"Is it the Madam?" Zhong Li opened the door, and standing at the threshold was the old couple who had chatted with them on the way.
Seeing Zhong Li inside, the old woman's wrinkled face broke into a friendly smile. "We saw the two of you enter this room just now. I was afraid I had made a mistake, but now that I see a young lady inside, I am relieved."
"Madam, what happened?" Zhong Li, not knowing the woman's name, could only address her this way.
The old woman smiled and produced the tray she had prepared. "My surname is Zhao. If you don't mind, you may call me Madam Zhao. These are some pastries I brought from home. Seeing that we have a connection, I specially brought them for you to try."
As she spoke, Madam Zhao opened the lid, and exquisite pastries were presented before Zhong Li.
"Are these tangguozi?" Zhong Li asked, looking at the delicate pastries in Madam Zhao's hand.
"Yes, my family also runs a business making tangguozi and sells them to Yingzhou. Do you like them, young lady?" Madam Zhao said, not waiting for Zhong Li to accept, and placed the tangguozi into her hand before quickly leaving with a smile.
Zhong Li looked at the tangguozi in her hand, wanting to chase after her, but found that due to the narrowness of the cabin, Madam Zhao had already disappeared without her noticing.
"Who?" Lu Wu Xie looked at Zhong Li, who had returned to the room, and asked, glancing at the tangguozi in her hand.
Zhong Li placed a tangguozi in front of Lu Wu Xie and looked towards the door. "Husband, these tangguozi look quite good. Would you like to try one?"
Hearing this, Lu Wu Xie looked at the four pastries of different shapes on the tray and smiled as he took one.
"Did it work?"
"I don't know. There's no movement inside."
"No movement is proof that it worked! Hurry up and go see. If it worked, go tell the boss Xie!"
A continuous stream of conversation could be heard from outside Zhong Li and Lu Wu Xie's room. After a while, the door was pushed open from the outside, and Madam Zhao's figure appeared at the doorway.
"How is it?" a man's inquiry followed behind her.
"Old man, it worked!" Madam Zhao looked at Zhong Li and Lu Wu Xie, who were lying on the table unconscious, and turned back to inform the person behind her.
The man, called old man, heard this and quickly walked past Madam Zhao to Zhong Li and Lu Wu Xie's side. He felt for their noses and said, "No breathing. They must have been poisoned. You go quickly... Ah!"
"Ah!"
Before the man could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in the hand he had placed on Lu Wu Xie's nose. The next moment, Lu Wu Xie had already countered, grabbed him, and pinned him to the table, looking at him coldly.
Madam Zhao was also not spared. While Lu Wu Xie was subduing the man, Zhong Li had quickly flipped up and, in three swift strides, grabbed her as she was trying to escape the cabin, throwing her to the ground with a strong arm.
"You..." Madam Zhao froze, staring with disbelieving eyes.
Zhong Li couldn't be bothered to explain. She snatched Madam Zhao's collar, picked up a pastry from the table, and said, "This tangguozi has medicine in it. Speak! Who ordered you to do this?"
Madam Zhao looked at the pastry, then at Zhong Li's face. "I don't know..."
"You don't know, do you?" Zhong Li snorted and picked up a pastry, preparing to stuff it into Madam Zhao's mouth.
"No, no..." Madam Zhao was truly startled by Zhong Li's action and quickly covered her mouth. "I... I had no choice... no choice at all!"
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"I didn't know the two of you at all. It was not because Xie Laoda forced me, but because he poisoned my husband. I wanted the antidote. Otherwise, I would never do such a wicked thing!" Madam Zhao said, looking at the man on the table with full of concern in her eyes.
She meekly stared at Zhong Li. "This young lady... not young hero... not heroine. I am just a merchant from Jinzhou who sells tangguozi, doing a little business to and from Yingzhou. I never thought I would get entangled in this matter. Heroine, what I'm saying is true. Can you, considering my old age, let me go?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li did not immediately answer Madam Zhao. She got up and went to Madam Zhao's husband, felt his pulse, and confirmed Madam Zhao was not lying before asking, "Who is this Xie Laoda you mentioned?"
"Ah, you don't know!" Madam Zhao looked surprised.
Zhong Li glared at her coldly.
Madam Zhao quickly replied, "He's the boss of this Beichuan Gang, Xie Kun."
Xie Kun?
Hearing this, Zhong Li glanced at Lu Wu Xie.
Seeing him also shake his head, looking bewildered, she couldn't help but wonder. They had never offended this Xie Kun, so why would he want to kill them?
"Do you know why he wants to kill us?" Zhong Li asked again.
Madam Zhao shook her head. "I truly don't know. Xie Kun sent people to find us early this morning. First, he poisoned my old man, captured us, and then ordered us to do one thing: approach you and poison you."
Zhong Li didn't ask further. Instead, she went to Xie Kun's husband and casually took out a bottle from her waist, pouring out a pill.
"You're going to..." Madam Zhao's husband hadn't finished speaking when the pill was in his mouth.
Madam Zhao was anxious upon seeing this and kowtowed to Zhong Li. "Heroine, I know I was wrong. I was truly forced. Please spare us, please."
Zhong Li tucked the medicine bottle into her waist and said, "Madam Zhao, what I just gave your husband was an antidote. Your husband was only poisoned by ordinary poison, and it was not deep. After today, his body will be fine."
When Madam Zhao heard this, she looked at her husband, who had been released by Lu Wu Xie, and quickly kowtowed in gratitude.
"Heroine, you saved my husband today without holding a grudge. If there's a chance in the future, I will definitely repay the two of you."
Zhong Li said nothing more and waved her hand, signaling Madam Zhao to leave.
Madam Zhao got up from the ground, walked to her husband's side, and helped him up. As they were about to leave, a crisp knock echoed from the doorway.
Simultaneously, all four people inside froze.
"Who... who is it?" Madam Zhao, at Zhong Li's signal, asked the person outside the door.
"Zhao Shi, how did things go? Boss Xie is waiting for your reply," a stranger's voice responded from outside the door.
Zhong Li and Lu Wu Xie exchanged a look.
Lu Wu Xie quickly walked to the window, pushed it open, and as Madam Zhao hesitated, not knowing how to answer, Zhong Li followed him, leaping out the window and running outside.
With a 'thump,' the room door was kicked open the moment Zhong Li jumped out the window.
Madam Zhao's pained whimpers were heard from inside, followed by a sharp roar: "They ran! Hurry up and chase them! Kill them without mercy once you catch them! Boss said whoever gets the heads of those two first will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold!"