After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

In everything, there is gain and loss. To achieve immortality, one must be bitten by a giant snake. To cure all diseases, one must be parasitized by strange spider silk and lose the ability to feel.

Having discovered the secret to using the giant serpent for immortality, he dared not allow the Emperor to test it. Seeking a solution that satisfied both sides, the Marquis of Yongchang began repeated attempts. He used his prestige in the martial arts world to gather masters to try and capture the serpent, but the serpent was ferocious, and masters died one after another, never managing to capture it alive.

He devised a method of substitution: he would search far and wide for renowned physicians, gather them together, and have them analyze the spider silk to find similar drugs. Then, using his status as the Marquis of Yongchang, he would extract death row inmates from the prison and use them to test the drugs. Because this matter involved the court's reputation and had to be conducted in secrecy, and because many precious medicinal herbs grew in the mountains, the experiment would be carried out in the mountains.

Where there are people, there is a need for corresponding clothing, food, housing and transportation. To avoid attracting attention by purchasing too much, people who went out were made to disguise themselves as bandits, robbers, or foreigners.

"The purpose of Marquis Yongchang in doing this was not only to conceal his identity, but also to make the surrounding villagers wary, so that they would not dare to go into the mountains, let alone report to the authorities. After all, the government prefers to avoid trouble and does not want to get involved in such matters."

“The Crown Princess is right.” Marquis Yongchang cracked his knuckles. “Those quack doctors all boasted that they were the best in the world, but in the end, they couldn’t even concoct a similar medicine. Those death row inmates either died instantly or were left half-dead and crippled. How could I let the Emperor suffer like that? So, I thought of another way.”

"Raising baby snakes?"

"That happened later. The people who stayed in the village to keep watch over the giant snake said that in addition to eating people and wild animals in the mountains, the snake also ate some very strange stones. I ordered someone to bring out those strange stones, and we found that they were not stones at all, but a kind of fungus that resembled stones. The surface was like stone, the texture was soft, and the inside was light blue. When you smelled it up close, it had a refreshing, faint fragrance."

Lu Zhiyuan had heard Gu An mention this before, but Gu An was a rough man and hadn't described it in such detail. Lu Zhiyuan shifted her body to sit next to Marquis Yongchang and nudged him with her elbow: "Do you have any of those light blue stones here? I'd like to take a look."

Marquis Yongchang shook his head.

"No, those strange stones need to be preserved in special containers. They cannot be exposed to light or wind, and they can be exposed to water, but they cannot be soaked in water, otherwise they will become a dried-up lump."

Lu Zhiyuan frowned: "How did you manage to transport something so delicate to the mountains, my lord?"

“Naturally, we used those special utensils.” Marquis Yongchang glanced at the corner: “Unfortunately, I killed the craftsman who could make such special utensils.”

With a glance from Lu Zhiyuan, she nodded to the left and picked up the vessel that had been lying in the corner.

The vessel was made of glass, with undried water stains inside. A piece was missing from the bottom, and there was dried mud. This glass jar must have been brought out of the mountains by the Marquis of Yongchang. Glass is difficult to fire and extremely hard to shape; even someone as clever as her wouldn't have the confidence to fire an exact replica. Moreover, given how special the object was, the glass used to hold it must also be special.

"The Crown Princess noticed?" Marquis Yongchang said, "This glass jar is no ordinary glass jar; its base, body, and rim are unusually thick."

Upon hearing this, he turned the jar over.

The bottom of the jar is actually double-layered and has ventilation holes. This kind of craftsmanship is something that very few craftsmen can do.

Wait, why would a vent be needed for a clump of fungus?

I've never heard of mushrooms needing to breathe.

Could this strange stone fungus be alive?

I wonder what it tastes like? Is it like mushrooms or meat?

Shaking away those chaotic thoughts, he pressed on, "Now that you have obtained that magical stone, has there been any progress in your research on the elixir of immortality, Lord Marquis?"

"It does exist, but no one can withstand the effects of that medicine," said Marquis Yongchang. "That medicine turned them into monsters."

"A monster?" Gu An's interest was piqued. "Like you or me, Lord Marquis?"

"Who are you?" The Marquis squinted. "Gu An! I knew you were alive, but I never expected you to have turned out like this."

“Thanks to the Marquis, if it weren’t for Miss, I wouldn’t have become this inhuman, ghostly creature.” Gu An pulled out a half-eaten apple from his pocket. “The Marquis threw me and my brothers into the snake pit. My brothers died, and I became this ghostly creature. Unexpectedly, I obtained the immortality that the Marquis desired most. The Marquis said, should I thank the Marquis or kill the Marquis?”

"Whatever." Marquis Yongchang: "That was just an accident."

Gu An snorted and continued munching on his apple. After a couple of bites, feeling dissatisfied, he deliberately said, "Let me tell you a secret, Your Majesty. I am a monster, but I am different from Your Majesty. I am just ugly, I have no other problems, unlike Your Majesty, who is afraid of light, heat, and cold, and loves to eat flesh and blood. Even his eyes have turned red."

"You don't have these ailments?" Marquis Yongchang became agitated. "Tell me, besides being bitten by a snake, what else did you experience? The cave, what happened in that cave? The key! You are the key to my research into the elixir of immortality. Tell me! Tell me now!"

Gu An chuckled, touched his nose, and said, "Hey, I'm not telling you."

Seeing the Marquis of Yongchang's frantic expression, Gu Anchang panicked. He quickly finished the apple and threw the core outside to feed the dog.

When Marquis Yongchang tried to stand up, he was held down.

“Tell me, tell me what you did? Your Majesty, I was going to save Your Majesty. I beg you, I beg you to tell me. I was just one step away, just one step away.” Marquis Yongchang was almost insane, looking at Lu Zhiyuan with pleading eyes: “I will tell you everything you want to know! I planned the supply of grain, it has nothing to do with Your Majesty. Your Majesty has the world in your heart, how could you possibly covet those grain supplies, putting the people of the border city in danger? It was me, I made a deal with those foreign tribes, giving them half of the grain supplies in exchange for the medicine I needed.”

“I was also responsible for the charcoal incident.” Marquis Yongchang struggled to speak. “I have spies planted in the capital. As soon as the Crown Prince and Crown Princess make a move, I know they are heading to Ganzhou. Besides that matter, what else in Ganzhou is worth the Crown Prince and Crown Princess visiting? The Emperor is seriously ill, and my time is running out. I have to take a desperate gamble. Besides daily necessities, that charcoal is also used for refining medicine.”

The crown prince angrily retorted, "Do you know that the people of Ganzhou will die without that charcoal to get through the winter!"

"They won't die!" Marquis Yongchang's eyes grew even redder: "How could those profit-driven merchants let go of such an opportunity to make a fortune in secret? Some of them have hoarded a large amount of charcoal. Hasn't Your Highness already met with him?"

"You know?" The Crown Prince belatedly replied, "Indeed, Ganzhou is a place you have occupied for many years. How could you not know the thoughts and methods of those people? Besides, that person is one of your subordinates."

The Crown Prince lightly patted his forehead: "You had already prepared a backup plan!"