Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 115: Continuing to Feign Sickness
After treating Tan Huaike and watching her finish the liquorice-laden decoction, Fu Feng packed up his medicine box and said with interest, "It's really strange. I've never made anyone sicker than they actually are."

Tan Huaike walked out of the warm room with Xu Guanbai in tow. "Did you really poison me... Ahem, did the drug make me sick? Why do I feel like I'm getting healthier and healthier, and I look so refreshed all day long? I have to use makeup to pretend I'm sick and pale."

Fu Feng waved his hand and said, "It's a mild case right now, so I don't need to do anything. Just pretend and no one will get suspicious. When we get back to Andu and invite the famous doctors from the palace to treat you, I'll give you some more information. I'm afraid you'll need acupuncture and moxibustion to make you look like you're seriously ill. This method will be somewhat harmful to your body, so I'll take this opportunity to strengthen your foundation."

"So you're giving me nourishment?"

"They are just some herbs that replenish qi and strengthen the spleen. They don't have any other effects."

"But wasn't I supposed to pretend I wasn't acclimatizing? You said I couldn't eat, I was nauseous and retching, and I had insomnia and headaches. I have a huge appetite every day. The food sent by the County Magistrate's Office is obviously not enough, but I still have to endure hunger and deliberately leave so much. It's really torture."

"How could it be torture? Didn't you ask Miss Guanbai to go out and buy food for you? You've got everything from Hu pancakes, stewed meat cakes, and all the famous snacks from Wuwei County. Rumors are spreading around the palace that Miss Guanbai is a glutton, eating out all day long. It's even scared the prefect Lin, who's come to ask if she's been negligent in any way."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Tan Huaike defended himself guiltily, "Filling my stomach is secondary. I also wanted to taste other delicacies from the four counties and broaden my horizons so I can develop new dishes for Yan Zhisi in the future. For example, the sugar-baked steamed buns from Lantuo Restaurant and Tao Ji's improved lamb tripe wrapped in meat are both good examples. It's just that Guan Bai Niangzi has to cover up for me all the time."

In order to overcome the discomfort caused by the local climate, she could only eat secretly in her tent at night, pretending to be tossing and turning and unable to sleep.

Xu Guanbai smiled gently and said, "It's okay if I take the blame for being a glutton."

While chatting, Tan Huaike suddenly felt someone's gaze falling on him, but when he turned around, he saw only two or three servants cleaning the warm room, and no one special.

She didn't notice that Fu Feng also glanced at a corner.

There was only an ordinary sweeping servant, with his head bowed, clearing the dead leaves in the courtyard. A burn scar was faintly visible under his thin and rough clothes.

Earlier, he heard a sentence outside the warm room -

I am a sacrifice and a living weapon.

At that time, he pulled the corners of his stiff lips in self-mockery, feeling a sense of sympathy.

So why isn't he?

It's just that she is still alive and he is dead.
-
The marriage team did not stay in Wuwei for too long and soon continued on their journey.

The further east they went, the more wary they became. They had little chance to obstruct the marriage. They were likely to take desperate measures before reaching Andu.

However, after a series of failed assassinations, those people should be more restrained and will no longer use such radical means.

Moreover, Zhou Wencong said that they had entered the sphere of influence that the Eastern Palace could control, and no matter how arrogant those people were, they would not dare to openly oppose the Eastern Palace.

As he went deeper into the Central Plains, Tan Huaike's refusal to obey became more and more serious.

Inside Louyang City, they repeated their old tricks, making Tan Huaike appear weak and listless while having Xu Guanbai secretly give her more food. Fu Feng told her that these might be her last few days of leisure, after which he would take drastic measures to make her seriously ill, so that even if she wanted to eat, she wouldn't be able to taste anything.

Thinking of this, Tan Huaike decided to cherish the few comfortable days she had, stroll through the market, and gain more experience in trading in Daxuan. So she stopped staying in her room and pretending to be sick as before, and instead pretended to be coaxed by Xu Guanbai to go out for a walk.

She pretended to be unable to walk, and with Pei'er's support, she went to the cloth shop to choose fashionable fabrics; she pretended to ask which herbs could cure acclimatization, so as to find out more affordable sources of medicinal materials; she pretended to have no interest in those tempting foods, and then under Xu Guanbai's persuasion, she reluctantly tasted a little of each.

