Chapter 136: Look quickly, something’s happened (1/2)

Chapter 136: Look quickly, something’s happened

No poison! The results of the scan showed no poison!

Han Yunxi sucked in a cold breath, staring stunned at the tea leaves. Cold sweat broke out on her back.

No poison! There actually wasn’t any poison!

How…

Nobody present had any idea what she just did. All they saw was her staring at the tea leaves with a rather ghastly expression. Madame Li was the first to cause difficulties.

“Esteemed wangfei, are you going to test for poison now?”

Han Yunxi raised her eyes to see Madame Li’s eyes flicker with a sneer. She’d done it on purpose just so she could see. Madame Li had to be the real culprit, but these tea leaves…

“Esteemed wangfei, hurry and test them!” Han Ruoxue urged.

Mu Liuyue wasn’t so patient and said coldly, “Han Yunxi, speak! Why aren’t you saying anything? What, all those nice words and you’re withering up when it’s time to test for poison? You’re just scaring people! Or else, making fools of them? Let me tell you, you might be Qin Wangfei, but if you don’t get any results today, this young Miss will go straight to the empress dowager and accuse you of framing others!”

Hearing the words ‘empress dowager’ instantly put Grand Concubine Yi in a bad mood. She angrily demanded, “Han Yunxi, what’s wrong with you? Are you testing them or not?”

Han Yunxi looked at them all with knitted eyebrows. By her side, Mu Qingwu and Chu Xifeng were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. Although neither of them understood what esteemed wangfei had done, they could tell by her expression that maybe…maybe she knew the tea leaves had no poison.

Aiya, they’d told her long beforehand, but why didn’t she believe them? Now what should they do? She who rides a tiger finds it difficult to dismount!

Suddenly, someone cried out from the crowd. “Esteemed wangfei, please test for poison to prevent maligning a good person!” Soon afterwards, many more echoed his words in unison.

Esteemed wangfei, please test for poison to prevent maligning a good person!

Undoubtedly, Han Yunxi had become a target of public criticism. She gritted her teeth. Everyone thought that she was out of options, but it wasn’t a second before she coolly gave out an order. “Someone, bring hot water to steep these tea leaves! This wangfei will test for poisons now for everyone to see!”

Perhaps her scanners didn’t pick up any poisons because there was none there. But another possibility was that Madame Li’s techniques were too wily for the detox system to untangle. She faintly recalled reading in an ancient text a certain method for testing Ten-Thousand Snake Poison. No matter how little of the poison there was, it would still reveal the poison.

Ten-Thousand Snake Poison didn’t exist in the present, so she never had a chance to try out the method. Even now, she wasn’t sure whether it’d work, but she didn’t have time to worry about all that. This was her only choice now that she had no others, so she could only brace herself and go forward.

Since she was putting her all into the fight, she might as well fight to the end!

From an outside perspective, steeping the tea was simply a pretense to find a person to drink it. This was a simple way to test for poison, because the results would reveal the toxin. Everyone grew nervous at the thought. Meanwhile, Madame Li hid a cold smile in her heart. Of course she knew that Han Yunxi wouldn’t be so stupid to try such a simple method. Han Yunxi was the one who saved Mu Qingwu; she should understand that Ten-Thousand Snake Poison wouldn’t break out in the body until years afterwards. She figured that Han Yunxi had some sort of secret weapon, perhaps a formidable poison testing needle or poison stone, to test the tea for poison.

As long as a poison didn’t enter the body, even small quantities could be detected with poison tools. But her poisons were different than that! Even the world’s strongest poison detecting stone wouldn’t be able to pinpoint her Ten-Thousand Snake Poison! Madame Li’s lips curved in disdain as she waited patiently.

Very soon, an attendant arrived with hot water on a tea tray, but Han Yunxi soon said, “I don’t want a teacup, but a large bowl.”

Large bowl? What did she want that for?

The onlookers had no idea. Madame Li’s ridicule grew. She wasn’t planning to use a big bowl of tea to strengthen the concentration of poison, was she? Such a stupid method! It looks like her master wasn’t the only one to overestimate this woman. She’d overestimated her as well.

The attendant immediately switched in a large bowl and steeped it full of tea leaves before setting it on a portable table. Everyone looked over, awaiting Han Yunxi’s next step. Would she find someone to drink the tea, or use a poison detecting stone in its depths?

Unexpectedly, Han Yunxi spoke again. “Someone, catch a goldfish for me. I want a live one!”

She wasn’t using a person or a tool, but a goldfish?

But the logic behind testing poisons was the same. Madame Li remained as calm as before. Goldish had much lower immunity than human beings, but so what? Han Yunxi would still be disappointed.

Soon enough, the attendant brought over a lively, jumping goldfish before the expectant gazes of the impatient crowd. Han Yunxi accepted the fish and walked to the bowl of tea before taking another deep breath. She knew that everyone was anxious right now, but she was more anxious than any of them. Whether or not the ancient texts had told her the truth, whether or not this would yield any results, her very fate itself, all relied on this one fell swoop. As soon as she released this fish, everything would reach its final conclusion!

Either the fish was struggling too much, or her hands were trembling too hard. She couldn’t control either as she lowered her fingers, steeled her heart, and placed the fish into the tea water. Countless eyes flocked towards the creature, Han Yunxi amongst them. She saw the fish fleeing wildly into the water at the same time she caught her own ashen reflection.

The fish swam…

Would it be poisoned? Would it die?

Everyone looked on with rapt attention. Even Mu Qingwu and Chu Xifeng temporarily forgot about taking precautions against Madame Li as they peered towards the water. Grand Concubine Yi was also staring and waiting. Han Yunxi’s heart was beating like a drum: thumpthumpthump, thumpthumpthump, as she followed the path of the swimming fish. Her heartbeat grew quicker and quicker, almost to the point where it was uncomfortable to breath. Time trickled by as the fish swam and rested by degrees, seemingly completely normal.