Chapter 26: Beauty in His Arms

A sound-transmission talisman flew toward Su Xi.

Su Xi took it—【Young Sect Master, could you return for a moment? There is a problem regarding your spirit tea.】

"What kind of problem could there be?" Su Xi had great trust in the things she refined. She immediately patted Da Jin, "Go tell Commander Cui first."

Cui Heng had been following Su Xi at a gallop the whole way; seeing her land, he reined in his horse and stopped.

"Is the Young Sect Master tired?" In truth, they were tired too.

Su Xi replied, "Why would I be tired? It is the Emperor who asked me to return. You all continue moving forward; I will give you a few of my sound-transmission talismans so you can notify me in time if anything happens."

"Very well, then we shall continue to hurry toward Huang He Nan Yu." Cui Heng took the sound-transmission talismans and put them away with great care.

Su Xi nodded, "You can leave a message at the post stations along the way."

"Understood, Young Sect Master, please go ahead." Cui Heng led his men and continued forward.

Su Xi patted Da Jin, "Let's Teleport directly to the Huang Gong."

Zhou Chuchen was busy processing memorials when he suddenly felt a weight on the roof of the palace, followed by a sound that was like a cat's meow and a tiger's roar.

He exited the hall and happened to see Su Xi leaping down from the roof.

He reached out instinctively and, as luck would have it, caught Su Xi.

Su Xi: "..."

Zhou Chuchen was quite natural about it, smiling, "You returned very quickly."

Su Xi flipped out of his arms and landed, "What happened to the spirit tea I gifted?"

With his arms suddenly empty, Zhou Chuchen looked at his hands and slowly lowered them, "Minister of Revenue's daughter, Yu Baishuang, drank the spirit tea you gifted along with the spirit herbs from Xue Si Xiaojie, and then she bled from her seven orifices and fell into a coma."

Su Xi thought for a moment, "I don't know that young lady. I gifted the spirit tea to every household, and they were all the same. Did any other household have problems after drinking it?"

"None."

"Then it must be that Xue Mengying's spirit herbs are the problem. You should go find her; why are you looking for me?"

"I have looked for her as well."

Su Xi looked at him, suddenly realizing, "Xue Mengying is a disciple of the Heaven Sword Sect, so the Emperor finds it difficult to hold her accountable, is that it?"

"The Young Sect Master is indeed intelligent. It is better to resolve this matter privately. Furthermore, the Young Sect Master might be able to save Miss Yu."

"Fine, but the Emperor must also take good care of my Su Family. Cause and effect in this world must be reciprocal to remain clear."

Zhou Chuchen nodded, then said to Liu Bi, who was waiting to the side, "Take the Young Sect Master to the Shangshu Fu."

Da Jin followed Su Xi, and as they walked, he seemed to sense something. He turned his head to look at Zhou Chuchen, seeing him still standing in the same spot, and noticed him smiling slightly upon being spotted.

"..." Da Jin was stunned for a moment, then continued following Su Xi.

Beside Zhou Chuchen, an old man in gray robes materialized from nothing, his voice steady, "Your Majesty, this old servant cannot see through her strength."

"In other words, Sect Master Rong's strength is still above yours, at least at the mid-stage of Integration."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The old man in gray looked toward the sky, "As for that Second Miss of the Xue Family, this old servant has also observed her. By rights, her cultivation aptitude is very average, merely ordinary grade, but she reached the Golden Core Great Perfection in just ten years; she must be a prodigy. This old servant has poor eyes, I am ashamed."

"And that Xue Si Xiaojie?"

"Above ordinary, but her cultivation focus is insufficient; it is hard for her to amount to much. This Xue Si Xiaojie seems to have designs on Your Majesty."

Zhou Chuchen rubbed his fingertips, "The voices in the court urging Me to appoint an Empress are growing louder."

"This old servant also feels that Your Majesty's current cultivation has entered a bottleneck; you could consider taking a wife and having children. Once the heirs are grown, Your Majesty can free yourself to focus on cultivation."

Zhou Chuchen was silent.

By the time Su Xi arrived at the Shangshu Fu, Xue Mengying had already been there for a while, and she was insisting that it was Su Xi's spirit tea that was the problem.

Su Xi entered Yu Baishuang's boudoir and saw the overbearing Xue Mengying at a glance, "My tea has a problem? Then why is it that the Minister's wife drank it and is fine, yet it is specifically the young lady who used your spirit herbs who has a problem?"

