Chapter 474: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 474: Offering Oneself (3)
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On the way, they encountered two more groups of assassins. Perhaps thinking that Xiao Ruiyuan, poisoned by the heart-devouring toxin, was as good as dead, the instigators behind them sent out these assassins. Their martial skills were clearly inferior to those of previous groups. Before the shadow guards could intervene, they were all swiftly eliminated by the Crown Prince's guards.
However, no useful evidence was found on these assassins to identify their instigators. Therefore, even though they were aware that some princes or royal heirs intended to seize power, they couldn't openly expose them.
With the capital city in sight, Xiao Hua, who had been following them all along, didn't continue following them. It called out to Mao Mao in the sky a few times and bid farewell to Xiao Ruiyuan before disappearing calmly into the vast night sky, under the gaze of everyone.
Weak and unable to ride alone, Xiao Ruiyuan, sharing a horse with Xiao Jiu, looked in the direction where Xiao Hua had departed, a gentle smile tugging at his pale lips: to repay the life-saving grace with oneself, owing her three lives, how could he ever repay enough?
Concerned about Xiao Ruiyuan's injuries and the risk of his emotional outburst, the group didn't travel very fast. Fortunately, apart from the two groups of assassins they encountered earlier, the journey remained peaceful. They safely entered the city and arrived at the Crown Prince's Mansion without further incidents.
Upon learning that Xiao Ruiyuan was seriously injured and had been poisoned like himself, almost succumbing to the toxin, Chu Heng, who had always been gentle and humble, slammed a cup down for the first time: "I haven't died yet, but they couldn't wait, good! Very good!"
The gentle eyes were now filled with deep hostility as Chu Heng looked at Xiao Ruiyuan lying pale in bed, the first time he felt a surge of sadness.
Since the day he was born, he had endured constant tormenting pain. He had always been accompanied by various bitter medicinal soups. Even from the moment he understood things, he had thoughts of preferring death. If not for the Emperor's love and the encouragement and support of this cousin who had grown up with him, he would have long abandoned this wretched body and followed his mother.
To outsiders, he was the sovereign and his cousin was a subject. His cousin was willing to follow him; even if his cousin died because of him, it was a fitting death. But in his heart, his cousin was his cousin, the closest person to him after the Emperor. Now, those people who openly plotted to harm his loved ones, whoever they were, he would never let them go!
Worried that his emotions were too agitated and his weak body couldn't bear it, before Xiao Ruiyuan could speak to calm him down, the ghost doctor, with a humorous tone, spoke up about the matter of the black Lingzhi: "Your Highness, luckily Xiao Ruiyuan was injured, otherwise who knows when we would have found the whereabouts of the black Lingzhi! Your Highness, rest assured, Xiao Ruiyuan will be fine. As long as we find that millennium ginseng, the heart-devouring toxin in Your Highness's body can also be eradicated smoothly!"
Suddenly hearing news about the black Lingzhi, Chu Heng almost couldn't believe his ears. He was stunned for a while, then confirmed that the ghost doctor was not joking with him. A strange brilliance spread across his jade-like face!
Seeing the ghost doctor take out the remaining piece of black Lingzhi, Chu Heng finally believed that he wasn't dreaming. After listening to the origin of the black Lingzhi, a hopeful light shone in his eyes.
Suppressing the urge to inquire about the owner of the black Lingzhi, Chu Heng glanced at his cousin and gently said to the ghost doctor, "Old Ghost, since we don't need the millennium ginseng, please quickly prepare the antidote for Hanzhang to take, to avoid any complications."
The ghost doctor readily agreed and finished examining Xiao Ruiyuan's pulse. Seeing that the sealed toxin showed no signs of movement, he took the black Lingzhi and went to the medicine room with reassurance.
The ghost doctor had already prepared the supplementary medicinal herbs to neutralize the heart-devouring toxin long ago. Apart from black Lingzhi, millennium ginseng, and Red Python's gallbladder, the others were quite common, but brewing the medicine required some careful attention. For the ghost doctor, brewing medicine was a trivial matter. Half an hour later, the medicine was brewed.
During this half hour, Xiao Ruiyuan and Chu Heng had a careful discussion and reached a consensus: they would temporarily conceal the fact that Xiao Ruiyuan's heart-devouring toxin had a solution. Instead, they would spread the news that he had been poisoned and was on the brink of death.
A general who led a hundred thousand troops to the border, risking his life to guard the territory and the people of Da Chu, was repeatedly assassinated on his triumphant return. This kind of news, once spread, would surely cause a huge stir, both among the people and in the court. Emperor Huian would certainly investigate the matter thoroughly and give Xiao Ruiyuan an explanation.
By doing this, they didn't expect to expose the masterminds behind the scenes and seek revenge immediately. Instead, they aimed to provoke them, to make them reveal themselves, so that Emperor Huian would be well-informed and could calculate his moves accordingly!
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