Lord He was in Danger!

Everyone, including Qu Zhiwen, felt a jolt in their hearts.

But almost instantly, a cold light flew from He Yanxiu’s hand, striking the man’s wrist. The man groaned, the whip slipped from his hand, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

A series of cold swords and knives were pointed at the man slumped on the ground.

There was no hope of success!

A hint of jealousy flashed across the man’s face. He snorted coldly and was about to bite his back teeth.

Qu Zhiwen noticed this and knew things were bad.

Such assassins, in this situation, would mostly commit suicide by poison. Judging from his appearance, he had a poison sac hidden in his mouth. Once it was bitten open, the poison would take effect on the spot, and the mastermind would be impossible to find.

But now it was too late to stop him!

Just as Qu Zhiwen was furious and felt powerless, two more cold lights pierced the man’s body in an instant. The man froze on the spot and fell straight to the ground.

Everyone rushed over to check on him.

He was still breathing, his eyes were still moving, but he seemed completely unable to move.

“Quickly remove the poison sac from that man’s mouth.”

He Yanxiu’s face was pale, his right hand unconsciously went behind his back, and he was unsteady on his feet.

His wrist, which had been quite well-healed, was now throbbing with pain from the two attacks he had just made, and even his ribs were aching.

“My lord.” Wan Mingjun quickly supported him.

“It’s alright.” He Yanxiu straightened up. “I can still hold on.”

Over there, the guards had already removed the poison sac from the man’s mouth, carefully checked his body for anything else that could be used to commit suicide, and then bound him tightly.

The steel needles were removed from his body, and the man regained consciousness. He instinctively tried to break free, but realizing his struggles were futile, he gave up. He glared angrily at He Yanxiu, saying, “I won’t say anything.”

“I never intended to ask anything.”

He Yanxiu said dismissively. “I’ve always known who your master is, but the time wasn’t right, and I didn’t want to alert him.”

“Even now, you’re still so arrogant?” the man sneered. “You went to great lengths to spare my life, not to find out who’s behind it all?”

“I spared your life because of the previous incidents. If we can’t find the culprit, it would make us look incompetent. At least we should hand you over to the court to make it look good.”

He Yanxiu chuckled twice, glancing at the man. “Handing over a living person is always better than handing over a dead one. As for anything else…”

“Even if you wanted to say it now, I don’t want to hear it.”

With that, He Yanxiu waved his hand.

The guards understood and put shackles on the man’s neck and hands, foot shackles, and a wooden plug in his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide. They then kept a close watch on him.

“Lord He, this man is so stubborn. I’m afraid ordinary torture won’t be able to get him to talk. Interrogating the mastermind behind this will be extremely difficult,” Qu Zhiwen said with a worried expression.

After his deeds were exposed, he tried to take He Yanxiu’s life, and when he saw that he had no chance of winning, he immediately attempted to kill himself. A death warrior like this—let alone beatings or whipping—even branding irons or the tiger bench would likely not make him utter a single word.

“Indeed,” He Yanxiu nodded, “but we don’t need to interrogate him.”

“Lord He means…”

Qu Zhiwen was full of surprise.

“Lord Qu is an official who holds the position of Zhīfǔ. He has to manage many agricultural matters on a daily basis. I wonder if Lord Qu knows how to deal with rats in the fields?” He Yanxiu asked.

“Naturally, we use rat poison to prevent those things from damaging the crops.”

“But what if only one rat in a nest comes out to forage, and the others stay in the nest?”

“That’s easy to handle.” Qu Zhiwen answered skillfully, “Just wrap the rat poison in dough or something, and the rats will usually take it back to their burrow to eat slowly. One rat can take it back and wipe out the whole nest…”

Qu Zhiwen paused for a moment when he said this, then his face lit up with joy, “What you say is absolutely right, sir.”

He Yanxiu nodded.

The pain in his ribs and wrists continued, and He Yanxiu could hardly stand, so he found a place to sit.

After the man was properly controlled, according to He Yanxiu’s instructions, they prepared to put him into a prison cart and secretly escort him to the capital.

He Yanxiu, on the other hand, rushed back to the government office overnight and rested briefly.

In the morning, Su Yujin, as usual, took He Yanxiu’s pulse and checked his injuries.

When she noticed that the injuries on He Yanxiu’s right wrist and right ribs were significantly worse than the day before, she subconsciously frowned and let out a “Huh”.

But after opening her lips, she suppressed her question.

It was obvious He Yanxiu had gone out last night, and something serious seemed to have happened.

But she shouldn’t ask!

He Yanxiu offered an explanation: “I accidentally bumped into something last night.”

Su Yujin was speechless. This explanation was worse than no explanation at all.

With He Yanxiu’s original skills and the people serving him, how could he have accidentally bumped into something? And with his wrist injured like this again, had he fallen from the third floor?

Su Yujin pursed her lips.

Actually, she was quite sensible not to pry, but this flimsy explanation made her feel like a three-year-old child in He Yanxiu’s eyes…

Who did he look down on?

Su Yujin inwardly grumbled for a while but outwardly remained amiable. “Second Master, you must be more careful in the future. If your wrist is injured again, it might become a chronic condition.”

“Mm,” He Yanxiu nodded.

With the culprit identified and the mint running smoothly under the management of Lord Wan and Lord Chang, he could finally get some rest.

“I’ll give Second Master a few acupuncture points first. I’ll go prepare breakfast now, and I’ll remove the needles when we eat.”

Su Yujin removed the splint from He Yanxiu’s right hand, inserted acupuncture needles at several acupoints near his wrist, and instructed him to place his hand on the soft pillow beside his body, telling him not to move. Then she went to the small kitchen.

Newly made doufunao, freshly fried sweet and crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside mianguozi, pickled cabbage made into a cold side dish, and fragrant and delicious chaye dan…

Breakfast was light and delicious but certainly not bland.

He Yanxiu’s left hand had recovered remarkably well. Although he couldn’t lift heavy objects or exert himself, he could still eat with a spoon.

Therefore, He Yanxiu mostly ate by himself, using his left hand to eat with a spoon, and he did so quite nimbly.

To the untrained eye, one might mistake He Yanxiu for a left-handed person.

After the meal, apart from adjusting the medicinal decoction that He Yanxiu was taking, Su Yujin also procured shenjincao¹, tougucao², honghua³, and chuanxiong⁴ and made them into a medicinal plaster that promotes circulation, unblocks the meridians, and relieves pain, which she applied to He Yanxiu.

(End of Chapter)

---

Footnote

1. Shenjincao is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb used to relax muscles and tendons, improve blood circulation, and relieve pain. It is commonly used for joint stiffness, muscle soreness, and limb numbness, especially after injuries.
2. Tougucao is used to unblock the meridians and alleviate pain. It is especially helpful for treating joint pain, arthritis, swelling, and limited movement caused by injury or poor circulation.
3. Honghua, also known as safflower, promotes blood circulation and helps reduce swelling and pain. It is often used to treat bruises, injuries, and blood stagnation.
4. Chuanxiong is commonly used to promote the movement of blood and qi, relieve pain, and improve circulation. It is frequently used for headaches, injuries, and pain caused by poor blood flow.