Chapter 38 Life hangs on a thread
It was a birthmark! A uniquely shaped, red birthmark that resembled a butterfly spreading its wings ready to take flight!
It is printed on Cui Xiao’s right lower back near the spine!
Boom——!!!
Emperor Liu Jin's brain was like being struck by thunder from the sky!
He froze in place, his pupils suddenly shrinking to the extreme!
All the blood in my body seemed to flow backwards in an instant, and then rushed to the top of my head madly in the next second!
This shape! This position! This color!
He remembers! He will never forget it even after he dies!
Fifteen years ago! In that secret palace chamber! When he struggled to give birth to the child, when the midwife brought the tiny, wrinkled baby to him, he looked at the child carefully and greedily with great joy!
He clearly remembered that on the baby's small waist, there was an identical birthmark that looked like a red butterfly!
The midwife smiled and said
"Your Majesty, look, the little prince's birthmark is so handsome, like a little butterfly!"
That is the mark of his own flesh and blood!
It was the only and most distinctive feature of the child he thought had long since died in the chaos!
How could this birthmark... appear on Cui Xiao's body? !
Could it be... Could it be that the exchange in the baby room back then was not just about replacing the Prince of Weiyuan?
Could it be that... the "dying" legitimate son of the Marquis's family who was taken away by Xiao Zhou was not her child at all?
Could it be that... the young man who was transferred to the Marquis' Mansion and lived under the name Cui Xiao for fifteen years... was actually... Liu Jin's biological child?!
The huge shock, ecstasy, disbelief, and overwhelming guilt and heartache, like a huge wave, instantly submerged the emperor completely!
He looked at the dying young man in front of him, who was beaten unconscious by his adopted son, and his heart was almost broken by pain!
"Call... call the imperial physician! Call the imperial physician quickly!!!"
The emperor raised his head suddenly, his voice hoarse and distorted due to extreme emotional fluctuations, with unprecedented panic and urgency.
"Use my dragon chariot! Carry him to my Palace of Heavenly Purity! Quick!!!"
He wanted to pick up Cui Xiao carefully, as if he were holding a rare treasure, but he was afraid of touching his wound, and his hands began to tremble slightly.
Liu Cong also saw the birthmark. Although he didn't understand why, his father's extremely inappropriate reaction and the order to "carry her to the Qianqing Palace" caused a storm in his heart!
He looked at the unfaking, almost crushing heartache in his father's eyes, and an equally absurd thought, yet one that chilled him to the bone, flashed through his mind...
In the side hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the solemn and dignified atmosphere of the past was replaced by a suffocating solemnity and panic.
Even the elegant scent of ambergris could not cover up the pervasive smell of blood and the bitter taste of medicine.
Cui Xiao was carefully placed on the soft couch in the warm room. His face was pale and his breath was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.
His buttocks and legs had been simply treated by the imperial physician and wrapped with thick white cloth, but traces of dark red blood still continued to seep out, which was shocking.
The imperial doctors gathered around the bed, all of them with solemn expressions and cold sweat on their foreheads.
The judge, Imperial Physician Zhang, placed his fingers on Cui Xiao's slender wrist, his brows furrowed. The pulse under his fingers was weak, disordered, and intermittent, like a candle in the wind.
"how?!"
Liu Jin stood beside the couch, his tall body slightly hunched, the hands that controlled the world were trembling slightly, his eyes fixed on Doctor Zhang's face, as if he wanted to grab the last straw from him.
Doctor Zhang withdrew his hand and fell to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling with despair.
"Your Majesty... your servants... your servants are incompetent! Cui... Cui's companion was poisoned years ago, which damaged his lungs. Despite recuperation, his vitality has never fully recovered.
Now…now I’ve suffered another severe blow. The board has damaged my bones and muscles, and even triggered the old poison…I am attacked from both inside and outside. My Qi and blood are collapsing, and my life force…my life force is almost gone!”
He kowtowed heavily, not daring to look the emperor in the eye.
