Chapter 10010 Life and Death

Chapter 10

Mu Feng placed the horse stool: "Miss Meng, please."

Meng Yuning stepped onto the carriage using a stool, opened the curtain of the sedan chair, walked in, and bowed first: "Greetings, Your Highness."

Qi Jingyan nodded slightly: "Sit down."

Meng Yuning sat down on the seat on the right side of the carriage and realized that this carriage, which looked very large from the outside, was also very spacious inside.

There was a bed at the innermost side of the carriage. Judging from its length, it was more than enough for Qi Jingyan to lie down. At this moment, he was sitting upright on it, holding a teacup in his hand and slowly drinking tea.

The seventeenth prince sat obediently beside him, one of his little hands pulling Qi Jingyan's sleeve, the other pulling a tiger-head quilt, blinking his beautiful big eyes at her. Maybe it was because he had eaten the food she cooked, but the wariness in the little boy's eyes when they first met was gone, leaving only curiosity.

Meng Yuning smiled at him kindly. The little boy shyly buried his face in Qi Jingyan, but then he couldn't help his curiosity and secretly raised his head to look at her.

Qi Jingyan took two sips of tea and placed the teacup on the cabinet fixed to the carriage on the right. He reached out and touched Yi'er's head, then looked at Meng Yuning: "What will happen after we finish eating over there?"

Meng Yuning did not hide it: "The poison hemlock will react in half a quarter of an hour at the fastest, or half an hour at the slowest, with symptoms such as nausea and vomiting."

Qi Jingyan asked again: "Will it be fatal?"

Meng Yuning clenched her fingers and said, "It depends on how much each person eats. If they eat too much, they might become unconscious, convulse, have difficulty breathing, or even suffocate to death after about an hour."

Qi Jingyan: "Okay, I understand. You can go back to the carriage and rest first."

Meng Yuning agreed and asked, "Your Highness, when do we leave? Can we set off before those people notice?"

Qi Jingyan: "What?"

Meng Yuning looked worried and honestly confessed her thoughts: "I didn't make this dish. I'm afraid they'll find something wrong and come back to trouble me."

Qi Jingyan was very surprised by her confession and raised his eyebrows slightly, "Relax, no one can hurt you."

Qi Jingyan's words meant that he was protecting her. Meng Yuning's heart finally settled down. She bowed to Qi Jingyan and said sincerely, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Then she turned around and was about to leave. Just as she reached the door, she heard the person behind her speak again in a calm voice: "Miss Meng, how come you know so many wild vegetables and also know poison hemlock?"

Meng Yuning paused as she lifted the curtain, her heart tightening. She wondered why this person suddenly asked this question, whether it was out of pure curiosity or if he had noticed something was amiss.

Qi Jingyan and the original owner were only granted marriage last year. Qi Jingyan was busy with government affairs, and the original owner was a lady from a noble family who strictly observed etiquette. Apart from meeting a few times at palace banquets, the two of them had rarely met in private, so he probably didn't know much about her.

In addition, in the original plot, when the original owner escaped, Qi Jingyan's attitude was neither angry nor worried, which was enough to show that he didn't care about the original owner at all.

So, he was probably just curious, right?

Thinking of this, Meng Yuning turned back and answered calmly, "I lost my mother when I was young and lived with my grandmother for a few years."

This is the truth. After the original owner's mother passed away, Meng Huaifu hurriedly welcomed his second wife into the family. The original owner's grandmother felt sorry for her granddaughter, so she took her in to live with her for a few years. When she grew up a little, she sent her back to the capital.

Qi Jingyan looked at Meng Yuning quietly without saying a word, but his eyes revealed three words: and then?

Meng Yuning gritted her teeth and continued, "My grandmother loved to eat wild vegetables. When I was little, I loved to play, so I often followed the maids and nannies to the farm to pick them. I picked so many that I got to know them."

