Your Highness, your wife has had her virginity mark applied and married someone else.

Wei Ziye remained silent for a moment.

Shen Mingshu could almost hear her own heartbeat getting heavier. She glared at Wei Ziye with dissatisfaction before he finally spoke.

"Your Majesty, I had suppressed this case and intended to investigate it, but I saw that Shen Mingshu wanted to kill Shen Yangjue. I was careless and killed the wrong person."

"..."

Shen Mingshu stared at Wei Ziye in disbelief. Did he really have to distance himself from her when it would make her deceive the emperor?

Wei Ziye said to himself, "Fortunately, Shen Mingshu has a special constitution, which allows her to better relieve the Empress Dowager's worries for Shen Yangjue."

"Oh?" The emperor's gaze swept over the two of them, and he put down the memorial, continuing to listen with interest.

"Shen Mingshu, what's so special about your constitution?"

Should we ask her first?

Shen Mingshu was somewhat annoyed and was about to answer honestly when Wei Ziye interrupted, "Your Majesty, her body suffered a severe injury. I don't know who fed her the pills, but not only were her injuries healed, but the blood she dripped could also heal flesh and bones."

"What did you say!" Even the emperor, who had seen rare and precious treasures, was so shocked by Wei Ziye's last words that he stood up.

"Is 'recovering flesh and bones' what I understand it to be?"

"Indeed." Wei Ziye replied respectfully, "I have already tested it. Her blood, when dripped into a wound, can help the patient heal faster. Unfortunately, not everyone can benefit from it."

Shen Mingshu listened quietly as Wei Ziye fabricated a story that was half true and half false, and belatedly realized his intention.

However, it was only a vague and incomplete understanding.

She understood the Gu worms, but wasn't her blood effective for everyone?

Shen Mingshu had never tried this before.

But Wei Ziye tried it on her on the spot: "Please ask the Emperor to send a royal physician."

The emperor nodded, and the eunuch immediately went to fetch him.

When the imperial physician arrived, Wei Ziye pulled out Shen Mingshu's hairpin and slashed it across his own arm with such force that Shen Mingshu felt pain just watching.

Seeing Wei Zishi reaching out to her, Shen Mingshu hurriedly pulled out another hairpin: "I'll do it myself."

Blood from his heart dripped from his fingertips into Wei Ziye's arm.

Wei Ziye watched as the drop of blood merged into his own, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"Taking the pulse."

"Yes." The imperial physician took the pulse with both hands, one on each hand, but found nothing unusual.

"This young lady is too weak; she must not experience extreme joy or sorrow in her daily life."

"As for the Crown Prince—"

Wei Ziye interrupted him: "The presence of a different pulse pattern proves it invalid."

The emperor stared intently: "You mean, the Empress Dowager can be effective?"

"No." Wei Ziye casually pulled down his sleeve. "Your Majesty, please dismiss your attendants. The imperial physicians will wait at the door."

Wei Ziye's actions left Shen Mingshu, the person involved, completely bewildered.

She suddenly felt a sense of lingering fear.

If she were to come herself today, and something went wrong during the verification process, then that would be the crime of deceiving the emperor!

Everyone stepped back, and Wei Ziye took out a wooden box from his pocket. As soon as he opened it, a black insect the size of a fingernail suddenly jumped out, startling Shen Mingshu.

She lowered her voice, gasped, and fell to the ground.

But then Wei Ziye placed the black worm on the wound and let it crawl into it.

"you--!"

Shen Mingshu watched in shock as Wei Ziye used herself as an experiment.

The emperor also looked somewhat solemn. He quickly walked up to Wei Ziye and watched closely as the black worm merged into his bones and blood.

Wei Ziye seemed to be in some pain. He dug his other hand into his injured arm, and the veins on his neck were bulging and turning a terrifying red and purple.

The emperor was somewhat worried; Wei Ziye couldn't die.

"Should we summon the imperial physician?"

Wei Ziye shook his head: "Wait a little longer."

