Biluochun (碧螺春) – a type of highquality tea

  Zumu (祖母) – paternal grandmother

  Lao Furen was shocked, and Luo Mama quicklyserved her a cup of tea: "Lao Furen please calm yourself."

  LaoFuren involuntarily pointed to Li Wei Yang: "What is going on?!"

  Li Wei Yang revealed a puzzled expression:"Old lady, the weather has turned warmer in the past few days, the bigsister loves to be beautiful, and often dressed lightly, I am afraid this haslured poisonous bugs……"

  Lao Furen couldn’t help but frowned:"What bugs are this powerful! That all her hair is gone!"

  When they looked at each other, they boththen looked towards the inner room. Li Chang Le drank the calming pasteand laid there like a dead person. Li Wei Yang lowered her eyes, this poison causesone to itch uncontrollably. In the end, the intestines would rot and die;indeed, it was really vicious. Now, Li Chang Le managed to sleep but once shewakes up, she will begin to itch uncontrollably again.

  JiangYue Lan looked at the black sand on the sandalwood road: "Hurry and gofind the ropes, later when your Xiaojiewakes upand if she still wants to itch, tie her up first!Do not let her make a ruckus!"

  Li Wei Yang glanced at Li Chang Le’sblurred flesh on her head and face, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh,saying: "Eldest sister loves her beautiful appearance the most.Now it is ……" Punishment well-deserved.

  JiangYue Lan looked at the direction of her glance. Li Chang Le’s alluring facewas nowstained with blood and it seemed like she hadleprosy. It was scratched to the point of beingunrecognizable,especially around those beautiful eyes, they almost looked rotten. Sheshifted her face,there is a hint of fear in her heart, the once beautifulLi Chang Le now has a face that is frightening. She used to be a fairy but after this, she is a demon. Even if she can survive, she would be betteroff dead than alive.

  LiXiao Ran hurriedly rushed in from the courtyard.When he saw the scene in the room, he was suddenly stunned. Jiang Yue Lan triedto open her mouth several times but was scared by his expression.

  LiWei Yang watched fromafar, sneered,not knowing what her father felt in the heart.

  "Lao Ye,I have sent someone to ask for the physician!" Jiang Yue Lan stood there for a long while before she dared to open her mouth andspeak. As the matriarch of the household, she is responsible for Li Chang Le!She couldn’t have believed that it has only beena few months since she married into the family and this kind ofthings had already happened at home, it was too incredulous!

  "Summoned the physician?? No! We can’t call for thephysician!"Li Xiao Ran looked pale. “With her ghost-like appearancenow ——Ifthis gets spread out ……"

  Howcould Jiang Yue Lan not have known?! Li Chang Le and TuobaZhen had an arranged marriage. If the Third Prince finds outthat Li Chang Le’s beautiful face looked like thisafter her injury,everything will be finished! Even if Tuoba Zhen is still willingto marry her, how can such a face sustain the favor of herhusband! In Li Xiao Ran’s heart, he earnestly hoped thatLi Chang Le died. Thiswould turn outbetter, if she survives, he was afraid he would lose face! However, Jiang Yue Lancould not let him do this, because if Li Chang Le died, the Duke’s (Guogong) Furen will not let her live! Thinking of what her father and stepmother warned her, Jiang Yue Lan felt that her scalps were becoming numb. She had only one thought,LiChang Le couldn’t die, she lives, then she had one more cardin her hand! If she dies, she will have no shield left!

  Thinkingof this, Jiang Yue Lan said worriedly: "Lao Ye, the Duke’s furen said she will come in two days. If by that time……I am afraid she will cause trouble."

  LiXiao Ran has long been tired of the Jiang family’sintimidation,he coldly said:"So?!"

  JiangYue Lan softly said: "Master, we are all in-laws, we are bounded together for good or ill, why should wecause a scene?"

  LiXiao Ran’s face was clouded and was uncertain for a long while. Unsure of what he thought of, he frowned, “Forget it, call the physician!”


  LiWei Yang had already asked Tan Shi to bringthe child back. At this moment, she stood next to Lao Furen, and herexpression looked exactly like Lao Furen, burdened withworries.

