After I transmigrated, the cold king clung to me every day.

Chapter 268 The Art of Witchcraft and Gu

Night had fallen, and everyone had gone to bed. The Ninth Prince's Mansion was completely silent.

Murong Yi spent a long time reading in his study. When he came to his senses, it was already late at night and all was quiet. He raised his hand to rub his temples, preparing to go back to his room to rest.

As was his habit, he walked towards the east room—Lin Qianqian's room—without thinking.

As he approached the west wing, near Su Wan'er's residence, a muffled groan of pain suddenly reached his ears.

Murong Yi stopped abruptly, her brows furrowing instantly, her face filled with doubt and worry.

"Why does it sound so painful... Could something have happened to Wan'er?" he muttered to himself, filled with doubt.

He didn't have time to think. Murong Yi was extremely anxious and quickened his pace, rushing towards the room.

Meanwhile—

Inside the room, Su Wan'er leaned against the bed, her brows furrowed, her eyes closed, and she occasionally let out a painful groan. Her carefully applied, haggard makeup made her face look ashen and bloodless.

However, if you look closely, you can see a hint of smugness and calculation flashing in her lowered eyes, and the corners of her mouth are also slightly upturned without her noticing, but it is fleeting.

Huan'er quietly watched over the sleeping Jin Cheng, her gaze shifting back and forth between Su Wan'er and Jin Cheng, her eyes filled with worry.

She instinctively reached out and gently covered Xiao Jincheng's ears, her movements soft and careful, afraid of making the slightest noise that might wake the child.

Just then, with a loud "bang," the door was pushed open forcefully. Su Wan'er instantly unleashed her "acting spree," her body seemingly pulled violently by an invisible force, falling straight to the ground. Her hands tightly clutched her abdomen, her face contorted in pain, veins bulging on her forehead, and she let out a piercing cry: "Help! It hurts so much, it hurts so much..." The sound seemed to be squeezed from the depths of her soul, heart-wrenching to hear.

Murong Yi, her face filled with panic, rushed forward and knelt beside Su Wan'er, tightly grasping her hands. Her voice was full of anxiety and concern: "Wan'er, what's wrong?"

Upon seeing this, Su Wan'er immediately grabbed Murong Yi's hand tightly, her whole body leaning weakly against his chest, her face filled with pain and despair, and she cried out at the top of her lungs, "Your Highness, I...I'm going to die! It hurts so much!"

Murong Yi hurriedly embraced her, his brows furrowed into a deep frown, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His eyes were filled with heartache and anxiety: "Wan'er, where do you feel unwell? Tell me, what's wrong?"

Su Wan'er's face was deathly pale, devoid of any color, and her lips trembled slightly with pain as she weakly said, "Your Highness... my body and mind are in so much pain!"

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Murong Yi's eyes widened instantly, filled with disbelief and deep worry. He instinctively hugged Su Wan'er even tighter.

Su Wan'er's brows furrowed even more tightly, and the pain on her face seemed to deepen. She trembled like a leaf: "My body and mind are in so much pain... It feels like I'm being pricked by needles, it hurts so much~" As she spoke, she took advantage of the moment when she turned her head to the side and Murong Yi's view was blocked, and quickly gave Huan'er a wink.

Huan'er's heart skipped a beat, and a hint of hesitation and reluctance flashed across her face. But she dared not disobey, so she could only slowly kneel down, her voice choked with sobs, and murmur, "Your Highness, when I was helping the Empress undress, she suddenly said that she felt flustered and restless, and that her chest felt like it was being pricked by needles. Then she began to have unbearable abdominal pain!"

Murong Yi was extremely anxious. She firmly supported Su Wan'er's shoulders with both hands, her eyes fixed on her, and asked in rapid succession, "Wan'er, did you fall or eat anything? How could this happen?"

Su Wan'er seemed not to hear him at all, only shaking her head and swaying it wildly, her long black hair flying wildly. Her eyes were tightly closed, her brows were furrowed, her teeth were clenched, and she squeezed out a painful groan from between her teeth.

