After my father was sent to marry into the princess's household, I became the darling of the en

Shen Jingque followed behind, lifting her skirt, her heart pounding wildly.

What kind of thing is this?

She originally came to help her second brother win over his wife, and also to gain favor with her future sister-in-law.

Little did they know that on their first visit, they would stumble upon an accident scene.

The door to the private room was only slightly ajar, and the two rushed in one after the other.

The room was filled with overturned teaware, with broken porcelain shards scattered everywhere. Tea had soaked half of the carpet, leaving a dark stain.

A woman in a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) stood in front of the counter, her hands still resting on the counter door, as if she had just stuffed something inside.

The woman turned her head at the sound.

It was none other than Fan Suyao.

Shen Jingque glanced at it and her heart skipped a beat.

The face was indeed that of the beautiful woman she had seen at the White Crane Tower that day, but there was a strange sense of incongruity about it.

As soon as Fan Suyao saw Xiao Changqi, she immediately forced a fawning smile.

"Why is Young Master Xiao here?"

Her voice was soft and sweet as she reached out to help Xiao Changqi up. "I accidentally knocked over a teacup just now and was about to call someone up to clean it up. This place is messy, so please don't get your shoes dirty. Why don't you come downstairs with me for some tea?"

Xiao Changqi's expression was unexpectedly cold, his gaze fixed intently on the face of the person in front of him.

Her eyebrows and eyes were seven or eight parts similar, but this fawning and ingratiating expression was clearly not that of the aloof and noble woman he knew.

Whenever that person saw him, they would only glance at him indifferently, never even bothering to exchange a polite word.

"You are not Su Yao."

The room fell silent for a moment.

The next moment, the woman's expression changed, and she grabbed the bronze incense burner from the incense table and smashed it at Xiao Changqi.

Xiao Changqi pulled Shen Jingque behind him and stepped aside.

The bronze incense burner grazed his shoulder and slammed into a pillar, scattering incense ash all over the ground.

Shen Jingque was blocked behind him, her nose filled with the smell of incense and dust, and she almost sneezed on the spot.

She looked up at Xiao Changqi's profile. The man, who usually had a lazy smile, now had a tense jaw and frighteningly deep eyes.

When the woman missed her first strike, she kicked over the incense stand.

The shelf tilted and fell on Xiao Changqi, causing the porcelain vase to fall and shatter on the ground.

Meanwhile, the "fake Fan Suyao" took advantage of this moment to retreat to the back window, propped herself up on the windowsill with one hand, and leaned half her body out.

Oh no, she's going to run away.

In a flash, Shen Jingque remembered that her elder brother had given her the sleeve dart that morning, which was still on her left arm.

"Second brother, move aside."

She raised her left arm, aimed it at the woman's back, turned the mechanism to the left, and then sharply flicked her wrist.

A soft "poof" sound.

The shot missed.

The dart veered off course and landed squarely on the heel of the fake Fan Suyao.

"Aww!"

She lunged at the window frame, her forehead hitting the wooden edge with a thud.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't aim correctly."

Shen Jingque looked terrified and involuntarily apologized.

Holy crap, she managed to shoot even from such a tricky spot.

Despite the pain, the fake Fan Suyao stubbornly tried to climb out the window.

Shen Jingque frantically tried to turn the mechanism and flick her wrist, but the arrow went wildly astray and pierced the palm of the other person's hand, which was bracing against the windowsill.

The woman screamed, her hand went limp, and she slid down from the window frame, kneeling on the ground.

Shen Jingque opened her mouth wide, "Ouch!"

"It really wasn't on purpose, I haven't learned how to use the new hidden weapon yet!"

At this moment, Xiao Changqi also climbed out from under the shelf, stepped on the broken porcelain on the ground, rushed forward, and held the woman down.

The waiter downstairs also heard the commotion and rushed upstairs in a panic, only to be dumbfounded with his mouth agape.

Amidst the chaos, Xiao Changqi was pressing down on their shopkeeper, questioning him fiercely.

