Chapter 58

Chapter 58: The Poison of Qian Ji Powder

But now, Sheng Zhi Wan clearly would not save him.

His body was covered in whip marks. Even if she tried, could she cut away every inch of his tortured flesh?

His eyes were scarlet, screams of pain echoed endlessly.

The dungeon resounded with Zhang Da Hu’s miserable cries, yet Sheng Zhi Wan remained unmoved.

One whip!

Another whip!

Yet another!

Only after a full thirty lashes, when Zhang Da Hu was no longer recognizable except for his face—now reduced to a blood-soaked figure—did she finally stop.

Zhang Da Hu had long lost the strength to curse, only staring at her with bloodshot eyes.

Then, Sheng Zhi Wan stepped forward.

“Princess…” Seeing her approach, the guards hurriedly tried to intervene. Having witnessed many brutal scenes, they knew how terrifying a dying man’s desperate strike could be.

After all, Sheng Zhi Wan was merely a delicate woman with no strength.

Shang Hang Yu waved his hand, and only then did the guards step back.

Sheng Zhi Wan said softly, “Do you believe you are already dead? After all, this is Qian Ji Powder. Did Meng Yang tell you it has no antidote, and the only way to survive once poisoned…”

She paused, her gaze falling mockingly on Zhang Da Hu’s empty sleeve, “…is to completely cut away the poisoned flesh?”

Zhang Da Hu’s lips quivered. “What… are… you… saying?”

“I simply want to tell you, Zhang Er Hu died wrongly. And you—you’re truly foolish. Why do you believe everything she says? Have you never asked other military physicians? Never doubted Meng Yang?”

“No… Impossible!”

Miss Meng was so skilled, she could even stitch and stop bleeding from his lost arm. How could she possibly… be less capable than those useless military physicians?

Zhang Da Hu refused to believe it.

This woman was clearly trying to turn him against Miss Meng, hoping he would implicate her. But the more Sheng Zhi Wan did this, the less he would ever speak!

“Pah! Give up this idea. It was my decision alone to kidnap you, Miss Meng had nothing to do with it! You lowly wretch, stop trying to drag Miss Meng into this!” Zhang Da Hu spat out blood defiantly.

“Ah, what a loyal dog Meng Yang raised,” Sheng Zhi Wan mocked, pity mingling with scorn in her eyes.

In truth, Qian Ji Powder was a poison extracted from a plant called the Qian Ji Tree.

Because the Qian Ji Tree grew only within the six tribes of Yanjue, historically, Yanjue often coated their weapons and arrows with poison made from Qian Ji Powder to increase lethality during war.

Sheng Kingdom had suffered greatly from this until over twenty years ago, when Imperial Physician Song’s father finally developed an antidote to the poison, widely spreading the formula throughout the kingdom.

Thus, nearly every healer within Sheng Kingdom—military physician or not—knew how to detoxify Qian Ji Powder.

But Meng Yang…

Perhaps because she never belonged to this world, let alone Sheng Kingdom, she was utterly ignorant of this history. Encountering Qian Ji Powder for the first time, she confidently declared to all the poisoned soldiers there was no cure.

Consequently, during the Battle of Cangnan, many soldiers poisoned by Qian Ji Powder chose to end their lives in despair.

Zhang Er Hu was merely one of those unfortunate souls.

Sheng Zhi Wan had learned this truth in her previous life, thanks to Ruan Ruan.

Back then, Sheng Zhi Wan had just been demoted to commoner status, confined and gravely ill. Wanting to help her recover, Ruan Ruan climbed secretly onto the rooftop each night, praying for blessings.

It was precisely because of this that Ruan Ruan accidentally witnessed Meng Yang secretly burning paper offerings and muttering scattered confessions…

Unfortunately, this discovery sealed Ruan Ruan’s fate. Meng Yang sought to silence her, eventually causing Ruan Ruan to be beaten to death by Qi Fei Yan.

Sheng Zhi Wan even suspected Ruan Ruan’s death had deeper secrets, but at that time, she herself was already near death. Until her last breath, the full truth had remained hidden.

“Since you don’t believe me, experience it yourself,” Sheng Zhi Wan continued calmly, retrieving another square bottle, distinctively capped in red.

She dissolved the powder from the bottle in water, then smiled faintly, signaling the guards to splash it all over Zhang Da Hu.

Zhang Da Hu was already hovering at death’s door, tormented by unbearable pain.

Yet even now, he stubbornly trusted that kind-hearted Miss Meng could never deceive him!

But as the water cascaded over his wounds, after an initial sharp sting, Zhang Da Hu suddenly froze.

It hurt…

But the bone-deep torment, the maddening itch that drove him to the brink of death, miraculously eased in an instant.

Now, the only pain he felt was from his whipped, raw flesh.

How… How could this be?

Zhang Da Hu opened his mouth in shock, desperate to speak, but could only meet the mocking gaze of the woman before him.

“This can’t be!” Zhang Da Hu desperately struggled for a reason, grasping at one final thought: “You’re a princess! It’s no surprise you could find the antidote! Under those circumstances, Miss Meng surely had no choice but to do what she did to save our lives!”

Yes, it had to be this way!

It must be!

Otherwise, everything he had done, and Er Hu’s death itself—what would it all have meant?