Poisoned while shielding an arrow

"Then how will you vent your anger?" Jiang Jin pulled out the dagger from his pocket and stabbed it fiercely into his heart.

"Are you crazy!" Wei Shu gripped the dagger, looking at Jiang Jin with lingering fear. She had almost become a corpse right before his eyes.

"Wei Shu, don't be wary of me, okay? We're husband and wife, I wouldn't hurt you." Jiang Jin hugged Wei Shu tightly, nodded as she looked at the slightly open window behind him, and Yi Yi's face came into Jiang Jin's view.

The next second, a sharp arrow slashed through the air towards Wei Shu. Jiang Jin pushed Wei Shu aside, and the arrow pierced her shoulder, drawing bright red blood. Jiang Jin saw Yi Yi consider firing another arrow and shook her head slightly. Yi Yi hesitated for a moment, then quickly moved away.

Wei Shu knew the direction the assassin had gone, but his eyes were only on Jiang Jin, who lay on the ground with a faint breath. Her Hu clothing was stained red with blood. She reached out and tugged at Wei Shu's sleeve, whispering, "Wei Shu, I'm a little sleepy."

"Jiang Jin, don't sleep!" Wei Shu scooped up Jiang Jin and ran towards the governor's mansion. Jiang Jin nestled in Wei Shu's arms and curled her lips into a smile. The next second, she plunged the poisoned needle from her bracelet into her wound. The poison took effect quickly, and Jiang Jin felt as if ants were gnawing at her entire body. With her last bit of strength, she stuffed the silver needle into her hairpin.

"Open the door quickly! I am General Wei Shu of the Imperial Guard, here to pay my respects to the Governor!" The door was flung open with a bang, and the steward was startled to see Jiang Jin covered in blood and with blackened lips.

"Quickly find a private room and fetch the best doctor in Yuezhou!" Wei Shu noticed that Jiang Jin's breathing in his arms was becoming increasingly weak. "Hurry!"

The steward, realizing what was happening, immediately led Wei Shu to the side courtyard. "Jiang Jin, wake up!" Wei Shu placed Jiang Jin on the couch and then noticed that her hands were terribly cold and her lips were frighteningly dark.

"General, what's going on!" The governor's wife had just entered the side room when she saw a lot of blood gushing from Jiang Jin's mouth.

"The doctor has arrived!" An elderly man with a white beard was carried into the side room. He had just taken Jiang Jin's pulse when he shook his head helplessly.

"I've never heard of this poison that has afflicted the lady. You'd better seek help from someone more skilled!" He finished speaking and turned to leave, when a dagger was placed against his neck.

"Keep her here. Do whatever it takes to stabilize her condition. I'll handle the rest!" Wei Shu said coldly, leaving the old man in the room without further ado.

"I can help you remove the arrow, but the poison is very strange, so please be prepared!"

The old man took out a hemostatic pill and fed it to Jiang Jin. He then used a knife to cut open Jiang Jin's clothes, forcefully pulled out the arrow, and blood gushed out, making Jiang Jin's face even paler.

"Jiang Jin!" Wei Shu quickly embraced her. Jiang Jin felt an itch in her throat and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"General, I can use acupuncture to temporarily seal the lady's heart meridian, but this poison is so potent that it will spread throughout her body in less than twelve hours, at which point it will be too late to save her!"

"Madam Governor, please take care of Jiang Jin. I've come to find medicine!" Wei Shu carefully put Jiang Jin down, wiped the bloodstains from her lips, and got up to leave.

Jiang Jin felt weak all over as someone put a bitter pill into her mouth.

"Jiang Jin, Jiang Jin!" Jiang Jin slowly opened her eyes and saw Wei Shu looking haggard.

"What's wrong with me?" Jiang Jin tried to speak but found she couldn't make a sound.

"Here, have some water!" Wei Shu carefully placed the water to Jiang Jin's lips.

"Thank you!" Jiang Jin cleared her throat, finally feeling a bit better.

"You're very weak, rest well. I'll go get you some porridge!" Wei Shu covered Jiang Jin with a blanket, and Jiang Jin obediently agreed. Seeing Wei Shu's changed attitude, she knew her plan had succeeded.

