Chapter 6: Cold Furnace

Zhao Wenxuan stood at the door.

He didn't come in immediately.

The night wind blew the corners of his moon-white brocade robe.

He was like a silent jade statue.

Ling Zixia slowly put down the bamboo chopsticks in her hand.

She stood up from her chair.

She curtsied toward the door.

The movements are humble and submissive.

"Young Master."

Her voice sounded particularly weak in the empty room.

Zhao Wenxuan looked away from her.

His eyes fell on the worn table.

Specifically.

It fell on the steaming coarse porcelain bowl.

"The food is hot."

He spoke.

This is not a question.

It's a statement.

There was no emotion in his voice.

But it is more chilling than the cold night wind.

Ling Zixia's body trembled almost imperceptibly.

She lowered her head.

He answered in a low voice.

"yes."

Zhao Wenxuan walked into the room.

He closed the creaking door behind him.

The moment the door was closed.

Blocked out all the sounds from outside.

It also cut off all possibilities of her escape.

The only sound in the room was the two people's breathing.

Zhao Wenxuan walked to the table.

He held up his finger.

He leaned towards the wall of the coarse porcelain bowl.

There was still a warm touch on the bowl wall.

"There is no charcoal fire in Feiyan Pavilion."

He said again.

"The food the kitchen sent was also cold."

Ling Zixia buried her head even lower.

She twisted her sleeves nervously.

"I...I'm in the box left by the previous tenant..."

Her voice was broken.

Full of timidity.

"...found some unused moxa sticks."

"I just...used that to warm up the food."

This explanation sounds perfect.

Moxa sticks are a common item in medical practice.

It's not surprising that she, as the daughter of Dr. Ling, knows how to use it.

Moreover, there is not much smoke when the moxa stick burns.

It can also be used to warm a bowl of food.

Zhao Wenxuan did not comment on this.

He withdrew his hand.

His gaze turned to Ling Zixia.

"Thrush's hand is injured."

He changed the subject without warning.

"I got burned by your soup."

Ling Zixia's body trembled again.

She immediately knelt down.

"It's...it's my fault."

She said in a crying voice.

"I bumped into the table by accident."

"I am willing to accept any punishment from you, sir."

She kept a very low profile.

He took all the blame on himself.

He looks like he is at the mercy of others.

"Punishment?"

A faint arc appeared at the corner of Zhao Wenxuan's mouth.

There was no smile in that arc.

Just cold scrutiny.

"The court doctor has checked it out."

"He said it wasn't just a burn."

"There were a lot of red rashes on the back of Thrush's hands, and they were extremely itchy."

"It's like being poisoned by some unknown poison."

The word "poison" came out of his mouth.

The air in the room froze instantly.

Ling Zixia suddenly raised her head.

Her eyes were filled with great shock and fear.

"poison?"

"No... Impossible..."

“It’s just an ordinary meal…”

She shook her head desperately.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

It seems like he has been greatly wronged.

Zhao Wenxuan watched her performance quietly.

He didn't miss any of the subtle changes in her expression.

"Yeah?"

He asked back slowly.

"A normal bowl of food."

"It can turn stale rice into hot food."

"It can even poison a healthy maid."

His voice was not loud.

Every word is like a heavy hammer.

It hit Ling Zixia's heart hard.

Ling Zixia's face turned pale.

She opened her mouth.

But I couldn't say a word.

In the face of absolute power.

Any excuses seem feeble and powerless.

She knew he wouldn't believe in coincidences.

He came here tonight.

I'm here to bring punishment upon you.

There was a long silence in the room.

Zhao Wenxuan seems to have good patience.

He just stood with his hands behind his back.

Waiting for her answer.

Or rather.

Waiting for her to reveal her real flaw.

After a long time.

Ling Zixia spoke in an almost inaudible voice.

"Young Master..."

"My father was wrongly accused."

She didn't defend herself anymore.

Instead, he brought up something that happened ten years ago.

Zhao Wenxuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

He didn't expect her to say this suddenly.

"I have been weak since childhood."

"When my father was alive, he often used various herbs to treat my health."

"He said that my physique is special and that I am different from ordinary people in many things."

Her voice was very soft.

It's like telling a distant story.

"Maybe... maybe it's my body..."

"I accidentally got something on me..."

"Then it was passed on to Sister Huamei through food..."

