could have been more discreet, like only planting two bugs – then even if I suspected you, I’d have no concrete evidence. But you’re used to being heavy-handed, planting over ten bugs on Duan Ningyuan at once.”

He smiled wickedly: “Though it’s not surprising – after finally getting your hands on so many itching bugs, using just one or two would probably have felt worse than being infected yourself.”

Teng Yuyi bit her red lip. Lin Chengyou had seen through her thoughts completely – planting just two bugs would indeed have been too lenient for Duan Ningyuan. Now the mistake was made, and regret came too late. She only cursed her earlier carelessness – if she had verified the number of poison bugs on Madam Dong beforehand, how could Lin Chengyou have caught her weakness?

Lin Chengyou continued: “Yesterday when I went to give the Duan mother and son the antidote, I found eight bugs on Duan Ningyuan and four on Madam Duan. One bug alone can make life worse than death, let alone so many – no wonder their reactions were so severe. Teng Yuyi, breaking off your engagement is your business, but did you ask my opinion before involving Qingyun Temple?”

After some consideration, Teng Yuyi’s clear eyes began to well with tears: “Your Highness, though I used your bugs, it was only for self-preservation. Duan Ningyuan’s affair with Madam Dong is true – I merely took advantage of the circumstances to expose their scandal. I only sought to break the engagement, not frame others. Your Highness must understand my difficult position, which is why you sent everyone away, right?”

Lin Chengyou looked at her – she had played both Qingyun Temple and the Marquis of Zhenguo’s household like puppets, yet maintained such a pitiful appearance before everyone.

But her words weren’t wrong. Though he was reproaching her, he had no intention of vindicating Duan Ningyuan. So even though he had understood the whole story last night, he had decided to keep it to himself.

However, she could have found other good methods to break the engagement, yet she chose the most expedient way. Before plotting, she hadn’t considered how a slight mistake could implicate Qingyun Temple’s reputation. Achieving her goal quickly was her primary concern.

He hadn’t misjudged her – she was someone who would use any means to achieve her ends. Even though she had tried to protect Qingyun Temple’s reputation, her unfamiliarity with the bugs’ nature had exposed her scheme. Among those present last night, anyone with slight knowledge of itching bugs would suspect Qingyun Temple.

To cover for her and Qingyun Temple, he had subtly forced Juannu to swallow all the dead bugs’ shells in front of the Marquis of Zhenguo last night. Juannu was unhappy about it and had refused to eat all day.

But these things he needed only know himself, no need to tell her.

Seeing Lin Chengyou’s prolonged silence, Teng Yuyi assumed he was softening. She quickly continued through tears: “I remember Your Highness saying that as long as I didn’t use the bugs to harm others or tarnish Qingyun Temple’s reputation, you wouldn’t trouble me. Though I used the bugs against Duan Ningyuan last night, he wronged me first – my actions were merely retribution, not malice. As for damaging Qingyun Temple’s reputation, that’s completely baseless. Your Highness surely remembers your own words, so you don’t plan to tell anyone else about this. I will never forget Your Highness’s great kindness. Since Your Highness has decided not to pursue this matter, I shall take my leave – I was invited by Her Highness the Princess today and shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

She curtsied and moved to leave, but after just one step, Lin Chengyou extended an arm to block her: “Wait.”

Teng Yuyi feigned surprise: “Your Highness—”

Before she could finish, her throat felt a burning numbness. When she tried to speak again, not a single word could emerge from her throat.

She froze, the sensation growing stronger until even her tongue began to feel numb.

She quickly realized she had been poisoned and glared at Lin Chengyou: What is the meaning of this, Your Highness?

She tried to speak, but couldn’t make a sound.

Her anger grew even fiercer, regretting that she hadn’t worn her martial clothes today and couldn’t carry hidden weapons, or she could have retaliated.

She cursed silently: Lin Chengyou, how dare you break your word – give me the antidote right now!

You, you despicable man.

After letting Teng Yuyi curse enough, Lin Chengyou rubbed his ear and said: “The Duan family matter ends with me – no one else will know. As long as you return the remaining bugs, we can put the itching bug incident behind us. But don’t forget, we have other accounts to settle.”

Teng Yuyi was both surprised and suspicious.