  Physician Wangfinally arrived in half an hour, and he did not dare to delay for a moment and immediatelywent forth to check on Li Chang Le’s pulse. Ten to twentyminutes have alreadypassed before he turned his head back: "Prime Minister, your noble misshas signs of poisoning."

  Howcould it be poison again! Li Xiao Ran angrily voiced: "What kind of place has the household become! Someone gets poisonedonce in a few days! Who did this?!"

  Physician Wangwas caught off guard, but he knew the less he knew about the elite family’s affairs, thebetter off he will be, he laughed: “The key now is not to pursueresponsibility, but to think about how to cure Da Xiaojie.”


  LiXiao Ran said: "What are the ways?"

  Physician Wang muttered to oneself and then spoke: "Prime Minister Li,my main field of practice is internal medicine and chronic disease,I have not done any research in poison, in my opinion, it would be better to hurry and seek the Lu Gong from lasttime!"

  LaoFuren grabbed Li Wei Yang’s hand: “Wei Yang, where does Lu Gonglive?”


  LiWei Yang whispered: "The place, Wei Yang do know of, but Lu Gong’s temperament is unpredictable,and his whereabouts are uncertain. Even if we find him, I’m afraidhe will not be able to cure Dajie in time."

  Li Xiao Ran’s face showed urgency: "Don’t say anymore, go find theperson first!"

  At this time, suddenly there was an uproaroutside. Li Wei Yang narrowed her eyes and watched a yatou rushed in: "LaoYe, someone outside said that he is fourth young master of the Jiang family, hesaid he brought Physician Lu here ……"

  Jiang Nan? Li Xiao Ran heard and then said:"Let him come in!"

  The yatou quickly retreated, but not too longafter, Jiang Nan, who was tall and built, stepped in. A low-browed old manpleasing to the eyes followed right behind him. Li Wei Yang saw the old manbehind him and couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. It was really Lu Gong.

  Li Wei Yang looked around and didn’t see any traceof Li Chang Le’s Liu Mama. She immediately guessed who invited Jiang Nan over.She couldn’t help but look at him coldly, and their glances clashed right intoeach other at this moment. Jiang Nan stared at her, turned and bowed to Li XiaoRan: "Uncle."

  Even though Da Furen was no longer there, therelationship between the Jiangs and Li Xiao Ran will never change. Especiallyin court, the two flesh are linked together even if their bones are broken,which is why Li Xiao Ran cannot easily make a move unless he can make a cleardistinction; otherwise, he will have to be governed by the Jiangs. When JiangNan walked in front of him, Li Xiao Ran’s face actually showed a warm smile andhe patted his shoulder and said: “The last time I saw you, you were still a fewyears old, now you’ve grown this big."

  Such an affectionate look, not a single trace ofhis abhorrence towards the Jiangs could be seen.

  Li Wei Yang smiled slightly, Li Xiao Ran was neither a frank person, nora sycophant. He was just a practical person, having been in court for more thanten years, he was cautious and was also good at catering to the emperor. Hewould never go against the Jiangs, even if they spit on his face, he could alsobear it, not to mention the things Da Furen have done in the past. In his eyes,it is nothing but conflicts within the household, and it cannot affect theoverall situation. But this didn’t mean that he and the Jiangs are as friendlyas a family. At this point, Li Wei Yang must show some admiration for Li XiaoRan. This middle-aged man seemed like a tortoise but he was not as open-mindedas his face tells. His abhorrence towards the Jiangs was built from a long timeago. Perhaps, she should also learn from, this skill to bear patiently. Justwhen Li Wei Yang was pondering upon this, she heard Jiang Nan anxiously saying:"I heard that my cousin is unwell. I specially brought Lu Gong over, hopingit wouldn’t be too late."

  Li Xiao Ran quickly said: "That’s good, that’sgood, I was going to send someone to summon! Lu Gong, please save my littlegirl!" Just before, he was still feeling upset, now he showed the façadeof a benevolent father. His face changing ability was quicker than flippingthrough a book.

  Lu Gong immediately said: "Let me go andsee." He went over to Li Chang Le, carefully looked at her for a longtime, and suddenly turned around and said: "This …… is a very powerful typeof poison!"

  No one dared to make a sound, Jiang Nan frowned: "What is goingon?! How can she have scratched her face into this?!"

