Dusk was falling outside the gates of the mortuary.
An unassuming blue-canopied carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the mottled stone steps.
The carriage guard jumped out of the carriage, looked around warily, and only after confirming that no one was following him did he lift the curtain and carefully carry the two bodies covered with white cloth into the mortuary.
As soon as the guards left, several dark figures emerged like ghosts from the shadows of the locust trees surrounding the mortuary!
Their movements were so fast that their figures were almost invisible; only the moonlight reflected off their blades drew a few cold arcs in the darkness.
Xiao Cheng emerged from the shadows, his black outfit almost blending into the night.
Inside the cold morgue, only a few lamps burned dimly, casting shadowy images of rows of corpses covered with white sheets.
He walked straight to the corpse in the far corner and lifted the white sheet—Zhou Yun'an's pale face looked particularly horrifying in the dim light.
Xiao Cheng checked his pulse, frowned slightly, and then quickly took out a blood-red pill from his pocket, pried open Zhou Yun'an's teeth, and stuffed the pill into his mouth.
"Master, I apologize." Xiao Cheng whispered, then suddenly struck Zhou Yun'an in the chest with his palm.
As the pill went down his throat, Zhou Yun'an's body suddenly convulsed violently, veins bulging on his neck, as if something was rampaging through his body.
Xiao Cheng reacted quickly, pressing down on his convulsing limbs until the spasms gradually subsided.
"Hurry, the medicine will only last for half an hour." Xiao Cheng quickly picked up Zhou Yun'an and slipped out of the mortuary.
In the distance, faint flames could be seen—someone was setting fire to the woodshed of the mortuary.
In the dimly lit secret room, Zhou Yun'an suddenly opened his eyes.
The pupils contracted in the darkness, and it took a moment for the pupils to adjust before the surrounding environment became clear.
He turned his head and spat out the remnants of the Turtle Breath Pill that he had been holding in his mouth. Most of the pill had dissolved, leaving only a small clump of black gelatinous substance.
The pill made his heart almost stop for two hours, successfully deceiving the imperial physician sent by Prince Jing's mansion to examine the body.
"Master is awake?" Xiao Cheng emerged from the shadows, handing over a bowl of foul-smelling medicinal soup. "The physician from the Rong Prince's residence said that drinking this medicine will cure him."
Zhou Yun'an propped himself up, the medicine bowl in his hand was ice cold.
Without any hesitation, he raised his hand and drank the medicine in one gulp.
The bitter liquid slid down his throat, and the medicine dripped down his chin, leaving several brown streaks on his white undergarment.
He touched the old wound on his chest—the deadly poison he had been poisoned seven years ago had almost killed him, but it had also caused a mutation in his body, making him immune to all poisons now.
"What about the Prince Jing's residence?" Zhou Yun'an's voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.
"I didn't suspect anything," Xiao Cheng said in a low voice. "Prince Rong found a corpse with a similar build to yours. Tomorrow, the night watchman at the mortuary will be negligent due to drunkenness, causing the mortuary to be burned to the ground."
Xiao Cheng helped him up and said in a deep voice, "Master, Prince Rong has been waiting at the villa for quite some time."
Zhou Yun'an's eyes darkened, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips: "He certainly knows how to pick his timing."
The secret passage outside the secret room was winding and deep. Zhou Yun'an's steps were still a little unsteady, but his eyes had regained their usual sharpness.
At the end of the secret passage was a hidden wooden door. Pushing it open, a cool night breeze rushed in.
A horse-drawn carriage without any markings waited quietly outside the door.
Before getting into the car, Zhou Yun'an glanced back towards the direction of the capital—there, the lights of Prince Jing's mansion were still shining brightly, and Wang Xiuxiu and Lu Jingze were probably celebrating his "death".
The carriage traveled for about half an hour before stopping in front of a secluded courtyard nestled in a bamboo grove.
The courtyard gate opened silently, and two men in black bowed, but dared not look directly at Zhou Yun'an's face.
