Chapter 14: Snake Venom

Bao Ning let out a scream, scooped up Ah Huang, and turned to run back into the house.

With a loud bang, she slammed the door shut, leaning against it, gasping for breath. The image of those sinister snake eyes haunted her mind, multiplying into dozens, even hundreds, circling around her.

Wiping away her tears, Bao Ning cried out, “Fourth Prince, wake up! There’s a snake outside, a snake!”

Pei Yuan hadn’t been sleeping. He had been listening carefully to the sounds outside. Upon hearing Bao Ning, he instantly understood — the bag Eunuch Huang had delivered contained snakes.

He thought of all the underhanded things Pei Xiao had been involved in over the years. His heart sank.

He had been careless.

“Lock the door tight!” Pei Yuan’s gaze turned icy. He sat up, pulled a short dagger from under his pillow, and shouted to Bao Ning, “Come here! Don’t lean on the door.”

“The lock is broken…” Bao Ning’s throat felt dry, her hands were shaking. Still leaning on the door, she slowly slid down to sit on the floor. “I’m holding it closed… Maybe if we wait a bit, it’ll leave?”

Her eyes red, Bao Ning looked at Pei Yuan, hoping for reassurance. She asked tremulously, “Aren’t snakes supposed to be afraid of people?”

“That’s just normal snakes,” Pei Yuan replied grimly. “This one’s been professionally trained — it’s aggressive and specifically bred to attack humans. It’ll follow our scent. We can’t hide from it.”

Bao Ning felt dizzy and didn’t fully understand what Pei Yuan meant. Her legs gave out; she couldn’t even stand. Ah Huang jumped down from her arms and tugged at her clothes.

Supporting herself against the door, Bao Ning tried to get up — but suddenly a force slammed into the door from behind. She stumbled and fell forward, scraping her palms bloody against the floor. The pain snapped her awake.

Pei Yuan shouted, “Get up! Come to me!”

Just then, Bao Ning heard two quick “whoosh” sounds — two bright yellow corn kernels zipped past her, followed by a hissing noise, something inhaling sharply.

“Woof!” Ah Huang barked, then lunged and bit the snake’s neck, clamping down without letting go.

Ah Huang was still young, but sharp-toothed and well-fed, strong for its size. The snake twisted violently, its tail whipping against the door with loud thuds, but it couldn’t break free.

Pei Yuan yelled, “Ah Huang! Don’t touch it!”

Bao Ning seized the chance to stand up and ran to Pei Yuan’s side. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him.

Only then did she dare to look. At the door was a large, glossy black snake, as thick as an adult’s forearm. Its head was a terrifying red. One of its slit-like, cunning eyes had been smashed by the corn kernel and was bleeding profusely. The snake, enraged by the attack, reared its long neck and thrashed violently with Ah Huang clinging to it, trying to throw the dog off.

Bao Ning’s vision darkened — she nearly fainted. “Ah Huang! Come back!”

“Stay behind me.” Pei Yuan felt her trembling. He gripped her shoulder and guided her to sit. In a low voice, he said, “Don’t panic.”

“You’re soaked in sweat.” His hand slid down to her wrist, rubbing her palm against his robe. “Don’t hold it in — breathe, let it out.”

His hand was warm and dry. Bao Ning rested her forehead on his shoulder, slowly exhaling. Her wildly racing heart began to calm.

Hearing Bao Ning’s voice, Ah Huang hesitated, then let go and leapt back to her side.

The snake immediately lunged but missed. After a brief pause, it gave up chasing Ah Huang and turned toward Pei Yuan instead, slithering rapidly.

Bao Ning suddenly recalled what Pei Yuan had said: “This snake has been trained to follow human scent. You can’t hide from it.”

The room was small — in a heartbeat, the red-headed snake was right in front of them. Its head, blood-red like fresh gore, flicked a forked tongue, hissing.

Pei Yuan held the dagger in his right hand, thumb brushing the sheath. Just as the snake bared its fangs and lunged, he raised his hand and hurled the heavy sheath against the wall with a loud bang.

Distracted by the sound, the snake turned its head. Pei Yuan’s eyes narrowed — he struck at the snake’s weak spot, the seven-inch mark.

The snake reacted, twisting to block the attack and bit down on the blade. Its fangs sprayed black venom mixed with blood, splattering onto the quilt in dirty, dark splotches.

Enraged by the pain, the snake backed up to strike again — but Pei Yuan seized its neck and, with a clean slash, cut off its head.

The glossy snake body thudded to the ground and coiled tightly in death spasms. Its rough scales scratched long marks into the floor.

Silence fell, broken only by the faint rustling of its body.

Bao Ning’s tightly held breath finally eased.

“If you grip any harder, I’m going to lose my hand,” Pei Yuan’s voice came from above. Bao Ning looked up, dazed, meeting his half-amused gaze. He raised an eyebrow and nodded toward her hand. “If that happens, I won’t just be unable to walk — I won’t be able to use my hands either. Then you’ll really have to take care of me.”

Bao Ning followed his gaze — she had been clutching his wrist tightly the whole time. Her fingernails had broken the skin, drawing blood.

And he hadn’t said a word.

She quickly let go, embarrassed, then gently rubbed the spot with her fingertips. Trying to make up for it, she said, “That was my fault. Don’t be mad. I’ll cook something nice for you tonight.”

Her fingers were cool but soft, with no calluses — delicate and slender, completely different from his callused, sword-worn hands.

“I’m not mad,” Pei Yuan replied, his throat a little dry. He licked his lips, about to say more, when Bao Ning’s face suddenly changed.

