A few days ago, Feng Qingyi and Qin Yuchuan had already moved some things from the villa to their new home.
There were still many items Qin Yuchuan had brought from the General's Mansion, such as books, writing materials, and decorations in the study. If not for Feng Qingyi's intervention, he would have even moved the tables and chairs.
Of course, the bowls Feng Qingyi had mentioned earlier were not forgotten, and there were even a few more boxes of them.
In the early morning, Feng Qingyi walked out to the balcony to check the weather for the day. Suddenly, she discovered that the seeds from the mystery shop's blind box had sprouted. Surprisingly, the tender shoots looked like crystal, with each sprout having a different color.
Feng Qingyi touched one and found it really seemed to be crystal. "Yuchu, Yuchu, come here quickly!"
Hearing Feng Qingyi's voice, Qin Yuchuan walked out from the kitchen.
"What's the matter?"
Feng Qingyi pulled him over, "Look quickly, these seeds have sprouted!"
Qin Yuchuan looked down, "It's been a while, they should have sprouted by now."
"Look more closely, these sprouts look exactly like natural crystals. Do you think this could be a crystal tree?"
"We'll know after it grows for a while. Now, you should go eat breakfast," Qin Yuchuan tried to pull Feng Qingyi away.
She suddenly picked up a tightly closed jar nearby, "Do you think if I cover the flowerpot with this jar, it will grow faster?"
Qin Yuchuan: "It would probably die if covered."
"I remember there's supposed to be air from an unknown world in here. It should match well with the soil from the unknown world. I'll give it a try," Feng Qingyi said as she opened the lid and inverted the transparent jar over the flowerpot.
Then, an astonishing scene unfolded. The sprouts in the small cup-sized flowerpot gradually grew larger. In no time, they had grown into a lush small tree, finally blooming with two colorful crystal flowers before stopping its growth.
"This, this is truly amazing!" The growth speed astounded Feng Qingyi.
Qin Yuchuan looked at the crystal flowers in the glass jar, "Open the jar."
Feng Qingyi did as told, "What's wrong?"
"Do you smell a fragrance?" Qin Yuchuan asked.
Feng Qingyi lowered her head and sniffed, "There seems to be a faint, fresh scent. What's the matter?"
Qin Yuchuan took the jar and covered the flowerpot again, "Qingyi, breakfast is ready. You go eat first. I have something to do today, so I won't be able to take you to work. Don't open this jar. Wait until I come back to deal with it."
"What's wrong with the flower? Is there some problem?" Feng Qingyi was puzzled, but Qin Yuchuan had already disappeared.
She had no choice but to go to the dining room alone to eat. Looking at the breakfast on the table, Feng Qingyi was in a fairly good mood. It was all her favorites, so she decided not to mind him suddenly running off.
At this moment, Qin Yuchuan, who had returned to Shengjing, called in the person he had sent to monitor the palace last night to inquire about the situation.
"Did you find out anything?"
"The people from the Southern Frontier who came this time have ill intentions. It seems to be related to the woman in the ice coffin. They also said that after a while, Shengjing would be filled with corpses."
Qin Yuchuan continued, "Do you know where the ice coffin is now?"
"It's in the west courtyard of the palace. The Southern Frontier has sent many people to guard it."
"Did you smell any fragrance coming from the ice coffin?" Qin Yuchuan asked.
"I did indeed smell a faint fragrance, sir."
Qin Yuchuan seemed to have realized something, "Keep watching. Report immediately if anything happens."
The fragrance from the ice coffin and the crystal flower seemed to be the same. Could the flower be poisonous?
Qin Yuchuan walked out of the study and called for Yan Yang.
"Go to the Five Elements Medical Hall and invite Fukang here. Tell him I have important matters to discuss with him."
Yan Yang acknowledged, "I'll go right away!"
Fukang was taking a nap at the medical hall when he was awakened by the hurriedly arriving Yan Yang.
Fukang looked at him, "What's the matter?"
"Doctor, my general says he has urgent business to discuss with you. Please come with me quickly!" Yan Yang said.
Fukang: "Even if there's urgent business, come another day. I have important matters today."
"What important matters do you have, Doctor?" Yan Yang asked.
Fukang casually replied, "Sleeping."
"How is sleeping a big deal? The general really has urgent matters to discuss with you. Just come with me!" Yan Yang had already pulled Fukang down from the rocking chair and was dragging him to leave.
Fukang broke free from him and straightened his clothes, "Alright, I agree to go with you. What's with all this pulling and tugging? Did your general say exactly what the matter was?"
"I'm not sure about that, but it must be something very important," Yan Yang said.
Fukang sighed, "Every time they come to find me, they always say they've encountered a big problem. I'd like to see what big problem they've encountered this time."
When Fukang and Yan Yang arrived at the General's Mansion, Qin Yuchuan had already brought the crystal flower and placed it on his desk.
"What did you call me for?"
Qin Yuchuan pointed at the crystal flower on the table, "Take a look at this flower. Is it poisonous?"
"You ask me to look at the flower, but you've covered it. How am I supposed to look?" Fukang asked.
