Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Have you used any other medicines?" Ning Shutong asked Zhou Lin with a sharp gaze.

Zhou Lin shook his head without hesitation and answered seriously, "Apart from the medicines you gave me, I really haven't used anything else."

Hearing this, Ning Shutong couldn't help but frown slightly and continued to ask: "Has anyone else touched your wound during this period of time?"

Zhou Lin's face suddenly flushed at this moment, and he whispered a little embarrassedly: "When I just returned to the capital from the north, An Ning helped me apply medicine once."

After saying this, a sweet smile that was hard to conceal appeared on his face.

Ning Shu saw through Zhou Lin's thoughts at a glance and rolled his eyes inwardly. He said unhappily, "It's come to this critical moment, your life is almost in danger, and you're still in the mood to think about love! Think about it carefully, is there anything else you're hiding from me?"

After being scolded by Ning Shutong, Zhou Lin's eyelids twitched violently, and he hurriedly said, "Oh right! When I was in the palace, His Majesty sent someone from the Imperial Hospital to check the wound on my leg. However, the doctor just took a quick look and told me that he was not familiar with the poison, so he didn't prescribe any medicine for me."

After hearing Zhou Lin's words, Ning Shutong nodded thoughtfully and muttered to himself, "I see, it seems that this is where the problem lies. If that's the case, there are so many things that can be tampered with when examining the wound..."

Zhou Lin, who was standing by, saw Ning Shutong's serious expression and was immediately filled with worry. He quickly asked, "What's going on?"

Ning Shutong took a deep breath and slowly explained, "It seems you've been poisoned. If I'm not mistaken, this poison is the 'Green Gold' poison commonly used by the Xiao family. This poison is extremely vicious and can only enter the body through wounds. Once poisoned, the wound will gradually take on that strange green color. Not only that, the symptoms of poisoning are very similar to those of ordinary bumps and bruises, which can easily lead people to mistake it for a simple injury and delay treatment."

"Lapis lazuli? I've never heard of this kind of poison." Zhou Lin asked with a puzzled look.

Ning Shutong frowned slightly and spoke slowly, "When the Great Yong Dynasty was first established, the Xiao family, in order to demonstrate their magnanimity, deliberately retained many officials from the previous dynasty. However, they were always wary of these former officials and could not fully trust them. So they came up with this despicable method - to control them through poisoning. Anyone poisoned, once they consumed a specific amount of medicine, would lose their mind and become a puppet at the mercy of others. Moreover, those medicines were all common foods, and the medicine that responded to each person was different."

Zhou Lin couldn't help but gasp and exclaimed, "This poison is so complicated?"

Ning Shutong smiled wryly and nodded, responding, "After all, this medicine is specifically used to control those disobedient court officials. If it weren't designed with some complexity, wouldn't it be easily deciphered? Such despicable tactics have rarely been used in the past two dynasties. I never thought I would see it again on you today."

Zhou Lin didn't seem overly panicked after hearing this. Instead, he looked at Ning Shutong calmly and asked, "Since you can identify this poison, you must have a way to neutralize it, right?"

Ning Shutong sighed helplessly, "Alas, I must have owed you and An Ning a lot of money in my past life. I do know how to detoxify, but the most difficult problem right now is that I'm worried that this sapphire poison will interact with the Gu poison already in your body, causing unexpected and serious consequences... By then, I'm afraid even I won't be able to do anything."

Zhou Lin asked, "No matter what, we have to give it a try. By the way, when you went to Xiangxi this time, did you find any clues to the poison in my leg?"

Zhou Lin's eyes instantly became filled with anticipation, yet at the same time, he felt a hint of fear deep down in his heart. He took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "Is there any hope of healing my leg injury?"

Ning Shutong sighed deeply and said slowly, "What kind of deep hatred do you have with the eldest prince? Is it the hatred for killing your father, or the hatred for stealing your wife? Do you know how much effort I put into dealing with this poison you used?"

Zhou Lin curled his lips in disdain and retorted, "His father is now living a carefree life in the palace. Not only can he enjoy himself drinking and having fun, he can even poison me. Where does the hatred for his father's murder come from? And the hatred for his wife being taken away is even more nonsense."

After an in-depth investigation in Xiangxi, Ning Shutong discovered that the poisonous insect that Zhou Lin was infected with was actually carefully cultivated with the blood and sweat of the entire village!

This kind of poisonous insect is extremely powerful and tenacious. Once it enters the human body, it is as difficult to eradicate as a cancer attached to the bone.

Not only that, due to its special way of cultivation, it will never die easily, and it cannot be drawn out of the host body through conventional means.

And the ruthless Xiao Yuanlang, at the very beginning of the uprising, did not hesitate to order a brutal massacre of the entire village.

He had only one goal, which was to kill Zhou Lin.

However, what was unexpected was that although this bloody massacre almost turned the entire village into a river of blood, some people still managed to escape.

It was this fish that slipped through the net that became the key factor in Zhou Lin's temporary survival.

After listening to Ning Shutong's story, Zhou Lin fell into a long silence.

After a long while, he raised his head and asked solemnly, "So, my life or death depends entirely on how long that escaped person can survive. And judging by the current situation, that person is using his heart blood to feed the Gu worm, so I'm afraid he won't live long..."

Ning Shu scratched his forehead helplessly and said slowly, "We can't make such an absolute conclusion. Although you were unfortunately hit by Qingjin, who can say for sure that you will live longer than the person who escaped? Maybe you will die before him."

He curled his lips slightly and continued, "Based on the current situation, I'm afraid you don't have much time left. It shouldn't be more than a year, and it might even be shorter."

Hearing this, Zhou Lin's face was solemn. After a moment of silence, he responded in a low voice: "I understand."

Ning Shutong saw this and quickly stepped forward to help treat the horrific wound on Zhou Lin's leg.

After everything was settled, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "I've been rushing to look for you since returning to the capital, and I haven't even set foot inside your home. If I were to return to the Shen family, An Ning would definitely ask me about this. Do you want her to know the truth about this matter?"

Although Ning Shutong did not have much affection for Zhou Lin, this was ultimately a private matter between him and Shen Chuning, and it was really not convenient for him to make the decision on his behalf.

Zhou Lin was slightly startled, and the words he heard in Ningfengzhai that day involuntarily emerged in his mind - Shen Chuning said that he was just an irrelevant person.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel bitter. After taking a deep breath, he said calmly, "When you leave, just tell her that you're going out to learn the art of poison. When you return, just tell her what you saw and heard on the way. Don't mention me."

Ning Shutong sighed softly, nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left.

After Ning Shutong's figure gradually walked away until it disappeared, Zhou Lin still sat alone in silence for a long time.

After a long while, he finally called Qingshan over and instructed him, "Send a letter to Xie Xiuqi and tell him I want to see him."