The house was very quiet, without a sound.

“Holy Maiden,” the servant called out again, kneeling on the ground. He didn’t dare to raise his head, and only worshiped the empty chair in front of him as a sacred object.

Moonlight shone through the window lattices, making everything in the room look extraordinarily pale. Time seemed to be frozen in this place, everything isolated from the world, and the occasional noises of barking dogs and people on the street could not reach his ears. The window on the other side was open, and Gao Lin and a group of guards hid in the darkness, watching the boy’s extremely pious worship from haishi to zishi, and then to choushi. If he didn’t move his body a little from time to time, the guards would almost think that they were staring at a corpse or a sculpture.

His prayers lasted the entire night.

The watchmen also kept watch all night. It was getting brighter at this time, and the number of people on the main street next door gradually increased. Gao Lin said: “This house is empty. He’s just a discarded fish, and we can’t catch any bigger ones, so let’s just catch him.”

The boy was already half-frozen from the cold, and when he was dragged up, his body was paralyzed as if he had been pricked by a needle. He didn’t struggle, as if he completely lost the ability to think and his whole body was baptized into a puppet for the cult. Gao Lin led his men to thoroughly search the house. The place was scrubbed clean, and only a silver hairpin was found in a cabinet, inlaid with precious stones and butterflies.

He brought this thing back to the government office.

Liang Shu asked: “Who is the owner of that house?”

Gao Lin said: “It is registered under the name of a butcher in the city. The government has already arrested him, and he is currently under trial. This person is also a member of the cult, and his status is not low. He has the tattoo of the Baifu Sect on his body.”

“Only this hairpin was found in the room?”

“Only this hairpin. As for the rest, there was not even a scrap of fabric, cleaner than a dog-licked plate.”

“We’ve seen this hairpin before,” Liu Xian’an reminded. “At the market during the new year, there were four butterfly-shaped hairpins in this set. I bought three of them for A-Yuan, and didn’t want the remaining one because the color was too bright. Does the prince have any impression of this?”

Liang Shu ordered Gao Lin to investigate, and the owner of the jewelry store was quickly brought in. He thought for a long time, and confessed that it was a girl in a yellow dress, saying: “That’s the one who kept asking if Third Young Lady Liu was pretty. After the prince and Young Master Liu left that day, she spent a long time choosing at my stall, and was finally urged by the people next to her to buy this in a hurry. She spent a lot of money and left without even asking for change.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“No, she only said those few words to Young Master Liu.”

She didn’t ask anything else other than how beautiful Liu Nanyuan was. After the jewelry store owner left, Liu Xian’an said to Liang Shu: “Could that have been Wumeng Yunle in disguise?”

“It is possible.” Liang Shu said, “Perhaps she came to the city to confuse the servant boy, or give some kind of reward, so that he could become a pawn of the cult even more determinedly.”

Song Changsheng had single-handedly caused the explosion on top of White Crown, destroying the Central Plains forces that they had painstakingly arranged for a long time. In the eyes of the Baifu Sect, such a traitor must die, or their teachings would never be convincing in the future. Liang Shu had taken advantage of this to release the news in Raven City, bestowing gold and silver, and respecting Song Changsheng as a great hero who destroyed the cult. He made sure all the common people saw it — as long as you stood on the opposite side of the Baifu Sect, they could gain fame and fortune.

Driven by that fame and fortune, there really was a trend of purging and suppressing the cult in the city. In this situation, Liang Shu strengthened the protection around Song Changsheng. Aside from the doctor and servant, no one else could approach him at all. The meals, soups, and medicines he took every day, as long as they were brought in, they were all prepared by the people of Xiao Wang Palace. Not to mention poison, not even a fly could get past them.

With the paths of assassination and poisoning all blocked, there were only two paths left before the Baifu Sect. The first was to give up, but they would most likely not choose this, so there was only the second way left — start with the doctor and servant who were still close to Song Changsheng, and look for an opportunity to kill him.

Liu Xian’an said: “For them, the most trouble-free way is to send a prescription that could kill a person and convince us that it was the antidote. Otherwise, even if they successfully bribed a servant, the poison would not make it into Song-xiansheng’s bowl.”

Gao Lin reminded: “But they may not do it immediately.”

Liang Shu said: “Then force them to act as soon as possible.”

