Chapter 646

Soon, the Duan family sent people to bring the unfinished grain from the northern barracks to the Duan family elder's courtyard.

Not long after, two maidservants brought the cooked rice porridge into the study.

The black-robed person gestured to the Duan family elder, who had someone bring in an ordinary soldier from outside.

Having never seen such a formation, the soldier was a little afraid, yet he half-kneeled before the Duan family elder, trembling.

"Swallow this bowl of rice porridge."

The soldier wondered what crime he had committed, and even if he had, such a high-ranking officer shouldn't be personally investigating.

He never expected that, after being nervously summoned all the way here, the Duan family elder would ask him to drink the rice porridge he had brewed.

The rice porridge smelled fragrant, likely made from fine rice.

He didn't think it was kindness from the officer; the soldier lifted the bowl with slight hesitation, and the Duan family elder snapped, "What are you standing there for? Drink quickly!"

The soldier's face turned slightly pale, but he forced himself to lift the porridge and drink it down.

Unexpectedly, less than half an hour after drinking the porridge, the half-kneeling soldier's face flushed red and his gaze grew dark.

It felt as if he had been poisoned; he suddenly leapt up and lunged at the Duan family elder.

"Someone, come quickly!" the Duan family elder hadn't expected that the soldier who had eaten the porridge, who had seemed honest just moments before, now with bloodshot eyes, would actually pounce on him.

It was as if he wanted to tear a piece of flesh from him; having never seen such a sight, he kept backing away in fright.

The guards outside rushed in, grabbed the soldier's arm, and dragged him out.

Even so, the soldier kept howling, his attack fierce enough that even the two guards could barely restrain him.

Only when one of the guards struck the soldier's neck hard with the hilt of his sword did the soldier pass out, and then the struggle ceased.

By now the atmosphere in the study had become oppressive to the extreme, and the Duan family elder finally realized how great a disaster he had caused.

He had merely wanted to cut off the military grain supply to Xiao Yin's Azure Dragon Army outside Hengzhou, causing internal strife within Xiao Yin's forces.

He never expected Xiao Yin to be feigning; Xiao Yin had long hidden the military grain elsewhere.

Now Xiao Yin's act was just a show, yet he took it seriously and stirred up trouble for no reason.

All this chaos began when he knocked out those grain merchants.

The Duan family elder panted heavily, his voice trembling from fear, and then he fell to his knees with a thud before the black-robed person.

"I… I really didn't know… I really didn't know the grain merchant had a problem."

"What should we do now? That Xiao Wu… yes! It must be him! He must have poisoned these grains!"

"But it doesn't seem like poison; if the grain were simply mixed with a toxic substance, we could detect it with a silver needle, yet now we find nothing, and yet after eating it people end up like this."

At this point the black-robed person was so angry he could not speak.

It serves the Eight Great Families right to collapse and scatter; they have raised one useless bunch after another—where is the vigor the Eight Great Families once had?

Now even if the Eight Great Families joined forces they could not match Xiao Yin; she couldn't help feeling suffocated, and a few more drops of hatred welled up in her heart.

The black-robed person gritted his teeth and said, "All of you are useless! Idiots! There is no poison in the grain at all."

The Duan family elder stood there, stunned: "Then… why?"

The black-robed person sneered, "It's not poison; it's a drug. We couldn't detect it because we assumed it was poison, but it really isn't."

"A drug?" the Duan family elder stared wide-eyed in disbelief. How could it be a drug? How could a drug cause such madness?

The black-robed person's voice sank darkly: "Across all of Southern Qi, who could wield a drug this skillfully besides that woman?"

"Which… which woman?" a flicker of confusion crossed the Duan family elder's eyes; he suddenly sucked in a breath, realizing something.

"Gu Jiu Ling? Impossible! How could it be her?"

The black-robed person snorted, "What does that Xiao Wu look like?"

The Duan family elder collected himself and hurriedly replied, "He's rather handsome, though he comes from Jiangnan, so his appearance and bearing are naturally somewhat refined."

Even now he refuses to admit how great a disaster he has caused.

"What an idiot!" the black-robed person lashed out at the Duan family elder without restraint; the elder found it hard to rebut, and his panic grew worse.

"Could it really be Gu Jiu Ling? Her audacity is rather excessive."

The black-robed person gritted his teeth and said, "It would be good if she came; if she doesn't, a single Gu Jiu Ling could match ten thousand troops, and if we captured her…"

"Someone! Pass the order: have this person's portrait painted and posted on streets and alleys; whoever captures him will be rewarded ten thousand taels of gold."

"Remember, take him alive!"

As soon as the black-robed person finished speaking, the Duan family elder hurriedly rose and strode out to implement the orders.

For a moment the manor inside and out was in an uproar, busy to the point of chaos.

Soon they found the best painter, who, according to the description, drew Xiao Wu, and even the short, plump Li gongzi who had escaped together with Xiao Xiao was also drawn.

In less than half an hour, the portraits of the two were posted throughout Yingzhou.

Everyone was excited; this was ten thousand taels of gold, and the master even said that capturing the person would not only yield ten thousand taels of gold but also grant promotion and nobility.

Yet everyone saw only the ten thousand taels of gold, never considering whether, even with that gold in hand, they could escape alive—a question in itself.

At the darkest hour before dawn, the city inside and out was in a frenzy.

Xiao Yin rode his horse to the hilltop, gazing toward the city gate not far down the slope; he could faintly see the layered lights within the city, not knowing which of them might be connected to his beloved.

He now encamped outside Yingzhou, having restrained himself to this extent, which already surpassed his own expectations.

In the past he would have already led his troops in a charge, but now he must devise plans.

He must think, he must calculate; all his wealth and life weigh on him, leaving him feeling heavily burdened, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Your Highness!"

Ling Feng hurried over, clutching a portrait tightly in his hand.

Their people were already inside Yingzhou City, and they had sent word of the city's situation out via carrier pigeon.

Even a few of the message pigeons could fly back, and Yingzhou was completely surrounded, impenetrable.

Only this pigeon, which Ling Feng received in his hand, carried no important message—just a portrait.

That portrait was folded and tied to the pigeon's leg; when unfolded it was a bit wrinkled, but when the portrait appeared before Xiao Yin, his heart still skipped a beat.

The painter hired by the eight great clans is also a formidable person; he actually painted those eyes so lifelike—who else could it be but Gu Jiu Ling?

Xiao Yin was completely dumbfounded.