Chapter 1079 - 1081: A Handful of Blood_1
Liang Jing watched Bai Ruozhu and her group hasten away, thinking to himself it would be good if nothing happened to that person. At that moment, murmurs from the onlookers by the roadside drifted over.
"Just now, that person who was neither man nor woman turned out to be the Crown Prince of Chengshui. How could Chengshui pick such a Crown Prince? He more resembles a prostitute from Liu Alley. That lady was scolded so rudely for saving her own subordinate, what a nonsense Chengshui Crown Prince, speaking so frivolously."
"Isn’t that the truth? Should aristocrats really treat their subordinates like they can kill them at will without seeing them as human beings? I think that lady is quite righteous."
"I’ve heard that the lady is a Divine Doctor. Perhaps the Chengshui Crown Prince wants to snatch her away for himself; failing to do so might mean our Danliang Country will be one Divine Doctor short."
"..."
The common folk whispered among themselves, many of them from Danliang Country, naturally siding with their own, cursing Zhou Jue thoroughly, saying that they shouldn’t allow a Crown Prince from another nation to come to the Capital City of Danliang Country to swagger about.
Liang Jing walked away slowly with his people. He felt that the situation in the Capital was rather complicated, but without any concrete evidence, he could only take it one step at a time. He didn’t know when Jiang Yichun would return, really afraid that, as the commoners had discussed, that Prince Zhou truly coveted Madame Jiang’s medical skills and would snatch her away.
He would then have a hard time explaining to Jiang Yichun.
...
Bai Ruozhu brought Chu Hai back to the yard, with Xiaosi beside her wearing a face full of guilt, feeling that it was his call for Diao Yao and Chu Hai to go out that led to this situation; and if he hadn’t insisted on going out to play, they wouldn’t have encountered that perverse person.
Diao Yao seemed deflated and no longer clamored to confront Zhou Jue desperately.
Bai Ruozhu instructed someone to heat water and began to prepare medicine for Chu Hai. Diao Yao asked with a choked voice, "Didn’t we just use the Ancient steaming method? What if we use it again and Chu Hai’s body can’t take it?"
"That’s why I’ve changed the formula. His body can take it; however, the pain can’t be reduced. Otherwise, it won’t suppress the poison effectively," Bai Ruozhu spoke faster than usual due to the urgency of the situation.
"It’s all my fault. I should have stopped him just now," Diao Yao cried softly.
Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat suffocated inside, "You don’t have to blame yourself. After all, I am to blame for this situation. Chu Hai and all of you are just trying to help me."
All along the way, she felt a great self-reproach. If she had known things would turn out this way, she would have persuaded Chu Hai not to go out with them. Thinking about how Chu Hai helped without hesitation, she felt indebted to Chu Hai and Diao Yao.
Despite the two of them living in the Bai Family home for a while, Bai Ruozhu hadn’t really treated them as true friends. On one hand, their initial appearance was quite strange, and on the other, she was unclear about their identities. Could she afford to be completely open with them? It was originally Diao Yao who used a medicinal pill to save Tu Bai, and Bai Ruozhu had agreed to help Chu Hai with his poisoning, and that’s why they had stayed with her up until now.
Yet today, both of them had helped without hesitation, with Chu Hai even using his inner strength despite the risk of aggravating his poison, making Bai Ruozhu feel even more indebted to them.
Hearing Bai Ruozhu say this, Diao Yao couldn’t care less about crying, "How could we blame you? If anyone is to blame, it’s that damned demon!"
Bai Ruozhu, worried that Diao Yao would impulsively seek revenge against Zhou Jue, quickly said, "His martial arts are very peculiar, and his poison skills are incredibly proficient. Don’t act rashly to seek revenge on him; if there’s an issue, let’s discuss it slowly."
Diao Yao discerned the meaning behind Bai Ruozhu’s words, which was that there would eventually be a reckoning with Zhou Jue. She was finally reassured and nodded earnestly.
Fortunately, Bai Ruozhu had acted promptly. The ancient steaming method was quickly employed, and the poison in Chu Hai’s body was suppressed. However, the pain was so intense that he bit his own lips until they bled. Due to the extreme danger of the situation, Bai Ruozhu did not leave to avoid suspicion but stayed by his side.
Seeing Chu Hai in agony, she hurriedly took a handkerchief and tried to stuff it into his mouth, but Chu Hai’s clenched jaw made it impossible to insert.
"Jianqi, help pry open his mouth." Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to ask Jianqi to use force.
Once Chu Hai’s mouth was pried open, Bai Ruozhu quickly stuffed the thick handkerchief between his teeth. Chu Hai let out a low growl of pain and bit down hard.
"Ah..." Bai Ruozhu cried out in pain, for Chu Hai, out of sheer agony and confusion, had bitten Bai Ruozhu’s index finger, causing blood to surge out instantly, and the pain almost brought her to tears.
"Master!" Jianqi was startled and hurriedly tried to remove Chu Hai’s lower jaw to free Bai Ruozhu’s finger.
Bai Ruozhu took a few deep breaths of cold air. She harbored not the slightest blame towards Chu Hai, for she owed him for today’s incident. The bite she received was nothing compared to the torment Chu Hai was enduring.
If it had not been for Chu Hai’s desperate intervention, she would have either been captured by Zhou Jue or possibly injured or poisoned.
"Master, you should quickly get that bandaged. I can watch over him here," Jianqi said, his face showing a hint of guilt. He felt that if he hadn’t been careless and allowed Zhou Jue to poison them, they wouldn’t be in such a passive situation now.
Bai Ruozhu nodded. Her right index finger was covered in blood, the pain causing her hand to shake. She needed to properly treat it, or how would she be able to administer needles in the following days?
Diao Yao and Xiaosi turned pale when they saw the blood on Bai Ruozhu’s hands. Upon learning that Chu Hai was the one who bit her, Diao Yao continuously apologized on his behalf. As Bai Ruozhu cleaned her wound, she smiled and said, "He was unconscious, where is the fault in that? Don’t bring it up when he wakes. He needs to rest and heal calmly now. If he knew, he would surely feel guilty, right? What if it affects his recovery?"
Both Diao Yao and Xiaosi nodded agreeably, promising not to mention it.
After cleaning and dressing her wound with the best Golden Wound Medicine, Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat relieved that she had been bitten at this time. If it had happened earlier, when Chu Hai’s body was filled with the most potent poison and her skin was broken, having come into contact with the fresh blood from Chu Hai’s bitten lips, she feared she might have been poisoned with that severe poison as well.
Having instructed the others to watch over Chu Hai, she said she needed to rest for a while.
Finding a secluded spot, she entered into the space and then leapt into the hot spring pool to soak, especially her bitten hand.
As she soaked in comfort, Bai Ruozhu’s mind drifted to Zhou Jue’s poison skills. Everything had been so dire and urgent at the time that she had been temporarily distraught, but upon reflecting calmly, it all became clear to her.
Indeed, Zhou Jue’s use of poison was not as masterful as it seemed. First, he had poisoned Jianqi while they were fighting by grabbing his wrist. Second, his seemingly effortless antidote, which had stunned them all, was actually no antidote at all!
That is to say, the poison that Zhou Jue had given Jianqi was meant to be temporary, with its effects naturally dissipating over time. Despite Zhou Jue’s recklessness, he was cautious enough in the Capital City of Danliang Country so as not to be implicated; his use of poison was only meant to temporarily suppress the experts by Bai Ruozhu’s side, and it dissipating on its own was his way of avoiding leaving any incriminating evidence behind.