CH 76

In the following days, Xie Chaoling’s condition did not improve and seemed to worsen, much to the distress of Xie Chaoyuan whose face grew increasingly grim.

Two days later, the Xirong King sent an envoy with a decree and a royal physician to diagnose Xie Chaoling’s illness.

After hearing the report from his subordinate, Xie Chaoling pursed his lips and said to Xie Chaoyuan, “Let’s forget it. I don’t want these Xirong People to examine me. Who knows what their true intentions are?”

Xie Chaoyuan looked at his brother’s pale face and brushed his hair gently with his hand. “It won’t hurt to let them have a look. Maybe they can find out something. Let’s listen to what they have to say.”

Xie Chaoling knew that his brother was truly worried and desperate, otherwise he wouldn’t have resorted to seeking medical help from the Xirong People.

…Oh well.

“Alright then, since the Xirong King sent them specifically, we can’t turn them away at the door. Let them in,” Xie Chaoling relented.

Xie Chaoyuan squeezed his hand lightly and instructed Wang Rang to bring in the physicians.

Two imperial physicians came in and after paying their respects, they knelt down and began to diagnose Xie Chaoling’s pulse.

Xie Chaoling didn’t pay much attention to them. He not only didn’t trust these Xirong People, but also knew that their medical skills were only a superficial understanding of medicine inherited from Daliang. Before that, they only practiced witchcraft and performed sacrificial rites, leaving the fate of the patient to the will of the gods. Under such circumstances, Xie Chaoling didn’t think that these Xirong physicians could find out anything.

But that was fine. He didn’t want anyone to discover the real reason for his physical weakness, and he only had two more days to get through.

As expected, the two Xirong physicians listened to Xie Chaoling’s pulse, exchanged a few words in a low voice, and ultimately came to the same conclusion as the two physicians from Daliang. They could not find out the true cause of Xie Chaoling’s illness.

Xie Chaoyuan couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He waved his hand to have the physicians write a prescription, and then instructed Wang Rang, “Keep an eye on them.”

After the physicians left, Xie Chaoling patted his hand and said, “It’s alright. Do you really expect me to drink medicine prescribed by these Xirong People? I wouldn’t dare to drink it even if they did.”

Xie Chaoyuan stared at his face, and Xie Chaoling’s eye sockets sank, with a blue tint under his eyes and abnormally pale lips. Finally, he swallowed and hoarsely said, “If it continues like this, let’s go back to Daliang and find someone to treat you.”

Xie Chaoling was taken aback and widened his eyes slightly, as if he did not expect Xie Chaoyuan to say such a thing.

“Go back to Daliang?”

“What else can we do? Your life is the most important thing, brother.”

Xie Chaoyuan stroked his cheek, said nothing more, and got up to leave.

Xie Chaoling was stunned for a moment, then sighed bitterly. Xie Chaoyuan said that, but when he actually left, he did not know what Xie Chaoyuan would do.

The two doctors from Xirong went to the front compartment to write a prescription, and Xie Chaoyuan entered. When the two stood up, he signaled for them to sit down and continue.

After the prescription was written, it was first sent to Xie Chaoyuan for inspection. It was similar to the medicine prescribed by the doctor from Daliang, and the few differences were also ordinary tonic medicines, which did not seem special.

“We have prepared the herbs, and we can extract the medicine to be boiled for the consort.”

Xie Chaoyuan did not object, nor did he leave. He stood by and watched them prepare the medicine.

Various herbs were taken out of the medicine box in the right amount, and one person took the herbs while the other assisted. Their movements were not fast, but not slow either. Xie Chaoyuan had been staring at them all the time, and the person standing next to him had already started to sweat on his forehead.

Suddenly, Xie Chaoyuan reached out and picked up one of the herbs, rubbing the thin black stem-like object between his fingers. He asked, “What is this?”

“…It’s just ordinary Plantain seeds,” the person next to him answered cautiously.

“Is it?”

Xie Chaoyuan read out these two characters, and the person he was questioning was already trembling.

“Yes, yes, it’s really Plantain seeds.”

Xie Chaoyuan gestured to Wang Rang to lift his chin, and soon someone brought a bowl of water. Xie Chaoyuan threw the Plantain seeds into the water in front of the two doctors.

After a while, the “Plantain seeds” in the water slowly wriggled, as if they had come to life.

The two of them fell to their knees with a thud, trembling uncontrollably.

Xie Chaoyuan’s face was cold as he stared at the wriggling thing in the water. “This thing is called an intelligence worm. It is a kind of gu used to control people’s minds. After being boiled at high temperatures, it will appear to be in a state of fake death and look no different from ordinary medicinal herbs. However, once it enters the human body, it will come back to life and the person who is infected with this gu cannot control themselves and can only be a puppet of the person who planted the gu. What do you want to do by adding this to the medicine given to the prince’s consort?”

There was no emotional fluctuation in Xie Chaoyuan’s cold voice, but the two people kneeling on the ground were already trembling with fear and could not explain themselves.

This kind of gu was extremely rare and they never expected that this young prince would know about it.

Xie Chaoyuan waited calmly for a moment, but the two people in front of him still refused to confess. Suddenly, his expression changed and he reached out and grabbed the leader.

Seeing the killing intent in his eyes, the man shook like a sieve and said, “Young Prince, you can’t… we are here under the order of the king to cure the prince’s consort…”

Xie Chaoyuan had already put his hand around the man’s neck, his gaze even colder as he did not care about the Xirong King who was mentioned by the man. “I’ll ask you again, what do you want to do? Who ordered you to do this?”

