Chapter 97: Whose Poison Was It?

    However, a gust of wind swept through the air, and Han Rong felt a sharp pain in the back of his knee. He was kicked to the ground without any ability to resist, landing in a disheveled heap.

    The pain in his leg bone was excruciating, his face turned pale, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

    “Let me offer you some tea.” Shen Ning said, and under Han Rong’s horrified gaze, she slowly raised the teacup above his head and poured the scalding tea over him.

    “Aaah!” Han Rong screamed and shook his head, but the boiling tea continued to drench his head and face.

    Shen Ning looked down at him: “Han Rong, you disgust me to the point where I feel like the biggest fool in the world.”

    Han Rong writhed in pain, his face reddened by the hot water, quickly blistering.

    He clenched his eyes shut, enduring the piercing pain.

    “Why? Why on earth?!” He growled through gritted teeth, his voice filled with resentment and despair, “What have I done to offend you so much that you hate me this way?”

    “I just want you to know that without the War Goddess Princess, your days will not get any better.” Shen Ning said calmly, her voice bloodthirsty as if from the depths of hell, “Whether it’s you or the hypocritical Emperor, your fates will be even more miserable. You can wait and see, watch your king become a captive, a prisoner, shackled like you, kneeling before me, begging for mercy.”

    Han Rong lifted his pale face, trembling as he squeezed out a voice from his throat: “Who… who are you?”

    “Guess who I am?” Shen Ning crouched down, her eyebrows slightly raised, her voice chilling, “From martial arts to temperament, doesn’t it feel familiar? Han Rong, I still remember the poisoned wine from our wedding night, the torment of every day since then has been etched into my bones, impossible to forget.”

    Han Rong’s pupils dilated, clear fear in his eyes: “You… you… impossible! This is impossible!”

    Shen Ning placed her foot on his hand, slowly grinding it, watching him suffer, listening to his screams, her voice calm as if devoid of emotions: “The world is vast, and there are many strange things. Nothing is impossible.”

    Han Rong trembled uncontrollably from the pain, but even the pain of having his fingers connected to his heart could not compare to the fear in his heart at this moment.

   She is War Goddess Princess?

    She is actually Princess Yan Jiuli!

    Impossible, impossible, how could this be possible?

    How could there be such an absurd thing in the world?

    It must be her deliberately creating mystery, using the Princess’s name to instill fear in him, to throw him into disarray!

    “Someone, come here!” Shen Ning straightened up, looking down from above like she was watching a dying insect, “Take him to the dungeon and lock him up.”

    “Yes.” Two guards dragged him away.

    “My lady.” Shi Qi quickly returned from outside and reported respectfully, “Princess Jiayu gave Miss Gu a packet of medicine, saying that as long as the Regent takes it, he will be deeply in love with her for the rest of his life.”

    Shen Ning withdrew her gaze: “What is the effect of the medicine?”

    Shi Qi replied: “It’s a poison given to Princess Jiayu by the Empress Dowager, intending to harm the Regent through Miss Gu’s hands.”

    Shen Ning was silent for a moment, her eyes cold as frost: “It seems the Empress Dowager can’t even wait a year.”

    Turning back to the warm pavilion, Shen Ning called out to Shi Qin and Shi Qi: “You’ve both worked hard, come have a cup of tea.”

    Shi Qi was a bit surprised and followed into the warm pavilion: “My lady, you don’t intend to deal with Miss Gu?”

    “She is Ji Yucang’s cousin, Ji Yucang will deal with her himself.” Shen Ning obviously did not intend to meddle in other people’s affairs.

    Ji Yucang would be very busy these two days, dealing with the envoys from Nan Dynasty and preparing the grain and fodder.

    Ling Fengyang was locked up in prison and became a cripple, while Han Rong, in the hands of the Regent, was as good as half-dead.

    The envoys from Nan Dynasty this time might come but not return.

    Shen Ning sat in the warm pavilion drinking tea, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon, quietly pondering the next steps.

Gu Yanran returned not too late and, upon entering the residence, went back to her own Residence, while Ji Yucang did not return until the evening.

Shen Ning acted as if nothing had happened and, as usual, had dinner with Ji Yucang.

Shi Qin presented six dishes and demonstrated an elaborate poison-testing method with a silver needle right there.

The room was silent, the atmosphere eerie.

Ji Yucang and Shen Ning watched the blackened silver needle in silence, their expressions indescribable.

However, neither of them spoke, probably aware of who was so foolish as to poison so blatantly.

Shi Qin silently withdrew the six dishes and had a new set brought up.

After a satisfying meal, Shen Ning washed up early and went to rest, while Ji Yucang returned to the study in the front courtyard to deal with the memorials he had not finished reviewing during the day.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a gentle and soft female voice sounded from outside: “Yanran wishes to see her cousin on an urgent matter, I hope the guard Ling will report it.”

Ling Feng looked at the young lady in front of him, dressed in a pink chiffon skirt, his expression serious: “The master’s study is a restricted area, no idlers are allowed. Please return, Miss Gu.”

Gu Yanran bit her lip, seeming somewhat dissatisfied: “Hasn’t the princess consort been inside before?”

“Husband and wife are one.” Ling Feng said, “The princess is the lady of the house, she can see the prince anytime she wants, but you cannot.”

Gu Yanran pressed her lips together: “Please report it.”

Ling Feng remained unmoved: “Please return, Miss Gu—”

“Let her in.” A cold and stern voice came from the study.

The voice, devoid of emotional fluctuations, surprised Ling Feng, and Gu Yanran felt a secret joy.

She raised her chin: “Excuse me.”

Gu Yanran stepped into the study and consciously closed the door behind her. However, when she turned and saw Ji Yucang sitting behind the desk reviewing memorials, her steps suddenly felt as heavy as lead, unable to move forward.

“Cousin.” Gu Yanran looked at Ji Yucang, whose expression was as calm as ever, showing no signs of being poisoned, “Have you… had your dinner?”

Ji Yucang’s voice was indifferent: “Mm.”

“Then… then…” Gu Yanran took two steps forward, and a sense of unease suddenly rose in her heart, “When will you rest, cousin?”

Ji Yucang’s gaze lifted slightly: “Was my dinner tonight taken from the kitchen by you?”

“Cousin?” Gu Yanran’s face changed, “I… I don’t understand what you’re saying?”

“The poison in the food was administered by you.” Ji Yucang’s statement was a statement, not a question, “Who gave you the poison?”

Gu Yanran’s face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively stepped back: “Cousin, what are you saying? How could I possibly poison you? I… I didn’t, I really didn’t…”

“Gu Yanran, do you want to be sent to the military as a camp follower?”

This sentence seemed to carry a chill from the heavens, and Gu Yanran fell to her knees with a thud, her whole body cold, looking up at him in disbelief.

Her cousin wanted to send her to the military as a camp follower?

They were close cousins, and when her aunt was alive, she loved her so much that she even wanted to betroth her to her cousin. How could her cousin be so cruel to her?

“Cousin, you can’t do this to me…” Gu Yanran’s face was pale, shaking her head in a daze. “I am aunt’s most beloved niece, I have always liked you, cousin, I have always liked you! How can you do this to me?”

“Who gave you the poison?”

Gu Yanran’s face was as pale as paper: “Cousin, you can’t do this to me, you can’t do this to me…”

“Ling Feng.” Ji Yucang called out coldly.