Chapter 20

Jiang Zhan and Yao Yulan were full of astonishment.

Although they didn't know what Andrographis paniculata was, it didn't sound like anything good, and it was poisonous.

Why would Du Ruo take poison? And for such a long time?

Du Ruo smiled calmly and said: "Doctor Sun is indeed highly skilled; please detoxify me."

Doctor Sun withdrew his hand and sighed: "This poison of yours... is not easy to cure."

Jiang Zhan hurriedly asked: "Why?"

Doctor Sun said: "Little brother, you don't know. This Andrographis paniculata is a yin-poisonous substance. Although the poisoned person will not die immediately, they will gradually rot from the inside out, and finally die of swelling and ulceration of the whole body. To completely eradicate this poison, you need a medicinal guide called stiff silkworm, and stiff silkworm is extremely rare; even with a thousand gold, it is hard to find."

In other words, it wasn't just a matter of money.

Even if you have money, you might not be able to buy it.

The youth was stunned, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

Du Ruo had long been mentally prepared and smiled: "Thank you for your trouble, Doctor Sun. Please write me a prescription for detoxification first; as for the medicinal guide, we'll see what fate brings in the future."

Doctor Sun nodded; there was nothing else to be done.

At least she could save her life first, so the poison wouldn't continue to spread.

After the prescription was written, Du Ruo carefully checked it and had the system check it again to confirm there were no problems before going to get the medicine.

It cost a total of 【missing amount】 silver.

This was not a small sum; one had to know that one *mu* of good farmland was only seven or eight taels of silver, enough to marry a wife.

Jiang Zhan was fine, but Yao Yulan's mouth was wide open, shocked enough to fit an egg.

"This, this is too expensive, isn't it?" she muttered.

If it were her, she would rather die of poison than spend this much silver; her husband had to work himself to the bone for a year to earn this much money.

But then thinking of Du Ruo's identity, she felt relieved.

After all, she was the daughter of an official; even if it was a bit shabby when she married over, her father, Lord Du, must have left her some dowry silver.

The three of them carried the medicine and walked out of the Herbal Hall.

Just as they stepped out the door, they smelled the fragrance of mung bean cakes wafting from the Qinfang Studio next door—freshly baked mung bean cakes, rich and sweet, especially tempting.

Du Ruo said: "Let's go, let's buy two boxes too."

Since they were going on a long trip, of course, they had to bring some delicious food for the children at home.

Jiang Zhan naturally had no objections; this silver was earned by Du Ruo selling recipes, so it was her freedom to spend it however she wanted.

This shop's mung bean cakes were indeed made quite well—bright in color, with fine and dense bean paste, showing that effort had been put into them.

Just as she was about to pay, a somewhat familiar duck-like voice came from behind: "My Lord, it's this shop; the Young Lady likes the mung bean cakes from this shop the most."

Du Ruo's hand paused, and she slowly turned her head.

Sure enough, it was him!

The steward of the Du Mansion, the executioner who sent poison to the original owner every month, the accomplice of Du Mingzhu—Liu Jinu!

Truly, enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road.

Du Ruo sneered inwardly and placed thirty copper coins on the counter: "Boss, the money is here."

Then she picked up the two boxes of mung bean cakes and left.

It wasn't that she was cowardly, but that her strength was currently insufficient; the most important thing right now was to nourish her body—the body is the capital of revolution—and then settle the score slowly later.

Liu Jinu saw her, and his eyes dimmed slightly.

Du Ren Mei, who was walking in front of him, naturally saw her too, his fair face full of surprise: "Aman, why are you here?"

Du Ruo stopped her steps and looked coldly at this scumbag father: "Lord Du is truly strange; this road isn't yours, so I can't come here?"

Du Ren Mei: "..."

This was the first time this daughter had spoken to him in such a sharp tone.

A few days ago, she was still kneeling before him, hugging his knees and crying, calling him "Father," begging him not to marry her into the Jiang family.

Now, she looked at him with such indifferent eyes and called him "Lord Du."

Thinking about it, she must hate him, this father, to the extreme.

Du Ren Mei felt a bit uncomfortable; although the weight of the two daughters in his heart was different, they were both his daughters after all.