“Pei Yuan!” she cried.

Ah Huang sprang forward, trying to bat away the severed snake head.

But they were too late.

The bloody snake head suddenly jerked forward more than a foot — and sank its fangs into Pei Yuan’s left leg.

Bao Ning’s heart nearly stopped. Forgetting her fear, she lunged forward, grabbed the snake head, pried its jaws apart with all her strength, and flung it aside.

Two bloody holes appeared an inch above Pei Yuan’s ankle, oozing black, foul-smelling blood.

Tears welled up in Bao Ning’s eyes in an instant. “Pei Yuan…”

She was so flustered that she didn’t know where to put her hands. Her heart felt like it had stopped beating, and she silently recited what Concubine Ming had taught her back then about what to do after being bitten by a venomous snake.

Tie a cloth above the wound, then make a small cross-shaped cut on the bite to suck the poisoned blood out—the faster it’s done, the higher the chances of survival.

There was no cloth, and tearing her clothes would be too troublesome, so Bao Ning simply removed her belt and tied it around Pei Yuan’s lower leg.

The only knife they had was already stained with poisoned blood, and there was no time to go to the kitchen for another. Bao Ning pressed on the wound to squeeze it, then took a deep breath, lowered her head, and sucked hard at the wound, spitting the blood onto the ground.

The blood she spat out was still black.

Bao Ning panicked even more—she was truly afraid Pei Yuan would die.

She wiped her lips and was about to go in for a second round when Pei Yuan stopped her.

“That’s enough.” He gripped her shoulders, pulled her into his arms, and gently rubbed the corners of her eyes, wiping away her tears. Frowning, he said, “Why are you always crying?”

Even as he said this, his gaze was soft, and his tone—rarely—gentle. He let out a small laugh and said, “Little crybaby.”

Bao Ning couldn’t bring herself to smile. Her eyes were red, like a frightened rabbit’s. She had no time to pay attention to Pei Yuan. She pushed him away and still wanted to deal with the poisoned blood.

In her memory, snakes like the one just now—brightly colored with a pointed head—were extremely venomous.

She didn’t understand why Pei Yuan appeared so calm. Was he just overly confident in his own body, or had he lost the will to live? But she didn’t dare stop. If she delayed even a moment, Pei Yuan could die.

“It’s really not necessary,” Pei Yuan sighed, grabbing Bao Ning’s wrist. “It bit my left leg. I won’t die.”

Bao Ning didn’t understand and asked tearfully, “Why?”

“Haven’t you always wanted to know what’s wrong with my leg?” Pei Yuan pulled her to sit down beside him, his expression a bit solemn. “I’ll tell you now—do you want to hear it?”

Bao Ning nodded.

Pei Yuan said, “It was poisoned by something like that.”

Bao Ning’s face changed dramatically. “You were bitten by the same kind of snake before?”

“Not a snake,” Pei Yuan paused. “A venomous rat.”

“I originally didn’t want to tell you any of this.”

Pei Yuan lifted his hand and straightened Bao Ning’s clothes. Her belt had come undone, and her outer robe was open, revealing her pale pink inner garments. He untied the belt from his leg and tied it around her waist.

Bao Ning sat there in a daze, even forgetting to be shy, letting him move as he pleased.

Once he was done, Pei Yuan looked up and into her eyes. “Some things are filthy, private, things that can’t be exposed to the light. The fewer people who know, the better. One, because I fear it might spread. Two, because once someone knows, they can never escape.”

Bao Ning hesitated, shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”

Pei Yuan said slowly, “I was bitten by the venomous rat while I was in prison.”

“This type of poison is extremely potent. You either lose the leg or your life. I had no choice but to seal off a major acupuncture point in my left leg, trapping the poison there. So while my left leg became immobile, my life was spared. You’ve seen the scars on my body, right? They were made to detoxify—cutting the skin to bleed it out. The wounds on my leg are the same.”

“That venomous rat back then, and the venomous snake today, were both bred by Pei Xiao. One of his subordinates is called Gongsun Zhu—he specializes in poisons and is skilled in training wild creatures with medicine, making them not only venomous but also aggressive, able to kill silently and unseen.”

“But raising poisonous creatures takes years and many failures. To raise just one, countless attempts are needed. It’s quite an honor, really, that he’s given me such a precious thing twice now.”

Bao Ning stared at him in shock.

She thought of the scars covering Pei Yuan’s body and couldn’t imagine how much pain and resolve it had taken to do that to himself. That was his own flesh, after all.

And Pei Xiao—they were brothers. How could he be so ruthless?

…And Pei Yuan, what exactly was he trying to say?

Pei Yuan gently touched her eyelid and said softly, “Did you used to think that I drove you away because I didn’t like you?”

Bao Ning’s eyelashes trembled as she nodded.

“Well, that was indeed part of it,” Pei Yuan said. “But there was another reason. Husband and wife are one. If Pei Xiao wants to target me, do you think he’d spare you? I didn’t want more people dragged into this mess. I was afraid they’d regret it, blame me, or worse—turn against me and kick me while I’m down.”

Pei Yuan let out a light laugh. “Bao Ning, you’re really unlucky to have met me. I’m a selfish man. If I don’t want something, I’ll throw it away even if it’s forced into my hands. But if I do want something, I’ll tear the skin off anyone who tries to take it from me—even if it’s the emperor himself. I’ve already given you plenty of chances. But now I’ve changed my mind. Even if you want to leave now… you’ll never be able to.”

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