Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

Moreover, the pain gradually intensified, becoming as if millions of ants were biting inside the body, spreading throughout the limbs and bones.

What happened? Why does it hurt so much?

Qian Laosi clutched his chest and curled up, but the next second he felt that the pain was coming from all over his body, not just his heart.

"Well..."

As beads of sweat appeared on his forehead from the pain, it was as if a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Poison, Seven-Day Powder"

Yes, he remembered. Gu Nanzhi had poisoned him last night, saying the first signs of the poison would appear in twelve hours, or a day, and now a day had already passed.

He initially thought it was a bluff, but the pain coursing through his body told him that the woman wasn't joking; it really was poison.

Remembering what that woman had said—that without an antidote, the third poisoning would strike on the seventh day—he endured the pain and broke out in another cold sweat.

How could a simple job have led him to encounter such a venomous woman? He must have had the worst luck imaginable.

"Fourth brother, fourth brother, what's wrong?"

"Fourth?"

"Brother Qian, what's wrong?"

Qian Laosi's unusual behavior also caught the attention of the other two guards who were nearby. They quickly stepped forward to check on him. These twelve men were all brothers who were escorting prisoners together, and they didn't want anything to happen to anyone.

Qian Laosi had already figured out the answer, but faced with his companion's concern, he couldn't say it outright. In the end, he could only endure the pain and force himself to get up.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, I just have a stomachache, I'm going to use the restroom."

He dared not say he had been poisoned, fearing that the woman might use the hidden weapon she had mentioned to deny him the antidote. The poison was too potent; just as the woman had described, when it took effect, it felt like a thousand ants were gnawing at him. He needed to find that woman as soon as possible to obtain the antidote.

"Hurry, hurry! You scared me to death! I thought you were sick or something, but we're in the middle of nowhere, there's nowhere to find a doctor."

When his companion heard that it was a stomachache, his worries subsided. He urged Qian Laosi to go quickly, and then he continued to rest without a care in the world.

Despite his discomfort, Qian Laosi walked to a spot not far from the large tree where Gu Nanzhi and the others were. Gu Nanzhi was not at the camp.

I remembered seeing Gu Nanzhi carrying a water bag towards the river while I was eating.

At this point, Qian Laosi, under the effects of the poison, had lost all temper and only wanted to find someone to provide the antidote as quickly as possible, otherwise he felt he was about to die.

He was experiencing a throbbing, itchy pain emanating from within his entire body. He couldn't distinguish between pain and itchiness anymore; he only knew that if he didn't take the antidote to alleviate the pain, he feared he wouldn't be able to bear it and might even want to cut his body open with a knife to release the worms inside.

As darkness fell, Qian Laosi, enduring immense pain and with his vision blurring, stumbled and staggered along, searching for an unknown amount of time before finally spotting a faint, barely discernible red figure.

The voice, sitting idly by the river, even had the leisure to pick up pebbles and toss them into the water, its carefree demeanor suggesting it was waiting for him.

Gu Nanzhi had indeed been waiting for Qian Laosi's arrival, from sunset until now, when the light was so dim that the distant blue sky was no longer visible.

She was already impatient and didn't want to wait any longer. If the other party had arrived a few minutes later, Gu Nanzhi, who had lost her patience, would have already left.

Let them fend for themselves!

Qian Laosi finally saw this as a lifeline, completely losing his air of authority as a bailiff. He stumbled and knelt directly in front of Gu Nanzhi.

"Your Highness, my aunt, please save me! I beg you to give me the antidote! I was wrong, I was blind to your greatness! Please spare my life, Your Highness! I promise you will do whatever you ask. Please give me the antidote, my aunt! I can't take it anymore, I'm dying!"

"So many bugs are gnawing inside my body, please have mercy, Grandma!"

The newcomer dared not show any arrogance; he immediately knelt and begged for mercy. Even as Gu Nanzhi moved closer, she could faintly smell a trace of blood on him.

The medicine she produced, made by the Poison Doctor, was guaranteed to be incredibly effective. She could even imagine that this person must have scratched their skin raw because they couldn't bear the intense pain and itching emanating from within, like insects biting them.

Tsk... if it were a little brighter, we could see the truly pitiful sight.

"If you want the antidote, you can."

Gu Nanzhi generously tossed him an antidote. Qian Laosi, disregarding his suspicions, grabbed the black pill and popped it into his mouth. He couldn't bear the pain for even a minute longer.

Seeing how eagerly this person put the medicine into their mouth, Gu Nanzhi said coolly,

"If you're in such a hurry, aren't you afraid this one might also be poison?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Laosi, who had just swallowed, froze, his face turning even paler as he looked at Gu Nanzhi.

How could he forget that this woman is not as weak as she appears on the surface? She has a deadly weapon and knows how to poison. Why would she be so kind as to give him the antidote so generously?

But... even if he realized it now, it was too late. He had just swallowed the pill; could he possibly spit it out?

"Grandma, Your Highness, I beg you! I truly know I was wrong. I was blinded by greed and will never dare to do it again. Please spare my life! If you spare my life, I promise you, whatever you ask of me on the road to exile, I will do without hesitation..."

It was obviously too late. Qian Laosi could only continue to kowtow and beg for mercy, hoping that the woman would spare his life since he was still useful.

Gu Nanzhi didn't take such a spineless person seriously at all, and even felt a little disgusted by him. She never intended to kill him now, after all, he was only there to be useful on her journey later.

"Shut up! I don't have a grandson like you. That antidote was only temporary. The poison will recur every seven days. If you don't take the antidote in time after that, you'll only have fifteen minutes from the onset of the poison to death."

"Come back to me in seven days for the antidote. Remember to behave well after that. If you have any disloyalty, next time it won't be the antidote, but poison."

Gu Nanzhi's icy tone, however, seemed to give Qian Laosi a new lease on life. At least it wasn't poison; at least he didn't have to endure that torment anymore.

Thinking about it this way, he finally realized that the insects and ants inside his body seemed to have disappeared, and the pain and itching had subsided. Upon closer inspection, he could feel a burning pain on the skin of his neck and wrists.

He also remembered that he had scratched himself while searching for the person.

"Thank you, thank you Your Highness, thank you for sparing my life. Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will do whatever Your Highness commands in the future, as long as it is within my power."

With both hidden weapons and poisons at his disposal, Qian Laosi dared not resist. His life was temporarily in the hands of this terrifying woman.

"We'll have to rely on Lord Qian's care from now on. Once we arrive safely in Junlan, the antidote will be given to you. Now, get lost."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness, I dare not presume."