Chapter 13 Swollen Wrist
"Yes, no..." Sheng Huai'an barely managed to compose himself, realizing he had overreacted, and quickly said, "Since you don't like it, I won't call you that. I came here today because..."
“Young Master Sheng…” Ye Mingzhu smiled gracefully, but the smile did not reach her eyes, “If you want to buy the Zi Gu, it will cost five hundred taels of silver per purchase.”
Sheng Huai'an already knows about the Zi Gu, so her denial is useless.
But it cannot be denied that it means she has no way out.
Sheng Huai'an: "Five hundred taels?"
Ye Mingzhu feigned surprise: "Really? Liu Rumei is your elder brother's lawfully wedded wife, and the child she bore is your elder brother's only bloodline. You wouldn't just stand by and watch your nephew lose both his father and mother, and not even be willing to give him a mere five hundred taels, would you?"
She returned to him all the excuses he used in his past life.
Anyone can use grand principles to intimidate people.
"Of course I'm willing to..." Sheng Huai'an's expression changed, "Aren't you afraid I'll reveal the Longevity Gu?"
Ye Mingzhu laughed: "Now that I am the Duchess of Wei, with my husband and mother-in-law protecting me, why would I be afraid of these things? On the contrary, if you anger me, you will never be able to get a single Gu worm from me again!"
Sheng Huai'an suppressed his anger: "You..."
Ye Mingzhu said, "Come find me again when Young Master Sheng has prepared five hundred taels."
For Sheng Huai'an, each five hundred taels of silver was by no means an easy task.
The Western Mansion was only outwardly glamorous; in reality, they had long been living a life of pawning their clothes and making ends meet.
In her previous life, after she married Sheng Huai'an, she first used 50,000 taels of dowry to supplement the family income, and then worked hard to revitalize the few shops and estates in the West Mansion, so that the West Mansion's accounts looked a little better.
Sheng Huai'an, however, accused her of being selfish, saying that she had a total of 200,000 taels of silver in her treasury, but was only willing to take out 50,000 taels, because she was wary of him and did not consider the West Mansion as her home.
Now that she's no longer "selfish," she's curious to see who the penniless Sheng Huai'an will choose between her and Liu Rumei, and how long their love will last.
After finishing her speech, Ye Mingzhu prepared to leave.
However, as she brushed past Sheng Huai'an, she suddenly smelled an extremely strange fragrance on him, and her gaze couldn't help but fall on the indigo sachet embroidered with green bamboo hanging at his waist.
This fragrance...
Could it be "the silence of the Yellow Springs"?
Sheng Huai'an used the monthly family banquet between the two households to subtly poison Sheng Yunche.
Ye Mingzhu was stunned, but Sheng Huai'an misunderstood.
He quickly adjusted his expression, took off the sachet, and said affectionately, "You embroidered this for me yourself, do you still remember?"
Ye Mingzhu didn't remember, but that didn't stop her from using the situation as an excuse: "Since it was a gift from me, give it back to me!"
"What?" Sheng Huai'an was speechless.
Ye Mingzhu snatched the sachet from his hand and made up a story to cover up her true intentions: "Don't think I don't know that the person in your heart isn't me. My husband told me long ago! I'll burn this tattered sachet when I get back, so it won't be an eyesore!"
Sheng Huai'an: "But..."
Ye Mingzhu ignored him and walked away.
Sheng Huai'an reached out to pull her, but missed. When he tried to make another move, Baozan and Ruyi blocked his way.
Unwilling to get entangled with two lowly maids, and not wanting to lose face, he could only watch anxiously as Ye Mingzhu quickly left, her graceful figure disappearing behind a clump of green bamboo.
...
Worried that Sheng Huai'an would catch up, Ye Mingzhu hurried along with the sachet in hand, her heart pounding like a drum.
If the sachet truly contains the original poison of "Yellow Springs' Silence," having this as a reference point would undoubtedly greatly accelerate the development of an antidote.
With the antidote available, she no longer needed to worry even if Sheng Huai'an targeted her family again.
Princess Ronghua will surely be very happy!
Ye Mingzhu had bright almond-shaped eyes and was in a good mood. However, when she passed by a rockery, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.
Suddenly, everything went dark, and her frail body was slammed against the rough, cold stone wall, the fall causing her pain.
She looked up in surprise, only to meet a pair of dark, phoenix-shaped eyes filled with anger, and was startled by the cold, murderous aura in the newcomer's eyes.
The person who arrived was Sheng Yunche.
His face darkened as he glanced at the sachet clutched tightly in her hand.
He gripped her wrist tightly and asked coldly, each word distinct and harsh, "You're having an affair with Sheng Huai'an behind my back. Do you think I wouldn't dare kill you?"
"No..." Ye Mingzhu's wrist was in so much pain that she could barely speak.
She tried to pull Sheng Yunche's hand away, but couldn't. Enduring the pain, she held the sachet up to him and shouted angrily, "You've misunderstood! Can you please let me explain? I was just pretending with Sheng Huai'an to get this!"
