Rescuing the Villainous Boss with a Little Dirty Master

"He said he'd come tomorrow, why don't you just bring him here by kidnapping him!"

At the Fourth Prince's residence, upon hearing Meng Qingyuan say that Lan Heng couldn't come today, and seeing the increasingly dark bruises on his legs, he suppressed his fear, grabbed the man, and pressed him down on the bed. "Meng Qingyuan! Do you think I can wait in this state!"

Caught off guard, he approached the injured leg, the dark purple bruises right in front of him. Meng Qingyuan's pupils trembled. He seemed to see a few bruises move slightly. He blinked, wanting to take a closer look, but Dongling Yu threw him away.

Ignoring the pain, he struggled to kneel and kowtow, his voice filled with fear, "Your Highness, I was thinking that we shouldn't let him know how urgent things are, after all, we haven't figured out his background yet. If he really has a way to turn the tables on us, it will only make things worse."

Upon hearing this, Dongling Yu felt a chill run down his spine and calmed down a bit.

"Go to that inn tomorrow morning and keep watch. Bring the person over as soon as you see them."

Meng Qingyuan hurriedly agreed, but after thinking about it, he decided not to tell Dongling Yu what he had just seen, perhaps he had misread it in his panic.

After Meng Qingyuan left, Dongling Yu looked at Li Lian, who was waiting to the side, and asked, "Has Zhou Nan not returned yet?"

"Not yet. Lan Heng isn't from Dongli, and he travels around all year round, so he's not easy to investigate. Your Highness, do you really want him to treat you?"

"The spring hunt is in two months. Am I supposed to show up in front of people looking like this? If even that Lan Heng can't do anything about it, I'll have to find another way."

No one would support a cripple as emperor, and he didn't even dare tell his father, for all the pampering and indulgence he enjoyed were stolen. Regardless of whether his leg could be cured, he was determined to hold onto that position firmly in his own hands.

Seeing his reaction, Li Lian stopped trying to dissuade him, since he had already said what he needed to say.

"Go and fetch me that sandalwood box on the fourth shelf." He can't bear the pain alone; someone has to share it with him.

"You may leave." He took the box from Li Lian and waved for him to leave.

Li Lian paused for a moment, his gaze lingering on the box for a few more breaths, before turning and leaving.

Dongling Yu removed the lid. Aside from those he trusted, no one knew that the box contained a Gu worm that had been fed for twelve years. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing mottled, old knife scars crisscrossing his wrists; some were so faded they were barely visible, others tinged with pink. He took a dagger from under his pillow, made a light cut, and blood gushed out, demonstrating the blade's sharpness.

As the blood dripped into the box, the Gu worm, unlike its usual excited state, even rolled around, trying to wipe off the blood droplets.

"How did this happen all of a sudden!" Dongling Yu suddenly realized that there was something wrong with his blood, which meant that his leg was most likely caused by poisoning.

He gripped the box tightly in his hand, his fingertips turning white from the effort, and shouted loudly towards the outside of the room, "Li Lian!"

Upon hearing the sound, Li Lian strode towards him. "What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"Have someone fetch some clean water and bring me a new sandalwood box."

Li Lian glanced at the Gu worm in the box, and seeing its condition, his heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong with it!"

His tone was urgent, and his voice was two decibels higher. Dongling Yu assumed that he was just as worried about the Gu worms as he was, so he didn't blame him for his rudeness. "Go and call someone to bring me what I need."

Li Lian turned and ran outside, and soon returned with a bowl of clean water.

Dongling Yu quickly grabbed the Gu worm in his hand, and with his other hand, he dripped water onto it little by little until it regained its vitality. Only then did Dongling Yu breathe a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, what's going on?"

Dongling Yu didn't speak, but simply placed the Gu worm on his still-bleeding arm, gesturing for Li Lian to see for himself.

Li Lian saw that the Gu worm was crawling away with its back to the wound, which was clearly abnormal.

"This, this is..."

There's something wrong with my blood.

