As the end result of the incident, Tantai Jin was temporarily locked up.
He was locked up in the dilapidated east garden as the Aunts and Second Miss wanted to prevent him from selling the stolen goods. The Third Miss could continue to investigate. It is was revealed that he was slandered, he would be released at that time.
Su Su had no opinion on this.
Putting other things aside, among the things that were stolen was the Old Madam's favourite Jade Guanyin. The elderly believed in Buddhism, so she regarded the Jade Guanyin as highly precious. To put it more precisely, it almost rose to the point of devotion. That was why the aunts were incredibly anxious to find the culprit.
After all, Su Su was just a legitimate daughter, not the main wife. It was already not easy for her to reinvestigate this incident.
It should be fine for Tantai Jin to be locked up as long as he wasn't dead.
The next day was the fifteenth.
Bi Liu went out and came back happily. She said to Su Su, "Third Miss, this maidservant heard that the Sixth Prince was bestowed the title, 'King Xuan'. Today, an imperial edict came down and the Emperor rewarded him with a mansion which isn't far from the General's residence. General has received an invitation. Most likely after a few days, he will bring Miss to His Highness King Xuan's residence to congratulate him."
Su Su's reaction was very calm. "Oh."
Bi Liu said, "Don't worry Miss. This time I'll dress you up prettily and let Ye Bing Shang, that wench, feel ashamed of even showing her face."
Although Su Su hadn't met that illegitimate sister of hers yet, and she didn't know what kind of person she was, wasn't it sick to feel excited to snatch someone's husband? Su Su really didn't want to see Bi Liu, so she said, "Go and ask what the residence lost, and who were the ones who lost them."
Bi Liu could only unwillingly leave. When she passed by Chun Tao, who was outside, she pushed her. "Scram, don't get in my way."
Chun Tao hurriedly stepped aside.
Bi Liu was very unhappy. She was more concerned about whether the Third Miss could marry His Highness King Xuan than doing these kinds of chores. Previously, once she mentioned His Highness the Sixth Prince, the Miss's eyes would be filled with love and anticipation. But, she realised that after she came back, the Miss didn't care much anymore when she mentioned King Xuan.
As soon as Bi Liu left, Su Su took out another list.
It was the list she asked Xi Xi to sort out yesterday night. Su Su didn't trust Bi Liu.
Su Su looked through the list. She found out that the people who had lost their stuff were mainly the Old Madam, Aunt Du, Second Miss, Eldest Young Master, Fourth Young Master, and even Aunt Yun, who had lost a few golden hairpins.
This person really knew how to pick things to take. He didn't dare to steal the General's or Su Su's belongings. Still, the Old Madam's Jade Guanyin and the Second Miss's dowry were most valuable items, so they were worth the risk. The Eldest Young Master and Aunt Yun were relatively broad-minded and lenient, so they probably wouldn't bother about it. And the Fourth Young Master didn't know anything.
After thinking it over, she called Chun Tao. "Chun Tao, do you know what the Second Young Master and Third Young Master have been doing recently?"
Chun Tao shook her head. "Miss, this maidservant only knows that the Eldest Young Master went to the military camp to train with the Master recently. This maidservant isn't clear about the whereabouts of the Second Young Master and Third Young Master. If the Miss wants to know, this maidservant and Xi Xi will go inquire about it in these next two days."
Su Su smiled and nodded her head. "Much obliged, Chun Tao."
Tantai Jin was locked up in the east garden.
The east garden was located at the wind gap, and it was the coldest courtyard of the entire General's residence. It had been abandoned for many years, and it was usually used to pile firewood.
The windows were broken, so it made one tremble all over when the cold wind blew in.
Tantai Jin was leaning against the corner and licking his dry lips.
Until evening, no one had sent Tantai Jin food, but his expression still remained calm. It was expected, and he was used to such days.
Humans won't die without food for a day or two.
There was no moon in the winter night sky. It was quite and serene outside, and it had started to snow again.
He grabbed two handfuls of snow and swallowed them. His stomach still felt miserable. Tantai Jin sat back in the corner and took out the safety amulet from his sleeve.
The safety amulet was already a bit aged, and due to it tearing yesterday, the beginning part of the threadwork had been damaged.
