Chapter 17: Phoenix Chariot
Eunuch Liu's strange smile.
Like an invisible net.
Enveloping Ling Zixia in it.
She didn't hesitate at all.
She held the hand of a eunuch beside the car door.
He stepped humbly onto the footstool of the carriage.
The curtain fell behind her.
It blocked out all the inquiring eyes outside the prime minister's residence.
It also blocks out the thin sunlight at noon.
The space inside the carriage was more spacious than expected.
The floor was covered with a thick Persian carpet embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns.
It's soft and silent when you step on it.
The walls of the carriage are covered with precious brocade.
In the corner stands a small gilded incense burner with auspicious beasts.
It exudes an elegant scent of ambergris.
A rosewood low table was placed in the center.
There are cushioned seats on both sides.
Eunuch Liu had already sat down opposite her quietly.
His cloudy eyes.
He was staring at her without blinking.
It's like examining an inanimate object.
The wheels began to turn slowly.
The car body is as stable as the ground.
There was no sense of bumps.
Ling Zixia sat down on the cushion opposite.
She still kept her eyes lowered.
His hands rested stiffly on his knees.
She portrayed the image of a humble concubine who had just entered the palace vividly.
"Miss Ling seems very nervous."
Eunuch Liu's hoarse and shrill voice suddenly rang out.
It is particularly clear in the closed compartment.
Ling Zixia's shoulders shrank in response.
She didn't answer.
That smile appeared on Eunuch Liu's face again.
"Don't be afraid."
His voice seemed soothing.
But his tone was as cold as a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
"The Queen is kindhearted and loves to support you youngsters."
"As long as you behave yourself, you will definitely benefit in the future."
These words sound like encouragement.
In fact, it is full of warnings.
Ling Zixia just nodded slightly.
Still no words.
Eunuch Liu saw that she was unmoved.
The smile in his eyes deepened.
He slowly opened a secret compartment under the rosewood low table.
A set of extremely exquisite white jade tea set was taken out from it.
The tea set is warm and transparent.
It still emits a soft glow in the dim light.
"We know that this is the girl's first time entering the palace, and she must be very nervous."
He said.
While using an elegant posture that is almost a performance.
Arrange the tea sets one by one.
"The Empress specially gifted her her favorite Yunding Fairy Tea."
"Let us calm the girl down on the way."
He drank from a sealed tin tea canister.
Pinch out a handful of emerald green tea leaves.
Put it in the teapot.
Then.
He picked up a pot of boiling water that was warming next to him.
Pour boiling water into the pot.
A fresh scent of tea instantly filled the carriage.
The tea fragrance is lofty and pure.
It is indeed a rare good tea in a century.
However.
Under this pure tea fragrance.
Ling Zixia's nose caught a very subtle fishy smell like rotten grass.
The fishy smell was very faint.
Perfectly masked by the rich aroma of tea.
Ordinary people can't even notice it.
That is the smell of "ghost thorn grass".
A poisonous weed that grows in extremely dark places.
Its rhizomes are ground into powder and mixed into tea.
It is not immediately fatal after drinking.
But it will happen within the time of a stick of incense.
It causes extremely severe headaches, like stabbing needles.
At the same time, it will cause various terrifying hallucinations to appear before people's eyes.
Eventually he suffered a mental breakdown and became insane.
In the heavily guarded inner courtyard of the imperial palace.
In front of the queen, the mother of the country.
If a new concubine goes crazy on the spot.
There is only one outcome.
It means being beaten to death on the spot as a madman or an assassin.
What a "gift" that kills without shedding blood.
Eunuch Liu slowly poured out the first cup of tea.
Then poured in boiling water again.
This time.
The tea aroma becomes more intense.
The hidden fishy smell also completely disappeared.
As if it had never existed.
He poured a cup of clear amber tea.
Poured it into the white jade teacup in front of Ling Zixia.
"Miss Ling, please use it."
He had a kind smile on his face.
Those cloudy eyes were filled with cold, anticipation of a good show.
"This is a great blessing, which ordinary concubines may not even be able to experience."
Ling Zixia slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were filled with flattered fear and uneasiness.
She looked at the cup of tea in front of her that exuded a fatal temptation.
He looked at Eunuch Liu's face again, which had a dagger hidden in his smile.
