Chapter 79
When the knife struck the small sword, Xue Jin'an already sensed something was wrong. Most people, when faced with danger they can't withstand, will instinctively try to dodge. Even knowing they can't escape, their legs will weaken and their limbs will go numb; their brain will still give the signal, and their muscles will twitch uncontrollably. This has nothing to do with skill level; it's purely a natural reaction ingrained in human genes.
Xue Jin'an's movements were fast, but not so fast that even basic bodily reflexes couldn't keep up. However, when he sensed the danger coming with the blade's wind, Xiao Jian didn't even try to dodge, which speaks volumes.
Poisonous blood spurted out, drenching the imperial physicians and the Third Prince from head to toe. Even though there was no concept of bacterial infection in ancient times, the imperial physicians knew that dirty things should not touch wounds. Seeing the Third Prince covered in dirty blood from his wounds, the imperial physicians immediately cried out in alarm.
"Hold your breath and be quiet." The still-childish voice was steady and calm, and the imperial physician, whose mind was in turmoil, subconsciously did as he was told the moment he heard it.
This was the first time Xue Jin'an had miscalculated. He was never good at predicting people's hearts. He sensed that Xiao Jian's killing intent towards the Third Prince was real, but he really didn't expect that the other party would go to such lengths to kill the Third Prince. It was one thing to be obsequious and serve one's enemy closely, but he was even ruthless enough to turn his blood into poison and endure beatings and scoldings, just to wait for such an opportunity.
Humans are indeed hard to understand. Xue Jin'an was puzzled and deeply shocked. He was even a little curious about what grudge Xiao Jian held against the Third Prince.
However, even if Xue Jin'an couldn't understand people's hearts, he knew that now was not the time to inquire about the cause and effect. The most important thing at the moment was the life of the Third Prince. Xue Jin'an didn't have any specific criteria for saving the Third Prince. He didn't care whether the Third Prince lived or died, and he didn't feel any guilt towards him. Of course, even if the above were true, Xue Jin'an had already killed the Third Prince once with poison and saved his life, so it could be considered that the matter was settled.
Xue Jin'an took the initiative mainly because he was interested in Xiao Jian's poisonous blood.
Then the imperial physician saw the seventh prince, carrying a knife, squat down next to him. He raised his hand and first pressed all the major acupoints on the third prince's body, but then said, "Bring me some wine."
The Third Prince was already unconscious, and Xue Jin'an had sealed his acupoints to slow down his blood flow as much as possible. However, this could only reduce the speed at which the toxic bacteria mixed in with the poisonous blood entered his body. The most urgent task was to deal with the poisonous blood in his body first.
"Wine?" The imperial physicians, who were waiting for the Seventh Prince to have some brilliant way to save the prince's life, were stunned by the answer.
Xue Jin'an nodded and added, "I want the strongest liquor."
Alcohol is a powerful disinfectant, but the alcohol content of ancient wines was too low. Even the strongest wines were far from reaching the alcohol content required for medical use. Alcohol with a concentration below 70% is less effective at disinfection, but it's better than nothing.
When the Seventh Prince made his request, not only did the imperial physicians look strange, but even the Empress Dowager couldn't help but wonder about Xue Jin'an's intentions. Some even jumped to the conclusion that Guan Yu had his bone scraped during surgery in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, thinking to themselves: Guan Yu could drink and eat meat and talk and laugh without fear of pain even when his bone was scraped while he was still alive. If the Third Prince were in pain, he would probably beat him to death.
While they were still undecided, Cui Zui, who regarded every word of his master as a golden rule, had already turned around and gone to find wine. Fortunately, there was no shortage of wine at the palace banquet. No more than two breaths after Xue Jin'an finished speaking, Cui Zui came running back with wine, "Master, catch!"
Cui Zui used his light-footed skill to rush over, but even so he still felt it was a waste of time, so he threw the two jars of wine he was carrying from a distance.
Xue Jin'an casually reached forward and then withdrew his knife, effortlessly taking the two jars of wine and tossing them into the arms of the two imperial physicians.
The two imperial physicians hurriedly grabbed the wine jar, and just as they breathed a sigh of relief, they heard the Seventh Prince point at the Third Prince and say, "Clean the wound with wine."
Upon hearing this, the imperial physicians' expressions changed drastically. They did have the concept of disinfection; for example, when they used a knife to remove rotten flesh from a patient, they would first cauterize the knife with fire. However, the application of disinfection in modern medicine was limited to this.
