After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 13

No osmanthus hair oil. No rose dew.

Most importantly, Shang Rongyue knew where they were, but the bandit sitting opposite her was leisurely holding a teacup and clearly had no intention of helping her fetch them.

And with her foot in its current state, she obviously could not walk back to that little courtyard and then come back again.

Shang Rongyue felt a little sad. Especially in spring, her skin was thin and very sensitive. After bathing, it easily became dry and itchy. In just this short while, a layer of redness had already appeared.

Seeing the young girl keep rubbing her face with her sleeve, looking very uncomfortable, Gu Wan stopped teasing her.

“When I went to your room just now, I saw this, so I brought it along.”

Ah! It was pearl cream!

Shang Rongyue was very happy. She quickly took the bottle, poured a little into her palm, and slowly smoothed it over her cheeks.

Just now, Gu Wan had gone there to check the traces at the scene. The almond powder had not been used up, and half of it was still left in the bag. The almond pudding in the pot had been scraped clean, with only a little residue remaining.

Beside it, the apricot preserves soaked in the jar, as well as the honey and osmanthus, were placed there. There were no signs that anyone had touched them.

Gu Wan gathered these things and had someone move them to her own courtyard. After testing them with a silver needle, she discovered that the problem lay in the almond powder.

The almond pudding in the pot was the same as the bowl brought to her. When a silver needle was dipped into it, it would turn black. But the almond powder was very strange. Some parts were poisonous, while some parts were not.

Moreover, most of the poison was concentrated in the middle. On the contrary, the degree to which the silver needle changed color was much weaker in the upper and lower portions.

It was likely precisely because this Li Yueyue had used the upper half of the almond powder that Gu Wan had been given the chance to retrieve the begonia.

If it had been the most poisonous middle section… Gu Wan did not dare think too deeply about it.

In that case, Li Yueyue’s suspicion could most likely be cleared.

First, if she really had poisoned them, there would have been no need for her to climb the cliff to save people herself. She gained no advantage, and one careless move could have cost her life. Even now, when her luck was good, she had still been injured.

Second, just as she herself had said, no matter how foolish someone was, they would not poison others in a way that was practically an open confession. Even if she wanted to silence someone, she should have used the most toxic part, preferably something that would kill as soon as it was eaten.

Moreover, poisoning Su Zhaoyun and Ziying was far less practical than directly targeting Gu Wan. Then there was even less reason to feed the poisoned item to two unrelated people beforehand. Was that not simply waiting for the two of them to suffer poisoning so Gu Wan could arrest her?

Every step of the preparation had been completed under Ziying’s eyes. Ziying had always been meticulous; if something had been wrong, she definitely would have noticed.

Then there was only one answer: the problem came from someone else in the camp.

And it was someone who had touched the raw ingredients before Li Yueyue and Ziying did.

Then what was that person’s goal?

In this camp, very few people knew of Shang Rongyue’s existence. As for those apricots, they had been purchased in Gu Wan’s name.

In other words, perhaps the other party’s true target was herself?

Opposite her, Shang Rongyue saw that Gu Wan’s face had remained dark the whole time, and she had no idea what the other woman was thinking. She waved her hand in front of Gu Wan’s eyes.

“Chief, are you listening to me?”

“Mm? What?” Gu Wan barely came back to herself.

“I was asking you.” Shang Rongyue sighed, faint sorrow lingering between her brows. “I was asking how Miss Su and Miss Ziying are. I’m very worried about them.”

“They already spat out some poisoned blood earlier. I imagine they’ll recover soon,” Gu Wan said, then added, “I’ve already had your place cleaned up. You can go back and rest there tonight.”

Just as she finished speaking, Lanxi knocked on the door and reported that Su Zhaoyun and Ziying had woken up.

When Shang Rongyue arrived at the room where Su Zhaoyun and the others were, what entered her eyes was the purple-black blood the two of them had spat into a copper basin.

On the bed, both of them had deathly pale faces. Fortunately, their eyes were already open, and they could barely sit up while leaning against soft cushions.

Seeing the three of them come in, and seeing Shang Rongyue limping on one foot, Su Zhaoyun felt dazed and asked, “What happened to me just now?”

Lanxi rushed to answer first. “You and Ziying were poisoned. Luckily, the chief went to retrieve the begonia, and only then was your poison cured.”

