There is a happy inn in the capital.

Chapter 409 Horse Poisoning

Li Shuchen jumped up with a start, rushed out to take a look, and was immediately dumbfounded.

Horses lay sprawled on the ground near the camp, foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and with unfocused eyes.

Panicked, she immediately searched for Wanbai.

"Wanbai, Wanbai, Li Wanbai, where are you?"

She frantically checked each person, but couldn't find Wanbai.

"Wanbai is gone, Yuying, and I haven't seen Hongying either. You mean those two..." Li Shuchen was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Although Wanbai is greedy, lazy, lecherous, stupid, stubborn, fierce, foolish, smelly, wild, crazy, obstinate, slippery, and shrewd.

But she cannot lose Wanbai.

"What's going on?!" Liang Yuying demanded of the guard, her face ashen.

The guard responsible for tending the horses knelt on the ground, trembling all over: "General, I didn't know! They were fine last night, but this morning..."

Ye Bingli squatted beside a fallen horse, and after a careful examination, her expression turned grave: "It's poisoning. Judging from the symptoms, it's probably a neurotoxin mixed in with the fodder."

“The fodder is all distributed uniformly,” Gu Ziying said, then suddenly stopped, “unless someone tampered with it.”

Everyone looked at each other

The imperial guards instinctively distanced themselves from each other, and a sense of distrust filled the air.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar.

Everyone looked on warily, only to see Wanbai and Hongying running back one after the other.

The two horses were covered in dew and grass clippings, clearly having spent the night outside.

They ran up to Li Shuchen and wouldn't leave. Wanbai nudged her with her head, while Hongying bit her sleeve and pulled it away.

"That's great, you two are alright," Li Shuchen said happily. "Where did you go last night?"

"Hi~"

Wan Bai snorted, turned and took a few steps in a certain direction, then looked back at her.

Princess Changning's eyes lit up: "Where do they want to take us?"

Liang Yuying said in a deep voice, "Shu Chen, Chang Ning, come with me. The rest of you stay put and take care of His Highness and the poisoned horses, and do your best to treat them."

The three followed the two horses deeper into the wilderness.

After walking for about 15 minutes, we came to a dry riverbed.

Wanbai stopped beside a large rock and pawed the ground with its front hooves.

Li Shuchen squatted down and looked down; he saw several oil paper packages under the stone.

Exactly the same as the one previously found in Wushishan

"What's this?" Li Shuchen opened a packet; inside was a dark green powder.

“The poison left behind by the one-armed guard,” Liang Yuying said coldly, “but he’s already dead, unless…”

“Unless he has accomplices,” Li Shuchen interjected, his mind racing, “and this accomplice is right among us, poisoning the horse last night while everyone was asleep.”

"This is outrageous! I must find them and feed them these drugs!" Princess Changning said angrily.

The red shadow suddenly let out a neigh and looked towards the camp, its eyes filled with anxiety.

"What happened to Hongying?" Princess Changning asked.

Li Shuchen suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "The red shadow is telling us that the person who poisoned us is probably destroying evidence or preparing for their next move."

"Hurry back!" Liang Yuying, carrying Li Shuchen, flipped onto the red horse and rode back.

"Wait for me!" Princess Changning had no choice but to mount Wanbai and follow him.

The three rode back at full speed

As they approached the campsite, Li Shuchen signaled for them to tread lightly.

They crept quietly to the edge of the camp and hid behind rocks to observe.

Sure enough, a figure sneaked over to the hay pile, took something out of his pocket, and was about to sprinkle it into the remaining hay.

"stop!"

Liang Yuying gave a sharp shout, and the man trembled in fright, dropping the paper package from his hand to the ground.

He was a young guard in the Imperial Guard, usually quiet and unremarkable.

"A scoundrel?" Liang Yuying narrowed her eyes. "It really was you."

The hoodlum turned pale and ran away.

But he was no match for Liang Yuying; he hadn't run more than a few steps before a long sword was pressed against the back of his neck.

"Why?" Liang Yuying walked up to him, her voice trembling with suppressed anger. "Those horses followed you all the way."

The hooligan pursed his lips and remained silent.

Ye Bingli also came over at some point, holding the paper packet that had just fallen in her hand and smelling it.

"The same poison. You and that one-armed guard were in cahoots, right? He was responsible for taking care of us on the first mountain, and you were responsible for finishing us off on the second mountain. Unfortunately, he failed, so you're the one left to continue."

"What do you know?" the thug finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "My brother is being controlled by them. If I don't do as they say, they'll kill him."

"So you poisoned the horse?" Li Shuchen kicked him to the ground in anger. "What did the horse do wrong?"

"The horses are just the beginning," the rogue slowly rose and gave a bitter laugh. "Next, we'll poison the water source. Brother Ju Du left enough medicine for three uses: horses, water, and finally, provisions."

Everyone gasped

What a ruthless scheme!

"Who ordered this?" Liang Yuying pressed. "The magistrate of Yifeng County? Or someone else?"

The scoundrel shook his head: "I don't know, it's all one-way communication, but I've seen the token, it's a black jade thumb ring, with engravings on it..."

His words abruptly stopped, his eyes widened suddenly, and a trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Just like the one-armed guard before his death

Liang Yuying quickly grabbed his chin, but it was too late: "Poison hidden between your teeth, another assassin."

"It seems they've gone all out," Gu Ziying said as she walked over, followed by the Tenth Prince, who looked on with amusement. "Two mountains, two assassins, all to stop us from going to Boyu Kingdom?"

Liang Yuying's expression turned grave: "This matter is becoming increasingly complicated."

"The horses are all poisoned, how can we continue? Even if these horses are saved, they won't be able to carry heavy loads in the short term," Ye Bingli frowned.

Everyone looked at the horse lying motionless on the ground, at a loss for what to do.

Suddenly, Li Shuchen slapped his forehead: "Wait, I might have a way!"

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, she slipped behind a large rock, pretending to pull out several small bottles from her bosom (actually from the system shop), while muttering incantations.

"Oh dear, this is a family-inherited antidote recipe given to me by my master in the martial arts world. I didn't want to use it, but now, sigh..."

[System notification: Purchase of "Universal Veterinary Antidote" x10, costing 1000 taels of silver. Confirm?]

confirm!

Li Shuchen returned carrying several small bottles filled with green liquid, her face showing a pained expression.

"This was part of my master's dowry, worth ten thousand taels of silver... Sigh... Never mind, saving my life is more important."

She handed the antidote to Zizhu, saying, "Mix it with clean water and give it to the horse."

"Yes," Zizhu accepted the gift, and the girls quickly followed suit, exchanging glances amidst their busy work.

Miss Li suffered another major hemorrhage.

Yes, whenever Princess Ying is in trouble, it's always Miss Li who steps in to resolve it.

Our Yingzhu is truly blessed.

In less than half an hour, the horses that had been less severely poisoned were able to stand up. Although their legs were still weak, their eyes had regained their clarity.

"Incredible!" Zizhu exclaimed. "Miss Li, just who is your master?"