“That night at Purple Cloud Tower, I kindly helped you with the demon poison, yet you rendered me speechless in return.” Lin Chengyou circled her with his hands behind his back. “When we returned from catching demons, you pushed me into the water. You stabbed my arm twice for no reason – wasn’t there more than one type of poison on that hairpin? Otherwise, why hasn’t the wound scabbed over even now? As for the itching bug incident, though you didn’t act maliciously, you used Qingyun Temple’s property for personal gain without notice, showing you never truly respected Qingyun Temple. Added together, isn’t this enough to keep you silent for a month?”

Teng Yuyi opened her mouth, but her tongue was completely numb. Her mind was in chaos. The antidote was in his hands – this wasn’t the time for confrontation. So she let a few more tears fall, looking pitifully at Lin Chengyou.

Lin Chengyou glanced at her – those tear-filled eyes were clear as day, like a child’s. Yet at such a young age, she had developed such ruthlessness – truly inconceivable. He didn’t care how she had behaved in Yangzhou before, but now that she’d crossed his path, he wouldn’t let her off so easily. Making her learn a harsh lesson might even help her improve.

“It’s just temporary speechlessness, is it so unbearable?” he said pleasantly. “Miss Teng is usually so skilled at sophistry, take this chance to give your voice a good rest.”

With that, he whistled once and strode away with Juannu.

Teng Yuyi glared hatefully at Lin Chengyou’s retreating figure. Chasing after him now would certainly yield nothing good. She wondered if Juesheng and Qizhi had an antidote, and whether she should leave immediately to find them.

Unexpectedly, Lin Chengyou, who had almost left, came back with a smile: “I forgot to tell you – only I can cure this poison.”

Teng Yuyi cried even harder. Meanwhile, Du Tinglan, seeing Lin Chengyou leave, hurried over. As soon as she got close and saw Teng Yuyi’s tear-stained face, her heart lurched: “Ayu, what happened?”

How could someone speaking so properly and gracefully suddenly be crying?

Teng Yuyi had already dried her tears. She tried to clear her throat to speak, but her throat felt as if it were stuffed with wood.

She pointed at her throat and shook her head at Du Tinglan.

Du Tinglan was shocked: “You can’t speak?”

Teng Yuyi nodded.

“Did the Prince of Cheng’s heir do this?” Du Tinglan asked in disbelief.

Teng Yuyi felt bitter – who else could it be?

Du Tinglan drew in a sharp breath: “This is too much! I’ll go find the Prince’s heir to get you the antidote. No, I’ll go find the Princess of Cheng and have her uphold justice for you.”

Teng Yuyi helplessly pulled Du Tinglan back and wrote in her palm: It’s useless, the Prince and Princess of Cheng aren’t in Chang’an.

“Right, I forgot in my panic. Then I’ll go to Qingyun Temple to find—”

Teng Yuyi continued writing: Master Qingxu isn’t here either.

“Is there no one who can control this young man?”

There were – the Emperor and Empress in the palace, but ordinary people couldn’t easily see them.

Du Tinglan thought anxiously for a moment, then suddenly looked up: “Don’t forget we still have the Princess. Since she invited us to the poetry gathering today, how can the host bully guests like this? Let’s go find the Princess.”

Teng Yuyi shook her head. Princess Azhi constantly spoke of her brother – it would be fortunate enough if she didn’t muddle-headedly help Lin Chengyou scheme against them, how could she possibly help them get the antidote?

However… she frowned in thought, this was their only option now. If they left the Prince of Cheng’s mansion in anger, they might not even be able to see Lin Chengyou again when they needed the antidote later.

Du Tinglan said angrily: “Ayu, don’t worry. In any case, Uncle has returned to Chang’an. Worst comes to worst, we’ll tell him about this and have him go to the palace to discuss this matter with His Majesty.”

Teng Yuyi wrote in Du Tinglan’s palm: Sister, if this reaches the throne, Lin Chengyou will certainly reveal everything. When that happens, Lin Chengyou might just get a few words of rebuke, but my scheme against Duan Ningyuan won’t stay hidden. We’d better go see Princess Jingde first and see how things develop.

After discussing a few more words, Teng Yuyi turned to look for the old servant of the Prince of Cheng’s mansion. The old servant was still somewhat dazed – he had been too far away earlier and had only seen the young master chatting and laughing with this young lady. He had thought the young master had finally opened his heart and had even secretly rejoiced for a while. However, when he came closer and saw Teng Yuyi’s tear-filled eyes, he realized it wasn’t what he had thought.

Du Tinglan smiled at the old servant: “We dare not keep the Princess waiting. Please show us the way.”

The old servant came to his senses and quickly smiled: “Please follow this old servant.”