  Lu Gong shook his head and said: "I havebeen to Southern Xinjiang once. This poison seemed to have been passed on fromthere. Once one is poisoned, the itchiness is incomparable, one will continue toitch until the intestines are rotten. Strictly speaking, anyone who died fromthis poison, was not poisoned to death and instead scratched oneself to death.In this case, you are clever to have tied her hands and feet with something. Ifnot, I am afraid by now ……"

  Jiang Nan looked back and stared at Li Wei Yangin a disgusting manner. Li Wei Yang casually looked back at him without asingle trace of guilt. This poison came from your Jiangs, now they should knowwhat it means to be harmed from one’s own evil deeds. They dared to poison MinZhi, then they should have prepared for retaliation. So only the stateofficials can set fire, the commoners can’t alight the fire and thus, naturallythey would be burned by the fire. Jiang Nan saw that she was not afraid of him.His eyes grew colder and fiercer and then sighed. Why did they provoke such anomen? Now it has become endless. He turned his head to Lu Gong: “Is there a way?”


  Lu Gong nodded and said: "Fortunately, I have a bottle of hundred-flowerpills on me, which can cure the world’s strangest poison." Afterwards, he searchedhimself for a long time before he found a porcelain bottle and poured out alilac-colored pill. He passed it to Tan Xiang and said, "Liquefy it andlet your Xiaojie take it.”


  Li Wei Yang stared at the porcelain bottle in LuGong’s hands. Lu Gong quickly said: "I only have this one pill left, itwas left to me by my master ……" He was so anxious that he spoke of hismaster, Li Wei Yang narrowed her eyes at him and stayed silent.

  Lu Gong was shook by her expression and then said: "Quick, let DaXiaojie take this!"

  Tan Xiang hurriedly left to prepare the medicine,and then with the help of others, she served Li Chang Le the medicine.

  Li Wei Yang’s gaze swept passed Jiang Nan and LuGong, and she couldn’t help but pursed her lips. It seemed like Min De wasright, this Lu Gong was indeed odd. She thought about it and suddenly waved towardsZhao Yue. After Zhao Yue listened to her instructions, she showed a smile onher lips and then quickly left. After a while, she walked in with a pot of teaand said softly: "Xiaojie, Nubi has prepared the best Biluochun, which Iwill serve to Lu Gong." Then she smiled and walked towards Lu Gong’s sideas if she wanted to pour him a cup of tea. But before she reached the table,she deliberately tripped herself as her whole body fell over. The pot of hottea was about to splash onto Lu Gong, but Lu Gong was agile as he took one stepback, Zhao Yue’s kettle still splattered towards him. Lu Gong a very old manand should but he dexterously caught it.

  Jiang Nan’s face showed signs of anxiousness. Heimmediately looked at Li Wei Yang, but saw her eyes fell onto Lao Furen. Thetwo were whispering, as if they didn’t see it. That was when he let out a sighand immediately gave Jiang Tian a warning.

  Zhao Yue embarrassingly said: "Physician Lu, I am trulysorry."

  Lu Gong smiled bitterly and said: "Itdoesn’t matter." He didn’t know if Li Wei Yang had just seen it, but thisyatou’s skills was too agile, he reacted subconsciously.

  Over there, Li Chang Le has completely becomequiet, and no longer scratched everywhere. Everyone was relieved while Li WeiYang sneered in her heart. Once Li Chang Le wakes up and sees herself in themirror, she would be angered to insanity. Compared to watching Li Chang Le’sdeath, she deeply felt that that moment would be much more entertaining ……

  At this time, Jiang Nan calmly said: "How did she get poisoned?!"

  Li Xiao Ran glanced at him: "I will get tothe bottom of this."

  Coldness flashed across Jiang Nan’s handsomeface, and he smilingly said: “Uncle, I have to report back to my zumu (paternalgrandmother).”


  That is to say, if he does not get an answer, hewill not leave.

  Li Xiao Ran frowned and said: "Tan Xiang, tellus what Xiaojie has eaten for the past few days?"

