kingnovel Chapter 437 The Emperor is Poisoned
Chapter 437 The Emperor is Poisoned
Prince Ning lashed out with his whip, angrily shouting, "In front of His Majesty, do you still dare not tell the truth?"
However, one of the tall, thin men suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I am willing to speak, I am willing..."
Prince Ning was slightly surprised. He stopped the emperor from stepping forward and went over to ask, "You? You are an extraordinary person. Didn't you say before that you came here only to perform for His Majesty?"
The strange man hurriedly replied, "Yes, I am a strange man from the northern desert. I know all kinds of magic, which is very interesting. They often ask me to perform for entertainment. I have heard them talk about the Great Zhou Dynasty."
Prince Ning asked suspiciously, "Why didn't you say so before?"
The strange man seemed to be trembling with fear, and he cried as he suppressed his terror, saying, "I am guilty. I was afraid of being silenced, so I dared not speak. Now that I have seen the king, I would like to beg the king to grant me mercy and spare me this time. I... I only followed orders and never participated in the theft of the map."
Prince Ning pondered for a moment, then said, "You can speak right here."
But perhaps because of his severe injuries, Yi Ren's voice gradually became much softer, and even Prince Ning could not hear it clearly.
The emperor subconsciously walked forward.
Prince Ning turned back to stop him: "Your Majesty, please do not approach. These people from the northern deserts are too cunning. I will relay their words..."
The extraordinary person possesses remarkable abilities. He has been concealing his talents these past few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Emperor. As long as he makes a move, there is still room for maneuver.
In any case, the responsibility of Mobei will be investigated. If the emperor falls, who will be left? Naturally, it will be the wise prince. How to investigate then will be up to the wise prince.
The strange man's hands were tied, but he broke free of the ropes in no time and shot two poisoned needles at the emperor.
By the time Feng Ziheng realized it, it was too late: "Your Majesty, be careful!"
Prince Ning turned around and saw the two needles. He lunged forward but failed to catch them, and the two needles struck the emperor squarely in the chest.
The needle, as fine as a hair, disappeared without the emperor's notice, and the emperor didn't even feel much pain.
Feng Ziheng quickly stepped forward to help him up, calling out, "Summon the Imperial Physician..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Emperor raised his hand and said, "No, don't make a big fuss. Find a trustworthy doctor to examine me first."
Feng Ziheng helped the emperor and led the guards to a nearby resting room. He then summoned the military doctor who served Prince Ning to examine the emperor.
The doctor, who had also served in the northern desert campaigns, changed his expression drastically at just one glance.
"These acupuncture needles are unique to the northern desert. They can injure people invisibly. However, the needles are too small and are very difficult to make. Moreover, the person who uses them needs to know qigong and circulate their qi to wield them. It is not something that can be mastered overnight."
Feng Ziheng asked, "Is there any danger?"
The doctor's hands moved swiftly, quickly removing the needle. After stopping the emperor's bleeding, he stepped back and knelt, saying, "Your Majesty, if this is the only needle, and it has damaged your heart meridian, please have the imperial physician prescribe medicine to stabilize your heart meridian, and allow for more rest. However, this needle is poisoned..."
Feng Ziheng was shocked: "What kind of poison? Is there an antidote?"
"The petty person is incompetent."
Feng Ziheng was about to go find the strange man when he encountered Prince Ning coming in after finishing his trial.
"Is Your Majesty alright?"
When Prince Ning saw Feng Ziheng's terrified expression and then looked at the doctor kneeling on the ground, he understood everything.
He strode forward and said, "Your Majesty, I will escort you back to the palace first. His medical skills are not good; the imperial physicians may have a solution."
The emperor, still in relatively good spirits, waved his hand and asked the doctor, "Have you ever seen this kind of poison before?"
The doctor replied, "I saw this poison when I was on the border. It is not easy to detect and there is no pain, but it will make people gradually lose weight and become weak. At most... it will disappear without a trace within a hundred days!"
"You're talking nonsense." Feng Ziheng said anxiously, "This is His Majesty, the Son of Heaven! Since you know about this poison, you must also know how to cure it. Quickly bring out the antidote."
The doctor shook his head: "Your Majesty, it would be better to ask the person who poisoned you first. But as far as I know, there is no antidote for this poison."
In other words, the poisoned person can only wait to die.
The Emperor remained silent for a long time, stunned. Prince Ning turned to leave again, but was stopped by him.
"That person is dead?"
Prince Ning was filled with remorse: "This man's skill is profound. He deliberately concealed his abilities before, which was my oversight. He committed suicide right after he made his move. Now, only two of those people from the northern desert are still alive. Your Majesty, I will now torture them severely and make sure they hand over the poison."
The Emperor waved his hand: "Youchuan, don't be impatient. The person is there. You can interrogate him whenever you want. I have some things to tell you."
Prince Ning stepped forward to support him: "Your Majesty, it is all my fault."
"It's not your fault, it's those people. We couldn't guard against them at all. I thought the Northern Desert wouldn't dare to start a war easily, but it seems I underestimated them."
The Emperor spoke slowly.
"Now that things have come to this, responsibility naturally needs to be investigated, but what's more important is what comes next. I... need to think carefully about whom I can entrust this empire to. Ziheng, Youchuan, I trust you both. My poisoning must be kept secret; no one can be told, understand?"
Feng Ziheng and Prince Ning exchanged a glance, then bowed and agreed.
Prince Ning continued the trial, while Feng Ziheng escorted the Emperor back to the palace. Both men felt heavy-hearted.
Outsiders only knew that the Emperor was nearly injured in prison, but fortunately Prince Ning reacted quickly and killed the villain. The Emperor was frightened, but was not seriously injured.
Afterwards, everything went as usual during court sessions.
Even the Emperor kept it a secret about his younger sister.
When the emperor returned from court, he leaned on his couch and had his younger sister review the memorials while he took a nap.
At first, my younger sister had to ask him about everything, but gradually she was able to make decisions on her own. Moreover, the cabinet blocked most of the memorials, so there weren't many left.
When the younger sister finished reviewing the day's memorials, she looked up and saw that it was already dark.
It's late autumn now, and it gets dark early.
The younger sister wearily rubbed her face, then turned to look at the Emperor. She saw that his face was ashen, and there seemed to be a black mark on his forehead.
She was startled and hurriedly took the lamp and went forward. With the lamp illuminating the scene, the ashen look on the emperor's face disappeared.
The younger sister thought that she was probably too tired from reviewing memorials and worried about the emperor, which led to her imagining things.
The Emperor opened his eyes, saw his younger sister's stunned expression, and smiled: "Wan'er, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"His Majesty has been sleeping a lot lately. He can't wake up in the morning, and when he's reviewing memorials in the afternoon, he falls asleep again after a short while. Should we send the imperial physician to take a look?"
"No need." The Emperor shook his head and asked, "Have you finished reviewing the memorials?"
The younger sister nodded.
The Emperor reached out and touched her face: "You've worked hard, Wan'er."
He then asked, "Did you find out if you asked the Prince's concubine for a fertility remedy?"
That day, the younger sister obtained Hu Manman's prescription and informed the Emperor, who then sent someone to Hu Manman's hometown, Nancheng.
Everything was done in secret, and no one else knew about it.
The younger sister replied, "Someone came to report this morning. Your Majesty, once you return to the Zichen Palace, I will tell you the details."