As Shen Mingshu watched the fine beads of sweat gradually appear on his forehead, she finally realized what the so-called "strong Gu eating weak Gu" meant.

"alright."

Wei Ziye spoke in a low, hoarse voice, and Shen Mingshu stepped forward, touching his wound directly with her middle finger.

In an instant, her fingertips felt as if they had been electrocuted, just like before—they instantly went numb, lost strength, and fell...

"Summon the imperial physician."

The imperial physician entered and examined the two men's wrists again, his white beard trembling as he did so!

"The same pulse pattern! Never seen before! Never seen before, Your Majesty! This old minister is unworthy to have ever witnessed such a strange phenomenon!"

The emperor waved him away, his brows furrowed as he watched Shen Mingshu's finger injury heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wei Ziye's bleeding was stopped instantly, and although he was not fully recovered, his condition showed a visibly significant improvement.

"Such a strange creature exists." The emperor frowned in thought. "What were those black insects just now?"

"It's a Gu worm that I got from the divine physician."

Wei Ziye felt his wound go numb and lose its pain sensation, so he pulled his sleeves together and looked somewhat somber.

"However, the things that the divine physician is researching are too unconventional, and I dare not accept more than necessary. I am also unsure of what side effects there may be, so I can only report to Your Majesty first."

He cupped his hands and said, "I beg Your Majesty to allow the Empress Dowager more time to test this method. If I am unharmed, this method will be equivalent to saving an extra life."

After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

Shen Mingshu looked at Wei Ziye with a complicated expression—this was the situation he had discovered with her blood while she was unconscious.

But what happens next?

Does Wei Ziye really not know about the subsequent side effects?

Shen Mingshu didn't believe that Wei Ziye would joke about his own body. Perhaps he had already reached some kind of cooperation with the divine doctor?

"I will speak to them, but Shen Mingshu will remain in the palace for the time being."

"???" Shen Mingshu didn't want to skip work so soon after taking office!

Just as she was about to speak, Wei Ziye said again, "Your Majesty, I am not sure what the condition of the Gu worm in my body is. At a critical moment, I may need her blood. Could you let her return to the Wei residence with me? I will bring her to the palace once there are any new developments."

"!!!" Shen Mingshu really didn't want to go to the Wei residence!

"Granted."

The emperor desired a balance between civil and military affairs, and naturally wouldn't stand idly by and watch Wei Ziye die.

In addition, his defection today is of great value, and the emperor feels that the balance between civil and military affairs may have been achieved.

……

Once on the carriage.

Shen Mingshu instantly revealed her wolfish fangs: "Wei Ziye! Did you plan this all along?!"

First, kill Shen Yangjue, then use her to surrender to the emperor, and incidentally bring her directly into the Wei Mansion. Could it be that they intend to dismiss her from her post in the end?

Wei Ziye rolled up his sleeve, seeing that his injury was mostly healed, and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Without me, where were you planning to die just now?"

"..."

Shen Mingshu glanced at his injury, then turned her head away in frustration.

So, in the end, she has to thank him for saving her life?

"If you want to destroy the Shen family, you must bring down the divine physician, Shen Mingshu. Today's events are a result of your obsession. If you don't kill Shen Yangjue today, you will be taken to the palace."

Wei Ziye looked at her profile as it gradually calmed down, his voice devoid of emotion: "Will you regret having this obsession?"

Shen Mingshu couldn't give an answer, because just thinking about it would make her regret it to death.

"And what about you?" Shen Mingshu looked at him. "You can't stand to see me doing well, yet you won't let me die. What is it about you that you're so obsessed with?"

"..."

Their eyes met, but the person before her was no longer the same. Shen Mingshu couldn't understand the emotions in his eyes, so she silently looked away.

After a long while, I heard him murmur softly.

"I want you to repent for what you did in the past."

Even the slightest bit will do.

"..."

Wei Ziye always managed to make her repent so confidently. Shen Mingshu looked up at him.

I suddenly wonder if he would repent if he knew everything that had happened to her.