Wasn’t the begonia on the cliff?

After hearing this, Su Zhaoyun and Ziying quickly sat up straight and thanked Gu Wan.

“Thank you, Chief, for risking your life to save us.”

Gu Wan stopped the two of them. Instead, she pushed Shang Rongyue forward and said directly, “I wouldn’t dare steal the credit. It was Li Yueyue who climbed the cliff to pick the begonia. If you want to thank someone, thank her. She was injured because of it too, and her wound was only just treated.”

Hearing this, Su Zhaoyun and Ziying hurriedly thanked Shang Rongyue one after another.

Only then did Lanxi react. No wonder the Young General had been cold and stern when she left, yet after returning, she had carried this woman back, brought her to her own bedroom, and even let her use her own bathing room.

But thinking about it another way, if Li Yueyue was the poisoner, there would indeed be no need for her to risk herself climbing a cliff.

With that thought, Lanxi stepped forward and cupped her fists toward Shang Rongyue.

“Miss Li, I offended you earlier. I apologize to you here.”

Seeing this, Shang Rongyue quickly waved her hand. She could understand Lanxi’s feelings. If her own best friend had been poisoned because of something someone else made, her reaction would not have been better than Lanxi’s. In fact, she might have gone even further.

Seeing that they were fine, Shang Rongyue finally let out a breath of relief, and her expression softened a little as well.

Since it was already getting late, Gu Wan had Lanxi send Shang Rongyue back first. Ziying slowly recovered some strength and also took her leave.

Gu Wan sat by the bed and stared at Su Zhaoyun beside her. After a long while, she said, “As a military doctor, you can actually fall for such a thing. All these years of studying medicine were wasted.”

Su Zhaoyun’s cracked lips curved into a weak smile. “On your territory, I naturally lowered my guard.”

She still had the mood to mock her. It seemed the poison truly had been cured.

Considering that the other woman was weak, Gu Wan did not argue with her. She asked seriously, “How is it? Do you know what it was?”

Su Zhaoyun shook her head.

That made sense. If she had been prepared in advance, how could she have ended up in such a state?

Gu Wan comforted her, “It’s fine. I’ve already brought all the things back and stored them properly. Once you recover some energy, you can inspect them tomorrow.”

Su Zhaoyun nodded, then suddenly asked without context, “You don’t suspect her anymore?”

Clearly, those words were aimed at Li Yueyue. If she had not lowered most of her guard, how could Gu Wan have pushed that girl out just now? If there were still doubts in her heart, Gu Wan would not have touched the other party even slightly.

Gu Wan did not answer. Instead, she pressed Su Zhaoyun back down and forcefully covered her with the quilt.

“You should rest properly!”

When Lanxi returned to report, Gu Wan was sitting in front of her desk. The candle on the table was about to burn out completely. And she was staring at the book scroll in her hand, but her eyes were fixed blankly ahead—in short, her gaze had not landed on the paper at all.

Lanxi walked forward, replaced the candle for Gu Wan, and extinguished the short remaining stub from before. Seeing that the other woman still did not react, she waved in front of Gu Wan’s eyes and called, “Young General.”

“?”

“Your book is upside down.”

“…”

Gu Wan pretended to calmly turn the book around. She curled her hand into a fist and coughed lightly, as if the person who had just been reading a “heavenly book” had not been her.

“Was she sent back?”

“Yes.” Lanxi cupped her fists. “Don’t worry. I waited until I heard her lock the door before leaving.”

“Mm.” Gu Wan asked again, “Last time, when I told you to tell the kitchen to buy some apricots, did you say I wanted them?”

“Yes. According to your instructions, I said your appetite had been poor recently and that you wanted to eat some sour apricots, so I asked the people going down the mountain for supplies to bring back a basket.”

After Lanxi finished speaking, she suddenly reacted.

“Young General means the problem came from our own people?”

Gu Wan told Lanxi what she had discovered. Combined with the analysis, the problem was obvious.

After hearing this, Lanxi slammed her fist onto the desk and said angrily, “Those people must have eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall! They actually dared to make a move against you!”

Gu Wan watched her desk sway three times beneath Lanxi’s fist, then ordered in a low voice, “Make me a new desk tomorrow. The cost will be deducted from your monthly pay.”

