Chapter 257: Are You Sure It’s Her?
“Did my Master really die?” Bian Du asked again, trembling.
Jiang Ruanxi crumpled the note into a ball and took a light sip of tea.
Seeing that she kept silent, Bian Du seemed to have an answer in his heart, but he still couldn’t quite believe it. “It’s true, right?”
Jiang Ruanxi looked up at him and, after a few seconds of silence, nodded slightly.
Bian Du immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, his shoulders slumping, his eyes instantly reddening with grief.
His hands at his sides clenched tightly, his jaw clenched tight.
“Who?”
“Empress.”
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t conceal anything from him and told him everything she knew, including the matter with the Yu Family.
“That poisonous woman again.” Bian Du shouted angrily.
Jiang Ruanxi was stunned and looked at him in shock. “Master Bian Du, what do you mean by that?”
Bian Du was Master Wuming’s disciple, and Master Wuming had always been indifferent to fame and fortune. Bian Du didn’t seem to have any connection to the palace either.
Bian Du raised his eyes and stared at her for a long while, his gaze growing deeper and darker, like an unfathomable pool of darkness.
Jiang Ruanxi felt a chill in her heart from his gaze.
Normally, Bian Du’s eyes were indifferent, as if he saw through everything but cared about nothing.
They had known each other for so long, and this was the first time she had seen such an expression.
After a long while, Bian Du returned to calm and slowly recounted.
He told her everything about how the Empress harmed Madam Yu and swapped the child.
After hearing it, Jiang Ruanxi was stunned for a long time.
Wei Chang had briefly mentioned some things to her, but she hadn’t known the details.
She hadn’t expected the Empress to use such methods against her own sister.
“How do you know all this? Did your Master tell you?”
Jiang Ruanxi was somewhat doubtful about how he knew these things.
Bian Du nodded.
“After my Master saved Madam Yu back then, my Master’s master took Madam Yu as a disciple, so later Madam Yu told my Master everything. You’ve seen it over these years—my Master has been working tirelessly for them mother and son all these years, breaking their altered fate, but unexpectedly, before he could find a solution, they were killed.”
As Bian Du spoke, his voice choked up.
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t know how to comfort him and poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of him.
Bian Du picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp, lowering his head, lost in thought.
“The Crown Prince is not in the Capital now, so we must seek justice for the Yu Family and Master Wuming, so they can rest in peace.”
Bian Du suddenly lifted his head. “You’re right. We must take revenge for them.”
“Over these years, have you collected any information on the Empress?”
Bian Du thought for a moment and shook his head. “Over these years, I’ve only been looking for my Master’s disciple and haven’t paid much attention to things in the Imperial Palace.”
Jiang Ruanxi was a bit disappointed, but thinking of Grand Tutor Ling, she knew some things couldn’t be rushed and needed long-term planning.
“Then do you have any familiar people in the Imperial Palace?”
Bian Du hesitated to speak.
“What’s wrong? Not convenient to say?”
Jiang Ruanxi knew he hadn’t fully trusted her yet. “If it’s not convenient, that’s fine. I’ll think of another way. After all, if there’s a familiar person, they might know more information, and it would be more convenient for any actions later.”
Bian Du was silent for a long time before uttering a name.
Jiang Ruanxi’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, asking uncertainly, “You’re sure it’s her?”
Bian Du nodded. “Yes, I saved her back then. She joined Nameless Island, so she’s one of us from Nameless Island.”
Jiang Ruanxi took a long time to recover.
“This is the token for passing information among us on Nameless Island. As long as you show this to her, she’ll know what to do.”
Bian Du took out a light cyan cylinder the size of a finger from his chest, and Jiang Ruanxi took it and looked at it.
If not looked at closely, it might seem like just a section of bamboo, but upon closer inspection, its texture was very fine—made of jade.
Jiang Ruanxi hadn’t expected Bian Du to hand such an important thing over to her just like that, and she couldn’t help but grip it tightly.
But thinking of one thing, Jiang Ruanxi’s face became even more serious. “You said the note was deliberately placed at your door. Who could it be?”
Bian Du shook his head.
“I didn’t notice anything unusual, but whoever it is, they definitely have bad intentions.”
“Right.” Jiang Ruanxi nodded.
“Are you feeling unwell? I smell a scent like safflower.” Bian Du suddenly asked.
Jiang Ruanxi was stunned, not expecting him to suddenly ask this. Thinking of the clothes Yushui had brought back, she glanced at the clothing not far away.
“No, someone wants to frame me, so they might have smeared something on the clothes. Master Bian Du, can you check for me what’s on them?”
Jiang Ruanxi had heard Wei Chang say that people from Nameless Island all had unique skills, and since Bian Du could smell safflower in such an open space, it proved he understood pharmacology.
She had been wanting to find a trustworthy doctor, and since Bian Du knew about it, this was effortless.
Bian Du didn’t refuse and went forward to examine the clothes. Jiang Ruanxi stepped back a few steps.
“You’re pregnant?” Bian Du stated affirmatively.
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t plan to conceal it and nodded.
Bian Du walked forward a few steps, keeping a greater distance from Jiang Ruanxi.
A few seconds later, Bian Du put down the clothes, washed his hands in a basin nearby, and then walked to Jiang Ruanxi. “There’s a chronic poison on them—Gou Wen and safflower. A large dose of Gou Wen can kill instantly, but a small amount accumulated over time can also be fatal. Safflower is harmful to pregnant women and can cause miscarriage or fetal instability.”
Bian Du explained simply.
Jiang Ruanxi hadn’t expected Sun Tina to use Gou Wen again.
She had been found out last time, and now she continued using it.
It seemed Sun Tina didn’t plan to take her life directly but to do it slowly, so no one would trace it back to her.
The safflower was probably from the food spilled last time by her maidservant, probing that she was pregnant, so she wanted to target her child, but unexpectedly, through a twist of fate, Wan Qing became the victim.
Thinking of how she repeatedly tried to harm her, Jiang Ruanxi’s face darkened.
Since that was the case, she wouldn’t hold back either.
“Thank you, Master Bian Du.” Jiang Ruanxi composed her emotions and thanked him.
“Be careful in the Crown Prince’s Manor.” Bian Du reminded her.
Jiang Ruanxi nodded.
After seeing Bian Du off, Jiang Ruanxi sat down and took a sip of tea, thinking about how to proceed when Wan Qing walked in.
She walked carefully and sat in front of her, her face paler than before.
She got straight to the point. “You said as long as we cooperate, you’ll protect my child and me. Does that still count?”
After Jiang Ruanxi left, she had thought it over for a long time, plus she kept feeling a vague dull pain in her belly, and it only eased after taking the medicine.
