Outside the window, cold rain drizzled, and chilly mist filled the air.
Yu Lingxi hadn’t slept well all night. Wrapped in fox fur, she reclined on her couch lost in thought, her half-scattered hair outlining her emerging graceful figure, displaying a delicate charm.
For two days, she still couldn’t make sense of what she had witnessed in the Immortal City of Desire.
The Ning Yin that Yu Lingxi knew had always been handsome and noble, looking down upon all beings.
He would lean on his jade-handled, gold-inlaid walking stick, and even when killing and stained with blood, his demeanor was extremely elegant, without a trace of dishevelment.
Seeing him kneeling at someone else’s feet, serving as a human stool, Yu Lingxi momentarily doubted the reality of the world.
In a state of extreme shock, one cannot feel the satisfaction of revenge.
She staggered backward, her body’s only reaction being to flee in panic.
She didn’t know what she was so frightened of.
She just thought incredulously: Could it be that the curses she had made after her death, sticking pins in effigies of Ning Yin, had come true? Had heaven forced Ning Yin to labor like an ox and a horse, to pay for his sins in her previous life?
“Young miss, the kitchen says the medicinal soup you ordered has been prepared. Should they bring it to you now?” Hu Tao entered to report, pulling Yu Lingxi’s thoughts back to reality.
The important matters should take priority.
Yu Lingxi had to suppress her concerns and said, “No need, I’ll go get it myself.”
With that, she patted her cheeks to wake herself up and went to the kitchen.
Last night, cold rain had fallen continuously. Yu Lingxi had deliberately chosen this suddenly cold weather.
This was her mother’s habit.
In the past, whenever autumn and winter brought cooler temperatures, her mother would order the kitchen to prepare a bowl of ginger soup to warm her husband and eldest son before they went out on business.
Yu Lingxi acted naturally, finding a reason to send the maid away: “This medicine is too bitter. Go to my room and bring some preserved fruits to offset the bitter taste.”
The maid, suspecting nothing, answered “Yes,” put down the palm-leaf fan, and left.
Having sent the maid away, Yu Lingxi quickly picked up her father and brother’s ginger soup, poured out half a bowl from each, then blended her prepared medicinal brew into their ginger soup, swirling it to mix evenly.
The two bowls were similar in color with no strange medicinal smell; it should be undetectable.
The maid soon returned with the preserved fruits. Yu Lingxi casually took one and placed it in her mouth, but still feeling uneasy, she told the maid: “You may go now. I’ll personally deliver these two bowls of ginger soup to my father and brother.”
In the study, General Yu and his son were sitting behind a desk, examining a map of the border region.
Yu Lingxi steadied herself, entered, and placed the ginger soup in front of her father and brother, striving to appear normal: “Father, Brother, Mother has prepared ginger soup for you.”
General Yu didn’t even look up, saying: “Good girl, just set it down.”
Yu Lingxi held the tray to her chest, hesitated, then softly reminded him: “If it gets cold, it won’t taste good.”
General Yu then picked up the ginger soup, bringing the bowl rim to his lips.
Yu Lingxi held her breath.
But before he took a sip, her brother Yu Huanchen pointed at a spot on the map and leaned over: “Father, this route is unsuitable.”
General Yu frowned and put down the ginger soup again.
Yu Lingxi’s gaze followed the porcelain bowl’s movement, then she glared at her interfering brother.
If they don’t drink it soon, complications might arise.
Thinking of something, Yu Lingxi turned her eyes and said: “Father, I just tasted the soup and found it somewhat bland. Would you like me to bring some pepper powder to make you sweat a little?”
As soon as she finished speaking, both her father’s and brother’s temples twitched simultaneously. They grabbed the ginger soup and drank it in one gulp, fearing that if they delayed, they would suffer the torture of pepper powder.
They had long experienced their daughter’s peculiar habits and couldn’t bear it.
Yu Lingxi had to struggle to suppress her laughter.
After drinking the ginger soup, the father and son changed clothes and went to the Ministry of War to discuss provisions for the expedition.
Yu Lingxi didn’t stop them.
The medicine needed an hour or so to take effect, and her father and brother visiting several places would help divert suspicion from her.
She patiently sat in her chamber, waiting for news.
By noon, her father and brother were indeed brought back with assistance.
Madam Yu was greatly alarmed. Upon questioning the attending guards, she learned that her husband and son had inexplicably contracted a chill, becoming dizzy and unable to stand, so they were sent home by carriage from the Ministry of War.
At first, father and son were feverish and weak but could still maintain consciousness.
By nightfall, they had fallen into unconsciousness.
The court’s chief eunuchs and imperial physicians came and went in several shifts, but none could explain why the Yu family father and son had suddenly fallen ill.
By the third day of unconsciousness, the breathing of the Yu family men gradually grew weak and prolonged. Even the best imperial physicians frowned in helplessness.
Seeing that this acute illness was not feigned, the chief eunuch shook his head, made a gesture to comfort the nearly collapsing Madam Yu, and returned to the palace to report.
The heart that Yu Lingxi had held in her throat finally landed safely.
Although changing the commander before an expedition was not good for army morale, Yu Lingxi, having lived a second life, knew that this plunder by the Rong tribe was not a major rebellion, but rather a poisoned bait set by someone deliberately targeting the Yu family. Even if another military general were sent north, it would not harm the nation’s fortunes.
She had no choice but to resort to this method.