Chapter 71#
The wound is poisoned! This sudden turn of events made everyone in the tent change color.#
Seeing this, the imperial physician hurriedly lifted Ying Fusheng’s arm and noted, “Your Highness’s arrow wound has a purple bruise! It might be a poisoned arrow—bring a knife quickly!”
Upon hearing it was poison, the Emperor strode over and ordered without hesitation, “Summon the antidote pills from the palace!”
Qi Hanzhou immediately tore open the fabric over his own arm, revealing the scratch from the arrow. Unlike Ying Fusheng, there was no dark purple mark on his arm—it looked like a normal graze. A thought flashed through his mind: Ying Fusheng’s words on the mountain—
“They retreated faster than I expected.”
“Not a single one of those who searched the mountain and found the Sixth Prince is to be let go!” Qi Hanzhou turned and said coldly.
Ye Xuanjiu understood at once: “This subordinate will handle it immediately!”
Because the enemy had seen Ying Fusheng’s arrow wound and confirmed he had been poisoned.
Among those who had searched the mountain and found them, there were informants working for the mastermind!
Shen Yunfei hurriedly ran out after him. Song’an had instructed him to keep an eye on who entered the mountain. Qi Hanzhou was about to look for Ying Fusheng’s personal attendant when he saw the man, pale-faced, following Shen Yunfei out. They needed to find Chen Xuchun. This poison was beyond Ying Fusheng’s expectations, and since it involved a poison from the previous dynasty, the best physician in the capital was Chen Xuchun.
“Lord Qi, you have wounds too!” the imperial physician beside him noted, noticing the arrow wound on Qi Hanzhou’s body.
Qi Hanzhou’s expression was grim. “I haven’t been poisoned.”
How could the arrows possibly be poisoned? In the mountain forest, stray arrows could easily have wounded the Eighth Prince. Given the mastermind’s objective, keeping the Eighth Prince alive was more useful. Under such circumstances, poisoning the arrows was impossible. If they did, even a slight miscalculation could harm the Eighth Prince. Since they couldn’t be sure when the princes would descend the mountain, the risk of coating the arrows with poison was too great.
And even if the arrows were poisoned, how could the mastermind be certain that the one struck would be Ying Fusheng and not someone else?
Ying Fusheng was now completely unconscious. He lay limply in Qi Hanzhou’s arms. Despite the imperial physician calling out to him repeatedly, there was no response—he had lost all awareness. The Empress Dowager’s heart, which had only just settled, rose again with anxiety. She hurried over to Ying Fusheng, and seeing that the person who had been speaking only moments ago was now in a coma, she felt a sharp pang in her chest. “Summon Physician Chu!”
The Sixth Prince had always had a weak constitution. After spending so long in the deep mountains, with bruises and an arrow wound, the imperial physicians had been on edge just watching his condition. Now, a poisoned wound had appeared on top of everything. Cold sweat dripped from the physician’s forehead. The Sixth Prince’s body could hardly withstand the ravages of a toxin. “We must clean the wound immediately—hot water and a knife!”
Ying Fusheng was thinner and frailer than others his age. As the physician cleaned the wound, he barely managed to steady his hands. But even after the cleaning, the purple bruise ran deep into the flesh, meaning the poison had fully seeped in. The priority now was to expel the toxin.
Inside the tent, the officials wore inscrutable expressions. The Sixth Prince’s poisoning had clearly taken everyone by surprise. The safety of both princes was now of utmost importance. The Eighth Prince only had a minor scratch, but if the Sixth Prince died from the poison, the Emperor would surely hold everyone accountable. At that point, the question wouldn’t be whether the evidence was sufficient, but rather that everyone involved would fall under the Emperor’s suspicion.
“Go into the mountains and find the arrowheads,” ordered the Third Prince.
The First Prince added, “What are you all standing around for? Go help search!”
