On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2242 is Poisoning

“Judging from Zhou Zhenghang’s words, it is indeed this Miss Miaoqin who has the final say,” Wu Liang interjected. “When he mentioned Miss Miaoqin, his eyes flickered, as if he was very afraid.”

It seems this young lady Miaoqin not only has power, but her methods must also be quite sophisticated.

“We need to arrest Miaoqin, but not now.” Yan Ruyu put down her teacup, a cold glint in her eyes. “We need to sow discord among them first, make Zhou Zhenghang suspicious of Miaoqin, and then make Miaoqin think that Zhou Zhenghang has ulterior motives.”

This will throw them into disarray, making our subsequent actions much easier.

Upon hearing this, Wu Liang nodded repeatedly: "What Your Highness says is true. I wonder how I should proceed?"

"You just need to..." Yan Ruyu whispered a few words in Wu Liang's ear.

Wu Liang listened and repeatedly agreed, a knowing smile appearing on his face.

As night deepened, Zhou Zhenghang returned to his shop, washed up, and lay in bed, but tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Wu Liang's words kept replaying in his mind like a revolving lantern.

In particular, Wu Liang's description of his horrific poisoning sent chills down his spine.

Zhou Zhenghang finally drifted off to sleep when the sky began to lighten.

But he had only been asleep for a short time when he started having nightmares.

He dreamt of Miaoqin's cold face, dreamt of her raising her hand and slapping him again, the force so strong that his cheek hurt, and dreamt of Wu Liang covered in blood, groaning in pain from poisoning.

"Ah!" Zhou Zhenghang exclaimed, suddenly sitting up in bed, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He was panting heavily as he looked out the window; it was already broad daylight.

"What bad luck!" Zhou Zhenghang wiped his sweat, but felt increasingly uneasy.

This dream felt so real, it felt like some kind of metaphor.

He thought it over and over, but still couldn't put his mind at ease. He put on an overcoat and headed to the lounge—where the important ledgers of his collusion with Miaoyinfang were hidden, which was his biggest weakness.

Pushing open the door to the lounge, Zhou Zhenghang's eyes immediately fell on the rosewood cabinet in the corner.

The cabinet was intact, with no signs of being pried open, which eased his anxiety a little.

Walking up to the cabinet, he carefully inspected the mechanism of the hidden compartment. The copper wire trigger was intact, and the movable pin was still in the same state as when he left.

"Looks like I was overthinking it." Zhou Zhenghang breathed a sigh of relief, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. He reached out and flicked the latch, opening the hidden compartment.

But when he saw what was inside the hidden compartment, the smile on his face froze instantly, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The silver notes in the hidden compartment were still there, and the few pieces of valuable gold and silver jewelry were also neatly placed in their original places. Only the indigo-covered account book was nowhere to be found!

"How could this be?" Zhou Zhenghang muttered to himself, reaching into the hidden compartment and searching it, but it was indeed empty.

He examined the mechanism more carefully. The copper wire was not broken, and there were no signs of the movable pin being pried open. The entire hidden compartment was intact, as if no one had ever touched it.

"Who else could it be but our own people?" Zhou Zhenghang was both shocked and furious, his chest heaving violently.

He suddenly remembered that Manager Qi had warned him before, saying that Miss Miaoqin had been quite suspicious of them lately and that he should be careful.

Could it really be that Miss Miaoqin sent someone to take away the account books?

Is it to control him, or has he already lost trust in him?

Countless thoughts swirled in Zhou Zhenghang's mind, throwing him into a state of turmoil.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Zhenghang quickly closed the hidden compartment, suppressing his emotions, and asked in a deep voice, "Who?"

"Manager Zhou, it's me." A young voice came from inside.

The door was pushed open, and a young man dressed as a shop assistant in a medicinal cuisine shop walked in.

Zhou Zhenghang recognized him; he was a shop assistant at Manager Qi's medicinal cuisine shop, named Afu.

"What brings you here?" Zhou Zhenghang's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible anger.

Ah Fu held a food box in his hand, his face beaming with smiles: "Manager Zhou, my manager has developed a new medicinal dish, which he says nourishes qi and blood and calms the mind. He specially asked me to bring it to you so you can try it."

As he spoke, Afu placed the food box on the table, opened the lid, and inside was a bowl of steaming porridge. The porridge contained yam, lotus seeds, and a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs, making it look quite exquisite.

Zhou Zhenghang stared at the bowl of medicinal food, his mind filled with doubts.

Manager Qi was just poisoned and should still be resting in bed right now, unable to get out of bed at all.

How can one have the energy to research new medicinal diets?

Furthermore, even if they did study it, they wouldn't specifically order someone to deliver it to him.

In the past, when he went to the medicinal cuisine shop to eat for free, Manager Qi would not say anything, but he was actually not very willing. Occasionally, he would say that if he ate too much, the bill would not add up.

He secretly blamed Manager Qi for being stingy; how much could he possibly eat by himself? How could the accounts not match up?

It's very unusual that I specially asked someone to deliver it today.

Considering the theft of the account books, he became even more vigilant.

"Thank you for your kindness, shopkeeper," Zhou Zhenghang said calmly. "Since it's newly developed, I don't dare to taste it rashly. Why don't you try it first? If there's nothing wrong, I can eat it later."

Afu's smile froze for a moment, and he quickly declined, "Manager Zhou is too kind. This medicinal meal was specially prepared for you. How could I presume to do such a thing?"

"Just try it, why all the nonsense?" Zhou Zhenghang's tone turned serious, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Do you think your manager would care about a bowl of medicinal food?"

If you refuse to try it, it would seem like there's something wrong with this medicinal cuisine.

Afu's face turned pale, torn between two options. In the end, he couldn't resist Zhou Zhenghang's pressure, picked up the spoon, and hesitantly put it in his mouth.

He chewed slowly, swallowed, and showed no unusual expression.

Zhou Zhenghang stared at him for a moment, and seeing that he had no reaction, his doubts lessened slightly.

But at that moment, Afu suddenly clutched his chest, his face turned deathly pale, and a trickle of dark red blood foam spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"you……"

Zhou Zhenghang looked at Afu, his eyes filled with shock.

Before he could finish speaking, Afu's body went limp, and he slid down the table leg to the ground, spitting out large amounts of blood. He soon fell silent.

Zhou Zhenghang's heart was pounding in his chest as he looked at Afu, his fingers trembling as he tried to check his breath.

Sure enough... he's out of breath!

Zhou Zhenghang abruptly withdrew his hand.

He was not afraid of the dead; he had taken the lives of far more than a few dozen people.

But this time was different. If he hadn't been alert, he might have been the one who just died.

He came to his senses, went to the door and ordered his men to prepare a carriage. He went back to the house alone, took a bed sheet, wrapped Afu's body, carried it onto the carriage, and sped off towards the outskirts of the city.

They went to a deserted place, casually threw the corpse down, and then immediately returned to the city.

He was going to ask Manager Qi what he was really up to!

As the carriage drove away, he had no idea that Afu's "corpse" had moved again.