Chapter 122 I'm ready. What are you ready for? Are you ready...
Ordinary poisons are very sweet, while plant poisons are mostly pungent, but this one had a stench similar to a mixture of rotten food and burnt feathers. At the time, she simply thought it was the poison's dominance, but she never thought deeply about it.
Shen Juansheng said that it would be very costly and difficult to preserve all the grain, which would be enough to shake the foundation of an entire state.
But what if... it's not the food itself that's poisonous?
If so, what if the poison is the smoke that evaporates when the grain comes into contact with water and heat?
The smell of burning medicinal stones. The smell of herbs like "Aconite" and "Wolfsbane," a mixture of many types, produced after a long and special preparation.
A single grain of poisoned rice might not kill a person, but a pot of rice laced with poisoned rice, or a kettle of boiling water laced with poisoned rice, would create a poisonous vapor that would spread silently and unnoticed.
These drugs, when consumed alone, are highly toxic, but their effects are rapid and easily detected. However, if converted into smoke and inhaled through the mouth and nose, their toxicity diminishes, becoming a chronic poison that accumulates over time, damaging the heart and veins. With no known cause, the poison only weakens, ultimately... fading.
Shen Yan hadn't expected to kill many people with that little bit of poisoned food! He wanted panic, suspicion, and to see the entire city slowly consumed by this chronic poison without even realizing it.
She didn't care that she was soaked or that she was only wearing a loose shirt. She jumped out of the bathtub barefoot. Without even having time to dry her feet, she simply grabbed a robe hanging on the screen and put it on. She didn't even have time to tie the belt before rushing out of the bathroom.
"Sister!" Li Chengjin, who was guarding the door, was frightened by her appearance.
"Where's the sound of Shen Juansheng!" Qing Guiyu asked anxiously, his voice excited.
Li Chengjin pointed blankly in the direction of the main house.
The wet footprints immediately left a series of hurried traces on the smooth stone bricks.
"Sound of deep engraving!"
He must be told immediately. Since there is such a sinister plot, it is natural to discuss it with the equally evil mastermind.
So she stepped on the water all the way, even forgetting to knock on the door, and almost broke open the door of the room with a deep sound.
"Shen——"
As she stepped into the room, the name was stuck in her throat just as she called out one word.
There were no lights on in the room, only the windows were open, letting in cool moonlight mixed with the moist river breeze. Shen Jiansheng had just showered and changed into a clean, dark robe. His dark hair was loose, and he was slowly wiping it with a plain white cloth.
He heard the door open and turned around, holding a set of neatly folded women's clothes in his hands, which were obviously prepared for her. It seemed that he was going to send it to her.
The young man's features were softly reflected in the candlelight, and he was about to speak.
He saw her.
The gentle smile suddenly died out, revealing surprise, and then quickly solidified and shattered, finally turning into a horrified blank.
Qing Guiyu came in a hurry, which was really not decent at the moment.
When he rushed out, he was soaked all over, with water droplets dripping down the ends of his hair. The outer robe he was casually wearing was open at the collar, and he didn't even have time to tie the belt properly.
What was even worse was that she looked extremely panicked. Her face was flushed red due to anxiety and the heat from the medicinal bath, revealing a rare urgency.
She felt anxious as if the sky was about to fall.
But in this intricate mind full of forks in the road, it's probably all different.
Her mind was full of poisonous fog, autumn floods and the lives of tens of thousands of people in Yuzhou City. Seeing him look like a fool, she was extremely anxious.
"A deep voice! Something is wrong——"
Shen Jiansheng stood up suddenly, and the chair beside him fell backwards with a loud clatter.
He hurriedly turned his eyes away from her, and then seemed to drift to the neatly made bed next to him. Finally, in despair, he fell back on the set of her clothes in his hand.
"Miss Qing...Qing..." he asked, his voice trembling, as if he was frightened.
But he just stared at her blankly, and in those eyes that could see through people's hearts, a fire that was about to burn suddenly ignited.
Qing Guiyu's heart skipped a beat at that look, and he felt the blood rushing to his face. Just as he was about to tell him about the poisoned corn, Shen Juansheng spoke first.
The voice was light and trembling, and it was afraid that it would wake up some banished immortal from his erotic dream.
"Ah, ah..." Young Master Jin Sheng looked at her helplessly, then looked at himself, as if he had no idea where to put his hands and feet. "Is this... is this how it should be?"
Qing Guiyu: “?”
What should be? Her mind was still full of poisonous fog, and for a moment she didn't understand what he was talking about.
But in Chou Ce Wushuang's mind, he had obviously already planned all the causes and consequences for her.
Shen Juansheng took a step forward, then stopped.
A bright red quickly spread from her pale cheeks to her ears, almost more beautiful than the red mark at the end of her eyebrows. Her clear eyebrows and eyes also seemed light and thin due to this impact, floating so much that they seemed to be overflowing with water.
"Already..." His Adam's apple rolled up and down, as if he felt that this was too reckless, and his face flushed even more, "...already...?"
Qing Guiyu was baffled. Looking at Chen Juansheng's expression, she knew that this evildoer's brain had gone astray and she didn't know where in the world it had gone wrong.
"You...you want me..."
The young man seemed to be encouraged by her silence. The blush on his face grew deeper, a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. However, he didn't dare look directly at her, staring only at the floor beside her. "Has it...has it come to this?"
A carriage loaded with tofu ran over her head, crushing the tofu into pieces.
"That poisonous fog..."
She wanted to make her words clear quickly, but before she could even begin, she was so frightened by his next move that she swallowed them back.
