Poisoning

Is the Xin Kingdom's royal family surnamed Shen?

Shen Tang suppressed the urge to vomit blood and forced a smile. "You might not believe me if I said it, but you're really overthinking things."

Qi Shan asked, "I'm overthinking things?"

Shen Tang nodded vigorously. "Yes, you are."

Her "Shen" had nothing to do with the Xin Kingdom's royal family!

It was truly, truly, truly just a coincidence!

Besides—

"Don't you find it absurd, Yuanliang? If I were who you suspect, how could I be in this state..."

If Shen Tang weren't the one involved, she might have actually believed him. Logically, Qi Shan's guess was plausible, but the premise was that her body had to be that of a young man. Shen Tang was certain she hadn't grown any strange "tumors."

She! Was! A! Real! Girl!

"Putting aside other things, the officials escorting prisoners wouldn't have let me off easily, and the Gong clan members accompanying me wouldn't have treated me as if I were invisible..." Therefore, this body couldn't possibly be Gong Cheng, as he claimed, nor could it be the illegitimate child the Xin Kingdom's ruler left with the Gong clan.

Even if it were true, could Shen Tang admit it?

What future awaited a princess/prince of a fallen kingdom?

Qi Shan fell silent, lost in thought.

Though he appeared calm on the surface, Shen Tang couldn't fathom his true thoughts. Was he convinced by her words, or was he stubbornly sticking to his own wild theory?

"I understand."

Shen Tang: "..."

Brother, what exactly do you understand now?

At this moment, she had the urge to drill a hole in Qi Shan's skull.

"Go, fill all the waterskins with tea. We're in a hurry."

"And my..."

"Mine too..."

The soldiers' shouts echoed from outside the tea house.

Because the escort route was remote and the weather was scorching, the waterskins had long been empty. They tossed the waterskins at the owner with a laugh. The owner endured, his face red and swollen from being slapped, and forced an ugly smile. He bowed his head, picked up the waterskins, and tucked them into his embrace, saying subserviently, "Yes, yes, right away—"

His worried gaze remained on his wife.

Seeing his hesitation, a soldier kicked him in the backside, urging, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry up!"

The owner stumbled, nearly falling face-first. His wife, who had been held back by a soldier, trembled with rage but dared not struggle.

The couple's expression of suppressed anger and inability to resist amused the soldier. Arrogant laughter, accompanied by the wife's fearful sobs, reached every patron's ears. Everyone was indignant but dared not speak out. Even Shen Tang muttered, "Endure for a moment, and you'll have a wider sky."

She stopped after the third repetition.

"Damn it, to hell with a wider sky!"

Qi Shan, who clearly heard Shen Tang curse: "..."

He hadn't expected Young Master Shen, who looked refined and noble, to have such a rough side. Such curses were typically uttered by street ruffians or uncouth brutes. Seeing Shen Tang stand up, he asked, "Is Young Master Shen going to right a wrong?"

Shen Tang: "I'm not stupid."

Intervening required strategy. A direct confrontation was unrealistic, but that didn't mean she couldn't play dirty. Shen Tang rolled up her sleeves, adjusted her innocent and harmless expression, and went to help the owner.

The owner was flattered and hastily refused.

"Young Master, you mustn't..."

Shen Tang: "Why not? Nearly a hundred waterskins, how long will it take? I see it's just you and your wife running this tea house. I'm worried you won't manage and will be further harassed. If we finish early, it'll be my small gesture of goodwill..."

The owner's eyes welled up with tears upon hearing this.

He choked out, "Th-thank you..."

The couple knew the isolation, helplessness, and despair of being bullied. They also knew the tea house patrons had no obligation to help. Everyone knew how arrogant the Geng Country soldiers were—they burned, killed, plundered, and killed for amusement, committing all sorts of atrocities. Everyone feared death.

