Chapter 3 Did you poison yourself?
Xie Chengyan's face was right in front of her, and she could smell a faint smell of sulfur on him. It wasn't unpleasant, and it even made her feel a little intoxicated.
In the past few days since Yin Ning's accident, the concubines in the palace have been looking for a way out for themselves. Those who cannot be relied upon at home have turned to the ministers in the palace for support, and some have even turned to the eunuchs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ye Lanzhou had just entered the palace and didn't know anyone there. She could only rely on herself from beginning to end. If she really followed him, it would be a good way out.
Apart from the fact that it sounds bad when said out loud, there's nothing else to it.
But what Ye Lanzhou cares least about is reputation.
Xie Chengyan's handsome face grew bigger and bigger in her eyes, until he suddenly applied a little force on the toad's blood on Ye Lanzhou's right arm. She cried out in pain and tried to pull her arm back, but was pinched tightly by Xie Chengyan.
"Noble Lady Ye is so bold that she actually dares to fake a pregnancy pulse?"
He lifted up Ye Lanzhou's sleeve and saw three needle holes at the base of her right hand. Those were the needles she had used to fake a slippery pulse.
Ye Lanzhou stared directly at the brocade strips covering his eyes, knowing that he was looking back at her. "Since Your Highness knew, why didn't you expose it? Shouldn't someone who forged your brother's dragon fetus be put to death?"
"Didn't you set up this trap just to lure me into it?"
Xie Chengyan smiled lightly and slowly sat down on the main seat in the bedroom. "Tell me, what is your purpose in putting on such a great show, Concubine Ye?"
"What purpose can this concubine have? Nothing more than to survive."
Xie Chengyan didn't say anything, meaning that Ye Lanzhou should continue.
"The poison of Gelsemium elegans eats away at the bone marrow. Within ten days, the victim will gnaw off their own fingers like a mad mule or horse. Perhaps all three hundred craftsmen in the prince's Divine Machine Battalion are infected with this poison? This poison originated in Nanyang, so it's not recorded in the Imperial Hospital. But as luck would have it, I spent a few years in Nanyang and happen to know how to detoxify it."
"If I am buried alive with the emperor, I am afraid that the prince's three hundred craftsmen will also die."
Xie Chengyan finally spoke, his voice low and heavy, with a hint of the majesty that only a king could possess: "Threatening me?"
"It's a deal. If Your Majesty can save my life, I will do it for you, even at the cost of my life!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Lanzhou kowtowed deeply to show his sincerity.
"look up."
Ye Lanzhou raised her head upon hearing that, and Xie Chengyan looked at her face carefully for the first time. He saw that the corners of her eyes were slightly raised, and she had a pair of cold eyes, which concealed some of her wisdom and diluted her natural charm.
Such a pair of eyes is rare.
"Saving your life is worth the lives of three hundred of my craftsmen. It's a good deal, but—"
"Why should I trust you? If you take this opportunity to escape, I will get nothing."
Ye Lanzhou suddenly pulled out a scarlet pill from his sleeve and swallowed it without hesitation. "This poison attacks every twelve hours. If there is no antidote within ten days, I will die suddenly."
Xie Chengyan pinched her jaw. Every move of this person was beyond his expectations. He didn't like this feeling very much, so he increased the strength in his hand: "Did you poison yourself?"
Ye Lanzhou couldn't help but cry out in pain from the severe pain under his jaw. Fighting back tears, he handed another bottle of medicine to Xie Chengyan: "This is a pledge of allegiance to the prince."
Seeing Ye Lanzhou's eyes filled with tears, her face looked pitiful, yet she had done such a bold thing, it was like handing her life directly into his hands. Xie Chengyan's face darkened, and he loosened the hand that was pinching her chin. He lowered his eyes to glance at the antidote she had thrust into his hand, and then stuffed it into his sleeve. "The number of people buried alive should be even, not odd. The Empress shouldn't have been among them, but she was so infatuated that she just took the place of Concubine Ye. Concubine Ye is pregnant with the dragon fetus, so she should rest well. Tomorrow, I'll have He Qiumao find a good place for Concubine Ye to rest."
"As for the things, I have accepted them. Within ten days, I want the antidote for Gelsemium elegans to appear on the desk of the Shenji Camp."
Ye Lanzhou felt relieved after hearing these words. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Your Highness Prince Rui."
Xie Chengyan had no intention of saying anything else. He stood up and was about to leave, glancing down at the brocade strips.
Because Ye Lanzhou had just struggled under the hands of several maids, his collar was a little messy at the moment. From Xie Chengyan's perspective, a small piece of snow-white skin was exposed.
For some reason, the image of the jade dildo he saw in the room that day suddenly surfaced in his mind. Before leaving, he left a sentence: "The late emperor was a no-good person. Concubine Ye's lies were too poor."
After Xie Chengyan left, the bedroom finally returned to its original tranquility. Ye Lanzhou slumped on the ground. She did not think deeply about the meaning of his last words. She just reached out and felt around her neck for a silver longevity lock, which was left to her by her biological mother.
She never expected that the things she learned from her mother on a whim could now save her from danger.
The next morning, He Qiumao arranged for her to move to Yongshou Palace, and Ye Lanzhou also understood the meaning of Xie Chengyan's arrangement for her.
Yongshou Palace is close to the palace pharmacy, so his place is convenient for her.
When Ye Lanzhou arrived at the Shang Pharmacy that day, he heard the female officials inside whispering, "Have you heard? A noble lady pregnant with a dragon fetus has just moved into the Yongshou Palace, the courtyard next door."
"I heard about it. I think it's probably an excuse to save her life by saying she's pregnant with a dragon fetus. She's really brave."
The person who spoke was Huo Mingyue, the chief pharmacist of the Shang Pharmacy. Ye Lanzhou knew her. She used to work in the Queen's Palace. Later, when she got older, she was promoted to the Shang Pharmacy.
"But didn't the Imperial Physician come to check her pulse? And he said at that time that she was indeed pregnant?"
Huo Mingyue sneered and said, "What does Lady Ye do at home? The pulse condition—"
She curled her lips and said, "I can't say for sure about her, but Shuang'er, you know what? I've been in the palace for so many years, and I can tell whether a woman is a virgin or not. Just look at the way that noblewoman walks, and you'll know she's definitely a virgin."
As she spoke, she lowered her voice again: "I heard from the eunuchs serving outside the room that day that when they went in, the room didn't look like it was done, it looked like it hadn't even started yet!"
…
Just as he was lost in thought, he saw the female official he had been gossiping with come out carrying a medicine basket. She bumped into Ye Lanzhou standing at the door. Startled, he immediately felt guilty and bowed, "Noble Lady Ye."
Huo Mingyue, the chief pharmacist of the Imperial Pharmacy, also came out upon hearing the commotion. Unlike the female official, she was quite arrogant. Convinced that Ye Lanzhou was not pregnant, she didn't even bother to greet her. Instead, she began to taunt her, "Isn't this Concubine Ye from Yongshou Palace? What brings you here?"
Ye Lanzhou wasn't angry. He had only come to get a medicine, so there was no need to cause any conflict. The most important thing right now was to make an antidote for the Gelsemium elegans, not to compete with these insignificant people. So he said kindly, "I'm not feeling well, and I came to ask for some medicine from the Shang Pharmacy."
Huo Mingyue was not a pushover. He quickly came up with an idea, sneered, and said, "Okay, according to the rules of the palace pharmacy, I have to feel your pulse before I can give you any medicine."
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