Baoqin ran swiftly through the streets. Fortunately, the full moon tonight illuminated the bluestone roads.
The old eunuch had been waiting there for a while, nervously looking around. When he saw her coming, he immediately waved at her. "Here, here!"
Baoqin stopped and gasped for a few breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Let's go."
The palace gate was still heavily guarded. Since it was an unpeaceful night, the guards on duty didn't dare to slack off.
When they saw the two of them returning, the guards scrutinized them carefully. Their eyes fell on Baoqin, and one of them suddenly frowned.
"Look up."
Baoqin was startled but didn't dare to disobey. She lifted her head with her eyes downcast.
The old eunuch ahead was on tenterhooks. "My lord, this is my young apprentice. He's still a child. Did he somehow offend your lordship? This slave begs your forgiveness."
The guard frowned as he sized up Baoqin. "Your young apprentice? He doesn't look like an eunuch. He looks more like a girl."
Baoqin immediately knelt on the ground, shivering and stuttering. She couldn't utter a complete sentence, clearly frightened out of her wits.
The old eunuch quickly said, "He was castrated at a young age, and his body hasn't fully developed yet... Eunuchs are all impotent. Naturally, they're not as manly as your lordship."
The guard let out a snort. "You old eunuch sure know how to talk."
He stared at Baoqin up and down. Seeing that she was small in stature and had a tender face but rough calluses on her hands, which seemed to indicate that she did menial work, he relaxed and waved his hand. "Get going. You stink."
The old eunuch scrambled up and quickly pulled the cart away.
Baoqin followed behind him, her heart pounding.
When they reached an uninhabited area, the old eunuch stopped and glanced at her hands. He let out a sigh. "You were a palace maid in charge of cleaning. That saved your life tonight. Hurry up and go."
Baoqin was stunned for a moment and then suddenly clenched her hands.
The hard calluses on her hands, which she couldn't get rid of no matter what, felt extremely rough, but at this moment, they gave her a sense of peace.
She didn't have time to thank him. She just nodded at the old eunuch and then disappeared into the darkness, quickly running towards Concubine Rou's palace.
Xie Yan was now in a semi - comatose state. Concubine Rou was extremely panicked, but on the surface, she still forced herself to ask sternly, "Has Doctor Liu arrived?!"
There was a sudden rush of footsteps outside. A eunuch stumbled in. "Your ladyship, Doctor Liu has been brought here!"
Doctor Liu wasn't young either. Running all the way here had taken a toll on him. But when he entered the palace and saw the dying Second Prince, he felt as if he was about to faint.
He quickly stepped forward to feel the prince's pulse. As he felt it, his brow wrinkled deeper and deeper.
Concubine Rou was terrified. She repeatedly asked, "Doctor Liu, how is Yan'er?"
Doctor Liu's face was as solemn as water. He shook his head. "The poison the prince was poisoned with is rare and extremely potent. If he hadn't immediately taken the antidote pill to suppress the poison a bit, he might have..."
Concubine Rou jumped up in a hurry. "What kind of poison is it? Can you cure it?"
Doctor Liu sighed. "I've never seen this kind of poison before. It's really tricky. I can't cure it for the time being."
"However..." He suddenly had an idea. "There is a way to save him, but it's too risky."
"What way?" Concubine Rou immediately asked.
Doctor Liu glanced at Concubine Rou and said in a deep voice, "Gu worms."
The Gu worms from the Miao stockade, especially those raised by the wild Miao people, were extremely poisonous. He once heard that in the place where the king Gu worm was located, no animals had appeared for ten years, and even plants had a hard time growing.
"If we have such a Gu worm, using poison to fight poison might give the prince a glimmer of hope."
Concubine Rou slumped to the ground. Looking at the dying Xie Yan in her arms, she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and forced herself to ask, "Can this kind of Gu worm be cured?"
Doctor Liu frowned. "This kind of king Gu worm usually comes in a mother - and - child pair. The child Gu worm is less poisonous and can just suppress the prince's toxicity. As long as the mother Gu worm is still alive, it can be cured!"
"Your ladyship, Baoqin is back!" A palace maid came in hurriedly and whispered.
Concubine Rou suddenly looked up. She saw Baoqin running in with disheveled hair and gasping for breath, as if she was a gust of wind.
"Your ladyship!" Baoqin fell in front of Doctor Liu but tightly protected the things in her arms. She took them out one by one and said as she did so, "These bottles of antidotes were all brought according to the prince's symptoms. I don't know which one is the right one. I hope Doctor Liu will take a closer look."
"Also, this is a Gu worm," Baoqin took a breath and continued. "The Second Miss said that this Gu worm is highly poisonous. In case of emergency, we can use poison to fight poison and give the prince a glimmer of hope."
Doctor Liu quickly picked up the antidotes and smelled them, but his brow was always tightly wrinkled. "No. This kind of medicine is too rare. If I were to painstakingly study it until I could pick out the right antidote, considering the current urgency, I'm afraid..."
Concubine Rou's heart was pounding. Her eyes flashed over the bottles and jars. She made up her mind and said, "Use the Gu worm!"
Outside the city, the sound of horseshoes rang out continuously. The torches that were lit were like stars in the night sky, illuminating the way back to the capital.
Chen Xuan took the lead. He whipped his horse's leg and quickly rushed towards the capital.
In the Zichen Palace, the situation was at a stalemate. Xie Guang looked at the eldest princess on the ground, who was bleeding profusely to save others. He let out a disbelieving "Ha".
The person who was best at self - preservation actually one day would rather hurt herself for the sake of others!
"Xie Lingyun!" He suddenly hated her deeply. "Why did you change? How dare you change!"
Clearly, in the past, she was just like him, a person who didn't care about the lives of others at all, a completely selfish person!
"Why, why did everyone betray me! Why!" Xie Guang went crazy and started slashing with his sword in the palace. Traces were left on the vermilion pillars, and the chairs were split into pieces, but none of these things could vent the hatred in his heart.
By now, it seemed that he had become the only bad person in the world, while all the others, even those who had hurt him, had become good people worthy of praise!
Why!
Xie Guang suddenly turned his head to the old emperor beside him and laughed. "Fortunately, you've always been like this. You haven't changed at all."
"You!" The old emperor pointed at him but couldn't say another word.
Having been so angry, his chest felt tight and painful. He almost saw stars.
Xie Guang suddenly lost interest in playing with people's hearts. He slowly approached the old emperor with his sword in hand. Seeing the old emperor retreat in fear, he sneered mockingly. "Father, if you hadn't played that trick of swapping the crown prince back then and had let me enter the Eastern Palace earlier, what a harmonious father - and - son pair we would have been."
"It's a pity..." He suddenly raised his sword high. "You've ruined everything!"
"The person who deserves to die the most, the person who deserves to be spat on by the world and reviled for all eternity, should have always been you!"
The raised sword was about to fall when suddenly there was a lot of noise outside. The queen pushed the door open and suddenly stopped him just as the sword was about to fall on the emperor's chest. "Stop, my son!"