***

The poetry gathering was set in a waterside pavilion in the garden, with windows half-open to the fresh breeze.

When Teng Yuyi and Du Tinglan stepped onto the corridor, several richly dressed young men and women were already seated in the pavilion.

Princess Jingde wasn’t sitting properly at her seat, but rather held a fishing rod, leaning against a nearby young lady, chatting while fishing by the window.

The pavilion was laid with purple rush mats, with fruits and wine set along the shore. People sat cross-legged on the mats, either conversing or reading.

At the head of the seating sat an old scholar with a graying beard, aged and decrepit, dozing off drowsily.

Below the old scholar were four long rows of tables facing east and west, with ladies sitting on one side and gentlemen on the other.

Lu Zhao’an sat in the fifth position on the men’s side, opposite Zheng Shuangyin, daughter of Minister Zheng.

Lu Zhao’an maintained a calm expression, but occasionally cast unintentional glances at Zheng Shuangyin.

Zheng Shuangyin’s face was flushed red as she sat quietly behind her table with lowered eyes.

When Du Tinglan entered and saw the two, she stumbled slightly, but Teng Yuyi steadied her discreetly.

When Lu Zhao’an saw Du Tinglan, his smile also froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and turned his face away as if nothing had happened.

There were four more positions above him. In the second position sat a man wearing a dark green dragon robe. This man had long, elegant eyebrows and fair skin, extraordinarily handsome, though his eye sockets were somewhat deep and his features didn’t quite resemble those of Central Plains people.

Teng Yuyi observed the dragon robe on this man – such intricate and magnificent embroidery could only belong to the royal family, but this man was clearly not from the Central Plains.

The man in the dragon robe heard the servant’s announcement and looked up at Teng Yuyi and Du Tinglan.

“It’s Miss Teng and Miss Du, please be seated!” Princess Jingde happily introduced them to everyone. “This is the daughter of Teng Shao, the Military Commissioner of Huainan, and this is the young lady from the family of Du Yuzhi, the Grand Academician of the Imperial College. They are my honored guests, specially invited to today’s poetry gathering.”

Everyone at the gathering rose and bowed: “Greetings to Miss Teng and Miss Du.”

Teng Yuyi smiled and silently returned each greeting.

As people noticed her silence, they found it somewhat strange, when a maid at the door announced: “The Young Prince.”

Lin Chengyou had changed into the blue robes and headpiece of a low-ranking official of the Court of Judicial Review. As he stood at the doorway, he had an air-like bright moonlight filling the hall.

Princess Jingde happily waved: “Brother, come quickly!”

The handsome man in the dark green dragon robe looked up and rose to welcome Lin Chengyou: “We were just wondering why you hadn’t shown up yet.”

Lin Chengyou was in high spirits, walking while saying: “I was held up by some small matters.”

Teng Yuyi maintained a serene smile on her face, but in her heart, she wished she could shoot countless poison arrows to kill Lin Chengyou.

Du Tinglan suppressed her anger and held onto Teng Yuyi, explaining softly to everyone: “My sister hasn’t been feeling well these past few days, her throat is hoarse and she cannot speak.”

Everyone nodded sympathetically: “So that’s what happened. Miss Teng, Miss Du, please be seated.”

The man in the dragon robe heard this and looked at Teng Yuyi, then casually took something from his arrow sleeve. Walking to Teng Yuyi, he smiled and said: “Miss Teng, this is red jade candy, made by an old immortal skilled in painting from our Nanzhao. The taste is somewhat spicy, but it can clear the lungs and soothe the throat. If you’re having throat discomfort, you can hold this in your mouth, and it should improve in a few days.”

The servant quietly introduced: “Miss Teng, Miss Du, this is Prince Gu Xian of Nanzhao.”

Teng Yuyi was startled – Nanzhao.

Azhi held Teng Yuyi’s hand with her tender little hands: “Miss Teng, is your throat very uncomfortable? Brother Xian often carries herbs with him. His prescriptions take unexpected approaches, somewhat different from those of the Central Plains. Why don’t you try it? It might help with your condition.”

Teng Yuyi remembered Wu Yingying and the letters in her father’s study. She smiled and nodded, indicating her thanks.

She certainly didn’t expect this to cure Lin Chengyou’s poison, but meeting someone from Nanzhao today made the trip worthwhile. She accepted the medicine from the servant and bowed to Gu Xian.

Gu Xian returned the bow, his smile as warm as the spring sunshine in March.