Passing medicine through the mouth sounds delicious, but it's actually not an easy task. Song Ting worked up a sweat before managing to feed him most of the ginger and brown sugar water.
Fortunately, the sugar water worked quickly, and Huaixu's body gradually warmed up during the process, and he stopped trembling as much as before.
Song Ting's lips, which were originally pale and thin, were now red and swollen, glistening slightly with moisture. Song Ting's eyes burned with desire, and she couldn't help but lean in again...
Because of the ginger and brown sugar water, Huai Xu's lips were sweet, and Song Ting was so captivated by the sweetness that she couldn't bear to let go of his lips.
"Does Your Excellency want to eat me?" The person beneath him slowly opened his eyes, met Song Ting's gaze, and smiled, his voice hoarse as he teased, "No wonder I dreamt of being bitten by a dog, it wasn't a dream after all."
"..." Caught red-handed stealing a kiss, Song Ting was so embarrassed she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet, and hurriedly looked away, "I just..."
"My lord—" Spring News urged again.
Song Ting suddenly stood up, her steps unsteady, and ran away as if fleeing: "I'll go see the Empress Dowager first!"
Chu Huaixu was drenched in sweat, a mixture of hot and cold sweat, his long, dark hair clinging to his face, yet he didn't look disheveled; instead, he possessed a fragile beauty.
He chuckled softly behind Song Ting, a chuckle that made Song Ting's legs go weak, and she almost tripped and fell as she pushed open the door to leave. Her steps became even more unsteady.
Chu Huaixu laughed even louder.
...
The Empress Dowager's condition remains the same; the poison has already invaded her lungs and internal organs. It is almost impossible to completely expel the poison using internal energy; the only option is to delay the spread of the poison.
Internal energy cultivation is extremely taxing on the mind and spirit, and Song Ting had already suffered severe depletion in the past few days. After once again channeling his internal energy for the Empress Dowager, he almost couldn't stand up.
He thought to himself, "This can't go on any longer. If things get to the worst point, it will be difficult for me to get Huaixu out of here in my current condition."
He even began to suspect that the so-called "expelling poison through internal energy" was a scheme deliberately set up by Zhang Bingzhi to exhaust his mind so that the old man could take him and Huaixu down in one fell swoop.
"Commander Song!" Zhang Bingzhi happened to rush in at that moment. Song Tingzheng was thinking of him, so he couldn't help but give him a cold look. "Is the Grand Secretary in such a hurry?"
Zhang Bingzhi, unusually, didn't argue with him, his face extremely grim: "Something terrible has happened!"
The small town at the foot of Baima Temple is called Sishui Town. The monks on the mountain mostly choose this place to purchase things, and pilgrims from all over the country also stop here. Because Baima Temple is very popular, Sishui Town is also very prosperous.
The monks on the mountain would go down the mountain to buy supplies on the first and fifteenth of each month. Today happened to be the fifteenth, so Wuxin took a few of his fellow disciples down the mountain.
The town was usually bustling with activity, especially today, being a day of fasting, when it was usually even more lively. But Wuxin and his friends found the town to be quiet and peaceful.
They hadn't seen a single shadow along their journey, only flocks of crows perched or circled around the rooftops, cawing loudly.
Tea shops, wonton shops, cosmetic shops... everywhere seemed deserted.
"Senior brother, what's wrong with the town today? Why is there no one here?" Wu Heng, who was a little younger, couldn't help but ask.
Wu Xin glanced at his junior brother and saw the nervousness on his face; in fact, he was just as nervous.
The town was so quiet it was almost eerily quiet.
He calmed his pounding heart and instructed his fellow disciples, "I also feel something is wrong. Let's go to the rice and flour shop and ask Master Fang what's going on."
The owner of the rice and flour shop is surnamed Fang, and his age is unknown, but he has been selling rice and flour in Sishui Town for most of his life. This business has been his family's business for generations.
The rice and flour for Baima Temple have always been sourced from his shop. The prices are fair, and the quality is good.
Wu Xin led his junior brothers to the shop in a hurry, only to find the door wide open, but Boss Fang was nowhere to be seen.
Wu Xin walked at the front, searching for the boss and calling out a few times, but received no response.
Several bags of flour were piled up in the corner, and the top sack was marked with the three characters "White Horse Temple" on a red paper.
These must be the ones Boss Fang prepared beforehand, intended for them to take back. But the boss is still nowhere to be found.
In town, families with businesses usually use the front room as a shop, while the whole family lives in the back room. Wuxin asked one of his junior brothers to go and check out the back room, while he and the rest of his junior brothers stayed where they were.
Since the goods had already been prepared in advance, it meant that Boss Fang was definitely nearby and hadn't gone far, waiting for them to come and load them.
"...It's terrible! It's terrible, Senior Brother!" A short while later, the junior brother rushed back, his face deathly pale, barely able to speak, "Dead! Boss Fang is dead, they're all dead..."
Wu Xin's face also turned pale.
"We went to the back room to check on Mr. Fang and found him and his wife lying on the dining table, foaming at the mouth..." Wu Xin still felt lingering fear when she recalled the scene.
Although they were scared, they still went to investigate the surrounding area and found that it wasn't just Mr. Fang's family; all the surrounding families were in the same situation. After Mr. Fang and his wife, they found a third, a fourth, and countless other corpses.
Dead people were everywhere. Almost everyone in the town was dead.
They had never seen so many dead people before. Wu Xin and the others were terrified and practically scrambled back up the mountain.
"Did you find anything suspicious at the time?" Song Ting asked calmly after listening to Wu Xin's account.
Wu Xin shook her head frantically: "No, no, we didn't see anything, we only saw, only the corpses of Boss Fang and the others..."
Wu Xin was terrified, but he was the calmest among the monks. At least he could answer Song Ting's question. The others were completely dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed and shaking their heads haphazardly.
Song Ting immediately gave the order: half of the Imperial Guards would remain at Baima Temple, while the other half would come down the mountain with him. Qi Zhou and Xiao Wu were naturally left behind.
...
When the temple distributed porridge, the most enthusiastic response came from the local residents. Just a few hours earlier, Song Ting had interacted with many of them, handing them bowls of eight-treasure porridge that carried good wishes.
The proprietress of the pastry shop, Uncle Wang of the fruit shop, Aunt Sun of the wonton shop... and Chen Xiaobao of the tea shop.
The little girl's smile was so sweet, but now she was a cold, lifeless corpse, unable to show that innocent and lovely smile again, and unable to praise Huai Xu's good looks anymore.
"They all died from poisoning." Zhang Bingzhi's face was grim.
Song Ting squatted down and wiped the white foam from the corner of Chen Xiaobao's mouth. As she did so, a piece of candy fell from the little girl's palm.
—That was the candy Huaixu gave her.
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