Where Was the Poison?

Chen Yi frowned.

Killing outside Donghua Gate?

The Eastern and Western Depots were right nearby. Who was bold enough to cause trouble here?

Min Ming blinked curiously too.

Chen Yi turned and headed outside. Min Ming hurriedly draped her outer garment over herself and rushed after him.

Night was gathering. Once in the courtyard, Chen Yi looked toward the main road by Donghua Gate and saw two corpses on the ground, one old and one young. Both had died from needles in their throats, and pools of blood covered the ground.

Beside the two corpses stood a crowd dressed in coarse hemp clothes, yet looking like men and women from a brothel. Weapons clashed as a group of black-clad Magpie spies surrounded and attacked them.

That was not the important part. What mattered was that Chen Yi spotted the Second-Rank Grandmaster, the Nameless Old Matron-and Granny Qingmei of the Do Not Use Tower.

"Granny..."

Min Ming murmured in astonishment, her face instantly turning pale.

Peril lurked at every turn. The Magpie Pavilion, led by the Nameless Old Matron, was clearly surrounding and attacking the Do Not Use Tower's people. Sounds of fighting rose from every direction beneath the night sky, and corpses began piling up on the ground.

"Go! Split up and break out!"

The Do Not Use Tower was clearly no match for the Magpie Pavilion. Once the fighting began and the situation descended into chaos, Granny Qingmei shouted her command.

Chen Yi watched the battle on the main road. More and more Magpie spies were closing in, their martial skills far superior to those of the Do Not Use Tower's outlaws. With the Nameless Old Matron overseeing matters as well, any attempt by the Do Not Use Tower to stand its ground would result in a one-sided slaughter.

The Do Not Use Tower began breaking out in all four directions. Granny Qingmei struck first, driving back the Magpie spies closing in before her and clearing a path for the Do Not Use Tower. Whether deliberately or not, she glanced toward Min Ming as she broke out.

Min Ming instantly panicked. She hurriedly backed away, retreating into the inner room.

Chen Yi also realized something was wrong. His brows knitted tightly, and he turned back inside.

The moment he entered, Chen Yi saw Min Ming's face, pale beneath her makeup.

"If... if they come here... I'm certain to die... I, I..."

Min Ming stammered in panic,

"Whether it's the Do Not Use Tower or the Magpie Pavilion, if either comes here, I'll... certainly die."

Hearing this, Chen Yi immediately thought of Min Ming's identity as a Do Not Use Tower spy. If any of the Do Not Use Tower's outlaws came here for refuge, the Magpie spies would pursue them here as well. Even without any such outlaws, if the Magpie spies investigated this place, Min Ming's current martial abilities would leave her no choice but to submit to capture.

Min Ming's gaze trembled. Shaking all over, she asked anxiously:

"What do we do? What should we do now?!"

She looked at Chen Yi and asked:

"How about... you go draw them away?"

In that very instant, Chen Yi heard the sound of someone leaping through the air with lightness skills.

Chen Yi lunged in front of her, seized her shoulders, and forcibly ripped the clothing over them, exposing shoulders like fresh milk curds from the grasslands.

Min Ming looked stunned. As Chen Yi pushed her into the bedroom, she cried urgently:

"Wait... what are you doing? You should be drawing them away... ah! You bastard!"

With the situation urgent, Chen Yi's expression darkened. He snatched up the bedding and threw it over them both, saying fiercely:

"Do what you're supposed to do."

Feeling both wronged and mortified, Min Ming demanded:

"But at a time like this?!"

She glared fiercely at him and reached out to push him away.

Seeing her refuse to cooperate, Chen Yi, in his urgency, gave her voluptuous flesh a vicious pinch, anger flaring inside him.

What did she mean, at a time like this...

Did she really think I was that impatient?

Min Ming let out a mortified cry of pain, her face flushing scarlet. Chen Yi swiftly tapped her acupoints. With no martial power left, her body instantly went limp. She glared hatefully at him, trying to scare him off, tears welling from her peach-blossom eyes.

The sound of a door opening came from outside, and the white-haired Nameless Old Matron stepped over the threshold.

The chaste courtesan instantly went weak, trembling in terror as though afraid her head would fall in the next instant.

