“Do you take me for an idiot? You’re trying to trick me into giving something away, then turn the tables on me?”

Liya saw right through Mu Nanyan’s intentions and didn’t even bother to hide that she had.

The moment she was found out, Mu Nanyan’s hair stood on end, and her toes curled against the floor on instinct. She was dying of embarrassment.

This girl wasn’t just hard to fool—she was almost too clever for her own good.

Going by all the Long Aotian novels Mu Nanyan had read, weren’t the women in those stories all easy to manipulate, one and all?

The usual plot was that you’d let me talk you into giving up the information, then I’d turn the tables, get us out of danger, and earn your trust. That’s how it was supposed to go!

“Stop spouting nonsense. The antidote—make it and get it into my hands within half an hour. Otherwise!”

Liya tipped up her little face and made a throat-slitting gesture with the cutest cheeks imaginable—one that couldn’t have been more terrifying.

Now Mu Nanyan was completely out of options. She didn’t dare try any more of those flashy tricks she’d picked up from novels.

After all, she was just a bit-part character, a total walking plot device. Aside from being pretty, she was completely useless.

She had neither the luck of someone chosen by fate nor the system of a Long Aotian protagonist.

All she had was her face. But in a Long Aotian novel, being beautiful was no blessing.

The pressure to survive only grew heavier, pressing down on Mu Nanyan until she could barely breathe.

“Get me the ingredients first. Then I can start making the antidote.”

“You mean those poisonous things? Can they really make an antidote?”

Liya watched Mu Nanyan warily, bringing the knife in her hand a little closer.

“Of course they can. Ever heard of fighting poison with poison? Besides, I’m poisoned too. If you don’t believe me, bring me the ingredients. I’ll make the antidote and try it myself first.”

Mu Nanyan had poisoned the Demon Emperor with her lips. Long Aotian had turned the poison into rouge and smeared it on Mu Nanyan’s lips.

In Mu Nanyan’s memories, on her wedding night with the Demon Emperor, she’d sat tensely on the edge of the bed, her eyes covered by her bridal veil.

Maybe she’d been too nervous. That memory was blurry and rushed.

All Mu Nanyan remembered was that the Demon Emperor had kissed her before even lifting her veil. After that, everything became a chaotic blur, until the guards rushed in and pinned Mu Nanyan to the ground…

A blade had been at her throat, but the poisoned and weakened Demon Emperor had called them off. Then Mu Nanyan had been tossed into this so-called Cold Palace.

In all that panic, Mu Nanyan must have licked her own lips too. There was a good chance the lethal poison was in her body as well.

But why the Demon Emperor was on the verge of death while Mu Nanyan was still full of energy was anyone’s guess.

“Don’t move!”

Liya grabbed Mu Nanyan’s wrist and slowly closed her eyes, as if testing something.

“Mm. You do have that poison in your system. But why haven’t you collapsed?”

After saying that, Liya let go of Mu Nanyan’s hand with a look of distaste. She even pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the skin that had touched Mu Nanyan, then flung it far away as if it were trash.

Tch. What an utterly unadorable little girl. You’ll regret this one day… Mu Nanyan couldn’t help clicking her tongue inwardly.

“I’m not sure either. But it’s enough that you know I’m poisoned too.”

Mu Nanyan pulled over a chair and sat down, putting on an equally fearless front as she stared straight into Liya’s blood-red eyes.

“Just go get the ingredients. I’ll make the antidote and take it first. Then you can check whether the poison in my body has been suppressed. Wouldn’t that clear everything up?”

Mu Nanyan said she was saving the Demon Emperor, but really, she was saving herself too.

The poison in her body was a ticking time bomb. She could suddenly fall ill and drop dead at any moment. If that happened, she still wouldn’t make it past the first three chapters.

If the Demon Emperor fell ill, the entire Demon Clan would scramble to find an antidote for her. But if Mu Nanyan got sick, would anyone notice before she started to stink? Then they’d drag her out and bury her in some random hole.

Luckily, Mu Nanyan’s memories included plenty of knowledge about all kinds of medicinal herbs.

Maybe because she’d been born to a farming family, Mu Nanyan knew a lot about herbs and other medicinal plants.

But that was as far as it went: knowing about them.

For example, one herb could treat sprains, while another was highly poisonous and shouldn’t be touched casually—but was worth a fortune.

The original Mu Nanyan hadn’t known how to combine herbs and use their properties together. But the Mu Nanyan of today did.

For example, combining certain herbs could produce an antibiotic effect. Even diseases that couldn’t be cured in this world could be dealt with by mixing and matching their medicinal properties.

That was the advantage of being a transmigrator—and of knowing the original story from beginning to end.

Herbs would become one of Long Aotian’s cheat abilities later on. Right now, Mu Nanyan was the one making use of them.

Every herb Mu Nanyan named was highly poisonous on its own. But combine them, and they could have quite an effect.

Especially when it came to counteracting the effects of poison.

Mu Nanyan didn’t know the exact symptoms of the Demon Emperor’s poisoning, so she couldn’t tailor a remedy to it. She could only go all out and use the strongest antidote recipe mentioned in the book.

If you didn’t know where the target was, just blanket the whole area with firepower!

There wasn’t time to refine it, so she decided to boil it into a broth instead.

It’d work just as well. It might just be incredibly hard to swallow.

“Those ingredients are hard to find. I’ll need a little time.”

In the end, Liya decided to give it a try. She snapped her fingers, and several shadows soon peeled away from her own. In the blink of an eye, they’d vanished in every direction.

“That’s more like it. Good little kids who listen are much cuter.”

Mu Nanyan let out a breath of relief and gently reached out to pat Liya on the head. But the blade in Liya’s hand scared her back into place.

“Since you called me Little Jasmine, I’ll trust you this once. But only this once!”

Liya put away her knife, leaving Mu Nanyan with a warning look.

“D-don’t worry… Um, Little Jasmine, have you eaten yet? Do you want something to eat first?”

Sensing how awkward things had gotten, Mu Nanyan asked in a small voice.

“Are you stupid?”

Who’d dare eat anything you gave them? Liya shot Mu Nanyan an annoyed look, pushed open the door, and went out into the courtyard.

As the little demon left, Mu Nanyan gave an awkward laugh. Then her legs went weak, and she slumped into the chair.

“That was close… So close…”

Mu Nanyan rubbed her ample chest. Her heart was racing, and her back felt soaked through.

Before long, a strange sound came from outside.

Mu Nanyan crept to the door and peeked out. Liya was there, digging at something with a shovel slung in her hands.

Mu Nanyan couldn’t help frowning, but she didn’t dare ask. Her relationship with Liya was already ice-cold.

“Still, I do have another way to solve this problem.”