Chapter 141 White Owl Saves Lives
In the outer hall, Yuwen Che paced back and forth anxiously. The commotion inside tugged at his every nerve. He suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed.
No… how could Xue'er know Bai Xiao? And why is Bai Xiao here by such a coincidence? And Xue'er's sudden vomiting of blood… all of this seems unusual. They're hiding something from him! Something must be wrong!
Just then, a violent coughing and vomiting sound came from the inner palace.
Yuwen Che's heart tightened, and he could no longer heed Bai Xiao's orders. He pushed the door open and rushed in!
Su Luoxue had already woken up and was lying by the bedside, painfully vomiting a large mouthful of dark-colored blood. Yuwen Che rushed forward, supporting her limp body, and frantically wiped the blood from her lips with his sleeve, his voice filled with shock, anger, and fear: "Xue'er! What happened?!"
He abruptly looked up, his gaze piercing Bai Xiao like a sharp sword: "Bai Xiao! What on earth is going on?! How could she suddenly become like this?! Explain yourself to me!"
Su Luoxue weakly grasped his hand, gently shaking her head, her voice barely a whisper: "A-Che...it's not his fault...really...it was me..."
"You yourself?" Yuwen Che didn't believe it at all, staring intently at Bai Xiao. "Explain yourself to me!"
Seeing Su Luoxue's forced composure and then at Yuwen Che's impending outburst, Bai Xiao knew he couldn't delay any longer. He quickly pulled out a pre-written prescription from his robes and shoved it into Yuwen Che's hand, his tone more serious and urgent than ever before:
"Yuwen Che, I don't have time to explain the whole story to you! But if you still want her to live, go to the Imperial Hospital right now and watch them prepare the medicine according to this prescription! Remember, you must go in person. The dosage of the herbs, the cooking time—not a single step can be wrong! Go now!"
Yuwen Che held the thin piece of paper, looking at the undeniable urgency in Bai Xiao's eyes, then looked down at Su Luoxue in his arms, who was barely breathing but was still shaking her head at him slightly.
He gritted his teeth, carefully placed Su Luoxue back on the bed, and gave Bai Xiao a deep look: "Bai Xiao, you'd better make sure she's alright! Otherwise..."
He didn't finish speaking, but the murderous intent in his eyes said it all.
"Li Dehai! Go to the Imperial Hospital!" Yuwen Che gripped the prescription tightly, turned around, and strode away.
Inside the bedchamber, only Bai Xiao and the extremely weak Su Luoxue remained.
Su Luoxue looked at him, her eyes questioning.
Bai Xiao sighed and said in a low voice, "I can only temporarily seal his heart meridian with golden needles to slow down the erosion of the Gu poison... but it won't last long. The Heart-Eating Gu in his body is too domineering. After it was transferred to your body, the backlash was faster than I imagined... This medicine is only a temporary measure. Whether you can survive it depends on your fate."
Upon hearing this, Su Luoxue revealed a relieved smile and gently closed her eyes: "As long as he... is alright..."
Inside the bedchamber, Bai Xiao looked at Su Luoxue's pale yet serene face and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Is it worth it? To exchange your life for his?"
Su Luoxue spoke almost without hesitation, her voice weak but clear: "It's worth it...it's very worth it..."
Bai Xiao was silent for a moment, then added in a heavy tone, "Even if... you manage to survive this time, the damage the Gu poison has done to your heart meridian is irreversible. Your lifespan... will be greatly reduced, perhaps... only a few years left."
Upon hearing this, Su Luoxue's lips curved into a faint yet relieved smile. She slowly opened her eyes, looked at the bed canopy, her gaze empty yet resolute: "It doesn't matter... I just want him to be alright... With him protecting Cheng'an and Ning'er, I... am relieved."
Yuwen Che stormed into the Imperial Hospital like a demon, slammed the prescription in front of the chief physician, and said in a voice as cold as ice: "Prepare the medicine immediately according to this prescription! I will personally oversee it!"
The court official was so frightened that his hand trembled. He quickly took the prescription, glanced at it, and his face changed: "Your Majesty! This...this prescription contains several herbs that are very potent, and even...even one of them, 'Soul-Severing Grass,' is a deadly poison! How can this be used in medicine? It may harm Her Majesty's health!"
Yuwen Che grabbed his collar, his eyes bloodshot: "Arrest me as I command! If you delay the Empress's treatment, I will exterminate your entire family!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Your Majesty, I will arrest them right away! I will arrest them right away!" The court judge was terrified and dared not say another word. He hurriedly led the medicine boy and, under the emperor's murderous gaze, carefully weighed the medicinal materials according to the prescription with trembling hands. Every penny was measured with utmost precision, and cold sweat soaked his back.
