Chapter Sixty-Eight: Testing the Poison

A gentle breeze brushed by as Chu Bing stepped out of the courtyard and spotted Uncle Zhao carrying a chicken.

"Uncle Zhao? Are you going to slaughter the chicken?" Chu Bing's eyes never left the old hen.

Uncle Zhao froze, wary, and hid the hen behind him. "This is for the young master, to nourish his health. What are you planning?"

Of course, she wanted to test her medicine!

She had just acquired the skill of medicine—it was fresh and exciting—but she couldn’t very well try those poisonous concoctions on herself. If she had this chicken, it would be a free test subject!

Naturally, she couldn’t let Uncle Zhao know her true intention.

Chu Bing’s eyes sparkled as she approached him with a smile. "I see this hen is particularly fine. Uncle Zhao, won’t you let me have it…?"

"No way, this is for the young master’s health," Uncle Zhao retreated several meters at once.

Chu Bing stroked her chin and deliberately put on a helpless face. "Looks like I’ll have to ask the young master himself to spare the chicken for me…"

"Red Sleeve!" Uncle Zhao barked, "Do you think the young master is the kind of person who has time to play games with you?"

Chu Bing was not afraid of him now. As long as Li Mohan stood by her, Uncle Zhao was nothing but a toothless old tiger—not to be feared.

"I know the young master is busy, but for such a small matter, he’ll surely indulge me. If you don’t believe it, shall we ask him together?"

Uncle Zhao glowered at Chu Bing, but ultimately yielded. Who could compete with Li Mohan’s obvious fondness for Chu Bing?

He tossed the chicken into Chu Bing’s arms, and she quickly caught it, her smile broadening as she gazed at the bewildered hen. This was exactly what she wanted!

She gently stroked the hen’s head, her voice soft. "Little darling, you’d better lay lots of eggs. If not, I’ll have to kill you."

The hen seemed to sense impending doom, flapping wildly, but Chu Bing easily subdued it.

She wouldn’t openly experiment on this chicken; that would be too obvious and invite suspicion. She needed a plan, one that made people think she simply had an odd hobby for raising chickens.

In ancient times, surely this wouldn’t be too hard for others to accept.

Chu Bing considered and decided to build a coop outside her room. To prevent anyone from seeing, she moved the water jar from the courtyard and kept the chicken inside—no one would suspect a thing.

Her commotion was considerable. Uncle Zhao finally couldn’t hold back and was about to scold her into behaving, when he chanced upon Chu Bing dragging a large tree into the courtyard with one hand.

Uncle Zhao’s eyes widened in astonishment. That tree must weigh four or five hundred pounds, yet Chu Bing, a slender young woman, dragged it single-handedly!

Most astonishing of all, she didn’t seem strained in the least.

Chu Bing noticed Uncle Zhao and quickly let go.

With a resounding thud, the trunk crashed onto the ground.

She chuckled, dusted her hands, and tried to explain, "Uncle Zhao, I was born with supernatural strength. Surprised you, didn’t I?"

Uncle Zhao’s lips twitched. He didn’t believe a word, but with Li Mohan so devoted to Chu Bing, he couldn’t complain and simply pretended he saw nothing, closing his door.

Out of sight, out of mind!

When the young master saw how strange this woman was, surely he would understand Uncle Zhao’s loyalty.

Chu Bing stood where she was and burst into laughter.

Now even Uncle Zhao left her be—her confidence soared.

The system was puzzled by Chu Bing’s actions. "Isn’t this a waste of time? It’s just a chicken for testing medicine…"

Building it a coop?

Chu Bing snorted, "You can’t understand the fun in this."

Watching her efforts bear fruit, Chu Bing felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment. Today was the most relaxed she’d been in ages.

At least in front of the chicken, she didn’t have to hide her true feelings.

The system couldn’t fathom her thoughts, and since it had nothing to do with the task, it stayed quiet.

To it, as long as Chu Bing completed her mission, the process didn’t matter.

Chu Bing worked until nightfall.

The cold moonlight washed over her, reminding her tonight was the night of the full moon.

Had she not received the medical skill from her lucky envelope, she would probably be worse than dead by now.

Ren Changfeng was unreliable, as expected—never trust him!

Chu Bing tidied up, locked up the chicken, and was about to rest when a shadow suddenly dropped from the beam.

Startled, she quickly assumed a defensive stance. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The shadow didn’t attack, but stepped forward and placed a small porcelain bottle on the table beside Chu Bing, then bowed. "Miss Red Sleeve, my master sent me to deliver the antidote."

Chu Bing looked at the bottle, and suddenly realized this so-called master must be Ren Changfeng.

"Why didn’t Ren Changfeng come himself?" Chu Bing frowned.

She picked up the bottle, uncorked it, and sniffed—it was indeed the scent of an antidote.

She was genuinely surprised; she’d thought Ren Changfeng had long since forgotten her.

The man in black lowered his voice. "The master is extremely busy and couldn’t spare the time, so he sent me to deliver the medicine."

"Oh," Chu Bing replied, bored. Had this happened before yesterday, she might have felt grateful that Ren Changfeng remembered her.

But now the poison was already gone, and Ren Changfeng’s gesture meant nothing to her.

"Miss Red Sleeve, my master also asked me to deliver a message."

"What message?" Chu Bing showed a hint of interest.

The man in black spoke sincerely, "The master asks you to wait for him. He will return and take you away from here."

Chu Bing smiled coldly. "Go back and tell your master: thank you, but that won’t be necessary."

How foolish would she have to be to leave Li Mohan, who indulged her endlessly, just to follow the scoundrel Ren Changfeng?

The man in black was dumbfounded by her reply, staring at Chu Bing in disbelief.

Wasn’t the master saying Miss Red Sleeve was gentle, kind, waiting for him to save her from misery?

Why did she look… so comfortable?

Chu Bing smirked, pointed toward the window, and said, "Aren’t you leaving? Shall I call everyone over?"

After a moment’s hesitation, the man in black darted away.

Chu Bing watched his retreating figure and scoffed. "Ren Changfeng must be an idiot. Does he really think saying a few sweet words will make me forget he poisoned me?"

The system was speechless. "So he specially sent someone with the antidote, and you aren’t touched at all?"

"Ha, just like you—none of you are any good."

Sensing Chu Bing’s anger, the system shrank back and played dead.