If you were cold and aloof in your past life, why are you crying in this one?

The horse-drawn carriage slowly made its way through the bustling city.

Lingxian instructed, "Go to Liuchun Hall."

"Is the young lady feeling unwell?"

"No," Lingxian said firmly, "I need to buy some things."

Peach Branch looked puzzled.

Lingxian watched the people coming and going on the streets and alleys without saying a word.

The Wang family of Langya was the pinnacle of aristocratic families. At the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Wang family, everyone from the empress, the crown prince, and the princess to the Wang family's former students and officials would attend. On that day in my previous life, many interesting things happened.

Since she had foreseen this, how could she not cheer her on?

Liu Chun Tang

Just as Madam Lu finished administering acupuncture to an old man and hadn't even had a sip of water, her young apprentice came to report that a magnificent carriage with a canopy was parked in front of the clinic, followed by several armored guards with swords. The people inside looked like they were no ordinary people.

Lu Niangzi's brow twitched, and she hurriedly tidied herself up and came out to greet them without delay.

The carriage door opened, and a graceful young woman, supported by her maid, descended the steps. Although she wore a veil, obscuring her face, the elegant fragrance wafting from her captivated the nearby residents.

The nobleman entered the clinic without a word. Before Madam Lu could speak, the person inside lifted half of the gauze curtain, his smiling eyes seemingly filled with stars. "Madam Lu, we meet again."

Lu Niangzi has always had a good memory. After a moment of surprise, she recognized the girl in front of her as Miss Xi, whom she had met briefly in the private room of Zuixianlou last time.

The Xi family's achievements are well-known, and no one dares to mess with the eldest daughter of the Xi family.

Madam Lu respectfully asked, "I didn't know Miss Xi had the honor of visiting our shop. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to ask Madam Lu to check my pulse for safety."

Without much thought, Madam Lu ordered someone to bring her medicine box and began to take pulses.

After an incense stick had burned, "the young lady was in good health, with abundant blood and energy. Her previous cold had also been greatly cured, and she had no other illnesses."

Xi Lingxian believed her to some extent and then asked, "Does your clinic have any medicine to clear heat, reduce internal fire, and detoxify?"

Madam Lu understood, "Yes, but it needs to be prepared separately."

"I would also like to ask, what kind of medicine can make a person irritable, suspicious, and anxious?"

There are too many secrets of aristocratic families. Having seen a lot in Jiankang City over the years, Madam Lu said calmly, "There are many things with such medicinal effects, but if you want to do it quietly without anyone noticing, nothing beats the combination of bewitching powder and dream-inducing incense. This is the thing that those who claim to have the heart of a bodhisattva but want to get rid of their biggest threat like to use."

Xi Lingxian became interested and increasingly felt that this Lady Lu was a wonderful person.

Why is that?

"Taking the mind-altering powder and the dream-inducing fragrance separately and in small amounts is a good medicine for insomnia and nightmares; however, if the two are combined, it will cause restlessness, drowsiness and irritability. Long-term invasion of the body will damage the heart meridian. The effect of this medicine is subtle and extremely difficult to detect. By the time it is discovered, it is already too late."

It seems like everything matches up.

Could these be the two things that Yu used to kill her in her previous life?

Are these two items common and readily available?

"Bewitching powder is common, but Dream Fragrance... that's a rare medicine from the Southern Frontier, extremely expensive, and absolutely unaffordable for ordinary people. We never consider it when stocking medicinal herbs in our shop; in the capital, I imagine only Ji'an Hall has it."

"Ji'an Hall?"

Xi Lingxian murmured.

Lu Niangzi said calmly, "Liuchuntang's reputation is something we, my fellow disciples, have worked hard to build with our own medical skills. We have won the hearts of the people. But Ji'antang has a powerful backer. They are always generous when it comes to buying medicinal herbs. They don't care about any rare or precious herbs there."

Xi Lingxian propped her head up with her hand, a half-smile on her face. "I've heard that Xun Dong, the apparent manager of Ji'an Hall, is Madam Lu's junior brother?"

Lu Niangzi's calm expression suddenly cracked, revealing a hint of gritted teeth and hatred beneath her gentle demeanor.

"Let's not mention that unrighteous traitor who betrayed his sect."

