Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 54 Whistleblower
"hiss."

Huang Hu tore off the brocade robe that was tightly bound around his strong muscles and bandaged the wound on his abdomen.

He knew the wound would heal quickly, so he bandaged it to prevent the recovery process from being seen by so many people. After all, he was already surrounded by people.

"Don't be impatient. The leeches won't grow out that quickly."

He shouted, grinning ingratiatingly at the group, trying to buy some time to think of a way to get out.

But the generals under Wei Yan did not give him this opportunity.

"Fire arrows!"

"stop!"

At the same time as the order to attack was sounded, Gu Jingnian's loud shout came. He was very close to Wei Xie, so his voice spread. The archers did not know whether this was the Third Prince's intention, so they did not shoot immediately.

Wei Xie turned around and looked at Gu Jingnian.

Gu Jingnian rode forward and whispered, "Third Prince, I have something confidential to tell you. Please take Huang Hu into custody first."

Wei Xie did not answer, but just raised his hand.

Huang Hu calmed down after seeing this, and sat on the ground with his hands behind his back, pretending not to resist. Then a soldier took out the iron chain that had been prepared long ago and tied him up tightly.

The archers then put down their bows.

Suddenly someone shouted, "He has become a leech. Everyone must die. Behead him!"

Liang Caixing looked at Wei Xie, and seeing that he still had no reaction, he simply drew out his sword and rode towards Huang Hu. When he got close, he swung his sword and started to chop him. Huang Hu cursed loudly, but he was tied up with iron chains and could not move.

"call--"

The blade was about to chop Huang Hu's neck when suddenly there was a "ding" sound and an arrow shot out and hit the lower end of the handle.

Liang Caixing was very strong, but he was unable to hold the sword firmly in his hand. The handle of the sword tilted and fell to the ground with a clang.

He turned his head and was surprised to see Gu Jingnian holding a hunting longbow with the bowstring still vibrating. The quick, accurate and fierce arrow was actually shot by this cowardly illegitimate son.

Liang Caixing was immediately filled with shame and anger, his face flushed red, and he finally cursed: "Since you said you don't know martial arts, what kind of ability is it to shoot an arrow from behind?!"

He was sure that Gu Jingnian's arrow was aimed at him, just to save his face in front of Shen Lingshu.

In this matter, almost everyone stood on Liang Caixing's side, believing that killing Huang Hu was right, and they all looked at Gu Jingnian with sidelong glances.

Gu Jingnian ignored the shouting and just confessed his crime to Wei Xie.

Wei Yu finally forced him to take action, and his goal was achieved, so he ordered Huang Hu to be temporarily detained and carefully guarded. The hunting team brought a large iron cage, locked the person in it, and transported him in a carriage.

In short, no wild animals were hunted this time, only a yellow tiger.

On the way back to the camp, Shen Lingshu felt uneasy, worried that someone around him would suddenly turn into a terrible monster.

Compared with others in the hunting team, she trusted Gu Jingnian, who had protected her once, more, and wanted to ask him why he saved the strong man.

But she turned her head several times and saw that Gu Jingnian was walking side by side with Pei Nian.

"What are you looking at?" Wei Chan suddenly asked.

"No, nothing." Shen Lingshu turned around and said, "It's scary."

"Those two are still chatting." Wei Chan said, "I just saw that they stared at each other for a long time when they met."

Shen Lingshu actually noticed it too. Since Gu Jingnian met Pei Nian, he hadn't taken his eyes off each other for a while.

This made her feel a little embarrassed, so she had to force herself to say, "They are colleagues, so naturally they have something to say."

"You and Pei Nian have been friends since childhood, so why didn't she say hello to you?"

"She's always like this. She has official business."

Wei Chan narrowed her eyes and keenly realized that there was a problem between Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian.

--------

The two horses were very close to each other, and sometimes, Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian's calves would rub against each other.

Their conversation was very quiet, and to outsiders, it sounded like they were eager to ride on each other's saddle.

"You are all my subordinates. Since I am targeting you, I will not ignore it."

Pei Nian already knew that Gu Jingnian was an excellent archer, and also knew that Huang Hu was once "full of energy and vigor", so it was not difficult for him to guess Wei Xie's intention.

She was not afraid of the prince's power and was quite responsible, but then she changed the subject and said, "But you still have something to hide from me. You have to tell me the truth."

Gu Jingnian had indeed concealed some things about Wanchun Palace from Pei Nian before, but now that he had "surrendered" to Mei Chengzong, his concerns were reduced a lot. Except for some key points, he could tell Pei Nian most of the things.

"Third Prince is probably trying to find Viper Heart..."

The two of them chatted like this as they entered the camp.

As soon as Pei Nian dismounted from his horse, he wanted to ask to see Wei Xie to report that Huang Hu would not become a leech.

But Wei Xie ignored her investigation and met with Gu Jingnian alone.

There were only two people in the tent. Wei Yu did not act like a prince, but smiled and said in a normal tone between friends: "Why did you stop me from killing Huang Hu?"

Gu Jingnian said: "Your Highness should have known that Huang Hu would not turn into a leech, and he came here just for him."

Wei Xie raised his eyebrows and wanted to pretend to be confused, but in the end he burst out laughing and admitted it.

"Yes, we are family. I won't hide it from you. I came here for Huang Hu. I found out that a giant viper had parasitized him. I was worried and planned to burn him."

"Your Highness, aren't you looking for Viper Heart?"

Gu Jingnian speaks directly enough.

