Chapter 70: How much suffering must the Twin Gu endure before they can live...
Mingfeng's words were like the final stone dropped, completely proving the Twin Gu's lies. Lou Wanqiao couldn't describe the feeling: relief, yet also something choking her, making her feel suffocated and uneasy. She looked at Li Yulan, who lay unconscious and pale on the bed, and images flashed through her mind uncontrollably.
Lou Wanqiao felt an inexplicable bitterness in her heart. She thought of the horse farm, the paintings covering the walls of Wanyan Zhe's secret room, the people locked up in the fences and stables, and the scars all over his body.
How much suffering must one endure before living a life covered in scars?
The cunning prince who had confronted her head-on, strategizing every step carefully in Dali; the paranoid who had risked everything in the inn and forced the so-called "life and death" bond upon her; the proton who seemed at ease in the Jin Dynasty palace but was actually treading on thin ice; the "plaything" who had managed a broken smile in Wanyan Zhe's secret room, amidst the distorted paintings and the shadows of the cage...
Li Yulan, it took many years for your answer to come true, but no one can empathize with you.
She felt a whirlwind of emotions. She couldn't believe the "twin poison" Li Yulan had mentioned didn't actually exist. The bond of "living and dying together" that had once shackled her heart and even influenced her decisions at certain moments was just another one of his easy lies. Strangely, the truth didn't overwhelm her with anger at being fooled, but a more complex, slightly painful understanding. Had he long since become accustomed to using layers of disguise to protect his battered heart? Even the pursuit of connection was cloaked in threats and calculations.
"Please list those herbs and we will find them as soon as possible." Wen Xuechi whispered.
Ming Feng nodded. "The most urgent thing is to keep him alive first, and then we can deal with the rest. I'll write a prescription first, and you can go get the medicine according to it. These herbs are rare and precious. As for how to buy them, it's up to you..."
Lou Wanqiao agreed, got the prescription, and told someone to go buy it as fast as possible.
If you can really save a life, money is nothing.
"There are some things that will happen later that I would like to discuss with this gentleman alone." Ming Feng pointed at Lou Wanqiao and then looked at Wen Xuechi, his meaning was self-evident.
Wen Xuechi looked somewhat reluctant, but still nodded, walked out of the room and closed the door.
Lou Wanqiao looked at Mingfeng and stretched out her hand: "As a doctor, I think it is necessary to check you."
Lou Wanqiao understood and placed his palm on hers. Mingfeng felt her pulse for a moment, then pulled out a needle from somewhere and drew blood. She fiddled with the table for a moment, then turned around and shook her head. "You really don't have any traces of poison on you, at least not recently."
"Then in his blood..." Lou Wanqiao hesitated to speak.
"There is indeed a Gu poison, and judging by the amount of poison remaining in his blood, it would be quite difficult for ordinary people to cure it." Ming Feng said truthfully, "But for some reason, you don't have it. Maybe he has some magical method, or gave you an antidote."
"...I understand, thank you." Lou Wanqiao withdrew his hand, his voice a little hoarse.
Ming Feng packed up the silver needles, his tone calm and unperturbed: "He lied to you, and you don't seem very angry?"
Lou Wanqiao was silent for a moment, his gaze still fixed on Li Yulan. "I used to be angry and confused. But now, even more than anger, I want to know why he told such an easily exposed lie." Especially in such hostile circumstances, what was the point of using a nonexistent poison to bind her? Was it simply to disturb her mind, or to pave the way for some subsequent plan?
The risk is too great, and it is not something that a person like this would do.
Mingfeng glanced at her, a look that seemed to see through people's hearts. "Humans are different from poisonous insects because they have emotions and warmth; they're not cold, stone-cold pieces of wood. The complexity of the human heart sometimes far outweighs the disease itself. The poison in his body is extremely cunning and fierce. I'm barely suppressing it for now. Even if all the subsequent herbs are available, the detoxification process will be extremely dangerous and require an extremely strong will to survive." She paused, hinting, "Perhaps in his past calculations, there were some sincere feelings that he couldn't help but feel. But he has always lived a life of lies, and perhaps even he can't distinguish between true and false feelings."
