Chapter Fifteen: Exchanging Antidotes
Chen Jiao was hurriedly carried away by Zhang Shi and her maids, leaving only Chen Zhenyan, who was trembling with anger, and Chen Qing, who looked calm and collected, in the courtyard.
"You unfilial daughter! You unfilial daughter! How could I have given birth to such a cold-blooded and heartless beast like you!" Chen Zhenyan pointed at Chen Qing, his fingers trembling, clearly furious.
Chen Qing picked at his ear, as if flicking away something dirty:
"Father, you're wrong. Aren't you and Aunt cold-blooded and heartless? To protect your precious daughter, you didn't hesitate to push another daughter into the fire, even fabricating the lie of returning the jade intact to deceive yourselves. Are Liu Wei and his son fools? Do you think you can decide what I do after I marry into that family?"
She took a step forward, her gaze piercing as she stared intently at Chen Zhenyan: "In the end, in your heart, Chen Jiao is your daughter, and I, Chen Qing, am nothing more than a bargaining chip that can be discarded at any time, or even... a pledge of allegiance for you to please Aunt Zhang, isn't that right?"
Chen Zhenyan was speechless at her question, his face turning pale and then red. Deep down, he knew that she was pushing Chen Qing to her death, but faced with Zhang's tears and Chen Jiao's sobs, his meager paternal love and reason had long since vanished.
"You...you mustn't spout nonsense!" Chen Zhenyan roared, his voice trembling with fear. "Your marriage is arranged by your parents and the matchmaker! It should be my decision!"
"oh?"
Chen Qing raised an eyebrow, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"Then Father, you decide. Either you marry your beloved daughter off to the garrison commander in a grand ceremony, and we might be able to live a few more days thanks to this relationship. Or you can stand up for yourself and refuse Garrison Commander Liu, and then we'll all wait for him to find an excuse to devour us whole."
She threw two bloody choices back at Chen Zhenyan, while she herself calmly crossed her arms and waited to watch the show.
Chen Zhenyan's chest heaved violently. Looking at Chen Qing's unyielding, even smug, expression, a surge of anger rushed to his head. He abruptly raised his hand, ready to slap Chen Qing!
However, just as he raised his hand halfway, his wrist was firmly gripped by a hand as strong as an iron clamp.
It was Li Yi. He appeared beside Chen Qing at some point, his face cold and stern, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, and the force in his hand was so great that Chen Zhenyan felt as if his wrist bones were about to be crushed.
“Master, please calm down.” Li Yi’s voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of pressure. “The young lady is unwell and cannot withstand punishment.”
"You...you're being insolent!" Chen Zhenyan was both shocked and furious, trying to break free but unable to budge an inch. Only then did he realize that the guard he had hired had unknowingly and completely sided with Chen Qing!
Chen Qing gently patted Li Yi's arm, signaling him to let go. Li Yi then released his grip, but still stood firmly half a step to Chen Qing's side like a loyal mastiff.
“Father, look, even a stranger knows to protect me.” Chen Qing’s tone was tinged with sarcasm. “But my own father only wants to push me into a fire pit. How ironic.”
Chen Zhenyan looked at the two people standing side by side before him: his obese yet imposing daughter, and a skilled and cold-eyed guard. A chill ran down his spine. He suddenly realized that his eldest daughter, whom he had always looked down upon, had long since slipped from his control.
He staggered back a step, his face drained of color, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant. He knew that it was absolutely impossible to expect Chen Qing to willingly take his place in the marriage.
"You...you'd better watch yourself!" Chen Zhenyan said, leaving behind these utterly intimidating words, and practically fled in panic.
Watching his disheveled figure recede into the distance, Chen Qing's eyes remained completely unmoved. She turned to Li Yi and asked, "How did things go?"
Li Yi whispered, "Reporting to Miss, we have made contact with Da Niu. The refugees are in high spirits, and all that's needed is an opportunity. We have also roughly figured out the garrison's troop deployment and rotation schedule, and the location of the granary has been determined. It is heavily guarded. In addition... I have discovered that Garrison Commander Liu seems to be secretly redeploying people, as if he is preparing for some kind of operation."
Chen Qing's eyes narrowed: "An operation? Targeting whom?"
“It’s not clear yet, but the timing is very delicate, right after the marriage proposal,” Li Yi analyzed. “I suspect he might be trying to do two things at once: on one hand, to form a marriage alliance, and on the other hand, to use force to prevent us… or rather, to prevent the head of the family from going back on his word or having other plans.”
"He really is an old fox," Chen Qing sneered. "It seems we don't have much time left."
She had to act quickly. Liu Wei wouldn't give them much time to hesitate.
