As night fell, Xie Xuan tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. His mind was filled with thoughts of Su Muxi, and he felt unbearably hot and restless, desperately needing to release his pent-up emotions.

Although he usually went to those brothels only for entertainment and never got close to women, he had never seen pork but he had seen pigs run.

He knew he must have been drugged!

The person who drugged him must be Qiao Ziming!

"Truly despicable and shameless!"

After cursing, Xie Xuan immediately started shouting in the room.

"Help! Someone help me!..."

…

It was already late at night, but the inn was still brightly lit.

Xie Xuan covered his forehead, which was stung by the needle, and glared at Qiao Ziming.

Qiao Ziming's expression, however, was not good either.

He hadn't expected Xie Xuan to be so shameless. Not only did Xie Xuan realize he was drugged, but he also publicly announced it, making it known to everyone...

Su Muxi had just lain down when she heard about Xie Xuan's drug use, so she had no choice but to go and see what was wrong and find an antidote for Xie Xuan.

Of course, she also knew that the person who drugged Xie Xuan could not have been anyone other than Qiao Ziming.

If it weren't for the fact that Qiao Ziming and Qiao Xiuyuan looked about 80% alike, she would have doubted whether Qiao Ziming was actually Qiao Xiuyuan's biological son.

Qiao Xiuyuan, such a shrewd and calculating person, gave birth to such a stupid son as Qiao Zimo!

However, it seems that Qiao Ziming and Qiao Zixi are indeed siblings!

"Xie Xuan, don't look at me like that! I've said it before, I didn't administer the medicine, don't try to frame me!"

After Qiao Ziming finished speaking, he looked at Su Muxi with a serious expression, "Muxi, believe me, it really wasn't me! Don't believe Xie Xuan's one-sided story! He's doing this to sow discord between us!"

The situation in Fukang County is urgent, and it requires the two of us to go together. Taking Xie Xuan with us might delay important matters!

I can let this matter slide, but he absolutely must be sent back to the capital!

After saying that, he glared fiercely at Xie Xuan, which made Xie Xuan sneer out.

"Ha! Your Highness is truly skilled at twisting the truth and feigning innocence! I've finally witnessed what it means for a thief to cry 'stop thief'!"

Everyone says that Bai Mengying caused the prince's leg injury, but now I have some doubts that Bai Mengying may have been wronged.

Perhaps the Crown Prince knew about the Bai family's actions all along and deliberately tried to sever ties with Bai Mengying before the Bai family's downfall, thus pinning all the blame on Bai Mengying.

Therefore, it seems that the one who should return to the capital is the Crown Prince.

After all, many things can happen along the way, and the worst thing we can do is create trouble out of nothing and shirk responsibility!

Qiao Ziming was not as eloquent as Xie Xuan, so he could only glare at Xie Xuan resentfully and say dryly, "You're talking nonsense! This young master would never stoop to such a despicable act as drugging someone!"

However, no sooner had she finished speaking than Su Muxi suddenly burst out with a sneer.

Upon seeing this, Qiao Ziming's eyes showed embarrassment.

He knew that Su Muxi's sneer was because of the incident at the Marquis's residence where she was given medicine.

He wanted to explain that it was all his father's idea, but seeing the mockery in Su Muxi's eyes, he couldn't utter a single word.

But after Su Muxi scoffed, she spoke first.

“Your Highness, whether I believe you or not is not important. After all, I am not the victim this time. If Your Highness wants to explain, you can explain to Young Master Xie.”

Su Muxi emphasized the word "this time," which made Xie Xuan's eyes darken even more.

Qiao Ziming's expression became even more awkward.

Then Su Muxi continued, "Furthermore, I have no relationship with the Crown Prince, so there is nothing to sow discord between us. Therefore, I hope the Crown Prince can adopt a proper attitude and focus his attention on the plague in Fukang County."

Although Su Muxi didn't say it explicitly, her words conveyed her attitude.

Like Xie Xuan, she believed that Qiao Ziming was responsible for this.

Seeing that Qiao Ziming was about to defend himself, Su Muxi interrupted him impatiently, "Your Highness, it's best to stop some things at that. It's late, so I'll go back to rest now."

After saying that, he turned and left, not wanting to hear Qiao Ziming explain anything further.

Xie Xuan glanced coldly at Qiao Ziming, "This time, I will not hold it against the young master."

Xie Xuan returned the same words to Qiao Ziming.

But then she leaned closer to Qiao Ziming and lowered her voice to continue, "However, if you dare to lay a hand on the Princess, don't blame me for fighting you to the death!"

Qiao Ziming appeared furious, but inwardly he felt guilty.

However, the first night after leaving Beijing was destined to be an unsettling one.

In the middle of the night, Qiao Ziming suffered excruciating abdominal pain.

Su Muxi, who had just fallen asleep, was forced to get up again.

If it weren't for Ye Jingchun's sake, Su Muxi wouldn't have paid any attention to Qiao Ziming at all. Even if Qiao Ziming were in excruciating pain, she wouldn't have flinched.

In the midst of his painful struggle, Qiao Ziming inadvertently ripped off Su Muxi's veil.

Upon seeing Su Muxi's stunningly beautiful face, Qiao Ziming seemed to feel his pain lessen considerably. He forgot to struggle and simply stared at Su Muxi with a look of longing in his eyes.

Taking advantage of this moment, Su Muxi quickly inserted several needles into Qiao Ziming's body.

Just as Su Muxi was about to turn around to get the antidote pills from the medicine box, Qiao Ziming grabbed her wrist.

"Mu Xi, it hurts..."

Because of his shouting just now, Qiao Ziming's voice was slightly hoarse, which was strangely alluring.

Coupled with his half-open shirt revealing a large expanse of his chest muscles and his deeply affectionate expression, any other woman present would surely blush, her heart pound, and secretly fall for him.

But Su Muxi found it extremely disgusting.

"let go!"

"Mu Xi, I don't want to let go again. Can you give me another chance? I'm serious."

After Qiao Ziming finished speaking with deep emotion, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. A silver needle had mercilessly pierced his wrist, forcing him to let go.

"If Your Highness feels that losing a finger isn't enough, I can also make you lose an arm!"

Su Muxi took out a handkerchief and, in front of Qiao Zimo, wiped the spot where Qiao Zimo had just touched her with a look of disgust.

He then said coldly, "It seems the young master doesn't feel any pain. In that case, there's no need to take the antidote!"

She realized that Qiao Ziming was the kind of person who would forget the pain once the wound healed!

We can't let Qiao Ziming feel too comfortable!

This poison isn't fatal, but it will cause unbearable abdominal pain. Perhaps if Qiao Ziming suffers in pain all the way to Jinzhou, he can finally have some peace and quiet!

Qiao Ziming felt a lump in his throat as he looked at Su Muxi's heartless expression.

"Mu Xi, how did things come to this? We've been husband and wife for three years, don't we have any affection left? You were worried about Xie Xuan's traditional Chinese medicine, and now that I'm in so much pain, don't you feel any heartache at all?"