Poisoned, I Will Not Handle Liancastle

At the end of the secret passage were three small rooms. In one, the door was slightly ajar. William Wang Jinling pushed it open and saw Holden Cui lying there, completely motionless.

"Holden, what happened to him?" As a doctor, Serena was the first to step inside, checking Holden Cui's pulse and lifting his eyelids to examine him.

"His vital signs are extremely weak, his lips are black—he's been deeply poisoned, and for a long time." Judging by the symptoms, it was a sulfur-containing toxin similar to arsenic.

William nodded. "He was poisoned three days ago, and today someone secretly brought him to me. Do you think he can still be saved?"

"I can't promise." Serena pricked Holden Cui's left finger, and a drop of black blood oozed out. "The toxin has penetrated his heart meridians—he needs immediate treatment."

"Alright, what do you need me to prepare?" William asked straightforwardly. Serena didn't stand on ceremony, promptly listing the supplies she needed and having them sent in at once. In addition...

"Find me a few healthy people—I need to draw blood." The poisoned blood in Holden Cui's body had to be drained.

William had seen blood transfusions before, so he immediately understood what Serena wanted. He nodded and began arranging everything. Before leaving, he didn't forget to take Prince Nolan with him: "Since Prince Nolan is here at the Windchaser Inn, he might as well try the cuisine—otherwise, those people outside who can't find your whereabouts will just keep waiting at the door."

Using Prince Nolan as a decoy to draw away the outside surveillance—only William Wang Jinling could pull off something like this.

"What if I hadn't come?" Prince Nolan, though displeased, still headed toward the private rooms in the front courtyard of Windchaser Inn.

William didn’t hesitate: “You were bound to come.” Ninth Royal Uncle hadn’t attended morning court for the past two days; it was obvious he’d been spending time with Serena. If William invited Serena alone, of course the jealous Ninth Royal Uncle would tag along.

Scheming against him, then pretending to be displeased about his arrival—William, you’re getting bolder. Prince Nolan snorted coldly, shot William a warning look, and headed upstairs.

William just smiled unconcernedly and started preparing the items Serena had requested.

After William and Prince Nolan left, Serena opened her Smart Med-Pack and took out the necessary medicines and equipment. As for what William might think if he saw, Serena wasn’t worried at all.

William was clever enough to have long since noticed something unusual about her. He just pretended not to know, so as not to make things difficult for her.

Serena used the Smart Med-Pack to run a check on Holden Cui. This time, the Med-Pack was on point—it finally identified the toxin by name. The catch? There were no recorded treatment cases.

"Poisons from thousands of years ago are always a pain." Serena muttered, then proceeded to treat Holden Cui according to standard protocol.

William was smart enough not to make things difficult for Serena. He knocked on the door, and when Serena told him to come in, he didn’t enter. Instead, he spoke through the door: "Serena, the people you need are next door, guarded by escorts. You can go right in—they’ll cooperate. Also, if you need me or Prince Nolan, just pull the short cord inside the stone window. If you do, both of us will know right away."

"Alright, got it." Serena really admired William’s manners. Such thoughtfulness and respect could win anyone’s favor—no wonder so many people liked the Grand Heir.

With no one else to disturb her, Serena could treat Holden Cui openly, without worrying about exposing too much. After draining the poisoned blood, she began transfusing clean blood into his body, bag by bag.

Holden Cui still didn’t move, but the deathly pallor and grayness on his face had faded quite a bit. Serena glanced up at the IV bottle and saw it was almost empty, so she hurried over to prepare more medicine.

Crack—crack—Serena broke open the medicine vials, extracted the drugs, and injected them into the IV bottle. Sweat occasionally beaded on her forehead, and she could only wipe it away with the back of her hand.

As soon as she replaced the IV bottle, the blood transfusion bag was nearly empty again. After checking Holden Cui’s status, Serena swapped in a fresh bag.

...

Serena was so busy she barely touched the ground, but her spirits were surprisingly good. Focusing on one task let her forget all the recent unhappiness in her heart...

In the Windchaser Inn, Prince Nolan and William chatted idly. As dusk approached, Prince Nolan frowned slightly and looked at William.

"This isn’t something I can control," William said innocently, even helpfully suggesting, "You could go find Serena. Want me to show you the way?"

Prince Nolan said nothing, his eyes rolling upward slightly as he sat there in silence...

William didn’t say anything more either. He picked up the wine jug beside him, poured himself a full cup, and downed it in one go—then refilled his cup, repeating the process...

On anyone else, this would look like drinking away one’s sorrows, but when William did it, there was a scholar’s ease and a swordsman’s boldness to his manner.

Soon the wine jug was empty, but William still hadn’t had enough. He fetched another and began pouring himself more. Before he could fill his cup, Prince Nolan said, “Stop drinking.”

"Is Prince Nolan worried about me?" William didn’t listen, paused for a moment, and then filled his cup to the brim.

"You’re overthinking. I just don’t want you passing out drunk and making Serena waste time sobering you up." Prince Nolan’s words were a bit sharp, but coming from him, it sounded perfectly natural.

"I knew it—Serena’s the only one you care about." William drained his cup, set it down, and walked to the window, his back to Prince Nolan. "Don’t worry, I won’t hold Serena back, nor play the pitiful card for sympathy. That’s not my style."

Prince Nolan didn’t reply. He picked up the wine jug, poured himself a cup, and held it to his lips, savoring the aroma instead of drinking. Looking at William’s solitary figure, Prince Nolan’s mood brightened. In a rare moment of kindness, he remarked, "You’re too much a gentleman." Which is why, in many things, you’re bound to suffer losses.

"It’s not that I’m too much a gentleman—it’s that you’re too shameless." Prince Nolan and I are two different breeds. I can scheme and play dirty, but when it comes to feelings, I refuse to manipulate. What I want is the purest, most untainted love in the world.

"You’re just jealous." Prince Nolan set down his cup, leaned back, and relaxed, radiating a lazy air. "The Capital’s affairs are yours to handle. I haven’t revealed Mr. Jingyang’s true identity, so make sure Jixia Academy pays up. If the Lord of Liancastle comes, host him well on my behalf. If I can’t skin a layer off Liancastle, I’ll take it from the Wang Clan instead."

Pfft—William nearly spat blood. All his earlier melancholy and sadness vanished in an instant. If not for his poise, he would have exploded on the spot.

Even so, William was so angry he ground his teeth. "What does Liancastle have to do with me? That’s your mess. Why dump all the dirty, rotten jobs on me? The Lord of Liancastle isn’t even worth my personal attention. Whatever drama you and Liancastle have, Serena may not know, but don’t think I’m clueless. I’m not getting involved with Liancastle."

"Mm." Prince Nolan responded, indicating he understood. His indifferent reaction left William momentarily stunned.

What did Prince Nolan mean by that?

William realized Prince Nolan was growing more and more inscrutable. He felt just like those ministers at morning court—caught in Prince Nolan’s schemes without even knowing it...