During this time, some soldiers came to check. Their gazes swept over Shen Tang, who was diligently working in the corner, several times. Because she was young and worked quickly, her small, slender back made them mistake her for a tea house errand boy. After watching for a moment, they left, finding nothing amiss.

The two worked together for a quarter of an hour until sweat beaded on their foreheads. They finished filling all the waterskins and handed them over.

Qi Shan asked curiously, "What did you do?"

Shen Tang took a sip of tea, her expression radiating "I'm in a good mood." "Yuanliang will know soon enough."

Qi Shan raised an eyebrow, guessing, "Poison?"

"Such a sharp guess."

"Where did you get poison?"

As he spoke, Qi Shan suddenly thought of something.

He asked again, "Word Spirit?"

Shen Tang smiled and replied, "Yes."

Qi Shan took a deep breath: "Which line?"

Or rather, which Word Spirit did she "ruin" or "subvert" now?

Shen Tang, with a mysterious air, slowly chanted: "Green bamboo snake's mouth, yellow wasp's tail needle."

Qi Shan frowned: "This Word Spirit?"

Like the previous "Zhou Yuan Wu Wu, Jin Tu Ru Yi," these were either unused or deemed to have no value for Word Spirit research. Interpreted literally, the poison should come from snake venom and wasp stings.

"Mmm, I was afraid it wouldn't kill them, so I added another ingredient. Yuan Liang, why don't you guess what it is?"

Qi Shan possessed the ability to recall anything he saw.

The ingredient Shen Tang mentioned must be among the Word Spirit scrolls he had copied. The only thing that could be called a medicine was...

He didn't hesitate: "Strychnine?"

"You guessed right."

Too bad there was no reward.

Strychnine might be unfamiliar, but the famous "Qian Ji Medicine" would be understood.

Qi Shan: "..."

He looked at Shen Tang with increasingly complex eyes—

This Young Master Shen's "Way of the Feudal Lord" wasn't just related to "agriculture" and could enrich the soil, but could also conjure medicinal ingredients out of thin air?

Seeing his strange expression, Shen Tang thought he disapproved.

"Yuan Liang, you disdain this method?"

A gentleman is upright and might not approve of poisoning.

Qi Shan shook his head: "No, it doesn't matter what method is used to murder these people, what matters is the result."

During his travels, he had passed through many ruined counties where women were forced to become pregnant or suffered from severe illnesses. It was common to see funerals in every household, with dismembered limbs and corpses scattered everywhere. Judging by the soldiers' behavior just now, were their hands clean?

If they died, they deserved it.

It was just that—

"You added so much, do you really think others won't taste it?" As soon as they tasted something off, they would spit it out.

Shen Tang smiled: "Plain water would be fine, but they were drinking tea. If the taste is unusual, they'll just assume it's due to the heat."

Qi Shan: "..."

While they were talking, over a hundred soldiers had already packed up and left. They had taken so much advantage and only threw three copper coins at the teahouse owner, right in his face. Yet, the owner had to endure it with a smile, thanking them for the "reward."

Seeing the troop disappear into the distance, Shen Tang stood up and stretched: "Yuan Liang, let's go. Time to watch a good show."

Shen Tang led out a motorcycle and then mounted a mule.

Qi Shan still walked.

The two followed at a leisurely pace. Shen Tang suddenly said: "Yuan Liang, poisoning and assassinating Geng Country soldiers is a serious crime."

"Knowing it's a crime, you still do it?"

Shen Tang was nonchalant: "What's one more shizi when you already have so many? I'm a fugitive on the brink of death, every extra day I live is a bonus. What's there to fear from adding another crime? As for you, Yuan Liang, why are you still following? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

Qi Shan raised an eyebrow and said calmly: "As I've said before, I am not a good person."

The name, indeed, made up for what was lacking.

If it were a prosperous era—

Looking at the Young Master Shen, who was happily smiling on the white mule, Qi Shan sighed—that would probably be the "Way of the Feudal Lord" most beneficial to the world.

Unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era.