This was the expected answer. Yu Lingxi’s heart sank, and her eyes reddened with tears.
Her father and brother had spent their lives in battle, not believing in ghosts or gods, and not fearing villains. Even if she revealed everything about her rebirth, her father and brother would still choose to march north.
That was the kind of men they were—loyal and brave, viewing the Emperor’s command as supreme.
Moreover, before Yu Lingxi could discover who the traitor around her father was in her previous life, she had already died.
She couldn’t provide convincing reasons for her father and brother.
Taking a deep breath, Yu Lingxi pinched her fingers, and when she raised her head, she smiled: “Daughter understands. Then, Father and Brother, take care.”
General Yu said affectionately: “Go back and rest. Take care of your health and wait for your father’s triumphant return.”
Yu Lingxi sweetly said “yes” and bowed in farewell.
The moment she stepped out of the flower hall, the smile in her eyes disappeared, replaced by worry.
At night, as the lamps grew dim, Yu Lingxi sat wrapped in her clothes on the couch, unable to sleep for a long time.
The tragic image of escorting coffins back to the capital in her previous life was still before her eyes. She couldn’t possibly allow her father and brother to accept the order and march to war.
She was delicate and weak, without the impressive skills of her brother and elder sister. She couldn’t go to the battlefield to protect her father.
All she could do was prevent her father and brother from falling into the traitors’ trap.
What should she do?
What method could naturally make her father and brother decline the northern expedition without causing the Emperor’s displeasure?
Yu Lingxi regretted her lack of strategic skills. If it were Ning Yin, he would have a thousand ways…
Pah! Why was she thinking of that madman again?
She patted her cheeks: Yu Lingxi, have you forgotten your fate in your previous life?
“Miss, it’s late. Please wash up and sleep early.”
Hutao entered with a midnight snack, thoughtfully preparing a small lotus leaf plate of pepper powder, fragrant and spicy.
Seeing this familiar condiment, Yu Lingxi felt touched.
Though delicate, she had a strange preference: she loved spicy food and liked to add heavy pepper powder to everything she ate.
In her previous life, when she first entered the Regent Prince’s mansion, Ning Yin ordered her to brew tea, and out of habit, she added a small pinch of pepper powder…
The consequences were predictable. Ning Yin’s eyes had reddened from the spiciness. He smiled coldly and threw her, along with the tea, out of the hall.
From then on, pepper powder disappeared from the prince’s mansion. Every day there was only plain food, making Yu Lingxi feel extremely frustrated.
But now, that madman couldn’t control her anymore.
Yu Lingxi pulled back her wandering thoughts, added half a plate of pepper powder to her chicken porridge, and then drank it all at once, setting the celadon bowl down firmly on the table.
After the spiciness, a long-missed warmth spread throughout her body.
Ah, refreshing!
Yu Lingxi felt her chaotic thoughts becoming clearer, and she decided to pour the remaining half-plate of pepper powder in as well.
Just as she was about to drink, Hutao restrained her hand, advising: “Miss, eat less spicy food. You still need to take medicine later.”
Only then did Yu Lingxi remember that her fifteen-year-old self was a medicine pot, spending all day taking medicine and going nowhere else. She had to reluctantly give up.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Yu Lingxi, and she abruptly sat up straight.
Medicine…
Of course, why hadn’t she thought of it? There was still this method.
She remembered that in her previous life, after entering the prince’s mansion, there was a period when Ning Yin particularly enjoyed concocting “poisons.”
He would work with those venomous creatures and toxic plants in the side hall, while Yu Lingxi would timidly serve tea nearby. He never concealed the formulas from her.
Among them, there was a formula with a strange toxicity. After drinking it, a person would show symptoms of a cold, feel weak all over, and even breathe as faintly as a turtle, unable to get out of bed for several days.
However, it wouldn’t endanger life—
Yu Lingxi was so certain because Ning Yin had made her test the poison.
She remembered that after being forced to drink that bowl of medicine, the strength gradually drained from her body. She was convinced she wouldn’t survive, and with red eyes, she had pitifully crawled onto the bed and lay on her back, waiting for death.
Whether the formula wasn’t perfected or for some other reason, she had slept drowsily for seven or eight days. When she woke up, she saw Ning Yin watching her leisurely, supporting his temple and smiling: “Stop looking. You’re still alive.”
Not only had Yu Lingxi not died, but she had turned misfortune into a blessing. After sleeping for those days, she felt refreshed and didn’t experience a relapse of her old illness for an entire year.
If her father and brother took this medicine, they could certainly use the ruse of illness to decline the northern expedition!
As if a crack of light had opened, Yu Lingxi was extremely excited.
She eagerly got out of bed and ordered her maid: “Hutao, prepare paper and ink! Quickly!”
Yu Lingxi was thankful for her photographic memory. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she had written down the more than twenty medicinal ingredients from the formula.
Her father was a righteous man who ordinarily despised deception. If he knew this medicine was meant to evade his duty to quell the disturbance, he would refuse to drink it.
Yu Lingxi didn’t dare to make it known. She selected only two trusted maids to rush out and purchase the ingredients.
After two days of effort, the medicinal materials were mostly assembled, except for one ingredient called “Nine Abyss Fragrance.” She didn’t know what precious item this was, and her servants couldn’t find it even after searching the entire capital.