Injured

Shen Miao's heart tightened in an instant.

If Xie Jing Xing had hidden it a little more, he would most likely have forced himself to act as if nothing had happened, and Emperor Yong Le would not have said, 'Rui Qīnwáng is injured,' in front of the Lu and Ye families. Emperor Yong Le did not conceal anything at this time, so did this imply that the situation was already so serious that it could not be concealed?

Ji Fūrén came over to Shen Miao's side and grabbed her hands tightly. She was probably afraid that Shen Miao would be worried and comfort her, "There would undoubtedly be friction in the hunting grounds, and most likely it is only a minor injury. It should be nothing with so many guards on duty." Her face, on the other hand, became more worried.

Shen Miao did not want Ji Fūrén to be thrown into disarray, so she agreed with her right away, but her heart did not agree. For Emperor Yong Le to allow Xie Jing Xing to return to the city first, rather than exposing Xie Jing Xing to these officials, it meant that the injuries sustained by Xie Jing Xing were not as minor as some 'minor injuries.'

She looked around but didn't see Xie Jing Xing, Tie Yi, or Gao Yang, which made her heart race even faster.

Emperor Yong Le did not seem to want to talk much even though he had hunted a lion, he did not have a happy expression on it. Everyone guessed that it was due to Prince Rui's injuries and also know that Emperor Yong Le was not happy as everyone knew that Prince Rui and Emperor Yong Le had a strong relationship. No matter if Prince Rui's injuries were serious or not, two of them went into the inner fields but the injured one was Prince Rui thus Emperor Yong Le's heart would not be happy. Thus, no one dared to go up to talk to Emperor Yong Le, even Consort Jing quietly restrained her arrogance and carefully served at the side.

Since the lion was hunted, there was no need for everyone to stay at the hunting grounds. Emperor Yong Le wanted to return to the Palace and the officials and their families also wanted to return to their residences. When everyone was being cautious, Lu Zhengchun asked Emperor Yong Le about matters on the sixtieth sacrificial ceremony as though nothing had happened. Emperor Yong Le usually gives some face to Lu Zhengchun on normal days but today left with a cold scoff and a swipe of his sleeves. That dissatisfied attitude was obvious to the officials and they whispered but not only did Lu Zhengchun not get angry, he seemed to be somewhat happy, making that fierce and sinister face look even more terrible.

Shen Miao also hurried back to the residence of Prince Rui as she was worried about Xie Jing Xing's injuries. Ji Fūrén and Ji Yu Shu also wanted to go but Shen Miao shook her head, "This matter has not been clarified and one feared that it is not that simple. If Yímǔ and Yu Shu go over now, it would be easily exploited by others. I will return first to take a look and Yímǔ and Yu Shu can come over once Diànxià is better." After pausing, she then said, "At such a time, the more one cannot be thrown into confusion."

Even though Ji Yu Shu and Ji Fūrén did not know about the ins and outs of this matter, they were after all people who has exchanged blows with the Imperial power, thus they could slowly understand Shen Miao's words. Ji Daren was deeply convinced of Shen Miao's words and Ji Yu Shu and Ji Fūrén no longer clamoured to follow.

The few people then parted ways. Shen Miao immediately rushed back to the residence of Prince Ding with Mo Qing and entourage without stopping. Ba Jiang and Hui Xiang comforted Shen Miao, "Fūrén rest assured. Zhǔzi's martial arts skills is not weak thus normal people would not be able to harm him. Perhaps this is Zhǔzi's plan to confuse the enemies."

Shen Miao shook her head, "My heart does not feel good." It was indeed not good as it felt like something was blocking her heart and this feeling made her feel uneasy. She could not wait to appear in the residence of Prince Rui and see what was wrong with Xie Jing Xing.

Ba Jiao and Hui Xiang looked at one another and did not say anything more.

Upon reaching the residence of Prince Rui, Shen Miao directly headed to the doors upon alighting from the horse carriage. The guards at the doors quickly open up the doors and Shen Miao stepped in but realized that the residence was surprisingly quiet.