Qin Yuchuan removed the jar covering it, "At last night's palace banquet, the envoy from the Southern Frontier presented a female corpse in a crystal coffin. That corpse emitted a very faint fragrance, almost the same as this crystal flower. I suspect it might be poisonous, so I asked you to come and take a look."
Fukang leaned in and sniffed the crystal flower, "Where did you get this flower from?"
"My wife grew it," Qin Yuchuan replied.
Fukang continued, "Do you know where she got it from? If there's more, why not share a pot with me?"
"There's only this one pot. Is there any problem with this flower?" Qin Yuchuan asked.
Fukang plucked a crystal leaf, "This flower isn't a real flower, and the leaves aren't real leaves either. Naturally, it's not poisonous. As for the fragrance you mentioned, it should be emitted by something contained within these two fake flowers."
"Is it poisonous?" Qin Yuchuan asked urgently.
Fukang: "This thing isn't just non-poisonous, it even has health-boosting and detoxifying effects. Smelling it more might even prolong life. Since I'm here today, why not give me one flower?"
"You can take a few leaves, but forget about the flowers. Otherwise, my wife will be angry when she comes back," Qin Yuchuan said, finally relaxing after hearing Fukang say the flower wasn't poisonous.
Fukang: "Married people are indeed different, always saying 'my wife' this and that. Are you showing off to me?"
"Having a wife is indeed different. Why don't you find one too?" Qin Yuchuan said.
Fukang waved his hand, "Forget it. You mentioned earlier that the corpse emitted a fragrance similar to this flower's. Does that corpse have any special characteristics?"
Qin Yuchuan thought for a moment, "That corpse is preserved in an ice coffin. It's unknown when it died, but the body shows no signs of decay."
"Some kind of drug must have been used to preserve the body. If you want to know the specific situation, and whether the fragrance you mentioned is poisonous, I'll need to see it in person," Fukang said.
Qin Yuchuan had the same idea, "Then tonight, let's go together."
"Oh, tonight? Don't you need to accompany your wife?" Fukang teased.
Qin Yuchuan: "We'll go early and return early then."
Late at night, Qin Yuchuan and Fukang, dressed in night clothes, met outside the palace, preparing to explore it under cover of darkness.
The west courtyard where the ice coffin was kept was heavily guarded. Fukang used drugs to knock out the guards, and he and Qin Yuchuan successfully entered.
In the center of the room, the ice coffin stood silently.
The fragrance that hit them made Fukang frown, "This corpse is not ordinary."
"Have you discovered anything?" Qin Yuchuan asked.
Fukang instructed, "Push this ice coffin open. I need to take a closer look."
The ice coffin was pushed open, revealing the woman in red clothes lying peacefully inside. Fukang reached out and lightly touched her body, quickly withdrawing his hand.
"Close it quickly!"
Qin Yuchuan closed the ice coffin again, "What's wrong?"
"The fragrance we smell is poison, and it's corpse poison cultivated by the body. If one smells this fragrance for a long time, they will die from poisoning. This poison is also contagious," Fukang said gravely.
Qin Yuchuan asked, "Do you have a way to detoxify it?"
"Developing an antidote isn't something that can be done in a short time. The best solution right now is to destroy this corpse while we still can. If too much time passes, even if I manage to develop an antidote by some stroke of luck, the losses would be extremely severe," Fukang said.
Qin Yuchuan made a quick decision, "Then let's burn it!"
In the western courtyard of the temporary palace, a raging fire broke out. Before long, the entire courtyard collapsed. The guards outside the gate were awakened and hurriedly notified those inside the palace to extinguish the fire, but it was already too late.
Inside the room, the ice coffin had melted, and the body of the woman in red robes had been destroyed in the blaze.
Upon learning this news, Rong Sheng specifically instructed his subordinates to investigate the situation. They ultimately discovered that a maid had accidentally knocked over a candlestick.
Since there were no casualties, they couldn't demand an explanation from Xuanyuan Yan and could only silently fume, lamenting their bad luck.
In the Imperial Palace, Xuanyuan Yan was listening to Ming Qi's report on the situation at the temporary palace.
Ming Jiu stood nearby and said, "This mysterious fire, could it be related to General Qin?"
"He was in charge of reception this time, so naturally, he had his people in the temporary palace. Even if he didn't do it himself, he can't be unconnected to it," Xuanyuan Yan understood Qin Yuchuan well.
Ming Jiu asked, "Why did General Qin suddenly set a fire? Could it be because of what happened at the palace banquet?"
"If he set the fire, he must have his reasons. I'll wait for him here," Xuanyuan Yan said.
Ming Jiu added wryly, "At this hour, the General should be home accompanying his wife. Your Majesty, perhaps you should wait until tomorrow."
"...Alright, you may all withdraw."
At that moment, in the bedroom of the newlyweds, Feng Qingyi was reading a book while waiting for Qin Yuchuan to return.
When Qin Yuchuan appeared in the room dressed all in black with his face covered by a black cloth, Feng Qingyi was startled for a moment before she realized who it was.
"You haven't been out killing and setting fires, have you?"
Qin Yuchuan pulled the black cloth from his face. "No killing, but I did set a fire."
"Why did you suddenly go out to set a fire?" Feng Qingyi looked at him with concern, wondering if he had gotten into serious trouble.
