The assassin was stunned by her words.
In an instant, a chill ran down his spine.
His heart was forcefully ripped out and crushed, yet he was powerless to resist.
This woman was a master.......
Ximen Ye's figure moved like a ghost. By the time everyone reacted, he had already gracefully landed on the ground with one arm holding Song Nian'en, while his other hand hung at his side, dripping blood.......
At this moment, Song Nian'en's throat was hoarse from crying. Being held in one arm was uncomfortable, and she kept squirming, almost falling to the ground.
Qi Huan quickly ran over, took little Nian'en, and gently comforted her.
As soon as she took Nian'en away, Yan Wu immediately raised his sword, pointing it at Ximen Ye.
His Majesty had once ordered: See this man, kill without mercy!
The golden cage in his courtyard had been personally chopped down by His Majesty, ordered to be melted into gold ingots, and sent to the border to buy provisions.
Recalling His Majesty's cold eyes at that time, Yan Wu used his ultimate skill.
.......However, he was no match for Ximen Ye.
Ximen Ye even took the opportunity to wipe his hands on Yan Wu's clothes.
"Huan Huan, I have something I want to say to you in private."
"I don't want to hear it."
"It's about Gu Ziling."
Qi Huan stopped in her tracks.
She handed the sleeping Song Nian'en to Tao Su.
"Wait a moment."
After saying this, she first returned to the room to settle Old Lady Song on the bed.
Then she adorned herself with hidden weapon jewelry, took off her couple's ring with Li Shuchen, and replaced it with a ring containing poison needles...... This was her most convenient hidden weapon to operate.
After making all preparations, she led Ximen Ye into the main hall.
"Speak."
"I've captured Gu Ziling."
Ximen Ye picked up the white jade kettle on the tea table, poured out water to wash his hands, then leisurely took out a handkerchief and wiped away the water droplets one by one.
"Gu Ziling was indeed not easy to capture. She has good lightness skills, is vigilant, and can use poison."
"But I'm immune to all poisons. I almost angered her to death."
Ximen Ye's eyes held a smug smile: "Am I impressive?"
"......Impressive."
Perceiving the perfunctory and guarded look in Qi Huan's eyes, his smile suddenly froze, and a hint of bitterness rose in his heart.
"I'm sorry."
During these months of living rough, he had walked through endless fields, climbed over continuous mountains, passed through snow-covered forests, all the way north, where the world was vast.
Mountains, lakes, birds, beasts, insects, and fish, all were interesting.
He felt a long-lost sense of freedom, stepped out of his narrow obsession, and met an old monk who could talk even more than him.
....... He was almost persuaded by the wandering old monk to see through the red dust of the mortal world.
All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew, and like lightning; one should contemplate them thus.
Life is as fleeting as a white colt passing through a crack, everything is illusory.
But the roast rabbit meat in his hand and the wine at his waist were not illusory......
Ximen Ye ultimately declined the old monk's invitation.
However, he had reconciled with himself.......
Since Che's death, he had never forgiven himself.
So much so that when he saw Qi Huan, who looked so much like Che, he fell into a mental trap, obsessively wanting to possess her.
The old monk said love is about fulfillment, not possession.
The sea of suffering is boundless, turn back to reach the shore.
When he turned back, he realized he had been hurting Qi Huan in the name of love, hurting the loved ones Che cherished.
Ximen Ye smiled with relief: "I apologize. You don't have to forgive me, but I must offer compensation."
"Gu Ziling is being held in the Misty Rain Pavilion. She's very tight-lipped and refuses to reveal the formula for the poison...... She wants to see you."
"When?"
"Anytime."
Qi Huan nodded.
When she walked out of the courtyard, the servants of the Song mansion were cleaning up the bloodstains, while the secret guards were disposing of the bodies.
Yan Wu left all the secret guards at the Song mansion and returned to the palace alone with the last survivor to report.
Passing by Qingyang Court, Qi Huan heard a chorus of crying.
She peeked in and, goodness!
