Chapter 321: Malice Discovered
Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Malice Discovered
One of Xie Ming’an’s men kicked open the outer courtyard gate.
The Divine Woman’s female attendant turned pale with shock, her voice coarse as she shouted, "Who are you people? How dare you trespass on private property!"
Xie Ming’an, who was in the lead, had a dark expression as he surveyed the courtyard.
With a cold look, he strode forward and shoved aside the attendant who tried to block his path.
Then, he violently pushed the door open and burst inside.
"Shen Ningning, you—!" His lecturing tone came to an abrupt halt when he saw the scene inside the room.
A long, green snake was coiled around the little girl’s shoulders.
Its cold, reptilian eyes were staring at him with intense vigilance, its tongue flicking in and out with a HISS.
The way the long snake was wrapped around her arm and shoulder resembled a celestial fairy’s silk sash.
Shen Ningning’s small face was calm.
In contrast, the woman on the floor was clutching her neck, gasping for breath.
The Divine Woman struggled to her feet and grabbed Xie Ming’an’s pant leg.
"Sir, save me!" she rasped, her eyes filled with deep terror as she looked toward Shen Ningning. "Princess Funing is trying to kill me!"
Shen Ningning pursed her little lips.
A trace of disdain and indifference rose on her round, fair, rosy-cheeked face.
’She knew Xie Ming’an disliked her and would surely believe the Divine Woman’s words without question.’
The long, green snake on Shen Ningning’s shoulder suddenly hissed, its tongue flicking as it glared menacingly at the Divine Woman.
Even it was trying to say: ’It was clearly the Divine Woman who first tried to kill its great king of the mountain!’
Unfortunately, Xie Ming’an couldn’t understand the language of snakes.
However, when Xie Ming’an heard what the Divine Woman said, he looked down, his gaze turning icy.
He kicked the Divine Woman away and brushed off his robes in disgust.
"My father despises charlatans like you. How much of what you say could possibly be true?"
"Her? A child? Kill you?" Xie Ming’an sneered.
Shen Ningning’s large eyes widened in surprise.
She looked at Xie Ming’an, astonished.
’He... he actually didn’t doubt me this time?’
Xie Ming’an walked over with a grim expression and grabbed the little girl’s wrist.
"Come home with me. From now on, you’re forbidden from coming to places like this."
"If Father finds out, you’ll get a scolding."
The long, green snake slithered down Shen Ningning’s shoulder to the edge of Xie Ming’an’s hand.
Its tongue flicked out, as if hesitating. ’Should I just bite down and put him out of his misery?’
But just then, Shen Ningning shook off Xie Ming’an’s grip.
"I’m not going back! I’m here to investigate the antidote for the cold illness! I’m not leaving until I figure this out."
She turned to the Divine Woman, her petite frame radiating an imposing aura.
Xie Ming’an frowned. "You believe this kind of charlatan?"
"If she could really cure the cold illness, she would have gone to the Emperor to claim credit long ago."
Shen Ningning bent down and grabbed the Divine Woman’s collar with her small hands.
Her large eyes were dark and mesmerizing.
"Talk! What’s the deal with the medicine you gave Second Madam Xie?"
As the little girl spoke, the long snake on her shoulder hissed, its tongue flicking.
Terrified, the Divine Woman didn’t dare hide anything and immediately confessed everything.
"It... it wasn’t an antidote. It was a medicine I made myself."
It turned out that Second Madam Xie would first take a medicine from her that made her feel unwell.
Then, when she came back to the Divine Woman, the Divine Woman would give her the so-called antidote, and Second Madam Xie would be "cured."
To convince Shen Ningning she was telling the truth, the Divine Woman tremblingly took out a packet of medicine from a black box.
"The herbs in this packet, if you drink them, will make your abdomen feel cold."
"The medicine in the layer below is the antidote. After drinking it, the excruciating abdominal pain will go away."
Shen Ningning opened the packet and sniffed it.
Although she had studied medicine, she was not yet an expert.
But with just one sniff, she could identify some of the herbs.
