Chapter 101 101: The Poison
Xu Shan glanced at the Princess in the distance. She was sitting around a table. Two cups were placed before her, one for her and one for her brother that she was supposed to meet.
There was also a teapot with some fresh tea. However, before they could even approach the table, she asked Xu Shan to show his face.
Even Ming Yan was curious about Xu Shan\'s face. However, he hadn\'t asked in fear of offending the envoy.
He thought that Xu Shan had some scar or something on his face, which made him use the mask.
"What are you thinking about? Don\'t tell me you\'re going to hide your face, even now?" The Princess asked again.
"Why shall I hide?" Xu Shan responded, placing his fingers around his mask. "However, the question shall be, can you afford to see my face?"
The Princess frowned in response. "Are you saying that I can\'t afford to see your face? You\'re quite brave, aren\'t you?"
She finally stood up, grabbing the sword that was lying next to her.
Her figure flickered. The next moment, she appeared right before Xu Shan, the tip of her Sword resting against Xu Shan\'s throat.
"The last person to be that arrogant towards me was the Southern General of the Eternal Dynasty. Now his blood graces the blade of my sword. So..." She took a brief pause. "Would you like to rephrase your words?"
"It looks like my guess was right. The Princess really wants to assassinate the Third Prince, and is looking for an excuse..." Xu Shan smiled behind his mask. "Though I also wonder, will you be able to afford attacking me? Your dear brother might find it difficult to stabilize the situation in the Royal City after your actions..."
Hearing his words, Ming Yan also frowned. Was that true? If not, why was she so eager to raise her sword against his men? This made him internally furious.
"You think I care?" Ming Yu pushed the sword very lightly, leaving a small cut in Xu Shan\'s throat.
Xu Shan didn\'t flinch, maintaining his smile. "Ah, I see. You\'re truly a free spirit. But I hope you have more reason to attack me than simply for the thrill of it."
"You\'re quite boring, aren\'t you? Though I\'m still curious as to who\'s behind that mask." Ming Yu pulled back the sword.
She reached out her hand to take off Xu Shan\'s mask herself.
"That\'s enough."
Just as her fingers were about to touch Xu Shan\'s mask, Ming Yan intervened. He grabbed the wrist of Ming Yu, stopping her.
He had been quite upset that he was being ignored. It was as if Ming Yu was doing it intentionally to show him that he was insignificant.
"I don\'t have much time to waste. So can we get to the main topic and start this meeting?"
He released her wrist. In any case, he knew that this was going to be her last day, so he wasn\'t worried about offending her and her future retaliation.
Ming Yu revealed a surprised glance.
"Alright." She turned serious. "Let me see what is the important thing that you\'re here to talk about. However, I also hope you\'re not here to waste my time."
She finally stopped paying attention to Xu Shan for the time being and turned back, walking back to the table.
Xu Shan touched the small cut around his neck, which wasn\'t deep enough to make him bleed.
Behind his mask, he was quite intrigued about that woman. However, so far, it was expected.
Even if she had insisted on taking off his mask it was still fine. He had prepared for that as well.
Ming Yan sat before the Princess on the table. On the other hand, Xu Shan stood behind him, calmly.
The tea pot floated on its own, and the tea was served.
"Now speak." The Princess put her sword on the table, before picking up the cup.
Ming Yan also picked up the cup, taking one sip, before speaking. "It\'s about the war."
"The plan of the Qin Dynasty has gone off track. Nothing went as the Qin Dynasty suggested on our side. And now the entire Eternal Dynasty army is there. So if we don\'t want to lose this war, I need your help."
Ming Yan spoke, maintaining his calm. He just had to drag this enough.
The Princess listened carefully, her eyes narrowing, considering the information. "What kind of help?" she asked, setting her own cup down.
"Your army. I need the help of your army, to destroy the Dynasty\'s forces."
As he spoke, he didn\'t once glance at Xu Shan, having complete faith in him. The plan was already informed to him after all.
According to the plan, Xu Shan was going to poison the drinks before the meeting even started.
Initially, he didn\'t know how Xu Shan was able to achieve that task. However, the masked man simply said that he had a treasure to achieve that. Because of that, Xu Shan also gave Ming Yan the antidote in advance.
The meeting kept progressing as Ming Yan and Ming Yu discussed the specifics. Xu Shan also intervened whenever he had to, playing his role well.
Ming Yan simply waited for Ming Yu to die. However, for some reason, he noticed that something was wrong.
His body was getting warmer. At first, it felt like his misconception. However, soon he realized that he wasn\'t imagining it.
It soon became much harder for him to breathe. Not a single word came out of his mouth as he started gasping for breath.
In disbelief, he looked at Xu Shan. His sister was still fine and instead, he was the one who was poisoned!
He didn\'t realize that Xu Shan really had no way to poison the tea. The only poison he used was in the so-called antidote that he fed Ming Yan.
"Y-your Highness?"
Ming Yan looked in disbelief, unable to speak anything as Xu Shan pretended to be concerned.
The Young Prince wasn\'t even able to move a single finger of his, unable to even call for help!
Xu Shan placed his hands around Ming Yan\'s shoulder. "What happened to you? Is the tea poisoned? The Princess poisoned you?"
Ming Yu on the other hand didn\'t understand a single thing. She was sure that the tea wasn\'t poisoned since she drank the same. She couldn\'t help but wonder if this was a trick of her brother? Was this the reason he came here?
However, he didn\'t look like he was acting! It was as if he really was about to die!
"Eat this fast!" She pulled out her most precious healing pill, giving it to Ming Yan.
While she was distracted in trying to save her brother, to avoid any future problems, her sword was left behind.