Chapter 25:  The Consequences of One’s Actions

She took a pair of chopsticks from the box the servant held.

She calmly picked up the blister beetle from the jar.

“You, how can you do that?” Gu Jiaojiao’s face turned red with anger.

Although she had the antidote balm to use, being stung by a blister beetle was painful and itchy. She had suffered a lot. Why could Gu Yunlan use chopsticks?

“Do you know the difference between humans and monkeys?” Gu Yunlan looked at Gu Jiaojiao with a smirk.

“Huh?” Gu Jiaojiao didn’t understand for a moment.

“Humans use tools.” Then, Gu Yunlan gently placed the chopsticks on the table.

“Pfft.”

Murong Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh.

With the princess leading the way, the people around couldn’t help but laugh too. For a moment, the room was filled with mocking laughter.

Gu Xiude cautiously glanced at Murong Jinyu’s expression.

He couldn’t tell.

But his lips were tightly pursed, clearly displeased.

Although Murong Jinyu had some affection for Gu Jiaojiao, no one wanted their future wife to be mocked as a monkey.

Gu Jiaojiao’s face was like a color palette, turning green, then red, then purple, then black. She was about to get angry, but Wu Huanmei pressed her down.

She had to maintain the Gu family’s face in public.

“Divine Physician, Gu Yunlan is acting inappropriately. Isn’t it against the rules?” Wu Huanmei suppressed her anger: “You’re testing their detoxification abilities. Using chopsticks should be considered cheating.”

“Are you alright?” Dugu Yue looked at Wu Huanmei with a speechless expression: “This is my test. Why are you interfering? Besides, detoxification ability is one thing, having a brain is another. I don’t want to take a disciple who’s as stupid as a pig.”

Dugu Yue’s words were like pouring oil on a fire. Everyone laughed even harder.

Gu Jiaojiao clenched her fists, forcing herself to control her temper: “So, Gu Yunlan can use tools, and I can too, right? That’s fair, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Dugu Yue nodded: “As long as you’re not a monkey, of course you can.”

He was very confident in his little disciple’s abilities.

Even if he allowed Gu Jiaojiao to use tools, what did it matter? She would never win against his little disciple.

“Alright, stop talking nonsense. The second round, the blue-eyed spider.” Dugu Yue announced: “The blue-eyed spider’s poison is not only on its body hair but also on its mouthparts and silk. Once you touch it, you’ll be poisoned.”

“So, even if you use tools, if you provoke the spider and it spins silk, you’ll be poisoned?” Someone whispered: “The Divine Physician seems to be favoring Gu Yunlan, but he’s actually prohibiting the use of tools. I think the Divine Physician really wants to take Gu Jiaojiao as his disciple!”

“Begin!”

With Dugu Yue’s order, Gu Jiaojiao took the chopsticks first and carefully picked up the blue-eyed spider.

The spider was easily angered. Even a slight touch made it go crazy. Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t hold it with the chopsticks, and the spider ran out. Everyone was scared and ran around.

“Help! Help!”

“The spider is over there!”

The people who came today were all high-ranking officials, and many of them were Gu Xiude’s superiors. If they were really bitten, Gu Xiude’s position might be in danger.

Gu Xiude was anxious: “Jiaojiao, quickly catch that spider! Don’t let it bite anyone!”

Gu Jiaojiao had no choice but to grit her teeth and reach out to grab the blue-eyed spider.

The spider didn’t like noisy environments. As soon as it was caught, it immediately bit Gu Jiaojiao.

The blister beetle was just an appetizer. Compared to the blue-eyed spider, it was not even in the same league. After being bitten by the blue-eyed spider, Gu Jiaojiao’s face immediately turned green.

Not from anger, but from poison.

She quickly caught the blue-eyed spider and put it in the jar. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she quickly took out the antidote pill and ate it.

Although she trusted the antidote pill Dugu Yue gave Gu Yunlan, she still had to put on a show. Otherwise, if Gu Yunlan accused her of cheating, it would be difficult to explain.

After taking the antidote pill, her complexion returned to normal, but the bite on her hand from the spider’s mouthparts wouldn’t heal.

