Chapter 95 The Emperor is Poisoned by Pill
Upon hearing that Shi Qingchen wanted to see Yunxi, Gu Nanxiao immediately looked at her reflexively. He had a feeling that the little girl would agree to meet her.
However, the reality was exactly the opposite of what Gu Nanxiao had imagined. Yunxi just sneered and then ordered the guards, "Go back and tell Shi Qingchen that he should not even think about anything other than paying for my sworn sister's life."
Also, give a heads-up to the other guards stationed at the Shi family's old residence. Their job is simply to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't die or escape, and that's it.
"If any more requests like this are sent back, you don't need to pay any attention to them." After giving these instructions, Yunxi waved the guard away.
Seeing Yunxi's strong rejection of Shi Qingchen, Gu Nanxiao felt incredibly relieved. It was as if a huge boulder that had been weighing on his heart for so long had been suddenly lifted away.
It turns out that Yunxi's special attention to Shi Qingchen was really just to avenge her sworn sister; Shi Qingchen has now been taken into custody.
Yunxi felt she didn't want to see him or hear him say a word. After all that, she realized those strange feelings were just her own paranoia.
Gu Nanxiao happily pulled her over and sat her on his lap. However, this action immediately made Yunxi hiss in pain. What should have been an awkward situation was instead reminded of the reason for the incident by this reminder.
Gu Nanxiao had already told Yunxi the whole story of what happened last night, so when he didn't go to the morning court today, Yunxi guessed that he might be up to something, but she didn't know exactly how he planned to do it.
Yunxi dismissed everyone in the room and asked Gu Nanxiao, "Now that the emperor wants to take his subject's wife, how do you plan to deal with it?"
Looking at Yunxi's expression, Gu Nanqiao tentatively asked, "If I said I don't plan to resign, would you think I'm a coward?"
Yunxi wasn't surprised by this answer. She just wondered if their plans were the same. So she countered, "That depends on your purpose. Tell me your reasons for continuing to serve the Emperor?"
Gu Nanxiao replied without hesitation: "Of course, it's so that we have power and won't end up being at the mercy of others."
If I resign from my post, I will merely be the eldest son of a prince, almost completely losing the ability to protect you. But if I continue to command the Imperial Guard, I can command more than half of the court officials to serve me.
I have incriminating evidence against each of them. If I want to control someone, all I need to do is produce that evidence, and they'll obediently comply.
Upon hearing this, Yunxi nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, we think the same way. The more powerless we are, the more we must hold on to our rights."
If that's truly your reason, then why would I look down on you? It's not that we don't want revenge, we're just looking for a more reliable way to do so.
However, I still have to get through this hurdle. The Empress tricked me into going to a side hall and openly drugged my drink. It's inevitable that she'll summon me back to the palace another day.
Even if we can't eliminate the problem completely, we should at least temporarily prevent such potential threats before we gain momentum.
Gu Nanxiao had already thought of a solution to this matter. As soon as Yunxi asked, he immediately said, "I plan to have my father and grandmother each mention this to the Emperor."
If the person on the dragon throne has any shame, they shouldn't be coming after you again anytime soon.
Yunxi nodded and said, "This is a good idea. That person has long harbored murderous intentions towards you and Prince Yong. Perhaps after we make things clear, he thinks that the best way is to not touch me first."
Perhaps he's thinking, "Once I've taken your and Prince Yong's lives, I'll be at their mercy." So, if we can get the Empress Dowager to talk to him, we should be able to stop him from attacking me again in the short term. This will buy us a few months.
After agreeing on their course of action, the two began to plan the details. An hour later, they opened the study door and had their guards deliver six secret letters.
The following day, Gu Nanxiao and Prince Yong secretly met with Shen Yixing, Shen's maternal uncle. No one knows exactly what they discussed, only that after they reached an agreement, a transfer order was sent to the Northwest.
Gu Nanxiao skipped court for three days, intending to express his feelings to the emperor, but the emperor also skipped court for three days, so he had no idea who had attended court or not.
Royal Palace
The emperor, whose medication had just worn off, lay stiffly on his bed as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. He felt so weak that he couldn't even lift his arm.
Both Eunuch Fuhai and the Empress were so frightened that they summoned all the imperial physicians to take turns examining the Emperor's pulse and conducting a joint consultation.
As a result of the overly potent medicine I took three days ago, there's currently no way to alleviate the condition; I can only rely on time to gradually recover my strength.
Moreover, according to the imperial physicians' diagnosis, the recovery time will not be too fast, at least three months, and at most, perhaps half a year.
The emperor could not accept this result at all. He had only enjoyed himself for three days, but it would take him three months, or even six months, to recover.
Such a terrifying elixir, and that sorcerer dared to present it before the emperor—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he harbored plots to assassinate the monarch. In a fit of rage, the emperor immediately ordered his head chopped off and the elixir pavilion within the palace sealed off as well.
Everyone thought that after this incident, the Emperor would probably not seek immortality again. Who knew that after only two days of recuperation, the Emperor felt unwell all over and had an extreme urge to continue taking elixirs.
The imperial physicians consulted again and concluded that the emperor had been poisoned by elixirs and was now dependent on them. Especially after taking such a potent elixir, ordinary elixirs would probably not be able to meet his needs.
Therefore, the imperial physicians made a difficult decision to persuade the emperor not to immediately stop taking the elixirs, but to try gradually reducing the dosage.
But by the time he said this, all the Taoist priests and finished elixirs that had been kept in the palace had been disposed of by the Emperor's order. Now, not a single elixir could be found in the palace.
After hearing about their deal, the emperor felt even more short of breath. He tore at his nightgown, enduring the discomfort, and ordered notices to be posted throughout the capital, offering a reward for any alchemist who could refine pills.
Because the Emperor had previously killed all the sorcerers in the palace, despite the high price offered in the imperial edict, no sorcerer was willing to enter the palace to refine elixirs for the Emperor.
After the imperial edict was posted, no one paid any attention to it for three consecutive days. At this point, the emperor felt that he could not hold on any longer, and he even had thoughts of committing suicide from time to time.
Upon hearing the Emperor's idea, Eunuch Fuhai was greatly alarmed and quickly suggested to the Emperor that the scope of the notice be expanded and the reward amount be increased.
Without hesitation, the Emperor agreed to his proposal. He tripled the reward and posted notices simultaneously in five prefectures and counties near the capital.
Three more days passed, and a young Taoist priest arrived at the palace gate. Holding an imperial edict in one hand and a box of elixirs in the other, he requested to enter the palace to meet the emperor.
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