  Tan Xiang trembled with fear and almost couldn’tspeak. At this time, a figure flashed past the crowd, yet it was a middle-agedwoman dressed simply with a tall and slim stature and a thin face. She said to LiXiao Ran: "Lao Ye. Da Xiaojie’s meals are all handled by Zhou Mama andmust go through various rounds of inspections, so there would be no mistakes.Thus, Nubi suspect the problem is not on the meals.”


  Li Xiao Ran looked at her in disbelief, JiangNan loudly voiced: "Liu Mama, according to you, where did the problemarise from?"

  Liu Mama raised her eyes and looked around inthe room. Her eyes stopped on everyone’s face for a moment, and everyone’s heartraced a little faster. She continued to say: “I’m afraid the problem is thesetup of this room. The furnishings, incense, or even the headwear and clothingsupplied by the household." In fact, she didn’t say that these things werealso all examined by Zhou Mama meticulously, and there was nothing wrong withthem. But in the past few days, Zhou Mama was not there and although the foodwas checked by her, she was not an expert in poison, and there were a lot ofnew things in the room, so they might want to reexamine these things.

  Li Wei Yang looked at Liu Mama and slowly said:“Liu Mama is saying that someone in our household wants to hurt Dajie?”


  Liu Mam faintly said: "San Xiaojie, Nubi donot dare to say that it’s people in this household, but Nubi dare to say that thething used to hurt Da Xiaojie is still in this house. We just have to checkeach place carefully and then we will know.”


  This Liu Mama is a character. Li Wei Yang began to understand why LiChang Le began to use her brains after returning back, she had a strategistright beside her.

  Jiang Nan coldly urged: "I ask that uncledo my cousin justice."

  Li Xiao Ran’s eyes circled around his face, andthen he looked at Lao Furen who had her head down as she sipped her tea. Whenhe saw Lao Furen’s incomprehensible nod, he said: “Chang Le is my biologicaldaughter, now that this happened to her, I am the one that feels the most pain.So of course, I will not let her murderer go unpunished."

  Jiang Nan looked at Li Wei Yang. He was certainthat this murderer was not only in the household, but was also calmly talkingto Lao Furen. She really had the guts, it was comparable to when he killedpeople like flies on the. He sneered and said: "Liu Mama, you will handleeverything."

  Liu Mama bowed her head: "Nubi willdefinitely find the murderer who harmed Da Xiaojie!" After that, she gesturedtowards a few yatous and began to search through the house.

  Si Yiniang disgustedly looked at Li Chang Le lying there, she said to LiChang Xiao: "Let’s go, this room is full of bad luck!"

  Li Changxiao is a bit worried: "If weleave now, I am afraid it won’t be good."

  Si Yiniang really didn’t want to smell thedisgusting scent of blood, she said: "Go, there’s nothing to fear!"

  However, once she turned around, she heardJiang Nan say: "I am sorry, no one in this room can leave! Not until themurderer has been caught!"

  Li Xiao Ran’s expression didn’t look too good, hesaid: "How can you be sure that the murderer is someone in thisroom?!"

  Jiang Nan respectfully said: "Uncle, themurderer has hurt the cousin with such a cruel method. Of course, that personmust bear a deep grudge against her. Because of this, since the person hasharmed her, this person would naturally wants to see the results!"

  Li Wei Yang smiled, cruel and frenzied, she wasvery fond of these words, but these words used to describe her wereinappropriate. They should be used to describe the Jiangs and Li Chang Le sincethey could even harm Min Zhi, then what she did was was too fitting! She wassimply giving them a taste of their own medicine!

  Jiang Nan looked at Li Wei Yang from afar, but in her face, he couldn’tsee the slightest sign of tension, as if there was not a single bit of guilt inher heart nor was there any anxiousness of being caught. Si Yiniang couldn’thelp but say: "Jiang Shaoye, what do you mean by this! Are you saying thatwe have harmed Da Xiaojie?”


  Jiang Nan snorted and said: "Not certainas of yet!"

  Si Yiniang unjustly looked to Li Xiao Ran:"Lao Ye!"

  Li Xiao Ran didn’t feel like being tender towards her and angrily said:"Okay, no one can leave! Until we get to the bottom of this!"

  Si Yiniang began to envy Liu Yiniang who wasill; whoever gets pulled into this, whoever will be lucked out.

