Honestly, Craig's straightforward demeanor left Deanna somewhat surprised, and she immediately frowned. His calmness made her feel uneasy.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what other tricks he might have up his sleeve. She could only suppress her unease and prepare for the next challenge.
The second match was a medicinal debate. The judge provided a thousand types of herbs and gave the contestants an hour to examine them.
Then, all the herbs were taken away, and the contestants had half an hour to write down one hundred types of herbs and their effects. The one who finished first with the highest accuracy would win.
As soon as the judge finished explaining the rules, the servants of the Martinez family brought out the herbs. A thousand types of herbs laid out in the courtyard presented a grand sight.
Everyone held their breath, watching Deanna and Craig examine the herbs. Judging by their speeds, everyone felt that there was no suspense in this match. Unless something unexpected happened, Deanna was sure to win.
After all, Craig's body hadn't fully recovered; he looked weak and struggled even to handle the herbs. Writing down a hundred types of herbs and their properties would be an enormous task for him.
As expected, when time was up, Deanna had written down one hundred types of herbs with only two mistakes, while Craig had managed less than fifty.
"Now I announce the end of the match. Miss Deanna wins. With two out of three victories, there's no need for further competition," declared the judge.
Almost immediately after the judge's announcement, Craig spat out a mouthful of blood. Brice's face changed drastically as he shouted in panic, "Craig, what's wrong?"
"Father, she... poisoned me!" Craig pointed at Deanna with his last bit of consciousness, speaking with difficulty.
Deanna raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of inevitability. She had suspected that something was off about this seemingly unwinnable match that the father and son insisted on continuing.
Just as she was about to say something, Brice interrupted her.
Brice shouted angrily towards Gunner's direction, "Gunner, I told you this apprentice of yours had bad intentions and couldn't be trusted. Now Craig has been poisoned by her again. If anything happens to him, you will have a bad name of killing your family!"
"Craig, why did you have to be so honest? Even though you were injured, you insisted on competing. My poor son," Brice lamented. "No, I must call the police. I will sue this vile woman for harming my son!"
As these words were spoken, people around began to look at Craig and his father with strange expressions. No one present was a fool; such an obvious frame-up was quite childish.
Gunner's face also turned extremely unpleasant.
Like Deanna, he had initially thought that this father and son duo were just stubbornly insisting on continuing the match to understand their defeat better. Now it seemed he had underestimated their intelligence.
Seeing Brice still wailing without calling a doctor for Craig, Gunner couldn't bear it any longer and shouted, "Shut up! Your son isn't dead yet. If you want him to die, keep wailing like that!"
Surprisingly, these words were quite intimidating. Brice stopped shouting but continued to glare at Deanna with malice. "Gunner, you must give our family an explanation for today's incident."
Deanna looked at the middle-aged man who still wanted to frame her and laughed in anger. She couldn't hold back anymore and retorted sarcastically, "How ridiculous! Why should my master give you an explanation just because you shout loudly?"
"You vile woman! You still won't admit it? Look at what you've done to my son! He was fine just now. If it weren't for you poisoning him after contact, how could he end up like this?" Brice repeated his accusation, trying to pin the blame on Deanna.
Deanna looked at his stubbornness with a cold face and walked over with large strides, looking down at the clownish father and son before her. Perhaps intimidated by her aura, Brice couldn't help but move back while holding his son, asking warily, "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything; I just want to see how your brain works," Deanna mocked with a smirk. "I've told you that you're brainless. You accuse me of poisoning Craig and claim he's on the brink of death. Yet as a father, you're not in a hurry to get him treated but are busy framing me instead. Do you think we're as stupid as you? If I wanted to poison your son, I wouldn't do it so publicly or let you find out. My medical skills are inherited from my master; if I wanted someone dead quietly, I could do it."
With these words, she paused and looked mockingly at the man pretending to be dead in Brice's arms.