"Aman, Father knows you are still angry with Father." Du Ren Mei sighed: "However, you have always been a sensible and obedient child; you should be able to understand Father's difficulties."

Du Ruo sneered: "Sorry, I can't understand."

Do you have no shame? Indulging one daughter to persecute another, and then hypocritically asking for understanding—understand your ass!

She called her two companions: "Let's go."

Jiang Zhan and Yao Yulan hurriedly followed.

From the conversation between Du Ruo and this man of extraordinary bearing, they had already guessed Du Ren Mei's identity. Although they didn't know why the father-daughter relationship seemed somewhat discordant, as outsiders, it wasn't appropriate to interrupt.

Not to mention that he was an official; they didn't dare to interrupt.

Seeing Du Ruo's cold attitude, Du Ren Mei was also a bit displeased, but thinking of Jiang Li, he still said patiently: "Aman, Father knows you don't want to marry into the Jiang family, but Father and Mingzhu didn't intentionally want to ruin your life. Although Jiang Li's family is a bit difficult, he is a man worth entrusting your life to; he will definitely make a name for himself in the future, so you won't suffer by following him."

If he's so good, why didn't Du Mingzhu marry him?

Du Ruo rolled her eyes, too lazy to listen to his nonsense, and lifted her foot to leave.

Watching her bloated and resolute back, Du Ren Mei felt a mix of emotions.

He remembered six years ago; at that time, Aman was still very good-looking, even more outstanding than Mingzhu, who had been pampered since childhood.

Her nose was like his, her mouth was like her mother's, especially those eyes, as if the tail feathers of a phoenix were slowly unfolding; even at a young age, she had a soul-stirring beauty.

That night, he used all his skills to serve Jiang Shi until she was drenched in sweat.

Taking advantage of the intimacy, he proposed his idea.

"I want to bring Aman into the mansion." He kissed Jiang Shi's mediocre face and said: "Aman looks good; it's a pity to raise her in the countryside. We can register her under your name; once she is raised and groomed, with her beauty, she will definitely be able to marry into a wealthy family. Even if not as a legitimate wife, as long as it can raise the status of our Du family, it is worth it. What do you think, Madam?"

Jiang Shi was born in the Marquis of Beian's mansion since childhood and naturally understood the importance of marriage alliances.

Sure enough, she agreed.

However, this conversation somehow reached Mingzhu's ears; Mingzhu was furious, smashed many tea bowls, and even beat a maid to death.

A few days later, Mingzhu said she had someone send tonic to Aman.

Later, he found out that the so-called tonic was actually poison that could ruin a person's appearance and even cause death...

"My Lord? My Lord?" Liu Jinu called out a few times, and Du Ren Mei finally came back to his senses.

Liu Jinu reminded: "My Lord, these mung bean cakes..."

"Oh, buy, buy, buy, buy."

Mingzhu had been in a bad mood these past few days, throwing young lady tantrums at every turn, and even Jiang Shi wouldn't give him a good look, scolding him for being useless and not even being able to win over the Thirteenth Prince.

But what could he do?

He was just a small sesame official, yet his daughter was coveting the position of the Thirteenth Prince's concubine—wasn't this a fantasy?

Even knowing it was impossible, he had already tried his best to bring Mingzhu before the Thirteenth Prince, thinking that perhaps the Thirteenth Prince would take a fancy to Mingzhu's appearance, and there might still be a glimmer of hope.

As a result, the Thirteenth Prince only asked Mingzhu two questions and then ignored her completely.

He asked her if her surname was Du.

Isn't that nonsense? Her father's surname is Du, so could she have the surname of another man?

He also asked her if she knew that "chicken changes, lotus doesn't change."

What chicken, what lotus? One runs on the ground, one grows in the water—what do they have to do with each other? Let alone Mingzhu not understanding, even he, a scholar who had read many books, didn't understand.

Forget it, forget it, don't think about it; better buy a box of mung bean cakes to go back and coax her.

Du Ren Mei shook his head and ordered Liu Jinu: "Buy two more boxes; send one box to the Old Madam's room."