“Did you hear what I just said? If I catch you taking even a single sip, I won't let you off!”
Xu Zhaoyue repeated her warning, looking overbearing and arrogant.
“I heard you...” Bai Ci's mind was racing, but she maintained her timid and submissive expression, nodding in agreement to Xu Zhaoyue's demand.
The moment Madame Xu had arrived at her door with that unfamiliar doctor, she had already begun to grow suspicious.
It had always been Dr. Zhou who checked her pulse and managed her health. Yet today, Madame Xu had deliberately replaced him with a stranger whose gaze wandered and whose medical practices were bizarre. This in itself was highly suspicious.
Combining this with the information Lin Wenyu had provided about the ritual, there was a specific note in it.
“While the souls are being completely swapped, the cult also uses a complementary secret art. Under its influence, the physical body will slowly transform, gradually shifting closer to the deceased's original appearance...”
Based on this, Bai Ci had a strong suspicion about the purpose of this unfamiliar doctor and his medicine.
Only this morning had Madame Xu witnessed Xu Qinghe's remnant soul briefly waking up and taking control of the body, confirming that the ritual had progressed to the soul-coexistence phase. Now, she was already so impatient that she had called someone in to initiate the next step.
But why had Xu Zhaoyue come to stop her from drinking the medicine?
The conversation she had overheard this morning did not touch upon this aspect.
Was she unaware of the decoction's effects and simply relying on her intuition that she shouldn't drink it?
Or had she overheard something new after that confrontation this morning?
“At least you know what's good for you,” Xu Zhaoyue snorted coldly.
“I will have someone bring a pot of flowers over later and place it by your window. Every day when the decoction is delivered, you are to secretly pour all of it into the flowerpot. Not a single drop is to be left.”
“I will personally come to check every day. If I find out you've secretly drunk the medicine, you'll be in for it!”
“Also, you are not to say a single word about me coming to find you today or what I've said to you. If you dare leak even half a sentence, you will regret it! Do you hear me?”
Bai Ci nodded obediently, looking as if she didn't dare disobey. “I... I won't say anything. I definitely... will never tell anyone.”
Seeing her agree repeatedly, Xu Zhaoyue finally gave her sleeves a harsh flick, turned around, and walked away with her head held high.
Night soon fell, and the lights across the Xu estate lit up one after another.
Jinghong entered the inner chamber with light steps, carrying a bowl of freshly brewed decoction.
“Young Madam, today's decoction is ready. It's the new prescription from today, and the temperature is just right.”
Bai Ci looked at the pitch-black decoction, her face wearing a trace of frail weariness as she said softly, “Let it cool for a bit. I will drink it shortly.”
Since Bai Ci had always taken her medicine obediently before, Jinghong did not suspect anything and nodded in agreement. “Very well, then I won't rush you.”
“There is also a herbal bath scheduled for today using that doctor's ancestral secret medicine, combined with other health-restoring herbs. I will go supervise the setup first so the servants don't overlook anything.”
“Go on,” Bai Ci nodded slightly.
Jinghong bowed and took her leave, quickly stepping out of the inner chamber. In an instant, Bai Ci was the only one left in the room.
After confirming that no one was around, Bai Ci stood up and walked to the table, her gaze landing on the steaming bowl of decoction.
With a flip of her hand, Grow with Time appeared in her palm.
She used it to touch the decoction, and in the blink of an eye, a small vial containing a clear liquid landed in her hand.
As expected, this stuff had negative effects.
Bai Ci looked toward the window, where a lush orchid sat quietly. It was the very pot that Xu Zhaoyue had ordered to be sent over in the evening.
She picked up the bowl and poured the entire decoction into the pot, leaving only a tiny bit of dregs at the bottom.
Surprisingly, the soil nourishing the orchid was a dark, decaying humus. When the medicine was poured in, it left absolutely no trace behind.
It seemed this orchid had been carefully selected for this purpose.
After dealing with the decoction, Bai Ci placed the empty bowl back on the table and sat down, waiting for Jinghong's return.
Compared to the oral decoction, which was easy to dump, the herbal bath later would be the real challenge.
She could make excuses to delay the decoction and secretly dispose of it.
But the herbal bath required her to physically step in and soak her entire body. There was no way to avoid or conceal it.
Bai Ci had no other choice. Grow with Time could only generate one antidote. Even if the decoction and the herbal bath weren't the same thing, escaping today didn't mean escaping tomorrow. She was already prepared to just brace herself and go through with it.
However, when she actually saw the bath barrel, Bai Ci was stunned.
The barrel was filled with steaming hot, clear water. Fresh flower petals floated on the surface, filling the entire bathroom with a light floral fragrance.
While Jinghong's back was turned as she tidied up, Bai Ci quickly took out Grow with Time and swished it through the water under the guise of testing the temperature.
Nothing was generated.
So its mild, harmless appearance wasn't just a deceptive facade. This time, Bai Ci was genuinely surprised.
The doctor had clearly left behind his so-called ancestral secret prescription, and Madame Xu was fully intent on pushing forward with the secret art. There was absolutely no reason for them to abandon it halfway.
How could today's herbal bath be so completely harmless?
Had she oversimplified things? Was the secret art just naturally deceptive?
Doubts lingered in her mind, but Bai Ci kept her face expressionless. As she unbuttoned her clothes, she casually struck up a conversation with Jinghong, who was waiting nearby.
“When you went to the pharmacy to get the medicine just now, it seemed to take longer than usual. Did something happen?”
Because Xu Qinghe was constantly ill, the Xu estate had a dedicated pharmacy stocked with various herbs for immediate use.
Hearing this, Jinghong replied casually, “Tell me about it! We were really held up today. Normally, getting the medicine only takes a moment, but I happened to run into the Young Lady.”
“The Young Lady seemed a bit restless today. For some reason, she took an interest and went to the pharmacy herself to fetch some calming incense.”
“I don't know what the pharmacy manager did to displease her, but she started nitpicking every little thing in the pharmacy. She scolded several people over minor issues, throwing the entire place into chaos.”
“And wouldn't you know it, the secret medicine packets left by that doctor today were sitting neatly on the pharmacy counter.”
“While the Young Lady was throwing her tantrum, she somehow ‘accidentally’ knocked several of the medicine packets to the ground, mixing all the powders together.”
“Although the pharmacy manager knows a bit of medicine, he couldn't guarantee he could separate the mixed powders on the floor.”
“So, we had no choice but to temporarily switch to fresh flowers, just to soothe and calm the mind.”
Hearing Jinghong's explanation, all of Bai Ci's doubts instantly cleared up.
So that was it.
It was Xu Zhaoyue.
Not only had she made a special trip to warn Bai Ci not to drink the medicine, but she had also personally gone to the pharmacy and, under the guise of a tantrum, deliberately knocked over all the secret medicine packets. By destroying the ingredients for today's herbal bath, she had managed to save Bai Ci from this ordeal.
Rate on N.U.
