"Let me take a look!" Shen Li walked up to He Yimeng, who was tightly held in Xiao Luochi's arms, and said to the two of them.
Hearing this, Xiao Luochi looked at Shen Li warily. However, he only hesitated for a moment before releasing He Yimeng.
Only then did Shen Li step forward to check He Yimeng's injury. Looking at He Yimeng, who was pale and on the verge of losing consciousness, Shen Li's heart raced with alarm. Without delay, she took He Yimeng's hand to feel her pulse.
Then she found the small hidden weapon near the wound. "The injury she suffered is not too serious. As long as the bleeding is stopped, it'll be fine! It's just..."
"Just what?"
"Just that the hidden weapon was poisoned, which makes it a bit troublesome. That's why Miss He's condition is so critical!"
"What kind of poison did she get? How can we detoxify it?" Hearing this, Xiao Luochi immediately became agitated, not even noticing that his hand had tightly grasped Shen Li's wrist.
Shen Li tried to break free but failed, so she gave up. "I can't tell what the poison is for now. It's best to go back and ask the imperial physician so that we can prescribe the right medicine! I have some hemostatic medicine and antidote pills here. We can give her some first!"
"Okay! Apply the medicine to her!" Xiao Luochi handed He Yimeng to Shen Li, then stood up and ordered someone to prepare a carriage.
Shen Li took out the hemostatic powder she always carried and sprinkled some on He Yimeng's wound. This hemostatic powder was specially made by the Night Shadow Division and contained many precious medicinal herbs. As soon as it was applied to He Yimeng's wound, the bleeding stopped within a short time.
Seeing this, Shen Li took out an antidote pill and asked He Yimeng to swallow it. He Yimeng still had some consciousness at this time and opened her mouth to swallow the pill as told.
This antidote pill also came from the Night Shadow Division. It could detoxify ordinary poisons, and for some uncommon poisons, taking it could also temporarily slow down the spread of the toxin.
Shen Yi's carriage was offered. Xiao Luochi immediately picked up He Yimeng and put her into the carriage, then drove the horse away.
After the silver - masked black - clothed man had thrown that hidden weapon and failed to injure Xiao Hanzhi as he wished, he frowned regretfully. Then, without hesitation, he led his accomplices away.
Xiao Hanzhi continued to lead the imperial guards to chase those black - clothed men. However, those black - clothed men were all highly skilled in martial arts, obviously more powerful than the previous group.
They all used light - body skills to escape, and the imperial guards couldn't catch up at all. Xiao Hanzhi had no choice but to return disappointed.
Such was the eventful day. Everyone returned to the capital city.
...
In a forest about twenty or thirty miles away from the dense forest just now, the black - clothed men who had just escaped all stopped here.
The silver - masked black - clothed man in the front let go of the other red - masked black - clothed man he had been supporting all the way.
"Cough, cough!" The red - masked man seemed to be seriously injured. Even though he had landed and was let go, he still couldn't help coughing painfully.
He took off the mask he had been wearing with difficulty, revealing a weak and pale face. He had sword - like eyebrows and star - like eyes. Even though he was injured and his face looked terrible, one could still see his extraordinary air between his eyebrows.
"Hehe! I didn't expect that today it would be you who came to save me! Well, did you come here specially to watch my joke?"
The silver - masked black - clothed man also lifted his mask. He had a pair of slender eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips tightly pursed. He was also imposing. On closer inspection, he looked somewhat similar to the man just now.
"Your Highness! Your subject wouldn't dare!" The black - clothed man clasped his fists and bowed.
"Humph! There are only your people around now. This is a good opportunity to kill me! If I die, from now on, there will be no one standing in your way!" The red - masked black - clothed man didn't appreciate the other's life - saving grace and immediately sneered.
"Your Highness is joking! Your subject just did what he should do and shared the emperor's worries!" Although the silver - masked black - clothed man said so, his tone didn't sound very respectful.
"Hehe! He Lianyun, today was just a momentary oversight on my part. I trusted the wrong person, which is why I failed! You don't need to be so smug! Sooner or later, I will definitely defeat you! The throne can only be mine!"
"It seems that Your Highness still hasn't realized your own mistake from today's incident!" He Lianyun, whom the red - masked black - clothed man had mentioned, said to his elder brother, He Liancheng, who was also his competitor for the throne.
"Your Highness's biggest mistake today was being too reckless! Dongling is a great country. Your Highness wouldn't think that with just the dozens of people under you, you could kidnap and take the three princes of Dongling out of the country, would you?"
"Why not? I captured them before. If it weren't for the Prince Li of Dongling getting in the way, we would have already been on our way west with them." He Liancheng was still immersed in his almost - successful plan.
Seeing this, He Lianyun didn't hold back at all and said, "Your Highness is being too naive! Not to mention the long journey from Dongling to Xiyue, there will be numerous risks and inspections on the way. Just think, would the three princes of Dongling and the heir of the Prince Li travel without any bodyguards?"
"Why did they only bring a young servant with them and suddenly go to the back mountain of Pufa Temple today? Your Highness, don't you find it strange?"
He Liancheng immediately reacted. "You mean they deliberately lured me to make a move today!"
"Not to lure Your Highness, but to lure out the group of assassins who had been trying to kill Xiao Hanzhi. That group of assassins didn't come today, but Your Highness intercepted them at Pufa Temple."
"That's impossible! Even if they are powerful, there are only a few of them. I brought a full sixty - odd people! Isn't this just walking into a trap?" He Liancheng said uncertainly.
He Lianyun sneered and said slowly, "If it weren't for the soft - skill - dispersing powder, Your Highness would have become a prisoner today!"
"Even I only got the news not long ago. Without the soft - skill - dispersing powder, Your Highness wouldn't have lasted until I came to save you!"
"Humph! Sounds nice, He Lianyun. Do you think I'm a fool and can be easily deceived? You must have arrived long before. You just watched me get into a desperate situation and only stepped in to save me when I was on the verge of collapse! Now, all my trusted subordinates are dead. Is this what you wanted?"
Hearing this, He Lianyun neither admitted nor refuted. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "It's getting late! I'll send someone to take Your Highness to a safe place. I'll arrange for you to go back tomorrow."