Chapter 32 The Special "Honesty Water"

Chapter 32 The Special "Honesty Water"

The crimson liquid in that glass gleamed with an alluring luster under the candlelight.

Pei Yunjing's eyes appeared calm, but in reality, they were like a bottomless, icy pool, locking away every expression on her face.

"What? You're afraid to drink?"

He leaned slightly forward, his tone carrying a hint of mocking pressure: "Weren't you just now so quick-witted, saying that I've read too many storybooks? Since you have a clear conscience, what is there for the princess to fear, it's just a cup of wine?"

What's there to be afraid of?

I'm afraid drinking this stuff will turn me into an idiot!

Tang Li stared at the glass of wine, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

Just then, the tiny bamboo viper, "Little Green," which had been hidden in the secret pocket of her sleeve, flicked its tongue rapidly again, its cold scales brushing against her wrist, sending out a scream that only she could hear:

[Hiss! Don't drink it! Absolutely don't drink it!]

This is that terrifying "idiot-making potion"! Last time, a suicide bomber drank it and even revealed how he used to peep at the widow next door while she was bathing when he was a child! Drinking it will turn you into an idiot!

Tang Li's fingers trembled slightly.

Pei Yunjing, that cunning old bastard!

At that moment, the wine glass was already brought to his lips.

Pei Yunjing's gaze was like a knife, leaving her no room to refuse.

If she doesn't drink, it's considered resistance, it's considered guilty, and the next thing waiting for her is that freshly polished dagger.

Drinking is death (exposure).

Not drinking it means certain death.

At this critical moment, Tangli caught a glimpse of her wide sleeves out of the corner of her eye.

Today, because she was meeting guests, she specially put a thick layer of absorbent cotton cloth at the cuffs of her inner garment to prevent sweating from nervousness, but it turned out to be her lifesaver.

Let's give it our all!

"Your Highness has bestowed wine upon me, and I dare not refuse."

Tang Li took a deep breath, her face showing a tragic expression of resignation to her fate.

She suddenly raised her hand, and the wide sleeves naturally covered half of her face and the wine glass.

She tilted her head back and made a bold gesture of drinking it all in one gulp.

The instant the rim of the cup touched her lips, she flicked her wrist with remarkable skill, pouring the crimson liquid into her wide sleeve with a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch!

The cold liquor was instantly absorbed by the thick cotton cloth.

"Gulp."

Tangli moved her throat in response, making a swallowing motion.

Then, she turned the empty glass upside down to show Pei Yunjing, and two tears even welled up in the corners of her eyes (from the smell of alcohol):

"I've finished drinking."

Pei Yunjing narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over her empty wine glass and her seemingly normal lips.

I didn't spill it; I definitely drank it.

This "bewitching potion" from the Western Regions has an extremely fast effect; the effects will be seen within ten breaths.

Pei Yunjing slowed his breathing and waited quietly.

one.

two.

three.

Tangli stood still, silently counting down the time.

Since it's a drug, we have to act it out convincingly.

When she counted to five, her body swayed.

When she counted to eight, her gaze began to glaze over, her once clear pupils became unfocused, and a strange flush rose to her face.

"hot……"

Tang Li reached out and tugged at her collar, then stumbled and fell limply onto the carpet.

She leaned against the table leg, chuckled foolishly twice, and seemed to have lost all sense of reason.

The medication took effect.

Pei Yunjing lowered the dagger in his hand, leaned forward, and his voice became low and seductive, like a whisper from the abyss:

"Tang Li, look at me."

Tang Li looked up groggily, staring blankly at him.

"Who are you? Who sent you?"

Pei Yunjing asked the most crucial question.

Tang Li blinked, as if her mind had gone blank, and after a long while, she answered with a lisp:

"I...I'm Tang Li...Who sent me?"

She suddenly slammed her hand on the floor in anger, and shouted in a tearful voice:

"It's that old hag Wang! And that wicked woman Tang Wan! They...they forced me to marry in her place...Waaaaah...they wanted me dead..."

Pei Yunjing frowned slightly.

This reaction is logical.

He pressed on, his eyes sharp: "Do you speak animal language? How did you find out about Liu Changqing?"

This is the final test.

Tang Li hiccuped, tilting her head with a blank expression:

"Beast...language? What beast language?"

She grinned foolishly and stretched out her hand, making a large circle in the air:

"I can... I can eat meat! Big White... Big White, that greedy cat, it cries to me every day that it's hungry... It has worms in its belly... I'm hungry too..."

