Chapter 33.1 Snake Venom

Yan Mu was carrying a small school bag. After she finished counting the leaves of a tree, she started to count the leaves of another. 

The noon sun was particularly harsh, sunburning the girl’s face red, and causing her whole body to sweat. Yan Mu stomped her feet and chased away the mosquitoes that surrounded her.

There were many red mosquito bites on her body, and even one on her left cheek. She unhappily squatted on the ground and curled up into a ball, trying to reduce the area of exposed skin.

As soon as Yu Yuan came out of the room, he saw the girl curled up like a little ball. 

Yan Mu heard his footsteps and lifted her head from the crook of her arm.

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“Yu Yuan, you finally came out.”

The large mosquito bite on Yan Mu’s left cheek, along with the grievance in her eyes, made her look extremely pitiful.

“Your face……” Yu Yuan stared at the mosquito bite.

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Mbl tkaz bye clld kd tsse blyzvb alnldvzu, yde pbl’e lhld tasod y zkvvzl cycu qyv sd bla qynl. Gqvla clkdt ckvvld cu vbl xspiwkvs, vbl qyka, vldela, yde pxssvb nbwccu qynl oyp poszzld zkjl y cwd, zssjkdt lmvalxlzu yesayczl.

Jldekdt esod, bl oyp xsxldvyakzu wdyczl vs bsze bkxplzq cynj yde alynble swv bkp qkdtla vs rsjl vbl zkvvzl cwxr. Rv oyp hlau byae, lhld vbl pjkd pwaaswdekdt kv ralpple esod, qsaxkdt y zkvvzl ekxrzl.

“R’hl clld oykvkdt qsa usw qsa y zsdt vkxl.” Zyd Yw ydtakzu aszzle wr bla pzllhlp, “Nssj, lhld xu yaxp vss.”

Fwal ldswtb, vblal olal xydu zkvvzl cwxrp sd bla yaxp. Mblu zssjle zkjl czssxkdt ale rzwxp kd vbl pdso sd vbl tkaz’p pdso-obkvl pjkd.

“Gde blal vss,” Zyd Yw pzktbvzu srldle bla nszzya, alhlyzkdt y pzldela dlnj. Mblal olal yzps y qlo ale prsvp sd bla dlnj.

“Rv’p xu qywzv.” Zw Zwyd zssjle twkzvu yde ypjle, “Ebu esd’v ol ts vs vbl hkzzytl esnvsa yde ypj qsa psxl blacyz xleknkdl?”

“R esd’v oydv vs.”

Zyd Yw wple vs cl kd rssa blyzvb yde bye vs eakdj ckvvla xleknkdl lhlau eyu, ps vbl xleknkdyz pxlzz xyel bla wdnsxqsavyczl.

She angrily stood up and asked, “What did Teacher say to you?”

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Yu Yuan was silent for a while, then he looked at Yan Mu and solemnly said, “Teacher said that he could bring me to the capital.”

Yan Mu froze.

After a long time, Yan Mu slowly asked, “Did……did you agree?”

Her voice was slightly shaking. For a moment, she didn’t know what expression she should use to face Yu Yuan.

“No, Teacher asked me to think about it before telling him my decision.” Seeing Yan Mu’s expression, Yu Yuan suddenly smiled.

As if a breeze had lightly brushed over his face, the teenager’s expression that had originally been cold and indifferent was now full of gentleness.

He said, “Yan Mu, you can’t bear to part with me.”

Yan Mu’s face inexplicably turned red.

“W-why?” She straightened her chest, trying to make herself look more imposing, “Isn’t it normal to hate goodbyes? Do you want me to send you away happily……”

The harsh sunlight seemed to become gentle as it warmly shone upon the teenager’s fair face, covering him with a soft halo. His eyes, deep as an ancient well, were twinkling like stars, and the corners of his red mouth rose slightly, creating a seductive curve.

Yan Mu looked at him and was suddenly speechless.

Yu Yuan pulled the girl up from the ground and softly sighed, “Yan Mu, you’re too kind.”

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In an instant, Yan Mu’s heart beat very fast. The tips of her ears reddened and she lowered her head like an ostrich.

Ever since Yu Yuan came to the Yan family, his nutrition had increased so his facial features had grown a lot. He already had Yan Mu’s ideal face, so now that it had grown, the immature features had gradually faded away and charmed Yan Mu to the point of inextricable confusion1.

No matter how many times Yan Mu looked at Yu Yuan, his beauty still struck the depths of her soul. Her small hand was wrapped in his palm. Being held by the teenager’s thinly callused hand gave her an extreme sense of security.

