Chapter 100 Mine Clearance

The two were whispering to each other, looking like students trying to hide their ears in class. It was quite obvious to everyone else, but fortunately, Zhou Chaoyun and Xuan Qing were deep in thought and didn't notice their actions.

I'll notice but won't say anything to remind them, because they might be lost in their own thoughts, and interrupting them would be counterproductive.

Shang Yuji and Jiang Xi exchanged glances. Then, she thought of how to use him properly, so she pulled him to the side and asked softly, "How do you know that what she said wasn't the biggest secret?"

Suddenly, Lan Yuanzhi was given a strange look by the aloof and beautiful girl who was whispering to her. She looked back curiously, only to see the girl with her head down, whispering to her ideal man beside her.

“She has a Gu poison, a secret word Gu,” Jiang Xi said seriously. “As long as she utters a special phrase chosen by the person who cast the Gu, she will vomit blood and die.”

Unexpectedly, she actually got useful information from him. Shang Yuji subconsciously looked at Lan Yuanzhi, but quickly looked away.

However, this message can be shared with a few people.

Xuan Qing, with his excellent hearing, had overheard their conversation. After Shang Yuji informed everyone present about the "Secret Talk Gu," he added, "As far as I know, the Secret Talk Gu is a rare Gu, difficult to raise and manipulate... Does the Second Prince's residence have a Gu master?"

Besides Lan Yuanzhi, Zhou Chaoyun was the most familiar with the Second Prince's residence. Lan Yuanzhi mostly stayed in the mansion and knew nothing about the Gu practitioners or the martial arts world, while Zhou Chaoyun had searched for the secrets of the Second Prince's residence, but the secrets did not mention this matter.

Zhou Chaoyun: "Most of the Gu poisons come from the southern border region. Why don't we ask that person?"

Although Jiang Xiqu is from the Southern Frontier, he has been locked in a courtyard since childhood and would not know anything about the Gu practitioners there. Therefore, Zhou Chaoyun was referring to A Shuang, who came from the Southern Frontier. Since Xuan Qing said that this Gu is difficult to raise, we can exclude those who are not skilled in Gu techniques and narrow down the scope to those who are experts in Gu.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. Knowing the method of the person who uses witchcraft will allow you to take precautions in advance.

Xuan Qing then asked, "Will the lady be killed by the people of the Lotus Garden two days from now, or will she die from vomiting blood after learning the specific words of the Secret Word Gu?"

"I originally thought that person had realized I suspected their intentions and would take my life soon. But they hesitated to kill me, as if they had some concerns. I never imagined that they had already planted something in my body... They don't care when I die." Because she will die eventually, and her death will be as light as a willow catkin, not even causing a ripple.

With the curse afflicting her, the time and day she dies is merely a thought for those people.

Shang Yuji: "If we trigger the specific words they have hidden, we can deduce the secrets they represent."

Wait, they can use this to work backwards, like Minesweeper, where specific words are mines, and they say words they doubt, having Lan Yuanzhi repeat them until they find the mine.

After she finished explaining her idea, she sighed, "If we could remove the Gu worm within the time it takes for the Gu to be activated and the person to die, while the Gu worm is still alive and the person who cast the Gu doesn't notice anything amiss, then it would be worth a try."

Minesweeper sounds like a probability problem that requires good luck to sweep correctly, but it's not difficult for her. After all, she is certified by Master Xuanming as having a "precious destiny". If she plays with luck, she might actually succeed.

“Yes, Changtian.” Jiang Xi pointed to her arm with her finger and volunteered, “I can do what Changtian says.”

Shang Yuji slowly turned her head, her eyes filled with undisguised surprise: "Really?"

If they can actually make it work, then they'll have made a profit!

Jiang Xi nodded: "Yes, really!"

The rest depends on whether Lan Yuanzhi agrees to give it a try. In fact, she is not even a member of the Eldest Princess's faction, so there is no need for her to do anything for them. Informing her that the noble person in the Lotus Garden is suspected to be the Prince of Qi is already considered her doing a good deed.

Upon receiving Shang Yuji's signal, Zhou Chaoyun's eyelids twitched. She felt obligated to accept the task of persuading Lan Yuanzhi. It would be difficult to reason with her, but they could appeal to her emotions. If possible, Zhou Chaoyun hoped to resolve Lan Yuanzhi's predicament and, of course, it would be even better if she could bring Lan Yuanzhi to her side after saving her.

Before she could say much more, Lan Yuanzhi agreed.

She wasn't even afraid of death two days from now, so why would she be afraid of the crisis right now?

It's just death, but if she can get a piece of flesh from the Second Prince's residence, then her efforts won't have been in vain.

Unexpectedly, in the end, she still had a useful side, unlike what her grandmother said... that daughters are just tools of the family, used for marriage to exchange for benefits, and then playing the role of a polite, weak, tolerant and gentle porcelain in their husband's family.

The porcelain is shattered, and the shards can wound those who approach in ignorance, like a beautifully crafted yet incredibly sharp dagger.

As for the possibility of death? What worried her more was that it would involve Zhou Chaoyun, the only girl in this quagmire who stood up for her...

“If I die at Your Highness’s residence, it might give people a reason to cause trouble. Otherwise, I will pretend to leave the residence first, and then secretly come back to test Your Highness.”

Zhou Chaoyun looked at Jiang Xi, who had put on light makeup and looked quite charming: "Are you confident that you can keep her alive?"

When it comes to the art of Gu, no one can compare to Jiang Xi. According to Hui Gu, the Gu he has mastered, with only a few obscure Gu formulas left to learn. His talent is so extraordinary that it even surpasses that of A Yue.

Under Shang Yuji's affirmative gaze, Jiang Xi assured him, "I can guarantee the person's safety, and it won't be discovered."

After explaining, Jiang Xi got up, sat down next to Lan Yuanzhi, and asked her to extend her right wrist.

No one knows what he did, but the pulse under his wrist visibly throbbed. A moment later, a small bump appeared at the base of his palm where the pulse was. The skin was stretched thin, and one could barely make out that under the bump was a dark red worm with many legs.

A wave of nausea washed over her, and Lan Yuanzhi's eyes widened as she realized that such a hideous worm had been lurking inside her body for years.

Even without mentioning her, Zhou Chaoyun couldn't hide the disgust in her eyes. Such a treacherous and vicious plan could easily be caught off guard with the slightest carelessness, making it virtually impossible to guard against.

What an ugly bug!

Shang Yuji closed her eyes in pain. She thought that after seeing the Gu worms that Jiang Xi had taken to Huigu Acuo, she had developed a resistance to the worms, and at least she was no longer as afraid of them as she had at the beginning.

She never expected that she would be so used to seeing beautiful insects, but still couldn't accept something as ugly as this.

Couldn't the gu master have chosen a decent-looking insect when creating the gu?!

When she got back, she told Jiang Xi that the first rule for selecting Gu worms in the future was that they had to be presentable!

Avoiding the small bulge on her wrist, Shang Yuji joined the word-guessing game.

It was suggested in advance to avoid using everyday phrases, because if they were, Lan Yuanzhi would have fallen for countless tricks, and the four of them might not even be able to see her alive now; secondly, to avoid areas she was familiar with, and to try to guess in areas she was unfamiliar with, but which the Second Prince and "Prince Qi" knew well.

Due to her surroundings, Zhou Chaoyun mostly talked about politics, the decrees and laws of the past few years, the conflicts between officials, and later, even the secrets of the royal family came out. Lan Yuanzhi didn't even dare to repeat what she said.

Shang Yuji, standing to the side, wanted to cover her ears. After hearing so much juicy royal gossip, how could they possibly leave the Princess's residence alive?

What a mess of relationships! You powerful nobles and royalty are playing such a big game?! She recognizes some of the characters, but when they're put together, it's just bizarre.

It's one thing to have the scheming and backstabbing within the imperial harem, but how can there be a piece of official history that sounds like unofficial history but is actually legitimate history!

