Chapter 291 Sleeping Beauty
After Qin Yunuan finished speaking, she called the little maid beside her and dragged Lu Wuyi into the room.
Lu Wuyi was placed beside Elder Princess’s bed. Qin Yunuan didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. The two understood each other. Lu Wuyi had to detoxify his own poison.
“I can’t do it… I can’t… I’m not lying.”
“Oh? Is that true?” Qin Yunuan raised the corner of her mouth slightly to Lu Wuyi. She suddenly pinched his chin and stuffed a purple pill into Lu Wuyi’s mouth. She pressed Lu Wuyi’s chin, forcing him to swallow the pill, and then smiled, “Now, you should be able to do it.”
Lu Wuyi scratched his throat desperately, “What did you give me? You, crazy woman.”
“The only poison I can make,” Qin Yunuan squinted her eyes, and the sound of weapons came from the beam of the room. A fight seemed to have begun on the roof. Qin Yunuan looked down at Lu Wuyi, her eyes sharp and cold, “It’s just Heartbreak Powder. You are a drug maker, so you should know how powerful this poison is.”
“You are lying to me. You can’t know how to make Heartbreak Powder. You are just a woman.”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “Before Chen Wan could make such miraculous types of equipment, everyone thought she was just a woman. What about a woman? If you couldn’t save Elder Princess, aren’t you dead as well?”
Lu Wuyi had no choice but to turn around to get the pulse for Elder Princess. As he touched her pulse, he said with surprise on his face, “Is there an expert who sealed the meridian for Elder Princess?”
“You don’t need to worry about this, just save her.” Qin Yunuan turned sideways and let the little maid of the courier station watch Lu Wuyi from making any tricks. She went to the side room and took her medicine box. Lu Wuyi came in a hurry, so he couldn’t have brought his own medicine box. Even if he did, Qin Yunuan would also worry about its contents.
Just as Qin Yunuan came back with her box, Leng Changxi and Leng Wu had taken down the three men on the roof. The legendary Three Swords of West Xia was nothing more than that. Leng Wu’s arm was wounded, but Leng Changxi remained unharmed. Of these people, one man had his heart pierced, another was kicked off the roof by Leng Changxi and died, and Leng Wu twisted and broke the bones of the last man. No one was spared.
“Dispose of the corpse.” Leng Changxi ordered Leng Wu. He didn’t want the timid and fearful Officer Du to find anything wrong.
“What’s going on inside?” Leng Changxi wiped the blood on the long knife, which he had snatched from one assassin. The three little thieves were not enough for him to use his long spear.
Holding the medicine box, Qin Yunuan was about to ask when the little maid inside hurried out, shouting, “Elder Princess is awake.”
This was undoubtedly good news. Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan rushed in, but they only found Lu Wuyi with a helpless look.
“Sorry, I have tried my best.” Lu Wuyi was wearing a single shirt, shaking in the cold wind.
“Didn’t you say she woke up just now?” Leng Changxi took out the long knife in his hand directly and put it on Lu Wuyi’s neck, “What tricks are you playing?”
“I don’t have any tricks at all,” Lu Wuyi said, weeping without his tears, “If I wanted to play tricks, I wouldn’t have provided with so many nursery prescriptions for Elder Princess in advance, just to reduce the toxicity of Blue Blood Decoction yesterday.”
“Blue Blood Decoction?” Qin Yunuan’s face went pale, “You gave Elder Princess Blue Blood Decoction?”
Blue Blood Decoction was extremely poisonous. It could pierce through the intestines within an hour after taking, and the internal organs would turn into a pool of sewage, which would flow out from the mouth and nose. Just like Xinger before her death, the taker of the decoction would bleed from his seven orifices, and there would be no cure. The corpse would continue to decay for a long time until it becomes a pool of sewage with a bluish color, which gave the decoction a name.
Lu Wuyi poisoned Elder Princess in such a merciless way.
“You have known Jing Yuanchu’s plan a long time ago. You knew that Jing Yuanchu was going to put his hand on Elder Princess?” Leng Changxi pulled over Lu Wuyi’s collar, and the cool breeze poured into his skirt. But it couldn’t match the icy chill in Leng Changxi’s eyes. This chill could kill people.
“I…” Lu Wuyi’s voice trembled, “I’m in the Thirteenth Prince’s Mansion. I live under his roof and want to survive. Is there any other way besides obeying the devil? Knowing Jing Yuanchu would do something to Elder Princess, I have tried my best to avoid it. I deliberately added herbs in the secret recipe of Elder Princess’s spirit-quieting decoction. It was to protect the blood vessels and meridians. I heard that a little maid had already died in the courier station, right? She bled to death, which looked exactly the same as the death of Blue Blood Decoction poisoning. Why was Elder Princess safe? General Leng, think about it, think about it.”
Lu Wuyi was almost pleading. He used to be a proud healer, but in the Thirteenth Prince’s Mansion, he had seen too much suffering of people who were unwilling to submit to Jing Yuanchu. His heart seemed to have changed too. In his perspective, there had never been differences between so-called prosperous and chaotic times, and people were struggling forward in various kinds of silent turbulences, even in those seemingly peaceful eras. He didn’t want to be the weak who was swallowed up by the waves. Therefore, he could only turn to submission and dependence on the strong to survive.
