The moon over the mountain is useless
"Recorder Jiang, I've long admired your name!" Eryu's expression had changed; she looked at Jiang Jin with eyes devoid of any emotion.
"Are you His Majesty's secret guard?" Jiang Jin asked, looking at Er Yu, whose temperament was exactly the same as Yi Yi's.
"As expected of the first female official to enter the court in the Great Yan Dynasty, Jiang Lushi is indeed smarter than others." Eryu reached out and moved Yi Yi's dagger aside.
"His Majesty had his eye on this place for a while, but he didn't expect Registrar Jiang to come in as well." Er Yu looked at her third brother lying on the ground with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Your Majesty is indeed wise and powerful. The safety of the people is naturally the most important thing. General Wei is stationed at the government office and cannot leave, so he sent me to come and check." Jiang Jin dodged the question, not wanting to beat around the bush with Er Yu any longer.
"Does Your Majesty have any plans?" Jiang Jin didn't think Emperor Wende would sit idly by and wait for his death, but he wasn't sure if the guard in front of him would tell the truth.
"His Majesty is merely monitoring from the shadows. Does Registrar Jiang have any brilliant plan?" Eryu thought of the note she had received, which clearly stated that everything should be done according to Jiang Jin's plan.
"Just tell them that Third Brother needs to rest and you'll take me to test the drug. What will happen after the drug is successful?" Jiang Jin was curious to see just how miraculous the so-called drug was, that it was worth the risk of so many lives by the people behind it.
"They are no different from normal people, but they will suddenly die after ten days and everyone who comes into contact with the corpse will become infected. However, it is unknown when the disease will take effect. Unfortunately, no one has been able to survive ten days. The longest anyone has survived is nine days, and they are under strict surveillance."
Jiang Jin frowned. These symptoms were somewhat like those of the plague, but unlike the plague, the death of a person wouldn't be apparent from their appearance.
"Is it like Luo Luoxiang's pulse?" Jiang Jin suddenly remembered the poison Zi Yuan had been poisoned with, only the onset was a little slower than Er Yu had said.
"This subordinate doesn't know." Eryu shook his head. He was ignorant of pharmacology and naturally didn't know about Luoluoxiang's pulse.
"Are there any living patients still alive? Let me check their pulse."
Jiang Jin was somewhat anxious. Originally, she only wanted to kill the people here during the drug trial, but now she suddenly wanted to find out who was behind it all and tear them to pieces!
"There is one, but he's heavily guarded in a deserted courtyard, and I have no way to get in touch with him." Eryu has been here for three months and has barely reached the level of leading chores.
"It's alright, even if things go wrong, we can still destroy this place." Jiang Jin took out rouge and drew scars on her neck and arms.
"Now you can hand me over." Jiang Jin tousled her hair and clothes. Er Yu looked at Jiang Jin in front of him and instantly transformed into a gentle woman. If the man on the ground hadn't still been there, he would have been fooled by Jiang Jin.
"Yi-yi, don't let those people on the ground ruin my plans." Er-yu pulled Jiang Jin out the door. The moon was hidden behind dark clouds. The two walked around several courtyards and arrived at a well. Er-yu kicked a stone by the well, and the well opening moved aside, revealing a set of steps.
"Be careful, clerk. Those below aren't exactly benevolent people." Jiang Jin nodded, her hand gripping both the poison and the dagger tightly.
"Another one, tsk, not bad looking, too bad she's going to her death." A man sat on a stool, drinking and laughing as he watched Jiang Jin being tortured.
"This is the new bride that Third Brother asked me to send." Eryu released Jiang Jin and pushed her inside.
"Where are those three old men!" The man looked at Eryu with displeasure. Eryu stood timidly to the side and replied, "Third Brother said he was tired and wanted to rest for a while."
"Get out, you useless thing! It's good that Master Zeng is here today, so let him take a look at the medicine man himself." The man grabbed Jiang Jin and Er Yu, his eyes turning cold, and left the underground area.
"Let me go!" Jiang Jin controlled her strength, making it seem like she was hitting him with all her might, yet lacking some of her killing intent.
"Don't move. If you anger Master Zeng, tonight will be your death day. Otherwise, you can live a few more days." The man covered Jiang Jin's mouth and led her through many winding paths until they finally arrived at a stone gate.
"Young Master Zeng's new medicine subject has arrived." The man's expression had completely changed from his previous coarseness; one could imagine his fawning tone from his voice.
"Come in." A deep voice rang out as Jiang Jin was roughly pushed to the ground.
"Young Master Zeng, this is a new medicine man, I heard he's a novice Taoist priest." The masked man glanced at Jiang Jin and waved casually.
"Put her in the cage." Jiang Jin was grabbed by the neck and thrown into the iron cage by the man. If she were truly a young woman suffering from palpitations, she would have been half-dead long ago.
“Young Master Zeng, Nan Yi’s reputation for danger has spread far and wide. Apart from these Taoist priests, no one dares to come here anymore. Therefore, the medicine man will likely have to be transported from another county.” The man stood respectfully before the masked man, who sat high in a chair, toying with a snake in his hand.
"Understood. Has the person been checked?" The masked man smiled as he looked at Jiang Jin, who was huddled in the corner watching him warily.
“Every young lady has a different expression when she arrives here. Some plead desperately, while others faint. Someone like you is truly rare.”
