"I'll bet on myself and my mother. The time limit is three days," Feng Yuqin said calmly. "If I lose, my mother and I will move out of the Prime Minister's Mansion. If I win, you mustn't interfere in the affairs of our courtyard anymore. This includes my freedom in marriage, and you should also hand over my mother's dowry."
She learned from the original owner's memory that her mother's dowry had been confiscated as soon as she entered the mansion, and now it was in the hands of the Second Lady, Mrs. Ji.
"Are you sure?" Feng Pingqiu was quite confident in his relationship with the Magistrate of the Capital, so he thought he was bound to win.
"Of course I'm sure," Feng Yuqin replied. "But you must leave a written agreement. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll go back on your word later."
"Sister, how could we go back on our word? We're actually worried that you'll renege," Feng Qing was almost overjoyed. She couldn't believe that Feng Yuqin was so stupid as to use herself and her mother as a bet.
However, thinking of the matter of the First Lady, she looked at Feng Yuqin and asked, "But can you make decisions for the First Lady? What if she doesn't agree?"
"My mother will agree. You just need to write the agreement and we'll press our fingerprints on it," Feng Yuqin said calmly.
"Fine, but I have a condition," Feng Pingqiu's eyes flashed with disgust as he looked at Feng Yuqin. "If you lose, I'll send your mother a divorce letter, so that she won't disgrace our Prime Minister's Mansion with the title of the Prime Minister's wife."
"Master, your scumbag father is really ruthless," the Gold - Devouring Beast said gnashing its teeth.
"This is his true face," Feng Yuqin responded to the Gold - Devouring Beast.
"What? Afraid to bet? Are you scared that you'll lose?" Feng Pingqiu resorted to goading.
Feng Yuqin gave him a cold glance. "You don't need to use such tactics. I agree."
Hearing Feng Yuqin's agreement, Feng Pingqiu and Feng Qing both heaved a sigh of relief.
After all, in their hearts, they were certain to win.
Feng Yuqin gave them a cold look and then turned around and left.
She didn't go back to her own courtyard but went straight to her mother's.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, her originally cold and detached eyes were instantly filled with anger.
The Gold - Devouring Beast was also a bit stunned when it saw Yan Aoyun lying at the courtyard gate. "Master, they're really too much. They just casually dumped your mother in the yard like this."
Feng Yuqin exuded a terrifying aura. She quickly stepped forward, picked up Yan Aoyun, and carried her back to the room.
Then she felt her mother's body start to tremble painfully. When she felt her mother's pulse, the terrifying aura around her became even colder.
"What's wrong with Master's mother?" The Gold - Devouring Beast sensed the change in Feng Yuqin and unconsciously looked at Yan Aoyun. Only then did it notice the pain on Yan Aoyun's brow.
"My mother is poisoned," Feng Yuqin said coldly. "To be precise, she was poisoned before. I didn't feel her pulse when I was in the water dungeon. Moreover, the water in that dungeon just counteracted the toxin in my mother's body, so I didn't notice the problem at that time. Now that my mother is out of the water dungeon and there's no longer the restraint of the stagnant water, the toxin in her body has started to erode her meridians."
Hearing this, the Gold - Devouring Beast carefully released a bit of its spiritual sense to detect. When it found out what kind of poison it was, it instantly exploded. "Master, the people in this Prime Minister's Mansion are really too vicious. They even used such a despicable Blood - Devouring Poison."
"Master, the ingredient of the Blood - Devouring Poison is human fresh blood. But since the person who poisoned her could use such a toxin, it's hard to determine whose blood was used. Moreover, this Blood - Devouring Poison is a toxin that targets the meridians. If it can't be detoxified within a certain period of time, it won't be of much use to detoxify it later."
"The most important thing is that this kind of poison will torture the poisoned person. They'll have to endure the heart - wrenching pain every day. It's really vicious."
Hearing this, Feng Yuqin's expression became colder and colder. "When I find out who the poisoner is, I'll make him taste this heart - wrenching pain too."
The Gold - Devouring Beast also nodded in agreement. "However, Master, you need to find the blood ingredient first and then find an alchemist to refine the antidote. According to your mother's current situation, a second - rank alchemist should be able to refine the antidote."
"Now we're not sure whose blood it is. It's impossible to detoxify with just one dose. Do you think any alchemist in the Western Song Kingdom would be willing to spend time refining such pills?" Feng Yuqin said.
The Gold - Devouring Beast also thought it made sense. But the most important thing now was to suppress the toxin in Master's mother's body first.
"Master, we have pills in the space that can suppress the Blood - Devouring Poison. You can give them to your mother first," the Gold - Devouring Beast said. "But there's a drawback. She'll feel the pain once a month. At other times, she'll be the same as a normal person. If she still hasn't been detoxified after three months, the pain will come once every half - month. After half a year, she'll be tortured to death by the pain."
The Gold - Devouring Beast felt that the poisoner must have hated Master's mother so much to use such a vicious Blood - Devouring Poison.
Feng Yuqin knew that this was the best solution at present. She immediately took out the pills from the space and fed them to her mother.
Not long after Yan Aoyun took the pills, she woke up.
Looking at her long - missed daughter in front of her, she unconsciously said, "Aqin, am I dreaming?"
Feng Yuqin immediately stepped forward and held her hand. "Mother, this is not a dream. You're out of the water dungeon, and I'm back in the mansion too. From now on, no one will force me to marry someone I don't want to."
Yan Aoyun touched her daughter's face. The warm feeling made her sure that she wasn't dreaming. She tightly hugged Feng Yuqin and sobbed.
"Mother, your clothes are wet. Let's change them first, okay?" This was the first time Feng Yuqin had spoken to someone in such a gentle tone. She was a bit unaccustomed to it.
But seeing her mother like this, she unconsciously softened her tone.
Hearing this, Yan Aoyun then realized that she was all wet and had been hugging her daughter. She let go of Feng Yuqin and indeed saw that Feng Yuqin's clothes were also wet.
"Aqin, you should go and change your clothes too. You can't practice, so if you catch a cold, it'll easily harm your body," Yan Aoyun said. Then, unconsciously looking at Feng Yuqin, she was stunned.
"A... Aqin, you can... practice?" Yan Aoyun saw the faint soul power surrounding her daughter. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and intense joy.
Seeing her mother like this, Feng Yuqin felt a touch of emotion in her heart.
How could her mother not know that she was poisoned?
But she never mentioned it. All she cared about was her. So when she found out that her daughter could practice, the joy in her eyes couldn't be hidden.
Feng Yuqin nodded. "Mother, you change your clothes first. I'll tell you in detail later."
Although Yan Aoyun was very eager to know what was going on, since her daughter had said so, she didn't ask anymore and obediently took the clothes to change.