She knew she had no room for refusal.
Reject the Queen's "gift".
It is a way to death in itself.
She stretched out her hand.
Her fingertips trembled slightly because of "fear".
She picked up the warm white jade teacup.
The moment her fingertips touched the cold jade wall.
An invisible force that is a hundred times thinner than a hair.
Silently, he entered the cup of amber tea.
The toxicity of "ghost thorn grass" in tea that causes severe pain and hallucinations.
It was completely reversed in an instant.
It is a poison that attacks the human spirit.
It has become a panacea that can make people's consciousness clearer than ever before and their mental strength more concentrated than ever before.
The process is silent.
The color and aroma of the tea soup did not change at all.
Ling Zixia held the cup of tea.
He gave Eunuch Liu a grateful and timid smile.
Then.
She was in front of him.
Bring the cup of tea to your lips.
She closed her eyes.
It's like he's made some kind of decision.
Drink the tea in the cup in one gulp.
The corners of Eunuch Liu's mouth unconsciously curled up into a cruel arc.
He leaned back against the cushions.
Waiting leisurely.
Waiting for the medicine to take effect.
Waiting to see the beautiful girl in front of me.
How he turned into a madman holding his head and screaming in pain.
Drink a cup of tea.
A cool breath instantly slid from Ling Zixia's throat into her stomach.
Then.
The breath rushed into her mind.
It made her feel like her whole world had become incredibly transparent.
Her hearing.
Her sense of smell.
Her perception.
It was magnified countless times at this moment.
She could even hear it clearly.
Ten feet away from the car.
The subtle sound of armor rubbing against each other.
She could tell, too.
In the incense burner in the corner of the carriage.
Ambergris is also mixed with three other soothing ingredients.
Her mental strength had never been so strong and focused.
Eunuch Liu waited for a moment.
Ling Zixia looked normal.
He waited another ten breaths.
Ling Zixia's face even had a healthy blush.
He waited for another half an incense stick of time.
Ling Zixia not only showed no sign of pain.
Her eyes, which were always lowered.
At this moment, it is emitting a star-like bright light that makes people dare not look directly at it.
The smile on Eunuch Liu's face.
Finally it disappeared bit by bit.
His eyes were filled with incomprehensible shock and suspicion.
This...what is going on?
He knows the medicinal effects of Bidens pilosa better than anyone else.
It was a secret recipe from the palace.
A cow would go crazy if it drank it.
Why this fragile woman.
After drinking it.
Not only safe and sound.
Instead, he looks... more energetic?
Ling Zixia slowly put down the teacup in her hand.
She gave Eunuch Liu an extremely sincere and heartfelt smile.
"Thank you, eunuch."
Her voice is clear and pleasant.
Like jade beads falling on a plate.
"Thank you also for the gift from Her Majesty the Queen."
"This is the best tea I've ever had in my life."
“I feel like my mind is much clearer than before.”
“It seems as if everything in this world can be seen more clearly now.”
Her words.
Like an invisible slap in the face.
He slapped Eunuch Liu hard in the face.
Eunuch Liu's face turned pale and blue.
He stared at Ling Zixia intently.
It was as if he wanted to find some trace of magic from her.
But he couldn't find anything.
There was just pure gratitude there.
And a look of rebirth.
Just then.
Ling Zixia seemed to suddenly remember something.
She picked up the white jade teapot.
She was thinking about the empty teacup in front of Eunuch Liu.
It was also filled with amber tea.
"My father-in-law has had a hard time along the way."
Her face was filled with innocent concern.
"You should also drink a cup of tea to moisten your throat."
"This kind of fairy tea cannot be enjoyed by me alone."
She put the cup of tea.
He respectfully pushed it in front of Eunuch Liu.
Eunuch Liu looked at the cup of "poison" that exuded a rich aroma.
His body subconsciously shrank back.
On his forehead.
A fine layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out.
He seemed to have seen the most horrific thing in the world.
His lips trembled.
I can't say a word.
In this suffocating confrontation.
The carriage suddenly slowed down.
The car body shook slightly.
Then.
Stopped completely.
A respectful voice came from outside the car.
Penetrated the thick car wall.
It reached the ears of both of them clearly.
"Your Excellency."
"Shenwu Gate, we're here."
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