"Your subject greets Your Majesty!" The Fourth Prince, led by Liang Jiugong, entered the Qianqing Palace and addressed Emperor Kangxi, who was discussing literature and poetry with the Third Prince.
"The fourth prince has arrived." Kangxi seemed to be in a good mood, with a faint smile on his face.
"Your Majesty, I have visited the Crown Prince. His condition is very serious, and I have come to report this to you," the Fourth Prince said, bowing.
"Oh, what happened to Bao Cheng?" Kangxi asked in surprise. The Third Prince, who was standing to the side, also cast a questioning look at the Fourth Prince.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has been afflicted by witchcraft, and Chief Physician Yang has confirmed it," the Fourth Prince said.
"What? Witchcraft!" Kangxi's smile froze on his lips instantly, then vanished without a trace.
"Exactly. Imperial Physician Yang said that the Crown Prince urgently needs to expel the parasites, but he needs a medicinal ingredient, which must be the blood of someone closely related to the Crown Prince. I have already sent Fourteenth Prince over there. Right now, only Third Prince and I are in the palace, Fourteenth Prince is there, everyone else is not. Therefore, I would like to try using the blood of the three of us first!" Fourth Prince said urgently.
The third brother's heart skipped a beat when he heard this; they actually wanted to take his blood! He was squeamish about blood!
"Third brother, you and your fourth brother go immediately! I will send someone out of the palace to summon them in right away!" Kangxi suddenly slammed his hand on the imperial table and stood up.
Meanwhile, the Fourteenth Prince had already arrived at Yuqing Palace. Imperial Physician Yang had prepared everything needed and set up the Crown Prince's bedroom. The Fourteenth Prince immediately asked Imperial Physician Yang, "Imperial Physician Yang, how shall we obtain the blood?"
Seeing that the Fourteenth Prince was quite agreeable and did not hesitate or worry about anything, Physician Yang felt relieved and immediately said, "Fourteenth Prince, you can just prick your middle finger with the tip of this needle. Drip it into this bowl."
You must understand, these are all descendants of dragons and phoenixes. Now, we're going to take their blood as a medicinal ingredient, and I'm afraid some of them will be unwilling.
"That's easy, bring me a bowl!" Fourteen had been wounded on the battlefield before, so drawing blood as he had just mentioned was nothing more than being pinched by an ant.
Physician Lin and Physician Huang were personally overseeing the medicine furnace outside, while Physician Yang placed all the prepared items in their respective positions.
After nearly half a bowl of blood had dripped from the Fourteenth Prince's finger, Physician Yang hurriedly said, "Alright, quickly bandage up the Fourteenth Prince."
"Is that enough?" Fourteen asked.
"Let's try it first. Fourteenth Prince, quickly bandage it up. Quickly bring Fourteenth Prince a bowl of brown sugar water," Yang Yuanzheng instructed the maid.
Just then, Third Master and Fourth Master arrived together.
"How is it? Fourteenth?" Fourth Master knew that Fourteenth had taken the blood from the half-bowl in Yang Yuanzheng's hand. Third Master, who was standing to the side, felt dizzy when he saw the half-bowl of blood.
"It's already been removed. Physician Yang, let's try it first. If we can lure out the Gu worms, then we won't need to remove the others!" Fourteen said.
Third Master nodded hurriedly. Looking at the bright red blood plasma, he felt as if his fingers were being pricked by countless fine needles.
"Then please, Physician Yang, quickly expel the Gu worms from the Crown Prince," the Fourth Prince said hastily.
"Very well, I will begin now. Your Highness, please step aside," said Physician Yang.
"Can't we just stay here and watch?" Fourth Master asked again. Third Master actually wanted to go outside and wait, but seeing that Fourth Master and Fourteenth Master hadn't left, he felt embarrassed to leave as well.
"Well, I was afraid of startling the princes and nobles," said Physician Yang.
"Imperial Physician Yang, you underestimate us too much. It's just a Gu worm, how could it scare the master?" Fourteen said.
"Then please step back a bit, Your Highnesses. That Gu worm has been specially trained and is very clever. When I lure it out, you must be quick and remove it from the Crown Prince's body, otherwise it will be difficult to find it again," said Physician Yang.
As Third Master listened, he felt a chill run down his spine. If Fourth Master and Fourteenth Master hadn't insisted on watching, he would have loved to leave.
After the Fourth Prince and the others agreed without speaking, Physician Yang began to expel the Gu poison from the Crown Prince. He ordered two eunuchs to bring in a copper basin from outside. Then he had them help the Crown Prince up, turn him over, and face the copper basin.
When the Fourth Prince saw the Crown Prince's dark face and his completely unconscious state, his heart skipped a beat: Who has such audacity to use a curse on the Crown Prince?
Then Physician Yang began to burn candles in the copper basin. Once the fire was burning brightly, he began to pour Fourteen's fresh blood onto the fire.
The Fourth Prince watched with a frown, while the Fourteenth Prince looked on with curiosity at Physician Yang's actions. The Third Prince, in fact, didn't even look.
A sizzling, slightly reddish smoke began to rise from the fire, the result of blood being poured onto the flames.
"Lift the prince's head up so he can inhale the smoke!" Physician Yang said.
The two eunuchs dared not delay and immediately followed Physician Yang's instructions to lift the prince's head to ensure that he could inhale the slightly reddish smoke.
"I'm afraid we won't have enough blood. Let's get some more," Fourth Master said softly.
After saying that, Fourth Master immediately went out to fetch blood. Fourteenth Master stood there without moving. Third Master thought for a moment and then followed Fourth Master out.
"Fourth brother, please... could you give me a needle prick?" The Third Prince showed his fingers; he had already thought it through. He was already here; if he did nothing, and Kangxi found out, he would think he was stingy even with a drop of blood; if the Crown Prince knew, he would dislike him even more. Although his Third Princess Consort didn't agree with him, her words weren't wrong. Now was the time to decide whose side to take. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to curry favor with the Crown Prince?
"No need, take mine first, and then take yours if it's not enough," said Fourth Master.
Before Third Master could speak again, Fourth Master had already started dripping blood from his finger. As Third Master watched the bright red liquid dripping from Fourth Master's finger, his head began to spin.
After Fourth Master collected the blood and brought it in, Third Master looked at his fingers, holding a silver needle in his hand, hesitating whether to poke it in.
No, we have to poke it! The Crown Prince will remember this! We can't miss such a good opportunity to show our loyalty!
Thinking this through, Third Master finally seemed to have made up his mind. He ran to get a bowl and then had a young eunuch poke his finger. As blood slowly flowed from his body, Third Master's heart ached. He didn't dare look at his finger, thinking it must be a terrible sight.
For a scholar like Third Master, shedding tears was more important than shedding blood. After he shed half a bowl of blood, he felt incredibly noble.
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