After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 6

A lone lamp cast a tall, straight figure onto the window paper.

After examining Wang Wu’s corpse, Su Zhaoyun made a new discovery.

“General, please look.”

She pierced the area behind Wang Wu’s ear with a silver needle and held it up toward the firelight. At the very tip of the silver needle, there was a faint trace of pale blue.

Su Zhaoyun explained, “After this poison is taken, if water runs across the skin, it will leave a dark mark behind. The mark will only appear after the antidote is taken, but it only remains for the time it takes to burn one stick of incense before fading away. It’s the same as the poison Miss Li was struck with last time. Both are methods used by Sangxie in the early years.”

Sangxie?

Like Gaoji, Sangxie was a country bordering Great Zhou’s territory, located close to Southern Xinjiang. The people of Sangxie were best at making poison. Back then, in order to invade Southern Xinjiang, they had scattered medicinal powder into the water sources, causing disease to sweep across all of Southern Xinjiang. There had even been signs that it would spread toward Shengjing.

For a time, the people of Southern Xinjiang were thrown into panic, and the place became a living hell.

Gu Wan’s father had led a team alone to Southern Xinjiang. The dozen or so physicians in that team lived up to expectations and brought the epidemic under control.

Later, with the assistance of the King of Southern Xinjiang, Old General Gu pressed the advantage and took down the enemy in one stroke. From then on, Sangxie became a vassal state of Great Zhou and had to pay tribute to Great Zhou every year.

However, during the final battle, Old General Gu fell into an enemy ambush. When his soul returned to his homeland, all that remained was a bloodstained suit of armor.

After receiving news that her husband had died in battle, Gu Wan’s mother fell ill and could not recover. Finally, in the winter of the following year, she passed away.

Gu Wan remembered it very clearly. At seven years old, she had knelt alone before her parents’ graves. The cold wind lifted her cloak, while the fierce wind carried snowflakes with it. Tiny grains of ice scraped across her skin, hurting like cuts from a knife.

She did not grieve for her mother, because she knew that her mother could finally see the father she had longed for day and night. But she hated. She hated Sangxie for shattering the small, happy family she had once had.

She would never again be able to see her father practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard while her mother stood quietly to the side, embroidering pouches for him and for her.

After returning, she took the initiative to knock on the door of the main study and begged her grandfather to take her into the military camp.

Everyone said women were naturally weak, but Gu Wan never presented herself with the appearance of a woman. She had no gold hairpins or silver ornaments, and no fine silks or satins. A strip of black cloth tied up her dark hair, and years of armor and battle robes meant that aside from the Gu family, almost no one knew that the young general with such heroic bearing was actually a young woman.

But Gu Wan never lost to any man.

Her male cousins from the other branches of the family all became defeated opponents beneath her hand, and she became the youngest general in Great Zhou.

When Su Zhaoyun mentioned Sangxie, she had undoubtedly touched the thorn buried deep in Gu Wan’s heart, that untouchable reverse scale.

“But right now, we still can’t confirm that he was from Sangxie,” Su Zhaoyun added. “Ever since Sangxie changed rulers, they’ve had many private dealings with Gaoji. On the surface, these are merely silk goods, but whether anything is hidden inside them is difficult to guarantee.”

Gu Wan gave a low “Mm.”

Su Zhaoyun knew that Gu Wan must have remembered those unpleasant memories. After comforting her a little, she led her away from the room where the corpse was being kept and toward the back mountain to clear her mind.

But just as they stepped outside, they heard a crisp pa.

It was the sound of a golden ornament falling to the ground.

Su Zhaoyun saw a golden hairpin fall from Gu Wan’s body. There was also a diancui butterfly on it. She immediately recognized the rightful owner of the hairpin.

Su Zhaoyun said, “It seems you’ve already gone to see Miss Li. How was it? Did you discover anything?”

Gu Wan opened her palm and handed the golden hairpin in her hand to Su Zhaoyun.

“Do you remember? When I asked for her name and family background, she said her mother was a country woman, and that was why her father deliberately hid her identity.”

But the half golden hairpin in Gu Wan’s hand, whether in material, design, craftsmanship, or the lifelike butterfly on it, all revealed a considerable price. How could a country woman have left her daughter such a luxurious item?

Also, when Gu Wan had treated her wound last time, she had already noticed that the girl wore a dragon-and-phoenix bracelet on each wrist. She had even deliberately pushed the bracelets up her arms. Unless one were especially close to her, outsiders would have found it very difficult to discover the existence of that pair of bracelets.

It seemed that pair of bracelets was indeed hiding something.

Su Zhaoyun immediately understood and said, “The poison Miss Li was struck with last time also came from Sangxie, but from the look of it, she herself doesn’t know.”