If it was as per usual, Tang Shu would have come over to welcome long ago to greet or bring over some sweet soup. But there was no one today.

Shen Miao's heart became anxious and headed to the courtyard without a second word. She coincidentally saw Tang Shu walking to and fro in front of the room doors with a look of concern.

Shen Miao's heart thumped. Tang Shu just happened to see her. Shen Miao immediately went up and did not say anything else to him and asked, "How is he?"

"Diànxià's injury is very serious. Gao Gōngzǐ is currently giving him medical treatment." Tang Shu sighed with a face full of worry, "I have not seen Diànxià like this for a long time."

Shen Miao thought about it before pushing the door to walk in.

Upon entering the room, she first smelt a strong scent of blood. Tie Yi, who was always by Xie Jing Xing's side, was also present, wringing a cloth quietly and one would be shocked upon seeing the basin of fresh blood. Gao Yang's brows were tightly locked and she was slightly startled upon seeing Shen Miao entering before saying, "You know about it."

Shen Miao dashed to the head of the bed. Xie Jing Xing's eyes were tightly shut, and his face was as pale as paper, even his lips. The top half of his clothes had been ripped apart, and there was a layer of arrow wounds on his abdomen, but the deepest one was a knife wound, which was different from the one Shen Miao had seen. This knife wound was new, and because it was on top of his old wounds, it appeared that it had become deeper as a result of the old wounds and new injuries.

The blood surrounding the wound was purple, which made Shen Miao sweat. Her tone of voice was a little shaky as she pointed to Xie Jing Xing's wound, "This…"

"Soaked in poison." Gao Yang directly and efficiently cut her words off.

It was as if Shen Miao was struck by lightning.

After a while, she stabilised her mind, "Can you detoxify it?"

Gao Yang shook his head.

"This is not made by one poison but a mixture of several poisons. If I am to detoxify it, one would need to distinguish what kind of poison it is. This would require time but his injuries could not wait for that long."

"If he cannot wait for that long then you think of ways for him to wait. In short, his life is in your hands, there cannot be any mistakes." Shen Miao shouted out sternly.

Gao Yang was stunned on the spot. He knew that Shen Miao was not as kind and warm as she seemed but it was his first time seeing Shen Miao being this fierce and harsh. She seemed to be a superior instructing an official.

Even Tie Yi was stunned. He had always felt that even though Young Madam was smart and schemes, her attitude was rather soft and would always have a gentle smile on her face and was lacking some viciousness. If she were to stay by Xie Jing Xing's side, she would inevitably be a drag in the future. Now upon seeing Shen Miao's appearance, he made him think about the Late Empress.

Shen Miao took a deep breath and calm her emotions before asking Gao Yang, "Currently, how many days can he withstand and how many days do you need to cure his poison?"

"He can at most withstand seven days and I would need at least half a month to work on the detoxification." For the first time, Gao Yang had an expression of helplessness. "The imperative thing is that he cannot even withstand seven days as his old injuries have flared up."

Shen Miao looked at Xie Jing Xing. When he lay on the bed, he appeared to be very quiet, much like an honorable noble gentleman, but his arrogance seemed to be his skin, which hid numbers knives. Shen Miao had seen Xie Jing Xing's body the last time he saw him, and he had noticed that he had many old wounds on his body.

She had a sudden thought and said to Gao Yang, "Wait a minute." She then exited the room and walked to another. Outside, Jing Zhe and Gu Yu were waiting. Both of them did not go to the hunting ground that day and instead waited for Shen Miao in the residence, but a severely injured Xie Jing Xing arrived. They were agitated because they feared Shen Miao would be overly concerned and wanted to console her, but when they saw Shen Miao heading directly to the dressing table and took out a small box from under the dressing table and opened it.

There was a round thing in the box and also a medicine bottle. Shen Miao grabbed the medicine bottle and hurried back to the room where Gao Yang was and pass that medicine bottle to Gao Yang, "There are three Gui Yuan Pills here. Can this help him?"