She looked as if her heart was being devoured by thousands of ants, every inch of her skin enduring unbearable pain, and large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, soaking her temples.

Upon seeing this, Huan'er quickly stepped forward and replied with a mixture of anxiety and certainty, "No! Her Majesty is perfectly fine. She didn't fall or eat anything, and she ate with the Prince!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Yi's expression grew even more puzzled. She unconsciously released her grip on Su Wan'er's hand, rubbed her chin, and muttered to herself, "This is strange... how could this be..."

Just as Murong Yi was filled with confusion and had no clue what to do, a wicked smile flashed across Su Wan'er's lowered eyes.

Then, she let out a piercing wail, her body shaking violently as if out of control. With a swift movement, she swept everything off the table with a crash. Finally, as if she had exhausted all her strength, she collapsed to the ground.

As she collapsed, Su Wan'er quietly reached into the corner, pulled out a small trinket she had hidden beforehand, and threw it at Murong Yi's feet. Then she lay weakly on the ground, panting heavily.

In the dim light, Murong Yi's gaze was firmly drawn to something on the ground. It was a small figure made of rough hemp cloth: about the size of a palm, its body riddled with steel needles of varying lengths, each one piercing straight in, as if carrying deep malice. The three characters "Su Wan'er" were crookedly written on the figure, next to which were carefully marked her birth date and time: "Year of Xin Si, Month of Ren Chen, Day of Yi Mao".

Murong Yi's pupils suddenly contracted, and he stood frozen in place, as if he had been frozen in place. After a while, he seemed to wake up from a dream, slowly bending down, his movements slow and stiff, as if every step closer required him to exhaust all his strength.

His hands trembled violently and uncontrollably, as if being buffeted by the cold winter wind, and he couldn't stop them.

But soon, he gritted his teeth, reached out again, and picked it up shakily. His brows were furrowed into a deep frown, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief, and his lips trembled slightly.

Su Wan'er hid behind Murong Yi, secretly glancing at him. Seeing Murong Yi's shocked and angry face, a fleeting, almost imperceptible, wicked smile flashed in her eyes.

Then, she quickly changed to an extremely innocent look, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes full of confusion and bewilderment, and she slowly moved to Murong Yi's side step by step, as if she were weak and boneless.

She extended a slender finger, pointing at the voodoo doll on the ground, her voice trembling with just the right amount of doubt as she feigned concern, asking, "What...what is this?"

Murong Yi gripped the witchcraft figurine tightly, her brows furrowed in a knot. After a moment of contemplation, her voice was so cold it seemed to freeze: "This is... witchcraft!"

"Witchcraft?!" Su Wan'er's eyes widened instantly, filled with feigned terror, her pupils contracting sharply as if she had heard the most terrifying thing in the world.

Her lips were slightly parted, unable to close for a long time, and her expression seemed frozen, full of disbelief.

She glanced at the little figure and the words on it with feigned curiosity and fear, covered her mouth with both hands, and exclaimed in a high-pitched, tearful voice, "This is... my name... and my birth date... how could this be..." As she spoke, her eyes quickly filled with tears, and she looked like an innocent, pitiful, and vulnerable person who was being bullied.

Suddenly, as if struck by immense pain, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground, frantically pounding the earth with her fists and howling to the heavens, "Oh God, who is it that did this to me?!" Her cries were shrill and desperate, as if she had been betrayed by the entire world.

Seeing this, Huan'er quickly ran over, carefully supported Su Wan'er, and gently patted her back, trying to comfort her.

Murong Yi felt a pang of pain in her heart as she looked at Su Wan'er's heartbroken expression, and her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

His eyes were filled with heartache and pity, his brows unconsciously relaxed, replaced by a face full of concern, and he involuntarily took a step forward, as if wanting to protect Su Wan'er tightly behind him and shield her from all harm.