Chapter 227 - Chapter 227: Behind-the-scenes Mastermind

Chapter 227: Behind-the-scenes Mastermind

Translator: 549690339

A shadow flitted under the moonlight, and Gu Ling rushed into Su Liang’s room.

At first sight of Su Liang, Gu Ling slightly breathed a sigh of relief, only then noticing Gao Jiabao, who was wrapped and tied up by the bed curtains next to her, still struggling, and the room in disarray.

Most of the bowls and dishes on the table had shattered on the floor, but there was still a box of intact desserts, Osmanthus Cakes made by the mother of Gao Jiabao, which he had brought for Su Liang to eat.

“What happened?” Gu Ling asked.

Su Liang looked at him with a sickly face, “Someone poisoned my food. I didn’t eat it, but Gao Jiabao did, and he went mad, trying to kill. I don’t know what poison it is and how to cure it.”

“It’s Qiu Ming.” Gu Ling’s voice turned cold.

“Did you see his brow…” Su Liang frowned. If it were Qiu Ming, Gu Ling should not have seen the black mist on his brow afterwards, right?

Gu Ling shook his head, “No. It seems that the purpose of this poison is not to kill. ”

Gu Ling was suspicious because of the Sauce Pork Knuckle that Qiu Ming had let him eat, but he hadn’t found any black mist on Qiu Ming’s brow. However, the food was given by Qiu Ming to Su Liang, making him the prime suspect.

However, Gu Ling’s ability to see the black mist indicated that someone would be killed in three days or would be killed without deserving to die within that period, and if he didn’t stop them, the person would die.

Obviously, the aim of this poison plot against Su Liang was not to kill her, but to ruin her…

Living alone, if she went mad after taking the poison, it was unthinkable how many people would be killed by her as the Martial Arts Champion in a situation where she lost her sanity.

The man behind the scenes had a similar mentality to Duanmu Cheng who had previously sent a grandfather-granddaughter pair to assassinate Su Liang in Xunyang City: It was precisely because Su Liang was a righteous and kind person that their sinister plot could succeed.

Hearing the hurried footsteps outside, Su Liang told Gu Ling to leave, “Don’t let

Qiu Ming escape.”

Gu Ling glanced at the red-eyed Gao Jiabao staring at Su Liang, said nothing, and disappeared from the room.

Before Gu Ling’s arrival, Su Liang had called for help loudly, and a soldier had responded to her. She told them to find someone immediately.

Lin Bojun went home every day, so he wasn’t in the military camp at this time. Just as Gu Ling left, several generals from the Forbidden Army arrived one after another.

Su Liang briefly explained the situation, “This matter must be reported to His Majesty immediately and arrange for the Imperial Physician to come! Qiu Ming is highly suspicious, don’t let him escape!”

As soon as her words fell, Su Liang pierced a specific acupoint on Gao Jiabao with a needle. but it was of no use. as Gao Tiabao didn’t fall unconscious.

A poisoning incident in the military camp was extremely serious, indicating the presence of a spy. Knowing the gravity of the situation, the generals split into two groups, one rushing to the Imperial Palace to report, and the other going to apprehend Qiu Ming.

After being rejected by Gu Ling when offering him Sauce Pork Knuckle and discovering that Gu Ling had disappeared, Qiu Ming soon vanished from the new recruits’ camp as well.

However, both Gu Ling and Qiu Ming were assigned to serve as running errands for Su Liang and could enter and exit the new recruits’ camp freely. Therefore, when the two were not present, the other new recruits simply thought they had gone to Su Liang and didn’t notice anything unusual.

The general leading the soldiers to arrest the culprit found that Qiu Ming had disappeared and immediately ordered a thorough search of the entire military camp!

The security of the Forbidden Army was very tight, making it difficult to break in or escape.

Just as a new recruit whispered a comment, “Han Su is missing too,” Han Su walked in carrying a wooden basin for washing, his forehead still slightly damp.

After everyone left, the new recruits’ camp was noisy with everyone speculating about what Qiu Ming had done.

Gu Ling sat on the bed, holding a half-carved little firefly puppet in his hand, frowning in silence.

Su Liang had tried many ways, but none had been able to calm Gao Jiabao down. The poison was too tricky. In the end, she chose to knock him out, which took three attempts to succeed.

The small courtyard was heavily guarded but the room was quiet.

