Chapter 199
Cao Liang looked at Han Chong with a distinct look of displeasure on his face.
"Lord Han, you only mentioned forcing the Qi family to become fugitives, but you don't have a specific plan?"
"Time is tight. The best I could come up with is to capture the two elders of the Qi family, forcing Qi Yanzhou to break through the defenses of the Dragon Guards and the Prefecture Magistrate to save them."
"With Qi Yanzhou's intelligence, he will definitely know it's a trap. Do you think he'll jump right into it?"
Han Chong smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. Therefore, we need to lay down another bait."
Cao Liang asked with interest, "What bait?"
"The antidote to the Fire Poison."
"Fire Poison?"
Han Chong gave a slight nod, his deep eyes full of calculation.
"Lord Cao might not know this, but Qi Yanzhou is afflicted with Fire Poison and doesn't have much time left to live. He might ignore his parents' lives, but he will definitely care about his own."
Cao Liang thought Han Chong's bait plan was quite good. If combined with the substitute plan, it would surely be foolproof.
"Lord Han, please go back and rest first. Allow me to think it over."
Han Chong left the hall and prepared to return to the guest courtyard, but he overheard some gossip about Ye Chutang.
"She merely helped the Magistrate evaluate a few poems, and she had the nerve to go to the kitchen to demand mung bean soup. How shameless!"
"Eating chaff and swallowing vegetables on the road to exile, living worse than a dog. Of course she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to have something good."
"Has she never had mung bean soup in her past life? She actually asked for a whole bucket!"
Amidst the harsh mockery, Han Chong quickly returned to the guest courtyard.
He gathered his off-duty subordinates in the main room.
"The mission given to us by the Emperor will be completed very soon. Keep your eyes peeled and cooperate with the Magistrate's actions, understood?"
As he spoke, he dipped his finger in tea and wrote on the table.
Find an opportunity to leave the estate and hold Cao Liang's family hostage.
He didn't know Cao Liang's plan, so he could only find a way to keep him in check.
"Your subordinates obey!"
Han Chong wiped away the words on the table and stood up.
"Rest first and build up your strength!"
While Han Chong and his men were feigning sleep, Ye Chutang had already returned to the Elegant Courtyard carrying a bucket of mung bean soup.
She didn't enter the courtyard immediately. Instead, right in front of the Magistrate's guards, she took a medicine bottle out of her sleeve pocket.
Uncorking the bottle, she poured black pills into the mung bean soup and stirred it with a ladle.
After the medicine dissolved, Ye Chutang scooped up a ladleful and offered it to the guard.
"Care for a taste?"
The guard was only following orders and knew nothing of Cao Liang's plan.
He kept a respectful distance from the mung bean soup Ye Chutang offered him.
"No need."
Just as he spoke, Yuan Ting appeared holding an empty bowl.
"Thank you, Madam Qi."
Ye Chutang turned her wrist and poured the mung bean soup from the ladle into the bowl.
She knew Cao Liang didn't trust her. This ladle of poisoned mung bean soup was her show of sincerity.
"Drink slowly, Lord Yuan. Careful not to burn your mouth."
With that, she carried the bucket into the Elegant Courtyard.
"Come out and have some mung bean soup, everyone!"
There was no ice in the courtyard to relieve the heat, making it as hot as a steamer.
Hearing there was mung bean soup to drink, everyone came out of their rooms.
Especially Concubine Su, who was the first to run to the stone table in the courtyard, staring greedily at the mung bean soup.
"There are no bowls, how are we supposed to drink?"
Ye Chutang looked at Qi Yanzhou, who had just come out of the side room, and said, "Azhou, bring out all the teacups."
When the Magistrate's guards had delivered water earlier, they brought ten cups, exactly one for each person.
The cups were very small, making it quite a hassle to drink the soup.
Concubine Su was just about to complain when Ye Chutang cut her off.
"If you don't want to drink it, then leave. No one is begging you."
After saying that, she used a spoon to scoop some mung bean soup into a cup and downed it in one gulp.
She appeared to have drunk the mung bean soup, but in reality, she had poured it into the trash can inside her spatial dimension.
Although she had the antidote, she was pregnant, so it was best not to touch any drugs.
