However, even though Su Qing had shown his gold medal, the King of Qi and his companions still refused to let it go.
"When did His Majesty bestow the gold medal upon you? How come we've never heard of it?"
"Exactly! This gold medal must be a counterfeit you made in private. You're falsely using the imperial order and plotting something evil!"
The partisans behind the King of Qi, the King of Jin, and the King of Huai all chimed in, confronting Su Qing.
The King of Xuan tried to mediate on the side, "Eldest brother, second brother, third brother, you can't just say such things casually..."
Hu Lie crossed his arms and stood beside Su Qing. He said lazily, "I forgot to mention that His Majesty bestowed the gold medal upon General Su right after the New Year's Eve palace banquet. I was there that day. His Majesty ordered me to assist General Su. Your Highness, the King of Qi, do you still remember what happened that day?"
The noisy scene instantly fell silent. Among them, the King of Qi looked the most embarrassed.
He remembered that after the New Year's Eve palace banquet, the emperor did call Su Qing and Hu Lie into the palace hall and scolded them severely. He never expected that the old emperor, seemingly blaming them for their poor supervision and protection of Shengjing City, actually bestowed this gold medal upon Su Qing in private.
This meant that the emperor was suspecting them!
The King of Qi angrily flung his sleeve and said, "I'd like to see what tricks you're up to!"
He turned around and walked aside to calm his anger. Xiao Zisheng watched from afar as Cang Xuan and Su Yuanyuan led the emperor into the palace hall and closed the door. He squinted his eyes slightly and said, "Since that's the case, I'll wait."
Seeing that the King of Qi and the King of Jin were no longer insisting, the King of Huai scratched his nose and stepped back. Seeing this, the King of Xuan heaved a long sigh of relief. He clasped his hands in front of him and said to Su Qing and Hu Lie, "You two generals have worked hard."
There was a small door behind the dragon throne in the palace hall, which led to a side hall where the emperor could rest. After Cang Xuan led the emperor into the hall, he rushed straight there and laid the emperor on the bed.
As soon as he put the emperor down, Eunuch Bao and the others stepped forward, intending to touch the emperor. Cang Xuan's eyes darkened. He grabbed Eunuch Bao's hand and pushed him away, "Get out!"
Caught off guard by the push, Eunuch Bao almost fell. He never expected Cang Xuan to react so strongly. Supported by the other eunuchs, he got up and said, "My Lord Cang, His Majesty is unwell. Please let us serve by his side. We'll feed His Majesty warm water and wait for the imperial physician to arrive."
Cang Xuan's eyes were as cold as ice. His red lips parted slightly, and he said word by word, "I told you to get out."
Su Yuanyuan understood that he was worried about the emperor's condition. He didn't want others to touch the emperor because he was afraid that someone might do harm to him. After all, for him, there was no one in this deep palace that he could trust.
She pressed Cang Xuan's hand and patted it soothingly. Then she turned to Eunuch Bao and said, "Eunuch Bao, don't be offended. My Lord Cang is just concerned about His Majesty. His Majesty suddenly fell seriously ill, and the situation is critical. He needs immediate treatment. You may not know that I'm actually quite knowledgeable about medicine. Recently, I've also learned a lot from the 'Divine Doctor of the Medical Field'. It will take some time for the imperial physician to come from the imperial hospital. Why don't I diagnose and treat His Majesty first?"
Eunuch Bao hesitated and said, "I'm afraid this isn't appropriate. After all—" As he said this, he glanced at Cang Xuan behind him.
Su Yuanyuan knew what he wanted to say. If they all stepped back, the safety of the emperor would be completely in the hands of Cang Xuan and her. If anything happened, he, as a eunuch, couldn't bear such a responsibility.
Su Yuanyuan said, "Eunuch Bao, don't worry. His Majesty is my adoptive father. I'm still waiting for him to attend my wedding with Lord Cang. I will definitely not let anything happen to His Majesty. If something really goes wrong, Lord Cang and I will take full responsibility. We will never drag you into it."