Gao Lin hesitated: “How do we force them to make a mistake? Those grandsons are shrewd and cautious. I fear it won’t be easy to lure the snake out of the hole.”

Liu Xian’an said from the side: “It’s simple. They must believe that Song-xiansheng is about to recover, and that once he’s recovered, he will be sent to the Northwest Military Camp immediately.” Sent to the Northwest Military Camp and guarded by thousands of troops, even if the Baifu Sect had great abilities in the future, it would be difficult to assassinate him. So if they wanted to eliminate Song Changsheng, they must seize the moment.

Thus, under the “treatment” of the miracle doctor, the blue veins on Song Changsheng’s face became lighter day by day, and he seemed to be improving rapidly. But in fact, Liu Xian’an really didn’t know what kind of poison it was, nor how to treat it, so he still only used ordinary detoxifying and heat-clearing herbs, as well as a bit of disguising techniques. He covered him in a layer every day, along with applying a little rouge to improve his complexion, also fooling the doctors and servants in the room.

Seeing that Song Changsheng’s condition was getting better by the day, there was indeed movement from the Baifu Sect, and the servant boy took the initiative to bring a dilapidated “ancient text” to A-Ning. Gao Lin said: “And what a seamless story they made up to lure us in. It turned out to just be this rotten book.”

“If we hadn’t prepared in advance, the appearance of this book might really have helped them complete their plan.” Liu Xian’an explained, “Although not all the herbs for detoxification recorded in the book are common, they are all available to normal people. There are also several excellent tonics in it with no murderous intentions.”

“I understand, I understand this,” Gao Lin responded quickly. “Separate, they are good medicines, but boiled together, they become poisonous. Although I don’t have medical skills, I have heard many stories in teahouses.”

Liu Xian’an shook his head: “Boiling them together still creates a tonic, and isn’t poisonous.”

Gao Lin didn’t understand: “Then where is the problem?”

Liu Xian’an said: “There is one possibility. These herbs are not poisonous, and they are not poisonous when boiled together, but if they are mixed with the poison already in Song-xiansheng’s body at this time, they will become a deadly poison.”

Gao Lin suddenly came to a realization. This unorthodox method was indeed sinister and cunning. With the prescription, Liu Xian’an plunged into the vast sea of books and mobilized his friends in white to search for an answer together. He could be seen lying on the table in a daze, and the second time a person passed by the room, he would be lying in bed asleep, and the third time he was standing by the window with his hands on his hips, looking into the distance.

Such a unique way of working, no wonder that Master Liu beat his son with a stick every day — most people really didn’t understand.

Only Liang Shu understood. When going to bed at night, he held his sweetheart who had been lying in bed all day in his arms, and asked: “Are you tired after working all day?”

Liu Xian’an sighed deeply. Very tired, ah.

Liang Shu leaned in and kissed him.

Kissing didn’t require thinking, and there was no need to move. It was very comfortable. So one more thing was added to the definition of bliss in Second Young Master Liu’s heart. He was bitten on the lips by the other party, kissed until he dreamed, and that world was also dripping wet. The next day, he continued to work with rosy and slightly swollen lips.

A-Ning was simple and pure: “Young Master, why are you so hot in the winter?”

Liu Xian’an lay on his back with his legs crossed, flipping through the books in his mind, and replied, oh, it’s not because I’m hot, I was bitten by the prince. I asked him to be gentle, but it still turned out like this.

A-Ning: “…….”

Don’t tell me in such detail!

Those friends in the Three Thousand Worlds had been busy for several days, and Liu Xian’an in reality also filled dozens of sheets of paper with all kinds of conjectures and densely packed names of medicinal herbs. In the end, by relying on the “antidote” prescription sent by the servant, a prescription was created that could really detoxify Song Changsheng.

When Liang Shu found him, the Sleeping Immortal who had completed the task was lying on the floor sound asleep, the wind blowing the rice paper all over the room. He sighed with an aching head and picked him up, carrying him to the bedroom.

“Huh?” Liu Xian’an opened his eyes in a daze.

“Sleep,” Liang Shu said. “Don’t wake up.”

Liu Xian’an raised his head slightly: “The prince seems to be in a bad mood.”

