The greatest saint of all time!

"Your Highness is too kind. It's just a small business deal."

Su Qinghuan's expression was indifferent, polite but very distant.

"A small business?"

Lu Heng sneered, took a step forward, and approached Su Qinghuan.

"Su Qinghuan, my patience is limited."

"What about what I mentioned to you last time? What have you thought about?"

"As long as you agree to become my Crown Princess, I will be backing up Baicao Pavilion. Even Wanbaolou will have to defer to you!"

"Furthermore, I can petition my father, the Emperor, to grant you the grandest wedding in the entire land—an honor that countless women would rather die than attain!"

Upon hearing this, the guests who hadn't gone far slowed down and pricked up their ears.

I had long heard that the Crown Prince was interested in Pavilion Master Su, but I never expected... that he would actually force her to marry him in public today!

Faced with the Crown Prince's relentless pressure, Su Qinghuan took a half step back, her face as cold as ice.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

"But Qinghuan is focused on pursuing martial arts and has no intention of getting involved in personal relationships for the time being."

"The position of Crown Princess is extremely prestigious, but Qinghuan is too unfortunate to enjoy it."

I refused!

And he refused in public!

Lu Heng's face immediately darkened.

He, the dignified Crown Prince of the Great Yan Dynasty and the future emperor, was publicly rejected by a merchant woman.

Isn't this an utter disgrace!

"Excellent! What a fine example of single-minded devotion to the Way!"

Lu Heng laughed in anger, pointing at Su Qinghuan's nose, his voice chilling.

"Su Qinghuan, don't push your luck!"

"Do you think that just because I have the backing of the Ziyang Sect, I won't dare to touch you?"

"This is the Great Yan! This is the territory of the Lu family!"

"Since you refuse to listen to reason and are forced to drink the penalty cup, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

Having said that, he suddenly flicked his sleeve, his gaze sweeping over Su Qinghuan's graceful figure with a sinister look.

"You'll regret this!"

"Then, I'll make you kneel on the ground and beg me to take you in!"

After uttering these harsh words, Lu Heng, along with Lin Tianjie and the others, stormed off in a huff.

Watching the Crown Prince's departing figure, Su Qinghuan bit her red lips tightly, a trace of worry flashing in her beautiful eyes.

This time, they have completely offended the Crown Prince.

Although she had the backing of the Ziyang Sect, a local official was more powerful than a distant one, and the Ziyang Sect wouldn't do anything to the Great Yan royal family for her sake.

If the Crown Prince really goes mad and targets Baicao Pavilion, things will probably get tough for him in the future.

……

Private room on the second floor.

Lu Xuan took in the whole scene through the window.

"My older brother is even more impatient than I imagined."

Lu Xuan shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.

As the crown prince, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he lost his composure so completely for the sake of a woman.

Such a person is unlikely to achieve great things.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince is narrow-minded and vindictive."

Shen Qiansan said with some concern, "Now that he has obtained those ten bottles of medicine, he will definitely have the Imperial Hospital investigate thoroughly when he returns."

"This body tempering fluid is only a low-level medicine, and its composition is not complicated."

"Among the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy, there is one who is very skilled at deriving prescriptions from medicinal liquids. If we could have them deduce the elixir formula, then this business..."

Although Shen Qiansan believed in Lu Xuan's methods, the medicinal liquid had a simple structure, and it was not difficult for anyone with the will to try it a few times to figure out the ratio of the medicinal ingredients.

Once the formula is leaked, the Hundred Herbs Pavilion's advantage will vanish, and it might even be used by the Crown Prince as a weapon against them.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan let out a cold laugh.

"Reverse engineering the formula?"

"Hehe, I'm not afraid of him pushing me, I'm afraid of him not pushing me."

Shen Qiansan was taken aback.

"What do you mean by that, Your Highness?"

Lu Xuan walked to the table, picked up the teacup, and gently swirled it.

"The ingredients for this body tempering liquid are indeed simple, just blood ginseng and fire spirit mushroom."

"However, a special technique is required when refining the medicinal liquid."

"No one but me can use this technique, not even those old guys in the Imperial Hospital."

At this point, a cold glint flashed in Lu Xuan's eyes.

"If they actually refine the medicine according to the deduced ingredients, or even consume it directly..."

"In the beginning, it did have a body-tempering effect, and it was almost as good as the one I made."

"But that's just an illusion."

As he spoke, Lu Xuan smiled and held up three fingers.

"In just three days, the suppressed fire poison will completely erupt."

"At that time, the user's meridians will be completely burned away by the fire poison, their blood and qi will flow in reverse, and ultimately... they will die suddenly!"

"Moreover, the manner of his death was extremely gruesome, his entire body charred black, as if he were being burned by flames."

"hiss……"

After hearing Lu Xuan's words, Shen Qiansan couldn't help but gasp.

That's... way too ruthless!

Not only did they swindle the crown prince out of his money, but they also wanted his life?

Moreover, it's such an unpredictable tactic that it all depends on the other party bringing it upon themselves.

Shen Qiansan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at the smiling young man in front of him, but a deep sense of fear rose in his heart.

Your Highness truly lives up to his lineage as the head of the family; his ruthlessness in doing things is in no way inferior to that of the old Grand Tutor from back then.

In the midst of laughter and conversation, such a deadly trap had already been set up.

Fortunately, he was not His Highness's enemy. If he had stood on the opposite side of His Highness, Shen Qiansan really couldn't imagine what the consequences would have been.

Lu Xuan glanced at Shen Qiansan and asked calmly, "What? Do you think I'm too ruthless?"

Shen Qiansan quickly shook his head.

"To be merciful to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself."

"The Crown Prince and the Lin family slaughtered the entire Xiao family back then. Now, Your Highness is merely repaying blood with blood and tooth with tooth."

Lu Xuan nodded, his gaze turning towards the direction of the palace.

"This is just the beginning."

"Lu Heng, you'd better figure out how to handle this death warrant that cost you 200,000 taels."

"I hope you'll still be as arrogant as you are today in a few days."

……

In the Eastern Palace, Lu Heng returned to the main hall with a livid face, breaking countless precious porcelain pieces along the way.

"Damn Su Qinghuan! That shameless bitch!"

"And that Shen Qiansan! They all deserve to die!"

"Once I ascend to the throne, I will kill you all immediately!"

Lu Heng roared, venting his anger.

Lin Tianjie, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward to offer some words of comfort.

"Your Highness, please calm down. It's not worth getting sick from anger."

"Although we were treated badly today, we still got the goods."

As he spoke, he pointed to the ten bottles of body-tempering liquid on the table, which had cost a whopping 200,000 taels of silver.

"As long as the Imperial Medical Academy can crack the mystery, we can mass-produce them."

"By then, not only will we be able to recoup this money, but we'll also completely ruin Baicaoge and make that bitch Su Qinghuan kneel before you and beg for mercy!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Heng's expression softened somewhat.

"you're right."

"Summon the chief physician of the Imperial Medical Academy immediately!"

"I want him to test the medicine on the spot and deduce the prescription!"

"yes!"

Lin Tianjie accepted the order and left.

Lu Heng looked at the jade bottle on the table, a sinister glint in his eyes.

"Su Qinghuan, Lu Xuan... you just wait!"

"Once I've mastered this miraculous medicine, I'll deal with you all properly!"

"At that time, I will make you all kneel before me, begging for life but unable to die!"