The masked man, intrigued, descended the steps and approached the cage. "My lord," he said, "if this woman resists and hurts you..."
"It's nothing, an ant bite is just a minor injury." Jiang Jin watched the masked man walk towards her step by step, and was thinking about what poison to use when she saw him stop.
"Tsk, what are you still doing here?" The masked man looked at the other man impatiently. "Are you here to spy on me?"
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Seeing the masked man's anger, the man hurriedly left the house, considerately closing the stone door behind him.
"Let me tell you, my master will not let you get away with this!" Jiang Jin watched as a sinister glint flashed in the man's eyes, and then he grabbed Jiang Jin's wrist.
"You're in good shape. Don't worry, I'll make sure you die peacefully, without much pain. I'll just throw your body in a pit, and nobody will find you." The man smiled sinisterly as he gripped Jiang Jin's neck.
"Your life is in my hands. So what if your master dotes on you!" Jiang Jin's breathing slowed as her grip on the bracelet tightened. Suddenly, the pressure on her neck eased, and air rushed into her nose.
"I almost killed you. Sorry, you shouldn't have died here." The masked man was about to turn around when he heard a hoarse voice behind him.
"Aren't you afraid of divine retribution for using living people to test medicine?!" Jiang Jin stood up, leaning against the iron cage, and glared at him sharply.
"Heavenly punishment, I think you've gone mad!" The masked man twisted his neck and looked back at Jiang Jin intently. "Heaven can't hold back me. If you wait any longer, you'll become my drug man. Then we'll see if God will save you."
"You..." Jiang Jin was about to make a move when a man's voice came from outside the door.
"A letter from Prince Zeng!" Jiang Jin immediately stopped what she was doing and became weak and boneless.
"I understand." Zeng Langjun pinched Jiang Jin's arm and ran his cold fingers across her cheek.
"Be good, I'll definitely make you the most beautiful medicine man." The door was closed and locked, leaving Jiang Jin alone in the room.
The stone house was very simple, containing only an empty cage and a long table. There were no complicated items on it as Jiang Jin had imagined; just a few sheets of paper and a small inkstone.
Jiang Jin used the silver needle from her hair to poke at the lock, slowly turning it in the middle until it clicked open. Jiang Jin carefully walked to the table and examined the densely packed list of medicinal herbs on the paper. Some were herbs for preserving corpses, while others Jiang Jin had only seen in ancient books.
"What exactly are they doing?" Jiang Jin picked up the inkstone and smelled it; a strong scent of ink wafted towards him.
"Even this ink contains several herbs." Jiang Jin disdainfully put the inkstone back in its place, then looked around at the stone walls, touching them to find no new secret chambers or anything strange.
Jiang Jin returned to the cage, locked it, and huddled in a corner, constantly watching the stone door. After a short while, the masked man entered, carrying a porcelain bottle.
"You look to be in good spirits." The masked man unlocked the door and looked down at Jiang Jin. "It's an honor for you ants to become my drug users. When you die, go down to the King of Hell and tell him my name. Maybe you'll find many other ants who have suffered the same fate as you."
The masked man opened the porcelain bottle, intending to put the pill into Jiang Jin's mouth, but felt a sharp pain in his neck; a thin needle was embedded directly in the side of his neck.
"What did you do?" The masked man collapsed to the ground, feeling as if ants were gnawing at his entire body, his finger trembling as he pointed at Jiang Jin.
"Since you enjoy using people as test subjects for your medicine, have you never heard of Shan Yue?" Jiang Jin pulled out a dagger and lifted the man's chin. "You consider us ants, but have you ever thought about being eaten by ants?"
"Didn't they search him?!" The masked man's eyes were filled with rage as he looked at the dagger Jiang Jin had pulled out.
"Those fools thought I was a woman, and since they couldn't cause any trouble, they were naturally impatient to take advantage of my beauty. Unfortunately for them, you've fallen into my hands because of it." Jiang Jin reached out and removed the man's heavy mask. She had expected him to have an unsightly face, but to her surprise, his appearance was quite pleasing to the eye.
"Good-looking but with such a cruel heart. I love slicing open beautiful faces and then skinning them alive." Jiang Jin laughed as she pressed a dagger against the man's cheek.
"Tell me what you're doing!" More bright red blood seeped into Jiang Jin's dagger, flowing down the blade to her fingertips.
"Why should I tell you?" The man looked at Jiang Jin, who was no longer daring to go any further, and laughed. "What, you're afraid now? Your threats of skinning and dismembering are just empty words. Do you even know how to kill someone?"
Jiang Jin released the man with a cold laugh. "Although you didn't faint after being poisoned by Shan Yue, your lips have started to change color. Do you feel cold all over? I don't know what you have, but at least you can't cure Shan Yue poison right now."
"You seem to know quite a lot, but you underestimate me." The masked man slowly rose, his lips regaining their normal color.
"Mountain Moon Poison may be fierce, but to me it's nothing more than a child's poison. Now, just obediently accept your death!" As the man's palm strike came, Jiang Jin barely dodged, then tossed out the sleeping potion from her armlet. She frowned as she looked at the few remaining poisons in her hand.
"This medicine is good!" The man sniffed it carefully, then grabbed Jiang Jin. "You've had your fun, now prepare to die!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com