At this point, Tangli seemed to be getting a little tipsy and bolder.

She staggered to her feet and, fueled by the "drug's" effects, lunged at Pei Yunjing, who was sitting in a chair!

Pei Yunjing was startled and was about to dodge, but the woman grabbed his leg tightly.

“Pei Yunjing…you bastard…”

Tang Li buried her face in his brocade robe, taking the opportunity to vent all the resentment she hadn't finished expressing earlier:

"Why...why are you so good-looking...waaaaah..."

Pei Yunjing: "...?"

Tang Li raised her head, her large, watery eyes fixed on Pei Yunjing's incomparably handsome face. She stretched out her claws and, incredibly, grabbed his chin.

"You're so good-looking... why do you kill people every day... you scared me to death, you know that..."

"Your face was sculpted by Nuwa... and your heart is made of stone..."

"Zhou Bapi... stole my gold... that was my braised pork... my crystal pork knuckle..."

Tang Li became increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, and finally, she simply hugged Pei Yunjing's leg and burst into tears, listing the names of the dishes as she cried:

"Give me back my gold... I want to eat eight-treasure duck... I want to eat squirrel-shaped mandarin fish... Waaaaah, you bad guy... Just because you're handsome doesn't mean you can be so great..."

Pei Yunjing sat stiffly in the chair, letting the drunken woman wipe her tears and snot all over his expensive brocade robe.

His eyes, which were originally full of murderous intent, gradually became somewhat dull under the bombardment of a series of "bastard," "good-looking," and "elbow," and finally turned into a deep silence.

Is this her true statement?

There was no conspiracy from an enemy country.

There was no task to be meticulously carried out.

There were no strange beastly words.

There was only lust for his good looks (he's handsome), accusations of his atrocities (I was terrified), and... an obsession with food (Give me back my gold).

This is a complete, greedy, lustful, cowardly... idiot.

Pei Yunjing looked at Tang Li, who was still clinging to his leg and crying, "The braised pork knuckle is so delicious!" The last trace of doubt and murderous intent in his eyes finally dissipated completely.

He even felt that his actions of testing him with a knife and forcing him to confess with drugs, as if he were facing a formidable enemy, were completely unnecessary.

Why bother arguing with a stupid woman whose mind is only focused on food?

"Alright, shut up."

Pei Yunjing's head ached from her crying, so he reached out and pressed her forehead, pushing her off his lap.

"Hmm...it looks good..."

Tang Li continued acting, her eyes glazed over as she leaned closer, muttering, "Let me take a bite... just one bite..."

"..."

Pei Yunjing looked at her with disdain, but the corners of his mouth curled up very slightly.

"He really is an idiot."

He shook his head helplessly and called out, "Uncle Zhao."

The old steward, Uncle Zhao, immediately pushed open the door and entered. Seeing the scene on the floor, he was startled: "Your Highness, this..."

"The princess is drunk."

Pei Yunjing stood up, straightened his robe which she had crumpled, and although his tone was still cold, it lacked the previous chill:

"Have someone carry her back. Make her a bowl of hangover soup and force her down her throat, so she won't go crazy again tomorrow morning."

"yes."

Uncle Zhao quickly called over two rough-working women and carried Tangli, who was still whining about wanting to eat pork knuckle, out of the house.

The study returned to silence.

Pei Yunjing looked at the empty glass cup on the ground, then at the wet tear stain (or saliva) on his robe, and surprisingly did not get angry and order it to be burned.

"Beast language..."

He murmured to himself, then chuckled self-deprecatingly:

"It seems I was overthinking things. This is a treacherous wolf that can only be raised but never truly forgiven."

...

In the auricle.

Tangli, who had been thrown back onto the bed, instantly regained her clarity in her previously dazed and confused eyes the moment the old women closed the door and left.

She sat up abruptly, exhaling a long breath; her back was already soaked with sweat.

"Oh my god... that scared Dad to death."

Tang Li took out the piece of cotton cloth soaked in medicinal wine from her sleeve and threw it into the brazier to burn it with disgust.

Only after watching the flames devour the evidence did she completely collapse onto the bed.

I've finally gotten through this hurdle.

but……

Tang Li touched her face, recalling the feeling of her cursing Pei Yunjing as a bastard and pinching his chin while she was drunk.

Hmm, I must say, this lunatic's skin is actually quite smooth.