Lan Chenyu had never felt so humiliated. He felt as though his lifelong self-esteem and pride were being ruthlessly trampled into the dirt by Zha Muxi. A sharp, twisting pain flared in his chest, his eyes were bloodshot with rage, and it felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from his body.
So what if she did? He only knew one thing: he wanted her, and she had no choice but to accept him and stay obediently by his side. Yet he never stopped to consider what consequences Zha Muxi might face once he grew tired of her.
Lan Chenyu suddenly laughed, his voice gentle. "Xiao Xier, I will be taking you home very soon. I will never let you go."
Outnumbered as they were, the situation was heavily against them. If they forced a direct confrontation with Mo Xuanjing here, annihilation would be total. Besides, if anything happened to the Crown Prince of Lan Country, Lan Country itself would surely be devoured.
In an instant, Lan Chenyu weighed the pros and cons and realized he had no choice but to withdraw for now.
Mo Xuanjing made no move to stop them; people of their caliber could leave with ease. Only after Lan Chenyu and his men had retreated into the distance did Zha Muxi finally collapse with a sense of relief.
In the final second before she passed out, Zha Muxi thought, *I seriously suspect that Lan Chenyu was trying to finish me off right then and there. Didn't he see how much blood I lost on that run? It hasn't even stopped bleeding yet, and he still stood there spouting so much nonsense.*
Mo Xuanjing rushed forward to catch Zha Muxi in his arms. Seeing her deathly pale face and bloodless lips, a rare flicker of guilt stirred in his heart. After hastily bandaging her wounds, Mo Xuanjing spurred his horse onward and hurried back to the military camp at top speed.
"My lady, this is terrible!" Yunxiang rushed inside in a panic. Ye Shuxin frowned slightly, displeased. "What on earth has happened?"
Blurting it out in her haste, Yunxiang reported what she had found out. "Just now, the Prince carried the Princess back in his arms."
Ye Shuxin instantly clenched her teeth, a surge of jealousy gripping her heart. It felt as though a million ants were gnawing at her from the inside, and the handkerchief in her hand was already crumpled and twisted beyond recognition. For a moment, Yunxiang dared not utter another word and could only drop to her knees.
Seeing this, the other maid, Dingxiang, immediately stepped forward and said, "My lady, do not grieve. The Prince chose you in the first place, which shows that in his heart, you are the one who matters most."
Hearing this, Ye Shuxin's face finally relaxed into a smile. That's right—Brother Mo loves me, and Brother Mo can only be mine. No one is ever going to take him away from me. A fleeting, ferocious look crossed her face.
"Quickly, summon Song Wen here!" Mo Xuanjing bellowed.
Song Wen hastened to staunch Zha Muxi's bleeding, shaking his head as he felt her pulse.
"Song Wen, how is the Princess now?" Mo Xuanjing asked anxiously. Only after listening to Zha Muxi's words earlier had he realized how much suffering she had endured.
Song Wen dropped hastily to his knees, looking terrified. "Your Highness, the Princess suffered a miscarriage not long ago, and on top of that, she has contracted a rare and potent poison. Combined with her severe loss of blood, I fear it will be very difficult for her ever to conceive again."
Mo Xuanjing felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold. His voice was hoarse as he ordered, "Do not speak of this to the Princess. Whatever medicines are needed, spare no expense—you must cure her of this poison and restore her health."
"Your Highness, this poison is unlike anything I have ever encountered. However, if I can find the raw ingredients used to make it, I still have a fifty percent chance of success."
Mo Xuanjing's brow furrowed deeply, for he knew full well that this poison was formulated by Lan Chenyu himself, and the antidote was in his hands alone. Even so, he immediately dispatched men to search for the raw ingredients. He needed to prepare for both eventualities; should the search fail entirely, he would have no choice but to negotiate with Lan Chenyu. Afterward, he dismissed everyone from the room.
Mo Xuanjing sat in a daze by Zha Muxi's bed, muttering to himself, "The child... were you already pregnant after that time we were together? Dammit, I had no idea. It was my own hands that killed our child." Anger and self-reproach flashed in his eyes.
Zha Muxi had no inkling of the turbulent inner monologue playing out in Mo Xuanjing's mind. She was truly weak right now, and her wounds hurt all the more for it.
Five days later, Zha Muxi finally woke up and asked for water. Mudan hurriedly poured a cup and cautioned, "Princess, drink slowly."
Zha Muxi drained the cup in one go and asked, "Who are you?"
"Replying to the Princess, this servant is Mudan, specially assigned by the Prince to attend to you. Oh, and earlier, Imperial Physician Song instructed this servant to send word the moment Your Highness regained consciousness."
Zha Muxi told her to summon the physician. Moments later, she heard footsteps approaching—he had arrived remarkably fast. Raising her gaze, she thought, *Well, well.*
Though Zha Muxi had anticipated running into Ye Shuxin sooner or later, actually seeing her now stirred up feelings that were a delicate mix of complexity and helplessness; she could already guess the script for what came next.
Under the circumstances back then, Mo Xuanjing had been right to save the woman he deeply loved, but it still left her feeling inexplicably irritated.
