Resplendent – Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Go Die!

Night spread thick and cool, as calm as water. 

A little girl, dressed in a pale pink ruqun and wearing twin spiral buns, sat inside a jade-green curtained pavilion by the water. Her skirt layered in soft folds, the surrounding curtains fluttered gently, reflecting the pure moonlight, making her seem like the most sacred spirit in the water.

Suddenly, the beautiful spirit’s eyes glinted with a deadly light, and even the gentle night breeze seemed to grow chill. She snapped her fingers, and a tall man in dark red appeared before her, bowing to await her command.

Yin Mei felt a twinge of surprise. Usually, their future mistress seemed to forget he even existed, seldom calling him forth. Today… had the moon risen in the west?

“Miss, what orders do you have?” Yin Mei pondered. 

It must be something difficult. He had been nearly idle lately, growing stiff from too much rest. It was about time to stretch his limbs! The thought invigorated him.

Gu Ye held two transparent glass bottles, the liquids inside emitting an eerie bluish-green glow. She lifted the corner of her eyes toward him and asked, “Can you get in the inn where the Yan Kingdom envoys are staying without anyone noticing?”

Yin Mei thought for a moment. With his qinggong, no one should notice him except his mistress. He nodded, saying, “No problem!” 

Could it be that she knew that their master had arrived and wanted him to deliver two bottles of her newly crafted medicines? What kind of miraculous effects did these drugs have?

Hearing his answer, Gu Ye nodded in satisfaction. “Very good! Tonight, sneak in and put the green potion into Fourth Prince’s food. As for this blue one, make absolutely sure Prince Ning swallows it!”

“Uh… may I ask what these two potions are for?” Yin Mei felt a creeping sense of foreboding. 

The blue potion is for Master? Judging from the future mistress’s expression, it didn’t look like anything good. Could it be… that his master had done something to anger her?

“The one in green is a chronic poison. It won’t cause immediate death, but it will induce high fever and rashes… somewhat like smallpox symptoms,” Gu Ye said, a trace of viciousness curling at her lips, like a fallen angel in the night.

The corner of Yin Mei’s mouth twitched. 

Poisoning the Fourth Prince with a chronic toxin? 

What could the Fourth Prince have done to deserve the young lady’s wrath? He wondered if the prince’s frail body could even withstand her torment.

“As for this blue potion… after consumption, it will cause someone to quietly die in their sleep. No one will be able to find the slightest cause. It will be as if they simply fell asleep. I’ve given it a pretty name: the Blue Sleeping Beauty. What do you think?” Gu Ye’s large eyes took on the hue of night, so deep and dark that it sent a chill through anyone who looked into them.

Yin Mei swallowed hard and hastily nodded. “The name is perfect. Very fitting!” 

If Master drank it, he would indeed become a Sleeping Beauty—but this sleep would be one from which there was no waking!

“Put it in Prince Ning’s tea. Don’t worry—the potion looks strange, but once it blends with the tea, it becomes colorless and tasteless, even adding a subtle fragrance. The taste will be exquisite,” Gu Ye said, handing the two bottles to him, a cold, enchanting smile playing at her lips.

Yin Mei felt his heart jolt! The future mistress wanted to kill their master? 

Why? What unforgivable sin had Master committed? Could it be that he had gotten involved in some romantic entanglement, and the future mistress had found out? 

The deeper the love, the fiercer the hatred. The word ‘love’ could make one obsessed… make one go mad…

“Go!” Gu Ye waved her hand at him, signaling that he could leave.

Cradling the two bottles of poison, Yin Mei vanished into the night, torn with inner conflict.

Gu Ye sat by the water, hugging her knees and gazing up at the night sky. The moon was bright, the stars twinkling, their reflections rippling across the lake—an enchanting sight. 

She was now a sixth-level pharmacist. According to the rules of the pharmaceutics world, one could not lightly use drugs to take a life, but she no longer cared about such rules!

Before her lay only two paths: one, to marry the lecherous, perverse Prince Ning whom she had never met; two, to be expelled from the pharmaceutics world and never touch medicine again. 

Her bond with Brother Chen spanned two lifetimes. She would marry no one else. 

If she could not be a pharmacist, so be it! If the pharmaceutics world would lose her, that would be a great loss indeed!

“Miss, the wind has picked up. You should go back and rest!” Hua Hao draped the brocade cloak in his hands over the girl’s shoulders. Since she returned from the study in the front courtyard, her mood had been off.

No one knew what the Duke had told her! As a daughter of a noble family, there were too many worries, too many constraints. It was far less satisfying than the simple, carefree life she had once known.

“Indeed… the wind has picked up. It’s going to rain!” Gu Ye murmured, her words layered with meaning.

Back in her room, she lay in her undergarments on the carved yellow pearwood bed. The lattice window was half-open, letting in a gentle breeze, and she soon drifted into sleep. She slept soundly through the night, without a single dream, until dawn.

Meanwhile, Yin Mei, who had been assigned the task, was fretting terribly. The poison felt like a hot potato, burning in the palms of his hands. 

The young mistress had ordered him to poison the master—what was he to do?

Fortunately, he didn’t agonize for long. He avoided the inn’s ordinary guards, but before long he was discovered by his master himself.

Yin Mei had always protected his little lady closely, so his sudden appearance startled Ling Juechen. 

Thinking something had happened to her, he immediately yanked him out from his hiding place and urgently asked, “Why are you here? What happened? Is it about Ye’er…”

“Master, Miss is fine. I’m only here because I was given a task!” Yin Mei, caught by the master by the collar and struggling to breathe, hurriedly explained, thinking only of saving his own life.

Ling Juechen exhaled lightly and released his collar, speaking with some annoyance: “Then why do you look like someone who’s lost a family member? I thought… since this is a task given to you by Ye’er, shouldn’t you be rushing to get it done properly?”

Yin Mei frowned, his face twisted in a bitter grimace. “I would like nothing more than to complete the task smoothly, but…” He glanced at his master, then hesitated, unsure whether to speak further.

“What? Are you having trouble?” Ling Juechen asked curiously. 

What kind of task had the little girl actually given Yin Mei?

Yin Mei wrestled with his conscience for a long time. His master had assigned him to stay by the girl’s side, so in effect, he was her subordinate and had to obey her every command. But if he revealed the task she had given him to the person it concerned, would that count as betraying his master?

He looked up at Ling Juechen and cautiously asked, “Master… is it possible that there’s some misunderstanding between you and Miss?”

“A misunderstanding? No!” Ling Juechen’s handsome face showed a hint of surprise. He immediately reflected on himself. 

Did anything in the letter he just wrote upset the little girl? Could it be… that she had found out information about him from Fanjing?

Ling Juechen’s heart skipped a beat. The little girl had quite the temper; if she got angry, he really wouldn’t know how to handle her!