Seeing that they were almost home, Yan Mu softly asked, “So, do you want to go?”

Yu Yuan paused. He lowered his head to look at Yan Mu and said, “I haven’t thought about it yet.”

The summer wind slightly blew, curling up Yan Mu’s hair, tangling it with Yu Yuan’s.

Yan Mu silently recalled the plot of the book.

In the book, the Second Prince, the male supporting role, was plotted against by his political enemies and fell down the cliff. But luckily, he survived, and finally arrived near Qingshui village in destitution2. At that time, Yu Yuan just happened to be chopping firewood nearby. Seeing the Second Prince who was dressed in extraordinary clothing, he saved his life.

In return, the Second Prince brought Yu Yuan back to the capital and trained him as his right-hand man. Later, in the contention between the royal princes, Yu Yuan gave advice to the Second Prince as his close confidant, and the Second Prince was able to successfully succeed the throne. And Yu Yuan, as a staunch member of the Second Prince’s party who’d worked hard3 to help him seize the throne, was granted the title of Prime Minister.

But right now, Yu Yuan hadn’t met the Second Prince. If Yu Yuan didn’t meet him, even if he went to the capital, he still wouldn’t be the Second’s Prince’s right-hand man, couldn’t come into contact with the center of power, and becoming the Prime Minister would be even harder than climbing to heaven4.

Whether Yu Yuan wanted to agree to Teacher’s proposal or not, she’d still need to find a way to delay it. Yan Mu was lost in thought.

Both of them reached home. Today, Father Yan was late. Yan Mu waited for a long time but he still didn’t arrive, so she decided to cook by herself. There were a few steamed buns left over from the morning, so she prepared to cook simple scrambled eggs with scallions to eat together with the steamed buns. 

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Yu Yuan went to pick scallions in the courtyard, but he heard a sudden knock on the door.

He opened the door and saw Aunt Zhou who urgently said, “Where’s Yan Mu? Her father was bitten by a snake in the field, and he’s not doing well right now.”

The sound of falling spatula came from the house and Yan Mu appeared at the door looking pale.

Aunt Zhou was an impatient person, so she reached out her hand and pulled Yan Mu along as she ran out. Aunt Zhou’s grip was too strong and she didn’t pay attention to her strength so Yan Mu staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Yan Mu subconsciously shook off Aunt Zhou’s hand. Her wrist was red and the place that was pinched by Aunt Zhou was swollen.

Aunt Zhou was stunned, then spoke without sparing any feelings, “He’s your own dad, why aren’t you worried? Your dad even raised you good-for-nothing daughter.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a chill come from beside her. 

She turned around and saw Yu Yuan’s deep eyes eerily looking at her. Though he was expressionless and clearly didn’t do anything, Aunt Zhou still inexplicably had an ominous feeling.

As expected of a little bastard, a person who brings bad luck! Aunt Zhou angrily scolded in her heart.

“Your dad is laid up at the village doctor’s, hurry up and go,” Aunt Zhou said. With that, she turned her head and walked away.

Yan Mu covered her hand and watched Aunt Zhou hurriedly leave.

“Are you alright?” Yu Yuan looked at Yan Mu’s hand, “It’s getting more and more swollen.”

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“It’s alright.” Yan Mu took a deep breath, pretending to be alright and said, “It doesn’t hurt, let’s go see dad first.”

Yu Yuan lowered his eyes and nodded.

*************

This time, Father Yan was slightly unlucky as he was bitten by a type of water snake. With the abundance of rain in the summer, water snakes washed up along the river, so it might not have been a local breed.

Worst of all, the snake escaped after biting him, and without knowing the species, even the village doctor couldn’t determine the antidote.

“This village doesn’t have many herbs prepared. Even if someone goes to pick some now, no one else can recognize them……” the village doctor was worried. 

He was the only one in the village who knew about medicine, and he still had other patients here, so he really couldn’t leave.

“What other herbs do you need?” Yu Yuan said in a deep voice, “I’ll go pick them.”

At his words, everyone fell silent.

“You……you know medicine?” the village doctor asked in surprise.

If Yu Yuan really knows medicine……

The village doctor couldn’t help but shudder when he inexplicably remembered Hunter Zhang and Zhang Goudan.

How deep the thoughts and schemes of the teenager in front of him must be. The gaze of the village doctor when he looked at the teenager suddenly became probing.

Yu Yuan naturally knew the village doctor’s thoughts. But Father Yan had been so kind to him, so he couldn’t just stand back and let him die5.

Moreover, Father Yan was Yan Mu’s father. With this in mind, he gritted his teeth and repeated, “What herbs do you need? I’ll go pick them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yan Mu said.