Su Liang had been squatting on the ground for too long. When she suddenly stood up, she felt a bit dizzy, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead, dripping onto the ground.

She moved Gao Jiabao to the bed and went out to ask for a rope to bind him since she didn’t know when he would wake up and the bed curtains were torn apart.

Forcing herself to calm down, Su Liang also figured out the goal of the person behind the scenes. To make her go mad and kill, even if she recovered afterward, she would be filled with regret for the rest of her life…

Such means were nothing short of ruthlessly vicious.

Taking a deep breath, Su Liang’s gaze fell on Gao Jiabao again, she needed to put aside her distracting thoughts, and the first priority was to detoxify him.

In the Imperial Palace, Duanmu Yi learnt that a spy had infiltrated the

Forbidden Army and poisoned Su Liang’s food. His face changed drastically.

Upon hearing the report that Su Liang was unharmed and the food was eaten by Gao Jiabao, Duanmu Yi breathed a sigh of relief and then asked about Gao Jiabao’s condition.

Upon learning that Gao Jiabao was already under Su Liang’s control, she ordered the Imperial Physician to be summoned. Duanmu Yi ordered the senior Imperial Physician to choose someone to escort him.

Before the person left, someone arrived to report on the arrest of the spy.

It really was Qiu Ming, whose original plan was to escape when Su Liang went mad and killed people, creating chaos in the army. However, things changed, and before he could escape, someone suddenly grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him hard into a tree, causing him to faint, and he was quickly found.

Therefore, the report Duanmu Yi received was, “The spy fled in panic and, due to the dark night and limited visibility, knocked himself out by colliding with a tree.”

From beginning to end, no one discovered any connection between the incident and Gu Ling.

Duanmu Yi ordered Qiu Ming to be taken to the Heavenly Prison for interrogation by the Ministry of Justice overnight to pry open his mouth and find out the mastermind behind the plot.

The senior Imperial Physician, who was already asleep, suddenly received the news that his precious grandson had been poisoned in the military camp. He immediately felt the world spin around him.

By the time the five Imperial Physicians, including the senior one, rushed to the Forbidden Army camp, it was already late at night.

Su Liang had someone tidy up the room, but traces of the fight were still visible.

Gao Jiabao hadn’t awakened yet. There were stationery and a pile of medicinal herbs on the table, and Su Liang was deep in thought about how to detoxify him.

The senior Imperial Physician was devastated upon seeing his grandson’s condition.

Su Liang helped him sit down and described Gao Jiabao’s symptoms to everyone, asking if they had ever heard or seen such poison.

However, the Imperial Physicians’ knowledge of poison techniques was even less than Su Liang’s, and they all said that they had never heard of it.

“Could it be that he will recover by tomorrow once he wakes up?” a physician furrowed his brow and said, “I recalled that the Fifth Prince had once gone mad for no reason and returned to normal the next day, but I’m not sure if it’s a similar poison.”

Su Liang had already thought of it. The Fifth Prince, Duanmu Che’s abnormal behavior back then, was caused by her and Gu Ling using a poison called Leisurely Pill.

However, the poison Gao Jiabao suffered from was different. The Leisurely Pill only made people behave like lunatics, and the desire to attack others wasn’t as strong. After being poisoned, Gao Jiabao seemed to have become a murderous maniac, and if it weren’t for Su Liang’s presence, the soldiers wouldn’t have survived approaching him with his Martial Arts skills.

“I’m not sure,” Su Liang shook her head.

The only thing that reassured Su Liang was that Gu Ling had not spotted the dark cloud on Qiu Ming’s forehead or Gao Jiabao’s, confirming that at least for the next three days, Gao Jiabao wouldn’t die.

Before the Imperial Physicians arrived, Su Liang had researched the detoxification method based on the Leisurely Pill.

Daylight arrived.

Gu Ling, carrying a bucket of water, entered Su Liang’s courtyard.

The door was open, and she could see Su Liang talking to the senior Imperial Physician with a weary expression.

Retracting her gaze, Gu Ling brought the water to the kitchen and poured it into the tank, then began to heat the water. From her position, she could vaguely hear the voices in the room.

As usual, Lin Bojun had his breakfast and brought Su Liang’s breakfast to the military camp, only to discover the trouble from last night, and immediately rushed over.