“You’re so tired, but you can still tell what mood I’m in?” Liang Shu kicked open the door and gently put him on the bed. “I’m not in a bad mood. I’m just calculating how many brocade and velvet blankets I must buy in the future to cover the entirety of Xiao Wang Palace, in order to cure your problem of being able to sleep on the floor.”

Liu Xian’an laughed and muttered something to himself, then turned around and continued to sleep. He slept for nearly ten hours, until he had completely recovered. Only then did he find Liang Shu to correct him, spreading blankets in Xiao Wang Palace would pamper him, but covering it with iron plates would cure him.

“Then do you want me to get used to it, or do you want to cure the disease?”

“Get used to it.”

Get used to it more, get used to it and become lawless. That was exactly what Liang Shu thought too. He smiled and pulled the other person into his arms, gently rubbing his temples with his thumbs: “After taking the medicine you prescribed, Song Changsheng’s health really improved, but he’s still pretending to be the same as before so that no one else will see it.”

“Then we can implement the next step of the plan.” Liu Xian’an stretched his waist. “I feel sore all over.”

“Sore, ah?” Liang Shu said, “Then I’ll massage you tonight.”

However, he was rejected. Because His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s “massage” was not just a simple massage, but was often unspeakable touching and squeezing.

In the afternoon of that day, Liu Xian’an tried his best to disregard the objections of the other doctors, and used the antidote sent by the servant boy.

Song Changsheng logically “died.” Liu Xian’an even deduced what symptoms he should have before dying based on what he was poisoned with, and asked Song Changsheng to play along. Now, even if a cultist was standing beside the bed, he might not be able to see any flaws.

As for the boy, Liang Shu and Gao Lin both knew that he had a nine out of ten…..or ten out of ten probability of being an outcast, but they still decided to use him as bait for fishing, and arranged a guard to pretend to be a maid in white and rob the prison in the middle of the night. Although no big fish had been caught so far, at least the house and the butcher had been captured, which could not be considered a loss-making business.

Everything progressed according to Liang Shu’s expectations. The only thing that was not so pleasant was that the common people in the city were critical of Liu Xian’an’s medical skills, because the facts were in front of them, Song-xiansheng was put to death by him! It could be seen that the rumors could not be completely disbelieved. Although this Second Young Master Liu was as good-looking as an immortal, he was indeed an ignorant, lazy dandy.

Liu Xian’an himself was not bothered by this, because he could probably be called the one person in the world who didn’t care about fame. Seeing A-Ning crouching next to him and seeming unhappy, he pointed the jade fan in his hand to the sky and asked him: “Look at the current color of that cloud. Is that its real color? I don’t think so. The color of the sky is not the real color of the sky, and the color of the clouds is not the real color of the clouds. The colors of the sky and clouds are the colors that the world thinks they should have.”

After he talked endlessly for a long time, A-Ning fell asleep.

However, Liu Xian’an’s thoughts had already flown ninety thousand li away. He sighed, ah, life has a limit, but knowledge does not.

The news of Song Changsheng’s death also reached the ears of the Baifu Sect.

Wumeng Yunyou was seriously injured. Although the Master personally diagnosed and treated him, and a large group of doctors and ancestors waited on him, he was still unable to move at this time and could only lie in bed wrapped in thick bandages. He asked: “So smoothly?”

“Yes, ah.” Wumeng Yunle sat beside his bed. “He’s dead.”

Wumeng Yunyou said leisurely: “No wonder I saw that Master was in a very good mood this morning. It turns out that you have made another contribution.”

There were still many witch doctors busy in the sickroom, and Liu Hengchang was among them. Although the leader of the Baifu Sect promised that he could take a look at Wumeng Yunyou for the sake of Feng Xiaojin’s face, he really could only “take a look.” Firstly, he could not administer acupuncture, and secondly, he could not prescribe medicine. It was obvious that he was still not trusted.

Liu Hengchang was not anxious. Seeing that the witch doctor was going to the pharmacy, he volunteered to follow her and carry a heavy box, diligent and dexterous.

The pharmacy here was not an ordinary pharmacy, but a place where the Baifu Sect stored precious medicinal materials. There were also a large number of poisonous Gu hidden in the dark room. The witch doctor walked to the first gate and looked back at Liu Hengchang who was following behind, warning him in a blunt accent, this is the leader’s residence. After entering, don’t walk about or look around, otherwise be careful to keep your life and eyeballs!

