Tears of emotion instantly came to an abrupt halt.

Jun Buwen suddenly changed the subject, saying, "I never say important things twice. Heaven and earth are my witness, and you know very well what I said before. It is you instead—who told you not to listen until I finished, and then conspired with the Third Prince of the Southern Kingdom to anger me, causing my blazing poison to flare up and attack my heart?"

How on earth did it become Xia Jiujiang's fault?

"Now that you mention it, why do I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my chest?" With that, Jun Buwen clutched his chest, his face turning pale.

Startled, Xia Jiujiang hurried over to support his arm, sounding somewhat reproachful, "Are you alright? Your blazing poison was only just suppressed, and you need complete rest. Who told you to run out here?"

Jun Buwen's lips curved into a triumphant smile as he straightened up and declared, "If I hadn't run out, I would have lost my Princess Consort."

He looked completely fine, having only used the blazing poison and chest pain to scare Xia Jiujiang.

Xia Jiujiang abruptly shook off his hand. He was actually tricking her?

Jun Buwen retorted, "Now you know you're in the wrong."

His posture was just like a strict parent standing before a child, demanding to know if they realized their mistakes.

And she was supposed to stand there like a primary school student, wringing her hands with a pitiful and innocent expression.

Xia Jiujiang shook her head. What was she thinking? Clearly, she should be the angry one here, especially since she had even shed her heart's blood. She ought to be borrowing the tiger's majesty to intimidate him right now.

Abruptly clutching her chest and putting on a show of a relapse, Xia Jiujiang said, "My chest... hurts."

Jun Buwen raised an eyebrow. "My chest pain has only just ended, and now it's your turn? Since when is chest pain contagious?"

"My chest really hurts," Xia Jiujiang gritted her teeth.

As if ignoring her entirely, Jun Buwen replied, "When I was holding you on the horse earlier, I checked your pulse. Your pulse is steady; the wound from your heart's blood is not serious."

Good grief! Why wasn't Jun Buwen reacting the way he was supposed to when Xia Jiujiang claimed her chest hurt?

Pulse-taking? Jun Buwen had completely anticipated and disarmed all her backup plans.

Looking at Xia Jiujiang with a suddenly solemn and earnest expression, Jun Buwen said, "What I said when we left the alley remains unchanged. It is precisely because of those words that I care about your past. If I didn't care about you, why would I care about your past?"

When they left the alley... Xia Jiujiang recalled Jun Buwen's declaration, 'This prince likes the Princess Consort of Jin.' They say you have to hit a snake where it hurts, and Jun Buwen truly knew how to target Xia Jiujiang's vulnerability.

Xia Jiujiang was well aware that when she had first met Jun Buwen, she had been shrouded in deep suspicion, making his doubts entirely reasonable. She had never intended to reveal her true identity to anyone because it simply wasn't worth the risk.

Yet, after going through the near-fatal crisis of his blazing poison, the divorce, being driven out of the Prince Jin Manor, and then being brought back, perhaps Xia Jiujiang could finally find someone to share these secrets with.

At last, Xia Jiujiang revealed her true origins and the matter of the Five Poisons Mother Gu. Why her personality had completely changed after entering the Prince Jin Manor, and why her mastery over Gu worms was so peerless—it was because she did not belong to this era at all. Naturally, her temperament was different, and possessing the Mother Gu made controlling and planting Gu worms effortless for her.

Watching Jun Buwen fall silent, Xia Jiujiang knew how absurd her words sounded, but alas, she was only speaking the truth. If Jun Buwen chose not to believe her, there was nothing she could do.

Instead, Jun Buwen simply said, "I believe you."

Taken aback, Xia Jiujiang felt a faint warmth bloom in her heart.

Then Jun Buwen added, "After all, no one else could possibly make up something so ridiculous."

Well, her touching tears vanished instantly.

Putting her hands on her hips, Xia Jiujiang demanded, "You think I'm just talking nonsense?"

Calmly, Jun Buwen replied, "No. If you were merely spouting nonsense, there would be no reason to invent such a bizarre tale. On the contrary, the more outlandish these words sound, the more likely they are to be the truth."