"Princess Sister, it is all Xin's fault that you suffered such heavy injuries. I truly had no idea Brother Mo would choose me instead of you."
With that, Ye Shuxin's eyes grew red and tearful, though anyone with eyes could hear the clear note of gloating in her tone.
Finding the noise unbearable, Zha Muxi simply said, "Why don't you head back first? I have some matters to attend to shortly."
Tears welled up and spilled slowly down Ye Shuxin's cheeks, as though she were suffering the greatest grievance in the world. With a soft thud, she sank to her knees. "I know Sister has yet to forgive me. The one who died back then should have been me."
The moment Zha Muxi saw her drop to her knees like that, she knew the male lead was about to make an entrance. When Mudan had gone to find Song Wen, Mo Xuanjing and Song Wen had happened to be together, so they had walked over side by side.
Just then, the group arrived to witness this exact scene. With a look of deep distress, Mo Xuanjing rushed forward to pull the kneeling Ye Shuxin to her feet.
Ye Shuxin obligingly leaned into Mo Xuanjing's embrace, her voice soft and plaintive. "It is not the Princess's fault; it is all Xin's doing. Xin should not have allowed herself to linger in the warmth the Prince bestowed." Yet out of the corner of her eye, she shot a defiant look at Zha Muxi.
Mo Xuanjing had half-believed this woman was turning over a new leaf, but seeing that she was as willful and domineering as ever, a flicker of disgust crossed his face.
Having no mood to play out their dramatic love triangle right now, Zha Muxi seized the moment before Mo Xuanjing could open his mouth and blurted out, "I dropped to my knees of my own accord; she never scolded, struck, or punished me. I bear no hatred, she is already forgiven, and I must ask the Prince to take her away now. I have matters to discuss with Song Wen."
The reprimand teetering on the tip of Mo Xuanjing's tongue died in his throat, leaving him with no choice but to lead Ye Shuxin away.
While no one else noticed that Zha Muxi had dropped her formal self-address entirely, Ye Shuxin caught it. Her gaze darkened. *It seems that incident dealt her a heavy blow—even her favorite form of address has changed.*
"I wonder what the Princess wishes to discuss with this subject?" Song Wen asked, looking puzzled.
Logically speaking, although they had met before, the former Princess had always treated people like them with indifference, so their acquaintance was hardly deep.
Zha Muxi offered a faint smile. "Might I trouble Mister Song to help me procure some medicinal ingredients?"
"Naturally. This subject will spare no effort. Please name them, Your Highness, and I shall have them delivered the moment I secure them." *The Princess is actually smiling at me,* Song Wen thought, finding the notion utterly baffling.
Hearing this, Zha Muxi brightened up and reeled off a lengthy list without the slightest hesitation: "Yindan herb, duruo flower, ziyang fruit, xifen, banxin, and the Seven-Color Begonia."
As he listened, a jolt of shock ran through Song Wen. Every single one of these items was intensely toxic; what on earth did the Princess intend to do with them? Still, he held back his questions, figuring he should report this to the Prince shortly.
Sensing Song Wen's doubt, Zha Muxi gave a light laugh. "You know what poison I've been struck with, don't you?"
Song Wen immediately cast an apologetic look at Zha Muxi. "Princess, this subject is incompetent. I cannot cure the poison coursing through Your Highness's veins."
Zha Muxi shook her head. "There—that is the prescription for the cure."
Shocked, Song Wen accepted the slip of paper with trembling hands, treating it as though it were some peerless treasure. To someone like him, obsessed with unraveling difficult and arcane medical conditions, this truly was priceless.
"Princess, are these words true? But isn't the antidote something only Lan Chenyu knows?" *Could the Princess have managed to obtain the antidote prescription from that man?*
Zha Muxi sneered. "Ha! He can't even cure this poison himself. He only excels at manufacturing poisons; his skills at detoxifying are mediocre at best. Those so-called antidotes merely suppress the activity of the poison—taking them is nothing more than drinking poison to quench a thirst."
"This..." Song Wen was utterly bewildered. "May I ask how the Princess figured out that this combination would work as a cure?" Surely she hadn't dreamed it up herself, given her long-standing reputation as a "bountiful beauty with an empty head." Yet reality slapped him across the face the very next second.
"I thought of it myself," Zha Muxi said casually, seemingly oblivious to the monumental weight this prescription carried.
In truth, this level of poison was child's play to her. Though her past memories were lost, her former skills remained completely intact. Yet no matter how brilliant a physician might be, they faced one tragic limitation: a physician could not heal themselves. Thus, she could not use acupuncture to force the poison out and had no choice but to resort to this alternative treatment plan.
A hint of panic crept into Song Wen's voice. "Princess, are you planning to test the medicine on yourself?"
Having never heard of this prescription before, Song Wen naturally assumed Zha Muxi was attempting a desperate gamble to find life through death.
Seeing right through his misunderstanding, Zha Muxi explained, "Imperial Physician Song, I actually possess a rudimentary knowledge of medicine. Once I cure myself of this poison, I will also be able to clear away the cold toxin afflicting the Prince. He saved my life once in the past, and this is what I owe him."