Chapter 279 The Medicine is Complete

The room was bright and clean, with a few sprigs of osmanthus flowers in a vase, their sweet and fragrant scent replacing the incense.

Everywhere you look is bright and beautiful, but the pale-faced, deep-set-eyed beauty gives off a chilling feeling.

"Little sister, I'm asking you a question."

Before Qiu Heng could answer, Consort Yu reached out and placed her hand on Qiu Heng's shoulder, just inches away from her fair and slender neck.

Qiu Heng let the bright red nail polish gently trace across her neck, sensing the uncontrollable madness of its owner.

"The Gate of Hell... it should open, right?"

"Should?" Consort Yu's lips slowly curled into a grin, like a vengeful ghost crawling back from hell. "Tonight, all of us sisters are here. Do you think we'll see our parents?"

Qiu Heng raised her hand and grasped the hand resting on her shoulder: "Sister, Father and Mother wouldn't want to see us. They want us to live well."

The girl's eyes were clear and her voice was pure, but Consort Yu felt a surge of anger rising to the top of her head.

"Live well?" Consort Yu flung Qiu Heng's hand away. "How ridiculous! You don't want to die, so you use our parents as an excuse to persuade me?"

"Fear of death is human nature. Doesn't my sister also long for the antidote?"

"You dare mention the antidote!" Consort Yu said, gritting her teeth as she enunciated each word clearly, "You've been lying to me all along!"

"The prescription is almost ready, sister, please wait a little longer—"

"Enough!" Consort Yu swept aside the various straw crafts on the table, her gaze filled with a desire to tear the girl before her to pieces. "You're still lying to me, still stalling for time!"

Qiu Heng was pulled closer by Consort Yu, staring at the gold hairpin in the other's hand.

"Qiuheng, how about we wait until tonight, stab the hairpin into your neck, and say that Fang Rui has returned from the underworld to take your life? Okay?"

After speaking, Consort Yu slowly inserted the hairpin back into her hair bun, a smile playing on her lips as she murmured to herself, "With such a compelling reason, His Majesty will surely believe it without a doubt."

Seeing that Qiu Heng remained unfazed, Consort Yu raised her voice: "Aren't you afraid?"

Qiu Heng lowered her eyes slightly: "I'm afraid."

"I didn't see any fear in you. What, do you think I'm just bluffing you and won't actually do it?"

The girl's composure ignited a fire in Consort Yu's heart.

Why is she the only one who has suffered these past few months?

Why is it that she is the one who has suffered so much for the past ten years or so?

Why? Why?

She'll kill Qiu Heng, who's enjoying everything for her, and see how calm and collected she can be then!

Consort Yu suddenly pulled out the hairpin, and because of the excessive force, her tied-up hair cascaded down like a waterfall. Some strands of hair brushed past her eyebrows and eyes, but they couldn't stop her from raising the golden hairpin and stabbing it into Qiu Heng's throat.

All of this happened very suddenly, but it wasn't so sudden for Qiu Heng.

She sighed inwardly beforehand, and was about to dodge when she heard a voice from the doorway: "Your Majesty, someone outside the palace has sent something to Princess Suiyun."

The golden hairpin, which was about to touch the girl's fair neck, suddenly stopped, and the hand holding the hairpin fell down.

Consort Yu took a step back and said coldly, "Come in."

Qiu Heng noticed that Consort Yu's hand, hanging by her side, was gripping the gold hairpin tightly, and the veins on it were clearly visible.

A palace maid walked in carrying a flat box, her steps light and her back slightly bent.

Consort Yu stared at the unremarkable box for a moment, and a glimmer of light appeared in her deep eyes.

"Princess Suiyun, please open the box."

Upon hearing Consort Yu's words, the palace servants handed the box to Qiu Heng.

Cool fingertips lingered on the box lid for a moment before Qiu Heng opened it. Inside the flat box lay folded pieces of paper.

Consort Yu, who had been staring intently at the box, took a deep breath and said sternly, "Step back!"

The palace servant who brought the box in hurriedly left, leaving only Consort Yu and Qiu Heng in the inner room.

Consort Yu grabbed the paper from the box and eagerly opened it.

As the names of the medicinal herbs came into view, Consort Yu, though ignorant of pharmacology, couldn't help but smile. However, her joyful expression was quickly replaced by doubt.

"Is this really a prescription?"

"Your Highness will know once you try it." Qiu Heng knew that there was no point in saying more. When it came to matters of life and death, Consort Yu only trusted herself.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Consort Yu read the prescription over and over again, making sure she knew it by heart, and then summoned a trusted imperial physician: "I want to see the finished medicine today."

The imperial physician respectfully took the prescription, glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly based on his experience.

The prescription contains several medicinal herbs, most of which are used for detoxification. This medicine is probably some kind of detoxification pill.

So someone has been poisoned?

As soon as he had a vague idea, the imperial physician felt a chill creep up his spine and his whole body go cold.

But having been able to serve as a royal physician peacefully for so many years, and even catching the eye of the Imperial Concubine, the royal physician was perfectly sensible and quickly complied after a moment of surprise.

Darkness fell quickly, and the Jade Palace was brightly lit, but much quieter than usual. Faint chanting could be heard coming from some palace courtyard, indicating that the various rituals of the Ghost Festival were coming to an end.

In the bedroom, Consort Yu sat on the bed, her face growing paler and paler.

She was given poison on the fifteenth of many years ago, and ever since then, if she doesn't take an antidote on the fifteenth of each year, the poison will take effect.

Those bastards would deliberately give her one less antidote each year, so that she would have a lasting impression of the pain of the poison taking effect.

A sharp pain shot through her, and Consort Yu tore her handkerchief to shreds as large drops of sweat streamed down her face.

She bit her lip hard: "Seeing me so disheveled, you feel relieved, don't you?"

Qiu Heng shook her head: "No. I hope my sister is doing well."

"Go out... go wait outside..." Consort Yu did not believe her, and spoke intermittently due to her pain.

Qiu Heng silently walked towards the door and encountered a palace eunuch who rushed over. She took the medicine bottle that the eunuch had obtained from the imperial physician and returned to the inner room.

Before Qiu Heng could speak, Consort Yu snatched the porcelain bottle and poured the contents into her palm, causing two pills to roll to the ground.

But this porcelain bottle wasn't just a small bottle containing a single antidote pill; many more pills remained in the palm of the hand.

Consort Yu stared blankly at the several green pills in her palm, temporarily forgetting even the pain of the poison taking effect.

so much……

Her eyes welled up with tears, and her fingertips recoiled as she touched the pill, her excitement turning into anxiety.

Is this really the cure?

The pain returned, and Consort Yu gave Qiu Heng a deep look before picking up a pill and putting it in her mouth.

The familiar taste melted in her mouth, and Consort Yu's lips trembled. As the pain in her body began to subside and eventually disappeared, she finally couldn't help but cover her face with her hands and cry.

Qiu Heng listened quietly to Consort Yu's cries, knowing that the real test between them had just begun.

The crying gradually stopped, and the room, now only occupied by the two of them, felt empty.

A booklet was handed to Qiuheng.

"Several contact points of Northern Qi spies in the capital region, as well as a list of some personnel in the capital."

Qiu Heng gripped the booklet tightly: "Thank you, sister."

Consort Yu's eyes were still red, but she regained her composure and smiled gently: "As we agreed before, sister, you don't need to be so polite. You can leave the palace first thing tomorrow morning."

Let's leave the palace as soon as possible and kill those bastards.

(End of this chapter)