A space cleared in the tent. Ying Fusheng’s face was completely bloodless, and his breathing was erratic—sometimes slow, sometimes rapid. The physicians knew this was a bad sign. If the poison couldn’t be stopped before it reached the heart, even the gods would struggle to save him.
Suddenly, Ying Fusheng’s face twisted in pain. He took a sharp, deep breath as his internal organs churned, his body convulsing uncontrollably, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
At the sight of the black blood, the Empress Dowager nearly stumbled.
Qi Hanzhou’s expression shifted slightly. As he drew closer, he heard the physician mutter, “Please don’t let the poisoned blood reach the heart!”
Empress Xu, standing nearby, inexplicably looked down and saw the thick black blood on the ground.
She couldn’t help but glance at Ying Fusheng, writhing in pain on the tent’s couch. Somehow, seeing him like this stirred a surge of panic within her.
Seeing the Emperor’s expression, the physicians grew even more flustered.
“Physician Chu has arrived!”
Ying Fusheng’s arrow wound had persisted for nearly three hours. It was impossible to tell how deep the poison had penetrated. Physician Chu had traveled through the night and immediately began detoxifying Ying Fusheng upon arrival. His hands were steady. Even without knowing exactly what poison the Sixth Prince had been struck with, he managed to stabilize Ying Fusheng’s breathing first.
“He’s stable!”
Physician Chu was drenched in sweat. “This doesn’t seem like a wound-induced attack on the heart. It’s more like the poison is spreading and devouring his internal organs.”
“What do you mean?” the Emperor asked.
Physician Chu replied, “He may have been poisoned long ago. The arrow wound only triggered it.”
“Crimson Thorn?” the Emperor asked again.
“Probably not. This poison is very strange.” Physician Chu hesitated, then explained briefly.
Normally, when a poison flares up acutely, it attacks the heart and kills quickly—there’s no chance to wrestle back from the brink of death. The poison Ying Fusheng had taken wasn’t an acute poison. Instead, it seemed to have been triggered by something, causing a sudden eruption of toxicity within his body.
Triggered poison… Qi Hanzhou suddenly thought of something.
Just then, a Xu family official at the edge of the tent, upon hearing that the Sixth Prince might still be saved, subtly shifted his expression. His hand instinctively moved to his lower back. At the same moment, Qi Hanzhou, who had been monitoring the tent’s movements, noticed this. He lunged forward and seized the man’s wrist. The official, caught off guard by Qi Hanzhou’s sudden attack, lost his grip on what he was holding, and it clattered to the ground beside Empress Xu.
It was a medicine bottle.
Empress Xu paused, then bent down to pick it up.
The Xu family official’s expression changed. He hurled a dagger without warning. No one had anticipated this move. Qi Hanzhou twisted the man’s arm and pinned him to the ground. When he turned back, the Third Prince had already stepped in, deflecting the blade with his scabbard and protecting Empress Xu. But in the process, the medicine bottle shattered, its sinister contents spilling onto the floor.
“Arrest him!” the Emperor exclaimed in shock.
Empress Xu stared at the spreading liquid. Physician Chu stepped forward, his expression shifting. “This is… bring the poisoned blood that was drained from His Highness for comparison.”
No one had expected such a scene to unfold inside the tent. As the Xu family official who had attempted the assassination was subdued, another Xu official collapsed to his knees in terror. The Imperial Guard entered and expelled everyone except the physicians. Qi Hanzhou, not giving the Xu official any chance to kill himself, dislocated his jaw and shoulder blades.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped forward and fully subdued the man.
“Injustice! Your Majesty, it’s an injustice!” the other official begged, prostrating himself.
The Emperor turned to the Imperial Guard. “What was the report earlier?”
Before the Sixth Prince’s incident, the Imperial Guard had reported an anomaly regarding a guard in the Eighth Prince’s retinue. “We have determined that the missing guard from the Eighth Prince’s side was originally from the Eastern Palace—once the personal guard of the deposed Crown Prince.”