Concubine Gao originally felt that things were too abnormal and there must be a catch, worrying that Ye Chutang inviting her to drink mung bean soup was harboring some bad intentions.
When she saw the two elders of the Qi family and Qi Yanzhou all drink the mung bean soup, she finally felt relieved.
Yun'er, come over and drink a little to cool off.
Before long, only less than half a bucket of mung bean soup remained.
Ye Chutang let out a burp and said, If you want to drink, keep drinking. I am going back to my room to rest for a bit.
Qi Yanzhou called out to stop her.
Atang, I saved some lunch for you. Do you want to eat a little?
Wait a bit. I drank too much mung bean soup, and I am a little full.
After Ye Chutang returned to the side room, the Qi family members also went back to their respective rooms.
Qi Yanzhou placed the wooden bucket at the courtyard entrance.
He said to the guards of the prefectural magistrate's estate, No one is drinking anymore, take it away.
The guard quickly picked up the unfinished mung bean soup, left, and handed it over to Yuan Ting.
Yuan Ting then scooped out half a bowl from the bucket and handed it to the Cao family's resident physician.
Physician Zhu, take a quick look and see if the poison in this mung bean soup is the same as the previous poison.
As long as it was confirmed that Ye Chutang was not playing any tricks, the prefectural magistrate could take action.
Although the resident physician did not know what kind of poison was in the mung bean soup, he already knew its effects.
He glanced at the medicine boy behind him. Drink it.
Time was limited, and the fastest way to know the drug's effects was to test the poison on a living body.
The medicine boy did not hesitate at all and drank the mung bean soup.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Physician Zhu checked the medicine boy's pulse.
After confirming the pulse, he looked at Yuan Ting and nodded.
The pulse is consistent. The effect of this drug is similar to the Muscle-Softening Powder; the more one circulates their inner energy, the faster it takes effect.
However, if one were to take the antidote for the Muscle-Softening Powder, not only would it fail to cure the poison, but it would also deepen the poisoning.
Yuan Ting immediately went to the study to find Cao Liang.
Lord Prefectural Magistrate, Ye Chutang has successfully drugged the Qi family.
Cao Liang did not believe Ye Chutang and said, Find an excuse and bring her over.
Yes, My Lord.
Soon, Ye Chutang was brought to Cao Liang's study by Yuan Ting.
She held her hand out to Cao Liang.
I have already poisoned the Qi family according to Lord Cao's request. When will Your Lordship give me my antidote?
Miss Ye is looking for the wrong person. You should ask Lord Han for it.
Ye Chutang withdrew her hand and asked, Since Lord Cao does not have the antidote, why did you call me here?
The corners of Cao Liang's mouth curled up, smiling like a cunning fox.
This official does not trust Miss Ye. Keeping you under my nose makes me feel more at ease.
After saying that, he said to Yuan Ting, Watch Ye Chutang here.
He had already figured out how to combine his plan with Han Chong's plan.
As long as good news came from the Chen family, they could take action!
Yuan Ting bowed and saluted, Your humble subordinate obeys!
Cao Liang stood up and left the study.
Subsequently, twenty martial arts experts entered.
Together with Yuan Ting, they stared unblinkingly at Ye Chutang.
Ye Chutang asked, I can sit down, right?
Yuan Ting thought that sitting down would make it even more inconvenient to escape, so he nodded.
Of course.
What about lying down?
That is also fine.
Hearing this, Ye Chutang directly lay down on the floor, closed her eyes, and took a nap.
Looking at her carefree and heartless appearance, Yuan Ting was momentarily speechless.
However, he did not let down his guard and commanded the experts.
"Form a circle and protect Ye Chutang."
On the surface, it was protection, but in reality, they were keeping her under constant surveillance from all sides.
Ye Chutang couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind, simply shifting into a more "comfortable" sleeping position.
The real reason she was lying on the floor was that with her ear pressed to the ground, she could easily pick up on the slightest of movements.
Furthermore, hidden beneath the drape of her sleeves, she could dig through the floorboards to touch the bare earth. Through this contact, she could use her special ability to scout out the secret vault within the prefectural magistrate's manor.
She was going to empty it out completely, without making a single sound!