The King of Qin had not rested all night; his face was sickly pale, and his eye sockets were deep-set and sinister. His pure black eyes were like a demonic abyss that devoured everything, inspiring fear.
Xiang Chao wailed, "Your Highness, please understand! I truly knew nothing! I spent my entire life perfecting this Gu technique, and I only wanted to offer it to Your Highness. I had no other intentions! I have served Your Highness for three years, and my loyalty is as clear as day! I only wanted to offer Your Highness the best, otherwise I would not have gone to such lengths!"
King Qin was angry, but he also knew that if Xiang Chao had first come to him, he might have tried to deceive him with the Gu worm. But now that Xiang Chao was a formal advisor, there was no need to risk offering such a mysterious concoction.
Although he was harsh, he prided himself on being fair in rewarding and punishing others and not taking his anger out on others.
Xiang Chao began to kowtow, each kowtow making a loud thud, and soon bloodstains appeared on the ground. The King of Qin glanced at him and said coldly, "Stop, stop kowtowing. If you die, I won't be able to remove the Gu Mother."
“…Yes, Your Highness.” Xiang Chao stopped kowtowing, still feeling annoyed and confused.
The King of Qin frowned, his sharp eyes fixed on the poison. "Tell me, how did you arrange the poisoning?"
"Your Highness, I have been arranging for people to administer poison to Prince Jin, but there are always attendants testing the poison with him. If the poison is administered incorrectly, the poison mother will be wasted! Therefore, I only dare to make a move when I am sure that there are no attendants testing the poison with Prince Jin."
Yesterday, my subordinates discovered that Prince Jin left the Princess's residence without any attendants to test the poison, and went directly to the Marquis of Anning's residence. We immediately sent someone to infiltrate his household. Because the Marquis of Anning has not taken sides, we don't have many spies planted within his residence, only a few servants.
The maid who planted the poison said she did indeed put it in Prince Jin's teacup, but she wasn't watching him drink it before being thrown out. So…wait, could it be…could someone have accidentally ingested the poison?
Xiang Chao was stunned, his face drained of color.
He had already imagined hundreds of ways he could die.
After the King of Qin understood, his agitated mood calmed down, and coupled with the fact that he hadn't slept all night, he was overcome with fatigue.
As he rubbed his temples, he casually remarked, "If the Gu poison is used in the wrong place, will it have any impact on me?"
"Your Highness, you will not be affected in any way. On the contrary, the Gu Mother will absorb nutrients on ordinary days, and release them when Your Highness... urgently needs them."
Xiang Chao meant that if the prince was seriously injured or fell into a coma, the Gu Mother could save the prince's life in order to protect herself.
But saying those words would be too unlucky, so he dared not say them.
The King of Qin nodded. "I understand. This is none of your business. You may leave."
"Huh?" Xiang Chao was surprised and at a loss for words.
The King of Qin stood up. "Didn't the Gu Mother have no effect? Let's just pretend this Gu was never cast."
"!!!" Xiang Chao was overjoyed—was the prince letting him go?
The King of Qin ignored him and left the study, but in his heart he was thinking—the Prince of Jin did not take the Gu poison, and the Gu mother was effective, which means that someone in the Marquis of Anning's mansion took the Gu poison.
...
Before we knew it, the day the results were released arrived.
The entire literary circle of the capital was in an uproar—the once incompetent and useless Prince Bai had actually won the Junior Three Scholars title!
So it turns out that Prince Bai wasn't a fool, but rather that he had registered the wrong name before, and the God of Literature had gone to take the martial arts imperial examination?
In an instant, Prince Bai became the most sought-after figure in the capital!
Another thing gradually spread – Prince Bai and Prince Jin look exactly alike!
What a coincidence that he looks like a prince! Prince Bai is about to rise to great heights!
For a time, everyone wanted to befriend Prince Bai, and many powerful young men wanted to invite him. Unfortunately, Prince Bai was unable to go out to meet guests due to health reasons.
Although the young master Bai was not in good health, the Three Scholars Banquet had to be held as scheduled, and the Marquis of Anning was immediately swamped with preparations.
Since Ms. Ding is pregnant, she can only take precautions.
Jiang Yinjin has a criminal record, and everyone is afraid that she will frame the Marquis's family again, so they will not let her participate in the Three Yuan Banquet.
In the end, the arduous task of organizing the banquet tragically fell to Chenmianmian.
Fortunately, Princess Ruian sent her two maids, as well as a steward and nanny with extensive experience in organizing banquets, to assist her, and Shen Mianmian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite being exhausted, Chen Mianmian was very happy, happy for Fengchu, so even if she were to die from exhaustion, she would accept it.
And then there's...
She has now begun to convince herself to accept the fact that she has transmigrated into the book, and also to accept the possibility that she will never be able to leave or return home.
Although she was unwilling, heartbroken, and missed her family, there was nothing she could do. She had used up all her strength; she had done everything she could.
In the future, if she can still work hard, she will definitely do so; but if she really doesn't have the means, then... that's it.
Thinking of the prosperity of the Marquis of Anning's mansion, the love between the Marquis and his wife, and how well Fengchu treated her, she gradually found a balance in her mindset.
While preparing the banquet, Chen Mianmian also learned about the customs of this time and space.
In ancient China, there were four major banquets held after the imperial examinations: the Deer Cry Banquet after the provincial examination for civil officials, and the Jade Forest Banquet after the palace examination; the Eagle Soaring Banquet after the provincial examination for military officials, and the Martial Arts Banquet after the palace examination.
Prior to this, there had been no officially organized banquet.
There was no official banquet held before the provincial examination in the Southern Chu Kingdom, but there was a rule that students who achieved the top three honors should hold a banquet at home to celebrate, and the expenses for the banquet would be paid by the imperial court.
Why did the imperial court want the top three scholars to hold a banquet, but then refuse to officially sponsor it?
The reason is simple: very few people can pass all three levels of the imperial examination in one go! While the minor three-times-award-winning candidates occasionally appear once or twice every few years, the major three-times-award-winning candidates only appear once or twice every few hundred years.
...
This day.
It was the Marquis of Anning's small banquet for the Three Scholars.
The Emperor granted Marquis Anning a three-day leave and hosted a banquet, which attracted an unprecedented number of attendees!
For a normal banquet, the organizer sends out invitations. However, for a Sanyuan Banquet, those who wish to celebrate send out visiting cards in advance, and the organizer then sends out invitations as appropriate.
Normally, banquets for civil service examinations are attended more by scholars, while banquets for military examinations are attended more by military personnel.
However, Marquis Anning was a military general, and his colleagues who came to support him were all military officers; Prince Bai, on the other hand, had passed the civil service examination with top honors in all three categories, so most of those who came to the banquet were civil officials.
As a result, people of all ranks, regardless of whether they were civil or military officials, came to attend the Three Scholars Banquet.
Fortunately, although the Anning Marquis's residence is not very large, it has few owners and many empty courtyards, so as long as there are enough tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks, it can accommodate these people.
The Anning Marquis's residence was bustling with activity from before dawn.
As the person in charge, Liu Xiangning was also extremely busy.
Over here, she was directing her maid to deliver freshly baked tea and snacks to the women's table when she turned her head and bumped into someone.
Liu Xiangning cursed the other party in her heart for being so blind, but she still smiled and said respectfully, "I'm sorry, my lord, I offended you. I apologize to you."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
But his arm was grabbed by the man.
Liu Xiangning suppressed the urge to curse and turned to look at the lecherous man. She paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Eh? You look so familiar... Oh right, aren't you Lord Huo?"
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