“Yes, Sister, don’t worry.” Liu Hengchang hurriedly lowered his head.

The witch doctor took him into the courtyard with her. The residence of the leader of the Baifu Sect was naturally well-defended, and there were patrolling disciples everywhere. And Liu Hengchang was not qualified to enter the pharmacy, so he could only wait outside holding a box. While he waited, there were at least five disciples guarding him. Let alone wandering around, even if he looked around, he would probably be reprimanded. 

Liu Hengchang thought to himself, okay, this trip was for nothing.

The witch doctor stayed in the pharmacy for a long time, around half an hour. Even the sun was hidden in the sky and the wind began to blow. Liu Hengchang sneezed from the cold and then laughed, hehe, and hid under the eaves. Because there was not much movement, those disciples didn’t pay much attention to him.

The wooden door was blown open a crack by the wind. Liu Hengchang lowered his head, and his gaze drifted into the room. From this angle, he could see a small half of the space, which was an empty living room with only a short table and a portrait.

At the first sight of the portrait, Liu Hengchang was really taken aback. In the painting, there was a pair of fox-like slanted eyes. It looked like Feng Xiaojin at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was a portrait of a woman, beautiful in appearance, charming in expression, and flirtatious in movement. Leaning on a railing with her upper body and holding a round fan in her hand, she seemed to be joking with someone outside the painting.

Liu Hengchang pondered, they looked almost identical. Could this be…..Feng Xiaojin’s big sister? Little sister? There was a signature on the painting, but because of the distance, he couldn’t clearly see what was written. At this time, the witch doctor had already taken the medicinal materials and come out, so he could only stow away his thoughts, leave in a proper manner, and wait for the next opportunity to come back.

The atmosphere in Raven City became somewhat depressed because of Song Changsheng’s “death.” This was also the result that the Baifu Sect wanted to see. This death was used to inform all believers of the fate of betraying the Baifu Buddha Mother.

“His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, who is so famous, can do nothing about them?”

“Looks like it.”

“No matter how powerful His Royal Highness Xiao Wang is, can he still surpass ghosts and gods?”

“He can, ba, when His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was in the Northwest, it was said that the ghosts were afraid to see him.”

“…….”

But the Northwest and the Southwest were different, after all.

Perhaps the ghosts that were afraid to see him would also be uncomfortable.

In short, the joy and cheer from the New Year could not be seen at all in the present Raven City. And those who had boasted previously that they would go to battle and catch evil cultists so as to honor their ancestors like Song Changsheng also tucked their tails. What bring honor to one’s ancestors? If their life was gone, they didn’t know when they would be mourned. Alas.

When everyone passed by the government office and thought of this incident, they couldn’t help but turn their heads to look a little more and sigh.

But there was no black and white banner hanging out at the door.

At the same time, not far from the government office, there was sudden movement in the abandoned blacksmith’s shop in the middle of the night.

Clank, clank, clank!

The crisp sound of iron clashing could be heard endlessly, and in the cold, silent night, it could be called a nuisance.

The little dolls were woken up, and the adults were also woken up, crying out and cursing. They thought it was Lao Wang who sold kitchen knives who was acting like a demon again, and after waiting for a long time without any rest, they just put on their clothes and went to argue. But when they went out to look, Lao Wang was also wrapped in a big cotton jacket, extremely innocent: “Why are you all scolding me, I’m sick. How could I play with iron in the middle of the night?”

In fact, he didn’t need to defend himself, because while Lao Wang was cursing, the sound of blacksmithing continued without stop.

Clankclank, clankclank, clankclank!

It was more and more intense.

Lao Wang was the only blacksmith in Raven City. If it wasn’t him, then……at this time, someone suddenly remembered the number one swordsmith in the world, and let out a cry, stammering out, it c-c-c-can’t be Song-xiansheng who just died, right?”

The cold wind blew, giving everyone goosebumps. A haunting, ah! The timid ones turned around and ran home without saying a word, while the bold ones gathered in pairs and followed the sounds to see what was happening.

Clank, clank, clank!

The government was also alarmed by the sound, and when the common people reached the blacksmith’s shop, they found it already surrounded by government servants.

