Chapter 170 A Grain of Gold

You can hear a pin drop in the Wenhua Hall.

The chicken soup on the desk had turned cold, and the floating oil had solidified into pale yellow cakes, covering everything in the soup.

Siyue knelt before the desk and whispered, "After investigation, it was found that the chicken soup was spiked with a mind-destroying pill. The poisoned person will forget everything after twelve hours, losing their mind and turning into a madman."

Xiao Jingfan's face was as stern as steel: "Have you found out who poisoned me?"

"It was a young eunuch in the imperial kitchen, named Xiao Yuzi," Mitsuki said. "The Losing Heart Pill has a unique fragrance. Once it comes into contact with someone, the fragrance will not dissipate until eight hours later. Although Xiao Yuzi tried to cover it up with a sachet, after a brief walk around the imperial kitchen, I only smelled the scent of the Losing Heart Pill on him."

Hearing this, Xiao Jingfan frowned slightly and asked, "Is this poison easy to obtain?"

Si Yue shook her head. "Your Majesty, you don't know that the Heart-Losing Pill is extremely poisonous. It was first developed by a sorcerer from Western Xia. He tested the poison on an entire village, driving over two hundred villagers mad or even stupid. Later, the sorcerer was personally beheaded by a general from Western Xia, and the Heart-Losing Pill disappeared."

"Rumor has it that this general presented the formula for the Lost Heart Pill to the Xixia Emperor. Forty years ago, those Xixia princes who suddenly went insane were suspected to have been poisoned by the Lost Heart Pill. Currently, a small amount of the Lost Heart Pill is circulating on the black market, and the Lost Heart Pills in the Dark Guard Battalion were also purchased from the black market."

"Western Xia." Xiao Jingfan chewed on the two words, tapping his slender fingers on the table. "So Xiao Yuzi is a spy for Western Xia?"

Siyue said: "I haven't verified it yet."

Xiao Jingfan glanced at her and called out into the air, "Eleven."

A black shadow flashed, and Xiao Shiyi knelt respectfully in front of the desk: "My Lord, please give your orders."

"Go and investigate." Xiao Jingfan stared at him and emphasized, "Make sure to find out who is behind this."

"Yes!" Xiao Shiyi took the order and left.

Xiao Jingfan looked at Siyue and said, "Stand up. You did a good job this time. What reward do you want?"

Mi Yue was stunned. This is how he could get a reward? Isn't this too easy?

She seemed to understand a little bit why Chen Xing always stuck to Chu Liuzheng.

The opportunity was not to be missed, so she hurriedly bowed and said, "I would like a pill of Chi Mengxiang."

Xiao Jingfan was puzzled: "What is that?"

"It's a highly toxic poison, similar to the Mind-Losing Pill. The victim will fall into a dream from which they cannot wake up. Without an antidote, they will die painfully in their dream seven days later." Mitsuki said truthfully, "I wanted to try to develop an antidote for this poison, but the instructor forbade it."

Xiao Jingfan leaned back in his chair and asked, "Why not?"

Si Yue said: "One pill of Chi Meng Xiang is worth ten thousand gold, but the Dark Guard Camp only has two pills."

Xiao Jingfan, who easily promised to give out tens of thousands of gold, said: "..."

Miyue looked up at him and said, "Can I have this?"

Xiao Jingfan was silent for a moment, then asked her, "Can you guarantee that you can make an antidote?"

That's a ton of money, and he would be really heartbroken if it went to waste.

Mitsuki shook his head honestly.

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

Siyue was not as aggressive as Chenxing, so seeing his master was silent, he quickly offered an excuse: "I can ask for something else."

The emperor’s words are golden, how can he go back on his word?

Xiao Jingfan waved his hand: "Go and get it yourself."

Miyue's eyes sparkled, and he kowtowed excitedly: "Thank you, Lord, for your grace."

*

Posthouse.

In the courtyard of the Western Xia envoy, Wei Mingliang was playing chess with Zhao Shiqi when a maid came to announce, "Your Highness, Princess Meizhen is here."