"Your Highness... we have tried everything. We have used old mountain ginseng to keep him alive and used acupuncture to protect his heart meridians, but... but Cui Ban's pulse is weak and on the verge of death. I'm afraid... I'm afraid there's no way to save him, Your Majesty!"
"There's no way to save the situation... There's no way to save the situation..."
These four words were like four poisoned ice cones, piercing into the emperor's heart!
He only felt his vision suddenly go dark, a fishy and sweet smell rushed up his throat, his tall body shook violently, and he staggered and was about to fall backwards!
The eunuch Fu'an, who was standing by, was quick-witted and quick-handed. He stepped forward and held the emperor's arm tightly to prevent him from falling.
Fu'an felt the emperor's arm was cold and stiff, like a piece of iron, and his heart sank to the bottom.
Liu Jin leaned on Fu'an and managed to keep his balance, but his face was already a frighteningly pale color.
He looked at the dying young man on the couch, who seemed like he would disappear at any moment. The immense pain and despair completely overwhelmed him like a tide.
Could it be...is this retribution?
A cold and desperate thought penetrated into the emperor's mind like a poisonous snake, madly gnawing at his sanity.
His path to the throne was not only bloody, it was paved with the corpses of his brothers and the flesh and blood of countless political enemies!
The rebellion of the former crown prince, the three kings, and the seven kings... those royal brothers who were poisoned, strangled, or exiled to death by his orders, and those noble ministers whose entire families were executed during the purge.
Have those twisted, resentful faces ever really gone away?
He always told himself that the road to becoming an emperor is lonely, and if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight!
For the sake of the stability of the country and the inheritance of the country, those sacrifices are necessary! He never believes in ghosts and gods, and does not believe in retribution! He firmly believes that man can conquer nature!
He looked at his own flesh and blood, the one he had lost and found, but was about to lose again, the child he had owed his father for fifteen years and hadn't even had the chance to recognize...
Is this bloody reality God's punishment for his lifetime of killing?
Liu Jin roared silently in his heart, the pain burning his internal organs like magma.
Why don't you punish me yourself?!
I will bear the consequences of my sins! I will accept being cut into pieces or torn apart by five horses!
Why do you want to punish my child?!
What did he do wrong?! He didn't even have the chance to...call me Father!
Fifteen years! His child, reduced to dry bones, was actually right under his nose! Living under another identity!
He should have been the most honorable prince in the world, but he had to bear someone else's name, endure someone else's fate, and even... had to bear the damn "retribution" for his father!
The huge guilt and regret were like a landslide and tsunami, almost swallowing the emperor.
He thought of his admiration for Cui Xiao, the light in his eyes when he talked freely in the imperial study, and how he remained neither humble nor overbearing when facing the eldest prince's difficulties...
That was all the blood of Liu Jin shining! And he, not only failed to protect him, but because of his own negligence and the stupidity of his other adopted son, he personally pushed him to the brink of death!
"He is... my only... biological child..."
Liu Jin's voice was broken, with a strong nasal tone, as if he was sobbing.
The words were so soft that only Fu'an, who was standing nearby, could hear them, but they contained a sorrow that was enough to tear the soul apart.
Fu'an's heart trembled, and he became more certain of what the emperor was thinking. The look he gave Cui Xiao was filled with indescribable pity and awe.
The emperor suddenly raised his head, and a terrifying red light burst out of his eyes. It was the madness on the edge of despair and the unquestionable wrath of the emperor.
He stared intently at the imperial physician kneeling on the ground, and his voice was like a cold wind blowing through the underworld.
"I don't care what methods you use! Thousand-year-old ginseng, ten-thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum, ambergris, iceberg snow lotus!
Empty the Imperial Hospital's warehouse for me! Offer a reward among the people! Find him for me! As long as he's still breathing, keep him alive for me! If he dies..."
The emperor's voice paused, and the unfulfilled threat was like tangible ice, instantly freezing the hearts of all the imperial doctors!
"Your servants...will die! We will do our utmost!"
Doctor Zhang and the others kowtowed like crazy, their voices trembling, and they even rolled and crawled to Cui Xiao's bedside...
Try your best to snatch back this glimmer of hope from the hands of the King of Hell.
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