Chapter 104: Deceiving You Without Remorse

Li Dong felt a sudden jolt in his heart, realizing he had blundered and fallen right into Ye Jishan’s trap.

Under the pretense of a high-sounding request for him to document his military campaign, they were actually finding an excuse to detain, guard, and place him under house arrest.

He had caused them one headache after another, turning their lives upside down. Out of respect for Emperor Yang of Sui, they dared not lay a finger on him, so they resorted to the "boiling a frog in warm water" tactic to keep him confined and out of trouble.

Lai Hu’er, the Great General of the Left翊 Guard, certainly played his part in this. Since his subordinate, the Martial Valor General Fei Qingnu, had been given a sound thrashing, he needed to vent his frustration, and making things difficult for Li Dong was a perfect display of his authority as a Great General.

"Ye Jishan, oh Ye Jishan," Li Dong mused. "As a governor with the power of life and death over the entire commandery, to be used as a blade by the Cui family and then pushed along by Lai Hu’er—if you cannot even see through such petty schemes, I truly wonder how you became a governor. Do you lack even a shred of autonomy?"

He had only just realized he had been duped because Zhang Xutuo had been the one to relay the request. He had trusted Zhang too implicitly, harboring no defenses against him.

Judging by past events, Zhang Xutuo had always been protective of him and would not have colluded with an old fox like Ye Jishan. Perhaps Zhang, like himself, was also being kept in the dark about Ye Jishan’s true intentions.

The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it; if he wanted to get out of here, he would have to rely on Zhang Xutuo.

It was evening. The moon had risen, casting a bright, clear glow, and a gentle breeze blew. A dim oil lamp flickered through the window lattice, and Li Dong was alone in the courtyard. He paced, his footsteps silent.

Standing in the courtyard, he looked up at the bright moon, his robes fluttering in the night wind, his heart remarkably calm. He had already settled on a counter-strategy: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. He would turn the tables on Ye Jishan and return the pressure he had been subjected to tenfold.

Li Dong couldn’t help but chuckle, already envisioning Ye Jishan’s miserable, disheveled state. "You forced my hand, so don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Just then, a door in the side wing creaked open, and a sleepy-eyed maid stepped out. Seeing Li Dong standing silently in the courtyard, staring at the sky with a smile, she was confused. "It is late, and the night wind is cold. Why are you not sleeping?"

Li Dong withdrew his gaze. Seeing it was a maid, he scoffed inwardly: *A lowly servant, unable to sleep in the dead of night because she is busy monitoring me.* He considered mocking her, but thought better of it; she was just trying to earn her keep, serving Ye Jishan and following orders—it wasn't her fault.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm going to sleep now!" Li Dong replied, walking toward his room. After a few steps, he turned and said, "Come here. I have a task for you."

The maid followed him into the room. Li Dong took up a brush and ink, scribbling a list: a woodpecker, one tael each of cinnabar and indigo, one mace of realgar, and some sesame oil. He handed the paper to the maid. "Have these prepared by tomorrow. I need them urgently for my writing."

"These items are strange," the maid asked suspiciously. "What are they for?"

"Just do as you are told, and you will see," Li Dong said with a smile. "If you find it inconvenient, you may report it to Governor Ye or Deputy Governor Zhang. Either one will do."

"Oh, I see. Anything else?" The maid felt relieved; as long as she told Ye Jishan, she would be absolved of any responsibility if something went wrong.

"No, go get some rest," Li Dong ordered.

The next day at noon, the maid returned with a woodpecker in a wooden cage and a small packet of medicine, placing them on a small table while delivering his meal.

"The items you requested," the maid said expressionlessly.

"Very well, thank you," Li Dong replied calmly.

The maid found it odd. If he had been in such a rush, why wasn't he excited now that they were here? She left the study in silence.

As soon as she was gone, Li Dong jumped up, checked the door, and then turned to the table. He opened the packet, confirmed the ingredients, and stowed them away. He looked at the bird and smiled: "Little bird, my escape depends entirely on you!"

He fed the bird only water, depriving it of food for an entire day until it was frantic with hunger. "I am sorry to put you through this," he sighed. By the next morning, the bird had passed its waste. "Good," Li Dong thought. "The impurities are gone."

He mixed the medicine with grains of rice and fed it to the bird. Starving, the bird pecked at the food greedily. For three days, he repeated this process, ensuring the bird absorbed every bit of the medicine.

At night, Li Dong slaughtered the bird with his iron sword, discarding the feathers and bones. He mixed the blood and meat with the realgar and sesame oil, mashing it into a paste. After letting it sit overnight, he rolled the dried paste into small pills the size of a fingertip and swallowed them with water at sunrise.

That day, he endured hunger, drinking only water to ensure the medicine was fully absorbed. That night, his body felt as if thousands of ants were crawling and jumping beneath his skin—an insufferable itch. He gritted his teeth, and after an hour, the sensation ceased, and his body returned to calm.

Li Dong jumped off the couch, ran to the bronze mirror, and gasped in delight. His face remained the same, but he knew he had succeeded. He spent a long time molding and kneading his features. When he finally looked into the mirror again, he was ecstatic.

Reflected in the glass was no longer Li Dong, but the face of the guard standing at the door.