Chapter 299

They always manage to be lovey-dovey, and after being lovey-dovey they can also handle proper business.

Though dawn hasn't fully faded, we still need to do some solid work for the great cause.

So when Du Shanü asked, Chinu also suppressed that fluttering feeling, leaned in and lightly rested their head on Du Shanü's shoulder, and answered earnestly:

"Fuzhouzi will be here shortly."

"He probably didn't expect to run into me; he dove into the river trying to escape, and when he was dragged out he was filthy, truly unfit to see the Wife Master. I ordered people to first take him to wash up, and once clean, bring him to see the Wife Master."

Fuzhouzi's swimming is actually quite good; otherwise he wouldn't have needed to hold on so long, nor would he have needed to change clothes just to catch someone, making the Wife Master and child wait.

He now carefully recalls that earlier Fuzhouzi suddenly disappeared; when he and the Wife Master went looking for people, they couldn't find anyone for a long time, perhaps because of the river nearby...

That little brat really knows how to deceive!

But Chinu also couldn't figure it out: if it were all a deception, why did his earlier fortune‑telling for Yunniang—that she would marry a forty‑seven‑year‑old husband—turn out so accurate?

Afang has recently been trying to secretly control all incoming letters to Cang Cheng, and he knows this.

Especially these past few days, almost all letters to the Wife Master have been preliminarily screened, so the Wife Master doesn't know that Yunniang and Yuelue have grown close, but he and Afang do know.

Correct.

Fuzhouzi's prophecy is clearly correct.

But why exactly......

A hint of worry flashed in Chinu's brows and eyes, but only for an instant, and it quickly vanished completely.

He pondered briefly, then said:

"Once Fuzhouzi is brought in, the Wife Master can carefully inquire about the previous matter, so I'm not worried about his situation; I'm more worried about Liu Ji......"

Chinu is someone who says what they mean and does what they say, consistently straightforward, rarely hesitating to speak.

Therefore, this rare moment of hesitation drew Du Shanü's full attention:

"Oh hurry up and speak; in front of the child you need to set a good example—don't be nagging, or else the child won't grow up to be adventurous."

Parental love for a child is truly heavenly decree.

Du Shanü actually, from the start of her pregnancy, had no expectation that the child would someday achieve great deeds; she only hoped the child would grow up healthy and safe.

Du Shanü considers herself to have a clear‑cut love‑and‑hate temperament, and thinks the child shouldn't be timid when going out.

At the very least they should be open and aboveboard!

Our dear Guainunu must never set a bad example for the child!

Chinu's pent‑up breath instantly dissipated, they shot a gorgeous‑tinged white eye at their own Wife Master, then spoke:

"The envoy we sent to Hengcheng set out after breakfast the day before yesterday, and according to the route from Zhoufu to Hengcheng, they should have reached the vicinity of Hengcheng by evening the day before yesterday to set up an ambush. Afterwards the chief envoy had the troops rest a bit, and early the next morning they led the group outside the city to request an audience with Liu Ji."

"In other words, Liu Ji fell into the ambush, probably yesterday afternoon, and so far it's been about twelve double‑hours, but when I earlier went to see him, I found this person......"

Du Shanü listened carefully, and upon hearing the end, she slightly raised her eyebrows:

"Liu Ji, is he still not awake?"

In these days, limited by medical techniques, the means to induce anesthesia are extremely few.

Something like putting a bit of anesthetic on a handkerchief, pressing it to someone's nose, and the person promptly collapses into a stupor......

Such things normally appear only in storybooks.

In later eras, medical science is highly advanced; even a seriously ill person needing an anesthetic would have to count to about ten before losing consciousness, let alone now.

In this age, at least since Du Shanü opened her eyes, the medicine she has seen would be considered extremely backward by later standards, let alone an anesthetic this potent—she has never even heard of such a thing.

Most of the time, healers wishing to treat a patient can only rely on a bowl of juice brewed from mildly toxic herbs, and if necessary even have to strike the head with a heavy stick to barely render the person unconscious.

Even so, the patient will surely wake up within three or four double‑hours at most, and sometimes as quickly as half to one double‑hour.

Therefore, if even after twelve hours he still hasn't awakened, and moreover he endured jostling during escort, it's likely that Xuan Feixing's 【Vessel of the Five Turbidities】 is truly extremely terrifying......

Thinking of this, Du Shanü straightened her posture slightly, and her expression gradually became serious.

Chinu nodded slightly, then shook his head:

"His condition is strange; it's not quite awake, nor is it not awake."

"When I went to check on him, he lay on the ground staring, his expression dazed. The jail guard said he opened his eyes only an hour before I arrived, and ever since then he's been like this—his fingers occasionally twitch, but he can't get up......"

"Not quite awake, nor not awake?"

That really is a strange thing to say.

Du Shanü didn't understand, so she could only hold her breath and keep listening.

Fortunately, Chinu soon continued:

"I feared he was playing tricks, deliberately putting on this dazed, confused act to let the guards lower their guard so he could escape, so I ordered someone to pour several buckets of well water over his head......"

"However, he showed only a faint sign of consciousness—aside from an occasional finger twitch, he remained limp, his eyes vacant, utterly unable to rise."

This news far surpassed what Du Shanü had previously imagined.

Du Shanü had previously thought that what Xuan Feixing held was merely a 'somewhat stronger than ordinary' bewitching drug, but now hearing this, it sounds like……

Like some kind of neurotoxin?

If even the diluted toxin has such an effect, what kind of power must the original liquid in the 【Vessel of the Five Turbidities】 possess?

Du Shanü couldn't imagine it, so she simply told him the source of the poison on Liu Ji's body, along with the earlier matter of Xuan Feixing's visit.

The more Chinu listened, the deeper his brows furrowed.

Du Shanü thought he was pondering the poison's potency, but no sooner had Chinu opened his mouth than he said:

"Could this person be refining a love gu?"

Du Shanü was momentarily choked by the question, then asked doubtfully:

"He probably isn't, right?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the shamans' arts originate from the ancient Nine Li tribe, encompassing a complete system of divination with turtle shells and yarrow stalks, spirit invocation and possession techniques—poison is rarely used. Whereas the Miao Jiang gu arts are a system wholly based on poisonous insects and powders……"

In theory, these two systems ought to have some overlap, yet they exist independently of each other.

But how could the good slave be interested in these? In an instant, she jumped from poison to love gu.

Du Shanü was completely bewildered; before she could ask for details, she felt the person beside her suddenly tighten their hold on her.

"There are people in the world like Fusizi who can touch the profound gate's marvelous law; who knows whether there might be other beings?"

"I don't like that brat; I always think that since he knows poison, he'll also make gu—someday, maybe he'll slip you a love gu, making you fall for him and snatch you away from me forever!"

"Wife Master, I can't leave you, you know that! Just the thought of you later meeting Liu Ji—that kind of playboy with his robe flung open to his navel—makes me uncomfortable, let alone Xuan Feixing that brat who resembles my former self a bit..."

She will fall for him; when he ages and loses his allure, she might end up falling for a younger 'him'.

He won't, he absolutely won't!

Chinu, jealous to the point of grinding her teeth, said half-seriously, half in spite:

"That brat obviously has no good intentions at first glance; Wife Master, you'd better transfer him away early."