Chapter 656 - Fate Worse than Death
After that, Jing Rong immediately rushed to the second floor and pushed open the door. The thick, metallic stench of blood rolled out.
Mo Ruo was busy applying medicine and wrapping Ji Yunshu’s wound.
Phew! He hurried forward and asked, “How is it?”
Mo Ruo was also much more relaxed. He continued treating the unconscious Ji Yunshu as he spoke, “I have to say, people who don’t resemble each other don’t get to live together. [1] I already knew that you were a stubborn one, but I didn’t expect this lass to be just as stubborn as you! She actually made it through the pain; even a man might not have been able to do the same.”
The only thing Jing Rong heard was, “she made it”!
“So is she alright now?”
“You could say that. Who do you think I am!? I’m the divine doctor! There’s nobody that I can’t save.” He was extremely smug. Aye aye aye, whose hands were trembling so badly earlier when pulling out the dagger? Now you can be cocky!
After he was done bandaging Ji Yunshu, Mo Ruo stood up and dusted off his clothes and told Jing Rong, “Before I pulled out the dagger, Teacher Ji briefed me on several matters. I don’t think I’ll have the chance to convey them for her.” He twitched his eyebrows in a self-satisfied manner and continued, “alright, I’m going to see if there’s any medicine in this inn.” And he strode away.
Before he stepped up, he bumped into Tang Si and told her, “You stay behind and help Teacher Ji change into a clean set of clothes.”
What? She, help him change? “Me?” Tang Si pointed a finger at herself, eyes growing wide in surprise. “I’m a woman, how... “ Mo Ruo left before she could finish speaking.
She stared after him in surprise. What was that about? She then went in.
Zhao Huai had also come upstairs, and asked Wen Xian, “How is the Little Heir?”
“He’s fine now.”
“That’s good then. If something happened to the Little Heir, I don’t know how we would account for it.”
Wen Xian looked at the people downstairs and wondered aloud, “Just who were these people?”
Zhao Huai shook his head. “Unclear. When I travelled with His Highness and the Little Heir on the way to Yufu, we also met with assassins. They were all aiming at His Highness.”
“So that means that there’s still someone that wants His Highness’s life?”
“Mn.”
Wen Xian could not understand it. He turned it over in his head. Other than themselves, the only other people who would want to kill Jing Rong likely would be linked to the happenings in the imperial court. He didn’t continue thinking about it much longer. Right now, the most important thing at hand was the safety of the Little Heir.
Inside the room, Jing Rong sat by the bed. As he looked at the pale face on that woman, his heart felt as if it were pierced by needles. Harming Ji Yunshu was equivalent to crossing his bottom line. Jing Yi, this prince swears that when I return to the capital, I will tear your corpse apart into a thousand pieces.
A long while later, he finally turned towards Tang Si, who had been standing dumbly in the room. “You can go out first.”
“Go out? But Ah Mo asked me to come in to help Ah Ji change clothes.” Yeah, she couldn’t believe it herself either.
Instead, Jing Rong said, “I’ll do that myself. You can go.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t ask for more. Then she continued to speak huffily, “Right, I feel that those people just deserved to die. Throwing them into the mountains for the wolves was too lenient for them. If it were me, I would keep them alive, then slowly torture them. I would peel their skin and pluck their tendons, slowly cut their flesh from their body piece by piece. Let them experience a fate worse than death.”
Dang! You are still the most vicious of all.
Jing Rong was already fully occupied with his concern over Ji Yunshu and didn’t have the spare attention to think about things like that. To him, death was the scariest thing of all.
Tang Si continued speaking, as if she had not already said enough, “You’d better ferret out the mastermind behind all this, then torture him according to how I just described. Otherwise, if Ah Ji experiences any lingering effects from this in the future, then…” she was interrupted before she could finish speaking.
“Get out.” Jing Rong’s tone was even more severe now.
Fine, I’ll go! Tang Si shifted on her heels and headed out. Just as she was closing the door, she took another peek towards the person on the bed. Jing Rong had already taken off Ji Yunshu’s blood-drenched top, revealing those gentle mounds on his chest… That didn’t look like chest muscles; they were clearly breasts! Wait, breasts?
Tang Si’s eyes grew wide in shock. A woman? Teacher Ji is female? It can’t be! As she thought, she shut the door and dashed downstairs to find Mo Ruo in the backyard.
Mo Ruo was in the pharmacy of the inn getting some herbs. When he saw her rushing in so frantically, he asked, “What’s wrong? Another massacre?”
“What massacre?! Quickly tell me, did you already know about it?”
His hand paused in the middle of grabbing a bunch of herbs and looked towards the flustered woman in front of him. “Why? Have you helped her change her clothes already?”
“Change what clothes? Jing Rong didn’t let me. He wanted to do it himself.”
When she said that, the herbs in his hand almost dropped onto the floor. His eyes went wide and round in surprise as he pointed upwards, “Jing Rong personally changed her clothes for her?”
“Mn.”
Mo Ruo’s jaw almost hit the ground. Jing Rong, wow, great job!
Bro, if you knew that Jing Rong and Ji Yunshu had already slept together, wouldn’t your jaw be permanently planted into the soil? [2]
Tang Si felt that they might have gone a little off topic, and quickly asked again, “I ask you, Ah Ji… is a woman?”
“What do you think?”
“I saw it.”
“What did you see?”
“Just…” Her breasts! She worried at her lips, but just couldn’t make herself say the word ‘breasts’.
Mo Ruo continued getting the herbs but didn’t contradict her, which counted as silent admission to her idea.
That landmine in Tang Si’s heart had now well and truly exploded. The person that she had once liked was actually a woman? She felt as if someone had bludgeoned her over her head so hard she was just shy of losing consciousness. She intended to continue asking, but Mo Ruo looked like he had something on his mind. “Why do you have an expression like that? What are you worrying about now that Ah Ji is fine?”
“Was I worrying about something? I’m not!” He quickly wiped that expression off his face.
Tang Si didn’t believe him and continued looking probingly at him. “Are you trying to lie to me? Quickly tell me, what’s wrong?”
This woman’s observational skills were certainly good! Mo Ruo sighed and told her seriously, “Do you know that there is a type of poison from Hanjiang called Bufotoxin?” [3] [4]
“Bufotoxin?” Tang Si searched her memory and suddenly recalled, “I remember! It was recorded in one of the medical books that you gave me. Bufotoxin is the first of Five Poisons; it cannot be cured, but it will not take a person’s life either.”
“Exactly!”
“But why did you suddenly mention this?” Tang Si was puzzled. The next moment, realisation dawned upon her and her mouth dropped open. “Do you mean…”
“Shut up.” Mo Ruo stopped her. “Don’t reveal it first. Teacher Ji wasn’t seriously poisoned and it has been neutralized for now. But we will only know about her condition after she wakes up.”
This time, it was Tang Si’s turn to drop her jaw onto the ground. Worried and nervous, she asked, “Then… is Ah Ji actually alright or not?”
“She’ll naturally be fine since I’m around. But if the poison has settled into her inner organs, it may not take her life but it would leave her in unbearable pain.” His expression was grave.
[1] Aka birds of a feather flock together. But this implies marriage so... *shrugs*
[2] Author, how shameless! Confirming it so plainly now after only going HINTHINTHINT xDD
[3] Hanjiang isn't an actual place but is also the name of a Qidian author so idk if this was an easter egg or anything.
[4] Also WOW AUTHOR THIS IS THE FIRST REAL POISON EVER! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufotoxin Effects described are still complete bs tho.