"Lu Baiwei!"
As a fierce shout rang out, the Eastern Depot guards standing outside suddenly felt a blur before their eyes.
A figure flashed out from the inner room, leaped over them, and stood in front of Lu Baiwei.
The man's face was sinister. His big hand landed precisely on Lu Baiwei's slender neck. His eyes were brimming with killing intent. "What did you give her?"
Lu Baiwei was tightly grasped by his big hand. Her vision suddenly went dark, and she could hardly breathe.
The Eastern Depot guards were greatly startled. They quickly drew their swords and rushed forward.
Sheng Jiangli let out a cold snort and turned Lu Baiwei around by her neck.
Several swords almost sliced across Lu Baiwei's face!
The guards quickly retracted their swords and looked at the Empress Dowager, who was being choked by Sheng Jiangli to the point of almost rolling her eyes.
"Brother Sheng! Don't be impulsive!" Qingqing cried out with a sob. "The Empress Dowager has poisoned Sister Caiyu with the Heart - Eating Gu!"
It was all her fault!
She shouldn't have been so reluctant to part with them!
She shouldn't have sneaked over to see them so often!
The Heart - Eating Gu!
Sheng Jiangli's pupils suddenly constricted. He loosened his hand.
Fresh air suddenly rushed in. Lu Baiwei's legs went weak, and she fell to the ground, coughing violently.
"Where's the antidote?" Sheng Jiangli's sinister voice sounded above her head.
Lu Baiwei coughed for a long time before she stopped. Aunt Mei helped her up from the ground.
Tears were streaming from the corners of her eyes due to the coughing. She looked a bit disheveled but still had a crazy smile on her lips.
"The antidote? Yes, I have it..."
"But you know that although the Heart - Eating Gu is not as difficult to cure as the Twin - Headed Snake Poison, the antidote needs to be taken once a month to relieve the symptoms. It has to be taken continuously for six months to be completely cured. If one dose is not taken in time, the person will surely die from the poison."
Sheng Jiangli's face was changing constantly.
Lu Baiwei laughed as she spoke. This poison was a prohibited poison from the previous dynasty. Even a national medical expert like Grand Master Guangzhi couldn't crack it within six months, let alone the fact that the antidote was needed every month to relieve the symptoms.
So...
Suddenly, Sheng Jiangli smiled. He sat down again and picked up the teapot he had given Caiyu just now, as if the previous rage and killing intent were just an illusion.
He suddenly raised his hand and, to Qingqing's scream, poured the remaining poison in the teapot into his mouth.
Lu Baiwei stared blankly as the venom slowly trickled down Sheng Jiangli's lips. Her face contorted. "General Sheng... What do you mean by this?"
Sheng Jiangli smiled and said, "It's just poison. What's the difference between one person being poisoned and two? It's the same for me to take it. Now my life is in the Empress Dowager's hands. Your Majesty can rest assured. I'll do whatever you order. How about I lead the troops north immediately?"
Lu Baiwei took a moment to regain her senses. She stared at him in disbelief. "You're threatening me with your own life?"
She understood.
Sheng Jiangli knew that she needed him, so he simply drank the poison.
As long as the antidote wasn't delivered in time, he would die immediately. She wouldn't even have the chance to threaten and negotiate with Caiyu to make him do other things.
"You're crazy!" Lu Baiwei couldn't help but curse. "You're really risking your life!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." Sheng Jiangli laughed. "I just want to live and die with Shu'er. If Your Majesty's antidote isn't delivered in time, you can forget about winning the war. I can still go to the underworld with the woman I love, but Your Majesty will be in a much worse situation..."
"Once the country is destroyed and the family is ruined, if the King of Yan hears about the fact that Your Majesty poisoned Caiyu, you'll surely wish you were dead."
Lu Baiwei's face changed several times. Finally, she only said one sentence:
"It's a deal. I'll have Qingqing deliver the antidote every month. As long as you defeat the Yan Army for me, I'll surely spare the lives of Caiyu and you!"