His gaze was like a deep pool as it brushed across the damaged place.
There was a sense of malice in his heart that was growing infinitely through this crack. The young man lightly took a breath and suppressed this turbulent emotion with difficulty. He then put the safety amulet back in his sleeve once again.
Unfortunately, he lost her earring.
He closed his eyes and leaned at the corner of the wall to rest. He must save his breath. He can't be useless enough to die in this firewood room. He didn't believe that Ye Xi Wu would help him. If there was an accident, he must walk out from here himself.
In the middle of the night, when the snow and wind were getting stronger, Tantai Jin heard staggering footsteps outside the door. He opened his eyes.
Judging from the footsteps, it was two women.
The night had magnified countless senses, so Tantai Jin could hear a slight gasping sound. The next moment, a girl in a white cloak fell into the east garden.
She still looked a little confused when she fell on the ground.
Through the dim candlelight, Tantai Jin saw the girl who looked slightly disoriented.
Bi Liu put down the quilt and glass lamp and hurriedly helped Su Su, who had fallen down.
She looked at Tantai Jin disdainfully and twitched her lips. "Hostage prince, you know what you should do right?" After finishing her words, Bi Liu closed the east garden's door and left.
There was only Su Su and Tantai Jin left in this tiny world.
Su Su was shivering and leaning against the corner of the other side of the wall. Her hands were tightly gripping her cloak, her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was rapid.
Tantai Jin stood up from the corner and walked towards her. "Third Miss?"
"Don't come here." Su Su was breathing hard while finishing this sentence. It was snowing outside, but she felt like she was boiling.
She had just fallen asleep tonight, but she suddenly felt hot. She opened her eyes and felt that there was something wrong with her body. At this time, Bi Liu entered and said softly, "Today is the fifteenth. Miss, is the drug attacking again? This maidservant will bring you to the hostage prince."
Su Su hugged her quilt tightly and panted. "What do you mean?"
She had a bad feeling.
"Miss, have you forgotten? The 'spring knot silkworm' poison attacks once every three months. The antidote has been eaten by the hostage prince."
Su Su then realised that the drugging incident was endless.
The 'Spring knot silkworm' drug was more like a poison. The idea behind the creation of this poison was taken from the sentence "Till death do us part. The poison would attack every three months for the person who ate the poison. It would subside by having intimacy with the person who took the antidote. Meanwhile, the person who took the antidote will only feel an aphrodisiac-like effects on the first day. After that, everything would return to normal.
It was said that this kind of drug was a long-lost secret drug of the Yiyue Tribe. In the past, high officials and nobles purposely used this drug to control the women, they forcibly took, making them forever unable to leave their sides.
The original owner hated Ye Bing Shang for snatching the love of her heart, so instead of drugging her using a normal aphrodisiac, she found the 'spring knot silkworm' a drug that could make people feel saffocated. Even a chaste women could not withstand it's effects if they ate it.
Originally, the original owner wanted to see how Ye Bing Shang couldn't leave the fat son of the minister. Unfortunately, in the end, the drug was eaten by herself.
Su Su was wondering why the Ye family would let the original owner marry a hostage prince, considering her identity in the Ye family's reputation.
It turns out it was because she had to marry. If she didn't, she would die.
Of course, the 'spring knot silkworm' effect can be resisted. But, it will get harder and harder to endure every time it attacks.
Last time, the original owner had endured it for an hour, so this time Su Su had to endure it for hours.
She meditated for ten minutes, and her whole body was wet with sweat. It was excruciating.
"Third Miss, I think it's better if I help you go to the hostage prince. You will feel better by his side." Bi Liu said.
Su Su gritted her teeth, "No, no!"
Su Su persisted for another ten minutes. In the end, she felt as if she could ascend to heaven on the spot. Bi Liu couldn't help but support her to the east garden.
Su Su had no strength in her body and was practically carried by Bi Liu. Even her consciousness had turned muddled.
Light and shadow were flickering in front of her eyes. She could barely distinguish the silhouette of the person in front of her. She recognised that he was that sinful, evil thing. Su Su had bitten her lips until they bled. She was hugging her arms around her and could barely supress the impulse to take off her clothes.