"Thank you," Jiang Jin murmured.

"No need." As Wei Shu got up to leave, he glanced back at Jiang Jin lying on the couch, suppressing the metallic taste in his mouth.

Only after Wei Shuzhen left did Jiang Jin get up from the bed. She touched the wound on her shoulder and smiled.

The window was opened the next second, and Jiang Jin breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing a familiar face.

"Madam Zheng, you've arrived?" Jiang Jin sat down, clutching her wound.

"Lady Jiang, your plan is too risky. Now the whole court and the public know that Lady Wei has been assassinated and her life hangs by a thread. His Highness is also very worried about you!"

"If it weren't dangerous, how could I gain Wei Shu's trust? It was worth risking my life to earn his trust." Jiang Jin laughed self-deprecatingly. "Have you dealt with the aftermath?"

"Hmm, the arrows belong to the Crown Prince's residence, but how do we treat the poison?" Zheng Xi glanced at Jiang Jin's slightly bleeding shoulder.

"This poison is called Mountain Moon. It's from the Third Prince's concubine's family and has nothing to do with His Highness." Jiang Jin looked at her bleeding shoulder and pressed it with her hand; the blood quickly soaked the fabric.

"What are you doing!" Zheng Xi frowned as she looked at Jiang Jin.

"Of course, we should strike while the iron is hot!" Jiang Jin smiled as if she hadn't been hurt at all, looking at Zheng Xi. "What kind of person do you think Wei Shu is?"

"Rumors circulate that he's cold and heartless, but it doesn't seem quite like the rumors suggest." Zheng Xi looked at Jiang Jin with some confusion.

"The poison from the mountain moon hasn't been cured yet." Jiang Jin tapped the table with his hand.

"Then I'll write a letter to His Highness!" Zheng Xi was about to get up when Jiang Jin grabbed his hand.

"No, the poison isn't in my body right now." Jiang Jin smiled, looking at her fair arm, her heart filled with immense surprise.

"It was Wei Shu?" Zheng Xi's heart surged with shock. "He risked his life for another?"

"Perhaps it's not about exchanging lives, but rather that he still has doubts. What if I soften and give him the antidote? Wouldn't that mean all our efforts would be in vain?" Jiang Jin's gaze darkened slightly.

"But if Wei Shu dies, the court will surely be in chaos!" Zheng Xi truly couldn't understand Jiang Jin anymore.

"It's alright, the person will be here soon!" Jiang Jin leaned against the couch and looked at Zheng Xi. "Everyone thinks that Wei Shu is cold and ruthless and has no weakness. I can create a weakness for him. Madam Zheng, do you think this plan of using emotion to achieve our goal will succeed?"

"Wei Shu doesn't seem like the type to be troubled by love." Zheng Xi frowned slightly.

"No, his loyalty is enough to show his affection. If Your Highness can grasp this affection, Your Highness will be even more powerful!"

Jiang Jin smiled slightly. Zheng Xi glanced at the pale-faced woman lying on the couch; though her features were sickly, there was an unyielding resolve in her eyes.

“Then I wish you all your dreams come true.” Zheng Xi stood up and bowed to Jiang Jin. “I had heard before that Your Highness had a remarkable person by your side, but I didn’t believe it then. What I have seen and heard today has made me look at you in a new light.”

"Madam Zheng, you flatter me. I only did what I could." Jiang Jin nodded slightly and watched Zheng Xi leave.

After a while, the sound of shattering dishes came from outside the door. Jiang Jin opened the door and saw Wei Shu lying unconscious on the ground, his face pale and his lips black. She knew that the Mountain Moon Poison had taken effect. Jiang Jin was stunned for a moment, then suppressed her worry and called out...

"Someone, quickly, someone go and fetch a physician!" The entire governor's mansion was in chaos. Jiang Jin seized the opportunity to run towards the mansion gate, where she saw a woman in green. Their eyes met, and then they quickly disappeared from sight.

"Where is the doctor!" Jiang Jin feigned panic and bumped into the woman.

"My lady, what's wrong? Why are you so flustered?" The woman in green helped Jiang Jin up.

