"Divine Doctor Chu."
The little maid saw Chu Qingze and bowed.
"How is your master now?"
"He can open his eyes now, but he still can't get out of bed, and his speech is unclear."
"In that case, the prescription I previously wrote can be slightly reduced in dosage."
"Yes."
The little maid responded. Seeing that Chu Qingze had no further instructions, she was about to leave.
"What happened to your arm?" Rong Zhi, who was under the tree, spoke up, looking at the maid's exposed arm with a frown.
"It's nothing."
The little maid quickly pulled her arm back. Rong Zhi, however, had already come forward and pulled up her sleeve, revealing crisscrossing fingernail marks.
"Who did this?"
"This is..." The little maid stammered, afraid to speak.
"Did your master do this?"
She received no response, but Rong Zhi had already guessed from the little maid's expression.
"Your master might have something he wants to tell you. Take me to see him. Perhaps I can help your master recover faster."
"This... please forgive me, miss. My housekeeper said that no one except Divine Doctor Chu can approach my master."
As the little maid spoke, she cast a pleading look at Chu Qingze, who offered a reassuring smile.
"It's alright. This is my friend. I also wanted to visit Master Zhang. I'll take her. You don't need to attend to him for now. If Steward Li wakes up, come to Master's room to find me."
"Yes."
With Chu Qingze's word, the little maid was relieved. She bowed again and left.
"Let's go, I'll take you to see him."
Chu Qingze led the way, taking Rong Zhi to Master Zhang's room.
Before entering, Rong Zhi whispered, "Li Hao wants to kill Master Zhang and seize the Zhang family's fortune. Were you involved in this?"
Chu Qingze sneered, "I have no interest in the affairs of the Zhang mansion. It's none of my business whether he wants to fight for the family fortune or do whatever he pleases. Master Zhang made his fortune through usury in his early years; he's not a good person either."
As he spoke, he pushed open the door and saw the person on the bed struggling to sit up, propping himself up with his upper body. He had tried for a long time without success. He seemed to be reaching for a water bowl nearby, likely thirsty.
Rong Zhi stepped forward and brought the water bowl to Master Zhang's lips. However, Master Zhang did not drink. Instead, he trembled as he dipped his fingers into the water and began to write and draw on the bedside. But his hands, shaking like sieves, made it impossible to tell what he was writing.
"He has something he wants to tell us."
Chu Qingze stood by indifferently, saying nothing.
Master Zhang repeatedly wrote several times, and Rong Zhi finally deciphered what he was writing.
"Son?" Rong Zhi looked up at Master Zhang. The two short words had exhausted all his strength. He lay back, panting heavily, tears welling up in his cloudy eyes.
"Are you looking for your son?"
Master Zhang nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Chu Qingze, do you know the whereabouts of Master Zhang's son?"
"No." Chu Qingze paused, then added, "But it's highly likely related to Li Hao."
"Ugh! Ahhh..."
Upon hearing Li Hao's name, Master Zhang suddenly became agitated, his cloudy eyes wide open, filled with hatred.
It seemed Chu Qingze's guess was correct.
"If Li Hao took Young Master Zhang, then he would most likely take him to..."
"Yanzi Mountain."
"Yanzi Mountain."
They spoke at the same time, as if they had reached the same conclusion.
Master Zhang gasped for breath, tears streaming down his face. Rong Zhi suddenly felt that Master Zhang's condition was worse than when she had come to abduct Li Hao yesterday.
Indeed, after being "taken care of" by Li Hao in such a manner, it was a miracle he hadn't passed away already.
"Chu Qingze, we must cure Master Zhang. Perhaps he knows some inside information."
"That's not difficult, but everyone in the Zhang mansion is now listening to Li Hao. I can't watch over him constantly, and it's easy for the servants to tamper with things."
"That's simple. Li Hao hasn't woken up yet. We just need to issue an order in his name, telling them not to harm Master Zhang anymore."
"But what if Li Hao wakes up?"
"You are treating his illness. What state he recovers to is up to you."
The casual remark sent a chill down Chu Qingze's spine.
"I understand."
This woman, with a dark heart hidden beneath.
They acted immediately. First, they examined Master Zhang and found his condition had indeed worsened, not only due to poisoning but also lack of proper care.
Rong Zhi first inserted acupuncture needles into several pressure points on Master Zhang's body to ease his discomfort. Then, they nonchalantly went out to Li Hao's room and found him still unconscious.
Chu Qingze called several stewards and ordered them to spread the word, claiming it was Li Hao's instruction to take good care of the master until he fully recovered.
"Steward Li is awake?"
The little servants were doubtful and kept looking inside.
"What? Do you think I would lie to you?"
Chu Qingze's expression turned cold. The servants immediately put on apologetic smiles. "Divine Doctor Chu, you misunderstand. That's not what I meant. I'll go spread the word now."
They then left.
"Li Hao has trained them well. It seems it won't be long before the Zhang mansion is renamed the Li mansion."
Chu Qingze suddenly remembered something and returned to the room to give Li Hao a pill.
"This is... Madness Powder?"
Rong Zhi recognized the pill at a glance.
"That's right. The dosage isn't large, it won't make him completely mad, but his condition will fluctuate continuously for a short period, making it difficult to distinguish reality from illusion."
