Capture the Jade (Attacking the Jade) - Chapter 23-Part 8
Chapter 23-Part 8
These words lingered in his mind.
He hadn’t interacted with Dong Erniang for days, so how had he contracted this poison?
He was utterly unaware.
Lost in chaotic thoughts, he suddenly felt two cold and piercing gazes directed at him.
Duan Ningyuan, with senses sharper than most, gritted his teeth and raised his eyes.
Across from him, a young woman stared at him with alarm.
Her snow-white skin and delicate features complemented her green plum-colored blouse and skirt.
Duan Ningyuan was momentarily stunned.
At the time of their engagement, he had been too young to get a clear impression of Teng Yuyi’s appearance.
Later, she moved to Yangzhou, and the two never crossed paths.
Over the years, his memory of Teng Yuyi had faded entirely.
Even upon entering the hall earlier, he hadn’t raised his head while bowing in greeting.
But now… now he realized Teng Yuyi’s beauty was truly extraordinary.
Could those icy gazes just now have come from her?
Suspicion arose in his heart, but Teng Yuyi’s expression of alarm was so flawless that he couldn’t discern anything amiss.
As he mulled over the matter, his arm moved uncontrollably to scratch at his chest.
Madam Duan and Duan Wenyin were already panic-stricken by his lack of control.
“Quickly inform the master! Tell him the eldest son is ill and to summon a physician at once!” Madam Duan cried.
Old Madam Duan, having weathered many storms, trembled as she spoke.
“Yes, yes, there’s no such thing as itching poison. This is clearly a health issue. Eldest Son had wind ailments as a child—could it be hives?”
“Yes, hives!”
Duan Wenyin chimed in hastily.
“I’ve heard this condition is terribly bothersome, and the itching symptoms are just like this.”
But Teng Yuyi suddenly interjected, “Hives worsen when exposed to wind. With all the windows in this main hall open, if Young General Duan stays here any longer, the itching might grow unbearable.”
Her words startled Madam Duan and Duan Wenyin, prompting them to rush forward to support Duan Ningyuan.
Duan Ningyuan shook his head and tried to retreat, but he was too late.
While Duan Wenyin managed to withdraw her hand in time, Madam Duan’s hand rested on his arm.
Duan Ningyuan trembled violently, mustering all his strength to push his mother away as he shouted hoarsely, “Mother, don’t—don’t touch me!”
Madam Duan froze in shock.
Before she could grasp the situation, an eerie sensation spread up her arm.
The unbearable itch made her shiver, and once it began, it only escalated.
Unable to endure it, Madam Duan’s body began to spasm as she clawed at herself, shouting, “It itches! It itches!”
The onlookers were horrified.
Before they could figure out what was happening to Duan Ningyuan, Madam Duan had descended into madness.
“Hives don’t spread! This must be from itching insects!” someone shouted.
“It’s the itching insects!” a marquess’s wife exclaimed in terror.
“Dong erniang was like this that day! Shizi warned everyone not to touch her because the poison could spread. Look—Madam Duan was infected with just one touch!”
The crowd, both shocked and bewildered, murmured among themselves.
“But as you said, there were so many people at Ziyun Pavillion that day, and no one besides Dong Erniang was infected. How could Young Master Duan suddenly contract it after only a few days?”
“No idea. These insects don’t wander around aimlessly. There must be a reason for infection.”
Duan Ningyuan’s face grew darker with each passing moment, while the Duan family’s women shivered in dread.
This fiasco during a perfectly fine birthday banquet had utterly ruined their reputation.
Meanwhile, the Duan mother and son writhed more violently with every passing second.
Servants, terrified of being infected, scattered like a tide, leaving the grand main hall eerily empty, save for the struggling and anguished Duan family pair.