“I’m fine. The seniors have been up all night, so please ask Second Brother Lin to send someone to take them home,” Su Liang rubbed her temples and said, “Gao Jiabao hasn’t woken up yet, but it looks like there’s no immediate danger to his life. I won’t do anything else until I detoxify him. I’ll take him back to the city with me later. Second Brother Lin, please handle the arrangements for the new recruits’ training. If the Emperor asks, I’ll explain.”

Lin Bojun heaved a deep sigh, “Alright. The spy was taken to the Heavenly

Prison for interrogation last night. If I have any news, I’ll let you know.”

Lin Bojun arranged for people to escort the other Imperial Physicians back to the city, excluding the senior one. Su Liang quickly packed up and prepared to leave with Gao Jiabao and his grandfather.

“General Su, have some hot water,” Gu Ling appeared at the door, holding a teapot in her hand.

Only then did Su Liang remember that she had forgotten about Gu Ling. Whether Gu Ling would stay after she left and whether she would return after curing Gao Jiabao, she didn’t know.

“Thank you.” Su Liang took the teapot and asked again, “Has there been anything unusual about Qiu Ming before?”

Gu Ling shook his head, “Nothing was found.”

Su Liang sighed softly, “Alright, you can go. I need to return to the capital city, and you don’t have to come here to help after that.”

“Yes.” Gu Ling responded and turned to leave.

Su Liang poured two cups of water and gave one to Elder Gao, the Imperial Physician. She tried to feed Gao Jiabao, but most of it was spilled.

Su Liang took a sip. It was not hot and just the temperature she usually drank water at, which warmed her body somewhat.

When Su Liang was gone, no one was in charge of the new army recruits. When Lin Bojun became available, he remembered to assign a trainer to the new recruits but received news that one of them had gone missing.

Given what happened to Qiu Ming, Lin Bojun took it seriously and immediately investigated.

He found that the missing recruit’s name was Han Su, and he was very close to Qiu Ming.

Therefore, Han Su was suspected to be Qiu Ming’s accomplice. Unfortunately, since he had disappeared, they could only pry the truth from Qiu Ming’s mouth to confirm the matter.

By this time, Su Liang had returned to her mansion in the capital city, unaware that Gu Ling had left the military camp.

She brought Gao Jiabao home with her, while the elderly Gao Physician did not object, hoping that Su Liang could save him.

When they first arrived home, Gao Jiabao woke up once. Su Liang tied him up and administered acupuncture, which worked, and he fell into a deep slumber. But this was just a temporary solution.

Now living next door, Xing Yusheng and Lin Xueqing stayed with Su Liang to ensure her food and drink were safe.

Until that evening, Su Liang still had no clue about the antidote when Lin Bojun visited, informing her that Han Su was nowhere to be found.

Su Liang was surprised, “Just disappeared? Without doing anything?”

Lin Bojun sighed, “Yes, he didn’t do anything, but he is very likely Qiu Ming’s accomplice and fled to avoid being exposed. Now that I think about it, it must have been them who arranged to be assigned to help you. Otherwise, it couldn’t have been such a coincidence!”

Su Liang nodded, “That should be the case.”

“There has been no progress at the Ministry of Justice, and Qiu Ming still refuses to open his mouth,” Lin Bojun said. “We didn’t find any poison in his belongings, and it seems like he used it all up. There is no antidote either.”

“He couldn’t possibly have an antidote, since he’s just a puppet of the mastermind behind this.” Su Liang shook her head.

Lin Bojun checked on Gao Jiabao and, finding out Su Liang had not yet discovered a detoxification method, he said with a frown, “I believe in you. Get some rest; your body can’t take this.”

“Yes!” Lin Xueqing entered with dinner, “Su, have something hot to eat and then go to sleep for a while. Maybe you’ll have an idea when you wake up!” “Alright.” Su Liang nodded. She indeed needed sleep.

After Lin Bojun left, Su Liang ate her dinner alone, thinking about Gu Ling and wondering where he might be. Perhaps he was at home, but it wasn’t convenient for him to show himself.

Lin Xueqing wanted to stay with Su Liang, but she was persuaded to leave by Xing Yusheng. He thought Su Liang needed her own space to think calmly.

However, Xing Yusheng left Qi Jun to help Su Liang. Su Liang did not refuse and asked Qi Jun to take care of Gao Jiabao and to call her if anything unusual happened.

Elder Gao, who was of advanced age, couldn’t endure staying up all night and was persuaded by Su Liang to go home and come back the next day.