"I'm sorry, my husband is in a hurry to find a doctor, and I bumped into you in my haste. I apologize!"

"Madam, what a coincidence! Our lady is a disciple of the renowned physician Zhaosun. She heard that Her Highness the Imperial Concubine has suddenly suffered a headache and is preparing to come to the capital to treat her," the maid behind her said shrewdly.

"Please, my lady, save my husband!" Jiang Jin disregarded etiquette and knelt down, just as the steward who had come looking for her saw it.

"Madam Wei, General Wei is vomiting blood! Please come and see him!" Jiang Jin pleaded, clutching the woman's sleeve with a look of anxiety on her face.

"My lady, since you are a disciple of Zhaosun and are going to the capital to treat the Imperial Concubine, you must have a kind heart. Please, save my husband!"

"Alright, it's fate that we met. I'll go with you to take a look." The woman helped Jiang Jin and the two of them to the side room. Wei Shu's face was now ashen, and his lips were an unnatural white.

"My lady, have you noticed anything?" The woman in green touched Wei Shu's pulse. "It's the Mountain Moon Poison, but it seems he wasn't directly poisoned. Instead, the poison was introduced into his body from someone else. I've seen the antidote prescription in a book, but it's incomplete. Someone needs to test it."

"I'll find a death row inmate!" Governor Wu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Wei Shu could be saved.

“No, the death row inmates have not been poisoned by the Mountain Moon Poison, so they cannot determine the dosage of the remaining prescription.”

"I'll do it!" Jiang Jin interrupted the woman. "I was poisoned, and he saved me, so I should save him too!"

"Madam Wei, you are not fully recovered yet, how can you take such a risk?" Governor Wu said with obvious disapproval.

"It's alright. As long as I'm confident I can cure him, I'm willing to try the medicine a hundred times!" Jiang Jin's eyes were firm.

"Alright, let's take this young lady to the next room to stay for now." Jiang Jin sat on the edge of the couch and wiped Wei Shu's face.

A night later, a voice finally came from outside the door, "My lady, our lady invites you to come and test the medicine."

Jiang Jin opened the door and walked to the entrance of the women's room. "My lady, please come in."

Jiang Jin had just stepped into the room when the door was closed. "Jiang Jin, how have you been?"

"You too, Zhai Wan." Jiang Jin casually sat down in a chair and looked at Zhai Wan.

"Do you really have to test the medicine yourself?" Zhai Wan placed the medicine bowl in front of Jiang Jin. "This is a wrong prescription. I can't guarantee anything except that she won't die."

"The play is already halfway through, right at the most dramatic and suspenseful moment. How can I be a deserter?" Jiang Jin drank the medicine in the bowl in one gulp.

"You're ruthless to others, but even more ruthless to yourself." Zhai Wan handed over some candied fruit.

"You still remember I like to eat this." Jiang Jin suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, and her body uncontrollably fell backward.

"Careful!" Zhai Wan quickly administered acupuncture to make Jiang Jin vomit the medicine. "I already told you not to test the medicine. Do you know how angry His Highness is? What will you do if Wei Shu didn't administer the poison?"

"No, Wei Shu won't just watch me die. He might suspect it's a setup, but he won't let me die without evidence." Jiang Jin leaned back in her chair, catching her breath.

"Is it worth risking your life?" Zhai Wan carefully patted Jiang Jin's back to help her catch her breath.

"The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. After this incident, Wei Shu will definitely investigate thoroughly. As long as he can't find anything, he'll have to admit that this isn't a setup. I want Wei Shu to fall in love with me step by step; I want him to be used by me and willing to become my stepping stone!" Jiang Jin's eyes flashed with intense ambition.

"You must be the first person to try and seduce Wei Shuxin, right?" Zhai Wan stuffed a candied fruit into Jiang Jin's mouth.

"Isn't everything we do first-of-its-kind?" The sweetness of the candied fruit in his mouth dispelled the bitterness of the medicine.

"What if Wei Shu hadn't fallen in love with you?"

"No, I'll definitely make him fall in love with me!" Jiang Jin's eyes sparkled with laughter.