Confessing one's wrong...or not

Very early on the next day Zhao Xing brewed her medicine. She hadn't been able to consistently take the remedy these days because of the travel, and could only wait till they had time to rest. The effect of not taking the medication consistently wasn't that bad, so she could still cope with it. It seemed Old Man Su didn't have the heart to give her a very dangerous poison, at least, that was how she felt. Zhang Zhengyang who had been observing her, in the end couldn't hold back his curiosity.

They had just departed the city, that morning. They had already gone half way of their journey. They would be climbing a hill which would lead them into a vast forest, there their road continues. Zhang Zhengyang called her to come close to him while they sat in the carriage.

"Come sit here." He tapped on the empty place beside him.

Zhao Xing wondered why he suddenly asked her to sit next to him, she turned to her left where Xiao Chen was seated wondering what was wrong with the place she was seated, then back to him.

"I won't be close to the window, I won't be able to feel the breeze." It was true, they both sat close to the window, if she sat next to him, she won't be close to the window anymore. She only answered truthfully.

Zhang Zhengyang continued to stare at her, making her rethink her decision, she coughed and stood up, then sat next to him.

Zhang Zhengyang then turned to her and inspected her face closely, making her nervous,

"What are you doing?" She asked trying to smile naturally.

He went on to place his hand on her forehead, making Zhao Xing heart skip a beat. She knew it would be hard to keep things from him, so she had long prepared her arguments in case the prince found out she had been poisoned.

Xiao Chen on the other hand saw how close his master and the grand tutor where to each other and suddenly felt uncomfortable, he thought it would be best to leave the carriage for both of them. But they were already on the move, he didn't dare ask people to stop without the Crown Prince's permission. He could only try his best to reduce his presence.

Zhang Zhengyang seemed to not have found whatever he was looking for, his eyes narrowed as he stared at her, he held her little plumb face with his hand, and smiled dangerously, "You better not be hiding anything from me."

Zhao Xing swallowed. What did he mean, did he find out or not? Was he warning her? Was he giving her a chance to redeem herself?

She thought hard and deep of how to answer. If he know and she didn't say, what would he do to her that would affect her the most? What if he took her into another carriage, away from him, then she wouldn't know if anything where to happen to him during the journey.

But if he didn't know, then everything would be fine…right?

"What are you talking about?" She slapped his hand away from her cheeks, making Xiao Chen's eyes widen in shock.

'Grand Tutor is indeed getting bolder and bolder!'

"What could I be hiding from you?" She rolled her eyes. Of course she had to act convincingly, she believed if she could make herself believe he hadn't found out yet, then she could even deceive the prince and make him even doubting himself.

Zhang Zhengyang didn't say anything, and turned away from her. She took the chance to quickly go back to her seat. She secretly observed the prince expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, so she didn't know whether to feel relieved or not.

"Why didn't you tell me you were poisoned?" The prince tone was calm. He stared straight at her. And because she sat opposite him, it made her feel even more on edge.

Zhao Xing: "…"

'It's over'

Xiao Chen: "!!?" he turned to look at her.

'The Grand Tutor was poisoned?'

She suddenly felt regret should have gone with the other plan and confessed. It turned out she wasn't the great actress she thought herself to be.

"Don't you think anyone that knows you and sees you drinking bitter medicine every day would go as far as even suspecting your identity?" When he had asked before, and she had told him she was doing a research he hadn't believed her. He only thought that it was because of her past sickness, and she didn't want to worry him, so he didn't probe further. But he couldn't help but have other thoughts. He knew she would never admit it if he asked, and so he tested her. And as it turned out, he was right, she had indeed been poisoned by the poison master.

"…"

'Well…' She couldn't refute what he had said.

"It was the poison master wasn't it?"

"How can that be…?"

But she didn't continue because of the glare from the Crown Prince.

She coughed and didn't dare continue. She held her face with her hand, in embarrassment. Zhao Xing knew he had found out about everything, she thought about Xiao Qi, and the others, and quickly said. "I was the one that asked Xiao Qi and Brother Mo not to tell you, don't blame them…"

Zhang Zhengyang chuckled, "I haven't punished you yet, and you're already speaking for others."

"You…won't punish me, right? I'm still poisoned and my body isn't that strong…"

Punishment? She didn't know how the Crown Prince punishes people, but of course she didn't want to experience it no matter what.

Zhang Zhengyang didn't seem to be in a very good mood at that moment. "He poisoned you and didn't give you the antidote?"

Zhao Xing didn't feel so good being under such scrutinizing gaze, "We made a deal…he'd give me the antidote once I bring back his granddaughter back to him unharmed…"

"Zhao Xing, you're very good"

"Heh…" She laughed awkwardly. "This…was the only thing I could do so he agrees with me." Actually it wasn't true, because the poison master had poisoned her without her knowing, but to evade herself from punishment, Zhao Xing had twisted the story.

Seeing that his gaze shook, Zhao Xing thought her plan was working, and went on with more confidence. "That time he felt cornered, and he wanted to keep me hostage, but Xiao Qi and Brother Mo had refused, so he gave them another option, that he would poison me first then let me go, but they still refused, who would have known that he would still poison me in the end, but Xiao Qi and Brother Mo had already captured the poison master's daughter. He had no choice but to allow me to take medication until his granddaughter was released."

The Crown Prince listened until here then scoffed, "But someone told me it was your idea to kidnap the Poison Master's daughter."

Zhao Xing immediately responded, "Aiya, isn't it because they were too modest and wanted me to take the credit since you had originally given this task to me."

Zhang Zhengyang stared at her for a while, then nodded with a smile.

He didn't ask further.

"Take your medication frequently." Was his last order.

Zhao Xing quickly nodded. She rubbed her hands that were wet from cold sweat, because of the pressure the Crown Prince gave off.

Like that she made up as story that exempted Xiao Qi, Brother Mo and herself from punishment. She only hoped that the Crown Prince would be understanding and not blame the Poison Master.