Chapter 30: Poison

She gazed at the man before her, and that sensation of her soul being pricked by needles surfaced once more. Even though this madman had taken her body, how could she find herself unable to hate him? Was she born to be base?

Looking at Jiang Li, she tried to find a plausible reason for herself: "Have we... ever met?"

The pale eastern horizon erupted with the first ray of dawn. Myriads of golden beams happened to scatter from behind her, casting a soft, golden fringe around her entire silhouette. The reddened corners of her eyes were stained crimson in the morning light, causing Jiang Li to hold his breath for a fleeting moment. As the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Rong’s household, she had been hailed back then as possessing both talent and beauty, unmatched in the world. After three years as a wife, she had blossomed even further, reaching the most magnificent age of a flower, beautiful as a painting.

Jiang Li remained dazed for a long, long time. He struggled to lower his head, shifting his gaze away, and gave an ambiguous reply: "Perhaps..."

Nan Yan was bewildered and perplexed. Knowing meant knowing, and not knowing meant not knowing—what did "perhaps" mean?

He steered the conversation elsewhere. "What is most important now is to investigate the false charges against the two generals of the Nan family, your father and brother, and clear their names."

Upon hearing this, Nan Yan’s pupils constricted, and she became serious. "You... have a way?" His tone was as if this matter were his own obligation, but what did her father and brother have to do with him?

Jiang Li began to cough softly again. "My meridians are injured; I fear it will take a long time to recover. I must rely on you."

Nan Yan was startled. He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I will teach you what to do."

"Teach me what to do?"

He nodded. "The events took place on the northwestern frontier. If you want to know the truth, you can only start with those from the frontier."

"After the great victory in the northwest, the army returned to the capital. Your father and brother should have been among them..."

"Besides them, there was also General Lian."

Nan Yan suddenly realized, uttering a familiar name: "Lian Yi!"

Jiang Li nodded. In that northwestern campaign, besides the Nan father and son as the main force, General Lian Yi had also come to reinforce them. He was the only grandson of the old General Lian. His grandfather and father had both died on the battlefield, and his mother, who had accompanied the army, had perished as well. The sacrifices of their entire family had bought ten years of peace for the northern border, leading the Emperor to bestow upon them the title of Marquis of Yongyi, honoring their family’s loyalty and bravery.

At that time, he had also been severely wounded in that battle. It was Nan Yang, who had started in the army as a lowly foot soldier alongside him, who had carried him out from a pile of corpses. Nan Yanjun had arrived with troops and rescued them all, thus preserving the last of the Lian family line. Now that the Nan father and son had been framed, he could not stand by and do nothing.

Jiang Li’s gaze was firm. "In three days at most, General Lian will surely return."

Nan Yan furrowed her brows, lost in thought. Jiang Li filtered the medicine over the campfire, blew on it for a long time, and offered it to Nan Yan. "Drink this; the days ahead will be much easier for you."

Nan Yan looked suspiciously at the medicine bowl. She knew that her body had indeed been unwell these past few days. "What... exactly is wrong with me?"

"It is nothing," Jiang Li said, his tone indifferent. "Just drink it."

Nan Yan lowered her eyes, confronting him. It was clear that if he did not tell the truth, she would not drink the medicine.

Jiang Li sighed helplessly. "The poison you have been given is Aconite. It is a deadly poison, and it has been accumulating day by day."

"Aconite is typically an acute poison, but when mixed with a large quantity of Star-Herb, its properties change, becoming a lethal chronic poison. It accumulates in the human body day by day, eventually poisoning the internal organs until there is no cure."

Hearing this, Nan Yan began to tremble violently. "A chronic poison... accumulating day by day?" She understood what this meant. It meant someone had been poisoning her bit by bit—not to kill her instantly, but to ensure she had no path to survival. The only people who could and would do such a thing were the Meng family.

Nan Yan closed her eyes tightly, tears falling from her trembling lashes. What kind of demons had she married into? What kind of den of iniquity was the Meng family?

"Don't worry, I can neutralize the poison in your body." Jiang Li comforted her, moving the bowl toward her again.

Nan Yan hesitated, then asked, "Then why bring me here to detoxify?"

She clearly saw Jiang Li stiffen slightly. After a moment, he said, "You have a strange 'Yang poison' in your body. Aconite is intense, and Star-Herb is harsh, but their toxicity is far less profound than the Yang poison within you. Through the principle of using poison against poison, the Aconite and Star-Herb have become negligible. However..."

"The combination of the two has caused the Yang poison in your body to fully erupt. I have never seen this poison before; I could only bring you to the Quenched Snow Cold Pool to use the water’s chill to resist the heat of the poison."

Nan Yan was confused. "How could I have such a rare poison in my body?! Did the Meng family do this, too?!"

"This poison is rare; I doubt it is something they could easily obtain."

Nan Yan was even more bewildered. "Then what is going on?" How could she not know she had been poisoned by such a rare substance?

Jiang Li looked at her, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. "This poison... has been in your body for at least ten years."

Nan Yan gasped. Ten years?!

Jiang Li tentatively guided her. "In your childhood... did anything special happen?"

At that moment, Nan Yan shrank back. It was happening again—that faint, needle-pricking pain in her brain, wispy and elusive, impossible to describe. When she tried to focus on it, the pain made her gasp, preventing her from concentrating.

Nan Yan quickly gave up and shook her head. "I don't remember much about my childhood. I was too young then; many things have been forgotten."

Jiang Li remained silent, his deep eyes unfathomable. After a long while, he raised the medicine bowl again. "Drink it."

Knowing what she needed to know, Nan Yan stopped refusing. She took the bowl, her eyes hardening with resolve. She could not die yet; her father and brother were waiting for her to clear their names. And as for the Meng family who had harmed her, she would not let a single one of them go!

Closing her eyes, Nan Yan gritted her teeth and drank the medicine in one gulp. Jiang Li coughed softly, and from an angle Nan Yan could not see, he curled his lips into a faint smile.

**

Nan Yan returned to the Duke's mansion wearing Jiang Li’s outer robe. The servant at the gate froze when he saw her, then burst into frantic joy. "The Lady is back! The Lady is back!"

Familiar faces flooded out from the mansion—mostly those Nan Yan had brought from the Meng household. Seeing her return safely, they all wept with joy. Mother Su and Bie Zhi pushed through the crowd, crying and laughing. "Lady! It really is the Lady!"

"It is so good that you are safe! So good!"

Seeing that they were safe and sound, Nan Yan’s eyes reddened with joy, and she embraced them. "You are all safe, too... that is wonderful!" She had assumed those men in black were ruthless and would have shown them no mercy. Seeing them unharmed, she suddenly felt as if the sunshine had grown a little brighter.