Song Jingcheng was holding Song Nian'en, alternating between comforting the child and his wife.
"Amin, it's not your fault."
"It's because I failed to protect her....."
Elder Madam Song was crying too.
For no other reason than her overactive tear glands; seeing others cry made her want to cry along.
This time, Elder Master Song didn't join her in crying, but stood alone in the courtyard, looking up at the moon and silently shedding tears.
He had seen Che fly!
And he had seen Che rip out hearts!
That bewitchingly beautiful profile, that swift technique, it couldn't possibly be his gentle Che!
....... Where was the real Che?
Why was this fake Che infiltrating their family?
Suddenly, Song Jingcheng's exclamation interrupted his thoughts and also attracted Qi Huan to quickly walk in.
"Nian'en has a fever!"
Elder Madam Song, hiccupping from crying, said anxiously: "I'll go call for a doctor!"
Young Madam Song looked pleadingly at Qi Huan: "Cousin, you must have a way, right?"
"......I'll go back and check some medical books."
After saying this, she quickened her pace back to Qinghuan Court.
"System, search for ibuprofen suspension."
This was a common fever reducer for children, which she had encountered when volunteering at the Welfare Institute.
Then, she thought of little Nian'en's wet nurse who had been seriously injured.......
"Take out a can of stage one milk powder, and search for a baby bottle."
"Also, search for a baby comforter toy."
Whoosh whoosh——
The deliveries dropped.
After sterilizing the baby bottle, Qi Huan packed it together with the milk powder, fever medicine, and a Fisher-Price soothing hippo into a bundle.
When she returned to Qingyang Court again, little Nian'en was crying at the top of her lungs.
With the wet nurse out of commission, Young Madam Song alone wasn't enough to feed her.......
Qi Huan quickly adjusted the water temperature and mixed the milk powder according to the ratio: "This is a kind of infant formula I bought from the black market, it's for emergency use."
Trusting her, Young Madam Song hesitated but finally nodded.
Encountering a baby bottle for the first time, Song Nian'en wasn't used to it.
After a long while, having no other choice due to hunger, she finally began to gulp down big mouthfuls.
Qi Huan took out the fever medicine, carefully read the instructions, asked about Song Nian'en's weight, and then fed her the medicine according to the dosage. She then skillfully held her upright and patted her back to burp her, preventing her from spitting up the milk and medicine.
The System couldn't help but exclaim: "Is the host already practicing how to raise cubs in advance?"
"After the host's grand wedding, we finally won't need to spend points on raincoats anymore!"
Li Shuchen really consumed too many......
It felt sorry for the host about the points spent on repurchasing raincoats.
Finally, they were about to have their grand wedding!
The days were becoming more and more worth looking forward to!
Qi Huan couldn't help but lower her gaze to look at the little baby in her arms, a soft light appearing between her brows.
She wondered if their future child would look more like Li Shuchen or her?
"Host, it's too early to think about this now. Why don't you think about how to help Li Shuchen detoxify? This is a great merit, worth ten thousand points!"
Fearing that Qi Huan wouldn't take it seriously, it repeated the important matter three times.
"I heard you! I heard you! Both ears heard you!" Qi Huan suppressed its incessant chatter.
After lulling Song Nian'en to sleep, she went to find Ximen Ye.
"Let's go see Gu Ziling."
Ximen Ye cast a resentful glance at her: "Can you ask your Li Shuchen to return my golden cage?"
"I promise I won't have any improper thoughts about you in the future!"
"That cage was made of pure gold, it cost me a lot of gold!"
Qi Huan shook her head: "I'm not sure, you'll have to ask him yourself."
"......."
Ximen Ye fell silent.
He'd have to be out of his mind to walk into that trap voluntarily. Because of Qi Huan, Li Shuchen had been hunting him like a mad dog these past few months.
Although he was skilled in martial arts, he had been exhausted by the relentless attacks.
He changed the subject, saying:
"Let's go see Gu Ziling first."