"I really didn't mean to..."

She blamed everything on her "special" physique.

This statement is absolutely absurd.

But it also has a strange logic.

The daughter of a medicine king.

There are some unknown secrets hidden in the body.

This doesn't seem completely impossible.

She will own the existence of the golden finger.

It was hinted at in the vaguest and most pathetic way.

It explains the weirdness of the matter.

He also portrayed himself as a pitiful person who couldn't even control himself.

Zhao Wenxuan looked at her.

His eyes became deeper.

He suddenly laughed.

That was the first time he'd truly laughed tonight.

"You mean, you were born with poison?"

His words were full of mockery.

Ling Zixia trembled all over at his direct words.

She fell to the ground.

I dare not say another word.

Zhao Wenxuan slowly walked up to her.

He squatted down.

He looked at her level as she knelt on the ground.

"stand up."

He said.

Ling Zixia raised her head hesitantly.

Looking at his face so close.

There was no expression on his face.

It's hard to tell what he's thinking at the moment.

She stood up obediently.

His hands dropped nervously to his sides.

Zhao Wenxuan also stood up straight.

He is a head taller than her.

An invisible sense of oppression enveloped her.

"It's late at night and very cold."

He suddenly said something irrelevant.

He took off a small copper hand warmer hanging from his waist.

The hand warmer was made with great skill.

It is engraved with intricate cloud patterns.

Exuding a faint warmth.

He handed the hand warmer to her.

"Take this."

His tone was flat.

"Don't really freeze to death."

Ling Zixia was stunned.

She looked at the hand warmer that was emitting warmth.

I was a little overwhelmed for a moment.

She didn't understand what he meant.

Just a moment ago he was questioning her like he was interrogating a criminal.

But the next moment he showed this caring gesture.

Is this a slap followed by a candy?

Her eyes fell on the hand warmer.

The silver frost charcoal in the furnace is burning vigorously.

Through the hollow gaps.

You can see the dark red flames inside.

An extremely subtle, almost imperceptible fragrance wafted out from the hand warmer.

The fragrance is very faint.

Mixed with the smell of charcoal fire.

If she wasn't someone who was extremely sensitive to the properties of medicine.

It's completely unnoticeable.

That was "Seven Days of Drunk".

A colorless and odorless slow-acting poison.

There is no immediate effect after inhalation.

It will only make people gradually depressed within seven days.

Finally died quietly in his sleep.

And no signs of poisoning were found afterwards.

What a cruel method.

What a cunning person.

He was testing her in a more subtle way.

If she is really innocent.

She would accept the hand warmer with tears of gratitude.

Then he died under unknown circumstances seven days later.

If she really is a monster "born poisonous".

She might be able to survive this poison.

That just confirmed his guess.

Ling Zixia's heart sank to the bottom.

She raised her head.

Looking at Zhao Wenxuan's bottomless eyes.

She saw a cold calculation in it.

She had no choice.

She could only accept this hot "gift".

She stretched out her hands.

Her fingers were a little stiff from the cold.

She took the hand warmer carefully.

The moment her fingertips touched the warm copper furnace.

A pure force silently passed into her from her palm.

The toxicity of the "Seven Days of Drunk" in the furnace was reversed in an instant.

The poison that originally corroded the heart meridians.

It becomes a mild medicinal fragrance that can calm the mind and replenish qi.

The process was so fast that she hardly even noticed it.

She held the hand warmer.

There was just the right amount of flattery on his face.

"Thank you...thank you, sir."

There was a hint of gratitude in her voice.

Zhao Wenxuan watched her hold the hand warmer tightly in her arms.

Looking at her brows slightly relaxed because of the warmth.

There was no change in his expression.

"Go to bed early."

He finished this sentence.

Then he turned and walked towards the door.

He didn't look at her again.

As if he were here tonight.

It's really just to give me a hand warmer.

Ling Zi-Xia held a warm hand warmer.

Watch him leave respectfully.

Just when Zhao Wenxuan's hand was about to touch the door bolt.

His steps suddenly stopped.

He didn't look back.

Just in a calm tone.

As if talking to himself.

"A distant aunt of mine used to live in Feiyan Pavilion."

"She loved tending to flowers and plants the most when she was alive."

"Especially a plant called 'water lily'."

"She said the pollen of that flower is very good for the body."

"Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, all the flowers withered and died overnight."