The deposed Crown Prince was already under house arrest in a separate palace. Logically, his guards could not have been reassigned to the Eighth Prince’s side.
Qi Hanzhou’s expression flickered as he caught the change in the Emperor’s demeanor. He instantly recognized the problem. The previous dynasty’s spy was connected to the Xu family. Now, learning that the dead guard was that spy—and that he came from the deposed Crown Prince’s retinue—made the situation severe. In the eyes of this unpredictable Emperor, the affair would inevitably be tied to the deposed Crown Prince!
The Emperor looked at Empress Xu. “Did you know about this?”
Empress Xu seemed dazed as she came to her senses. She knelt directly. “Your Majesty, this matter…”
Just then, a commotion came from inside the tent. Physician Chu hurried out. “Your Majesty, it’s bad! The item the assassin dropped had a stimulating effect—the Sixth Prince’s condition has taken a turn for the worse!”
Empress Xu froze.
“Summon all the guards from the deposed Crown Prince’s side for a full investigation!” The Emperor no longer wished to hear Empress Xu’s words. He turned and strode into the tent.
Seeing Ying Fusheng’s state, the Emperor frowned deeply. To clean the wound, part of the prince’s sleeve had been removed. In his agony, his chest rose and fell faintly with each breath. It was as if he were hanging by a thread—if that thread snapped, he might be gone. The Emperor had only begun to truly notice this child in recent years. First poisoned by his birth mother, then plagued by chronic illness.
And now they were telling him that if this thread broke, the boy might die?
“Report—!”
“Your Majesty, a woman is outside seeking an audience. She claims she can save the Sixth Prince! She says Lord Shen summoned her!”
Qi Hanzhou’s expression shifted. It was Chen Xuchun!
Shen Yunfei had galloped back to the capital, found Chen Xuchun, and brought her here. The Emperor frowned at the newcomer. Given the recent assassination attempt, he didn’t trust Chen Xuchun. He summoned Shen Changcun, who explained, “This woman was originally a wandering physician. Later, she was recommended to the Sixth Prince by the wealthy merchant Liu Dafu to tend to his health. Due to her exceptional medical skills, the Sixth Prince retained her to manage his regimen.”
The Empress Dowager recognized Chen Xuchun—she had previously come with Ying Fusheng to treat her ailments. “She can be trusted.”
When Chen Xuchun arrived from the palace, this was the scene she encountered. Without regard for formalities, she pushed aside the attending physician. “Move aside! You can’t use tonics in his condition!”
The palace physicians had never seen such an audacious practitioner. Just as they were about to question her, Chen Xuchun began deftly inserting needles to expel the poison. Physician Chu, recognizing her technique as lifesaving, quickly said, “Make room for this young lady!”
“Silver needles heated over a flame, and prepare three large tubs of hot water.” Chen Xuchun turned to Qi Hanzhou, altering the address on her lips: “You, come and help support him.”
The Emperor nodded to Qi Hanzhou. “Go.”
Only then did Qi Hanzhou take the man from her arms. The person leaning against his own was breathing weakly, nothing like the one who had leaned against his back earlier. Dark strands of hair draped over his arm; his eyes were tightly shut, showing a fragility far removed from his usual wakeful state.
Not long ago, this man had been strategizing with him. Now, his life was hanging by a thread.
Qi Hanzhou’s heart stirred, but he dared not exert any force as he supported him.
Chen Xuchun had already inserted the first needle.
Needle in, needle out—black blood gathered into droplets.
Those present watched Chen Xuchun’s treatment. Her needling technique was unusual, and with Physician Chu vouching for her, she held nothing back.
Time passed slowly. Several blood spots appeared on Ying Fusheng’s body. As the black blood emerged, his paper-pale face seemed to regain a faint spark of life. The breath that had been stuck in his throat eased, and a trickle of blood flowed from his nostrils.
Qi Hanzhou’s pupils contracted. Without hesitation, Chen Xuchun jabbed a needle into Ying Fusheng’s brow.