But to this day, he still doesn't know when or what kind of poison he was poisoned by. The only thing he doesn't know is the dancer... He stared at Li Lian for a while, a dark look flashing in his eyes.

Li Lian felt the gazes falling on him, but pretended not to notice and still looked worried as she took out medicine and gauze to bandage him.

Once the new sandalwood box was retrieved, the Gu worms were put back in and returned to their original place. Suddenly, Dongling Yu's voice rang out, "Go and send a message to Zhou Nan, telling him to speed things up."

Once Li Lian's footsteps disappeared outside the room, he rang the copper bell hanging beside him, and the guards standing outside the door came running at the sound.

"Have someone investigate Li Lian and see if there's anything suspicious about him."

886 had informed Jiang Heng as early as when Dongling Yu removed the Gu worm. Not long after returning to Dongli, Dongting Lan had also removed the Gu worm, so he had nothing to worry about now. However, upon learning of the Gu worm's unusual behavior, Jiang Heng frowned slightly. Dongling Yu would likely realize he was poisoned. But that was only a matter of time; after all, as the protagonist of the original story, he couldn't possibly be a fool.

The next morning, Dong Tinglan was unable to sleep in with the young prince as he had hoped. At this moment, he was tying Jiang Heng's hair with a resentful expression. Although his face was sour, his movements were still gentle and meticulous.

After changing into coarse cloth clothes, Jiang Heng pressed Dong Tinglan's neck down with one hand, raised her head and kissed him, deliberately making a "pop" sound.

"I will make it up to Your Highness when I return."

Dong Tinglan gently pressed down on his hand, which was wandering inside his clothes, her eyes dark and unsettling. "If you don't want to leave the manor today, then continue."

Jiang Heng chuckled and withdrew her hand. This couldn't continue. She was just asking for a little parting perk. Who could blame her when her prince had such a great figure? The feeling of her fingertips tracing the cleavage was too addictive.

Just as they were about to leave the mansion, Sun He suddenly returned.

"Those two people from last time kept watch outside the inn all night."

Fortunately, Sun He was quick-witted. When he spotted the two, he used the excuse that the back door of the inn was close to a wonton stall, and went through the back door to avoid having to take a detour. The innkeeper had made an extra profit yesterday because of Jiang Heng, so he was happy to do this favor.

"Go directly to Mengguitang."

Before he got into the carriage, Dong Tinglan adjusted his hairband and said, "Remember your promise from last night."

Seeing his serious expression, Jiang Heng stopped joking and said, "Definitely."

By mid-morning, Meng Qingyuan's men still hadn't seen Jiang Heng. One of them hurried back to report, but before he even entered, he saw the person they were waiting for already chatting with Old Xu in the clinic. It seemed they had been talking for quite some time. The man looked at Lan Heng suspiciously. They had kept watch all night and hadn't seen him leave the inn. Could it be that he wasn't in the inn last night?

After hearing his subordinate's explanation, Meng Qingyuan told him to wait in the private room.

"When did Doctor Lan arrive? I sent someone to the inn this morning to pick you up, so you wouldn't have to go through all that trouble, but I missed you. It must be that these people were lazy and went too late."

Jiang Heng feigned regret: "Why didn't you say so earlier yesterday, Manager Meng! I left through the back door this morning, thinking of grabbing a bite at the wonton stall across the street. If I had known you sent someone to pick me up, I might have been able to mooch a meal."

"I see. Then this is indeed my fault." He waved his hand behind his back, and his subordinates in the cubicle saw this and quickly left. A short while later, the man returned and nodded to Meng Qingyuan from an angle where others couldn't see him.

It seems that Lan Heng was indeed not lying.

"It's getting late. When will you take me to see the important person, innkeeper?" Jiang Heng asked impatiently. Seeing this, Meng Qing's doubts were dispelled. He thought that even if this person had problems, he wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in the prince's residence. He quickly ordered someone to prepare a carriage and took Jiang Heng and Old Xu to the Fourth Prince's residence.