Li Zhiyun saw the suspicion in his eyes. Though he felt wronged, he also understood that saving someone was the priority. Enduring his inner annoyance, with Wang Fu’s assistance, he fed the medicated water to Li Jiancheng bit by bit.
In the time that followed, no one spoke. All stared unblinkingly at Li Jiancheng. After an unknown amount of time, the black veins on his legs and arms began to gradually fade, and his swollen, blackened left leg slowly returned to normal color at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Physician Xu marveled at the miraculous nature of the pill while stepping forward to check Li Jiancheng’s pulse, confirming that the poison in Li Jiancheng’s body had been neutralized and dissolved, and would not endanger his life.
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Li Shimin, whose whole body went weak. He had truly feared that Li Jiancheng couldn’t be saved. Fortunately… Li Zhiyun happened to be there.
Thinking of this, he said gratefully: “Fifth brother, thank you.”
Li Zhiyun looked up with a smile: “Second brother just said we are blood brothers, so no need for thanks.” As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Li Xuanba and said unhappily: “How about it? Do you believe now?”
Li Xuanba looked somewhat uncomfortable and turned his head away without speaking. At this moment, Li Jiancheng made a faint sound in his throat and slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing this, Li Shimin immediately came to his side and asked with concern: “Elder brother, how do you feel?”
Li Jiancheng looked left and right, saying weakly: “Still okay, just… my hands and feet are somewhat weak. What happened to me just now?”
Li Shimin recounted what had just occurred, then said: “We really need to thank Zhiyun properly this time. If not for him, this poison probably couldn’t have been neutralized.” He knew that Li Jiancheng disliked Li Zhiyun greatly because of Wan Shi, but no matter what, they were blood-related brothers. He hoped to use this incident to repair the relationship between them.
Li Jiancheng looked at Li Zhiyun with complex emotions and nodded: “Thank you, fifth brother.”
These four simple words made Li Zhiyun’s heart surge with excitement, and he shook his head repeatedly: “Elder brother speaks too seriously. This is what I should do.”
Li Xuanba asked anxiously: “Elder brother, how did you get poisoned? When did the assassin sneak into the residence?”
Hearing this, Li Jiancheng’s expression immediately turned cold. With Wang Fu’s support, he sat up slightly and stared with cold eyes at Jirong, who was kneeling on the ground trembling: “The assassin never left at all. She has been lurking beside us all along, waiting for the opportunity to strike!”
“No! This servant is not an assassin. This servant is wronged. If the eldest young master doesn’t believe me, you can send someone to Shuangqiao Village to investigate. Before coming to work at the Governor’s residence, this servant never left the village. How could I possibly be an assassin? Also, this servant’s uncle is a bailiff at the county office. He can also testify for this servant. This servant truly is not an assassin. Please, eldest young master, see clearly!” Jirong was truly terrified to death this time. Not only had the tendon-healing powder she delivered been found to contain poison, but it was also that strange Western Regions poison used by the assassin!
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Jiancheng said: “Wang Fu, go examine her carefully and see if she has any disguise.”
Wang Fu responded and stepped forward to roughly feel around Jirong’s face and neck, then shook his head: “Eldest young master, she has no disguise.”
Li Jiancheng nodded slightly and stared at the terror-stricken Jirong: “Speak. What is your relationship with the previous female assassin? Where is she hiding now? Who is the mastermind behind this? How many more accomplices are there?”
Jirong crawled on her knees to the bedside, tears streaming down: “It truly wasn’t this servant. This servant is wronged. Someone took advantage of when this servant wasn’t paying attention to poison the medicine. If this servant really wanted to harm the eldest young master, why would I wait until now? I could have acted from the very beginning.”
Li Jiancheng sneered: “In the previous times, Physician Xu was present, so you couldn’t poison the medicine. Later, when you gained my trust and changed the medicine alone, you plotted to take my life. Jirong, I’m giving you one last chance. If you still don’t tell the truth, neither you nor your family members will live.” He had never been a soft-hearted person, and killing was nothing significant to him.
“No! Eldest young master, please don’t! This servant is truly wronged!” Jirong repeated over and over, but Li Jiancheng didn’t believe her. Having lost patience, he said coldly: “Take her down and beat her. If she still won’t talk, throw her in the dungeon and watch her closely. Don’t let her have a chance to escape!”
Jirong struggled desperately and cried out her grievances, but was still mercilessly dragged away. Just as she was about to be dragged out the door, Jirong remembered something and quickly said: “Eldest young master, this servant knows who poisoned the medicine!”
Li Jiancheng’s expression shifted. After signaling the servants to stop, he asked: “Who?”
Jirong quickly replied: “It was Zhang Chenyue. It must have been her who poisoned it.”
Li Jiancheng did remember this name and said: “Why her?”
“She once secretly snuck into this servant’s room. At the time, this servant thought she came for the tendon-healing powder’s formula. Now thinking back, her real purpose was to harm the eldest young master, and stealing the formula was secondary.” Jirong, having finally found a glimmer of hope, naturally tried hard to push the blame onto Zhang Chenyue. “At that time, this servant had just ground the medicinal materials into powder and placed them on the table. The medicine used for the eldest young master these two times was made from those powders.”
Li Shimin, listening to their conversation, tentatively asked: “Elder brother, is Zhang Chenyue the dancer you drove out some days ago?”
“That’s right, it’s her.” Saying this, Li Jiancheng called Wang Fu over: “Go find Steward Lin. He should have Zhang Chenyue’s address, then bring her to me.”
“This servant will go immediately.” When Steward Lin returned, it was already dusk. Zhang Chenyue, whose rod injuries had not yet healed, limped into the room. Before she could stand steady, Jirong had already pounced on her, grabbing her hair and saying hatefully: “I never thought there was any deep hatred between us. Why did you harm me like this? Zhang Chenyue, what a vicious heart you have!”
Zhang Chenyue was grabbed and felt dizzy. While struggling, she angrily said: “You crazy woman, what are you babbling about? When did I ever harm you?!”
Jirong said hatefully: “Who else could it be but you? I always thought you just had bad intentions. I never imagined you would actually collude with assassins and use my hand to harm the eldest young master. Fortunately, the eldest young master has great fortune and escaped danger. Otherwise, you would have really killed him.”
Zhang Chenyue became even more confused and shouted: “When did I ever collude with assassins? When did I ever harm the eldest young master? You’re becoming more and more ridiculous in your accusations.”
“Enough!” Li Xuanba was annoyed watching this and shouted: “Do you think this is a marketplace street? All of you stop!”
Hearing this, Jirong hatefully withdrew her hands. After both women stood properly, Li Shimin asked: “Zhang Chenyue, what were you really doing when you snuck into Jirong’s room that day?”
Hearing this, Zhang Chenyue’s expression changed and she said uncomfortably: “I… I already said I was just going to the room to visit. Who knew I’d be wrongly accused of stealing her medicine formula and that she’d complain about me to the eldest young master, causing me to be driven from the residence.” Speaking thus, she looked wronged: “Although I come from a farming family, my parents always taught me carefully, warning us not to take other people’s things. I am truly innocent.”