Therefore, upon first hearing Xue Jin'an's words, one might assume that he also harbored a grudge against the Third Prince and wanted to make him suffer.
After all, the Third Prince was known for having many enemies, and they only knew that pouring wine on a wound would cause great pain, but they did not know that wine could also disinfect.
In fact, Xue Jin'an, seeing them remain motionless for a long time, had the same thought and asked directly, "Do you have a grudge against Third Brother?"
Consort Xian had just recovered from her shock and was staring intently at everything happening around her with bloodshot eyes. She didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing Xiao Qi's efforts to save his son. Upon hearing this, her eyes, filled with intense killing intent and hatred, immediately locked onto the imperial physician.
The imperial physician shuddered and quickly denied it, "No, no, I have never spoken to the Third Prince, so how could I have incurred his wrath?"
"Then what are you delaying?" Xue Jin'an asked seriously.
Upon hearing this, the imperial physicians felt a wave of dizziness. They realized that the Seventh Prince was truly ruthless, and if anything happened to the Third Prince, the blame would fall squarely on them. Without thinking, they quickly pulled the stopper off the wine jar and began to wash the Third Prince.
Xue Jin'an then grabbed the noose around the Third Prince's neck.
—Although the imperial physicians noticed the band around his neck as soon as they arrived, saving his life was more important than removing it to give the Third Prince a dignified appearance. They were busy stopping the bleeding and checking his legs, not even paying attention to the non-life-threatening bruises on his body, let alone a mere rope.
Xue Jin'an turned on the USB connection again, and sure enough, a red pop-up window appeared again, and the security software immediately started running.
However, this time was quite different from the previous times. In the past, the poison had been in the body for a long time, so they could simply find the source of the virus and kill it before making a clean getaway. But this time, the wounds on the Third Prince's body were still exposed, and the virus was constantly invading his body.
The antivirus software scanned for a while, but found that it couldn't completely remove the virus. Finally, after some inexplicable code-related discussion, it popped up a message for Xue Jin'an: "[This device is experiencing an error. Do you want to format this device?]"
Formatting a phone erases all data, but what happens when a human formats it? Xue Jin'an fell into deep thought.
Consort Xian suddenly shivered inexplicably, her heart pounding rapidly. She had a gut feeling that if she didn't say or do something now, she might lose something very important.
Following her intuition, Consort Xian suddenly began to curse Xiao Jian, "You ungrateful, treacherous dog of a servant! Huan'er treated him so well, yet he treated Huan'er so viciously. He is truly a heartless wretch. His death is not enough to quell the hatred in my heart!"
As Consort Xian cursed, her temper flared up. She was so angry that she didn't care about her status as a concubine. She stepped forward and kicked Xiao Jian's corpse twice, cursing him wildly. Finally, she sneered and said, "May you have a slow journey to the Yellow Springs. I'm afraid you'll be too lonely, so I will send your entire clan down to keep you company!"
"Go, investigate this dog of a servant's background thoroughly!" Consort Xian was truly furious. Her eyes were bloodshot as she cursed until she was almost fainting from lack of oxygen. She took two deep breaths and gave this order to the maid who was supporting her.
"This..." The personal maid was a little embarrassed and whispered to Consort Xian, "Xiao Jian no longer has any relatives living."
Most of the eunuchs in the palace were unfortunate people, and Xiao Jian was no exception. He was originally a little beggar whose parents were unknown. In order to avoid being beaten and to get enough to eat, he was stabbed and entered the palace. Later, he did recognize some godparents in the palace, calling them godfathers and godsisters.
His godfather, Yuan Fang, did indeed have some reputation. He was a minor eunuch in charge of the Shanglin Garden Supervisory Office, which was responsible for managing gardens, livestock, vegetables, fruits, and many other things in the palace. The Imperial Beast Garden and the Flower Room were under its jurisdiction. However, Yuan Fang had already been granted permission to leave the palace to retire a few years ago. He was long gone and had left little protection for Xiao Jian and his god-sister. On the contrary, many people who had grudges against Yuan Fang came to make trouble for them.
To be honest, Xiao Jian was able to work for the Third Prince because his sworn sister was assigned to work at Yonghe Palace. When Consort Xian needed to add servants to the Third Prince's side, she would naturally prioritize those recommended by her subordinates. However, while Xiao Jian successfully stayed by the Third Prince's side, his sworn sister made a mistake without realizing it and was severely punished by Consort Xian before being sent back. She was probably assigned to the laundry department afterward.
