She rubbed her nose, wondering if the poison in her bottle was not potent enough. Making someone's heart turn to stone was hardly a remarkable poison. She should develop a poison that showed no symptoms at all, so that those people would die without knowing why.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. It seemed she still needed to improve her poisoning skills.
However, since she was pregnant, there were some poisons she dared not touch, for fear that the slightest contact might affect the baby in her womb.
She placed her hand on her visibly swollen belly, as if she could feel the baby's heartbeat.
She, Tang Youyou, never thought that one day she would be on the verge of becoming a mother.
At the desk, she picked up a brush and wrote a letter to Old Man Tang in Dashuiwan to reassure them.
They had written to inquire about her situation a few days ago, but due to the ongoing war, she had only now found the time to reply.
"Since you don't have a personal maid by your side, shall I arrange one for you?" Rong Xun helped her get dressed and wash up, then served her a bowl of sweet and sour silver ear soup with Chinese dates.
"No, I don't need others to take care of me. I'm not at the stage where I can't move around yet."
Tang Youyou supported her waist and looked at her swollen belly. She wondered why her belly had grown so big. It was much more strenuous to walk than before.
Rong Xun knew that she was not used to being served by others. Her personal maid had died at the hands of Su Jin, and he knew she had always felt guilty about it, so he didn't mention it again.
"Alright, then let your husband serve you personally."
Hearing this, Tang Youyou gave a charming smile. "When did you become so glib?"
"Don't you like it?"
Rong Xun tied her waistband and wrapped his arms around her waist. "If you don't like it, I'll change."
Tang Youyou pouted and tapped his forehead with her finger. "You just know how to make me happy. Hurry up and send this letter for me."
He looked up and saw a letter full of ink marks on the desk. From afar, he could see the name Yue Fusheng on it.
"Who is this letter for?"
"Of course it's for Old Man Tang in Dashuiwan. Oh, and Yue Fusheng. Since we left Dashuiwan, I haven't had many opportunities to reassure them. They must be extremely worried. Now that there's a war going on here, if I don't reassure them, they might come looking for me."
Although she missed the peaceful days in Dashuiwan, with her current status, how could she turn a blind eye to these wars?
"I see the name Yue Fusheng on it. Do you still keep in touch with him?"
Tang Youyou could hear the jealousy in his words. She shook her head helplessly.
"Look at you. Didn't I tell you before that Yue Fusheng was originally my father's personal guard left for me? He's loyal and considerate. If you can have capable guards like Yeyue and Zhuifeng, why can't I have one? Moreover, he was once a well - known master in the martial arts world. Now he's lost an arm because he protected me from that bitch's ruthless attack. Do you think I, Tang Youyou, am such an ungrateful person?"
If this matter wasn't brought up, it would be fine. Once it was mentioned, Tang Youyou remembered that day when Yue Fusheng had fought desperately to protect her and had his arm cut off by the villains in front of her.
Rong Xun knew that she had suffered a lot before, and this was one of those things, so he didn't say much.
"Yes, You'er is right. I'll send this letter for you right away. It will arrive within two days."
Seeing his look of guilt, Tang Youyou pursed her lips. This man knew how to reflect on himself.
It seemed that not being the king of a country had changed him a lot.
Yeyue rushed back from Yanshi overnight just to report the situation to his master as soon as possible.
Before it got completely dark, taking advantage of the still - light night, he rode a fast horse and brought the white porcelain bottle given by Tang Youyou to Yanshi overnight.
The informant received the signal for the meeting and secretly came out of the military camp. Seeing that it was Yeyue, he was surprised.
"Why are you here?"
Yeyue pulled him over and gave him the thing in his arms. Looking around to make sure no one was around, he then leaned over and explained the whole thing clearly in his ear.
"I understand. Leave this matter to me."
The informant took the white porcelain bottle and then said, "Fortunately, you came today. If you had waited until dawn, their vanguard troops would have invaded the palace. I've checked. There are only two Jinyiwei troops and less than two thousand soldiers left in the palace. If the two armies engage in battle, it won't take a day. By tomorrow afternoon, the Great Ming Kingdom will be changed to the Great Zhou Kingdom."
Yeyue heard that what he said was almost the same as what the informant in the palace had reported. He had to rush back to report the news.
"No, you have to act immediately. The poison won't take effect until six hours later. You have to act quickly."
"I know. I'll go and do it right away."
The informant received the task, hid the medicine bottle, turned around, and disappeared into the thick night.
Rong Jiangyu and his troops were stationed outside the palace. All the water they drank was fetched from the nearby well.
The most convenient way at the moment was to pour the poison directly into the water they fetched, but this method was very likely to attract attention. If someone saw it, he wouldn't be able to escape.
He then turned his attention to the well. Why not just poison the well directly?
In the capital, almost every family had a well. This abandoned well was basically unused.
He found the well and was just about to pour the poison when he was stopped by Yeyue, who had rushed over.
"Why are you stopping me?"
Yeyue stared at him, out of breath. "I'd like to know what you're trying to do. Is this how you're going to poison? What if other people use this water and get poisoned?"
The informant had, of course, thought of this.
"Of course I know, but besides the soldiers outside the palace, only some beggars and passers - by use this well. Not many people will die, and this is the least likely way to alert the enemy and the most effective."
If it had been before, Yeyue would have thought the same as him.
But after spending a long time with Tang Youyou recently, he had been somewhat influenced by her.
"The lives of beggars are also lives, and the lives of passers - by are also lives. How can you harm people casually?"
This man wasn't unaware of the truth in his words, but at the moment, he couldn't think of a better way.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Yeyue bit his finger and thought for a moment. "Alright, you go ahead and poison as planned. I'll figure out the rest."
The informant glanced at him. "I'm really going to do it."
"Do it, do it."
The whole bottle of poison was poured into the well, but the well water showed no change at all.
"Hurry up and leave. In a while, they'll send someone to fetch water."
In the blink of an eye, the two of them had disappeared without a trace.
At the first quarter of the Yin hour, the soldiers in the military camp came to fetch water.
The two people hiding in the dark had been watching from midnight until the Yin hour, and they didn't see anyone passing by to use the water.