The Youngest Prince of the Zhou Family - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Youngest Master of the Zhu Family (6)

The Culprit

‘What? Why is he acting like this?’

That was my inner thought upon seeing Mu Ying.

Before I could even finish gathering my energy, Mu Ying stepped forward first.

Then he immediately grabbed the guard by the throat and suppressed him.

He even had a sword in his other hand.

“Urgh… What do you think you’re doing right now?”

“Apologize for the disrespect you’ve shown to the Young Master. Moreover, Foster Mother is the Young Master’s birth mother. By what right do you dare forbid the Young Master’s visit?”

I was deeply shocked by this sight.

‘Was his loyalty always this strong?’

In my previous life, Mu Ying wasn’t the type to interfere with my actions like this.

Of course, I’d occasionally see looks that seemed to find me pathetic or mocking, but he’d never acted so openly.

Given that, there would naturally be no reason for him to show such devotion to me…

Were all those past behaviors… just my misunderstanding?

“What shall we do? Young Master.”

Mu Ying pressed his blade to the guard’s throat and asked me.

I let out a small sigh and shook my head.

“He’s Mother’s guard. Make him understand through reasoning.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Mu Ying glared at the guard as if asking whether he understood, then pushed him back.

Soon I took the lead toward the separate residence, and Mu Ying quickly followed behind.

Of course, other guards appeared, but Mu Ying suppressed them with force just as he had before.

‘Dragon Ascension Unit. As expected of them.’

Extremely reliable indeed.

The skill level of Dragon Ascension Unit members was at least first-rate or above.

Moreover, Mu Ying was already a master among masters, approaching the pinnacle of first-rate skill despite his young age.

Mother’s guards were certainly skilled as well, but they naturally fell short compared to Mu Ying’s abilities.

Thanks to Mu Ying, I was able to enter the separate residence without incident.

“Hngh…!”

As soon as I stepped foot in the corridor of the separate residence, I heard Mother’s pain-filled groans.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

My heart was pounding.

That wasn’t all.

‘What is this?’

The moment I entered the corridor, I felt a very familiar energy wash over me.

My expression naturally hardened.

‘The poison qi is thick.’

Poison qi was leaving its traces in quite a potent form.

Thanks to my extremely heightened senses since my regression, I was able to detect this poison qi.

I rushed frantically into the room where Mother was staying.

Bang!

As soon as I opened the door, what I saw was Mother lying down, sweating cold sweat and suffering in pain, along with servants who didn’t know what to do.

“…”

I hurriedly approached Mother and grasped her wrist.

Then I quietly felt her pulse.

‘The poison qi has… grown stronger. In just three days.’

Irregular breathing.

Beyond her labored breath, her heartbeat was absurdly weak.

It was precariously fragile, as if it might stop at any moment.

“Urgh… Ah, my son…”

Mother forced open her flickering eyes and gave me an awkward smile.

She was deliberately trying to smile so I wouldn’t worry.

I forced myself to relax my expression and show Mother a smiling face.

“Please… rest for a moment.”

I gently pressed Mother’s acupoints to put her to sleep.

Even so, her pain seemed severe as she occasionally twitched, which was heartbreaking to see.

“What happened?”

I asked the servants.

One of the servants stepped forward.

She was a woman I’d seen often, a close servant who attended to Mother.

“Sh-she takes Heavy Relief Decoction and th-then has episodes like this. We understand it’s nothing serious…”

“Heavy Relief Decoction?”

It was the first time I’d heard of a herbal decoction with that name.

I had a bad feeling about it.

“Heavy Relief Decoction is the medicine Foster Mother takes. After taking it, her physical condition improved greatly.”

“Her condition improved? How?”

“She became able to move around as usual, and though she occasionally has seizures like this, Hall Master said her overall condition had improved significantly.”

Hall Master, Heo Su-kyung?

I definitely didn’t hear such talk when I went to get the medicinal herbs?

“Bring me the Heavy Relief Decoction.”