Lanxi: “…”

For some reason, ever since the Young General had started pretending to be a bandit, she had become increasingly stingy. At every turn, she targeted Lanxi’s monthly silver. Last time, because Lanxi failed to hold Wang Wu down, she was fined five taels. Then because the two coachmen escaped and, by the time she chased them to their homes, the houses were already empty, she was fined ten taels.

Most excessive of all was the time Lanxi kept watch at Li Yueyue’s door. Because she failed to stop the girl, the Young General ended up hiding in the narrow gap between the bamboo fence and the wall. The fence scratched and tore the hem of her robe, and she had forced Lanxi to mend it. Afterward, she even made Lanxi compensate her for a whole outfit at the original price.

Ever since Miss Li appeared, Lanxi seemed to have endless debts. Not only could she no longer receive her monthly pay, she might even have to pay extra.

“Young General, you’re really becoming more and more like a bandit,” Lanxi commented honestly.

However, Gu Wan, for once, did not argue with her. Instead, she said, “Answer one question for me. If you answer well, you won’t have to pay for this silver. How about that?”

Lanxi hurriedly nodded.

But opposite her, Gu Wan, who was usually so eloquent, became hesitant. She opened her mouth several times but still could not get to the point.

Lanxi looked at her with some suspicion. “Young General wants to ask about Miss Li?”

Gu Wan coughed. “I was only thinking. Actually, there are many ways to prove that the poison was not administered by her. After all, everything she did was under Ziying’s eyes. Ziying is her best witness.”

“So…”

“So why did she insist on…” personally taking that trip to the cliff?

At the time, Gu Wan had seen Shang Rongyue’s fear, as well as the despair and helplessness after she nearly fell and exhausted all her strength. Gu Wan did not think that was an act.

Even if it were acting, no one could act that vividly.

So why exactly was she able to disregard even her own life?

After listening, Lanxi immediately became interested.

“Young General may not know, but this lowly one was thinking about this problem the whole way back. This Miss Li is truly strange. She insists on staying in our ‘bandit den,’ and even for a groundless accusation and unrelated bandits, she put herself in such a dangerous situation and injured herself. It really isn’t worth it. She has no silver and might not even receive any good in return. There’s no benefit at all. This lowly one thought it over and over and finally, just before entering the room, suddenly figured it out.”

Lanxi covered the side of her lips with her hand and deliberately lowered her voice mysteriously.

“In this lowly one’s opinion, she must be after someone!”

After someone?

This answer was rather interesting. Gu Wan listened with great interest as Lanxi continued.

“But speaking of it, there are very few people she knows here. Last time, she even found a way to punish Young Master Gu, so the person she is thinking of must be among you, Miss Su, Miss Ziying, and me.”

After? Thinking of?

Those striking words inexplicably made Gu Wan recall the hairpin split into two. Half of it was currently hidden beneath the book scroll in front of her. Before Lanxi came in, she had stared at it for a long time. Because the other party suddenly pushed open the door, Gu Wan did not have time to put it away, so she had grabbed a random book to cover it.

People spoke of the late spring cold, but tonight’s evening wind carried some heat.

“What do you mean by ‘after’…”

“Aiya, I mean she likes someone!” Lanxi laughed and scratched her hair. “Well, this lowly one doesn’t have many hobbies. Occasionally, I just like reading some illustrated storybooks. Young General may not know this, but under heaven, it isn’t only men and women. Women and women can also be together.”

Hearing this, Gu Wan raised an eyebrow, as if questioning what kind of storybooks she was reading for them to involve whether something was “possible” or not.

Lanxi saw the meaning in her eyes and quickly changed the topic.

“Aiya, that isn’t the important point. The important point is that, combined with the casual conversation I had with her on the way back just now, this lowly one’s heart suddenly became clear.”

“Only for someone one adores would a person stay behind for her, care about her safety, feel shy in front of her, hope that what she sees is always the perfect version of oneself, and, after getting injured, try every possible way to hide it so she won’t see one’s bad condition.”

Behind the desk, under the candlelight, Gu Wan’s cheeks rose with a scorching heat. For some reason, the image of Li Yueyue shyly chasing her away before bathing appeared before her eyes.

Gu Wan lowered her head somewhat awkwardly.

Was that so?

No… no wonder…

Before her thoughts could finish, Gu Wan heard Lanxi, standing opposite her, say confidently:

“She definitely likes Su Zhaoyun!”