"Li Yi, go do another thing," Chen Qing said in a low voice. "Find a way to spread the news that Commander Liu is forcibly conscripting laborers, hoarding goods, forcing people to sell their children, and attempting to forcibly marry the daughters of merchants to... those relatively wealthy gentry and rich households who dare not speak out against Commander Liu's actions. Especially those families connected to the county magistrate who was slaughtered before."
She wants to stir up trouble in Qibao Town, leaving Liu Wei surrounded by enemies!
"Yes!" Li Yi accepted the order, and with a flash, disappeared again outside the courtyard wall.
Pei Xuan watched Li Yi's dashing departing figure and couldn't help but bite his lower lip. He was clearly the one who came to Sister Qing's side first, but in less than two days, he had been outshone by this Li Yi.
"Sister Qing, Li Yi and Wang Er are both bodyguards of the family head. Since Wang Er was able to betray you, Li Yi will definitely do the same..."
"Xuan Nu, shut up." Chen Qing's tone was very soft. She looked at Pei Xuan and said in an unquestionable tone, "I only need strong people with real skills by my side, not petty people who show off their words."
She gave Pei Xuan a look, "Do you want to be my right-hand man?"
Pei Xuan's breath hitched.
His little schemes couldn't be hidden from Chen Qing at all.
"Sister Qing, I also want to become useful, I want to do things for you..." Pei Xuan's face showed a pained expression, but he was too stupid! He seemed to know nothing!
Chen Qing patted his head, trusting him even more than he trusted him personally.
After all, in the original book, this person was destined to become emperor, so whether it was luck or ability, he must have something extraordinary about him.
"Don't worry, you might become even more amazing than Li Yi in the future."
Her words acted like a stabilizing force, calming Pei Xuan down.
Chen Qing didn't have much time to play with the children; she needed to lose weight as soon as possible and accumulate enough weight loss points.
She summoned Wang Zhong and told him to take money to buy cornbread in the city. If he couldn't buy it at the grain shops, he could buy it from other landlords and gentry. As long as she had enough money, she didn't believe there was anything she couldn't buy.
Wang Zhong didn't ask any questions, and was even ordered not to tell outsiders. He found a few helpers and hurriedly went to the city to buy cornbread.
Chen Qing stayed in her room, exercising frantically. When Wang Zhong brought back batches of cornbread, she hid in her room and sold all of them to the system.
One steamed bun is a small amount for weight loss, but what if there were hundreds or thousands?
Chen Qing was like a bottomless pit. Wang Zhong spent over a thousand taels of silver to buy more than two thousand steamed buns, which she then sold to the system.
Chen Qing's weight loss points finally reached the milestone of 6893.
She only needs a little over a thousand more to exchange for the antidote.
As the day went by, Wang Zhong was able to buy fewer and fewer cornbreads, so Chen Qing told him to stop buying them.
Once tonight is over, she'll have enough points for her weight loss program.
Chen Qing was constantly moving during the day, hardly ever lying down or sitting. Her muscles ached, fatigue accumulated, and she always felt unusually heavy. Compared to the physical pain, the burning sensation in her stomach was the most unbearable.
She was constantly hungry; the madness of hunger consumed her mind, almost driving her to madness.
But Chen Qing has an extremely strong will.
There's nothing she can't do if she sets her mind to it.
The system updated at midnight.
[Daily settlement complete. Host's weight loss yesterday: 1.2kg. Weight loss points gained: 1200. Current total weight loss points: 8093.]
8093 points!
Chen Qing's eyes lit up instantly! It's surpassed! Finally, it's over 8000 points!
She almost couldn't wait to open the system shop and find the long-awaited [Antidote].
[Confirm redemption of 'Antidote'? Requires 8000 points of reduction.]
"confirm!"
With a flash of light, a palm-sized crystal bottle filled with a luminous blue liquid appeared in Chen Qing's hand, its surface cool to the touch.
Without the slightest hesitation, she uncorked the bottle, tilted her head back, and drank the liquid in one gulp.
The liquid had no taste upon entering her mouth. As it slid down her throat, she initially felt a cool sensation spreading outwards. Then, this coolness seemed to transform into countless tiny warm currents, seeping into her limbs, bones, and internal organs.
An indescribable sense of comfort enveloped her. It was as if a long-standing, silted-up riverbed had been quietly dredged, and her heavy, weary body became light, even her breathing became much easier. She could clearly feel that some invisible shackles binding her body were slowly loosening.
The process was not intense, but the results were remarkable.
A moment later, Chen Qing opened her eyes, feeling refreshed and even her vision seemed clearer. Although her physique didn't appear to have changed significantly, she could feel that her body's basal metabolic rate had definitely increased by more than one level!