Tantai Jin seemed to have understood something. His docile and harmless look from the past Suddenly turned cold and unkind. So, this was the reason why she stopped the others from beating him crippled yesterday. It was because she felt that he was still useful tonight.
The young man squatted in front of her. He lightly pushed away the sweaty hair on her forehead. "Third Miss, you look extremely uncomfortable."
Su Su tightly shut her mouth for fear that if she opens it, it will produce a sound that shouldn't be made. She felt that she was about to be burned to death, and a piece of ice was almost within reach.
"Stay away from me!" Su Su shouted. She finally understood why in the end, Ye Xi Wu still threw away her self-esteem and asked for Tantai Jin's help, even though she liked Xiao Lin so much. This drug was too torturous!
The young man in front of her tilted his head.
Under the light from the glass lamp, the young man looked extremely weak and innocent.
However, his voice wasn't the same. His tone was cold, as if he was slowly breaking through solid ice. "Third Miss, can you tell me what's wrong with you?"
The malice from the young man was indistinguishable.
Tantai Jin's current state of mind was the same as Ye Xi Wu's in the past.
He wanted to see yesterday's sonorous and bright light groaning, moaning and seducing him without any dignity at his feet. He wanted to see the pride in her eyes shatter into pieces, becoming a lowly maggot like him, and beg the person that she looked down upon to touch her.
But he won't touch her. She's dirty.
Tantai Jin leaned against the cold wall. He didn't even want to pretend to look harmless anymore and looked at her closely.
Look, how pitiful. Her fair skin had turned pink, and the corner of her lips were bleeding. Her bright and clear eyes had become hazy, and her pupils were gradually losing focus.
He bent his lips coolly.
The girl's eyes quivered, and fresh blood flowed down the corner of her mouth.
Tantai Jin kindly extended his fingers and wiped off the blood. "You look pitiful." He said it coldly and lightly.
Be shameless and beg him. It's almost time for her to show her ugliness. She seems to have endured it longer this time than the last.
Tantai Jin was counting down for her in his heart. Finally, when her eyes were entirely out of focus, the girl in front of him was no longer stubborn and moved.
She raised her slender arm, but it wasn't to hug him like what Tantai Jin had expected. Instead, the girl covered her own cheeks.
Her eyelashes were shut, and she was quieter then the snowflakes outside.
The girl leaned against the window. The snow was fluttering down outside. She wa silent, like she was in an eternal rest in the winter night and became a Butterfly with trembling wings.
The glass lamp illuminated her surroundings. The snowflakes flew in and landed on her hair.
He was coldly observing this strange and holy scene by this side.
That kind of feeling came again. She was at the junction of snow and light, but he was still in his own darkness. He suddenly hated the person in front of him even more. Tantai Jin covered his lips with his cold fingers. Different from the light teasing kind of disgust of the past, it had become another kind of disgust that was spreading throughout his bones, making him tremble.
Did this kind of stuffy feeling start ever since that day at the mountain bandits' den?
The young man sat back in the corner and looked at Su Su with a gloomy and cobweb-sticky gaze the whole night.
She was curled up in the corner, totally unaware of it.
When daylight shone into the east garden, Su Su felt like she had come back to life.
She was exhausted. Just like the name of the drug, she felt like she had just come out of a cocoon.
The muscles under her palm were thin. She opened her eyes and found herself sleeping on Tantai Jin's legs. She sat up in a flash and hurriedly moved away from him.
Su Su grabbed her hair.
No, it's impossible, right?!
She had endured so hard last night just to avoid having intimacy with that devilish creature. Could it be that her Dao heart wasn't stable enough, causing her to be unable to withstand the drug effects and she finally threw herself into his arms? Su Su loathed him so much that the part of her hand that touched him just now felt as if it was burning. She glared at the evil young man at her feet.
The young man's eyelashes trembled.
Tantai Jin's eyelashes were longer than the eyelashes of the body Su Su was in. They were like two feathers.
His red lips and black hair showed a hint of frail beauty, which made him look pale and pitiful.
Su Su really didn't want him to open his eyes.
After all, Su Su didn't know what to say to him when he woke up. She couldn't possibly tell him that she had a weird habit of eating an aphrodisiac once every three months, could she?