With all the medicinal herbs prepared, Yuwen Che personally supervised their decoction preparation, allowing no mistakes. The atmosphere in the entire Imperial Medical Academy was so heavy it felt frozen, with only the gurgling of the medicine pots and the emperor's anxious pacing.
As soon as the medicine was ready, Yuwen Che couldn't even wait for the palace servants to do it. He took the scalding hot medicine bowl himself, not caring about the heat, and hurried back as fast as he could.
When he rushed back to the Guanju Palace, Bai Xiao was administering acupuncture to Su Luoxue, whose face was even more ashen than before.
"The medicine is here!" Yuwen Che handed the medicine bowl to Bai Xiao.
Bai Xiao took it, tested its temperature, and said to Yuwen Che, "Help her up."
Yuwen Che immediately stepped forward and carefully helped Su Luoxue up, letting her lean against him.
Bai Xiao, holding the bowl of medicine, said in a deep voice to Su Luoxue, whose consciousness was already fading, "Su Luoxue, listen, drink this medicine. No matter what, hold on!"
Su Luoxue seemed to have heard it, and her eyelashes trembled.
Yuwen Che took the medicine bowl, brought it to her lips, and said in a trembling, pleading voice that he himself didn't realize: "Xue'er, be good, drink the medicine... please..."
Perhaps hearing his voice, Su Luoxue slightly opened her mouth. Yuwen Che carefully fed her the bowl of dark medicine that emitted a strange smell, little by little.
Every bite was like torture. Whether it was the effect of the drug or something else, Su Luoxue's body began to tremble violently, fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, and her expression was painful.
Yuwen Che held her tightly, whispering in her ear again and again, "Xue'er, hold on... I'm here, I'm with you... Don't be afraid..."
He didn't know if the medicine would work, or what Bai Xiao was hiding. All he knew was that he couldn't lose her.
Seeing this, Bai Xiao immediately took out silver needles and, with lightning speed, pierced several acupoints on Su Luoxue's body again.
"Uh..." Su Luoxue frowned, her forehead was covered in cold sweat, her body curled up in pain, and she suddenly vomited a mouthful of even darker black blood.
"Xue'er!" Yuwen Che's heart trembled with fear. Seeing the black blood, he suddenly looked up, his eyes blazing with murderous intent, and he practically spat out two words through clenched teeth: "Bai Xiao—!"
"She'll be fine once the blood is expelled!" Bai Xiao immediately interrupted him loudly, her hands continuing to apply the acupuncture without stopping. "This is poisonous blood! It's better to expel it! Hold her steady!"
Yuwen Che was skeptical, but he suppressed his inner rage and held Su Luoxue's trembling body tightly. He carefully wiped the blood from her lips and chin with a clean handkerchief, his voice filled with unprecedented panic and pleading:
"Xue'er... hold on, do you hear me? For me, for Cheng'an and Ning'er, you must hold on... I beg you..."
Sweat beaded on Bai Xiao's forehead as he focused intently, each silver needle striking with precision, stimulating Su Luoxue's nearly depleted life force, vying for every inch of ground with the domineering and chilling poison. He said in a deep voice to Yuwen Che, "Hold her down, don't let her move!"
Yuwen Che immediately used his arms to hold Su Luoxue more firmly. Looking at her pale face and her eyelashes trembling slightly with pain, he felt as if his heart was being gnawed by those invisible poisonous insects, causing him excruciating pain.
Time passed slowly, and only the heavy breathing of a few people and the faint sound of silver needles trembling could be heard in the bedchamber.
After an unknown amount of time, Bai Xiao finally stopped, letting out a long sigh of relief. He swayed, nearly exhausted. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said hoarsely to Yuwen Che, who was staring intently at him, "For now... it's stable."
Yuwen Che's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and a great deal of fatigue and lingering fear surged up, but he still dared not be careless. He lowered his head and softly called out, "Xue'er?"
Su Luoxue's eyelids twitched, and she opened them very slowly, her vision blurry as she focused on Yuwen Che's face, which was filled with worry. Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
"Don't talk, just rest." Yuwen Che immediately stopped her, gently laid her down, and tucked her in, his movements as tender as if he were handling a rare treasure.
He then raised his head, looking at Bai Xiao, whose face was equally pale. His eyes were sharp as knives, and he lowered his voice, each word carrying a heavy weight:
"Bai Xiao, now tell me, what exactly happened? What kind of poison did she ingest? And why are you here?"
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