After another half-cup of tea time, the person Consort Cheng sent out finally returned.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the person has been found and is waiting outside..." The maid hesitated, then stopped herself.
"But that person's condition is not good, and it might offend Your Majesty's eyes."
A flash of disgust crossed Consort Cheng's face as she turned to the Empress Dowager, asking for her opinion, "Mother, what do you think of this..."
"It's alright, bring it in." The Empress Dowager waved her hand, having mentally prepared herself.
She had seen all sorts of filth in the palace; she wouldn't be so easily frightened by a patient.
Having received confirmation, two guards carried the stretcher into the hall.
As soon as they entered, gasps rose and fell, and some even lost their composure and screamed.
The Empress Dowager's eyes narrowed, a hint of displeasure flashing across her face. She made a gesture, and the noblewoman who had screamed was dragged away by several old nannies.
Seeing everyone's strong reaction, Song Zhiyu couldn't help but feel a little curious and looked up at the person on the stretcher.
A man lay on a white stretcher, barely breathing. His skin was ulcerated all over, his lips were purple, and he was visibly decomposed.
The man's wrists and ankles were twisted into an abnormal arc, and he had an old ginseng root in his mouth, which was keeping him alive.
With just one glance, Song Zhiyu could tell that this person had been poisoned for quite some time, otherwise his skin wouldn't have ulcerated like this.
Only after taking the man's pulse could she determine whether the poison had invaded his heart and lungs.
"Zhiyu, are you sure you can do it?" Ye Linxi asked, holding Song Zhiyu's hand with a worried expression.
This man is on the verge of death; if he is not treated properly, Zhiyu's reputation will be ruined.
Consort Cheng was truly ruthless.
Upon hearing this, Song Zhiyu gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry."
When Consort Cheng asked her to decide on the candidate, Song Zhiyu had anticipated this turn of events, but she couldn't just do nothing and let others manipulate her.
Choosing this person was both expected and unexpected.
Given Consort Cheng's cautious and ruthless nature, she would definitely choose a patient who was barely clinging to life and left her no room for maneuver.
It gave her hope for treatment, yet prevented her from reaching the stage of recovery. It could both force her to admit defeat and shatter her confidence.
If she were so badly hurt that she could no longer hold a silver needle, that would be exactly what Consort Cheng wanted.
She just didn't expect that Consort Cheng would choose this one from the two patients, since the other patient looked much more seriously ill.
"Miss Song, let's begin, lest we delay the treatment." Consort Cheng looked at the patient's wounds with some disdain, but secretly felt smug.
The person in front of her looked like he might die at any moment, and she didn't believe that Song Zhiyu really had the ability to snatch someone from the jaws of death.
Song Zhiyu approached the patient and gave him a life-saving pill to temporarily save his life.
Then he took the medicine box from Lu Bai and took out the silver needles.
The moment she received the silver needles, Song Zhiyu's aura changed slightly. She became completely absorbed in the treatment before her, as if nothing in the outside world could disturb her.
With a swift motion, Song Zhiyu discovered that the poison in the patient's body had not yet invaded his heart and lungs, suggesting that someone had taken measures to prevent the spread of the poison.
The fact that the toxins had not yet invaded the heart and lungs made Song Zhiyu's treatment a little easier, but what was more troublesome was that the man had more than one type of toxin in his body.
Another, more potent toxin seems to have been ingested recently and has not yet shown any very obvious characteristics.
If she hadn't noticed the clue, she might have simply overlooked it, leaving endless troubles behind.
It seems that Consort Cheng really went to any lengths to deal with her. Just in case, she even put another, more potent poison on the patient.
Song Zhiyu focused her mind and kept moving her hands, quickly and accurately inserting them into the acupoints all over the man's body, forcing out the toxins from his body little by little.
The previous liveliness at the banquet had vanished, leaving only endless silence and stillness. The rustling of the branches in the breeze outside the window mingled with the rapid breathing of the people inside the hall, making the atmosphere even more tense.
Zhou Xingzhi stared intently at Song Zhiyu's retreating figure, a pang of heartache flashing in his eyes, and unconsciously tightened his grip on the jade pendant in his hand.
Seeing this, Ling Chen sighed, quietly walked behind Zhou Xingzhi, and said in a low voice, "She even cured Ling Yuan, you should believe her."
He followed Zhou Xingzhi's gaze, a hint of relief and a touch of pride in his eyes.
The mother doted on Song Zhiyu as if she were her own granddaughter, so in that sense, she could also be considered his niece.
Thinking of this, Ling Chen felt a sense of pride.
After all, not everyone can have such an amazing niece.
“I know, I’ve always believed in her.” Zhou Xingzhi’s slightly hoarse voice rang in Ling Chen’s ears, pulling him back to reality.
But he also felt sorry for her.
Zhou Xingzhi didn't say the last sentence, but his gaze was fixed on Song Zhiyu, never looking away for a moment.
Ling Chen smiled and shook his head; concern makes one lose their composure.
He never imagined that the calm and composed Crown Prince, who would remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, would lose his composure like this.
Feelings are such a strange thing.
*
Suddenly, Song Zhiyu frowned. She realized that the toxins in the man's body were spreading rapidly and were gradually invading his heart.
The two toxins were rampaging through the patient's body, and could take his life in an instant if he was not careful.
It was a matter of life and death; she had to stop the spread of the toxin as soon as possible and protect the patient's heart.
She held her breath, focused her mind on her fingertips, and with a slight movement of her fingers, the silver needles were precisely inserted into several key acupoints of the patient.
Song Zhiyu's expression was more solemn than ever before, and even the guests watching noticed something was wrong.
"He doesn't look well. I hope he doesn't die from the treatment." The person speaking swallowed hard, his finger trembling as he pointed at the patient.
"If the King of Hell wants you to leave at midnight, how could you possibly live to see dawn? Trying to snatch someone from the King of Hell is even more impossible; be careful not to bite off more than you can chew."
Mingzhu, always eager for drama, saw the patient's condition worsening and assumed Song Zhiyu was doomed. Overjoyed, she failed to notice Zhou Xingzhi's gaze upon her as if she were a dead person.
"Shut up." Zhou Xingzhi coldly rebuked, his voice flat and even, yet it made everyone present feel as if an invisible hand was gripping their throats, leaving them momentarily breathless.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mingzhu, who had been talking happily, was slapped on the back of the neck by Jiang Huai and casually tossed back onto her seat.
This swift and decisive action stunned everyone, and they all shut their mouths, afraid to say anything more, lest they become the next Mingzhu.
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