Chapter 19

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“Clang,” the dagger fell to the ground, followed by Qian Faliang collapsing onto the floor.

“Ah! Give me the antidote, give me the antidote.”

He clutched his head with both hands, kowtowing to Qi Yue frantically, even faster than someone grinding garlic.

“I beg you, give me the antidote!”

Qian Faliang kept pleading and howling.

Rolling around on the ground, he kicked up clouds of dust and dirt.

Qi Yue stepped back quietly and watched silently, calculating in her mind the time it would take for Qian Faliang to succumb to the poison.

In her previous life, Qi Yue was not only a doctor who integrated Chinese and Western medicine, but she also had a secret passion—poisons.

Of all the poisons, she favored only one kind: slow, long-term, addictive, yet ultimately leading to death.

Due to safety issues in her world before, she never had a chance to test, yet unexpectedly, she found a suitable candidate here.

Qian Faliang had committed too many evils, offensive to both gods and men; using him as a human guinea pig was his just deserts.

Most importantly, she wanted to turn Qian Faliang into a dog.

A dog that was disloyal, but could never dare to betray her no matter what.

“Miss Qi, I won’t dare to do it again.”

Qian Faliang crawled on his knees like a dog.

Each movement he made, he couldn’t stop wiping his nose on his fingers.

But as soon as the snot was wiped away, tears rolled down like a dam had burst.

“Miss Qi, Granny Qi, Ancestor Qi. I don’t want the antidote anymore, please, just let me feel better!”

Qian Faliang kept wiping his nose and tears, his face plastered with soil and feces, leaving only a pair of bloodshot eyes that looked ready to burst.

“Don’t want it anymore?” Qi Yue, holding a white antidote, raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want it, you better think it through?”

“I want it, I want!”

Qian Faliang frantically lunged for that white pellet in the dirt, almost wolfing it down as he put it in his mouth.

1, 2, 3…

In just three seconds, Qian Faliang was back to normal.

This time he was smarter, and instead of trying to do something, he took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and cleaned himself up.

“Thank you, Master, for granting me the medicine, this servant is eternally grateful.”

Qian Faliang bowed deeply to Qi Yue with a respectful face and made a bow in the direction of Zhao Xiyan, his voice full of groveling.

“Master, this place is too shabby. Please Master, Master Ye, move to the main rooms of the post station. I will have someone prepare dinner immediately.”

Qi Yue looked at him with a smile, “I prefer cleanliness. Have someone get the items ready, I’ll handle it myself.”

“Yes, Master, it is my crudeness.”

From beginning to end, Qian Faliang seemed like a changed person, astonishing everyone present.

All of them were discussing quietly.

“Isn’t Miss Qi too terrifying? How did she do it?”

“Was the poison in Qian Faliang really cured?”

“Probably not, right? Otherwise, why would Qian act like a dog?”

Qi Yue didn’t care about the discussions, because she knew that Qian Faliang was pretending, showing weakness.

He was confirming whether his poison was truly cured.

Like a malevolent hunter, he would leap at the chance to deal her a fatal blow.

But, what a pity.

The moment Qian Faliang swallowed the white pill, he lost his opportunity forever.

That was the viciousness of her specially crafted pill.

If one relied solely on one’s willpower and managed to endure for a half an hour, then there would be no issue at all.

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But once the antidote was used, there would be no turning back.

From then on, every 12 Shichen, Qian Faliang would experience the agony of countless worms consuming his heart and his tendons breaking, until he took the antidote.

In this way, he would repeat this suffering until he turned into a skeleton.

Thinking of this, Qi Yue stopped in her tracks and looked back at Qian Faliang.

“Every 12 Shichen, come to me for the antidote. As long as you’re a good dog, there will be no trouble.”

“—Yes, Master!”

Seeing Qian Faliang clenching his fist inside his sleeve, Qi Yue smiled faintly.

This poison, she was the only one in the world who had it, and she was the only one who could cure it.

Whatever Qian Faliang wanted to do, it was too late.

Right, there were still things she had not asked.

Forget it, it’s not too late to ask in a couple of days, after all, he can’t run away.

It’s important to eat first. Hungry.

She walked leisurely toward Zhao Xiyan’s carriage.

“Dad, Mom, let’s go.”

“Ah, Yueyue!”

Shen Yu cried with emotion, her sleeve quickly wet with tears.

Zhao Shuangyue and Zhao Shuangxue both wiped their tears, crying and laughing as they called out.

“Big sister-in-law!”

Zhao Yonglian and Zhao Yongzhe were visibly excited and happy.

Zhao Xiyan wore a mask, so his expression was not visible, but Qi Yue saw the eyes beneath it fluttering like dazzling moths.

They were so brilliantly eye-catching.

She felt a little embarrassed and without thinking, she bent down to pull the carriage when suddenly a group of people crowded around her.

“Oh, my dear niece-in-law, how can you pull the carriage? Let us do it!”

“Niece-in-law, let us handle pulling the carriage from now on!”

Qi Yue turned her head to look.

Well, isn’t this Chen Suyun, who was yelling about cutting off ties?

Looking back further, she saw the miserable Zhao Yongxin and his equally miserable sons, Zhao Zhi and Zhao Weiyi.

Trailing behind them was his concubine, Feng Yuemadam.

Chen Suyun yanked Zhao Yongxin fiercely, pushing him forward.

“Quick, hurry and speak nicely to your niece-in-law, big brother and sister-in-law.”

Zhao Yongxin staggered and fell to his knees in front of the carriage with a “thump.”

“Big brother, I was wrong. Punish me! I shouldn’t have listened to this woman and cut ties with you.”

“Big brother, I regret it. Please let me come back!”

“Didn’t you always look after me when we were at home? Please, look after me one more time!”

Zhao Yongxin cried, tears and snot flowing, clutching the carriage frame.

Qi Yue figured that he hadn’t even cried this much when their father, the old Duke, had died.

Following this, Zhao Zhi and Zhao Weiyi also rushed forward, each grabbing a handle of the carriage.

“Uncle, please show some affection to your nephew! I haven’t had a full meal for ten days!”

“Uncle, let us go with you!”

Qi Yue glanced at the bundles behind them and tugged at the corner of her mouth.

With all their bags, it seemed they were really planning to latch on.

She was curious to see how the Zhao family would deal with these ungrateful relatives. If they indiscriminately played the good card, they couldn’t blame her for stepping aside.