A satisfied smile appeared on Chen Qing's lips. "System, can you scan my current physique?"
[Yes, scanning the host's body. Weight: Obese; Physique: Poor; it is recommended to take a physique improvement liquid to enhance physical fitness.]
The toxins in my body have indeed been completely cleared out!
"That's great..." Chen Qing clenched her fist, feeling the renewed vitality. With the poison completely neutralized, and combined with exercise and the system, her return to health was just around the corner!
More importantly, the increased metabolism means that her efficiency in losing weight and gaining points will be greatly improved!
Looking at the remaining 93 weight loss points, Chen Qing was in a good mood.
Sufficient rest is essential for weight loss, so she went to bed and slept soundly until dawn.
"Um……"
Chen Qing let out a groan, feeling refreshed all over, as if she had been thrown into a washing machine, washed clean, spun dry, and dried, becoming fluffy and soft.
The muscles that were extremely sore yesterday have become relaxed.
The burning sensation in my stomach was gone, and everything felt so calm and comfortable.
Chen Qing thought to herself that her previous constant hunger was probably related to the poison Zhang had given her. The poison had damaged her stomach through daily overeating, stretching it so that she would feel hungry if she ate too little and crave even more.
Otherwise, how could a pampered young lady who never leaves the house and doesn't expend much physical energy eat so much?
Now that she's free from those troubles, her body is in unprecedented health. What she needs to do next is to use healthy methods to gradually turn the fat on her body into weight loss points that can be exchanged for resources!
Chen Qing has another matter to resolve today. Yesterday, she asked Wang Zhong to buy a lot of cornbread and put it in her room. After selling it to the system, several thousand cornbreads disappeared without a trace, which might arouse suspicion.
She had to find a reason to dispel these doubts.
Early in the morning, Pei Xuan brought news that Chen Jiao continued to cry after waking up, which gave Chen Zhenyan a headache. He had no heart to care about Chen Qing asking Wang Zhong to buy cornbread.
Before eating, Chen Qing drank half a cup of warm water, and then began to enjoy half a multigrain steamed bun and a boiled egg.
She listened to Pei Xuan's report while slowly eating her breakfast.
"Sister Qing, what if the head of the family..."
"What can he do to me?" Chen Qing took out an egg yolk and fed it to Pei Xuan. She didn't like egg yolks because they were too high in cholesterol. "Just impotent rage."
She looked at the concern in Pei Xuanqing's clear eyes and smiled slightly.
Just after breakfast, someone from the garrison arrived. It wasn't an ordinary steward, but a trusted deputy general of Liu Wei, who led a squad of armored soldiers armed with swords and barged directly into the villa.
"Master Chen, the garrison commander has ordered that three days from now is an auspicious day, and he has specifically instructed me to inform your household to prepare for the wedding of the Third Miss!" The deputy general's voice was loud and clear, carrying the menacing aura of a soldier; it was not a discussion, but an announcement.
Chen Zhenyan and Zhang rushed over upon hearing the news, and their faces turned deathly pale upon hearing these words.
"Three, three days later? This, this is far too hasty..." Chen Zhenyan still wanted to struggle a bit more.
The lieutenant rolled his eyes and said coldly, "The garrison commander said that the times are not peaceful these days, and everything should be kept simple. If Master Chen feels it's too hasty, then he's disrespecting the garrison commander!"
The soldiers behind him stepped forward in unison, their hands on their sword hilts, exuding a murderous aura.
Chen Zhenyan was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground. He didn't dare to utter a single word of dissent.
Zhang's vision went black, and she fainted.
The lieutenant watched the scene with satisfaction, his gaze sweeping over Chen Qing who had come out at the sound. It lingered for a moment on her plump body, a hint of contempt flashing across his face. Then he clasped his hands and said, "Since Master Chen has no objections, then this subordinate will return to report! The bridal sedan chair will arrive in three days!"
After saying that, he led his soldiers away.
In the courtyard, only Chen Zhenyan, whose face was ashen, Zhang Shi, who had fainted, and Chen Jiao, who had rushed over upon hearing the news and was crying her heart out.
In the chaos, Chen Jiao saw the calm and collected Chen Qing, whose bloodshot eyes were filled with resentment. She rushed towards her, baring her teeth and claws, and screamed, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault for insisting on coming to Qibao Town!"
"Sister Qing!" Pei Xuan saw that something was wrong and quickly stepped forward to stop Chen Jiao.
Unexpectedly, Chen Qing's obese body was unusually agile. Without the slightest hesitation, she kicked Chen Jiao in the heart.
"ah!!"
Chen Jiao let out a scream, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
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