Over the short courtyard wall, they could see red flames soaring into the sky.

“Constable Li, Constable!” A young man whispered to his childhood friend, “Li-ge, is this a blacksmith invited by your lord?”

“Don’t ask, don’t ask, go back quickly!” Constable Li also looked flustered. “D-don’t stay here!”

“What’s happening?”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? My lord has ordered that no one is allowed to approach. Everyone, go back!”

The government servants collectively drove the common people away. The common people had gone out on this trip for nothing, but not to mention nothing, things had become even more mysterious and strange. It made one’s hair stand on end. The young man was very curious and walked back and forth, but still did not forget to look back and ask his childhood friend: “Is it a haunting?”

Constable Li nodded hastily and gestured for him to leave quickly.

The young man gasped and slipped away as quickly as if he had oiled the bottoms of his feet.

At this time, the situation in the blacksmith’s shop was indeed a haunting, because Song Changsheng, who had been “dead” for several days, was now forging a sword, clank, clank, ding, ding.

Liu Xian’an said: “So it should be quenched at this time. Previously, I quenched one and it broke. No wonder I couldn’t find the reason.”

Song Changsheng was surprised, and asked: “Second Young Master Liu can also forge swords?”

“It doesn’t count as such.” Liu Xian’an took the iron clamp. “My family has its own knifesmith, who is responsible for forging tools to cut medicinal herbs. My father thought I was lazy, so he drove me to the blacksmithy, and I stayed there for seven or eight days.”

Later, Second Young Master Liu fainted from the heat and lay in bed for three days with a cold handkerchief on his head. Liu-furen scolded her husband a lot because of this, and also scolded him for three days. The scolded Master Liu was so angry that he got on a horse and tried to run away from home. Later, it was Liu Nanyuan who came forward to persuade her father to return to the village.

Song Changsheng couldn’t help but laugh: “Master Liu is so impulsive?”

Liu Xian’an said slowly: “My father is also a normal person.”

It was inevitable that people would be impulsive. Anyway, Second Young Master Liu didn’t think that what his father did was childish or shameful. On the contrary, he thought it was very amusing and cute, and was better than picking up a stick and beating him every day, so he enthusiastically shared it with everyone he met.

Village Master Liu thousands of li away: My chest is suddenly tight.

Song Changsheng worked hard for an hour before returning to his room to rest. The city was quiet, but the people’s hearts were not quiet. Almost all the common people in the city spent this night with their eyes open.

The only one who slept well was Second Young Master Liu. Wrapped in a soft, warm blanket, he had great dreams and didn’t want to return. As for when he returned in the end, it was because his butt hurt.

He drilled under the quilt, dissatisfied.

Liang Shu spanked him again: “Come out!” 

Liu Xian’an turned around and looked at him weakly. Why do you want me to get up, you’re lying down yourself.

But His Royal Highness Xiao Wang did not reflect on it, and pulled him into his arms: “A-Ning taught me that if you can’t wake up with a shout or a shaking, you can only be beaten awake.”

“Then did you shout?”

“No.”

“Did you shake?”

“Also no.”

“…….”

Liu Xian’an sighed and threw himself back into bed. Forget it, I don’t care.

But Liang Shu refused to stop, and hugged him again, asking endlessly: “You’re sleeping again? We’ve been together for so long, but I’ve never seen you get angry with me once.”

Liu Xian’an replied with great sleepiness, why should I be angry?

“We have a whole lifetime.” Liang Shu lowered his head and kissed him. “I want to see you angry. Waking up angry is also fine.”

Liu Xian’an completely ignored this strange demand, because he didn’t intend to get up at all and also wasn’t angry.

So His Royal Highness began to play on his own, touching from top to bottom, through the clothing and then without the clothing.

The Sleeping Immortal remained motionless.

Liang Shu rested his chin on his shoulder and exerted a bit of force with his hands.

Second Young Master Liu lying on the bed: “…….”

Liang Shu tilted his head and said: “Are you angry?”

Liu Xian’an felt that, in fact, this was not a bad feeling.

He turned his head and glanced at the other party.

There was a smile in Liang Shu’s eyes, the distance between them extremely close: “Hm?”

Liu Xian’an lay down again.

Not angry.

Can’t get angry.

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Chapter Eighty-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety