"Uncle Liang, what did you say?"

Mi Shan froze, her eyes widening in astonishment, her cheeks quickly flushing red. "No, this is impossible."

Didn't your mother tell you that?

"Mother only said that this Gu has the power to control the life and death of the other party, and it cannot be used on him unless he is a beloved person."

"That's all I wanted to say."

Mi Shan lowered her head, her hands tightly twisting the hem of her dress, her lips almost bleeding from being bitten.

"I suppose it's because you're young that she can't tell you too many details."

Xu Junliang sighed.

"So what should we do now?" Li Changyu asked coldly, frowning as he looked at Mi Shan, his expression as icy as ever. "Didn't you say you could concoct the antidote?"

"As long as we can safely get through the onset of the poison, we can keep the Gu worms for now."

After all, there's no better solution in the near future.

"Antidote? Do you mean a drug to suppress arousal?" Xu Junliang asked.

“Yes,” Mi Shan nodded, her eyes gleaming. “I’ll prepare the antidote. Taking it will temporarily suppress the urge to get closer to each other.”

Unexpectedly, Xu Junliang simply shook his head and chuckled upon hearing this.

"it's useless."

“Even if it can be suppressed with medicine under normal circumstances, the first 10 days after the Gu worm matures are an unavoidable ceremony of recognizing its master. The person who is affected by the Gu must be baptized by the Gu master.”

Upon hearing this, both Li Changyu and Mi Shan's expressions changed.

They looked at each other.

Li Changyu's pale face instantly turned gloomy.

Mi Shan could only lower her head, rubbing her forehead in frustration: "How could it be so troublesome? I didn't expect it to be like this. What about the next 10 days?"

"You can try it. I don't know the specifics, that's all I know."

"That means there's still hope." Mi Shan felt a mix of emotions. She glanced quickly at Li Changyu, her cheeks burning with an indescribable sense of guilt.

More than anything, it was a decision to face the issue.

"I will definitely develop an antidote to deal with the next 10 days."

As for this time...

She pursed her lips, her heart pounding like a drum, almost too afraid to think any further.

In silence,

It was as if you could hear another person's heartbeat echoing back.

Li Changyu frowned, remained silent for a long time, then exhaled deeply, raised his hand, and silently pressed it against his chest.

"So, this place was also your doing?"

"The effect of the Gu worm is that it will cause you to feel pain in your hearts. If one person feels pain, the other will also feel pain. The same applies to happiness." Xu Junliang's slow voice rang out.

I stroked the turtle's head, placed it on the table, and stretched comfortably.

"Do you have any other questions? If not, Lao Xu is going to sleep."

Mi Shan looked around at the bottles and jars, and became interested in several of the medicinal herbs.

"Is he your future husband?" Xu Junliang said slowly, arms crossed behind his head.

"No, that's not how it is between him and me." Mi Shan quickly denied it, but when she met Xu Junliang's teasing smile, she felt that all her explanations were in vain.

She piled the items she needed to buy on the table, then reached into her pocket and said, "Uncle Liang, how much is it? I'll pay for it myself."

Then, after waiting for a long time, she still couldn't find the money bag.

I just realized that I had left in such a hurry that I hadn't prepared any money.

A moment of silence crossed Li Changyu's indifferent face as he took out five silver notes and slammed them on the table.

Is that enough?

"Bring all the necessary materials."

"Thank you, I will pay you back."

Carrying a bag of medicinal herbs, Mi Shan followed him out of the pharmacy, waving goodbye to the uncle.

"Instead of worrying about this little bit of money, I should focus on refining the medicine. Even if I can't cure the Gu worms, I don't want to continue having that kind of relationship with you."

Li Changyu's cold gaze was fixed straight ahead, a chill gleaming in his dark eyes. He took a few steps, then stopped and looked back at her.

"Don't think you can trap me with such despicable means."

"You are still my person, you were before, and you will be in the future. You can only obey me."

Mi Shan: "..."

He didn't say anything on the surface, but inwardly he couldn't help but sigh, "He's really stubborn as a mule."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will still follow your instructions and help you complete your plan."

"Using poison on you was a last resort. In that situation, you would have done the same."

Besides, that kind of thing would be a disadvantage for her as well.

Kill one hundred enemies, but lose one thousand of your own.

The thought that only two days remained until that day made Mi Shan feel as if everything went dark.

"That day, I will come to find you. Take a bath in the palace... cough, don't wander off. Otherwise, if I die, you won't have an easy time either."

"I see."

Mi Shan sighed helplessly and followed him into the carriage, dejected.

The journey back was quiet and silent.

Li Changyu successfully escorted her back to the palace and left without lingering for even a second.

-

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

After drinking the medicine fed to her by the maid, Qin Miaomiao felt much better.

"Her medicine is really effective; it's even better than the medicine prescribed by the Imperial Hospital."

"I just followed her prescription and drank the medicine for two days, and I felt much more energetic and my lower abdomen didn't hurt anymore."

After Qin Miaomiao finished speaking, she suddenly remembered something, "Why hasn't Consort Murong come to see me these past two days?"

“She used to come to see me every other day.”

“This,” the maids looked at each other in bewilderment, “My lady, she is no longer a concubine.”

"If not a palace maid, then what is she?"

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