"I don't know what happened after that, I only know that she died," the personal maid replied softly, carefully observing her expression.
Consort Xian was slightly taken aback. She couldn't remember who Xiao Jian's god-sister was at all. Every year, people in her palace would be replaced. Those who made mistakes, didn't work hard, or didn't meet her standards were basically sent back. It was the same every year. She had no impression of Xiao Jian's god-sister whatsoever.
After a moment of stunned silence, she erupted in fury. "She made a mistake, and I only sent her back. It was already merciful of me not to kill her outright. How dare this dog of a servant hold a grudge against me! I should have killed those two heartless siblings back then, so my son wouldn't have to suffer like this. I regret it so much!"
Although Consort Xian hated Xiao Jian to the core, she also knew that it was impossible for Xiao Jian to be the only one to attack the Third Prince. There must be other masters behind him, and the most likely ones were the First Prince and the Second Prince!
Consort Xian stared at the two princes without any attempt to hide her feelings, and then knelt down directly before the emperor. She wanted to show a pitiful appearance like Xiao Shu had before. As the person favored by the emperor, second only to Consort Zhen in favor, Xiao Shu would always put on a delicate and weak act in front of the emperor, which the emperor obviously found very appealing.
However, it can only be said that being a scheming woman or a seductive vixen requires talent, and Consort Xian had absolutely no talent in this regard.
She was sobbing uncontrollably, her beautiful features slightly distorted with anger, showing no sign of pitifulness. In fact, her eyes were filled with a fierce light, making her look like she could stab someone with a knife at any moment.
"Your Majesty, Grandmother, the person behind this is so scheming against Huan'er; they must be someone who fears Huan'er!" Consort Xian cried. "Please, you must do justice for Huan'er!"
What a powerful voice that can cry out for justice.
Consort Xian wasn't the only one thinking about the eldest and second princes. The emperor didn't want this matter to really involve the other princes. To put it nicely, they were all his sons, and he would be upset if any of them got into trouble.
To put it more bluntly and coldly: if we drag the eldest and second princes into this now, it will not only sound bad, but also damage the royal family's reputation. Besides, one mistress has already fallen, so why drag the other two down with her?
So the emperor offered a few perfunctory words of comfort, implying that the murderer had already been executed and that it was best to show leniency and not pursue the matter any further.
Her son had already been harmed to such an extent, how could Consort Xian not investigate? Not only would she investigate, she wished she could tear him apart, drink his blood, and grind his bones to dust!
Consort Xian was never one to read people's expressions, so even if she understood what the Emperor was saying, she pretended not to hear and only said resentfully, "Your Majesty, please thoroughly investigate this matter and severely punish the person behind it!"
The emperor, his face displeased, was about to say something when the Empress Dowager cut him off with a casual question: "Imperial Physician, how is Langhuan now?"
The imperial physician had already cleaned the Third Prince with wine, and the wound had been washed with wine until it turned white. He had wrapped the Third Prince's entire body tightly with strips of cloth. Upon hearing this, the physician felt bitter and could only turn around and reply quickly.
He first emphasized the severity of the Third Prince's injuries, then explained his treatment methods, and finally stated that the Third Prince was blessed by his ancestors, that he was healthy and lucky, and that he had temporarily escaped death. However, the exact nature of the poisoned blood would only be determined after the Third Prince woke up, and it would also be possible to determine whether he was completely out of danger. That was roughly the gist of it.
Consort Xian listened quietly and carefully, pondering these words in her heart, before asking about the Third Prince's leg: "What about Huan'er's leg? How is his leg?"
"This—" The imperial physician looked conflicted and hesitant, and in the end did not give a direct answer. He simply lowered his head and cupped his hands, saying, "This humble servant is dull and his medical skills in treating external injuries are mediocre. Perhaps we should wait for Chief Physician Hu to return and examine me."
Hu Yuanzheng had already left the palace to return to his hometown for the festival before the new year. His skill in treating external injuries was indeed the best, but that did not mean that the other imperial physicians were completely incompetent in this area. The other party's claim that his medical skills were mediocre was clearly an excuse.
