Chapter 0279: Handling Wuhen and Wuji Is as Easy as Turning Over One’s Hand

Wuhen and Wuji were injured and had been drugged with sedatives and knockout drops for several consecutive days. Upon waking, their bodies felt extremely weak and limp.

Wuhen struggled to rise while leaning against the wall, anxiously asking, “Is His Highness safe?”

“Rest assured, His Highness is not in mortal danger,” Hu Lai replied as he helped the two onto the carriage. “Fortunately, Lord Shen arrived in time and saved His Highness.”

Upon hearing this, Wuji furrowed his brows slightly. When his peach blossom eyes narrowed, they revealed their sharp nature. “Not in mortal danger? So he is injured?”

Hu Lai gave a light cough, feeling quite helpless at the young man’s perceptiveness. “You two should stop worrying and focus on recovering from your injuries first.”

Seeing that Wuhen and Wuji could hardly conceal their murderous intent toward Sheng Shihai, as if ready to fight to the death, Hu Lai pressed them back into their seats like crushing garlic cloves, muttering, “Enough, stop making a fuss. Sheng Shihai has already been killed by His Highness. You should save your energy for dealing with Lord Shen back at the residence.”

“After all~ Lord Shen has been attending to His Highness day and night without even changing his clothes~” Hu Lai said in a singsong voice, deliberately pitching his tone.

Sure enough, the two young men immediately settled down, leaning against the carriage boards and urging, “Then take us back quickly!”

A flicker of amusement passed through Hu Lai’s eyes as he lifted the carriage curtain and sat on the saddle seat. Taking the reins, he gave the horse’s hindquarters a light tap and called out, “Giddy up!”

Handling Wuhen and Wuji is as easy as turning over one’s hand, truly as easy as turning over one’s hand~

Upon returning to the county yamen, everyone inside had been tied up. The yamen runners were weeping and wailing, terrified of being executed over the poisonous incense incident. The county magistrate’s family knelt trembling on the ground, pleading with Shen Yuan for their lives in heart-wrenching cries.

Only the magistrate’s second wife appeared detached, her expressionless face as if she had long since grown indifferent to life and death.

Shen Yuan was interrogating them about the poisonous incense. He walked up to the magistrate’s wife and asked coldly, “Did you make this poisonous incense? Do you have the antidote?”

The magistrate’s wife looked up at Shen Yuan, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “My lord, rather than asking me for the antidote, you should ask for the formula of this poisonous incense. After all, the antidote won’t fetch much silver.”

That Lord Sheng, in order to obtain the formula for the poisonous incense, had lingered at the county yamen for so many days, bargaining with her.

Watching these high officials wanting to kill her but not daring to act due to their interests brought her immense satisfaction.

Twenty-five years ago, when a plague struck Zhuolu County, it was her parents who found the cure that saved so many common people. Yet the county magistrate, to claim credit for himself, killed her entire family, silenced everyone, and took the merit before the imperial court.

She was beaten half to death and thrown into the mass burial ground behind the mountain. The excruciating pain throughout her body made life unbearable, but the resentment from her family’s massacre drove her to crawl painfully toward the graves. Finally, she reached a black flower growing on one of the grave mounds.

She bit off the root, forcibly suppressing the pain in her body, and limped out of the burial ground.

She wanted to kill that magistrate. She wanted to take revenge on all the bribed common people of Zhuolu County and avenge her ill-fated parents.

At that time, the illegitimate daughter of the Lin family, who was not yet the prefect’s wife, found her collapsed on the roadside and took her in. It so happened that the magistrate of Zhuolu County had just claimed merit from the imperial court, and the head of the Lin family decided to marry the second branch’s illegitimate daughter to him.

Upon learning that the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter refused to marry the ugly-faced county magistrate, she told her she could help kill him.

If he died, the court would appoint a new magistrate.

The Lin family’s illegitimate daughter was equally ruthless. They conspired together, using low-quality addictive drugs laced with poison to kill the corrupt official who had caused her entire family’s ruin.

They awaited a new magistrate—a strikingly handsome young man. The Lin family intended to win him over by marrying their illegitimate daughter to him, but she was no longer satisfied. She had set her sights on the prefect of Jizhou, who was engaged to her legitimate elder sister.

So she devised strategies for her: teaching her how to secretly communicate with the prefect, swap marriages with her legitimate sister, and even becoming her maid to support her and suppress the concubines in the household…

But what about her?

She grew jealous of her legitimate sister’s happy marriage with the new magistrate, complaining that the advice given had led her to marry the prefect instead. Eventually, she used the life-saving favor from years past to demand that she seduce the new magistrate and harm her legitimate sister and her son—threatening to have the prefect kill her if she refused!

What more could she possibly want?!

These people, once they climb to high positions, become insatiably greedy and lawless!

So eight years ago, when the still-youthful Sheng Shihai sought out the prefect of Jizhou, she deliberately had the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter showcase the addictive drugs to him, capturing Sheng Shihai’s attention and enabling him to use the drugs to control disobedient court officials.

After all, these officials were fools—otherwise, how could they have failed to realize that it was her parents, not the magistrate, who had effectively managed the plague?

She knew such deeds would eventually backfire, which is why she let the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter take credit for the scheme while she remained behind the scenes.

Now, with Sheng Shihai personally seeking her out for the formula, she knew she was about to be abandoned by the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter.

But it no longer mattered.

As long as she was willing to provide the formula, Sheng Shihai would not hesitate to kill the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter.

The only person she had wronged was the Lin family’s legitimate daughter.

And… that seemingly greedy and frivolous yet actually incorruptible and unassuming Prince Regent.

After the day the magistrate’s embezzled silver was confiscated, she remembered this lord, contemplating how to drug him in the future. Upon learning of his contributions to Yi Province, her first thought was that he, like that magistrate, had taken credit for others’ achievements.

But when she discovered that Zhu Xiaobiao had become his close aide and that both Zhu Xiaobiao and Jing Ze were living well, she suddenly realized her initial assumption had been wrong.

While habitually sacrificing for the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter, and despite knowing the legitimate daughter was a good woman she intended to harm along with her child, she had developed an indescribable affection for Zhu Xiaobiao.

She administered the lowest-quality addictive drugs to Zhu Xiaobiao, using his suffering and descent into uselessness as a pretext to allay the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter’s suspicions. She watched as the child struggled to survive, secretly taking in oppressed women while turning a blind eye.

She understood Zhu Xiaobiao best—how could the master he willingly followed be a corrupt official?

Even if Zhu Xiaobiao strayed, Jing Ze, the scholar, would never fail to intervene.

So when Sheng Shihai demanded poisonous incense to harm the Prince Regent, she whispered advice, suggesting he refrain from using lethal means.

She didn’t know if it would work, but fortunately, even the ambitious Sheng Shihai ultimately couldn’t bring himself to use poisonous incense on that kind and talented Highness.

As for whether this Prince Regent would seek revenge against her in the future?

It no longer mattered.

When the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter chose to expose her, and when she told Sheng Shihai to kill the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter if he wanted the prescription, she had already decided to descend into hell together with that illegitimate daughter.

Sometimes she wondered: if she had been found by the Lin family’s legitimate daughter instead, would everything have been different?

Probably not.

She carried the vengeance of her slaughtered clan, a life-and-death feud with that county magistrate. The Lin family’s legitimate daughter was too gentle—even if she had been taken in by her, the hatred and murderous intent filling her heart at that time would have made her choose to become the illegitimate daughter’s maid instead, using the latter’s temperament to accomplish her revenge.

That night she witnessed her parents’ deaths, that night she was thrown into the mass graves in unbearable agony…

She was no longer a good person.