Though his mind was somewhat in turmoil, Jun Buwen quickly found that Xia Jiujiang's words provided explanations for all his lingering doubts. Every unnatural and odd occurrence suddenly fell into place. Borrowing a corpse to return to life sounded like a fairy tale told by a street storyteller, yet it was unfolding right before his eyes.

Xia Jiujiang asked, "Aren't you afraid that I am actually the Holy Maiden of the Southern Kingdom, deliberately weaving this lie to deceive you?"

With absolute certainty, Jun Buwen answered, "You cannot be the Southern Kingdom's Holy Maiden. There is only one Mother Gu in the Southern Kingdom, and it is continuously passed down through women. If you are the Holy Maiden, then who is the one currently in the Southern Kingdom? Besides, no matter how I look at it, you don't look like Ming Ningzi's master."

Hearing this, a light dawned in Xia Jiujiang's eyes. As expected, her transmigration here was not a coincidence; the Five Poisons Mother Gu was the bridge linking the two eras. Perhaps here, she truly had the destiny to unravel the mysteries of Gu arts.

Curious, Xia Jiujiang asked, "From the sound of it... you are very familiar with the Southern Kingdom's Holy Maiden?"

Since Xia Jiujiang had shared her background, Jun Buwen decided to be entirely open as well. "The previous Holy Maiden of the Southern Kingdom was my mother, Nangong Wu. The lineage of the Holy Maidens has a strict ancestral rule. My mother refused to marry the High Priest and be treated as a human vessel to endlessly breed Gu worms, so she fled the Southern Kingdom under their pursuit and was rescued by the late Prince Jin."

Nangong Bingxue and Nangong Wu lived up to their names: Nangong Bingxue was as cold as frost with a sharp mind, while Nangong Wu was innocent, lively, and full of smiles.

Hearing this, Xia Jiujiang finally understood why Jun Buwen's mother had never gained the recognition of the royal family of the State of Li, nor had she ever entered the royal genealogy, failing to even secure the title of the late Princess Consort of Jin.

It was because Nangong Wu was the Holy Maiden of the Southern Kingdom, destined to never have a proper title. Yet her greatest fortune was meeting the late Prince Jin, a man willing to give up everything just to be with her.

Jun Buwen continued, "The Medical and Gu Poison Classic you saw is the secret manual my mother brought out from the Southern Kingdom. That is why the Third Prince of the Southern Kingdom, Ming Ze, fought you with poisons that day—he wanted to retrieve the sacred book left behind by the Southern Kingdom. As for the newly appointed Holy Maiden, she is my mother's younger sister, Nangong Bingxue."

Frowning, Xia Jiujiang said, "You mentioned that the Mother Gu always stays within the Holy Maiden. Since your mother was the former Holy Maiden and she fled to the State of Li, how did Nangong Bingxue manage to obtain the Mother Gu?"

Clenching his fists, rage flashing in his eyes, Jun Buwen replied, "Nangong Bingxue was obsessed with murdering my mother because she resented why the Mother Gu chose Nangong Wu instead of her. She is an ambitious woman, bent on ruling the lineage of Holy Maidens and ascending to the absolute pinnacle of power."

Hearing this, Xia Jiujiang could roughly piece together the cause and effect. It was probably just a pair of sisters—one who desperately wanted to become the Holy Maiden and one who only desired carefree freedom. Yet ironically, the one who wanted to be the Holy Maiden could not attain it, while the one who wanted freedom was imprisoned.

Jun Buwen went on, "By the time Nangong Bingxue tracked down my mother, she was already heavily pregnant. Nangong Bingxue intended to wait until Nangong Wu gave birth to a baby girl, take the child away to become the new Holy Maiden, and reduce her to a puppet in her hands."

From this, it was evident that Nangong Bingxue was truly a treacherous, cunning, and deep-scheming individual. Moreover, since she also possessed the Mother Gu just like Xia Jiujiang, she would likely prove to be a formidable adversary.