She was tense for some time, but then realised that he hadn't woken up.
Su Su let out a sigh of relief. It was only now that Su Su realised his complexion looked pale, and his lips were dry and cracked. All things considered, it didn't seem normal.
"Tantai jin, wake up." Evil creatures are usually deep-minded. Is he pretending to sleep to gain sympathy? "If you don't wake up I will send you to Aunt Lian."
She pushed him, but the young man didn't respond at all.
Su Su squatted down and placed her hand on his forehead. This time, his temperature wasn't hot, but felt like a piece of ice.
Su Su's face stiffened: "..."
Even if she raised a kid in the mortal world, they wouldn't be as weak and troublesome as him. He was always sick and vulnerable to the brink of death.
She couldn't find any water in this narrow room, so she could only cover him with the quilt.
When Su Su walked out, Bi Liu came up and said, "Miss, are you alright?"
Su Su looked at Bi Liu suspiciously. Although Su Su didn't have much strength and wasn't really sober last night, she knew that even if she had stayed in her own room, she could have endured it. But Bi Liu disregarded her wishes and brought her to Tantai Jin.
She was so angry with Bi Liu's "sincerity" that she wanted to laugh.
"I remembered that you were the one who gave me the 'spring knot silkworm', didn't you? Bi Liu, why did you have such a thing?" She didn't believe that there was nothing wrong with this maidservant.
"Miss, this maidservant had said previously. I have a distant cousin brother who once married a girl from the Yiyue Tribe. The Yiyue Tribe is good at poison and 'spring knot silkworm' is their secret recipe." Bi Liu said.
"Besides the antidote that Tantai jin had swallowed, can another antidote be made."
Bi Liu shook her head, and she looked a little dissatisfied. "That was the only supplementary drug. Miss, are you blaming Bi Liu? Bi Liu was just following your orders."
Su Su said, "I don't blame you, but from today onwards, I won't keep you by my side. Go find Aunt Lian and let her find you a new place to go."
Bi Liu was shocked, and she only reacted after some time. Su Su unexpectedly banished her. Only now did she feel flustered and hurriedly knelt and kowtowed.
"Third Miss, please don't chase this maidservant away." Begging for mercy now?
Su Su ignored her. She stepped on the snow and left the east garden.
Initially, she wanted to keep Bi Liu and observe her for some time since she always felt that Bi Liu wasn't that simple.
But Bi Liu was outwardly obedient and inwardly disobedient. It was still tolerable that she enters and leaves her Master's room as she pleases, but she often bullies Chun Tao and Xi Xi. It was better to chase her away and ask someone to follow her. Maybe she could also find something out that way.
Maids like Bi Liu, who were overly pampered by the original owner, can still survive no matter where they go after leaving.
Not long after, Su Su rushed back and brought a doctor along. If it was a fever, she knew how to deal with it, but what about chills? The young man in the corner was still in the same position as when she left.
"Mister, please look at him."
The old doctor moved forward and diagnosed Tantai jin.
He already knew about the Third Miss of the General's family's cruel reputation beforehand. He didn't plan to be meddlesome, but healers have the heart of parents¹. So he bowed while cupping his fist and said, "This gentleman is still young but his body is deteriorating. He has a lot of chronic diseases and internal injuries. If the Third Miss doesn't want his life, please have mercy on him."
Su Su pursed her lips and shook her head firmly. "Mister, you don't know that he is not a good man. You just need to prescribe him medicine that will keep him alive and that is enough." There is no need to nurse his body whatsoever. It is better for an evil thing like him to have more diseases and suffer more.
The old doctor sighed and said, "If the Third Miss just doesn't want him to die, I don't need to prescribe any medicine. He hasn't eaten for too long and hasn't drank any water so he became like this. Give him some food and he will be fine."
Su Su didn't expect that Tantai Jin was not given any food or drink while locked up here.
She was stunned. Why was it like this? Didn't Aunt Lian say that she will only lock him up?
They must have done this on purpose. Or... this residence was too used to ignoring Tantai Jin. They forgot that he was a human too. He needed to eat food, drink water, and breathe.
While toying with him mercilessly, they also mocked him for not being strong enough.