She made these up. The original owner was raised like a treasure by her grandmother, who never took her to eat any wild vegetables, let alone let her go to the fields to pick wild vegetables.

But the original owner's maternal grandparents' home was more than 200 miles east of the capital, and they were now on their way to Lingnan. I don't think Qi Jingyan would send anyone to ask for such a small matter.

Qi Jingyan looked at Yu Ning silently.

Meng Yuning didn't know whether he believed it or not. She tried her best to look at him calmly, but she felt uneasy in her heart.

After a while, Qi Jingyan pointed to his left cheek and said, "There's dust on your face."

Unexpectedly, he suddenly changed the subject. Meng Yuning was stunned for a moment, then she said "oh" and quickly raised her sleeves to wipe it twice. However, it did not wipe it off, but instead covered a larger area.

Yi'er, who was sitting quietly beside Qi Jingyan, suddenly giggled, "Big clown face."

Meng Yuning smiled awkwardly: "Excuse me, I must have gotten it while I was cooking earlier."

Qi Jingyan nodded: "You go first."

Meng Yuning didn't wait a moment longer, replied with a "OK", turned around and went out, got off the carriage, ran straight to the river, scooped up water and washed her face several times, then washed her hands carefully, and then looked at herself in the water.

She wanted to see what she looked like now.

Unfortunately, the water was shaken by her, causing ripples and making it difficult to see clearly.

But it looked like her outline and facial features were quite similar to before. If she had the chance, she would have to find a mirror.

After washing her face and hands, Meng Yuning stood up and walked back. On the way back, she picked up a few foxtail grasses, twisted them around in her hands, and weaved them into a furry little rabbit. Then she took the little rabbit back to her luggage cart.

Sitting in the carriage, she opened the curtain a little and secretly looked at the escorting officers and soldiers. She saw that they were still eating. Maybe it was because the food tasted good today, but the atmosphere was much more cheerful and lively than usual. Several soldiers were fighting over a bowl of food that was obviously only at the bottom, which caused a burst of laughter.

Meng Yuning looked for a while, lowered the curtain, and sighed.

She warned herself in her heart, Meng Yuning, in this life-and-death situation, you cannot be merciful.

Besides, her life and her future are all in the hands of others, and she has no right to choose at all.

After this self-consolation, Meng Yuning stopped thinking about it, curled up on the pile of bags, and closed her eyes to rest.

---

In Qi Jingyan's carriage, Mu Yun reported everything he had heard before to his prince.

Hearing the foul language spoken by the officers and soldiers, Qi Jingyan frowned unhappily: "Since you can't speak human language, then let's deal with you."

Mu Yunying: "Yes."

Mu Feng, who had been listening quietly at the side, asked again, "Your Highness, what do you mean by 'letting the Meng sisters share one husband'? Could it be that old man Meng Huaifu gave his other daughters to the Third Prince?"

Qi Jingyan: "You said earlier, how many daughters does Meng Huaifu have?"

When His Majesty suddenly arranged a marriage between him and the eldest daughter of the Meng family, Mu Feng was curious, so he went to inquire about the Meng family. After coming back, he talked a lot to him, but he didn't care at the time.

Mu Feng: "There are only two in total. One is Miss Meng who follows us, and the other is Miss Meng, the second Miss Meng. However, Meng Jingru was brought into the Meng Mansion by the second wife. She is only less than a year younger than Miss Meng."

"Although Meng Jingru is not Meng Huaifu's biological daughter, the old villain, out of love for her, allowed her to have the surname Meng and even included her in the family tree."

"It's strange, though. Although the two girls from the Meng family are not sisters, they look somewhat similar. However, of course, the eldest girl, Meng, is prettier."

Qi Jingyan thought of that face that was not made up and was accidentally stained with dust, but was still beautiful, and nodded.

Mu Feng thought His Highness also recognized Miss Meng's beauty, but he didn't expect that the first thing he said was, "Leave immediately. Let Miss Meng's carriage go ahead of me."

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