Chapter 541: 541 I found the answer I was looking for_1

Wei Ruo was stunned.

Chu Lan, he…

Chu Lan continued to speak to Wei Ruo: “What I truly want to confirm today is not your identity, but what you truly mean to me, whether I…”

Wei Ruo interrupted Chu Lan, abruptly standing up, “I need to leave!”

She didn’t want to hear the rest of what he had to say.

Chu Lan immediately followed up, wrapping his hands around Wei Ruo’s shoulders.

Almost instantly, a hand reached out from the side, pulling Wei Ruo back while kicking Chu Lan away.

It was Wei Jinyi. Eventually, he took action when Chu Lan tried to touch Wei Ruo.

Chu Lan staggered, managing to regain balance only after backing up a few steps.

He raised his head, looking at the instigator – Wang Jin, a man with martial arts skills beyond any ordinary man’s imagination.

At the same time, guards around the pavilion all drew their swords, flooding into the pavilion.

Xiumei and Lin Fang immediately fought back against Chu Lan’s guards who had entered the pavilion.

Weiruo was protected in the middle by both of them, her fists clenched as she watched the waves of enemies pouring in.

Chu Lan advanced once more, crossing blades with Wei Jinyi.

Weijinyi moved swiftly, his sword in hand like a dragon emerging from the water, ever-changing and unpredictable. His every strike was as if conjuring a world of life through Tai Chi, shifting as the stars did.

Chu Lan was indeed no match for Wei Jinyi’s skills. Struggling to fend off Wei Jinyi’s attacks, especially as the latter’s moves increasingly hinted at a deadly intent, Chu Lan was pressured into a continuous retreat.

However, Wei Ruo’s side did not have the numerical advantage, it was impossible for Xiumei and Lin Fang to fight off more than thirty people and protect Wei Ruo from harm at the same time.

Wei Ruo knew that in a little while, Xiumei, Lin Fang and herself would be captured.

Therefore, she didn’t dare delay any longer. From her arms, she took out a handful of small black pills, lit them with a toasting stick and threw them to the ground.

When the black pills hit the ground, they exploded and emitted a thick white smoke, instantly filling the entire pavilion.

The men around the pavilion who belonged to Chu Lan didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t see the situation within the pavilion, and they dared not act rashly for fear of hurting their prince who was still inside.

“Everyone stop, this smoke is poisonous. Your prince has already inhaled it, and he won’t survive without my antidote!”

Wei Ruo’s voice echoed from within the white smoke.

The men outside stopped and began to cover their noses and mouths.

After a while, the smoke gradually cleared, revealing the situation inside the pavilion.

Wei Jinyi’s blade was pointed at Chu Lan, the edge of the sword pressed against Chu Lan’s neck.

Upon noticing this, Chu Lan’s men dared not move rashly.

Wei Ruo pulled out a pill from her bosom and handed it to Lin Fang: “Give this to King Jing.”

Lin Fang did as instructed and fed the pill Wei Ruo gave him to Chu Lan.

Facing the pill that Wei Ruo forced him to take, Chu Lan didn’t offer much resistance, swallowing it down.

Then Chu Lan looked at Wei Ruo with a gaze that seemed to see through her, saying: “Actually, the smoke you created just now was merely a smokescreen and not poisonous. The pill you just gave me is the actual poison.”

Her scheme exposed, Wei Ruo’s heart tightened.

What shocked her was that Chu Lan knowingly swallowed the actual poison.

Being seen through while failing to understand the other party’s situation made her feel extremely unease.

However, Wei Ruo maintained her composure on the surface: “Prince Jing, you’ve taken the poison and I’m the only one with the antidote. Please let us leave and send someone to King Rui Residence in three days to get the antidote.”

Chu Lan looked at Wei Ruo and laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” Wei Ruo did not like the way Chu Lan was looking at her.

“I found the answer I was looking for,” Chu Lan said.

Wei Ruo wasn’t interested in the answer Chu Lan was looking for: “Prince Jing, are you so keen on finding this so-called answer that you don’t care about your life?”

“You won’t kill me. If I die here, none of you can escape. King Rui Residence will fall into a difficult situation, causing turmoil in the court. This isn’t the scenario you want to see,” Chu Lan spoke confidently.

Wei Ruo fell silent, she knew Chu Lan’s words were indeed the truth; this was why she didn’t want her brother to take action from the start.

Chu Lan continued: “You may leave, I promised I won’t harm you.”

“It better be,” Wei Ruo sneered cynically.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Wei Ruo then turned to Wei Jinyi: “Let’s go.”

Wei Jinyi hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his sword.

They then mounted their horses and departed.

“Prince! Allow me to pursue them!”

“Don’t chase after them, I promised her I wouldn’t harm her. I keep my words.”

“But, Prince, they’ve poisoned you!”

“Three days from now, I will go to King Rui Residence to get the antidote,” Chu Lan said.

###

Wei Ruo and her companions galloped back to King Rui Residence.

After entering, Lin Fang said to Wei Ruo, “Miss, we actually had many men hidden nearby. If a real fight broke out, King Jing might not necessarily be our opponent.”

“But that would reveal that King Rui Residence is not as useless and unambitious as we’ve been pretending to be,” Wei Ruo replied.

“But … with King Jing in his current state, I am worried …”

“I understand your concern,” Wei Ruo replied before asking, “Where is my brother?”

As soon as she got off her horse, she turned around and didn’t see her brother anywhere. Usually, when they got back to the residence, her brother would always remind her of one or two things, like getting rest early or taking care of her health.

His absence today was somewhat unusual.

“He…He probably went back to his study,” Lin Fang was unsure.

“I’ll go find him.”

After saying this, Wei Ruo headed towards the front yard.

On her way, Wei Ruo’s mind was full of thoughts.

What Chu Lan told her today was something she had never expected.

To her, he was more like a nightmare.

Since the original Ruo had died at his hands, each time she thought of him, her body would instinctively fill with fear.

Back in Taizhou prefecture, had she known it was him, even if she couldn’t kill him, she certainly wouldn’t have saved him.

So today, hearing Chu Lan say such things to her, her heart was filled more with fear. She was afraid of being entangled with him again.

Lost in thought, Wei Ruo arrived at Wei Jinyi’s study.

Wei Ruo knocked on the door: “Brother, it’s me. Are you resting?”

Wei Ruo waited for a moment. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, which was then opened.

Their eyes met. Wei Ruo looked at Wei Jinyi, who had just put off his disguise and reverted to his true self, and asked: “Can I come in?”

“Hmm.”

Wei Jinyi turned and walked back in, Wei Ruo followed suit, closing the door behind her.

Both of them came to the small round table in the room and sat down, facing each other.

“Second brother, today’s events have taken me by surprise. Although I don’t want my personal matters to interfere with your plans, I know they may unavoidably cause some trouble and inconvenience for you,” she said.