Xi Lingxian stopped there and didn't say anything more, only asking Madam Lu to prepare two bottles of calming and detoxifying pills for her.

Lu Niangzi went into the pharmacy inside to prepare the medicine, leaving her young apprentice Yunying to entertain the guests.

Yunying was a little girl of about twelve years old with her hair in two buns and innocent eyes.

After being caught stealing glances at Xi Lingxian for the third time, the young girl knelt down in fear and trembling: "My lady, please forgive me."

Xi Lingxian found this girl quite interesting. "I'm not a monster, get up."

"I'm asking you, why do you keep looking at me?"

Yunying's cheeks flushed. "The girl is so beautiful, even more beautiful than the fairies in the paintings, I... I can't resist."

The country is easy to change and the nature is difficult to change.

Before and after her rebirth, Xi Lingxian's favorite thing was hearing others praise her beauty.

He beckoned Yunying to his side, took out a lotus-shaped pastry from his purse, and handed it to her.

"Is it hard being an apprentice under Madam Lu?"

"Fortunately, I'm just helping out Sister Lu now."

Do apprentices get paid?

"Yes, I can earn five hundred yuan a month."

Miss Xi, who could spend over a hundred taels of silver on a single bracelet, was shocked.

Xi Lingxian noticed the shelf behind the counter displaying bottles and jars and asked curiously, "What are those?"

"Pills, all kinds of pills, are prepared in advance by the owners, and customers can buy and take them as needed."

Not wanting to frighten the young girl, Xi Lingxian tried to be tactful: "Are there any medicines that don't cure people?"

Yun Ying blinked. "Poison?"

"..."

Without hesitation, Yun Ying replied, "Of course there are, many! Our second boss is a master of poison preparation. The only advantage of Ji'an Hall is their superior medicinal materials. In terms of true skill, they are definitely no match for our second boss."

Xi Lingxian tried to appear worldly-wise, resting her chin on her hand and sincerely asking, "If I buy more, can I charge you more for it?"

Yunying was surprised, delighted, and embarrassed. She said, "Miss, you don't need to be so polite. I... I have enough for five hundred coins."

"Is it really enough?" she asked gently.

That is certainly not enough.

"Can you recommend some to me? There are a lot of mosquitoes in the summer, let me see if there's anything I can use?" Xi Lingxian said, looking like she didn't really want to buy poison, but wanted to get more money from you, so she was willing to just take a look.

Yunying looked at her as if she were looking at a moving mountain of gold.

He stuffed the remaining lotus-shaped pastries into his mouth, ran to the counter, chatted with the accountant for a few minutes, and then brought over more than a dozen small porcelain bottles.

"This can cause unbearable itching all over the body. If there is no antidote, he can scratch himself until there is not a single patch of healthy skin left."

Xi Lingxian narrowed her eyes slightly.

"This can cause severe abdominal pain. The second boss said that even a hero can't withstand three bouts of diarrhea. Although this trick is harmful, the chances of success are extremely high."

Xi Lingxian pursed her lips.

"And this one, it can make people fall into a deep sleep, their breath almost disappearing, like a dead person, but they will recover completely after half an hour."

Yunying wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that every time she spoke, Miss Xi's eyes would light up a notch.

"They all sound interesting; I want one of each."

Yun Ying's eyes lit up. "Do I want everything?"

Suddenly, the girl blushed and took one of the bottles away. "This, Miss, you probably don't need."

"What is it?"

Yun Ying found it a little difficult to say, "The second master has some kind of evil spirit about him, and he has concocted a kind of medicine that can make men and women do *that* just by smelling it."

"..."

After returning from Liuchuntang with her purchases, Xi Lingxian went to several other pharmacies in the city and specifically requested that the most famous doctors in each shop take her pulse.

The results were all the same.

She is currently in good health and shows no signs of poisoning.

In other words, at this point, Madam Yu had not yet instructed Granny Zhou to begin administering the drug to her.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. In their past lives, the Yu family crippled one of their eldest sons and ruined the other's character, but they didn't dare to actually cause any deaths.

Compared to her older and younger brothers, she was just a girl who would be married off sooner or later. Even if she received more of her father's favor, what threat could she pose to him?

Then why did Madam Yu suddenly turn against her and want to kill her? And when did she do it?