"Dad, what's wrong? What’s happening?" Ji Jing ran over and asked loudly as she clutched Ji Zhong's robes.
"There's something in our food. We all felt unwell after eating the same dishes. We’re leaving!" Ji Feng said coldly.
The Ji family was well-known family across the plains of Changjing Kingdom, which meant this was bad news for Dong Hai Restaurant.
"Oh, Lord Medicine Saint, why would I think of doing such a thing? We haven’t noticed complaints from any of the other guests..." Zhou Zhicheng dripped with cold sweat. "Host Wu, bring 1,000 silver taels as a form of compensation to the Medicine Saint!"
"We do not lack silver taels, Boss Zhou. We'd like you to seriously investigate this matter. We want to know who put poison into our food!" Ji Zhong scoffed coldly.
Zhou Zhicheng bowed obsequiously. "Please wait. I'll definitely capture the culprit and hand them over to you!"
Ji Zhong scoffed, then headed up
Yun Shimo had to suppress a laugh. It was difficult to believe this was the same woman who had threatened to destroy the Long Red stalks. And neither of those matched the woman he’d seen in the tournament mere hours ago.Which one was the real Hua Qiyue? Or were they all masks?"I rarely find myself in the capital, so now that I have the opportunity to walk about, I asked Qiyue to show me around."Hua Qiyue was surprised by his familiarity, but didn’t let it show on her face.Constantly putting on an act for everyone around her was exhausting. Yes, she was clever and, some would say, beautiful, but putting on the front of the dim-witted old Hua Qiyue was taking a toll on her.Sometimes, she just had to let the cleverness show."Tsk, I didn't expect Miss Hua to have such good fortune to not only win against Miss Ouyang but also find herself in the company of the Medicine Saint himself. She must be truly luc
"Outrageous! You dare to assault the princess?"One of the imperial guards pulled his sword out of its sheath and stepped toward Hua Qiyue. He was a few feet away when Yun Shimo grabbed his arm. The guard tried to pull away, but Yun Shimo’s grip was like steel."Prince Nan, please do not make this difficult!" the guard whispered to him.Princess Huiling could feel the bloody cuts on her hands and screamed bloody murder at Hua QiyuePrincess Huiya said, "Sister, do not be angry at Miss Hua. It was an accident.""An accident? She’s harmed a member of the imperial family — a crime punishable by death! Bring Hua Qiyue to the dungeon!"Ji Feng had seen everything clearly, and the corner of his mouth twitched as he heard Hua Qiyue whisper, "Princess... I didn't do it on purpose... I saw a frog in the grass and I wanted to catch it, and I accidentally pushed you...""You’re lying! How dare you lie to
Ji Jing looked at Yun Shimo with interest. Hua Qiyue's footwork was indeed unique and impressive, but she didn’t know as much about fighting as her brother or Yun Shimo.Yun Shimo turned solemn. "I don’t know what to think. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?"Ji Feng shook his head. "No, and neither has my father. He agreed to let Jing invite Qiyue for lunch but didn’t never brought it up.""That's because Dad knows that there must be a supreme master behind Hua Qiyue and that she’s smart enough not to reveal who they are," Ji Jing said, her eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "I told you the rumors couldn’t be true! Everyone else is just too stupid not to see Hua Qiyue for the smart woman that she is!"She turned a sly grin toward Ji Feng."But you weren’t fooled, brother. I saw how you walked so closely to her today."Ji Feng's face reddened. "Jing, don't say such nonsense!"His sister
