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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

n“It’s all settled then. You must go to the stable now to arrange for a horse carriage on my behalf. Tomorrow, I want to visit Yuwu Teahouse and sit there for a while,” Ye Jiuge instructed Qing Mama.

nThe Yuwu Teahouse was the most popular gathering place among the younger generations of aristocratic families. These young nobles were undaunted by the repercussions of their actions, and they dared to talk about anything and everything. Most of all, they liked to gossip. Before, when Ye Jiuge had put the Crown Prince in his place, these young aristocrats were the reason news of the incident had spread like wildfire. Not only that, they had created an atmosphere of sympathy for her. When they saw this pig-looking face of hers today, their conversations would liven up.

n“I’ll make arrangements now.” Qing Mama curtseyed.

nShe was about to leave when Ye Jiuge stopped her in her tracks, saying, “I need you to do another thing for me. Help me send out invitations to Lord Bai and Lord Wan to meet at Yuwu Teahouse tomorrow afternoon.”

nShe intended to use this opportunity to ask about the relationship between Bai Songling and Dongfang Que so that she could be clear about how they were related to each other. If she was to ally with them, they needed to be frank with her.

n“Alright, noted.”

nOut of the blue, a cheerful expression appeared on Qing Mama’s face. She went outside in high spirits. In the past, she had asked around and found out that Wan Ziyang and Bai Songling were both talented and handsome young men from the Justice Department. Their faces would match well with her Eldest Miss’. Ye Jiuge was not aware that Qing Mama was trying to play matchmaker for her again with random men. She turned her face to the left and right, scrutinizing herself in the mirror. When she was contemplating whether to make her lips paler, Zi Shang’s figure appeared.

nYe Jiuge jumped out of her skin. She hugged her chest and spoke fiercely, “Don’t you tell me that you are going to punish me for this.” She really would turn against him.

nFortunately, Zi Shang was not that psychotic. He reached out with his hand and caressed Ye Jiuge gently once, before speaking in a lowered voice, “Fool!”

nHis fingers were cold, yet they carried warmth. His tone was calm but laced with heartache. For some inexplicable reason, Ye Jiuge found herself with mixed feelings. Before, when Qing Mama had felt sorry for her, it had not been a huge deal. Now that Zi Shang’s heart pained for her, she felt an unfathomable urge to act affectionately toward him. How repulsive! This kind of d*mn emotion should not exist inside a tough woman like her.

nYe Jiuge pretended to be indifferent as she said, “This seemed serious, but actually, it’s bearable.”

nZi Shang did not reply. The tip of his cool fingers brushed across Ye Jiuge’s red and swollen cheeks. A chilly stream of energy seeped into her skin. Ye Jiuge was astonished to find that her face no longer hurt. She quickly went to look at herself in the mirror and discovered that her injury was more grotesque than earlier. Her face was so swollen that she could not even open her eyes properly.

n“You must have done it deliberately!” Ye Jiuge looked askance at Zi Shang.

nFeeling pleased, Zi Shang retracted his fingertips. Perhaps, others might find Ye Jiuge very unattractive with such a face. However, she looked adorable to him, even when her face was hideous. As expected, an ordinary person would not be able to make heads or tails of the psychopath’s inner thoughts.

n“By the way, Zi Shang, do you know what kind of Demonic Poison was in Dongfang Que’s body?” When Ye Jiuge realized that Zi Shang was in a good mood, she took advantage of it and asked what she wanted to know.

n“Of course.” Ye Jiuge could not hide her devious thoughts from him.

nHowever, he’d observed that this young girl had been through a lot, so he decided to be kind to her, for once, and help her. “Dongfang Que was poisoned with a King Poison that came from a Level Five Demonic Beast, the White Jade Spider.”

n“That was a King Poison!” Ye Jiuge was horrified.

nThat was why the Spiritual Doctors could not identify it. The most powerful of the Level Five Demonic Beasts were all living in seclusion in the deepest parts of the Demonic Race’s territory. Only a few legendary, brilliant Spiritual Practitioners could set foot in that area. Even if an ordinary person wanted to enter that place, there was no way for them to do so without being killed.