These words were like a fine needle, gently pricking Lou Wanqiao. She pursed her lips and didn't respond.
Mingfeng said no more and began to explain in detail some details and precautions of caring for Li Yulan, especially the signs and emergency treatment when the toxin may recur. Lou Wanqiao wrote them down carefully.
Time was pressing and no time was wasted. Lou Wanqiao had Chao convey an order to go to the Jin treasury to find the needed medicinal herbs, while at the same time she had people rush to Dali to seek Li Su's help. Some precious medicinal herbs could only be found in the treasury, and she sent people to buy the others at any cost.
The news came a day later.
"Sir!" Chao walked in quickly, holding two jade boxes. "We found a hundred-year-old blood lily and a thousand-year-old ganoderma lucidum in the Jin Kingdom's treasury. According to the eunuchs guarding the treasury, these were tributes from a small country in the Western Regions last year and have been sealed and unused. Besides these, there are many other precious medicinal herbs, which I have listed here as well."
Lou Wanqiao opened the jade boxes and saw one containing a dark red, blood-like, crystalline lump. The other contained a small jade bottle of a thick, milky white liquid with a fragrant aroma. It was exactly what was on the prescription.
"Okay!" A gleam of light flashed in Lou Wanqiao's eyes, "Send it to Miss Mingfeng immediately."
Almost immediately, the person in charge of liaising with the trade route came in with a report: "Sir, the bounty has been issued via carrier pigeon and pony. Our base in Baicao City, the southern medicine capital, reports that the largest local pharmacy claims to have a prized ingredient, the Arctic Snow Toad Venom. We've dispatched a rapid escort, and it's expected to arrive within three days!"
Lou Wanqiao nodded. "That's great. We must do our best to ensure the herbs arrive here safely."
"yes!"
Medicinal herbs that were once circulated in national secrets and legends were placed in various rare containers and sent to the Jin Kingdom Inn continuously.
They built a special medicine house here for Mingfeng to make medicine.
Mingfeng watched the rapidly piling up medicinal herbs before her, and even her vast knowledge and experience were moved. She carefully inspected each herb for authenticity and quality, and once confirmed, she began preparing the antidote. This process was extremely complex, requiring extremely precise timing for the heat and the blending of the medicinal properties; even the slightest error would result in all the work being wasted.
The guards were standing guard outside the medicine house, on the one hand to ensure that Mingfeng was not disturbed, and on the other hand to keep a close eye on Li Yulan's condition.
At night, Li Yulan's poison struck again. He was freezing cold, his teeth clenched, and his body trembled uncontrollably. It felt like countless tiny insects were wriggling under his skin. Following Mingfeng's instructions, Lou Wanqiao rubbed his chest and limbs with a specially prepared medicinal oil, then pried open his teeth and fed him a life-saving ginseng soup. Seeing him in pain, the lie about the "twin Gu" resurfaced in his mind. If the Gu poison was true, would she also be on the verge of death? When he first fabricated this lie, had he ever imagined this day would come?
Three days later, after the final main ingredient had been safely delivered, Mingfeng finally left the medicine room, a trace of fatigue in her eyes. She held a white jade bowl filled with a thick, dark medicinal concoction that exuded a strange fragrance.
"The antidote is ready." Ming Feng's voice was a little hoarse, but his eyes were bright. "The next step is the most crucial one. This medicine is extremely potent. It will collide with the toxins in his body and reshape his blood. The process will be very painful, and someone will need to use pure internal energy to protect his heart meridians and help him channel the power of the medicine. Otherwise, even if he takes the antidote, he may not be able to survive with his current condition."
Lou Wanqiao and Wen Xuechi looked at each other.
"Let me do it." Lou Wanqiao didn't hesitate. Although her internal energy wasn't the most masculine or powerful, it was pure and long-lasting, capable of protecting the heart meridians.
She walked into the bedroom and helped the unconscious Li Yulan up.
His body was still cold, his breath weak. Lou Wanqiao took the medicine bowl from Mingfeng and carefully fed him the strangely fragrant black liquid, sip by sip.
Li Yulan's body began to tremble slightly, and he shrank into her arms almost unconsciously.
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