"Miss Qing, I..." Shen Juansheng took a half step back, twisting the clothes in his hands helplessly. Only his eyes, which were bright with desire and tension, glanced at her secretly, "I... I'm not ready yet..."
Qing Guiyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at his confused expression, as if he had seen a ghost or his lover had been kidnapped, I finally realized what he was thinking.
But before she could open her mouth to explain, the person in front of her shook his head violently and clutched the fabric tightly, approaching pure panic and emotion.
"No, that's not what I meant," Shen Juan denied hastily, as if he was afraid she would suddenly change her mind. His voice was hoarse and resolute. "I, I'm ready."
Qing Guiyu was dumbfounded.
Am I ready?
What are you ready for? Are you ready?!
But as he spoke, he actually raised his hands and used his slender, beautiful, yet slightly trembling hands to begin to untie the complicated black belt around his waist.
Qing Guiyu had seen cesareans performed and craniotomies performed throughout her medical career, and considered herself courageous and resolute. But the scene before her was more shocking than seeing a dead person rise from their coffin.
The belt was slowly untied, and the outer robe slid down along the shoulder line, revealing the inner garment underneath. Because she had just bathed, it was not tied too tightly, and the collar was slightly open, revealing some skin.
Moonlight streamed in from the window, outlining his features and caressing a thin layer of frost. The cinnabar, so carefully applied to the corners of his eyes, now seemed to be burning literally from beneath his skin.
"Miss Qing...Qing..." He seemed to feel that the silence was too long, or perhaps because he was very nervous, he finally spoke again, suppressing his burning embarrassment, "Don't be afraid...Don't be afraid. I will be...very gentle."
Qing Guiyu looked at the bright red poisonous snake that was coiled up and was about to skin itself clean.
The tofu carriage turned around and rolled back into her mind.
Before her face, which was also about to burn, was completely extinguished by the blow, she rushed forward, not caring about the distinction between men and women, and grabbed his hand, which had half of his belt untied.
Shen Juansheng was frozen by this sudden action. He looked at her blankly, his face still full of blush and confusion, "Miss Qing...?"
"It's not what you think!" Qing Guiyu grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, his voice becoming shrill. "It's poison! Poisonous fog! Deadly poisonous fog!"
Shen Juansheng was suddenly stunned.
It's hot when you get it.
The cold poison had just begun to dissipate, and he felt a burning sensation. The heat came through her slightly cool skin, almost burning her palms. It was as if all the blood in his body was boiling, rushing and roaring, converging at the point where he touched her.
The young man half-opened his pajamas and let her hold them. On his originally handsome face, the lingering and tragic emotions washed over and over again.
"...Poison?" Young Master Jinsheng repeated in confusion, as if the smartest mind in the world was struggling to shift its focus from the charming idea of "a night of pleasure" to the bloody plot of "millions of corpses".
He stared at her blankly, then at his half-open collar, then at her hand clutching his, and her face, which was flushed with anxiety and covered with water droplets.
It seemed as if I had finally been pulled out of that absurd fantasy.
"...poisonous fog?" he repeated softly.
The raging fire was finally poured with a basin of ice water under these two words, leaving only a few messy embers and the hot blush on his face that had not yet faded.
"Isn't it..." Shen Juansheng looked at her with difficulty, lowered his head, and bit his lip.
This vivid and charming picture of a beautiful woman taking off her clothes was finally suppressed by him.
"Miss Qing," he turned his head, "you..."
He hesitated for a long time, as if choosing his words. The blush on his face gradually faded, but his eyes remained red.
"...Go put on your clothes first."
Qing Guiyu felt as if he had been pardoned. Without thinking, he turned around and ran away.
I heard him walk out of the room from behind, and heard Master Jinsheng's voice, still a little hoarse.
"Someone!" He paused, his voice piercing with rage. "Get me... some cold water."
…
Half an hour later, the lights in the study of Tingzhu Waterside were brightly lit.
Qing Guiyu had already changed into clean clothes. Chen Juansheng had also finished packing, though his face still held a slight unnatural stiffness, and the carefully applied cinnabar at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows had blurred slightly due to the confusion.
"Say it again," he said, seeming to have calmed down. "It's not the rice that's poisonous, it's the cigarettes?"
"Yes." Qing Guiyu felt uneasy and didn't dare to look at him. "I've smelled that smell. If it turns into smoke and spreads, it will gradually poison people."
When she said this, her voice trembled a little.
Shen Juansheng's expression gradually turned cold. He slowly raised his head.
"Liaohua Bay..." he said softly.
"That's right," Qing Guiyu nodded. "The fire in Lihua Bay destroyed dozens of warships and the stored food on board. I wonder how much of that smoke got mixed in."
It covers an area of dozens of miles.
"The fire is fueled by the wind, the smoke becomes vapor, and then it is carried down by the river breeze and autumn rain..." Shen Juansheng whispered, "...the entire Yuzhou is engulfed in it."
There was a moment of dead silence in the study, with only the two of them staring at each other.
"My father knows how to judge people's hearts," Young Master Jinsheng repeated softly, his voice gentle. "It's the same with me."
"But he's mad," Qing Guiyu whispered, feeling a chill run down his spine. "The body is destroyed, and Chen Yan's only wish is gone. He wasn't trying to help anyone conquer the world; he wanted nothing... He just wanted to drag others along to be buried with him for his shattered dream."
Shen Juansheng turned his head, looked at her, and suddenly smiled bitterly.
"Is it strange?"
He lowered his head and picked up the golden belt that had fallen.
"I thought the same thing when I saw you enter my room and leave just now."
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