Mingxi fixed her gaze on Xiao Muchen and saw his face full of guilt. For a moment, she didn’t quite register it. After a slight daze, she couldn’t help but laugh.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Xiao Muchen. “There’s something I may not have made clear to you.”
“What is it?” Xiao Muchen asked, sensing something ominous in her expression.
“The Xiao Ji San wasn’t administered by the Empress—it was something I took myself.”
“What?”
Seeing his face instantly turn pale, Mingxi grabbed his hand and quickly added, “This Xiao Ji San isn’t the same Xiao Ji San you’re thinking of.”
“Make yourself clear.” Xiao Muchen ground out the words through clenched teeth.
“The version I took was something I had Ren Mian specially prepare. A few of the medicinal ingredients were replaced. Unless someone is deeply familiar with this particular poison, they wouldn’t be able to distinguish it at a glance—the symptoms and pulse patterns are nearly identical. Only an expert could determine its authenticity with one check.”
Xiao Muchen stared at her, speechless for a long moment. “Why would you have Ren Mian make something like that? How long have you been planning this?”
Mingxi met his gaze without flinching. She tightened her grip on his hand just slightly. “I’ve been preparing for a long time. But I never had a good chance to use it. The Empress is extremely cautious. Without the right opportunity, I didn’t dare act recklessly. If I were exposed, I’d be the one who got hurt.”
“But this time was different. The Empress personally poisoned the tea. I’ve traveled with my father for many years in business and seen many things. The substance she used in the tea wasn’t exactly Xiao Ji San, but it was close enough. After drinking it, one’s vitality would be depleted rapidly. Within a month at the slowest—half a month at the fastest—one would become drained, weak all over, and eventually bedridden, unable to move. I couldn’t handle the Empress’s poison, so I had to use my own version instead—to survive, and also to catch her off guard.”
“With her plan disrupted, she was bound to panic. At that point, Royal Mother and you would surely ask Royal Father to investigate thoroughly. As long as someone investigates, the thread would unravel—and land right in our hands.”
Xiao Muchen’s expression kept shifting. He never imagined that in such a short time, Mingxi had made such a decisive move.
No matter how it turned out, she was the one suffering.
Yet she spoke of it so lightly, as though it were no big deal.
Xiao Muchen knew she was trying to comfort him—to prevent him from sinking into guilt.
He looked up slightly, then reached out to pull Mingxi into his arms, holding her tightly for a long time without moving.
Mingxi said nothing either, simply letting him hold her. The two of them seemed to merge into one. She could feel the deep sorrow, anger, and guilt radiating from him.
She didn’t say anything—because she didn’t know what to say.
When Xiao Muchen had told her he wanted to live a good life with her, she had taken that promise to heart. She truly wanted to live seriously with him.
It was a strange feeling—two people, two hearts—but she could clearly sense his emotions, even his unspoken thoughts.
So this was what it meant to be of one heart and mind.
A mysterious, wonderful feeling.
For the first time across her past and present lives, Mingxi felt a joy rising from deep inside, something even she couldn’t suppress.
So this is what love feels like.
To think as he thinks. To love what he loves. To feel pain when he hurts. He didn’t need to say a single word—she understood everything.
Leaning into Xiao Muchen’s arms, Mingxi said softly, “Ren Mian probably didn’t dare tell you about the Xiao Ji San. Don’t blame him—I specifically told him not to tell you.”
Xiao Muchen: …
Couldn’t she have said something else first? Why did she start by defending Ren Mian? Having a wife who’s too understanding could really be frustrating sometimes.
Xiao Muchen wanted to put on a stern face, but found he couldn’t. He could only sigh softly. “I know.”
Then he looked at her again. “Earlier, the imperial physician examined your teacup and detected a faint scent different from Xiao Ji San. Was that your version?”
Mingxi raised an eyebrow slightly. “I tried to destroy all the evidence, but I didn’t expect the physician to still catch a trace. Impressive.”
Xiao Muchen stared at her wordlessly.
Mingxi gave him a sheepish grin.
Xiao Muchen sighed again in resignation.
“What’s your next move?” he asked. He knew she must have a follow-up plan.
She had prepared so much. She definitely wouldn’t let the Empress off that easily.
Sure enough, Mingxi said, “The Empress is extremely cautious in the palace. I’ve had this poison ready for so long, and only now got the chance to use it. This trick of ‘replacing the real with the fake’ was clever, but there’s one thing I couldn’t do.”
Xiao Muchen met her gaze and slowly said, “They won’t find any Xiao Ji San in Kunde Palace.”
Mingxi’s eyes lit up. “Exactly.”
“So, you want me to find a way to plant it?”
Mingxi nodded. “Can you manage it?”
“It won’t be easy, but I’ll try. What exactly was the Empress’s poison?”
“It’s called Heavenly Maiden’s Scattered Blossoms. It’s a folk poison.”
“Heavenly Maiden’s Scattered Blossoms?”
“Beautiful name, isn’t it? Watching someone’s vital essence drain away silently—isn’t that just like petals scattered by a celestial maiden?”
Xiao Muchen’s expression darkened once more.
“Ren Mian can also make this stuff,” Mingxi said in a low voice.
Xiao Muchen: …
Back in the capital, Ren Mian’s reputation was barely known—how had he suddenly become an all-knowing master under Mingxi’s hand?
“How do you know he can make it?”
“I have a mouth, don’t I? I asked him.”
Hearing how confidently she said it, Xiao Muchen actually found it very reasonable.
True enough—what else is a mouth for, if not to ask questions?
He no longer had the energy to be angry. With a sigh, he asked one last thing, “You said Ren Mian altered the formula for the Xiao Ji San—does that pose a serious danger to you?”
Mingxi replied earnestly, “Ren Mian surely gave me an antidote too, right?”
“He modified the imperial pharmacy’s prescription.”
“I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but outwardly we still need to keep a low profile.”
Xiao Muchen understood: they needed to maintain the illusion of her being weak and frail, so that when the Emperor saw her, it would remind him of the Empress’s poisoning and deepen his anger toward her.
Xiao Muchen looked at Mingxi. “How do you know so much?”
These sorts of back-court tricks—who had taught her?
The laughter in Mingxi’s eyes paused for a split second. In her past life, she’d learned them from Duchess Gao’s household. No one was more well-versed in manipulative and malicious tactics than that woman.
“From someone,” Mingxi said slowly.
Xiao Muchen assumed Mingxi had deliberately sought out someone to teach her how to deal with the Empress. The thought left him with a jumble of emotions.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
Hm?
Mingxi noticed that Xiao Muchen had misunderstood again—but this time, she didn’t correct him. There was no way to explain it anyway.
Xiao Muchen looked at her seriously. “Get plenty of rest. Don’t appear in public for a while. Even if Kang Wangfei comes to visit, you must put on a show of frailty.”