What Consort Xian feared most was not that he would sentence her son to death, but rather that he would willingly admit his lack of medical skills and refuse to make a judgment. This often meant that the imperial physicians were not optimistic about the outcome of the treatment, dared not take responsibility, and used delaying tactics.
Consort Xian's heart sank, and anger burned like wildfire in her internal organs. Even her gaze towards the Emperor was fierce. "Huan'er is already in such a state. I hope Your Majesty will have mercy!"
The emperor frowned, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Investigate," the Empress Dowager declared decisively.
The Third Prince and the Prince of An's heir were carried away together, while the remaining, dying eunuch was to be dragged away for questioning. However, he was clearly just cannon fodder and was destined not to get any information out of him.
The key target of this investigation is Xiao Jian, but Xiao Jian is already dead. It's not impossible to find out his background and then follow the clues to catch the person behind him, but it will take a lot of time.
Even though Consort Xian knew, she was still unwilling to accept it. Looking at the unharmed eldest and second princes, and thinking of her own son whose fate was unknown, she finally looked at another "victim's family member," trying to pull him onto the same side. "Does Prince An have anything to say?"
Prince An could not hide his grief, and his voice was hoarse as he said, "No matter how long it takes, I will fight to the death with the person behind this!"
Just when Consort Xian was about to despair, she suddenly heard a familiar young voice say, "It won't be long before we're locked in a life-or-death struggle."
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xue Jin'an take out a half-empty wine jar from the mess. The jar had a red seal with the character "米" (rice) on it, which was one of the two jars of rice wine bestowed by the emperor.
"The cane has a scent that can attract Gu worms, so the Third Prince must have Gu worms in his body... When and how were these Gu worms introduced?" Xue Jin'an asked rhetorically, deftly pouring two bowls of wine and placing them in front of the First and Second Princes. The two, who had always been at odds, suddenly felt a tacit understanding, their temples throbbing in unison, as if they had a bad premonition.
Xue Jin'an shoved the rice wine into their hands, his voice as calm as if he were telling them to drink the most ordinary tea, coldly uttering a single word: "Drink."
In reality, it was just an ordinary bowl of rice wine, and this jar of rice wine wasn't even the one the Third Prince drank from. As for the jar the Third Prince drank from, it had already shattered when he overturned the table. However, everyone's attention was focused on the fight between the two of them, and no one cared about the jar at all.
However, even if it really was that jar, it wasn't poisonous. Xue Jin'an had checked it before, and both jars of rice wine were fine.
But could others be as certain as Xue Jin'an? They were merely the ones issuing the orders, and their subordinates carried them out. Even if they meticulously planned when to administer the poison, they would still harbor seeds of doubt and suspicion.
Even if the two of them remained indifferent and let it pass, could their subordinates really sit still? They couldn't just smash their wine bowls to accuse Xue Jin'an, since Xue Jin'an hadn't said anything, and their overreaction would make them seem guilty.
Suddenly, they were caught in a dilemma, unable to back down, by a mere bowl of wine.
"Big brother, second brother," Xue Jin'an asked sincerely, toying with a broken piece of his cane, "why aren't you drinking?"
"Do you need my help?" Xue Jin'an said, actually reaching out his hand, seemingly intending to force the bowl of rice wine down their throats. Caught off guard, they drank a little, the broken cane almost poking their faces. A strange fragrance wafted into their noses, and they felt something stirring restlessly inside their bodies.
Immediately, the two of them changed their expressions and were frantically thinking of a solution when they heard Xue Jin'an suddenly say, "It's definitely easier to knock him out first."
As soon as they looked up, they saw Xue Jin'an's eyes scanning the sides of their necks. They had witnessed how Xue Jin'an had knocked out the Third Prince. If the Third Prince's body couldn't withstand it, they certainly couldn't either!
Compared to the eldest prince, who was older and had already experienced things in the court, the second prince's anxiety was more obvious.
No, I absolutely can't drink this. There's definitely something in this rice wine. What should I do? What should I do? The Second Prince was anxious. Suddenly, he looked at the First Prince, and his eyes lit up as if he had thought of something. He said to himself, "Better to die for my friend than for me. I'm sorry, brother."
Then, he put on a hesitant look as if he had something to say but didn't know whether he should or not, and slowly sighed to the eldest prince, "Brother, you shouldn't do this. Third brother has never told anyone about your identity. Even if you have half Rongdi blood, we are still brothers."
The eldest prince's eyes suddenly darkened.
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