No matter how hard Yang Yaozu racked his brains, he couldn't understand why Emperor Kangping would vomit blood and die after drinking the medicine.
For the past week, Emperor Kangping had been taking this medicine. This time, the pharmacist was very diligent, supervising the entire process at the pharmacy. Before giving it to Emperor Kangping, he personally tasted the medicine, as was customary, to ensure there were absolutely no problems.
Thinking about it is useless now. Emperor Kangping on the bed has already died, his eyes wide open, as if he died with his eyes open, and blood is still flowing from the corner of his mouth.
He tried to calm down, but instead became increasingly fearful.
Emperor Kangping drank the medicine he was given and died in front of him. If this had been discovered, he would have been guilty of regicide and his entire family would have been exterminated.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, cold sweat soaked his back and trickled down his legs.
Before his death, Emperor Kangping uttered the name "Qiu Jie," clearly indicating that his demise was inextricably linked to her. Besides him, the only other person who could have persuaded Emperor Kangping to take the medicine was Qiu Jie.
Only then did he understand why Qiu Jie had brought him along.
This vicious woman deliberately kept him as a scapegoat. And she even had the nerve to say she was satisfied with him.
We absolutely cannot stay here and wait to die; we must escape quickly.
He gently placed the bowl on the table, straightened his clothes, and lowered the curtain. This way, even if someone came in, they wouldn't see Emperor Kangping's death. After all, no one would dare to lift the curtain without Emperor Kangping's permission, and this would buy him some time.
Then he took a cloth and wiped the bloodstains off the ground, stuffing it into a corner.
After confirming that everything was in order, he walked out of the room and said to the captain of the Imperial Guard, "His Majesty has taken his medicine and is now asleep. No one should disturb him."
The Imperial Guard captain said, "Eunuch Yang, we certainly won't let anyone in. It's just that the Prime Minister is coming in half an hour; he has already made an appointment with His Majesty."
Yang Yaozu felt a surge of panic, as if dozens of wild dogs were rampaging through his heart. He blurted out, "Prime Minister... of course I must see him. I have some business to attend to, and I'll come back tonight to give His Majesty his medicine."
Fearing that his secret would be exposed, he deliberately walked with measured steps, then quickened his pace after leaving Emperor Kangping's palace, and finally jogged when he reached the square.
When passing officials saw him running past, they assumed he was rushing to do something for Emperor Kangping and no one paid any attention. Everyone knew he was Emperor Kangping's favorite, so even if he ran around the palace, no one stopped him.
He ran out of the palace, hailed a carriage, and raced back to his residence.
"Quick, stop eating!" he shouted breathlessly as he ran into the dining room to the family who were eating inside. "We have to get out of the city right away."
The meal was being eaten by a family of three: Su Heng, Yang Shi, and Su Yue'e. All three were dressed in coarse, commoner clothes.
Su Yue'e, her hair disheveled and her face pale and thin, was covering her face and sobbing softly. Seeing Yang Yaozu's panicked expression, she quickly stood up and said, "Cousin, why did you come out of the palace? Weren't you serving His Majesty?"
"Stop eating," Yang Yaozu waved repeatedly, "Get up quickly, let's go right now."
Su Heng put down his chopsticks: "Nephew, are you trying to send us away?"
Madam Yang also looked displeased, but she dared not offend Yang Yaozu, so she could only say, "Yaozu, it's true that you helped us pay off our debts, and it's also true that we're penniless now. But after all, my husband and I are your uncle and aunt. Besides, the fact that you can serve the Emperor is because your aunt found you this job. You can't treat us like this."
She and Su Heng came to the capital with 40,000 taels of silver, thinking they could live a leisurely life, but when they arrived at the Zhao family mansion, they realized they were dreaming.
The Zhao family's marriage to Su Yue'e was originally uneventful. The dowry was carried to the capital but never opened; it was simply stored in the Zhao family's treasury. Although the Zhao family was in decline, they were still a marquis's household. Even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse; they weren't exactly broke.
Zhao Rongzhang, the young master of the Zhao family, was always a womanizer and had a knack for seducing women. He once flirted with Meng Ruliu. Meng Ruliu, being inexperienced, was captivated by him for a time.
Even after Zhao Rongzhang was beaten to a pulp by Meng Ruliu, he still couldn't change his old habits. Even after marrying Su Yue'e, he didn't change. He still secretly went out to find other women every few days, and eventually he developed some kind of unspeakable disease.
Zhao Rongzhang dared not see a proper doctor, nor did he dare tell his parents. Instead, he secretly sought out a "miracle doctor" who specialized in treating this disease.
The "miracle doctor" charges five hundred taels of silver a day, and the treatment course... starts at six months. It's clearly a scam to fool fools, but unfortunately, Young Master Zhao believes him.
At first he could manage, but later he ran out of money and begged Su Yue'e to use her dowry to help him out.
Su Yue'e only found out what her husband had done after asking. He cried, made a scene, and even threatened to hang himself for several days. Later, thinking that she would have to rely on a man for the rest of her life, she agreed to use her dowry. Zhao Rongzhang also agreed to make it up to her after he recovered from his illness.
Upon opening the dowry chest, Su Yue'e was stunned to find it filled with artificial rock formations.
Now it was Zhao Rongzhang's turn to be indignant. He was marrying a wife, and the dowry was all stones—this was fraud! Who could tolerate that?
He beat Su Yue'e severely, locked her in the woodshed, made her eat only servants' food and wear servants' clothes, and made her do servants' work. She was much worse off than Su Wan.
Two months passed in this way. When Su Yue'e was so tormented that she almost committed suicide, Su Heng and his wife arrived. Young Master Zhao immediately took out the original dowry list and calculated it in front of Su Heng and his wife, adding the medical expenses he had incurred over the past two months, as well as the punishment Su Yue'e had received for deceiving her husband.
In the end, the total came to 45,000 taels of silver, plus a letter of divorce.
The Su couple were devastated. Not only had their 40,000 taels of silver been confiscated, but they were also now owed 5,000 taels. Their daughter had also been divorced.
The Yang family asked someone to find Yang Yaozu. After being castrated, Yang Yaozu regained some humanity, helped them repay the five thousand taels of silver, and took in their family.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
