CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE LIKE TEA

"It must have been Prince Jin who spread those rumors!" Tang Xiaobai said angrily.

Madam Gu gently patted her head to calm her and asked Gu Hui, "Did your father leave any other instructions?"

"Father told Aunt to be at ease. Most likely, the palace is dissatisfied with Scholar Lv’s incident last time and is using this as an excuse to express it. If anything actually happens, even if Uncle is not around, the Gu Family is still here and won’t let Xiao Bai suffer." Gu Hui spoke with calm assurance.

Tang Xiaobai looked down at her hands, making a grasping motion.

So, am I holding a script of being beloved by all?

Could it be possible that the Young Crown Prince would also be influenced by the halo of favoritism and step out to clarify for her?

...

"Let’s wait and observe for a few days; spread the word that I am recovering from my illness!" In the dark room, the young boy’s face was somber.

He had always claimed to be ill to the outside world. On the Dragon Boat Festival, he went out, faced an assassination attempt, and even met Prince Jin. Now someone puts the blame on the young girl!

What a sinister plot!

"I’m afraid Your Highness won’t recover soon," the white-haired elder sighed, "Yesterday, the dose of the elixir in the medicine sent increased again—"

Li Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Elixir of Longevity is a chronic poison.

Or perhaps not a poison, because it cannot be detected. It only silently saps one’s strength until death.

He had been weak since childhood, impervious to medicine, and the world thought he simply inherited his birth father’s constitution.

It wasn’t until last year, when the Divine Doctor Feng Hua appeared, that it was diagnosed he had been consuming the Elixir of Longevity for a full seven years.

The dosage in his diet had always been minimal, hard to detect, but after Li Xingyuan’s nighttime visit to the Crown Prince Mansion last time, the palace seemed provoked, and the dosage of Elixir of Longevity doubled.

This time, the increase is most likely due to the Dragon Boat Festival incident at Xianfu Temple.

The assassin that day was indeed secretly arranged by Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat Wang Maozhao, a bitter trick that successfully brought down a military general from Prime Minister Zheng’s faction.

Wang Maozhao is Empress Dowager Wang’s own elder brother and his granduncle.

In the Emperor’s eyes, Wang Maozhao and he are one, so even if Wang Maozhao devised a bitter trick behind his back, he must bear the emperor’s retribution for Wang Maozhao.

"How much was added this time?"

"About fifty percent. With this dosage, he can last only until next autumn at most."

By next autumn, he must either openly recover or secretly fake his death and leave.

But no matter which choice, he must first detoxify the poison in his body.

"The toxin has already seeped into the organs; daily detox cannot be interrupted—" He paused, sighed again, "The silver needles are too slow to draw out the poison. If combined with medicinal baths, it would be much more effective, but medicinal baths inevitably leave a medicinal scent on the body, which is hard to conceal."

Especially now that he is quite favored by Second Miss Tang and has many opportunities to appear before people.

Li Mu frowned.

Should he strive to fall out of favor?

...

How to fall out of favor with Second Miss Tang? Li Mu pondered all night.

It truly is quite challenging; the little girl is just too good to him.

She takes meticulous care of his daily needs, diligently arranges for his education, and even trusts him unconditionally, helping solve the Lv Xia issue without even asking for reasons.

To change such a girl’s feelings would be incredibly difficult.

What should be done?

While contemplating strategies, Li Mu opened the door with a slight lift of his lips—

"Good morning!" Ah Yuan looked up with a smile, greeting him in the courtyard. His freshly washed face was clean and refreshing, droplets of water clinging to his eyebrows, shimmering in the sunlight.

Li Mu suddenly restrained his smile, nodded at him, and walked off to freshen up.

Ah Yuan was different from him, always greeting others with a smile, very popular with the servants.

Although the girl said she only wanted Ah Yuan because of the eldest lady’s request, over these days, her fondness for Ah Yuan had clearly grown day by day.

If he left her side, then—

He should reconsider other ideas...

...

After breakfast, Li Mu and Ah Yuan stood outside the inner residence doors, waiting for Second Miss Tang to come out.

The little girl wore a lively emerald green ensemble today, with red satin ribbons in her hair, looking as lively as a budding lotus among the leaves.

As usual, the first glance she cast was on him, her round, adorable eyes scrutinizing him, as if ensuring he was well.

Li Mu felt his heart warmed under her gaze, uncontrollably returning a slight smile.

Her eyes lit up, and she too smiled, dimples deeply etched on her cheeks, exceedingly charming.

"Ah Yuan looks particularly well today!" The maid Tao Zi’s compliment successfully diverted the girl’s gaze to Ah Yuan.

As the girl followed up with compliments to Ah Yuan, Tao Zi surreptitiously threw him a challenging look.

Li Mu lowered his gaze, saying nothing.

Tao Zi has always disliked him.

The more Second Miss Tang liked him, the more Tao Zi despised him.

Besides deliberately elevating one while putting down another, she enjoyed performing little antics behind the girl’s back, like presenting sweets to Ah Yuan right in his presence or pretending to bump into him once or twice a day—

All childish tricks.

Li Mu used to not mind it much.

But today, as Tao Zi walked over to him, suddenly dropping her shoulder to bump into him, his eyes flashed sharply, and he took the opportunity to fall—

...

"Quite the act of falling?" Tang Xiaobai remarked, tapping the injured area on his arm with her finger.

The young boy winced but managed not to make a sound.

"Why not cry out in pain? Without hearing your cries, how can one feel sorry for you?" Tang Xiaobai glared at him with a half-smile.

He gave her a quiet glance, stubbornly saying, "What does Second Miss mean by this?"

"What do I mean?" Tang Xiaobai sneered, "How much force did Tao Zi use to knock you down like this? Explain! What do you want? To use this as an excuse to skip school? Or do you want me to beat Tao Zi up to vent your anger?"

The boy lowered his eyes indifferently, "Tao Zi has served Second Miss for years. It’s understandable that Second Miss trusts her more."

Tang Xiaobai laughed angrily.

This was steeped in pretentiousness, who had he learned this from?

"What do you intend? Aren’t I accommodating your wishes? Is there a need to resort to such petty courtyard intrigue and underhanded methods? Who taught you this? Where have the wise words I’ve given you gone?"

The boy’s eyes turned red from her scolding, yet he pressed his lips together, saying nothing, staring at her with deep, dark eyes, as if harboring many secrets.

Tang Xiaobai lost her temper swiftly.

This truly is an ancestor!

"Why didn’t you tell me Tao Zi was bullying you?" Tang Xiaobai sighed.

Even now, the boy said nothing, pressing his lips tightly together.

Tang Xiaobai didn’t press further. Lodging complaints is indeed tricky business; what wasn’t said before was also conveyed this time.

She lowered her head, gently touched the bandage on his wound, and softly said, "It won’t happen again..."

The overbearing Tao Zi and the indifferent others would’ve been reprimanded and duly warned.

"And henceforth, don’t resort to such tactics, not only are they disgraceful but easily seen through." What courtyard intrigue or palace intrigue had she not seen before transmigrating? She had understood most of it back then, but as it had happened, she couldn’t expose him on the spot.

To punish without teaching is called cruelty.

Who she had raised, even with some faults, must be taught slowly, in private.