Leng Changxi pointed at the unconscious Elder Princess, saying to Lu Wuyi ruthlessly, “Think about it? I don’t even know if Elder Princess was alive or dead, how dare you ask me?”
“Elder Princess was not in an uncertain state.” Lu Wuyi hurriedly explained, “My herbs had protected her heart. The toxins did not invade her internal organs. She just fell asleep, she could hear, smell and feel, but she could not speak, open her eyes, or move.”
Leng Changxi tightened his grip, and the blade wounded Lu Wuyi’s neck, “Wouldn’t that make her a living dead?”
“But she is not dead, General Leng. I am just a medical practitioner. I have reached my limit doing everything for her.” Lu Wuyi pleaded bitterly, choking for a few moments.
Leng Changxi looked back and saw Qin Yunuan shaking her head slightly. He then let go of the long knife in his hand, turned sideways to Lu Wuyi and said, “Go.”
Lu Wuyi was taken aback for a moment. Then he stood up abruptly and left as quickly as possible.
The rustling of people moving came immediately from the beam. Qin Yunuan could conclude that it came from the masters hired by the thirteenth prince. They had followed Lu Wuyi along the way, so she told Leng Changxi to let him go. Even if Leng Changxi didn’t kill him, Lu Wuyi couldn’t walk out of the courier station alive. It assured Jing Yuanchu more if Lu Wuyi was dead under his hands.
Lu Wuyi left, and the little maid was also temporarily ordered to leave. The whole room became quiet instantly. Elder Princess lay quietly on the bed. Her face looked calm and peaceful, as if she was asleep. Leng Changxi watched silently, still hoping in his heart that maybe the next moment, she would wake up.
“Changxi.” Qin Yunuan held Leng Changxi’s fingers quietly. His fingertips were cold, “Just like Lu Wuyi said, Elder Princess could still hear us, and if we are sad, she will feel it too.”
Leng Changxi nodded. He also took down the debt Jing Yuanchu owed.
Sure enough, the homicide cases in the courier station spread out within two days. In addition to Xinger, who died in the penthouse, there was also a male corpse in the alley by the back door of courier station. Strangely, the man was only wearing a single shirt when he died in such a cold winter. As for the three assassins that Leng Changxi and Leng Wu fought with, they were well buried, and no flaws were found. It was impossible for Jing Yuanchu to come and ask for them.
Almost in an instant, the courier station attracted considerable attention, so that the story of a legendary missing princess of Qi in the courier station was also known to all. The identity of Elder Princess was exposed to everyone, and Leng Changxi, as well as Qin Yunuan, had also become the subject of discussion.
This was a day that all the officials were silent in the court hall. Jing Donghua, who had just recovered from a serious illness, came to the court for the first time. However, there was only Jing Yuanchu kneeling under the golden steps.
In West Xia’s Hall of Golden Chime, sixteen lacquered bronze pillars propped up the magnificent roof, and the black marbles on the ground reflected the quiet crowd, the people were either standing or kneeling, adding to the solemn atmosphere.
“It’s my fault,” Jing Yuanchu kowtowed, pressing his entire forehead to the ground. The coldness on the ground made his fingertips tremble slightly, and he seemed to be more pious. “At first, I thought that father still needed to recuperate and should not be too excited. After being picked up from Yeren Valley, Elder Princess was also in a daze, even unable to speak normally. Therefore, I wanted to postpone the information of finding Elder Princess temporarily and wait until half a month later before your birthday. But I didn’t expect that something like this would happen in the courier station. The maidservant I sent to take care of Elder Princess was killed innocently, and Elder Princess had also been unconscious. The time when father meets his longing friend is just around the corner, but my extra effort changed everything. Father, I have to confess my crime.”
Just after Jing Yuanchu finished speaking, ministers came forward and pleaded for him, “Your Majesty, the thirteenth prince had taken almost everything into consideration, which was a sign of his filial piety. It was all the fault of those villains. It had nothing to do with the prince.”
Even the Crown Prince Jing Yuanxiao stepped forward to intercede for Jing Yuanchu. For a time, all the ministers seemed to be on Jing Yuanchu’s side. Jing Donghua sat high on the dragon chair and looked down on them, thinking back to the last time he saw Qinghe. The two couldn’t even have a good talk. Now she passed out and couldn’t wake up. Jing Donghua’s heart was inevitably desolate, but looking down at Jing Yuanchu, who was filled with filial piety, it seemed even more unreasonable to blame it on him. He just shook his head and said softly, “No matter what happened, you did your work with filial respect. It doesn’t make sense if I blame it on you, get up.”
Jing Yuanchu stood up as if he had been granted amnesty. He said more respectfully, “I knew that I had committed a big mistake, and I am willing to make up for it with other good news. In fact, when I found Elder Princess, I was confirmed that her child was still alive. These days I have been sending people to search for him painstakingly. Just this morning, there was finally news that my brother, who had been long-lost, was found. He is now outside the court. Please summon him in.”