Qiuyun was kneeling in front of Hua Mengshi in a small rundown pavilion in the back garden. Hua Mengshi gave the girl such a frosty stare, even Surou had to suppress a shiver."Speak! Did you put the drug into the soup?""Yes! Madame, I did not betray you! I placed the laxative into the soup! I don’t know why it didn’t work!" Qiuyun said with a look of terror."Oh, you did, did you? That was the strongest laxative the doctor had." Hua Mengshi smiled evilly. "I heard that Hua Qiyue is giving out cash to her servants like there’s no tomorrow. Tell me, Qiuyun… how much did it cost for you to betray me?"Qiuyun bowed so low her head was resting on the floor. "No! Please, believe me... I never even saw a copper coin!"Hua Mengshi narrowed her eyes. She’d had Qiuyun monitored constantly, and it didn’t appear that she had been bribed by Hua Qiyue.But if Qiuyun had, indeed, drugged the soup, and had
Hua Qiyue smiled at Ji Jing. "I’d be honored to treat you to a meal, but it’s a bit early for dinner. Would you be willing to walk around with us until then?"Hua Qiyue breathed in sharply as she noticed Yun Shimo sitting next to Ji Feng. Tianci noticed him as well and waved excitedly to him, which Yun Shimo returned with a faint smile.They resumed their journey, with the Ji family's carriage following them into the city.As they passed a snack shop, Tianci tugged at Hua Qiyue's dress and pointed.Hua Qiyue signaled for the carriage to stop. "Do you want a snack?"Tianci nodded exaggeratedly while Ji Jing and Ji Feng alighted from their carriage. The delicious smell of the food made their mouths water as they stepped into the small shop.Hua Qiyue had seldom ventured out of the restaurant with Tianci. Maybe it was time to spoil him just a little.The shop specialized in roast and barbeque pro
The princesses seldom left the palace, but the Emperor had given them permissions to leave for the duration of the tournament, so they finally had an excuse to wander around.Princess Huiling had heard about Wangyue’s sterling reputation and brought her sisters along. When she’d heard that Ji Feng was also there, she’d asked the waiter to show her to his table.What she hadn’t expected was for Hua Qiyue to be there, as well.She snorted in disbelief. "Brother Ji, did you really catch frogs with this idiot?""Yes." Ji Feng responded simply.Ji Jing glanced at Princess Huiling in annoyance.Tianci saw Princess Huizhen and Zhou Zhicheng, and began trembling. Hua Qiyue held his hand."Tianci, aren’t you going to greet your father?"Zhou Zhicheng’s face briefly lit up as he saw Hua Qiyue, then seemed to remember the princess beside him. He smiled gently at Tianci, but the boy only look
As Princess Huiling’s maidservant made a second attempt to calm the princess down Hua Qiyue used her Spirit Summoning Art to release a puff of air from her finger toward the Princess Huiling, injecting hatred and inhibition into it.When the hateful air reached her, Princess Huiling screamed, pulling an ornate knife out of her dress and stabbing it toward Princess Huizhen!The group at the table held their collective breath.Princess Huizhen cried out as the knife pierced her arm.Ji Feng stood to intervene, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop an engraged Huizhen from picking up the fish plate with her good arm, sending fish flying everywhere, and slamming it into Huiling’s face.Blood began pouring from her nose as Huiling let out an incomprehensible scream of pure rage as she lunged at her sister.It was at this point that the imperial guards intervened, pulling the two bloodthirsty princesses apart as th
Princess Huiling tried to suppress the contempt in her eyes. She couldn’t treat Hua Qiyue poorly with so many people watching."Miss Hua! Please, join us."Hua Qiyue wore a slight smile and sat down with Tianci. The meal before them was quite simple – a couple of basic dishes and a bowl of soup."My son was hungry, and I’d heard this restaurant was quite good, so we stopped in to get a quick bite. I never imagined you’d be here, princess. I am honored."Princess Huiling said with a smile, "You should be.""Princess Huiling... last night...”Huiling clenched her fists beneath the table. How dare she bring up last night in public!“…Princess Huizhen really over-reached," Hua Qiyue finished.Princess Huiling snorted, but unclenched her fists."Princess Huizhen has secretly been with Mr. Zhou for a long time. I’ve heard that before his wife passed away, they..."