061. Following You in Disliking Yu Guhan

Yuan Tianci said, “Stop looking for the Ghost Doctor girl. You won’t find her! You’d best go to the Crown Prince instead!”

Zhan Lianjing remained silent, seemingly unmoved.

Yuan Tianci grew angry. They had no connection to Le Qianxue, so naturally they cared little for her fate.

He said, “Prince Zhan, I’ll go myself. I won’t trouble you any further.”

But Zhan Lianjing spoke coldly, “Stop right there.”

Yuan Tianci halted, even more irritated. “If you don’t care about Qianxue’s life, I have nothing more to say. But I’m not Qianxue!”

Yet, Zhan Lianjing replied, “I’ll go. You stay and look after him.”

Yuan Tianci was stunned. Zhan Lianjing was actually willing to step forward?!

Even Zhuixing could hardly believe it. This sort of matter brought Zhan Lianjing no benefit; it would only deepen his enmity with Yu Guhan, making yet another powerful enemy and creating countless obstacles!

“Prince Zhan, are you serious?” Yuan Tianci asked again.

Zhan Lianjing never went back on his word. Since he said so, it could not be false.

He instructed Zhuixing, “Zhuixing, let’s go.”

Zhuixing tried to persuade him, “Your Highness, this isn’t wise.”

The forces Yu Guhan had hidden were still not fully understood. To reveal their hand now would only put Yu Guhan on guard.

But Zhan Lianjing shot Zhuixing a frosty glance, and Zhuixing dared not protest further, obediently moving to push Zhan Lianjing’s wheelchair.

Yuan Tianci breathed a sigh of relief. With Zhan Lianjing stepping in, there was hope for Le Qianxue.

He glanced at Le Qianxue and murmured softly, “Qianxue, you truly have a formidable protector.”

Meanwhile, the area around the Prince Zhan’s manor had already been thoroughly searched by the Crown Prince’s men.

This neighborhood was lined with the estates of nobility and high officials. It was impossible for the Crown Prince’s men to search every nook and cranny in detail.

Yu Guhan was growing frantic. He and Master Yuan sat in a carriage, listening to their subordinates’ reports.

“Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Prince, we have found no clues,” a guard said.

Yu Guhan snapped, “Keep looking! Find her! She must be found!”

“Yes, sir!” The guard hurried off to resume the search.

Master Yuan sipped his tea slowly. “There’s no use fretting, Your Highness. Right now, Le Qianxue’s interest lies only with Your Highness. If they do not bring her to you by tonight, she’ll die anyway, and no one else will benefit.”

“Yuan Feng! You know how important she is to me! If she dies, all my efforts are for nothing!”

Yu Guhan’s face was livid. The thought of all his careful planning unraveling left him restless and irate.

Master Yuan said, “Is she truly the only one? From what I see, she knows a bit of medicine, but nothing you truly need.”

“Yuan Feng, aside from the Yan family, when have the other three families ever revealed their secrets? Didn’t your uncle once change his name and hide himself? Only your family was wise enough to seize your uncle’s inheritance and pledge loyalty to me. Your uncle hid that item well, and the other two families would be even more secretive. Besides, I never tested Le Qianxue. Now she’s the only one left. I must have her!”

Yuan Feng conceded the point—they all sought to conceal their identities.

But whether Le Qianxue knew her own identity remained a mystery. The thought amused him.

He asked, “So, should we let Le Qianxue go this time?”

Only by sparing her could she survive; otherwise, Yu Guhan would gain nothing but a corpse.

Yu Guhan thought carefully and finally decided, “Let her go this once!”

He couldn’t believe Le Qianxue would escape him a second time!

But Yuan Feng’s eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.

He said, “Impossible!”

Yu Guhan looked at him curiously. “What is it?”

Yuan Feng paused for a moment, then said, “The mother worm has died.”

Yu Guhan frowned. “Dead? Your gu worm has been killed again?! Didn’t you say that only your Yuan family could cure gu poison?!”

Yuan Feng’s face darkened. This was the second time—first in Night City, and now again. Who could pose such a threat to the Yuan family?

Thinking of the Ghost Doctor who had made a name for herself, suspicion stirred in his heart.

Irritated, he said, “Your Highness, the last time in Night City, the Ghost Doctor appeared. It may be her again. Whether or not her skill is as great as they say, she’s certainly a threat to me. I beg Your Highness to rid us of her!”

