Chapter 349: Stealing the Child (1)

Fuling had seen it once in Yue Sheng's room; that was on Yue Sheng's first day here. At that time, he had listed a long prescription for her, which included many rare and precious medicinal ingredients. Fortunately, the Imperial Medical Garden was well-stocked, and they were gathered quickly. She delivered the herbs to Yue Sheng's room and saw him use all those precious ingredients to feed that toad.

The toad had just run out of a small bottle and was obediently lying in Yue Sheng's palm, basking in the sun. But after only a moment, it sat up as if it had discovered something. Its emerald-green head looked left and right, and suddenly it leaped from Yue Sheng's palm and hopped toward Qingfeng.

Fuling was startled and immediately pulled Qingfeng, who was still lost in her own thoughts, back several steps. Such a brightly colored toad was likely poisonous.

Qingfeng was suddenly tugged by someone and stood up in a disheveled manner. Caught off guard, the Warm Jade slipped from her palm to the ground.

That emerald-green toad did not chase after Qingfeng but instead hopped in a circle around the Warm Jade, appearing quite interested in it.

Qingfeng came to her senses and wanted to go up to retrieve it, but a gray-white figure was faster than her. Yue Sheng hooked the tassel of the Warm Jade and gave a light tug, and the Warm Jade was in his hand.

"Give it back to me!" That was the most intimate item she could find that had belonged to her child, and it was her only remaining memento. Qingfeng rushed forward, wanting to snatch the Warm Jade back.

Yue Sheng dodged with a flash, avoiding Qingfeng's lunging hand. He held the piece of Warm Jade in his hand, rubbed his thumb over it for a moment, then let out a cold snort and threw the Warm Jade back to her. His arrogant voice was full of disdain: "Rongshan Warm Jade is indeed a good thing, but this piece of yours is stained with poisonous gas. Bad luck!"

Qingfeng caught the Warm Jade thrown by Yue Sheng in a disheveled manner and clutched it tightly in her palm like a treasure. Only then did her heart settle. The next moment, hearing Yue Sheng's words, her heart jumped violently, and she asked anxiously: "Poisonous gas? What do you mean?"

Yue Sheng squatted down and picked up the toad, not paying the slightest attention to Qingfeng.

Hearing the word "poison," Qingfeng's heart could no longer find peace. Blocking Yue Sheng, Qingfeng was somewhat relentless: "What poisonous gas?"

Yue Sheng still ignored her, leaning against a stone stool by a large tree, spreading his hand out in the sunlight to let the eye-catchingly green little thing bask.

Qingfeng bit her lip, took a deep breath, and then requested in a low voice: "I beg you to tell me."

She would actually use the word "beg"? Yue Sheng finally raised his eyes. Supporting himself on the stone table with one hand, he leaned forward slightly, coldly eyeing Qingfeng, and replied in a difficult manner: "Why should I tell you?"

"This is related to the cause of my son's death." As she spoke, Qingfeng tightened her grip on the Warm Jade in her hand.

"What does that have to do with me?" Yue Sheng clearly had no interest, gently stroking the toad on his hand, looking as if he were unwilling to waste more breath on her.

Qingfeng was silent for a moment before slowly speaking again: "It has nothing to do with you. However, if you refuse to speak, then I will no longer cooperate with you in treating my face. If my face is not healed in three months, the Emperor is a man of his word."

Yue Sheng let out a cold snort, still maintaining that arrogant air. Qingfeng seemed to have guessed he would be like this and continued unhurriedly: "Your martial arts are high, and perhaps the Imperial Guards cannot catch you, but the Emperor will surely issue a nationwide warrant for your arrest. By then, everyone in the world will know that the so-called Gui Yi cannot even heal a face and has to flee in a sorry state. To deceive the world for fame—that is exactly what it would be!"

Yue Sheng's hand stroking the toad paused. A pair of cold eyes looked at Qingfeng, and no joy or anger could be detected in his steady voice: "You are threatening me."

"Yes." Qingfeng replied firmly.

"Are you not afraid that I will kill you?"

Yue Sheng always gave people an arrogant impression. At this moment, the killing intent that suddenly erupted in his eyes startled Fuling, causing her feet to move two steps toward the main gate involuntarily. It was still morning, and Ming Ze should still be on duty.

Qingfeng naturally felt that chilling killing intent as well. Without retreating, Qingfeng simply began to smile, a miserable smile: "Nothing is more important than the cause of my son's death."

Over these days, Yue Sheng had seen enough of her hopeless and miserable appearance and suddenly felt that scaring her was meaningless. Yue Sheng stopped looking at her and continued teasing the little toad in his hand.

Able to feel Qingfeng's burning gaze fixed on him, Yue Sheng felt a sense of impatience rise in his heart. "What can you do even if you know?"

"Revenge."

With that simple word, Yue Sheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately burst into loud laughter: "Good, very good!" He was clearly very satisfied with this answer. She said revenge instead of seeking justice or something similar, which was very much to Yue Sheng's taste. In this world, there has never been any such thing as justice! In a great mood, Yue Sheng stopped making things difficult for her and generously said: "Rongshan Warm Jade is warm in nature and can dispel wind-evil, but it is also prone to absorbing poisonous gas from the wearer. Fortunately, it can cleanse itself; usually, the poisonous gas will dissipate in a month or two."

It had been nearly two months since the child left. Qingfeng asked anxiously: "Then is it still possible to know what kind of poison it is?"