"Since Guangdong is far from Jiaodong, you should pack up and set off for Jizhou City tomorrow to join Lord Li Muge!" Lu Baiwei handed a token to Sheng Jiangli. "Now he's the main commander of the Northern Expedition. You just need to cooperate with him in everything."
---
After Lu Baiwei left the small wooden house, Qingqing chased after her from behind.
"Your Majesty!" She called out to Lu Baiwei. Looking at the beautiful face of the woman who turned to look at her, disappointment appeared on her face. "Your Majesty saved me, an orphan, from the pile of dead bodies back then. I thought you were a kind - hearted weak woman bullied by the Crown Prince, but I don't know when you changed."
Changed to be so cruel and unscrupulous.
Her impression of Lu Baiwei was still stuck on that cold and windy grassland.
The woman had pulled her out of the pile of dead bodies and held her in her arms to keep her warm.
Her voice was even softer than her mother's. "Good girl, you'll follow me from now on!"
Qingqing pressed her ear against the woman's soft chest and listened to her heartbeat, which was like the rhythm of her mother gently beating the sheepskin drum on the grassland.
This memory had always been deeply engraved in her heart.
She regarded Lu Baiwei as her own mother and herself as her daughter.
So she had been as willful, rebellious, and unrestrained as a child.
But no matter how noisy she was, she always believed every word Lu Baiwei said and was willing to do anything for her.
It was not until she used her to drive a wedge between Caiyu and Song Yinghuai that she realized she couldn't trust this mother completely anymore.
A kind - hearted weak woman...
Lu Baiwei was a bit dazed by Qingqing's words. Her eyes became blurred, as if she saw herself when she was still a young girl.
Which young girl didn't have a dream in her heart?
They all hoped to marry a good husband.
It would be best if this husband was in a high position and only had eyes for her, and they had many children.
But her father's death forced her to give up the man she loved and instead scheme to get close to Song Chengyuan.
She got married. At first, she also intended to regard Song Chengyuan as her husband and forget about Xuan Yao.
But who was Song Chengyuan...
He tortured her day and night.
Day after day.
The innocence of her youth was long gone.
If she was still naive, how could she have survived until now?
"Silly girl." Lu Baiwei curled her lips. Looking at Qingqing's young face, she said, "People always change. The people and things she encounters in her life will ultimately shape her character."
"I'm unfortunate to have married such a man. If I don't fight for myself in this life, I'll sink into hell. I have no other choice."
"Your Majesty is the Empress Dowager now. Stop, please!" Qingqing's eyes were moist. "Please spare Brother Sheng and Sister Caiyu, okay?"
Lu Baiwei's red lips curled into an even more charming smile. "I didn't intend to take their lives at first... I knew that I could find General Sheng if I found you, but did I ever have the intention to look for you in the past two years?"
She also wanted to be a good Empress Dowager and enjoy the admiration of thousands of people.
But her useless son had ruined everything.
She couldn't control Xuan Yao, and Zhu'er had also spoiled her grand plan.
What could she do?
She had to become a villain again.
Everyone for themselves, or they'll be damned by heaven and earth.
She sighed. "Silly girl, I'm not a blood - thirsty person. As long as they listen to me and do things well for me, I'll surely fulfill their wishes!"
When Qingqing returned to the house, Caiyu was still unconscious.
Qingqing looked at Sheng Jiangli with red eyes. "Brother Sheng, I'm sorry. I really didn't bring the Empress Dowager here to find you this time, but I did implicate you. If I hadn't been secretly following you all the time..."
"What's done is done. It's no use talking about it." Sheng Jiangli glanced at her. "I've always known that you've been following us. It's my fault that I didn't drive you away completely. Since I was soft - hearted, I should bear the consequences of my soft - heartedness."
Qingqing followed him into the inner room, looking worried. "Brother Sheng, if you go to Jiaodong, you'll surely have to face the King. At that time..."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Sheng Jiangli released his gyrfalcon. "I'll first transfer the Hu cavalry into the pass and into Jiaodong."
If the battle between him and Song Yinghuai was inevitable, then it would be a case of: in a narrow encounter, the brave prevails!