Sangxie’s poisons had one characteristic. When the wound healed after poisoning, it would itch unbearably. Once scratched open, it would leave a purple scar that could not fade. The last time Su Zhaoyun went to deliver medicine to that Li Yueyue, she happened to catch sight of the marks on her skin. She probably did not know the poison’s characteristics. Otherwise, if she really were some so-called hidden agent, how could she so easily leave a mark on her body?

Gu Wan pondered for a moment, then asked her, “Has she ever mentioned me to you?”

Su Zhaoyun shook her head. “Not really. But I heard that she asked Ziying for your name. Ziying didn’t answer, and she didn’t keep asking. She looked as though she didn’t care very much.”

Oh? That was interesting.

She asked others for Gu Wan’s name, yet when she saw Gu Wan herself, she never mentioned it at all. Gu Wan grew a little more interested in this “runaway bride” Li Yueyue.

At present, it seemed the dead man was likely the traitor Gu Wan had been looking for. Then what role did this Li Yueyue play? After all, they did not look like they were on the same side. If Gu Wan had not appeared at the time, that poison-coated hidden weapon was probably aimed at Li Yueyue.

Furthermore, the people sent to investigate the Li family’s cloth shop had also reported back. That day, in the capital, the Li family was indeed the only household holding a wedding. As for this dead “servant,” no trace of him could be found.

So that day, when Li Yueyue had been so terrified and desperate to escape the servant’s grasp, was it really as she said, because she was unwilling to marry a villain? Or was there something deeper behind it?

If Li Yueyue truly was not as simple as she appeared, then she was only a pawn at the very bottom. The force behind her was the existence truly most worthy of attention.

By the time Gu Wan and the others reached the back mountain, there was a lake at the end of the bushes. It was already late spring. The lake water was quiet and still, while flowers bloomed along the shore, forming a scene full of poetic beauty. Gu Wan took a few deep breaths, as if her tense nerves were eased considerably by the green mountains and clear waters.

After a long while, she suddenly said something without beginning or end.

“The weather has been good lately. She’s been shut inside the room for so long, so it’s inevitable she feels bored. Take her here for a walk tomorrow.”

“?”

Gu Wan’s arrangement left Su Zhaoyun confused. Just now, she had been suspecting that girl of all sorts of things. Now she had suddenly brought this up. Wasn’t this change far too fast?

Gu Wan ignored the confusion on Su Zhaoyun’s face and continued, “Remember, have her travel light. Especially that pair of dragon-and-phoenix bracelets. Don’t let her wear them.”

The next day, just as Gu Wan had arranged, after breakfast, Su Zhaoyun took Shang Rongyue toward the back mountain. Ziying also followed beside them.

The three young women chatted and laughed, seeming extremely happy.

On this side, Lanxi seized the right moment, exchanged a glance with Gu Wan, and the two of them left the courtyard one after the other, arriving at the entrance of the small courtyard where Shang Rongyue lived.

Outside the bamboo fence, Lanxi stood guard, while Gu Wan took the opportunity to go in and examine the pair of dragon-and-phoenix bracelets.

The items were hidden very well, stuffed into the crack between the bed and the wall. If one did not search carefully, they would not be seen at all.

It seemed these dragon-and-phoenix bracelets truly held a secret. Otherwise, why would she go to such lengths?

There were also several other pieces of jewelry, all stored there together. Gu Wan had just taken them out and begun examining them when she heard Lanxi outside deliberately raise her voice.

“Miss Li, you’re back so soon! I came to look for Doctor Su. A few days ago, I accidentally bumped my arm, so I came to ask Doctor Su for a plaster.”

It had just rained last night, and the ground still carried dampness. Shang Rongyue had accidentally stepped right into a muddy pit, so she planned to return and change into a different pair of shoes and socks.

Lanxi’s intense reaction immediately caught Shang Rongyue’s attention. A perfectly fine person was standing at her door, looking like she was keeping watch!

Could someone be inside? What were they doing inside? Stealing her “travel funds”? She knew it. Why were these bandits so kind today, saying they would take her out to relax? Clearly, they were after her money.

But at this moment, her money was her life!

Shang Rongyue panicked and instinctively wanted to rush inside. Seeing this, Lanxi hurriedly blocked her.

She had no idea how the young general was doing inside. If Shang Rongyue barged in and caught her red-handed, how were they supposed to explain? Would that not alert the enemy?

“Miss Li, wait!” Lanxi’s mind spun rapidly. “Um, I just happened to get a new pair of black boots. They’re the most convenient for climbing the mountain. If Miss Li doesn’t mind, you can wear mine.”

Look, sure enough, they were hiding something from her!

Not to mention that Shang Rongyue was anxious to go inside and check on her little treasury, how could she dare casually take someone else’s new things for free? What if this person was like the one yesterday and later came to settle accounts with her? She did not have much money left to compensate with.

These bandits still had some bottom line for now. Among the dowry, they had sent her all her clothes, so at least she had clothes to change into.

“No need. I have some in my room.”

After saying this, she pushed open the door.

With a creak, Lanxi’s heart had already leapt into her throat. She opened her eyes and looked. The room was clean and tidy, without a single figure inside.