Bai Shi not only used it herself, but also gave it to her parents-in-law and her husband, and none of them felt any discomfort; in fact, their old ailments had even eased. Especially her young grandson, who had recovered from his illness.

Bai Shi said with a sorrowful face, "Xue Si Xiaojie, I do not know how Shuang'er offended you. I can apologize to you on her behalf; there is no need to harm her like this, is there?"

"She was the one who wanted the spirit herbs." Xue Mengying said righteously, "And there is such a thing as spirit herbs clashing. Perhaps it was my spirit herbs that conflicted with the spirit tea Su Xi gifted."

Su Xi said, "My spirit tea was refined specifically for ordinary people under the guidance of my Master. It contains no fewer than a hundred types of spirit herbs, and the process is complex. I am intimately familiar with every step of the process and the medicinal properties of every ingredient. I wonder, are you familiar with your spirit herbs?"

Xue Mengying fell silent. Her Master had indeed taught her, but she was too lazy to remember.

Su Xi walked to the bedside and looked at the unconscious Yu Baishuang, whose seven orifices were still stained with blood; her lips were purple-black, a clear symptom of poisoning.

"Where are the spirit herbs your daughter consumed?" Su Xi asked Bai Shi.

Bai Shi hurriedly had a maid hand them to Su Xi; it was a spirit herb that looked very much like an orchid.

Su Xi recognized what it was at a single glance, "Its name is Xuan Orchid; it is a type of spirit herb that parasitizes the Xuanlang tree. Its flowers are either red or yellow, and its mature fruit has a sweet fragrance and can be used to refine Miasma-Repelling Pills. When immature, both the plant and its body are toxic. If ingested by mistake, one must use spirit power to force the poison out in time. If an ordinary person consumes it, they will bleed from their seven orifices and die within moments."

After speaking, Su Xi took a bottle of detox pills from her Storage Bag.

She fed one to Yu Baishuang first, then said to Bai Shi, "Fortunately, your daughter used my spirit tea first, which protected her heart meridian and primordial spirit; otherwise, even if my Master had come, she could not have invited your daughter back from the hands of the King of Hell."

Having taken the detox pill, Yu Baishuang's complexion soon improved, and her purple-black lips began to fade.

Bai Shi knelt on the ground with a 'thump', "Thank you, Immortal, for saving my daughter's life."

"Madam, please rise quickly. It is also my fault for forgetting to remind everyone—though spirit tea is good, one should not be greedy for too much." As she said this, she looked at Xue Mengying.

Xue Mengying's face darkened, filled with shame and anger, because she also remembered—this spirit herb was indeed Xuan Orchid, and she had mistakenly taken it for an ordinary spirit orchid and gifted it to Yu Baishuang.

Immediately, she could no longer stay and Teleported away, not even bothering to greet Bai Shi.

Bai Shi shook her head, "The upbringing of the Xue Fu is excellent, but for things born in one's bones, upbringing is sometimes powerless."

What a harsh scolding, without using a single dirty word!

"..." She is still young and somewhat spoiled; I hope you will be magnanimous, Madam." Su Xi gave the remaining detox pills to Bai Shi, "Half a pill a day is enough. Once your daughter feels no discomfort, you can stop."

Minister Yu, who had arrived upon hearing the news, bowed and thanked her from the outer room, "I, Yu, thank the Young Sect Master for saving my daughter's life."

At Bai Shi's warm insistence, Su Xi took Da Jin and stayed at the Shangshu Fu for dinner before leaving.

Liu Bi reported the news of Su Xi staying at the Shangshu Fu for dinner back to Zhou Chuchen.

Zhou Chuchen looked at the table full of delicacies and waved his hand, "Clear it away."

Xue Fu.

Su Xi looked at the Tribulation Cloud slowly gathering in the sky, "Can't this Xue Fuyi leave Yun Du to undergo the tribulation?"

Da Jin said, "Undergoing the tribulation within Yun Du is indeed likely to affect the innocent. It is possible that the epiphany came too suddenly, and there was no time to leave."

"I will be back shortly, Da Jin, you wait for me here." Su Xi used an Invisibility Talisman and used Teleportation to enter Xue Fu.

"... Meow?" Da Jin looked left and right, then followed her in.