Official history is even more unofficial than unofficial history...

Is it alright for Your Highness to release information that inflicts heavy losses on both sides, causing significant damage to the enemy?

Zhou Chaoyun was thoroughly enjoying himself, Shang Yuji's mind was blank, and Lan Yuanzhi was timid and hesitant.

"Your Highness, these seem to have nothing to do with that word..." Shang Yuji hurriedly interrupted.

Zhou Chaoyun laughed and said, "They are just some shameful secrets. If they dare to do them, they shouldn't be afraid of what others say. Besides, the historians have recorded them all, and future generations will know about them eventually."

Both her second brother and the King of Qi were members of the royal family, so it was understandable that she guessed that the specific words referred to royal secrets.

Unfortunately, despite saying so much, not a single one of them was correct.

Xuanqing knew more about the affairs of the martial arts world, and casually guessed some great heroes who had disappeared from the martial arts world and some unknown blood feuds, but received negative answers.

Shang Yuji followed her thoughts, addressing whatever puzzled her, her words so erratic that none of the others could guess her meaning for a moment.

After a moment, Xuanqing asked another question: "Has Madam noticed anything else amiss?"

"..." She paused for a moment, then stammered, "I once found a piece of burnt letter paper. The writing on it was almost completely burned away, and only a few words could be made out—'Arrived,' 'Useful,' and 'Year Blood Jade.'"

She hid the letter under her bed in her room. She had already suspected the identity of the person in the Lotus Garden. After seeing the letter that looked strange and had been burned down to just a few words, she picked it up on a whim, thinking that it might come in handy later.

"Millennial Blood Jade," Jiang Xi suddenly exclaimed, staring at the bulge on her wrist.

Having gotten used to repeating what the other person said, Lan Yuanzhi subconsciously followed suit, and nothing happened.

Shang Yuji asked in confusion, "What is that?"

He wanted to turn back, but he hadn't finished what Aji had asked him to do. Jiang Xi lowered his eyes and continued to stare at the Secret Word Gu, explaining carefully, "One of the medicinal materials needed to cultivate the Heart-to-Heart Gu is to grind the Blood Jade into powder and feed it to the Gu worm. This will make the Gu worm's shell hard and able to withstand the attack of long swords and sharp blades."

I never expected to hear about the "Heart-to-Heart Gu" here.

Upon hearing the name of this Gu, one immediately thinks of the Gu techniques of the Southern Frontier. The Heart-to-Heart Gu is almost the most difficult Gu to master. Besides the requirement of highly skilled Gu practitioners, the scarcity of rare and precious materials is also one of the reasons.

Upon hearing the words "Millennial Blood Jade," Zhou Chaoyun frowned deeply: "Back then, when the King of Qi protected the Empress Dowager from the fire, she gifted the Millennial Blood Jade to him."

"So, the person who created the Tongxin Gu is connected to the King of Qi? Is this the person who created the Gu and is connected to the King of Qi?"

Although Zhou Chaoyun did not understand what the Heart-to-Heart Gu was, the fact that it could use such a precious treasure as the Thousand-Year Blood Jade meant that it was probably a rare Gu that was difficult to cultivate. From this, it could be deduced that the Gu master's Gu skills were profound, and it would not be difficult for him to cultivate the Secret Language Gu.

Shang Yuji denied it, saying, "It wasn't her. If nothing unexpected happened, she would have committed suicide more than ten years ago."

Knowing the cause of the Gu practitioner's death, Zhou Chaoyun asked again, "Do you know him?"

They were more than just acquaintances; the Heart-Connecting Gu she had cultivated was even inside both of them.

Shang Yuji couldn't help but sigh, "After all this time, it's still her..."

Moon Pearl, the previous Gu Master of Southern Xinjiang, A Yue of Wuming Village.

Feeling a sense of relief, she asked, "Your Highness, where is the Prince of Qi's fiefdom?" It was less a test and more an answer in her heart.

"The Hebei Road area."

...As expected, it should be so.

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Author's Note: One hundred chapters!!! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]