From the look of it, she had hidden.

Only then did Lanxi’s suspended heart finally fall back into place.

Just as Shang Rongyue stepped over the threshold, Lanxi stepped forward again to stop her.

“Miss Li, it isn’t convenient for you. Just sit and wait. I’ll get them for you.”

“But didn’t you just say your arm was uncomfortable? I can do it myself.” Shang Rongyue looked around the room and did not see anyone. Before she left, she had deliberately folded up a corner of the bedding beside the bed. The mark she had left was still there now.

“It’s fine!” Lanxi blocked her once again. “If I exercise a little, maybe I won’t need a plaster anymore.”

Lanxi had watched Gu Wan enter earlier. This room was only so large, and there were not many places to hide. The wardrobe counted as one.

What if Gu Wan happened to be hiding inside the wardrobe? How would they explain then?

Lanxi kept signaling desperately at Ziying with her eyes. Although Ziying did not know Gu Wan’s plan, she had long known that the General suspected this Miss Li, which was why she had been ordered to follow her without leaving her side. Now that Lanxi was behaving so strangely, there had to be a major reason.

“Miss Li’s shoes and socks are at the bottom of the wardrobe,” Ziying chimed in to help.

Shang Rongyue could tell that the two of them were clearly on the same side, but right now, she was obviously unable to move freely. She could only sit by the bed first, her eyes fixed tightly on the wardrobe.

Lanxi came to the wardrobe door and slightly turned sideways, trying to use her body to block Shang Rongyue’s view. Her fingertip hooked the cabinet door and quietly pried it open a crack. Only after confirming that Gu Wan was not inside did she finally breathe a sigh of relief and open the wardrobe.

Shang Rongyue looked up. Aside from neatly folded clothes, there was nothing else inside the wardrobe.

Using the motion of removing her shoes and socks, she glanced again at the crack beside the bed.

The things were still there.

Perhaps she had overthought it. Shang Rongyue comforted herself.

Lanxi turned around. When she lifted her head, she saw a burst of birdsong outside the window. Only then did Lanxi notice that the window at the side had been pushed open and was still half-closed.

The General must have climbed out through the window. That was a good method. Lanxi’s suspended heart finally settled. As she handed Shang Rongyue the clean shoes and socks, she casually closed the window for her as though nothing had happened.

This small house was not large. It was built at the innermost side of the courtyard, and outside the room’s window was the bamboo fence. This time, Gu Wan could truly be said to be surviving in the cracks.

In all her years, she had climbed high mountains and crossed rivers. She had also slept on the ground during marches like the soldiers. But this was her first time encountering such a narrow and cramped situation.

After all, secretly sneaking into someone’s boudoir was not exactly an honorable thing—though, technically, this boudoir was on her territory.

She was squeezed between two walls, unable to move forward or retreat. She could only stay stuck there and wait until everyone in the room had left before climbing back in through the window to leave.

Just as she was planning this out, she heard the conversation inside the room. It was that Li Yueyue who took the initiative to mention her.

“Miss Lan, does your chief usually have any preferences?” Shang Rongyue asked without any prelude.

Compared with the unknown environment outside, this place was still fairly safe for now. At the very least, her cheap elder brother and the others could not get in.

Moreover, although this bandit leader had asked her for money, she had always protected Shang Rongyue very well. During the few days she had lived here, no unrelated people had come to disturb her at all.

If she could continue staying here in peace, that would naturally be the best.

And making one person help another person for no reason was a matter of luck. Some people were naturally willing to help others, while some kept themselves aloof from anything that had nothing to do with them.

Of course, there was also another kind, called “taking advantage of someone’s misfortune.” Clearly, this bandit leader did not belong to the first two types.

Then the best method was to cater to her preferences.

If she could provide the bandit leader with certain benefits in some areas, making it mutually beneficial and a win-win situation for both sides, that would be the best possible outcome.

“Does she usually have anything she especially likes doing, or something she has always wanted to do but hasn’t managed to?” Shang Rongyue thought for a moment and described her question more precisely.

“I really don’t know about that,” Lanxi replied. “If I had to say something, there is a stalk of begonia on the cliff behind the mountain. She often goes to look at it. Does that count?”

“A cliff? A sheer cliff?” Shang Rongyue was stunned. That was a bit…

Seeing Shang Rongyue panic, Su Zhaoyun came out to smooth things over.

“Don’t scare Miss Li. That begonia grows only on cliffs. Used as medicine, it can cure hundreds of poisons. Once ordinarily picked, it cannot survive longer than three days. If you rashly pluck it, you would only waste an excellent medicinal herb.”

Shang Rongyue laughed along with a dry little chuckle. “In that case, I’ll listen to Doctor Su. A cliff is a small matter; wasting it is the big matter!”

The key point was, if she really had to climb a cliff bare-handed, she would probably find it very difficult to see tomorrow’s sun!