Taiji Hall.
Zhou Jin rubbed his aching temples. He didn't know why, but ever since the execution of Consort Yi, his body had become weaker day by day. He used to be able to handle state affairs with ease, but now he was gradually becoming powerless.
He had even summoned imperial physicians to examine his pulse, but they couldn't find anything wrong. He even thought he was just imagining things. It seemed that the poison was not an ordinary one. Suddenly, he thought of something, waved everyone away, and summoned An Yi.
"An Yi, come and take my pulse." Zhou Jin quickly realized that his discomfort was probably related to Consort Yi, who was also skilled in using poisons from the Southern Frontier for some reason.
An Yi flew down from the roof beam. He had been by the emperor's side the longest and was naturally the most loyal. However, Consort Yi showed no abnormalities that day. He looked anxious and knelt on the ground to take the emperor's pulse.
An Yi's expression was normal at first. Zhou Jin's pulse was strong and powerful, and he was even stronger than the average person. However, his expression suddenly changed drastically.
"Your Majesty, may I take a drop of blood from your finger?" An Yi suppressed his inner thoughts, trying his best to keep his voice steady. He dared not imagine what would happen if his idea was correct...
Zhou Jin also noticed the change in An Yi's attitude. His heart sank, wondering if there was indeed something wrong with his body: "Granted."
An Yi found a dagger and a small porcelain bowl, and stabbed Zhou Jin's fingertip. Bright red blood flowed out, and the cup was soon filled with blood.
An Yi applied the best wound medicine to the emperor, and the bleeding stopped. An Yi then took out a packet of powder from his body and sprinkled it into the cup. Soon, the blood in the cup began to boil, and several small black worms floated to the surface.
"This is—" Zhou Jin couldn't believe that there were so many disgusting things in her body, and she hadn't even realized it.
"Your Majesty, this is a secret medicine of the Southern Border royal family—the Blood Refining Gu. This Gu is most adept at growing flesh and blood. Generally, you only need to sprinkle the eggs into food, and it will grow rapidly upon encountering flesh and blood. Eventually, it will spread throughout the body via the blood, and in the end—there will be no cure."
An Yi knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head. He spoke the last few words very softly, almost inaudibly. He couldn't believe that this kind of Gu poison required the Gu user to feed the mother Gu with blood and flesh every day, and only after countless failures could a Blood Refining Gu be successfully cultivated into an egg.
After successfully casting the Gu poison, the mother Gu will devour the insect until its internal organs are completely consumed, torturing it to death.
The royal family of Southern Xinjiang also requires a descendant of the royal family to refine this Gu. Without the legitimate royal bloodline of Southern Xinjiang, it is impossible to succeed. This method has very high requirements for the Gu refiner, and therefore it has almost been lost.
Zhou Jin looked at the Gu worms in the bowl. The dark, corpse-like creatures disgusted him. He could hardly believe that his body was filled with these Gu worms. He suddenly wondered when it had started if he had been poisoned by Gu for a long time, and why the poison hadn't taken effect before.
"When did I fall victim to the poison? Why didn't it manifest before?"
"Your Majesty, this Gu poison is extremely dangerous. Its effects are controlled by the person who planted it, meaning someone behind it triggered the poison, which is why you..."
An Yi's words were already very clear, but Zhou Jin was still unwilling to give up. He still had too many things to do, and there was Xi'er, who had just become pregnant with his imperial child. He couldn't just abandon them, mother and child, and there was this empire. He still had too many ambitions to fulfill and too many wishes to realize. How could he die?
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