The Rebirth of an Orphan

Zhao Xihua knew that she couldn't take her away now. She was in a difficult situation now, and keeping Aunt Yun with her might harm her.

Now she only hopes that Sun Xiao's illness can be cured. If he is cured, the Zhao family will not dare to take any chances with the house that Sun Xiao bought for her. Then she can take Aunt Yun to her house to live in good condition, which will be worthy of her mother's dying wish.

Zhao Xihua looked at Caiyun with a firm expression and said, "Aunt Yun, I swear to you that I will take good care of you in the future, not let you suffer, and provide for your old age and see you to the end of your life. I mean what I say."

Caiyun was stunned and let out a series of desolate laughs. This world was really strange. Back then, she and Fengyi fell in love with that man at the same time, but that man didn't like her, so she tried every means to harm Fengyi. Unexpectedly, her daughter came and promised to take care of her for the rest of her life and to provide for her in her old age.

At that moment, Caiyun felt that all the grudges had vanished into thin air, and it was time to let go of everything. She once again grabbed Zhao Xihua's wrist and said solemnly, "Come with me."

Zhao Xihua followed Caiyun to a low door nearby, pushed it open and walked in. When she saw the room, she was startled. The small room was not as dirty as she had imagined. Instead, it was very clean. It turned out to be a Chinese medicine pharmacy. Apart from a single bed, there were shelves for medicinal materials. On the shelves were various kinds of herbs, as well as some jars, but no one knew what was in them.

Zhao Xihua watched Caiyun slowly open a black jar. A pitch-black poisonous snake stretched its head out. Aunt Yun casually took some chopped raw meat from a bowl nearby and fed it to the snake. No one knew what kind of meat it was.

It seems that Aunt Yun has been able to live well here for decades and has her own room. She must have some real skills. In this case, the poison in Sun Xiao's body should be curable.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xihua saw a broken teapot next to her, so she walked over, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Aunt Yun with both hands.

Aunt Yun smiled with approval in her eyes, "It seems that you are quite smart, much better than your mother. They say that a man who knows the times is a hero, but your mother is stubborn. Forget it, for your mother's sake, I will accept you as my apprentice. When you become successful in the future, you must hold a big thank-you banquet to let everyone know that you are my Caiyun's apprentice."

Zhao Xihua actually accepted her as his apprentice so quickly. She was surprised and delighted. She quickly poured another cup of tea, knelt down in front of Caiyun, and said excitedly: "Master, please accept my apprentice's greetings."

After Zhao Xihua kowtowed three times to Caiyun according to the master-disciple etiquette, Caiyun helped her up.

Caiyun smiled and said, "Well, since we are already master and disciple, let's not worry about these conventional etiquette. Do you have anything else to tell me besides seeing me today?"

Zhao Xihua didn't expect that Aunt Yun was such a sharp-minded person. This made her feel more at ease. Every step she took now was a life-and-death situation. If there was a powerful person to help her, she could take fewer detours.

So she took out the cup from her bag, put a piece of silk cloth under the cup, and then held it in front of Caiyun.

"Master, can you please help me look at this cup and see what it is?"

Caiyun took the cup and was about to tear open the silk cloth underneath, but Zhao Xihua hurriedly reminded her, "Master, be careful not to touch it. This cup is a little strange."

Caiyun followed Zhao Xihua's instructions, placed the cup in front of her and looked at it carefully, using the silk cloth as a cushion.

"Huh?" Caiyun stood up suddenly, took the cup and walked to the window, turning the patterns on the cup little by little towards the sunlight outside, looking at it more carefully.

"Master, do you see any problem?" Zhao Xihua asked.

Caiyun didn't say anything. She just walked to the shelf where the medicinal herbs were placed, took out a herb and crushed it with a pestle. Then she put the crushed herb into a small bowl and soaked the herb with boiling water on the stove.

Then she started searching for something everywhere in the room. Zhao Xihua didn't know what she was looking for, and just looked at her blankly. Finally, she found a box under the bed. When she opened the box, she found only a piece of dried ginseng. The quality of the dried ginseng was not very good, but it should still be usable.

Caiyun handed the dried ginseng to Zhao Xihua and asked her to soak it in water and then cut it into slices. Unexpectedly, while she was preparing the dried ginseng, Caiyun caught a sparrow from somewhere and put it in a cage.

"Feed the sparrow with dried ginseng." Caiyun instructed Zhao Xihua.

Zhao Xihua also did as she was told. Then Caiyun took some tea leaves from a jar and boiled water on the stove. When the water boiled, she used the cup to make tea. Soon the aroma of tea wafted into the air. She didn't expect that Aunt Yun was not only an expert in medicine, but also had a deep foundation in tea art.

After all, she was a secretary to a high-ranking official in Kyoto. How did she know her mother? Her mother was just a small actress in the entertainment industry in Kyoto. How could they have any intersection?

Forget it, let's not think about it for now. The most important thing is to figure out the cup issue. Caiyun sat on a chair and made some tea. Suddenly, she looked at Zhao Xihua and said, "Pinch the sparrow's neck and feed it the tea in the cup."

Zhao Xihua poured out the tea in the cup as instructed, then pinched the sparrow's neck and poured the tea into it. In the blink of an eye, the sparrow that had been fluttering just now suddenly wilted and became listless, but it did not die.

She raised her eyes and looked at Caiyun: "Master, is this cup poisonous?"

"Try the tea in this cup yourself." Caiyun said with a smile.

Zhao Xihua was a little confused, but still found another teacup, poured out the tea in the cup used for brewing tea before, tilted his head back and drank it. It tasted clear and sweet, and it was surprisingly delicious. He could also feel a refreshing scent.

What on earth was going on? Zhao Xihua was completely confused. Why was this happening? Clearly, the sparrow was poisoned after drinking the tea? But why didn't she have any reaction after drinking it? She even thought it was sweet and delicious?

Caiyun looked out the window and sighed, "You are still young and haven't experienced many hardships in the world, so how can you know these ways to secretly harm people?"

Caiyun continued, "In Kyoto, there was a rich man whose wife had been suffering from lethargy since some time ago. Later, her body became weaker and weaker, and her spirit became worse and worse. The rich man loved his wife very much, so he consulted many famous doctors and suspected that someone around her had poisoned her. However, after checking again and again, no trace of poisoning was found, and there was indeed no poison."

Zhao Xihua suddenly remembered the dried ginseng that she had fed to the sparrow, and blurted out, "Master, did the high-ranking official's wife eat something that caused a collision? It's not poisonous when eaten alone, but it's poisonous when taken together?"