They were all common herbs with extremely "cold" properties.
Xie Ming’an’s sharp gaze was stern.
He looked at the Divine Woman. "Even so, that doesn’t prove the medicine does what you claim."
The Divine Woman was on the verge of tears from anxiety.
"Sir, I’m already in this state! How would I dare deceive you?"
Xie Ming’an glanced down at Shen Ningning.
The little girl was intently studying the herbs.
He pressed his lips together, pondered for a moment, and then said to the Divine Woman, "In front of me, you will take the poison first, then the antidote."
"If the symptoms are just as you described and match my Second Aunt’s, I will believe you."
The Divine Woman froze, then immediately began to wail and beg for mercy.
"All medicine has a touch of poison! I wouldn’t dare eat it!"
Xie Ming’an sneered. "Why would you be afraid to take a poison you made yourself? Besides, isn’t there an antidote?"
Shen Ningning lifted her bright, dewy eyes, a little surprised.
"Make her eat it?"
"Otherwise, you’ll always be curious. It’s better to see for yourself."
With that, Xie Ming’an gave an order to those outside, calling in two attendants.
He had them set up a stove to boil water and brew the medicine.
The Divine Woman continued to cry and howl.
"Commandery Princess, Sir, please spare me! Drinking this medicine will make me sick!"
Seeing how terrified she was, Shen Ningning knew it was nothing good.
"If you knew it was problematic, why did you dare give it to Second Madam Xie? Weren’t you afraid she’d have a bad reaction and come after you?"
The Divine Woman lamented, "Second Madam Xie requested it herself. I didn’t dare refuse."
Xie Ming’an walked over to a shrine where a deity was worshipped.
As he examined it, he asked in a cold voice, "She’s not insane. Why would she ask you for medicine?"
The Divine Woman’s eyes darted away. "Th-that’s because..."
Shen Ningning let the long snake loose. "It seems you’re still not being honest."
The Divine Woman screamed in terror, scrambling aside and sobbing as she trembled. "Because she had me perform Evil Magic for her!"
"This medicine, when combined with a talisman dissolved in water and consumed, can be used to curse another person."
Shen Ningning’s large eyes widened in astonishment.
"Who did she want to harm?"
The Divine Woman stammered for a moment before finally speaking the name.
"G-General Fang Qingdai."
Shen Ningning tilted her little head. She didn’t know this Fang Qingdai, but she had heard her name before.
It was said that she was the first female general in the five-hundred-year history of Cangyun Country.
Moreover, she was the childhood sweetheart of Shen Ningning’s second uncle, Second Master Xie.
The two had once been engaged, but an accident tragically separated them.
Meanwhile, Xie Ming’an’s brow was furrowed in grave concern.
Beneath the incense burner on the shrine, he had found a piece of paper.
Opening it, he saw it read: Fang Qingdai.
Below it was a string of characters representing her birth date and time.
The paper was spattered with some kind of blood, dark red and foul-smelling!
Xie Ming’an’s jaw tightened.
He clenched the paper slip and turned, his gaze icy as he questioned her.
"What did Second Madam Xie have you use Evil Magic to do to General Fang?"
"Second Madam wanted to curse General Fang... to be beheaded on the battlefield, to return in defeat, for all her descendants to be harshly reprimanded by the Emperor, and to become a... disgrace to Cangyun Country," the Divine Woman finished, trembling with fear.
Shen Ningning was indignant.
Although the little girl didn’t know what grudge Second Madam Xie held against Fang Qingdai, at such a critical time for the nation, she was ignoring the war with the Chao Country and, for her own selfish desires, viciously cursing a general who was fighting to defend them against a foreign enemy!
Xie Ming’an was utterly furious.
He swept the fake Buddha statue off the shrine with one blow.
CRACK! The clay deity shattered into porcelain fragments.
"This is absurd!" Xie Ming’an roared, his handsome, cold face now flushed, his eyes bloodshot. "You’re coming back with me to see my father and confess the crimes you and Second Aunt have committed!"