The Nameless Old Matron walked slowly, her eyes hawklike. She had noticed Granny Qingmei glance this way and remembered that this was the residence of that Western Depot Thousand Household, so she had come to look.

Whether it was an ambush in the shadows or a Do Not Use Tower spy holding Chen Yi hostage, the Nameless Old Matron had considered both possibilities.

What she had never expected, however, was that,

while cries of battle and killing rang outside, crimson waves were rolling within.

When the door opened, both looked out in alarm, their frightened expressions exactly like those of people suddenly interrupted during their pleasure.

"Nameless Matron..."

Chen Yi's voice sounded utterly apprehensive,

"Why... have you come here?"

Min Ming kept her mouth shut, not daring to make the slightest sound.

The Nameless Old Matron's expression changed, and she barked:

"How dare you harbor an outlaw!"

Chen Yi's nerves tightened, but he immediately realized the Nameless Old Matron was bluffing to test her. He replied hastily:

"Matron, th-this is my newly taken concubine..."

The Nameless Old Matron said coldly:

"Have her come here. One touch will tell me whether she's an outlaw."

Hearing this, Chen Yi released Min Ming. She rose shakily, lifted the curtain, and walked trembling to the Nameless Old Matron.

The Nameless Old Matron reached out and caught Min Ming's wrist.

There was no true qi circulating in her meridians...

Half the Nameless Old Matron's suspicions vanished. Then, cautiously, she pressed Min Ming's shoulders, arms, abdomen, and thighs.

Apart from her thighs, she had no muscles, nor even thin calluses. She was no trained fighter, much less a martial practitioner.

As for the muscles in her legs, it was normal for a woman who served others with her beauty to exercise them often.

It seemed she truly was not an outlaw from the Do Not Use Tower.

The Nameless Old Matron relaxed. After studying Min Ming through narrowed eyes for a while, she let her return.

Though she was trembling badly, she wore only a dudou. Women were thin-skinned, and trembling like this was an ordinary reaction. The Nameless Old Matron did not suspect anything further.

Chen Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and could not help grumbling inwardly.

This Nameless Old Matron was truly vigilant. No wonder she could guard the imperial palace and cow petty villains. If I hadn't drained Min Ming's true qi, and if Min Ming hadn't been a chaste courtesan who trained nothing except her legs, we could never have fooled her.

Thankfully, it was Min Ming in bed. If it had been her younger sister, Min Ning... heads would probably have rolled.

Seeing Chen Yi gather Min Ming back into his arms, the Nameless Old Matron snorted coldly.

"Thousand Household Chen, with such an incident outside Donghua Gate, instead of serving Her Highness, you're indulging in pleasure here. If anything happens to anyone in the palace, don't blame me for holding your Western Depot to account."

Chen Yi nodded repeatedly. The Nameless Old Matron strode away, her figure disappearing from view.

After waiting a good while, Min Ming sank to the floor, utterly drained, and panted like someone who had survived a calamity.

"Hah... hah..."

The fright had nearly cost her half her life.

Chen Yi also breathed a sigh of relief, put the bedding back on the bed, and took a glance farther inside.

Yin Tingxue was sleeping soundly, locked in at the very innermost side. Even all this had failed to wake her.

Min Ming suddenly felt waves of burning heat and a faint stinging pain. Abruptly remembering the Three Yang Qi-Dispersing Paste, she said shakily:

"Poison... poison... poison..."

Chen Yi understood instantly, but feigned astonishment.

"Poison? What poison?"

Min Ming's face instantly burned, but she had been frightened so badly that she had no strength left. All she could say was:

"Three Yang Qi-Dispersing... Paste."

Chen Yi looked horrified.

"Isn't that... a poison that can rupture the meridians?"

Min Ming moaned weakly:

"Yes..."

Chen Yi picked her up and asked darkly:

"Where was the poison applied? Where did you put it?"

"On... there..."

"Where is 'there'? Tell me quickly so I can counteract the poison."

Her pretty face deathly pale and her hair disheveled, Min Ming did not dare speak. Biting her thin lips tightly, she could only spread her legs in humiliation and arch upward a little.

Her face was covered in tear tracks.