Prince Rong leaned back on the soft couch, lightly tapping the rosewood table with his fingertips, his expression playful.
"Lord Zhou," Rong Wang's voice carried a hint of sarcasm, "I thought you were really going to perish at Jing Wang's residence this time. The poison that Qiu Xin took was a deadly poison that even the head of the Imperial Medical Academy couldn't cure."
Zhou Yun'an's face was still somewhat pale, but he had regained his composure.
He slowly walked to the seat opposite Prince Rong and said calmly, "Your Highness is too kind. If it weren't for Your Highness's secret assistance in providing the Turtle Breathing Pill, I would indeed have been unable to escape this calamity."
Prince Rong chuckled but didn't reply. Instead, he slowly picked up his teacup, sipped a mouthful of fine Longjing tea, and said, "I didn't save you for nothing."
Xiao Cheng stood to the side, his brows slightly furrowed: "Your Highness, we had a prior agreement: you help our master escape, and we will assist you..."
"An agreement?" Prince Rong raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. "But the situation has changed. You've been driven out of the court by my good nephew, and you still want to remain uninvolved and reap the benefits?"
He put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking against the wooden table with a crisp sound.
Zhou Yun'an's eyes turned slightly cold, yet he remained calm: "What does Your Highness desire?"
Prince Rong stood up, looking down at Zhou Yun'an: "What I want is the complete downfall of the Jing Prince's Mansion. If you still want to cooperate, you must prove that you still have value."
He walked to the window, his back to the two men, and said, "I only care about the final result. My patience is running out, so Lord Zhou, don't dawdle any longer."
After saying that, he turned and left.
——-
As night deepened, Zhou Yun'an stood by the window, gazing in the direction of the Jingwang Mansion in the distance, his eyes filled with a chilling intent.
Xiao Cheng whispered, "Master, Prince Rong is trying to raise the price drastically."
Zhou Yun'an sneered: "He just wants to use me to get rid of Prince Jing, and then turn around and control me."
"Then we..."
"No rush." Zhou Yun'an lightly tapped the window frame with his fingertips. "Let him be smug for a while."
Xiao Cheng lit a new candle, and the flickering flame illuminated Zhou Yun'an's pale face.
"Master," Xiao Cheng handed over a bowl of warm ginseng soup, "how did you know that Prince Rong possessed such a miraculous medicine as the Turtle Breathing Pill?"
A cold smile played on Zhou Yun'an's lips as he lightly traced the rim of his teacup with his fingertips: "You think that all these years of maneuvering in the court was limited to planting spies in the Prince Jing's residence?"
The candle wick suddenly popped and sparked.
Zhou Yun'an's gaze deepened: "Eighteen years ago, to appease the late emperor, Prince Rong feigned traveling the world and encountered a holy maiden from a certain tribe in the south."
"And then?" Xiao Cheng couldn't help but ask.
Zhou Yun'an sneered: "He tricked the Holy Maiden into believing he would welcome her with the honors due to a principal wife, and after stealing the tribe's sacred medicine, he sent his trusted confidants to the southern lands, intending to massacre the entire tribe."
Xiao Cheng gasped: "That Holy Maiden..."
"They're not dead." Zhou Yun'an took out a silver bell from his pocket. "That Holy Maiden wasn't entirely stupid; she must have used some method to ensure those people never returned."
"They're all dead?"
"Not exactly. One person escaped the disaster. Knowing the character of Prince Rong, he knew he would die if he returned, so he risked his life to escape. After many twists and turns, he was rescued by our people."
The hooting of owls came from outside the window.
Zhou Yun'an suddenly coughed violently, black blood seeping from between his fingers—the poison Qiu Xin had administered had ultimately damaged his health.
\"master!\"
"It's nothing, I need to rest now, you can go downstairs."
Xiao Cheng understood and bowed as he withdrew.
Zhou Yun'an gazed at the gradually brightening sky outside the window and murmured, "Wang Xiuxiu, Lu Jingze... did you think it was over?"
"This is just the beginning."
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