"Who are you? Where is Su Yao?!"

The lead waiter, realizing what was happening, stamped his feet in frustration but dared not approach: "Young Master Xiao, what are you trying to do to our manager?"

Without turning his head, Xiao Changqi shouted, "Idiots, this is fake! What are you standing there for? Hold them down!"

The burly men then seemed to wake from a dream and rushed forward.

The woman struggled fiercely, and it took the combined efforts of the three men to pin her to the ground.

Xiao Changqi didn't have time to ask her any more questions. He turned around and bent down to pull the cabinet door that had just been closed.

The cabinet door creaked open.

A huge, bulging sack lay at the bottom of the cabinet, clearly shaped like a curled-up human figure.

Xiao Changqi's pupils constricted sharply, and his heart pounded violently.

With trembling hands, he tried to untie the sack, but he couldn't manage it.

Shen Jingque pressed down on his shoulder, "Second brother, let me do it."

This was the first time she had ever seen such a scene, and her heart was pounding with anxiety, fearing the worst possible outcome.

The bag was finally opened.

Fan Suyao's hair was disheveled and hung down to the side of her face, her clothes were askew, her eyes were closed, and her face was pale and bloodless.

Xiao Changqi's lips trembled as he carefully pulled the person from the sack into his arms.

"Suyao, Suyao..."

His voice choked with emotion, "I've come."

……

Fan Suyao was placed on a soft couch in the inner room on the second floor.

The waiter brought hot water, and someone else brought a clean cloak to cover her disheveled clothes.

Shen Jingque sat on the edge of the couch, first checking Fan Suyao's breathing, then opening her eyelids to take a look.

Fortunately, his life is not in danger.

But now, he looks just like someone who's been drugged in a novel.

"Second brother, it should be... a common sleeping drug. You'll wake up after a nap and it won't cause any serious harm."

She took out a universal antidote pill from her sleeve, pried open Fan Suyao's jaw, and stuffed it in.

This medicine is an antidote, and I don't know if it will work against the sleeping pills, but I'll try it as a last resort.

After settling Fan Suyao in, Xiao Changqi turned around with a murderous look on his face and reached out to grab the woman's chin.

"Speak, who sent you, and what is your purpose?"

The woman suddenly let out a sinister laugh.

"I'm just unlucky to have fallen into your hands today."

"But dream on getting even a single word out of me."

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly struggled with a burst of strength, almost knocking over the two men who were holding her down.

Shen Jingque reacted quickly, pinching her chin and stuffing a pill into her mouth.

It was quite a coincidence that a few days ago, while researching prescriptions, she casually made a few "One-Stop Laxative Pills".

The medicine lives up to its name; it can make people unable to straighten their backs while defecating in the outhouse.

It was originally intended for Wang Jichuan to "enjoy" when they went to the academy.

She casually tucked it into her sleeve before leaving home today, never expecting it to come in handy here.

"Fine, you won't tell, huh?"

She clapped her hands with a smile, "Then just wait for your intestines to burst open."

The woman was stunned for a moment when she choked on the meatball, and then large beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Her stomach was churning violently, and the intense cramps made her tremble uncontrollably.

Shen Jingque knelt in front of her, resting her chin on her hand, her expression tinged with innocent cruelty.

"What I just fed you was Physician Ji's unique 'Fu-Transforming Pill'."

"Without the antidote, your internal organs will turn into pus inch by inch, and you'll have to pull them out yourself."

The woman's face turned from pale to white, and the abdominal pain intensified with each wave, causing her to tremble as she spoke.

"You...how can you be so vicious at such a young age?"

"Vicious?"

Shen Jingque tilted her head, her smile growing even sweeter. "When you stuffed my Sister Fan into a sack, didn't you feel as vicious as you thought?"

The woman was curled up on the ground, clutching her stomach. Cold sweat soaked her hair, and she looked like she was about to collapse.

Just then, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Xuan Qi slipped inside.

Shen Jingque spoke in surprise.

"Brother Xuanqi, what brings you here?"