That small box held the trousseau given to her by Luo Tan and Feng An Ning when she married off. Feng An Ning gave her three Gui Yuan Pills while Luo Tan gave her a compass. Gui Yuan Pill was something that could help one their lives and give those who were dying an extra breath. This was a good thing that the previous Ming Qi dynasty's medical physician left behind, and it was a rare thing that Feng An Ning gave three of it. Shen Miao suddenly remembered it and wondered if it would be useful to Xie Jing Xing.

"Where did you get this?" exclaimed Gao Yang. He turned over the bottle and took one pill out to inspect and smell it, saying, "It is real. This is Gui Yuan Pill. With this, he should be able to survive for about ten days."

Shen Miao breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Gao Yang say, "But I might not be able to create an antidote in ten days."

"Whether you can create it or not, you must try." If it doesn't work, we'll talk about it then. Now, you are a doctor, you should not be worried about not being able to do it."

Tie Yi and Tang Shu, who had followed Shen Miao in, looked at her strangely. One would not have expected a female to be so calm at this time.

Actually, Shen Miao was not as calm as she looked on the surface. It was just that at this time, it would be useless if one was flustered. She needs to keep her mind awake and think about what to do next.

Gao Yang nodded his head, "I will give him acupuncture now and coordinate with the Gui Yuan Pill to stabilise him temporarily. You all go out first."

Shen Miao looked at Xie Jing Xing and her heart seemed to be tightly held as she walked out. After she was out, she said to Tang Shu, "You all withdraw first. I want to be alone for a while."

Tang Shu wanted to speak but stopped. In the end, he still said, "In any cause, Fūrén must take care of one's health. These old servants would do our best to cooperate with Fūrén.

Shen Miao complied. After Tie Yi and Tang Shu left, she send off Jing Zhe and the few. Shen Miao stood outside the room and looked at the courtyard and now became extremely tired.

After a long time, she went to sit down on steps in the courtyard.

The weather during the sixth month was blistering hot, especially so in Great Liang as it would be warmer earlier, but the ground was cooling and the wind was whistling. Shen Miao actually felt cooler. She was thinking if Xie Jing Xing meet with an unexpected death, what should she do? It seemed that it was rational for her to think about her life in the future and what needs to be done. However, at this moment, she could not persuade herself to think about the future rationally as if all these were things that she did not want to think about.

When did Xie Jing Xing's position in her heart become this important? It was so important that once she thought of losing this person in the future, one felt that the remaining time would be bland. If one had not experienced the taste of sweet honey, one would be able to tolerate it but when one loses it after a taste, everything would become unacceptable.

Someone's footsteps were heard and one did not know when did Pei Lang walked into the courtyard and sat down upon seeing her sitting at the steps. After hesitating for a moment, he then said, "Don't worry, he is Great Liang's Qīnwáng. It is not easy for something to happen to him."

Shen Miao was silent. And her eyes dimmed slightly, and Pei Lang felt astringency in his mouth and sourness in his heart. Speaking of which, he had never seen Shen Miao like this. In front of Pei Lang, Shen Miao would always have ready plans to meet for any situation and be all imposing, absolutely pressing him down. When Pei Lang was imprisoned in the underground prison in Prince Ding's residence, he wondered if Shen Miao would be conscience-stricken by the matter of his life and death. He finally saw how Shen Miao appeared when she was concerned about others. When Shen Miao was concerned about someone's life or death, she lacked aggressiveness and sharpness, and she was no different from any other weak female.

He had always had the impression that he was sitting very close to Shen Miao, but the distance between them was vast.

"Return to the room, the wind is strong," Pei Lang said.

"There's no need." Shen Miao looked out, "Your health is not fully recovered. Don't be concerned about me, and first get some rest."

"I will accompany you," Pei Lang said after a brief pause.

Shen Miao had no desire to persuade him. Her thoughts were not on Pei Lang at this moment, and her heart was preoccupied with Xie Jing Xing's injuries.

Gao Yang was busy the entire night.

Shen Miao also sat for the entire night.

Ji Fūrén napped during the night while waiting for Xie Jing Xing's news, but Shen Miao did not sleep at all. She hadn't closed her eyes in two days, but she was mentally sharp.