After washing up, Su Liang planned to sleep for a while and then see how things went.

She left a lamp lit in the outer room, and soon fell asleep after lying down.

Gu Ling slipped through the window as easily as ever. In the dim light coming from the outer room, he stood by the bed, gazing at Su Liang’s peaceful face. He reached out and seemed to touch her cheek for a moment but withdrew his hand, sighing almost inaudibly before leaving as silently as he had arrived.

Deep in the Heavenly Prison.

The sound of whips striking flesh echoed in the hearts of every prisoner, making them shudder with fear.

This was the most brutal interrogation chamber in the Heavenly Prison, and its screams were for the other prisoners to hear.

Qiu Ming was tied to the Zhuzi, his body bloody and mangled, with not a single spot of good skin left, but he clenched his teeth and refused to confess anything.

“Get the pliers!” said the cold-voiced interrogation official from the Ministry of Justice.

Duanmu Yi had given a deadly order: if they couldn’t get a confession, the Ministry of Justice would be considered incompetent.

The rusted iron pliers still had dried blood on them. One man grabbed Qiu

Ming’s hair and made him lift his head, while another pried open his mouth.

His eyes widened in terror as the pliers approached, then entered his mouth. The cold touch made him shiver all over, and in the next instant, a chilling scream echoed as his front tooth was brutally pulled out!

“Tell me, who sent you?”

Blood and saliva flowed out of Qiu Ming’s trembling teeth, but he remained silent.

The interrogating officer snorted coldly and the pliers moved in once more.

Footsteps approached in the distance, and a prison officer brought food and alcohol. “Officer Fan, why not take a break before continuing the interrogation

The aroma of food and alcohol filled the air, and the interrogator tossed the pliers aside, ordered the lock opened, and let the prison officer enter.

About fifteen minutes later, everyone in the interrogation room who had eaten and drunk was passed out on the floor, and the waiting prison officer entered once more.

Qiu Ming stared in disbelief at the person approaching him.

Soon, Qiu Ming was untied, and the prison officer wrapped Officer Fan’s clothes around him, tidied his hair, held his head, and supported him as they walked out.

The passageway in the Heavenly Prison was dark, and the prison officer whispered, “Officer Fan is drunk, I’ll escort him back.” They moved smoothly through the prison without obstruction.

Once someone noticed something was off, the two of them were about to leave the Heavenly Prison.

After a fight, several people were injured, no one was killed, and the prison officer successfully escaped with Qiu Ming.

Upon hearing the news, Duanmu Yi was furious at the incompetence of the Ministry of Justice. He ordered them to capture the spy and his accomplices at all costs!

Wangxiang Mountain outside the city.

Qiu Ming was thrown to the ground, shaking in pain. As blood dripped from his mouth, he asked, “Who… are you…?”

“It’s me.” The man who had impersonated the prison officer removed his outer clothes.

Upon hearing “Han Su’s” voice, Qiu Ming’s eyes widened. “You… who… are you?!”

“I’m from the north.” Gu Ling said.

Qiu Ming blurted out, “The north… Liang Country? You’re a spy sent by Liang Country?”

Gu Ling nodded slightly. “And you? From the south?”

Qiu Ming stared at him without refuting, but questioned, “It was you who knocked me out last night, wasn’t it? Why did you rescue me tonight?”

Gu Ling didn’t deny it. “Yes. If you escaped, I would be suspected. I saved you today because you were caught and I was still suspected. My identity can’t withstand scrutiny, so I have no choice but to abandon my mission and slip away.”

“What’s your mission? Why did you save me?” Qiu Ming asked coldly.

“My mission is to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and assassinate the one on the Dragon Throne.” Gu Ling said, “I saved you just because it was convenient. After all, we are the same. My family has been captured, and if I don’t obey, they will die.”

Qiu Ming’s expression visibly stirred at his words, “Indeed, we are the same.”

Gu Ling knew he had guessed correctly. Qiu Ming had always mentioned his family, and people like him would become spies because they were controlled, and the methods could easily be guessed.

“Yin Country’s Royal Family?” Gu Ling asked.

Qiu Ming shook his head, “Sort of, not exactly…”

“You can tell me, and I can help you. I also need your help.” Gu Ling’s voice carried a convincing power.

After a moment of silence, Qiu Ming uttered two words, “Mu, Ya..”