Qingyao’s face was full of confusion.
Her lips pressed together, loosened, then pressed together again.
After struggling for a while, she finally seemed to resign herself to fate and squeezed out a dry response:
“Your Highness… this servant hasn’t read many books. Please don’t fool me.”
Shang Changge looked utterly serious.
Tilting her head back to gaze at the ceiling, she sighed with profound melancholy.
“To be honest, I’m not entirely certain myself.
But that day I ate poisoned food and came out completely unharmed.
That’s what led me to this hypothesis…”
As she spoke, she began rummaging through the various bottles and jars of poison.
After identifying which antidote corresponded to which poison, she waited until Qingyao wasn’t paying attention—
Then swiftly uncorked a bottle, popped a pill into her mouth, and swallowed it.
“Your Highness!”
Qingyao nearly jumped out of her skin.
Shang Changge remained perfectly calm.
She leisurely took a sip of water and continued her explanation while reassuring her maid.
“That’s why I wanted to test it.
Don’t worry.
The one I just took isn’t lethal.
It’ll only cause severe stomach cramps.”
“But…”
Qingyao’s eyes never left her.
She clutched the antidote tightly in her hand, looking ready to pry Shang Changge’s mouth open and force-feed her the medicine the moment she so much as frowned.
The poison was supposed to take effect within fifteen minutes.
To be safe, Shang Changge waited an entire quarter of an hour.
The result?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Not only did her stomach fail to hurt, she actually felt more energetic than before.
Shang Changge blinked.
“Qingyao…
I think I really am immune to all poisons.”
Qingyao was genuinely happy for her mistress.
Yet she was worried at the same time.
The resulting expression was both smiling and miserable.
Like a bitter melon trying very hard to smile.
Suppressing her laughter, Shang Changge shifted her gaze toward the poisons on the table.
This time she picked up one of the lethal varieties.
Being considerably more responsible now, she voluntarily stuffed the antidote into Qingyao’s hand.
“If I start looking strange later, immediately shove the antidote into my mouth.”
She wanted to experiment.
She did not want the experiment to become an obituary.
She was very attached to being alive.
Qingyao instantly adopted the solemn expression of someone entrusted with a sacred mission.
Clutching the antidote to her chest, she nodded vigorously.
“Rest assured, Your Highness!”
The poison was another pill.
Shang Changge uncorked the bottle and poured the contents into her palm.
Three tiny dark-brown pills lay there quietly.
She took a deep breath.
Then—
All three disappeared into her mouth at once.
Swallow.
Done.
Immediately afterward, both she and Qingyao held their breath and stared at each other with wide eyes.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
Four.
Five…
Time ticked by.
And the corners of Shang Changge’s mouth rose higher and higher.
Well now.
Would you look at that.
It actually worked.
She really was completely fine.
There wasn’t the slightest sign of poisoning.
No signs of imminent death.
Nothing.
“Your Highness!
The poison really doesn’t affect you!”
Qingyao finally realized it too.
Her eyes lit up as she let out a hushed cry of delight.
Shang Changge’s smile grew increasingly unrestrained.
Then—
Hands on hips.
Head thrown back.
She burst into loud, uninhibited laughter.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The kind of laughter with absolutely no attempt at volume control.
The two maids guarding the study outside nearly jumped out of their skins.
“Pfft—”
Even Qingyao couldn’t help laughing.
This was wonderful.
From now on, they would never need to fear malicious poisoning attempts again.
Meanwhile, Shang Changge was completely oblivious to everything else.
At this moment, no one existed in her world except herself.
She was utterly immersed in the joy of rediscovering what she had lost.
Her abilities were still there.
Her powers hadn’t vanished.
Granted, her combat strength was nowhere near what it had once been.
But so what?
Give her another ten days or half a month of training, and she’d recover her former skills.
By then—
No matter how many assassins came after her—
She could cut them down one after another.
Even if she lost her status as a princess, she’d still thrive wherever she went.
The night deepened.
Shang Changge was so excited that she became overly stimulated.
As a result—
She couldn’t sleep.
Lying spread-eagle across the soft bed, she stared at the canopy overhead.
Every so often, a suspiciously villainous grin appeared on her face.
Thankfully, she wasn’t sharing the bed with anyone.
Otherwise, imagine waking up in the middle of the night, turning over—
And seeing the person beside you randomly smiling like that every few minutes.
It would be enough to scare someone to death.
Knock. Knock.
Two soft taps sounded at the door.
Before Shang Changge could even glance over, Qingyao—who had been sleeping on a small bed in the outer room—had already thrown on a robe, climbed out of bed, and gone to answer it.