Shen Miao remained silent. Pei Lang noticed that her gaze was slightly cloudy.

Gao Yang opened the doors and walked out when the rooster called three times and saw Shen Miao and Pei Lang sitting on the steps in front of the doors. He couldn't help but be surprised when he said, "You both had sat for the entire night."

Shen Miao massaged her numb knees and inquired of Gao Yang, "How is he?"

"For the time being, things are stable. The Gui Yuan Pills have a high level of efficacy. Next, I'll research how to create an antidote to the poison. Please do not bother me."

"For these days, would trouble you to take care of him," he said again to Shen Miao.

Tang Shu, who had just arrived, couldn't help but ask, "If you can't get it out in ten days?"

Gao Yang didn't say anything, and the atmosphere darkened in an instant.

"Go ahead." In a blanket of silence, Shen Miao spoke. Her voice was very calm as if the person who was laying on the bed with his life hanging by a thread was not her husband.

Gao Yang looked at her seriously, "I also wish it would be successful. If it isn't, I would not be happy in this lifetime."

He turned around and left.

Tang Shu looked at Shen Miao and then looked at Pei Lang again, "Fūrén. Gentleman Pei. Both of you have been vigil the entire night and have not eaten anything. Now that Zhǔzi's condition has stabilised, it is better to eat something first and take a rest, else when Zhǔzi's injury recovers, both of you will be sick."

Shen Miao nodded her head, "Bring it to the room. I will rest for a while in this room so that it is more convenient to take care of him. In addition, send people to pass a message to Ji Fūrén, saying that Diànxià condition is temporarily stabilised but have yet woken, thus one need not come over at the meantime."

Tang Shu nodded his head. Pei Lang looked at Shen Miao and saw that Shen Miao had already walked into the room and sat on the chair in front of the bed and his gaze timed before he turned around and left.

Gu Yu quickly brought a bowl of porridge over and Shen Miao let her leave and closed the doors. There was only Shen Miao, the unconscious Xie Jing Xing and Tie Yi. As she ate, she asked Tie Yi, "What exactly is going on? Can you tell me now?"

Tie Yi was hesitant.

Shen Miao's hands stopped and she stared sternly at him, "That day you followed him and entered the inner fields so no one knew more clearly than you on what had happened. Even if you only recognise him as your only Zhǔzi, you cannot conceal it from me."

Tie Yu quickly said, "Fūrén, it is not so. It is just that this subordinate is not clear about Zhǔzi's plan this time. Zhǔzi had discussed it with Huángshàng directly and Mo Yun Army was not even used. However, there seemed to be some changes in the middle of it as Huángshàng was at death's door in the inner fields and there was someone who hid in the Imperial Army. Zhǔzi blocked that attack for Huángshàng and there was poison smeared on the sword. Someone wanted Huángshàng's life."

Shen Miao appeared to have connected all the pearls with a string at that precise moment, and a hazy answer appeared in her head. This hunt appeared to be Emperor Yong Le's gamble, as well as the Lu family's. Emperor Yong Le desired to use his life to bring down the entire Lu family, and the Lu family desired to take advantage of this opportunity to deal with Emperor Yong Le, not expecting that Emperor Yong Le would be willing to die.

However, Emperor Yong Le's plan to burn both the jade and the stone was not communicated to Xie Jing Xing, or it could be argued that Emperor Yong Le knew Xie Jing Xing would not agree to it. As a result, Xie Jing Xing could only 'change the plans' and save Emperor Yong Le's fate, resulting in such a severe injury.

Shen Miao cast a silent glance at the young man lying on the bed. He was always so proud and stubborn, and he knew everything like the back of his palm, that he would lift things up high and gently place them down, smiling casually at everything. Because he was used to showcasing his abilities, everyone had forgotten that in some situations, he was just an ordinary person who would grow old, become ill, and die. He would be in danger if he was injured, and it was possible that he would vanish from this world.