  "Lao Ye." Liu Mama held a tray, on thetray was the peony head oil that Li Chang Le have used, she raised her voice,"Nubi has already checked the things in the house, most of the things areused on a daily basis. Only this bottle of peony head oil was from not too longago."

  Li Xiao Ran frowned and said: "Is there aproblem with this head oil?"

  Liu Mama said: "Some poison can’t be easilydetected. If Lao Ye wants to verify, why don’t we instruct someone to test it."

  Li Xiao Ran nodded. He was about to ordersomeone to go when he heard Jiang Nan spoke: "No need!" He said, he casuallygrabbed a yatou, the yatou let out a shriek, and before she could resist, hehad already poured the entire bottle of peony head oil into her mouth.

  Lao Furen couldn’t help but angrily said:"This is not edible, what are you doing!”


  Jiang Nan dropped the trembling yatou and raisedhis eyebrows: "Old lady, I’ve lost my etiquettes, but this peony head oilis made with peony and sesame oil. Normally, people won’t die eating this, ifit is not poisonous, this girl would naturally be unharmed ——"

  Li Wei Yang reminded him coldly: "This isour yatou, not a kitten nor a dog."

  Jiang Nan smiled, there was no mercy on hishandsome face and instead he showed the pride and arrogance of the Jiangs:"A yatou that can’t protect her master, what use does she have!"

  Everyone’s face turned ugly, but no one dared to say anything. Li XiaoRan smiled coldly and opened his mouth to say: "The generals of Wuwei aregetting more and more grandiose." His tone sounded calm, but Li Wei Yang couldhear the tumultuous wind and rain from within. Jiang Nan certainly knew thathis behavior was very arrogant, but he was not afraid at all: "Cousin’slife is naturally much more important than these people! If she suffered harm,I don’t how I will explain to my grandmother and my father! I earnestly ask foruncle and Li Lao Furen’s forgiveness!"

  A ferocious Li Xiao Ran’s face flashed acrossface, but ultimately, it turned into a forced smile. A junior, at the Li householddared to be this arrogant, this meant that the Jiangs were domineering andaggressive, but the same, such people easily exposed their weakness to hiseyes. Jiang Nan is so disrespectful to him, what about in front of the emperor?The Jiangs have always been careful but they didn’t expect that their trueintentions have been exposed by their new generation.

  At this time, the young yatou screamed and beganto roll and scratch on the ground. Everyone watched with horror as she repeatedthe same movement as Li Chang Le. It was obviously the same poison, andeveryone was stunned. Everyone was frightened to the point of speechless. Only LiWei Yang loudly voiced: "Lu Gong, are you going to watch as your patientdies in front of your eyes?"

  Lu Gong suddenly became startled, and quicklytold the people to grab the yatou, and then said: "I have no more pills,but I can use other methods to slowly find another cure that will not let herlose her life but ——" Of course, this yatou would have to suffer a lot.He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone knew what to expect. The yatou wasquickly carried out, and the room was quiet like a cemetery.

  Jiang Nan slowly said: "It seems like the problem lies in thisbottle of peony head oil."

  Tan Xiang’s was almost mute, she franticallysaid: “This was sent over by the steward ten days ago. Xiaojie liked it a lotand used it every day—” She thought of herself touching the oil every day, butshe was lucky and didn’t get poisoned. She felt like a survivor of a disaster,in fact, she wouldn’t have been poisoned, because she after touching only abit, she would wash it with water. As for Li Chang Le, she was poisoned becauseher scalp bathed in the oil six hours each day. If her scalps were accidentallyexposed, then the spreading of the poison speeds up.

  "If the head oil was used externally, the toxicitywouldn’t be this severe, it takes a long time to take effect." Lu Gongexplained to everyone.

  Jiang Nan’s voice carried a hint of coldness:“Who is it that sent this nonsense over!”


  Li Xiao Ran angered: "Call the steward!"

  Jiang Yue Lan’s face turned white every passingsecond, her body was almost crumbling, she bit her teeth: "I instructedthe steward to send this year’s peony head oil over!"

  The expressions on everyone’s faces have showeddisbelief. Peony sesame oil from the new furen?! How is this possible!——

  *****——

  Translator: Erie

  Editor: Erie