Looking at Cang Xuan, who was full of killing intent, Eunuch Bao had no choice but to say, "Alright."
Eunuch Bao led his people out. In the side hall, only Cang Xuan, Su Yuanyuan, and the unconscious emperor were left.
With no one around, a crack appeared in Cang Xuan's cold shell, revealing the uneasiness and panic hidden beneath his mask. "Girl..."
Su Yuanyuan held his hand. Her expression was extremely calm, and she gently comforted him, "Brother Yunjian, don't panic. Leave everything to me."
She took a step forward, knelt beside the bed, picked up the emperor's hand, and placed her fingers on his pulse.
The emperor's pulse was erratic, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, sometimes deep and sometimes shallow, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Su Yuanyuan heard the system's prompt in her ear: [The patient has been poisoned by the 'Water Goddess' poison. The toxin has invaded the heart and lungs, which is why there are signs of coughing up blood.]
How could this happen?! The emperor was actually poisoned?!
Su Yuanyuan was secretly shocked and quickly asked, [Little Eight, what kind of poison is the 'Water Goddess'?]
Little Eight replied, [The 'Water Goddess' is a chronic poison. It's colorless and odorless. The toxin of the poisoned person will accumulate in the heart and lungs, gradually increasing the burden on the heart and lungs. At first, the person will show symptoms of coughing. Ordinary people will only think it's a cold and treat it accordingly, but it will only make the condition worse. Eventually, the toxin will devour the patient's body, and the heart and lungs will atrophy and lead to death. For those who have been poisoned by this poison, when their chests are opened after death, there will be nothing left inside.]
Seeing Su Yuanyuan frowning in deep thought while feeling the emperor's pulse, and her brows never relaxing, Cang Xuan's heart sank deeper. He asked hoarsely, "How is it? Is there still a chance of saving him?"
Su Yuanyuan also asked Little Eight the same question: [Is there still a chance of saving him?]
Little Eight said in Su Yuanyuan's mind, [There's a chance. His heart and lung organs haven't started to atrophy yet. As long as the toxin is removed in time, he can survive. But he doesn't have much time left. He can live for at most three to five years.]
[Little Eight, no matter what mistakes the emperor made many years ago, he is still Brother Yunjian's father. I must cure him. Even if he only has three to five years left to live, at least he can live to see Brother Yunjian get married and have children, and live to see Aunt Shu. Even if he has to atone for his sins, he should do it while alive.]
Su Yuanyuan said firmly.
She withdrew her hand, looked up at Cang Xuan, and showed a smile. "Brother Yunjian, don't worry. There's a chance. Leave everything to me."
She came to the palace to attend the promotion ceremony today and didn't bring her medicine box and tools. But there were plenty in Little Eight's warehouse. She took out a set of acupuncture needles, laid them out beside her, picked up a silver needle, and skillfully inserted it into the emperor's heart, philtrum, and limbs.
Her acupuncture technique was different from that of ordinary people. She either flicked or rotated the needles. After a series of needles were inserted, the unconscious emperor soon rolled his eyes, coughed, and slowly opened his eyes.
Cang Xuan was guarding beside the bed. The emperor saw him as soon as he opened his eyes. The emperor had just woken up, and his mind was still hazy. His eyes were unfocused, and he mistook Cang Xuan for someone else. He murmured,
"A Yun... Is that you coming back?"
As he said this, he even tried to reach out his hand to touch Cang Xuan's face. But because his body was weak, his hand only lifted a little and then dropped down. A sharp pain came from his heart. The emperor's vision became a little clearer, and he realized that he had mistaken the person. The one in front of him was Cang Xuan.
The awake emperor couldn't help but cough twice and said, "Lord Cang, it's you."
There was obvious disappointment in his eyes. That disappointment was like a thorn, piercing deeply into Cang Xuan's heart and making it hard for him to breathe.