Shen Miao's heart sank as she remembered Xie Jing Xing's words to her before entering the inner fields, 'wait for my return.' When she looked at the situation in front of her, she felt it was extremely piercing to her eyes.

The Gui Yuan Pills' effectiveness was short-lived. So, what if Gao Yang was unable to develop an antidote? Shen Miao frowned as she looked at Xie Jing Xing, her nails digging into her palm.

Matters in front and at the back have to be taken care of. If nothing could be done about the immediate problem, the main culprit would have to suffer ten times more pain.

In Wei Yang Palace, Emperor Yong Le fiercely threw the memorandums in his hands onto the ground.

Empress Xian De sighed and knelt to pick up the memorandums.

"His Lu family is really courageous enough and his heart is ambitious." The Monarch's expression was as deep as water, "At that juncture, one even thrust in front of Zhèn. Zhèn could not wait to skin him and drink his blood."

"The Lu family relied on their formidable power and even took the risk. If Jing Xing did not protect with his life…" Empress Xian De did not continue speaking.

Hearing this, a flash of pain appeared in Emperor Yong Le's eyes, "Zhèn would rather it is Zhèn that die."

"Jing Xing is a child with a strong sense of righteousness and loyalty and Bìxià knew that he would not agree to it. Thus, in the beginning, one did not tell him at all. Even if Bìxià had arranged everything, from Jing Xing's perspective, he would not be happy and it would be a shackle for him. Bìxià did not consider his feelings at all."

Empress Xian De's words had thorns in them and did not give Emperor Yong Le any face at all. Emperor Yong Le was already not happy and was somewhat in rage upon hearing those words.

"Bìxià need not be angry. At this moment, Jing Xing has not yet woken up and this matter is imperative. Blame and anger are all secondary." Empress Xian De saw him as such and reminded him.

Emperor Yong Le closed his eyes, "Zhèn understand. Zhèn only have this one younger brother."

"Gao Yang is taking care of Jing Xing's injury and the residence of Prince Rui has yet to send any information over but Bìxià, at this moment the more important point is that the Lu family has started taking action."

"Zhèn understands." Emperor Yong Le's lips hooked up slightly. At this moment his appearance became seventh to eighth tenths similar to Xie Jing Xing. It was obvious a smile but it made one feel the coldness and danger from him. He said, "He wants to deal with Zhèn but Zhèn did not die so it is Zhèn's turn to deal with him. Everyone has military power and the Lu family has lived long enough. This time, if anything minor happens to Xie Yuan, Zhèn want all the nine generations of the Lu family to be buried with him." He paused before speaking again, "If Xie Yuan recovers, they too have no way to escape."

Empress Xian De paused slightly before looking at the skies outside. It was just shining brightly outside the Imperial Palace in the sixth month, but at this moment, it was overcast.

The skies after all had to change.

In the Gao Residence, Gao Yang just returned and immediately a fierce imposing voice, "Gao Yang, you are clearly a person of Great Liang's Long Ye but lied to me that you are a person of Ming Qi's Ding capital. You are not whatever Imperial Physician but Great Liang's Chancellor of Health Affairs. You are a liar!"

Luo Tan stood at the doorway in anger, her expression was somewhat gaunt and there were dark traces under her eyes. She looked at Gao Yang with an expression that Gao Yang must give an explanation on the matter.

Gao Yang returned back to refine the medication. The medicine room was in his residence and there were also numerous herbs in his residence. The Gao Residence and the residence of Prince Rui was not far away thus he returned to his residence to refine the medication but did not expect to be interrogated by Luo Tan upon his return.

The maid by Luo Tan's side apologized to Gao Yang. On the morning of the Imperial Hunt, she had directed Luo Tan away per Gao Yang's instructions, but no one expected Luo Tan to slip off and see Gao Yang walking with the officials for prayers to the Heavens. Luo Tan was a fool in small matters, but she was especially vigilant in big ones. She turned around and inquired of the maid about it. When the maid realized that concealment was futile, she could only pour everything out.