Without even looking up, Wei Mingliang said, "Just say I'm resting."

The maid took the order and left.

Zhao Shiqi dropped a piece and looked across at the other side: "Since Your Highness is cooperating with Goryeo, why not spend some time to appease Princess Meizhen?"

"Sir, you're joking." Wei Mingliang took a sip from his teacup, his lips curled up, but there was no smile in his eyes. "Fish eyes are not pearls, they are just a show for the occasion."

Zhao Shiqi smiled, "Your Highness is always like this."

Wei Mingliang remained silent and changed the subject: "Xiao Dunyi has been arrested, and there's no news about him. His men have also disappeared without a trace. I plan to go to the palace with Yin Taiyu tomorrow to hear what Emperor Shunguang has to say."

Zhao Shiqi nodded, stared at the chessboard for a moment, and said, "Your Highness, do you suspect that Emperor Shunguang has already..."

He raised his hand and made a gesture that only the two of them could understand.

Wei Mingliang smiled and said, "Sir, you know me."

Zhao Shiqi's expression was slightly serious, and he reminded: "Your Highness, please do not take it lightly. The overall situation should be the most important thing."

Wei Mingliang nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Mr., I understand."

Seeing this, Zhao Shiqi said nothing and concentrated on playing chess.

After one round, Wei Mingliang won by two pieces.

He personally added tea to Zhao Shiqi: "Sir, you want me to."

"No." Zhao Shiqi picked up the teacup, "It's just that your Highness's chess skills have improved. I am no longer as good as you."

He changed the subject: "I heard that His Highness used a Heart-Losing Pill?"

Wei Mingliang paused while picking up the chess piece and looked across at the opposite side.

Zhao Shiqi held the teacup and looked at him, saying meaningfully, "The Loss of Mind Pill is hard to come by, Your Highness, please use it with caution."

Wei Mingliang nodded, loosened his hand, and watched as all the chess pieces in his palm fell into the chess pot with crisp collision sounds.

At the same time, Lu Fei led his men into the inn.

The waiter came forward and asked with a nod and a bow, "What would you like to eat, sir?"

Lu Fei ignored him and took his men to the second floor.

Halfway up the stairs, a girl dressed as a maid stumbled down, her dress covered in blood, and cried out in panic, "Someone's dead!"

Lu Fei reached out and grabbed her: "Who died?"

The maid trembled and said, "The prince is dead."

Lu Fei was startled, let go of her arm and ran upstairs.

The guards brought by Prince Li were surrounding the guest room door in panic.

Lu Fei pushed people aside and went in.

In the room, blood splattered on the bed curtains. The head of Prince Li on the bed was separated from his body and rolled under the bed. His eyes were wide open in horror, and he died with his eyes open.

*

[Fuck! Prince Li's head was chopped off by a knife, and he died with his eyes wide open!]

Chu Liuzheng, who was browsing gossip before bed, instantly felt refreshed and clicked on it to take a closer look.

"Ah, this is karma in this life. I told you to send your followers to put strychnine in the porridge, causing so many lives. Now you're getting your comeuppance, right?"

[Let me see, the murderer who killed Prince Li is... Waqu! It turned out to be him!]

After receiving the news from the Jinwu Guards, Xiao Jingfan, who had walked around the Moon Pool seven or eight times under the pretext of digesting his food, finally heard some useful information and was immediately cheered up.

It was worth the wait!

Chu Liuzheng, unaware that he was being held captive, was trying hard to find out the cause and effect.

"Why him? This doesn't make sense."

"Didn't you agree to help? Why are you suddenly sending someone to assassinate me? I just don't understand this."

She jumped up and down in the melon field, extremely anxious.

[Wait! This is...]

Her eyes slowly widened, and the eavesdropping Xiao Jingfan also silently clenched the Bodhi beads, preparing for the deafening sound.

[Holy crap! ! Is this really that outrageous!]

Xiao Jingfan's head buzzed, and the next sentence in his heart followed.

[I would like to call Prince Li the most unlucky person in the world!]