nShe had never heard of a Spiritual Practitioner in the Lei Kingdom who was so exceptional that he or she was capable of this. If this were the case, how did the Empress procure the King Poison? Furthermore, Elderly Lady Xu, who had worked for the Empress, had practiced black magic. Where had they found her? Was there any link between her and the Su Clan? Did Emperor Xuanwu know anything about this? Puzzling questions appeared in Ye Jiuge’s mind, one by one, but she could not find any answers.

n“Stop thinking about it. Anyway, this has nothing to do with you.” Zi Shang disliked seeing Ye Jiuge stress about other people.

n“How can this be none of my business? If they can obtain a King Poison from the White Jade Spider King to harm Dongfang Que, they can get their hands on another Demonic Poison to harm me. How could I not safeguard myself against that?” Ye Jiuge spoke in a displeased manner.

n“You think too highly of yourself.” Zi Shang’s face was deadpan.

nDid she think that King Poison could be so easily acquired? In a worst-case scenario, even if Ye Jiuge was poisoned with an extremely potent Demonic Poison that could rival a King Poison, he could help her neutralize it.

nYe Jiuge was accustomed to Zi Shang pouring cold water on her opinions. Therefore, she did not feel self-conscious. She persisted, “Do you have a way to save Dongfang Que?”

n“Why should I save him?” He considered himself very forgiving for not severing that bold human brat’s limbs and grinding him into a meat patty when he’d dared to touch his woman.

n“Because I accepted his payment in exchange for medical consultation. If you don’t help me save him, then I can only think of other ways of compensating him.” Ye Jiuge deliberately emphasized the word ‘compensate.’ As for what she meant by ‘other ways,’ she would let Zi Shang guess himself!

nAs expected, Zi Shang’s face immediately darkened. He growled, “Isn’t it just a small Spiritual Whip? That’s only a lousy chain whip separated into six sections. There’s nothing special about it.”

n“If you are capable of gifting me something better, then you can give me a Spiritual Whip with nine sections as a present!” Ye Jiuge said on purpose.

nIt was challenging for Zi Shang to even pass a technique to her via mental transference. He would not be able to offer her anything of value. Ye Jiuge’s guess was not wrong. All of Zi Shang’s old treasures were not with him. Right now, for him to materialize, he had to depend fully on the Soul Contract that he’d signed with her. At this point, he could not gift her anything good.

nHowever, he was unfazed. He said, “It is true that I am not able to give you a Spiritual Whip with nine sections right now. Since you like that inferior whip, then you should accept it. I will help you save him.” He would consider this a contribution toward Ye Jiuge’s payment for her medical consultation.

n“I just knew that you give me the best treatment.”

nYe Jiuge was slightly affectionate. It was a rare occurrence. Although her sappy way of speaking revolted her, Zi Shang quite enjoyed hearing it. As soon as he was in a good mood, he told her how to save Dongfang Que.

nAs it turned out, the Icy Snow Spider King lived deep in the snowy mountains. The poison from its body was the coldest in existence. If they wanted to remove this kind of Ice Poison from his body, they needed to find the fieriest Spiritual Herb, a Level Five Fire Dragon Herb, and perform acupuncture using the Lightning Fire Needle. Only then would they be able to neutralize the Ice Poison.

n“Where can I find a Level Five Fire Dragon Herb?” Ye Jiuge felt slightly worried. Since this kind of Spiritual Herb sounded so impressive, it would be very likely that she would need to go to great lengths to get her hands on it.

n“If you can help him expel the poison from his body, that will be good enough. Don’t tell me that you still want to help him search for the Spiritual Herb?”

nZi Shang felt that this young girl was too stupid. As a human prince, wouldn’t Dongfang Que be more powerful and influential than her? She did not need to get all worked up about this.

n“That’s right!”

nYe Jiuge also realized that she had tied herself in knots over nothing. Even if they only relied on the Bai Clan’s power in Dong Ling and the Capital and randomly dispatched a few teams of men and horses to ask around about the Fire Spiritual Herb, they would still be more efficient than her.

n“Enough. Stop overthinking. You should have a good night’s sleep!” Zi Shang prodded the area between Ye Jiuge’s brows lightly.

nA sense of drowsiness overcame her at once. She grasped the front pieces of her jacket and said sleepily, “I don’t want to sleep with you!”

n“Idiot!” Zi Shang carried Ye Jiuge in his arms like a princess.

nHe placed her on the bed gently and tucked her in by covering her with a blanket. After that, he returned to the imprint on her wrist.

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