Feng Jin's words fell, and the few soldiers whose consciousness was still clear looked at each other. After a long hesitation, one of them spoke, "We... we ate some fruit in the woods."
"When you entered the woods, I had already warned you not to eat anything randomly. How dare you still eat fruit indiscriminately!"
Ling Mohan's furious voice echoed throughout the room. The soldiers, already weak on their beds, trembled violently.
"Defying military orders, you deserve to die!"
To knowingly commit an offense and suffer such a fate could only be attributed to their own doing!
Ling Mohan's face was extremely grim. He immediately wanted to turn and leave. After a pause, his gaze fell on Chu Chenyi, "The soldiers you brought, find a way to deal with them yourself!"
After saying this, Ling Mohan turned and left without looking back.
"You..."
Chu Chenyi swallowed the words that were about to be spoken. He understood Ling Mohan's temperament too well. Seeing his expression, he knew that whatever he said would be in vain.
"They truly deserve it!"
He uttered this furious curse, a fire burning in his chest. He had repeatedly warned them not to eat anything from the woods, but some people insisted on trying.
"Stop with the sarcastic remarks. The situation has already happened, and saving them is the priority."
Feng Jin stood up and said that if they delayed any longer, these people's lives would be in danger.
"What do you need? I'll have someone prepare it."
"Just prepare some sugar water."
She wasn't sure what kind of fruit they had eaten, and the depth of their poisoning varied. The only way was to induce vomiting first and have them drink plenty of sugar water to conserve their strength.
"This King will have someone prepare it immediately."
Chu Chenyi nodded in agreement and hurried to instruct someone to prepare the sugar water.
"Drink the sugar water first, and then take the medicine."
Feng Jin distributed the prepared medicine. After drinking it, everyone began to vomit in unison.
"Will this work?" Chu Chenyi asked with a hint of worry, looking at their pathetic state.
"It will definitely work. If they vomit everything they've eaten, the toxicity will be weakened, and then drinking some detoxifying medicine will suffice."
This was the only simple method of treatment available, and it was unavoidable that they would suffer some discomfort.
"How long will they have to vomit? Look at how pale his face has become?"
"Almost there. Give him some detoxifying medicine."
After a moment's pause, Feng Jin continued, "After drinking the medicine, do not let him eat anything for a day, not even water."
Their intestines needed to be thoroughly cleansed to ensure the toxins were expelled completely.
"Exactly, let them be greedy."
Chu Chenyi snorted. If it weren't for their gluttony, such a commotion wouldn't have occurred, delaying their progress to the capital. They deserved to suffer.
Once they recovered, there would likely be further punishments awaiting them.
"Alright, I've done what I needed to do. You stay here and watch over them. After they've all taken the detoxifying medicine, leave a physician to monitor them. If anything is amiss, come and find me."
Feng Jin yawned, forcing her weary eyelids open. She had been traveling in a carriage all day, feeling sore and uncomfortable. She was really at her limit and just wanted to go back and sleep, as she had to continue her journey early the next morning.
"I'll keep an eye on them. You go back first."
Tonight, he was destined to have a sleepless night, as the troublemakers were precisely the soldiers he had brought.
If this matter was not resolved properly, given Ling Mohan's temper and disposition, even he would not be spared.
After giving a few more instructions, Feng Jin got up and returned to her room. As soon as she pushed the door open, a somewhat sinister and terrifying voice sounded from behind her.
"You know to come back?"
"Ah!" Feng Jin cried out instinctively and turned around with full alertness.
Seeing who it was behind her in the moonlight, she breathed a sigh of relief, her heart still pounding. "Do you know that startling people can kill them?"
It was one thing to sit here in the middle of the night without sleeping, but another to not light a lamp and deliberately play the ghost.
Feng Jin fumbled for and lit the oil lamp from memory. The entire room instantly lit up, and her wildly beating heart finally calmed down.
She placed the oil lamp on the table, clearly illuminating half of the man's grim face.
"What's wrong with you?"
As her words fell, Ling Mohan remained silent, sitting there with a somber expression.
"Those soldiers only have food poisoning. They will be fine after drinking the detoxifying decoction," Feng Jin explained, thinking he was still worried about the soldiers' safety.
After a moment, the silent man finally spoke, "I explicitly ordered them multiple times not to touch anything in the woods, especially food. Why did they still break the rules!"
This was what Ling Mohan couldn't understand. Soldiers who had been on campaigns for years often encountered similar situations.
How could they make such a low-level mistake, daring to randomly touch things in the woods.
"Perhaps they were really too hungry, or too thirsty. When the human body endures extreme pain, it is difficult to persevere. This is also human nature."
The human senses, when pushed to their limit, are greatly amplified. It is human nature to give up one's resolve when one can no longer persevere.
Feng Jin didn't find anything wrong with it, only feeling that they had reached their limit.
"Something is not right..." Ling Mohan shook his head. "There must be other reasons."
"Have you thought of something?" Feng Jin asked Ling Mohan, her brows furrowed slightly.
"The few people who are poisoned this time were all sent to protect the palace maids and eunuchs from Xiliang."
"What?" Feng Jin's tone held a hint of surprise. If that were the case, this matter would be extraordinary. Why did only these few people fall ill?
"If it were someone else, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it concerns people from Xiliang, then this matter is no longer ordinary."
This was not Ling Mohan being overly suspicious. After all, everyone knew the ambition of the Xiliang people. This incident happening to soldiers who had come into contact with them made people unable to help but doubt.
"But we don't have any concrete evidence to blame them for this. What are your plans now?"
"I thought our defenses were tight enough, but I didn't expect these Xiliang people to be so insidious. If they are indeed like this, then don't blame me for not letting them reach the capital."
As he said this, a trace of thick killing intent flashed in Ling Mohan's eyes.
He had initially intended to spare their lives if they behaved themselves.
But now, as soon as they had set off, they had acted so impatiently. If he let them off now, he might still spare their lives. If they truly showed no remorse, then he would not hesitate to show mercy.