"I didn't expect you to be so ruthless."
"I've been displeased with him for a long time."
Both of them simultaneously glanced at the small sachets at each other's waists. It seemed doctors had a habit of carrying many prepared pills.
"Let me see."
"Let me see."
They unfastened their sachets and offered them to each other. Upon opening them, they found the contents to be similar.
Sleeping pills, antidotes for common poisons, alertness pills... However, Rong Zhi's sachet contained more.
"What is this?"
Chu Qingze took out a bright red pill and asked Rong Zhi.
"Made of chili powder and pepper powder. It explodes when crushed."
She had used this when dealing with the deaf and mute last time.
"Then what about the green one?"
"Ghost fly grass pills. They stimulate the sense of smell and eyes, and in severe cases, can cause temporary loss of smell."
Chu Qingze brought the pill close to his nose to smell it.
"Why can't I smell anything?"
"That's the shell. You can crush it and take a look."
Chu Qingze complied. The next moment, he sneezed several times.
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"
He quickly put the ghost fly grass back and took out an irregular, yellowish object.
"What is this? It looks like zongzi candy."
Rong Zhi glanced at him. "That is zongzi candy."
After buying a large bag for Xia Yunting last time, she had put two pieces into her purse. However, unlike Xia Yunting, who loved candy even at his age, she had kept it there.
"Why does this smell so familiar?"
Rong Zhi came to her senses and saw Chu Qingze holding a small piece of 'Drunk Celestial' and examining it closely, as if it had evoked some memory.
"Ahem, that's just a common sleeping pill, nothing to see. Here, I'll return this to you."
Rong Zhi returned Chu Qingze's sachet and quickly took back her own.
Chu Qingze hadn't noticed anything amiss at first. After watching Rong Zhi for a moment, he suddenly said, "You stole the Cloud Dragon Flower."
Well, she was exposed.
Rong Zhi's smile was a little awkward. "For the sake of the bigger picture, let's not dwell on these minor details."
Fortunately, Chu Qingze didn't press the matter.
"Never mind. I also expected this method wouldn't work, and it ultimately failed. So, it's fine if you stole it."
"The antidote does indeed contain Cloud Dragon Flower, but it needs to be combined with other herbs to make a medicinal bath, and then poisons are used to counteract the poison."
"Are you referring to centipedes, scorpions, and rainbow spiders?"
"Precisely." Rong Zhi looked at Chu Qingze with some surprise, her eyes showing a hint of admiration.
"Have you used this method before?"
"Yes, I have." Chu Qingze nodded. "I've also used the medicinal bath method, and I've used poison to counteract poison, but... this couldn't detoxify it. In fact, because these poisonous insects were more potent, this method caused more deaths."
"The method is correct. What was the dosage?"
Chu Qingze then stated the amount of each herb.
"The dosage was also correct."
Rong Zhi pondered. "When detoxifying, the two poisons will clash within the body. The toxicity of the poisonous insects neutralizes the Seven-Day Fiend Poison, but this process is extremely painful. The poisoned person needs to circulate their inner energy to accelerate this process, but many cannot endure the pain."
"But many poisoned people are ordinary individuals who don't know how to circulate their inner energy."
"Actually, there's another method: to make these herbs into pills. But this takes a long time, and I haven't tried it."
"How is it done? Tell me the method, and I'll do it."
Having learned of a feasible detoxification method, Chu Qingze's eyes lit up.
"I'll write it down for you later."
Rong Zhi glanced at the bed. Li Hao had opened his eyes, but his complexion was ashen, and he looked very weak, not much better than Master Zhang.
"Steward Li, you're awake."
Chu Qingze's tone held a hint of schadenfreude.
"Is this the Zhang mansion?"
He spoke, his voice extremely hoarse, as if he had swallowed three pounds of scrap iron.
"Yes, you've been poisoned. I've given you medicine. Tell me carefully what happened, or I can't completely cure your poison."
Li Hao's face turned ashen, as if recalling some unpleasant memory. Before he could speak, he began to cough.
"I was taken... to Yanzi Mountain. Those people, for some reason, captured me. They gave me medicine, and after that, I don't know what happened."
Because he had fainted afterward.
"Why would they capture you? Don't they recognize you?"
"How would I know? The moment I opened my eyes, I was tied up. They pricked me with a poisoned needle, and I don't remember anything after that. But I can guarantee that the poison I've contracted is the same. Just help me detoxify first."
Judging by his demeanor, even after being tormented like this, Li Hao was still wary of Chu Qingze.
"As you know, I've only developed half of the antidote. I can only alleviate the toxicity for now. If you want a complete cure, you'll have to wait a while."
"Then hurry!"
Li Hao's voice was impatient, but his excessive excitement triggered another fit of coughing.
"Alright, I'll go back and prepare immediately."
Seeing that he couldn't get any more information, Chu Qingze and Rong Zhi left.
On the way, Chu Qingze snorted, "This Li Hao is quite cunning. It seems he needs to suffer a bit more before he's willing to talk."
"Don't do too much for now; it might make him suspicious. Let's slowly detoxify him. We can't infiltrate Yanzi Mountain anytime soon anyway."
As they were talking, they suddenly saw a figure running towards them anxiously, "Divine Doctor Chu, please save our young lady! Our young lady is dying!"