Physician Chu watched in surprise. With that single needle, the erratic breath the Sixth Prince had been struggling to sustain seemed to stabilize.
Chen Xuchun finally let out a long sigh of relief. She had managed to keep him alive for now.
“The Sixth Prince has a congenital poison within him. The arrow wound was coated with a triggering agent that activated that latent poison, causing the backlash,” Chen Xuchun said, examining the drained black blood. “Given the Sixth Prince’s constitution, if this congenital poison flares up, it can overwhelm his already weak internal organs. If not handled in time, it could be fatal.”
The pieces that had baffled Qi Hanzhou suddenly clicked into place.
How could the mastermind be certain of killing Ying Fusheng? By using a trigger poison—one harmless to normal people but deadly to him. Apart from Crimson Thorn, the only other poison in Ying Fusheng’s body was the congenital poison Chen Xuchun had spoken of. Over the past period, she had been working to detoxify him, and the congenital poison had been part of that treatment. That was why Ying Fusheng’s organs had improved.
The only variable here was Chen Xuchun.
Without her detoxification, the mastermind’s arrow would have caused death by poison attack. To everyone else, it would have appeared as though the assassin had poisoned the arrow, and the Sixth Prince had died from the wound.
That was why the man had just tried to kill Ying Fusheng at all costs. If the poison attack failed, the congenital poison would be discovered. They were afraid of someone finding out about it!
Ying Fusheng himself likely hadn’t even realized that someone would use the congenital poison he’d carried for years to set up a death trap from the very start, intending for him to die without anyone knowing the true cause.
The man on the couch still had needles inserted, and his breathing had gradually stabilized, but his complexion remained poor.
Everyone’s attention had been drawn to the congenital poison mentioned by Chen Xuchun. What the physician said matched Physician Chu’s earlier assessment. But where had the Sixth Prince’s congenital poison come from? Was Concubine Ning poisoned?! How could that be? The imperial physicians examined her every half-month and had never detected any poison.
“I discovered this while treating the Sixth Prince. This poison is not Crimson Thorn—it appears to be a residual toxin passed down from the womb,” Chen Xuchun said with some hesitation. Noticing Qi Hanzhou’s gaze, she continued, “When I treated His Highness before, I helped expel some of the poison. Otherwise, when the trigger agent activated, I might not have made it in time. This trigger agent is very specific. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is…”
Chen Xuchun hadn’t expected anyone to be able to use a substance to trigger a congenital poison. Such a method was truly sinister. Given Ying Fusheng’s condition, until all the poison in his body was completely removed, these would remain hidden dangers. She was now very grateful that she had insisted on detoxifying the Sixth Prince; otherwise, today might have been irredeemable.
Thinking about this, Physician Chu quickly retrieved the bottle that had been gathered up. It had been knocked over suddenly, but fortunately some residue remained on the shards. “Young lady, can you make use of this?”
Chen Xuchun was startled, then quickly took it with both hands. She extracted a small droplet and tested it against the black blood that had been drained from Ying Fusheng. The color of the black blood changed dramatically upon contact.
“Yes, this is it,” Chen Xuchun confirmed.
Outside the tent, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had temporarily interrogated another Xu family member. The man insisted he knew nothing, nor why the official traveling with him had carried that medicine bottle. He professed complete ignorance, only maintaining that their plan was merely to make the Eighth Prince shine at the hunt—nothing more.
Ye Xuanjiu reported everything.
The Emperor’s eyes sharpened. This item had come from a Xu family member.
Only a few of the Emperor’s trusted officials remained inside the tent. Chen Xuchun and the physicians were gathered around, but her earlier remarks had already stirred doubt in others’ minds.
The Sixth Prince’s frailty back then hadn’t been caused by premature birth after all, but by a congenital poison. Yet that didn’t add up. After all, the Sixth Prince was merely a weak prince who had never involved himself in court affairs. Why would assassins specifically prepare a trigger for a congenital poison and use such a vicious scheme against the Sixth Prince…
Where did the congenital poison come from? Who wanted the Sixth Prince dead?