The blue-eyed spider’s bite would take a hundred days to heal. Not only that, but the blue-eyed spider’s venom also contained neurotoxins. From now on, whenever it rained, Gu Jiaojiao’s hand would hurt.

Gu Yunlan raised an eyebrow at Dugu Yue.

Master, you’re really ruthless.

Dugu Yue raised an eyebrow in return.

No poison, no husband.

“Your turn.” Gu Jiaojiao looked at Gu Yunlan with malice.

This blue-eyed spider couldn’t be caught with just a pair of chopsticks. As long as Gu Yunlan lost this round, she would be worth being sent to do hard labor.

“Okay.” Gu Yunlan nodded and took out a pair of leather gloves from her bosom and put them on.

“These gloves are woven with gold inside. Not only can they withstand a small spider, but even wolf teeth and tiger teeth can’t bite through them.” Gu Yunlan easily caught the blue-eyed spider and put it in the jar.

“I’ll concede this round.” Gu Yunlan calmly took off her gloves, elegant and composed.

Compared to the chaos Gu Jiaojiao had created, Gu Yunlan completed this round effortlessly.

Qiao Mingyue’s eyes were full of schadenfreude: “People need to use their brains. Otherwise, they’ll just be a display of jewels and jade.”

“You!” Gu Jiaojiao’s silver teeth almost shattered.

But Qiao Mingyue’s father was one of the most powerful people, the Minister of War, and he was higher in rank than her father. She didn’t dare to argue with Qiao Mingyue, so she could only swallow her anger.

“Next round!” Dugu Yue shouted: “The thousand-legged centipede.”

For this round, Gu Jiaojiao also had someone find similar gloves. Both of them passed safely.

Gu Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief.

She had at least won one round.

Looking at the two remaining jars, she was smug.

There must be something highly poisonous next. What good is your little cleverness, Gu Yunlan? As long as I have the antidote pill that can cure all poisons, I’ll definitely win!

But before she could be smug for a moment, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She bent over, clutching her stomach, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

“It hurts…”

Wu Huanmei was the first to notice that Gu Jiaojiao was wrong. She quickly stepped forward to support Gu Jiaojiao and asked with concern: “What’s wrong, Jiaojiao? Are you feeling unwell?”

Gu Jiaojiao shook her head: “Maybe I ate something bad this morning. I’ll go change my clothes.”

“Pause the competition.” Wu Huanmei quickly shouted: “Divine Physician, Jiaojiao needs to rest for a while.”

Dugu Yue looked at Gu Yunlan, and Gu Yunlan nodded. Then Dugu Yue said: “Alright, hurry up! Don’t waste time!”

Wu Huanmei then helped Gu Jiaojiao leave.

Gu Jiaojiao went to the toilet several times, but the pain in her stomach became more and more unbearable. She couldn’t even pull up her pants.

Large drops of sweat fell from her forehead. After a few times, she actually saw blood!

“Mother, Mother! Come quickly!” Gu Jiaojiao was a little scared.

Wu Huanmei covered her nose and walked into the toilet. When she saw Gu Jiaojiao’s symptoms, she was shocked: “What did you eat? Did you eat that pill?”

“What pill? I only ate the pill the Divine Physician wanted to give Gu Yunlan.” Gu Jiaojiao was confused: “Mother, quickly think of a way. I’ve taken so many antidiarrheal medicines, but nothing works!”

“If I can’t hold on in this competition today, Gu Yunlan, that little b*tch, will definitely benefit!”

“Where did that pill come from?” Wu Huanmei was getting more and more alarmed.

“The Divine Physician gave it to Gu Ziming and asked him to secretly give it to Gu Yunlan. I heard it and snatched it.” Gu Jiaojiao said impatiently: “Mother! Don’t talk about this anymore. Quickly think of a way!”

Wu Huanmei felt like the sky was falling.

“You silly child, that was the poison I gave Gu Ziming for Gu Yunlan! It’s not a simple laxative! This poison will make you feel like you’re just having diarrhea, but it will make you weak from diarrhea. No antidiarrheal medicine will work. You’ll keep going uncontrollably!”