Wei Yu pretended to be surprised and asked, "Why do you think so?" "This is what I heard."

"Who said that?"

"These words are confidential, I shouldn't have said them." Gu Jingnian said, "Because Your Highness has a good relationship with my brother-in-law, I want to remind Your Highness."

"It's more than just a good relationship. Your brother-in-law and I are better than brothers." Wei Yu added: "We are much closer than brothers."

Gu Jingnian hesitated for a moment and said, "It's Metis."

"Mei Chengzong, he said I want to find Kui Xin?"

"He said that His Highness secretly hid the Viper Heart."

"nonsense!"

Wei Xie immediately retorted, frowning.

Of course, Mei Chengzong suspected him. He had long known that what was important at this time was Gu Jingnian's attitude.

"Mei Chengzong told you this? What did he say specifically?"

Gu Jingnian did not answer, but looked around, worried that there might be eavesdroppers on the other side of the wall.

"Don't worry." Wei Yu said, "No one can eavesdrop here, even if you cage them."

Gu Jingnian asked, "Dark shadow?"

Wei Xie smiled knowingly, obviously knowing Mei Chengzong's strength, and said in a domineering tone: "Even Black Shadow won't work."

Gu Jingnian's attitude changed significantly and he became much more relaxed.

He hadn't said anything yet, but this detail had already foreshadowed his desire to "surrender" to Wei Xie.

"Because of what happened in Wanchun Palace, I was summoned to Kaiping Division by Mei Chengzong. He ordered me to track down the Viper Heart, and the first person he suspected was Your Highness. I also found this strange. I clearly saw the Great Pharmacist take the Viper Heart, but he faked his death and escaped, and said that the Viper Heart was obtained by Your Highness. I came here today, actually on Mei Chengzong's secret order, to test Your Highness."

These words seemed to be a normal retelling, but they contained a few sentences that caused Wei Xie to be suspicious of Mei Chengzong.

Wei Xi's eyes narrowed, and he didn't say anything more. Instead, he asked, "Is the snake's heart not with Huang Hu?"

"Why do you think so, Your Highness?"

"Huang Hu was seriously injured but still alive, which is suspicious."

"The reason he survived despite his serious injuries is that after he gave birth to the six-headed viper, he gained the ability to heal himself quickly."

Gu Jingnian sold Huang Hu again.

Just as Pei Nian said at the beginning, throwing out a secret that would be revealed sooner or later in exchange for an opportunity to use Wei Xie.

Now that you are in this situation, maybe sometimes it is easier to find a way out by risking your life than by hiding.

"Why?"

"Perhaps this is the true meaning of 'A male viper is poisonous, but a viper's heart is a good medicine'. If you feed the viper with your body, you will get the same physique as the male viper. Just like raising silkworms, the cocoons are the most valuable things."

Gu Jingnian was worried that he would be used as feed, so he once again concealed the details of the giant viper sucking his blood and made up a story.

But it was this kind of casual nonsense that made him think of one thing.

Is it possible that this is how he got his special physique? One of his elders also fed snakes with his own body and sucked the blood of pig people.

If so, who got the snake's heart?
Of course, this is just groundless speculation.

The strange thing is that the last time I talked about the same topic with Mei Chengzong, Mei Chengzong never asked in detail and had no curiosity about why Huang Hu could gain the self-healing physique after being bitten by a snake.

Wei Yu's reaction was completely different. He frowned and pondered for a long time, muttering, "In that case, let's try to see if this cocoon can be woven into a piece of good cloth... I want to dig out Huang Hu's heart!"

For a moment, Gu Jingnian suddenly realized that it was Gu Jizu who was standing in front of him. He came to his senses and said, "It's useless."

"How do you know if you don't try?"

"because……"

Although Gu Jingnian knew that eating the yellow tiger's heart was useless, he was speechless for a moment. He couldn't say that Gu Jizu had eaten his heart and it was useless. Fortunately, he thought of an excuse the next moment.

"Because Mei Chengzong called him 'dregs of medicine'."

Wei Yu's eyes suddenly showed disappointment, and he said, "Huang Hu is also a medicine residue?"

When Gu Jingnian heard the word "also", he knew that although Wei Xie was not in the Northern Yamen, he knew many things.

"Yes, medicine residue."

"So, the snake's heart is definitely not on the yellow tiger."

"I am sure that only the great pharmacist had a chance at that time." Gu Jingnian probed, "But this man seems to be a minister of the Prime Minister's Mansion and has a close relationship with the caged man. Even Mei Chengzong is afraid of him."

His original intention was to find out how much Wei He knew about the Great Pharmacist, but he didn't expect Wei He to remain silent on his words. He just curled his lips slightly, showing a somewhat disapproving attitude.

Gu Jingnian then realized that he had said something wrong.

Either Wei Xie was very sure that the Great Pharmacist did not take away the snake heart; or he was not a worshiper in the Prime Minister's Mansion; or his relationship with the caged man was not that simple.

He wanted to test the waters again, but Wei Xie was not interested in talking anymore.

"Let's keep Huang Hu locked up first and see how he is doing. I have a banquet in the camp. Let's go and taste the deer I hunted."

Then, Wei Xie stopped asking about Kui Xin and just talked about the results of his hunting today with a smile.

This attitude inevitably made Gu Jingnian somewhat confused, and a shadow gradually shrouded his heart.

He guessed that Wei Yu had probably reached some kind of consensus with the Great Pharmacist. Just imagine, if there was no help from Wei Yu, how could the Great Pharmacist have faked his death and escaped?
(End of this chapter)