Yue Sheng reached out his hand, and Qingfeng hurriedly handed over the Warm Jade. The toad, which had been lying lazily in Yue Sheng's palm just a moment ago, suddenly became spirited, its sesame-sized red eyes staring unblinkingly at the Warm Jade. Yue Sheng held the Warm Jade with one hand, rubbing it gently, and then took a sniff. His brows immediately furrowed, and his gaze fixed on the Warm Jade became icy. Yue Sheng was silent for a moment and held the Warm Jade out in front of the toad. The little toad became even more excited, sticking out its black tongue to lick the Warm Jade a few times. Yue Sheng immediately picked up the Warm Jade again. A moment later, the places the toad had licked showed a faint brownish-red color.

"It is Qu Leng San." Yue Sheng returned the Warm Jade to Qingfeng, his expression not looking good. "Qu Leng San can originally be used to treat cold poison; by using poison to attack poison, cold illnesses can be cured. But if Qu Leng San is taken alone, one will die from heat poison." If Qu Leng San is taken in an excessive amount at once, the body feels as if it has been scorched by a raging fire. The child was thought to have died of a heat illness; the person who administered the poison must have done so in small amounts over many times, so that it would appear as if he died of a heat illness.

Yue Sheng was naturally no saint, and the number of people who had died by his hand was countless. However, using such a sinister method to deal with a newborn infant made Yue Sheng feel extreme contempt for the person who administered the poison. At the same time, he also felt it was somewhat strange; Qu Leng San was used more by people in the pugilistic world, so why would it appear in the Palace?

Qingfeng clutched the piece of Warm Jade that was gradually turning from brownish-red back to pure white, silently reciting the three words "Qu Leng San" in her heart, her expression also looking grim.

Fuling had been listening silently on the side. Hearing that the Little Prince had actually been poisoned to death, she felt distressed as well. Recalling the events of those days, Fuling said softly: "Could someone have put it in the medicine..."

"Impossible." Before Fuling could finish, she was interrupted by Yue Sheng.

Fuling was puzzled: "Why?"

"Qu Leng San is hot in nature. Not to mention that it cannot be decocted with medicine, even if added to hot medicinal broth, it would have no effect."

"It wasn't the medicine..." Qingfeng had also thought it was a problem with the medicine at first. After hearing Yue Sheng's words, she was also bewildered. "That day, besides drinking milk and taking medicine, the child didn't eat anything else. He didn't even drink much water. If it wasn't the medicine, what else could it be?"

Besides taking medicine, he only drank milk... Listening to Qingfeng's murmuring, Fuling's eyes suddenly widened, and she said anxiously: "Mistress, when I went to call Shen Yao, I seemed to see her... smearing something on her chest. At the time, I thought she was changing clothes and didn't pay attention."

Could it be that Shen Yao smeared the medicine on... Because of this guess in her heart, Qingfeng's face turned pale, and she said with a trembling voice: "Go to Shen Yao's former room and take a look."

That room was kept very clean; Shen Yao had long since taken away her clothes and other daily items. The two searched the room for a while but found nothing. Fuling recalled the situation that day in detail and said: "That day, I also heard the sound of something being knocked over in the room."

More than a month had passed; even if there had been any clues at the time, it was impossible to find them now. Qingfeng was very disappointed.

At this moment, a emerald-green shadow darted into the room, jumping around. A moment later, it jumped onto a small low table in front of the bed, stuck out its tongue, and began licking the low table. Soon, the place it had licked showed the familiar brownish-red color, only that red was much deeper than the red on the Warm Jade. Yue Sheng walked over, picked up the toad, and put it into the porcelain bottle he carried with him. He squatted down, stared at the place the toad had licked for a while, lowered his head to sniff it, and said: "It is indeed Qu Leng San."

Looking at the dark red shadow on the low table, tears quickly blurred Qingfeng's eyes. She had finally found the murderer who poisoned her son. As long as she found Shen Yao, she would be able to know who the mastermind was and would be able to take revenge for Zhi'er. She should be happy, she should be excited, but at this moment, she only felt as if her heart had been torn apart.

It was she who had failed Zhi'er; it was she who had harmed him. If she hadn't wanted some wet nurse and had taken care of him and nursed him herself, how could he have been poisoned? Qingfeng blamed herself, her heart ached, and she felt resentment; the boundless remorse almost overwhelmed her.

"You cannot cry. If your tears soak the wound in a moment, I will have to go through the trouble of mixing the medicine for you again!" Staring at Qingfeng's face, which was wrapped in cotton cloth but already soaked with tears, Yue Sheng frowned. Was this woman strong or fragile? When he cleaned her wounds and she fainted from the raw pain, she didn't cry, yet at this moment, she was so useless. "There will be plenty of time for revenge later. What is the use of crying yourself blind now? Get your face healed first." After dropping these words, Yue Sheng couldn't be bothered to watch her crying and sobbing.

Yue Sheng did not understand the pain in his mistress's heart, but Fuling understood. Supporting Qingfeng as she walked out of the room that made her sad, Fuling gripped Qingfeng's hand tightly and said: "Mistress, don't be too sad. I will have someone go find Shen Yao immediately."

Qingfeng gripped Fuling's hand back. Her tears still could not be stopped, but her voice was already much calmer. "Stay by my side and accompany me. As for these matters, just instruct Ruyi to do them."

"Yes." Fuling was secretly puzzled but didn't think too much about it; thinking so much was useless anyway.

(End of chapter)