“Y-yes? Why do you…”

“Bring it.”

Sensing the serious atmosphere, the servant immediately bowed her head and rushed outside.

Shortly after, she returned carrying a medicine bowl.

“Is this the Heavy Relief Decoction?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

I took the medicine bowl called Heavy Relief Decoction and lightly dipped my tongue tip into it.

‘Hmm?’

I couldn’t really taste much.

More precisely, it was closer to tea than medicine, and aside from a slightly astringent taste on my tongue, there were no other notable characteristics.

“There’s no way something like this could be medicine…”

It was at that moment I was saying those words.

Suddenly, a memory from my previous life surfaced.

‘Could this be…’

If my suspicion is correct, this is a big problem.

I knew of a bastard who poisoned people in this manner.

“Mu Ying.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

At my call, Mu Ying approached with his hand on his sword hilt.

At his reaction, the servants were terrified and bowed their heads while kneeling.

“Take out the medicinal herbs you brought.”

“Here they are, Young Master.”

Mu Ying immediately presented the medicinal herbs he was carrying.

I took out the herbs I had torn at Insu Hall earlier and dropped them directly into the Heavy Relief Decoction.

Then I gently infused some energy to slightly warm the Heavy Relief Decoction.

At the same time, the dried herbs became moistened and began to steep in the Heavy Relief Decoction.

Originally, it would have been more accurate to make a proper herbal decoction and mix it with the Heavy Relief Decoction, but when would I have time to sit and brew it?

About fifteen minutes passed like that.

Gasp.

“…!”

I felt something and pulled my hand away from the medicine bowl.

‘Poison qi.’

The moment the medicinal herbs and Heavy Relief Decoction mixed, I felt poison qi from the medicine bowl.

And it was the same type I had felt from Mother!

“Ha, so this was it.”

Unable to contain my gradually boiling rage, I let out a mad laugh.

‘If I hadn’t come here today… I would never have known this.’

Mu Ying also sensed something strange and sniffed the Heavy Relief Decoction, then immediately frowned.

“Young Master, this is… poison.”

“Yes, it’s poison.”

I slowly rose from my seat.

And I looked over the servants once.

“Who is it.”

“….”

Silence.

It was as quiet as a mouse.

“Who brought this Heavy Relief Decoction? Was it you? Or the Hall Master?”

There was no answer.

They only trembled while watching each other nervously.

Sring!

Unable to bear it, Mu Ying deliberately drew his sword with a sound.

Only then did the servants turn pale and begin begging desperately.

“Oh my, Young Master! Please spare us. We, we didn’t even know this was poison! This Heavy Relief Decoction was something Foster Mother personally obtained…”

“Mother personally obtained it? From whom, when?”

“Th, that was quite a long time ago so our memory is hazy… But we know who she received it from. Yes!”

I took a deep breath and calmed my seething heart.

“Confess, from whom did Mother receive this herbal decoction?”

“Th, that… they said it was from the Heavenly Central Trading Company… but we’re not certain…”

“Heavenly Central Trading Company?”

What?

It’s a trading company I’ve never heard of.

I remember every trading company within the family without exception.

Perhaps reading my expression, one of the servants quickly spoke up.

“We heard it was a trading company contracted with Foster Mother’s family. I also saw them when I accompanied Foster Mother to the Shaanxi Yu Family before.”

“Ah, the Shaanxi Yu Family.”

Mother, Yu Harin’s family.

The Shaanxi Yu Family, a fairly famous family in Shaanxi.

‘I didn’t think of this.’

Right, rather than clumsily targeting the Zhu Family, it would be much easier to exploit the gaps in the relatively weak Yu Family.

Though the Zhu Family’s power was mighty, it didn’t extend all the way to that distant land of Shaanxi.

“You, take this and follow me.”

I pointed to the servant who had just been explaining to me.

The servant bowed his head and carefully picked up the medicine bowl.

Thus the servant and Mu Ying followed behind me.

The place I headed to was Insu Hall.