“Interrogate him,” the Emperor said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. Yet it sent a deathly silence through the tent. “If you can’t get answers from him, interrogate the Xu family.”
Ye Xuanjiu’s heart trembled. “Yes.”
Empress Xu tried to step forward, but the cold gleam in the Emperor’s eyes stopped her. He said, “The Eastern Palace, the Xu family—they have deep ties with this assassin.”
The silence in the tent stretched on. No one dared speak.
Only the Emperor stared at the spilled medicine on the ground, his eyes dark and unreadable.
Qi Hanzhou lowered his gaze. The Emperor had noticed the issue.
The previous dynasty’s spy, the Xu family, the Eastern Palace, and the Sixth Prince.
Once these pieces were connected, the mastermind’s intent to kill the Sixth Prince became a deadly gambit.
“Qi Hanzhou, you said that when the Embroidered Uniform Guard discovered them, the two were being pursued?” the Emperor suddenly asked.
Qi Hanzhou answered truthfully, “Yes.”
Ying Fusheng already had Crimson Thorn in his body. Now, a congenital poison of unknown origin had surfaced—this inevitably pointed to only one possibility: a secret poison from the previous dynasty. Such coincidences, one after another… Concubine Ning showed no signs of Crimson Thorn poisoning. Even a tigress wouldn’t eat her own cubs—the matter of Concubine Ning harming her son was serious. Combined with the congenital poison…
It meant that while the Sixth Prince was still in the womb, he had already become part of a scheme.
The matter of Concubine Ning harming her son was not simple.
Would this Emperor now notice that the Sixth Prince’s origins were unusual?
Suddenly, Ying Fusheng coughed.
The cough was faint but jarred his chest, nearly disturbing the needles Chen Xuchun had carefully placed.
The Emperor drew closer, looking at the sleeping Ying Fusheng. His eyes were shut, his sleep uneasy. The surrounding blankets made him look even smaller and more pitiable. Even so, compared to a few years ago, his face had matured somewhat, bearing a faint resemblance to the Emperor. Yet there was no trace of Concubine Ning in his features.
“Your Majesty,” the Empress Dowager said, noticing the Emperor’s expression. Worry for Ying Fusheng had drained her face of color. “The matter of the congenital poison requires further investigation. Ning Wan is confined in the palace; someone should examine her for poison. If it truly is a congenital poison, then we need to look into the midwives and physicians who attended the birth back then.”
“Your Highness, your hand!” A faint cry came from within the tent.
Qi Hanzhou’s eyes snapped into focus. Chen Xuchun turned at the sound.
Empress Xu stood motionless. Her right hand was red—it had developed a rash at some point. The red blotches stood out starkly against her pale wrist. She looked down at her hand in a daze, drawing everyone’s attention.
The maidservant beside her knew she had spoken out of turn and quickly knelt. “Your Majesty, the Empress’s hand developed a rash at some point.”
The Empress Dowager’s gaze shifted. She saw the redness on Empress Xu’s right hand. “Physician.”
A physician hurried over. “Empress.”
At the physician’s call, Empress Xu came back to herself. She raised her hand and saw the abnormality.
Not just on the back of her hand—there were red rashes on her palm as well. As a prickling itch surfaced, she belatedly realized something. Why had a rash appeared?
Qi Hanzhou suddenly remembered. When he had pinned down the Xu official, the man had thrown a dagger toward the Empress—not just to destroy the medicine bottle, but also to prevent her from touching that substance!
“Did Her Highness touch the medicine bottle?” Qi Hanzhou asked.
Empress Xu seemed dazed. The maidservant replied, “Yes, Her Highness touched the bottle.”
“It might be a rash caused by the trigger agent,” Physician Chu said hesitantly. “But that shouldn’t be—the substance is harmless to normal people. It only reacts to the poisoned blood drained from His Highness…”