"Oh?" Sheng Yunche scrutinized her for a few moments, then narrowed his phoenix eyes thoughtfully. "A sachet?"
"Yes, it's the sachet!" Ye Mingzhu's face turned pale with pain, her voice trembling. "Please let go of my hand, it hurts..."
Sheng Yunche looked at her, half believing and half doubting, and slowly let go of her hand.
"Hiss..." Ye Mingzhu looked at her swollen wrist, touched it lightly, and gasped in pain.
She didn't know when she started crying from the pain. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face, leaned weakly against the artificial hill, and stared at Sheng Yunche in front of her with lingering fear.
This person is indeed capricious and has a volatile personality.
She thought he was weak and sickly, but she never expected that he could easily overpower her physically, and was even stronger than the average man.
The first time it was pinching my wrist, will the next time it be choking me?
Fortunately, she had let down her guard against him and gradually became less afraid of him. Now that she thinks about it, his affection and indulgence towards her were actually nothing.
Fearing he would get angry again, Ye Mingzhu swallowed her anger and said, "Here's the sachet, take it and see for yourself!"
“I suspect that the sachet contains poison that Sheng Huai’an gave you. I’m trying to get my hands on it so that I can give it to my parents and they can treat the illness.”
"As for me and Sheng Huai'an..."
Biting her lip, Ye Mingzhu decided to take a gamble after some thought, but her face showed that she could no longer contain herself and impulsively said, "Ever since I found out that he and Liu Rumei had a 'close relationship,' he has been dead to me!"
"What?!" Sheng Yunche was very surprised.
But looking at Ye Mingzhu's expression, it seemed that she wasn't just talking nonsense.
Ye Mingzhu looked up at him and said stubbornly, "There are three chastity arches at the entrance of the Duke's Mansion. If you want to protect the reputation of the Duke's Mansion by silencing me, I will accept it. After all, Sheng Huai'an is a member of the Sheng family, but I am not."
She retreated to advance, gambling on her judgment of Sheng Yunche, betting that he had a bad personality but would not kill indiscriminately.
Sheng Yunche stared at her intently, remaining silent for a long time.
Ye Mingzhu felt uneasy under his gaze and began to wonder if she had made the wrong bet or if he had seen through her. Suddenly, Sheng Yunche reached out and took the sachet from her hand, pouring out a few brown incense balls.
"The poison you're talking about, is it this?"
"Further confirmation is needed; at present, we only suspect it." Ye Mingzhu dared not make a definitive statement, but reiterated her importance once again, "My father is skilled in medicine, and my mother is skilled in poisons; developing an antidote is only a matter of time, so please rest assured."
Sheng Yunche frowned in thought.
Suddenly seeing Ye Mingzhu step on a small pebble and almost fall, he quickly grabbed her slender arm to help her steady herself. He noticed that she unconsciously flinched, as if afraid that he would hurt her again. He narrowed his phoenix eyes and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Since it's a misunderstanding, I'll take you home." He withdrew his hand and said calmly.
Ye Mingzhu glanced at him, bit her lip, and remained silent.
She emerged from the artificial hill, and Baozan, who had rushed over, immediately noticed the red finger marks on her wrist and turned pale with fright.
Ruyi was extremely worried.
The two quickly shielded her behind them, watching Sheng Yunche, who had just emerged from the artificial hill, with a mixture of wariness and anger, as if they would fight to the death if he made another move.
Sheng Yunche looked at them coldly.
"I'm fine, it was just a misunderstanding with the Duke, but we've cleared it up now..." Ye Mingzhu quickly pulled the two of them back, "Let's go back."
“Yes,” Baozan and Ruyi replied immediately in unison.
Sheng Yunche remained silent, following behind them.
He escorted the three of them, master and servants, to Linfeng Hall, but did not enter the courtyard.
Watching Ye Mingzhu's slender and delicate figure disappear through the door, he looked down at his hands, suddenly turned around, and strode towards the front yard.
...
Ye Mingzhu returned to her room, her shoulders relaxing.
Yu Fu and Rui Xiang, who remained behind, were also shocked to see her swollen wrist. One hurriedly went to get medicine, while the other quickly arranged a pillow for her on the soft couch so that she could rest.
After applying a thick layer of medicinal mud to her wrist, Ye Mingzhu finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling less pain.
Baozan wiped away her tears in anger: "The Duke is so heartless! How could he treat you like this, Miss? I really want to fight him!"
Ruyi was more composed: "Next time we must follow Miss closely, and not fall so far behind again."
Ye Mingzhu was also filled with lingering fear.
But then she realized why.
Men have always treated women as their private property. Ordinary men cannot tolerate their wives having affairs with other men, let alone someone as prominent as Sheng Yunche. However, he misunderstood her.
She won't just let it go like that.
Lately, she has become more and more familiar with Sheng Yunche's temperament, and she has not missed the fleeting guilt in his eyes after he learned the truth.
She was thinking to herself that she could use this incident to her advantage that night.
But she waited and waited at Linfeng Hall, and Sheng Yunche did not come for dinner in the evening. It was late at night, and he did not seem to intend to go back to his room to sleep.
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