Because of my visit again, Heo Su-kyung had no choice but to stop what she was doing and rush out.

“Hall Master, could you take a look at this?”

“What is this… Gasp, this is?”

Heo Su-kyung, who had casually received the medicine bowl and was about to smell it, immediately noticed something and hardened her expression.

Without even needing to smell it, from the poison qi she felt, Heo Su-kyung finally realized that the situation was taking a serious turn.

“Please wait a moment, Young Master.”

Heo Su-kyung’s trembling stopped.

She quickly regained her composure as befitted her role as Hall Master and entered the interior of Insu Hall.

I naturally followed behind her.

After examining the contents of the medicine bowl using needles and other medicines for a while, Heo Su-kyung approached me with a serious expression.

“Did you figure out what it is?”

At my question, Heo Su-kyung nodded.

“Yes, roughly. But I’m not certain.”

After pondering, Heo Su-kyung asked me.

“Young Master, I have something to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“Did Foster Mother consume this?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

At those words, I looked at the servant trembling behind us.

Mu Ying noticed and pushed him forward.

“It, it’s already been well over three months, she would definitely take the Heavy Relief Decoction mixed in every three or four days.”

“Three months… Damn it.”

I gritted my teeth.

To think she had been taking such poisonous decoction for three months.

“Young Master, this is no ordinary problem.”

Heo Su-kyung said with a hardened expression.

“This isn’t a poison combination that could be conceived within common knowledge. This was done by someone who learned poisonous herbs very professionally.”

“Huh, is that so?”

I nodded.

Of course.

The one targeting Mother isn’t some ordinary bastard.

‘It couldn’t have been the Tang Family, so ultimately the fierce beast is the Demonic Cult.’

The ones who came up with the optimal means to bring down Mother and weaken the family’s power.

It was definitely the Demonic Cult.

Moreover, if it’s a legendary figure regarding poison within the Demonic Cult… there’s only one bastard.

‘The Twelve Demon Emperors, among them the Blood Hand Poison Emperor. It’s that bastard.’

It was definitely that bastard’s trace.

If it wasn’t that poison-crazed bastard, no one in the Zhu Family would be able to poison Foster Mother to death without anyone noticing.

Of course, that didn’t mean the Hall Master was completely free from suspicion either.

“Can you detoxify it?”

At my question, Heo Su-kyung frowned and fell into thought.

Then after a moment, she nodded slightly.

“I’m not confident… rather, we should ask the Tang Family…”

Heo Su-kyung’s uncertain words.

I quietly snapped at her.

“You’ll have to do it. I’m still suspecting the Hall Master as the fierce beast.”

“Yes, wh… what?”

“If you don’t want to be suspected, desperately… find a way.”

It meant if she didn’t want to die, she should somehow create an antidote and escape suspicion.

“By the way, this poison also has hallucinogenic effects. It’s poison but also highly addictive…”

“Highly?”

“It’s a kind of… drug.”

“….”

Drug.

Damn, if it’s a drug, that changes everything.

Drugs have tremendous addictive properties.

In some ways, they’re more vicious than poison itself, dragging those who take them all the way to hell.

“Even detoxification could be problematic. Especially since Foster Mother has such a weak constitution…”

“Mother is a strong person. She’ll overcome it sufficiently.”

I believe in Mother.

I know well that she’s someone who would never kneel to something like a mere drug.

“Alright. I’ll try it. No, I’ll definitely make it. I’ll find a way somehow.”

She clenched her fist, showing her determination.

I gave her one final request.

“This all needs to be conducted in secret.”

“Secret? All of this is a secret?”

“The Fierce Beast might escape. Please do it that way.”

At my words, Heo Su-kyung took a deep breath and nodded.

“Understood. I’ll follow Young Master’s words.”

“Good.”

Yes, this should be enough.

Now I had to do what I could for Mother.

“I suppose I’ll have to go.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Mu Ying nodded as if it were obvious.

“To the Shaanxi Yu Family.”

It’s time to visit my maternal family after a long while.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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