This was somewhat unacceptable in Luo Tan's opinion. Gao Yang was just a doctor, so it made no difference whether he was in Great Liang or Ming Qi, but he was clearly Great Liang's Chancellor of Health Affairs before becoming an Imperial Physician in Ming Qi. In Luo Tan's opinion, there was no difference between being an enemy spy and being a spy. Furthermore, the Luo family had a military lineage, and when Luo Tan was young, she and Luo Qian would often listen to the shows put on by the theatre troupes, and the majority of the stories were about loyal and righteous men who were assassinated by hidden attacks from spies.

Luo Tan had a favourable impression of Gao Yang at first. Even though he had some minor flaws, he treated and cared for her normally, but now that the person who cared for her had become the bad person, Luo Tan's heart could not accept it.

It was a true case of when it rains, it pours. Gao Yang was preoccupied with Xie Jing Xing's matter at the time, which coincided with Luo Tan's matter. He would have explained to Luo Tan nicely if it had been the past, but time was of the essence here. Shen Miao's heart must be hurting because she was alone in a foreign country and her husband's life was hanging by a thread, so perhaps she should have a sister by her side. "Tell her then," he said to the servant by his side. "I'll enter the room, and no one else is permitted to disturb me." He walked to the medicine room by himself after finishing.

Luo Tan had thought that Gao Yang would explain his difficulties, after all, she still did not believe in her heart that Gao Yang would do such a mean and shameless thing. She had not expected that not only Gao Yang did not explain, he even ignored her and entered the room. She said, "Hey! What is the meaning of this? Explain to me first, are you…"

"Luo Gūniáng." The servant by Gao Yang's side quickly stopped her and said, "This lowly one will inform you. In fact, things are somewhat trickly at the moment. Today Gōngzǐ has gone out to provide medical treatment. Qīnwáng Diànxià of Rui Qīnwáng Residence had gotten into trouble and currently need Gōngzǐ to treat."

Luo Tan was startled, "Rui Qīnwáng? Isn't that my Mèifū? What happened?"

The servant wiped his sweat, "This is a long story."

At the other end, Shen Miao was still in front of Xie Jing Xing's bed and rubbed her eyes before sitting back up again.

She was much more alert after a short nap. She turned to face the man on the bed, who had his eyes closed as if he was sleeping. Shen Miao's heart was relieved when he saw that nothing was happening to him. But her heart was still racing.

Shen Miao had felt that since her rebirth, she had always been stable and calm and that it was because of her previous life experience that she could master things that others could not grasp and thus would not be in a compelled position. However, this was the first time in her life that she felt helpless. Even though it did not happen to her, she felt it was more upsetting than if it had.

But she lacked medical knowledge and didn't understand poisons, so she could only bring out the three Gui Yuan pills. Shen Miao was surprised because she had placed all of her hopes in Gao Yang. She slowly reached out her hands and grasped Xie Jing Xing's hand on top of the bed, as if doing so would calm her heart.

Tang Shu came over to bring Shen Miao some hot tea and snacks. Shen Miao looked haggard because she hadn't been eating or sleeping well. Tang Shu said, "Fūrén eat something, it is very tiring to take care of Zhǔzi like this."

Shen Miao said her thanks and suddenly remembered something. She hesitated before asking, "Tang Shu, two years ago when Diànxià came to Long Ye, was he also like this?"

Two years ago, there was another reason for Xie Jing Xing to return to Long Ye. On the battlefield with Northern Jiang, there were Emperor Wen Hui's people in the Ming Qi's Xie family army and those people wanted his life. Xie Jing Xing had escaped death but was unable to avoid serious injuries. It sounded like it was also a life and death situation and fortunately, Gao Yang was by his side and with Xie Jing Xing's great fortune, else there would not be today's Prince Rui of First Rank.

Tang Shu was stunned before glancing over at Xie Jing Xing on the bed. His eyes started recalling as he spoke, "So Fūrén knew about it too. Indeed when Zhǔzi first returned to Long Ye, he was sent back by others. In the beginning, the doctors all said that they lacked the strength to reverse the situation and even Gao Gōngzǐ was also helpless. However, in the end, Zhǔzi went past it. It was truly a miracle."