Yu Guhan snorted. “She dares oppose me at every turn! I’ll not let her off lightly!”

But now, with Le Qianxue’s whereabouts unknown and the Ghost Doctor always vanishing without a trace, there was no way to find her.

Yu Guhan, exasperated, flicked his sleeve and ordered a return to the palace.

At the Prince Zhan’s manor—

Zhan Lianjing kept his gaze fixed on Le Qianxue. It was strange: just as he was about to leave earlier, he’d heard her voice.

“Stop… There’s no need to go…”

When he turned back, Le Qianxue had woken!

At this moment, the burning heat in her body was gradually receding. A maid fed her water as she lay with eyes closed, clearly exhausted.

Zhan Lianjing asked, “Le Qianxue, how do you feel now?”

She murmured assent, then coughed. This ordeal had nearly cost her life, leaving her shaken to her core.

Fortunately, she had been prepared. As former head of the Tang clan, she’d long ago concealed a poison sac within her body.

Although the gu worm had entered her body, it was not killed immediately. Only after it crawled to a certain place would the poison take effect.

This period, though, had tormented her greatly—she’d nearly lost her life, but her foresight had saved her.

She opened her eyes and saw Zhan Lianjing still staring at her.

A little annoyed, she said, “Prince Zhan, stop staring at me. I was careless this time, but there won’t be a next.”

She thought Zhan Lianjing blamed her, worried she might ruin his plans.

Zhan Lianjing, still somewhat angry, said, “There will be a next time?”

Qianxue sighed, “I truly don’t dare anymore.”

He turned away, still looking cold. “You always ignore my words! If it happens again, I’ll have you tied up!”

Le Qianxue felt wronged. How could she have guessed Yu Guhan would resort to such tactics?

But there was no evidence. Yu Guhan was the Crown Prince; even if the emperor no longer favored him, he’d held the Eastern Palace for more than a decade.

It was all thanks to the former empress, the emperor’s beloved. Otherwise, with his mediocre abilities, how could Yu Guhan remain Crown Prince for so long?

Perhaps Zhan Lianjing was too angry to say more; he left without another word.

Once outside, Zhan Lianjing clutched his abdomen, his face deathly pale—he’d forced himself to appear strong before Le Qianxue, but now the pain was overwhelming.

Back inside, Le Qianxue dismissed the servants, leaving only Yuan Tianci in the room.

Though just awakened, the thought of a gu worm inside her made her feel sick.

She asked Yuan Tianci for silver needles and forced the worm’s corpse into her arm.

Using her skills, she expelled the creature from her arm in one motion, blood immediately welling from the wound. Yuan Tianci hurried to staunch the bleeding.

He protested, “Wouldn’t it come out naturally if you just went to the latrine? Must you do this?”

All this blood and suffering seemed needless to him.

Le Qianxue scolded him, “Have you ever seen a gu worm expelled so easily? If you don’t understand this, how can you hope to cure gu poison?”

“I wouldn’t know—my father never taught me.”

“Then you should have learned on your own!” she retorted. “Enough. Pass me the worm. I need to see what trick Yu Guhan tried to use against me.”

Yuan Tianci handed her the tiny insect. At first glance, it looked like nothing but a small worm—its sinister nature was hidden.

He asked, “What kind of gu worm is it?”

Le Qianxue glanced at it and was startled. “That scoundrel actually used a Matchmaking Worm to trap me. I shouldn’t have called him useless—I should have called him devious!”

Yuan Tianci was baffled, staring at her in confusion.

Le Qianxue had no desire to explain. Turning away, she sighed, “I don’t know whether to blame my own allure or what, that Yu Guhan would sink to such schemes. Never mind. I’ll be sure he pays for this.”

“Didn’t Prince Zhan tell you there won’t be a next time? And didn’t you promise you wouldn’t dare? Yet now you want to provoke Yu Guhan again?”

“Don’t you see? Suffer a loss once, and you never will again!” Le Qianxue declared. “Yuan Tianci! From now on, our greatest enemy is Yu Guhan! Remember, we stand together! He wants to remain Crown Prince? I won’t let him rest easy!”

Seeing her so incensed, Yuan Tianci’s spirit was stirred as well. “Of course! Whoever you like, I like. Whoever you hate, I’ll hate too!”