Huo Qiyuan actually couldn't bear to be cruel to any of them, but the previous lessons were too brutal and painful, forcing him to be ruthless this time.
The lesson of Xu Zhipeng, the tragedy of the annihilation of their entire Prince Bianjiao Mansion, his father's loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, resulted in a charge of colluding with the enemy and treason, and his mother's single-minded attempt to save her husband, who was then killed as an assassin.
Every time he recalled the past, Huo Qiyuan's fists would clench with a creak, and his blood would boil with rage! Such a tragedy must, absolutely must not be allowed to repeat itself.
He tightened the hand on Leng Ren's right shoulder, stopping him from uttering a plea. "You don't need to say anything more. I know what you want to say. I punished Leng Feng because he injured you, and I sent him away because he had ulterior motives."
"It was a plan I and His Majesty had agreed upon long ago for him to return to Yaojing. The original intention was to help him clear the drug's effects after he returned, so that he wouldn't go mad whenever he had internal energy. However, his actions last night disappointed me greatly."
Leng Ren no longer spoke. He knew that the Prince had already shown mercy. If it were anyone else who had done such a thing, they would probably have been killed long ago, let alone allowed to return and even have His Majesty asked to clear the drug's effects for him.
Although Huo Qiyuan refused Leng Ren's plea, he did not let Leng Feng return to Yaojing like a prisoner. Instead, he sent a carriage to send both of them back.
Leng Feng's current physical condition was worse than before. Let alone walking back, even taking a carriage back would probably peel off two layers of skin from him.
When they left, Leng Heng quietly went to see them off on behalf of everyone. He took the opportunity to stuff a healing pill and a qi-replenishing pill that Leng Ren had saved into Leng Feng's mouth. He also packed some food for him and instructed the escorts to take good care of him.
Because Leng Nuo and Leng Ren were injured, and Leng Feng was sent back, the plan to set off tomorrow had to be changed. Although Huo Qiyuan did not order Su Ling'er to be captured, he had people following her.
In fact, he could more or less guess who Su Ling'er belonged to, as the person had made a move on people close to him twice already. After listening to the report from the people sent out, Su Ling'er was indeed heading towards Chehe City. Huo Qiyuan withdrew his people and no longer had them follow.
Whether to follow or not was of no consequence. Huo Qixiao could never compare to him at any time. He couldn't compare before, and he certainly couldn't now. Such a person, where would he have a future!
Su Ling'er traveled day and night for three days and finally arrived at Chehe City. Wang Bingchang, upon seeing her return, thought that the mission had been completed.
"What did you say? Failed? You useless trash..." Wang Bingchang was furious and kicked Su Ling'er in the lower abdomen, sending her flying several meters away before she fell heavily to the ground.
Su Ling'er coughed up several mouthfuls of blood from the kick. She struggled to prop herself up, feeling both pain and exhaustion, and couldn't stand. She could only watch as Wang Bingchang's face darkened with malice, slowly walking towards her.
"It's...it's not my fault..." Su Ling'er crawled backward inch by inch. She had rushed back non-stop and was already exhausted. After being kicked hard, she didn't have much strength left, and after crawling for a long time, she hadn't moved far.
Wang Bingchang squinted his eyes, looking at her contemptuously as she writhed backward like a maggot. "Still dare to say it's not your fault? If you didn't complete the mission, why should I be blamed? You were given such a potent aphrodisiac, yet you couldn't accomplish anything. You're useless to me!"
"Wait... aphrodisiac, aphrodisiac... it didn't work on him... I... I gave it to him, but... he... had no reaction... at all, really, it's not my fault..." Su Ling'er clutched her burning chest, speaking intermittently with great difficulty.
"Heh! The aphrodisiac didn't work on him? Do you think I'll believe your lies? You are truly a stupid fool who can't even make it to the stage. You failed the mission and still dare to run back."
Wang Bingchang did not believe Su Ling'er's words at all. He had personally experienced the effects of the aphrodisiac. This woman was making up such a lie to save her own life.
"I'm not... lying, really... it didn't work on him... they... have a kind of divine water... they say... it detoxifies all poisons... I don't know... if it... neutralized the aphrodisiac's effects... but... it really didn't work on him..."
Su Ling'er fumbled carefully, tightening her grip on the small porcelain bottle containing the spirit spring water in her sleeve pocket to prevent it from falling out suddenly.
Seeing that Su Ling'er's expression did not seem like a lie, Wang Bingchang frowned and asked, "Divine water? What divine water? Did you get your hands on it?"
"It's spirit spring water... it strengthens the body and can detoxify all poisons... I couldn't get it... Su Muqing... gave it to them... I heard that their... two deputy generals... were seriously injured, and they were both... saved by this water..."
Su Ling'er was not stupid. Seeing Wang Bingchang's cruel and ruthless nature, even if he didn't kill her now, he probably wouldn't give her the antidote. Since that was the case, there was no need for her to hand over the divine water.
"Heh! It can detoxify all poisons? Then it seems you've drunk it? If so, let me feel your pulse! Let's see if the poison in your body has been detoxified." Wang Bingchang was still somewhat skeptical. What kind of divine water could detoxify all poisons in the world?
He walked to Su Ling'er, crouched down, roughly pulled her arm, and his slender, fair fingers touched her wrist.
Not long after, Wang Bingchang frowned. Although the pulse was weak, it was regular and measured, not like a sign of poisoning. Could it be that the poison on Su Ling'er's body had really been detoxified by this so-called spirit spring divine water?
"It really has detoxified!" Wang Bingchang stared intently at the woman lying on the ground. If this were the case, Su Ling'er might not have been lying, and the aphrodisiac really had no effect on Huo Qiyuan!
Unexpectedly, Su Ling'er was secretly alarmed when she heard Wang Bingchang's words! She had just made it up to trick Wang Bingchang. Why had the poison on her body really been detoxified?
Why? Why didn't she know earlier? If she had known that the poison on her body had been detoxified, why would she have returned to this place to suffer? If she had known that the poison on her body had been detoxified, why would she have treated Leng Feng like that?
Su Ling'er's internal organs began to ache with regret! She had already had a chance to escape from this devil Wang Bingchang. But now she had run back herself. Was this not walking into a trap?
The most crucial point was that she had severely hurt Leng Feng just a few days ago. Even if she went back to him now, he probably wouldn't forgive her anymore, would he?
Wang Bingchang stood up, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his hands with disgust. Then he threw the handkerchief onto Su Ling'er's head. "Consider yourself lucky, I'll spare your wretched life today! But since the poison on you has been detoxified, I'll give you another pill! As long as you obey me, I'll give you the antidote regularly!"