After satisfying her cravings, she returned to the inn to rest, but she still asked Xu Guanbai to bring her a portion of the "no-stir soup." When they visited the shop at noon, they saw a long line of diners, and they, impatient to wait, gave up immediately. But in retrospect, she felt a pang of resentment, so the "sick and frail" Tan Huaike could only plead with Xu Guanbai to find a solution.

Xu Guanbai did not disappoint her expectations and finally bought a bowl of soup before the shop closed.

Louyang's "bufan" refers to a small mung bean pancake, one side green and the other pale yellow, that melts in your mouth. The soup can also be topped with tofu, meatballs, boneless meat, and a bowl of long-simmered bone broth, making it incredibly appetizing.

Seeing her carefully examining the pancakes without turning them over, Xu Guanbai smiled and said, "Don't think about it. Try it first. It will get cold if you don't eat it now."

Tan Huaike said, "I just don't understand how it can be made so green on one side and pale yellow on the other. Don't worry, Lady Bai, I'm just pretending to have no appetite. After all, I'm not used to the local climate, so I have to hesitate before eating." Xu Guanbai said helplessly, "It's up to you."

At this time, Fu Feng knocked on the door and said, "It's time to take the pulse of Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Tan Huaike was startled and the pancake on his chopsticks fell to the ground.

She quickly pushed the unstirred soup in front of Xu Guanbai and pressed the chopsticks into her hand. Then she asked cautiously, "Doctor Fufeng, are you alone?"

If that Cai Kecao was there too, she would have to act more like one.

Fu Feng snorted and replied, "Besides me, Da Huang from the inn is also here. This dog is very greedy and must have followed me because he smelled something."

Hearing this, Tan Huaike felt relieved and moved the unstirred soup back in front of him.

Xu Guanbai opened the door, and Dahuang rushed in first. He sniffed around and then went straight to the unturned pancake on the ground. Fufeng came next. He felt Tan Huaike's pulse for a while and said, "Well, he's fattened up enough. We can kill him after this meal."

Tan Huaike: “…”

Fu Feng saw that she was depressed and asked knowingly, "What's wrong? Eat, so I can sharpen my knife after eating..."

Tan Huaike picked up another piece of pancake and suddenly felt that it was not as fragrant as before: "When you say that, I feel like I'm eating the last meal of my execution."

Woo-woo-woo-

The rhubarb that had just finished eating the pancake on the ground suddenly groaned, and then fell down in pain, his limbs twitching constantly, and white bloody saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth.

The three of them were immediately shocked.

Fu Feng was the first to react: "The soup is poisonous, don't eat it!"

He squatted down and pressed Dahuang's abdomen with his palms, trying to make it spit out the cake it had eaten, but it was too late. Dahuang made a "gurgling" wheezing sound from his chest and died soon after.

Someone poisoned...

Tan Huaike hurriedly dropped his chopsticks and turned to look at Xu Guanbai.

Xu Guanbai was in no hurry to defend himself, but instead urged Fu Feng: "Can you find out what kind of poison it is?"

Fu Feng pulled a silver needle from his medicine box and dipped it into the soup. It turned black. He then took out an empty porcelain bottle, placed some soup and the unturned pancake in it, and said, "There's arsenic, a very common poison. Perhaps there's something else mixed in. I need to slowly verify it."

Xu Guanbai said: "It wasn't me."

Tan Huaike nodded. "I know. If you wanted to poison me, you would have had countless opportunities. Why did you do it so crudely? It's probably those who wanted to kill the princess who was to be married off. They've done it again."

Fu Feng stroked Dahuang's head sadly and asked it to close its eyes.

He pondered and said, "It's going to make your condition worse anyway, so why not take advantage of it..."

Under the pretext of poisoning, they made the sick Princess Mohe's condition worse, and then created the illusion that they were doing everything they could to prolong her life. This made the implementation of their original plan more reasonable.

That night, the inn was in a state of panic, and Princess Mo He's life was hanging by a thread.

Next chapter: Come, take Master Zhuo down to rest.