The First Prince's residence, study.

After Qi Xiao finished processing all the official documents on his desk, he looked up, stretched his neck, and asked his trusted aide standing beside him, "Has any news come from the Lin family?"

"Your Highness, are you referring to the Prime Minister's residence or the Marquis of Ning'an's residence?" the confidant asked cautiously.

Prince Qi Xiao was never a person with an easy temper. Although he always acted gentle and reasonable in public, he was a completely different person at home.

Especially these days, I've been very irritable.

Many servants and guards in the mansion had their legs broken. If these people had some savings, they could be taken care of, but if they had no money, they couldn't even afford to hire a doctor.

This trusted steward had served Qi Xiao for many years and held a high position in the household. He had also heard that some people had died from this illness.

He is now trembling with fear every day when he is on duty, afraid that he might accidentally anger Qi Xiao, and he is even extra careful when answering questions.

As expected, Qi Xiao's face showed displeasure, and he said coldly, "You've been with me for so many years, of course you're just a bunch of peasants from the countryside."

"Yes, yes, I was foolish." The trusted subordinate quickly apologized and then hurriedly replied, "The people guarding over there sent word yesterday that the eldest son of the Lin family has been unconscious for some reason for the past few days and hasn't woken up yet. He hasn't gone to school either. It's been five days now, and I heard that the Lin family is extremely worried. Even the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lin family went to the temple outside the city to burn incense these past two days. They've also invited many doctors to come and see him."

When his trusted subordinate answered, he secretly glanced at Qi Xiao out of the corner of his eye, but seeing that the Crown Prince's expression had not improved, he immediately looked away and lowered his head, afraid that he would anger the Crown Prince again.

The eldest prince, Qi Xiao, frowned. "Is there nothing else besides that?"

"I haven't heard anything else. That little princess did go to the palace and the Prime Minister's residence twice, but she didn't find anything." The trusted subordinate's voice was a little tense. He didn't know what kind of news Qi Xiao wanted to hear.

However, although the Lin family of Marquis Ning'an was born in the countryside, they have not achieved much and have never relied on the power of the regent to act arrogantly. They just live an ordinary life and there is really not much news to report.

Qi Xiao remained silent for a moment, frowning as he pondered.

How is that possible?

Lin Zhongyuan's inexplicable fainting now proves that the Netherworld Gu he secretly administered in the palace must have taken effect.

But apart from that, no other good news came through?

You should know that the Netherworld Gu he used was no ordinary Gu!

This kind of Gu worm can be described as the ultimate Yin substance. For those lost souls who have lost their minds and have not been worshipped, it is a top-quality tonic.

After parasitizing a human body, the Netherworld Gu can transform a person's vital energy into yin energy that strongly attracts wandering ghosts. Even if the person being parasitized is unaware of it, every breath and heartbeat of theirs will strongly attract wandering ghosts nearby.

As the wandering ghosts were drawn in, the yin energy on his body became imbued with ghostly energy, amplifying the attraction and expanding the range of spirits drawn to him. Even ghosts within miles or tens of miles, upon sensing his presence, would involuntarily come to plunder him.

When the balance of Yin and Yang within the human body is disrupted, the person who is parasitized will have their Yin and Yang energies completely eroded and devoured by those wandering ghosts.

At that point, the person would naturally not survive, and such tiny Gu worms would be undetectable even by the most skilled doctor!

"Since that young master of the Lin family has been unconscious for several days, hasn't the Lin family gone to see a doctor yet?" Qi Xiao scoffed. "What good will praying to gods and Buddhas do?"

If it were truly useful, he would have to kowtow until his head bled to get that position.

Instead of letting a sickly person who knows nothing sit on the throne.

His trusted subordinate sensed his displeasure and quickly shook his head, saying, "It seems they haven't gone out to fetch a doctor. However, their young master is said to have studied medicine for a few days in the Imperial Hospital, so perhaps they don't need to call a doctor."

"If it's not necessary, then why hasn't his eldest son woken up these past few days? It must be because you haven't investigated thoroughly enough!" Qi Xiao said coldly.

The subordinate immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I am incompetent; I will certainly have them investigate thoroughly."

"You are indeed incompetent. You still can't even get a few people in?" Qi Xiao asked coldly.

The trusted subordinate could only continue kowtowing and saying, "Your subordinate is incompetent."

He was inwardly groaning in despair.

They had been trying to place more people in Lin Wanyue's household, but they hadn't succeeded yet. The Lin family was just too stingy; they wouldn't even hire one more servant.

In desperation, they sent out an eight-year-old girl dressed in tattered clothes. She claimed to be an orphan, clung to Xuefu's leg, and begged the Lin family to buy her back. They said they only needed some food and drink, not wages.

But to their utter surprise, the Lin family refused to accept the girl, who was being given away for free.

They even went so far as to send the girl they had sent out to an orphanage to be raised by the people there.

They were all dumbfounded. In the end, they had no choice but to send a steward from the eldest prince's residence to bring the girl back under the pretext of adoption.

Otherwise, it would be a complete loss, with no effect whatsoever.

Qi Xiao kicked the man in the head twice in anger, but there was nothing else he could do. He just said sternly, "Keep guarding him. If there is any news from over there, come and report to me immediately."

"Yes!" The trusted subordinate replied hastily without even raising his head.

Ten days have passed since he cast the Gu poison, and Lin Zhongyuan is still alive. This is obviously not right. Could it be that someone has taken action to eliminate the two Gu worms?

Ever since the beginning of the year, when Lin Wanyue held an exorcism and blessing ceremony in the palace, he felt that something was off.

After Liu Shuhua's incident, he originally wanted to get rid of Lin Wanyue. This little girl dared to cut off a thread he had planted in the palace, so he would make her whole family pay with their lives.

However, at the beginning of the year, he had too many things to do and simply couldn't spare the time to deal with Lin Wanyue, so he decided to let her live a few more months.

Unexpectedly, that little brat was so ungrateful as to dare to test him.

Then he had no choice but to take action. Once he finally had some free time, Qi Xiao considered how to deal with Lin Wanyue.