Wanqing watched as the man in black and Madam Liu both fell victim to her trap, their faces filled with disbelief and panic. Despite the chaos, she managed to retreat in time, but the instability of her qi and blood caused a sweet taste to rise in her throat, filling her mouth with the metallic tang of blood.
Seeing that her opponents had been hit by her hidden weapons, she suppressed the blood surging in her throat, her face pale but resolute. She looked at them coldly and said, “Didn’t expect that, did you? Your poison may be potent, but it’s nothing to Mu Wanqing. You two can move if you want, but if you don’t want to die soon, I suggest you stay still.”
With a cold, mocking smile, she watched as the man in black struggled to rise and move toward her. She spoke sharply to stop him.
“You… you…” Madam Liu hadn’t expected that even her lover’s poison couldn’t subdue Wanqing. Seeing that both she and the man in black had been struck by Wanqing’s hidden weapons, she trembled with rage, pointing at her weakly. She tried to stand but stumbled and nearly fell.
“Feeling weak, dizzy, and unbearably hot, aren’t you?”
Their reactions confirmed that the substance on her rings and bracelets wasn’t poison but a potent sedative. Though she knew the man in black was formidable, she maintained a calm facade.
“You…” The man in black gritted his teeth, bracing himself against a chair as he struggled toward her.
“The ‘Carefree Powder’ I specially brewed kills silently. You’re already showing signs of poisoning. Save your strength—fighting me won’t help. Focus on dealing with the poison instead. Consider this my way of cleaning up my father’s household. If people knew his wife, after years of marriage, had a child with another man, his pride would surely make him furious. Enjoy your suffering. I won’t keep you company any longer.”
Wanqing stopped the man in black’s advance with her words, then turned and left with a faint smile.
“You—ugh!” Madam Liu and the man in black could only watch helplessly as she walked away, their legs too weak to pursue.
Exhaling softly, Wanqing cast one last cold glance before leaving. But by the time she reached the door, the pain in her chest forced her to pause. She gritted her teeth, pricked herself with a silver needle from her sleeve to slow the poison’s spread, and pressed forward.
She knew the sedative wouldn’t last long—she had to hurry back before they recovered, or she’d be in serious trouble.
Staggering through the deserted streets in the dead of night, she found no carriages. Her legs grew heavier as the poison took hold, and eventually, she collapsed, her vision blurring.
Just then, a drunken voice called out, and a shadow blocked the moonlight above her.
“Well, well, what’s a young lady doing out here dressed like this at night…?”
Though unable to move, Wanqing forced herself to stay calm, slowing the poison’s spread as she looked up. The figure was familiar—Leng Minghao, the disfavored younger brother of Leng Mingye, the heir to the Ji Wang estate.
“This… isn’t this the Second Miss Mu? What’s she doing unconscious here at this hour? Her complexion… I’d better take her back.”
Leng Minghao, resentful of his elder brother’s favor with their father, had been drinking to drown his frustrations. Finding Wanqing—someone his brother seemed to care for—presented an opportunity.
“No, I can’t take her home. If my brother sees her, who knows what he’ll do? If she’s important to him, maybe I can win her over instead…”
Changing his mind, he carried her to a nearby inn, telling the innkeeper they were a couple and that she was merely exhausted.
As he ascended the stairs with Wanqing in his arms, a door opened, and a figure stepped out, bidding farewell to a companion.
“Ah, isn’t this the Second Young Master of Ji Wang Manor? What brings you here instead of staying at the estate? And who’s this lady?”
The man, recognizing Leng Minghao, eyed the unconscious woman in his arms with curiosity.
…
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