Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 1211 - 1208_1

After the capture of Jiangdong County, Xiao’er and the others were not involved in subsequent cleanup work.

Shangguan Xuanyi, Xiao’er, Xi’er, and Shangguan Xuanyao, the four of them secretly set off to Li County to participate in the Poisoning Competition. They disguised themselves before departure, so absolutely no one could recognize their true identities.

Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi were in one carriage, Xi’er and Shangguan Xuanyao in the other. They set off towards Li County with a low profile.

Sometimes in the carriage, Xiao’er would take the children out from the space, to play with them and show them the scenery along the way.

Whenever Xiao’er brought the children out of the space, Shangguan Xuanyi would personally take up the reins.

Once Xiao’er put the children back into the space, he would let Zhao Yong take the reins and join Xiao’er in the carriage compartment.

Fortunately, the children stopped crying after six months, so Xiao’er dared to bring them out of the space.

Xiao’er thought their intelligence must be high, whenever they needed to defecate, their mouths would form baby language and their buttocks would writhe, signaling their need to defecate, despite not being able to speak yet.

So, ever since they turned six months old, Xiao’er stopped using diapers for them.

They didn’t like wearing diapers either, probably because it was too hot.

In the carriage, Xiao’er would softly sing nursery rhymes to the children. Perhaps it was the rocking of the carriage, but they fell asleep after a short while.

When the children fell asleep, Xiao’er would put them back into the space, and Shangguan Xuanyi would then return to the carriage compartment.

Li County was far away from Jiangdong County, and they journeyed for over a month before finally arriving. During this time, Shangguan Xuanyi spent half of his time as a coachman, often expressing how hard he was working as a father in front of Xiao’er.

...

Li County is immensely vast, with plains being rare and numerous mountains dotting the area. The residents of the Li Clan lived on the mountainsides to facilitate gathering of medicinal herbs.

The county town of Li County is tiny, with a population of less than 20,000 inhabitants. Despite the small size, it has complete facilities, with numerous shops offering everything one could need.

Upon arriving in Li County, they found an inn to stay at first.

However, due to the imminent Poisoning Competition, nearly every inn was fully occupied. Their arrival seemed belated.

"Let’s go to the broker’s and see if there are any small courtyards available for rent! It’s probably more peaceful to rent a small courtyard to stay in," Xiao’er suggested upon seeing this.

"First, let’s have something to eat at the restaurant, Zhao Yong and Fang Shun, you two go and ask around at the brokers."

Fang Shun is Shangguan Xuanyao’s personal guard and also serves as his pageboy.

The two swiftly acknowledged the order, then, after seeing their masters to the restaurant and arranging the carriage, set off to find a house.

What if their masters had to sleep on the streets for the night?

The two arrived at the only broker and found that all the courtyards within the city were rented out. There were still some available outside the city, albeit bigger and newer, and they were on the more expensive side.

taels a month, rent to be paid upfront monthly.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shun couldn’t help but exclaim: "200 taels a month? That’s daylight robbery! No wonder it hasn’t been rented out yet. 200 taels, that’s enough to buy the whole courtyard! It’s not even in the city center!"

The broker replied: "Young master, you miss the point. The Poisoning Competition is about to begin, and this courtyard will be rented by tomorrow at the latest. This is a completely new property, yet to be lived in. 200 taels is admittedly a bargain! A single night in an inn costs five taels ya know!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yong immediately decided to rent it without arguing, anyway, the one thing his master doesn’t lack is silver: "Alright, but you must make sure the house is thoroughly cleaned!"

"Absolutely! The house is maintained every day, it’s very clean! If you like, I can take you to have a look now!"

After Zhao Yong and Fang Shun had viewed the property and deemed it satisfactory, they rented it.

....

When Xiao’er and the others entered the restaurant, instead of a private room, they sat at a table in the main hall so they could pick up on the gossip about the Poisoning Competition.

Presumably because of the imminent Poisoning Competition, many people had already gathered in the restaurant even though it was not yet mealtime.

After Xiao’er and the others settled in, a waiter came to take their order, to which Xiao’er just ordered a few house specialties.

The waiting time for the dishes was a bit long. Fortunately, everyone in the restaurant was discussing the upcoming Poisoning Competition. As Xiao’er and the others were still unclear about certain aspects of the competition, they listened attentively.

Apparently, not just anyone can participate in the Poisoning Competition; one needs an invitation, or ticket, to enter the Poison King Valley for the competition.

Upon hearing this, Xi’er whispered: "What shall we do, we don’t have invitations!"

Xiao’er: "Let’s ask the waiter later about how to get the invitation."

Since the Poisoning Competition was open to people from all countries, there should be a way to get the invitations.

"I heard they’ve changed the rules for this Poisoning Competition," said someone from the next table.

"I haven’t heard anything about new rules. Isn’t it still the same as before? The first round: identify the composition of the poison given by the Li Clan elder and write out the antidote formula; the second round: find three types of poisonous substances within a specified time from the mountains, whoever finds all of them first wins; the third round: formulate a poison and compete with an opponent. The one who can identify the opponent’s poison is deemed the winner. The two participants who concoct the strongest toxins will become Li Clan elders!"

"Those three are the basics, but they’ve added a new one: to cure four poisoned people."

"Curing, that doesn’t sound too hard."

"I don’t know, I have a feeling it’s not so simple."

"True, but identifying the Li Clan elder’s poison and writing out the antidote formula has already tripped up many people. Now they’ve added a rule to cure four people, this Poisoning Competition is going to be interesting!"

...

Hearing their conversation, Xi’er said: "It doesn’t sound too difficult. It’s just about identifying, curing, and making poisons."

The waiter was just serving the dishes and, overhearing Xi’er, he said: "Young master, don’t underestimate this Poisoning Competition. Every time, many people are eliminated in the first round. Not everyone is able to identify the poison concocted by our Li Clan’s elders. Besides, considering the vast size of Li County and the multitude of mountains, only one day is given to find the poisonous substances on the mountains. The competition is very strict, becoming a member of the Li Clan is surely no easy task!"

"Waiter, we heard that one needs an invitation to participate in the Poisoning Competition. How do we acquire that?"

"Oh, you need to register at the Li Clan Guild, then answer a questionnaire. If you pass, you can get your invitation. If you are thinking of enrolling in the Poisoning Competition, you better hurry to get your invitations. The deadline for registration is tomorrow."

"Where is the Li Clan Guild?"

"It’s on the left side of this street, the last shop."

"Alright, got it, thank you, waiter."