The man gritted his teeth and still refused to speak.

After a moment, his pupils dilated, his face turning red as he struggled to breathe. In disbelief, he stared at Xie Chaoyuan with his teeth chattering, desperately trying to remove Xie Chaoyuan’s hand from his neck. But Xie Chaoyuan remained unmoved, his pitch-black eyes fixed on the man as if he were staring at a lifeless object.

After only half a minute, the man painfully swallowed his last breath and fell to the ground. Xie Chaoyuan took the handkerchief handed to him by Wang Rang and wiped his slightly red palms with ease.

The other person who was still kneeling on the ground repeatedly knocked his head, finally speaking in a trembling voice, “Young Prince, spare me… I’ll tell you everything! It was… it was the king who ordered us to use the gu on the prince’s consort. The king wanted to control the prince’s consort to make you listen to him. Please spare me, young prince. I had no other choice…”

The guard came in and dragged the man away. Wang Rang reminded Xie Chaoyuan worriedly, “Your Highness, if you kill them, it may be difficult to explain to the Xirong King.”

“He still has requests of this king, what can he do to this king?” Xie Chaoyuan spoke coldly, “This king wants him to know that this king is not a pushover. Anyone who dares to lay a hand on this king will pay the price.”

Especially for those who dared to lay a hand on Xie Chaoling, they would be lucky to just be strangled to death.

Wang Rang hesitated for a moment and nervously brought up another matter, “Just now, I overheard them whispering that the young master has blood deficiency that is not normal, as if he has lost a lot of blood, but there are clearly no wounds on his body. It shouldn’t be like this. I also remembered something. A few days ago, I saw Wang Jin secretly throwing away several pots of dead flowers, and there was blood on the flower pots. Wang Jin said he accidentally cut his hand, but I now have a feeling that something is not right.”

“Also, I received news just now that the monk died a violent death in his own residence in the temple early this morning. Your Highness and the Living Buddha did not mention this matter, but the monk died before you took action. The situation is quite coincidental.”

Xie Chaoyuan’s brow furrowed, and he thought of something as his mind raced.

He clenched his fist and abruptly stood up, leaving the room.

After Xie Chaoyuan left, Wang Jin brought in some osmanthus cake that he had bought from outside.

“These are really sweet. Young master, have a couple of bites. It’s rare to find a shop that sells authentic Dalian desserts on the street,” Wang Jin said.

Xie Chaoling tried two pieces, and his usually bland mouth finally tasted some sweetness. Wang Jin took out a note from the bottom of the pastry and handed it to him.

Today’s message was even more concise and to the point. It clearly stated the time for him to leave with the writer tomorrow night and reminded him to be prepared.

The sweet taste on his tongue disappeared, and Xie Chaoling closed his eyes and threw the note into the brazier. Wang Jin then took out a medicinal packet from another pastry, and Xie Chaoling didn’t look at it and just put it in his pocket.

Wang Jin asked him quietly, “Your Highness, tomorrow is the day of the big wedding. Are you really okay?”

“Since my uncle said so, there shouldn’t be a problem. You should also be prepared,” Xie Chaoling said indifferently.

When Xie Chaoyuan returned, Xie Chaoling was still eating cake and also admiring the jade pendants that he had asked someone to make.

When he heard footsteps, Xie Chaoling looked up and asked, “Where did you go? Why were you gone for so long?”

Xie Chaoyuan walked up silently and looked at him.

Xie Chaoling reached out to pull him: “Sit down. Wang Jin just bought some snacks from the street. They are quite delicious. You should try them too.”

Staring at Xie Chaoling’s tired and weak face, Xie Chaoyuan suppressed his turbulent emotions and decided not to say what was on his mind. He obediently sat down next to him, opened his mouth, and took the snack that Xie Chaoling fed him.

“How is it? Does it taste authentic?” Xie Chaoling asked with a smile.

“It’s okay.” Xie Chaoyuan’s voice was low and hoarse, and he seemed to be in a bad mood.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Chaoling asked.

“I killed two people.” Xie Chaoyuan looked up and recounted what had happened earlier.

Xie Chaoling swallowed the pastry in his mouth and said nonchalantly, “If you killed them, you killed them. You just need to figure out how to deal with the Xirong King.”

“He won’t do anything to me for the time being, so I don’t have to worry about it.” Xie Chaoyuan shook his head.

“Then why aren’t you happy?” Xie Chaoling asked again. He didn’t believe that Xie Chaoyuan would be in a bad mood just because he had killed someone. Xie Chaoyuan’s nature was to be dissatisfied when someone died too quickly.

Xie Chaoyuan looked at him for a moment and hugged him.

“I don’t know. I just can’t be happy.”

Xie Chaoyuan was angry about all the things that had happened, including the fact that there was someone with ulterior motives who wanted to harm Xie Chaoling despite his poor health. Killing just two people was not enough to vent his anger.

But he knew that the root of all this was actually Xie Chaoling.

He thought he had captured Xie Chaoling, but it might have been just his illusion.

Xie Chaoling raised his hand and patted his back: “Don’t think about it. Think of something happy. We’re getting married tomorrow. This is a big celebration. You always look gloomy and it’s not a good omen.”

Xie Chaoyuan held onto the person in his arms and didn’t let go: “Brother’s health is not good. Let’s wait a little longer. We can postpone the wedding.”

Xie Chaoling refused to agree: “We said tomorrow is tomorrow. We can’t change the date at the last minute. We’ve already sent out the invitations. Besides, there’s only one auspicious day left this year. How long do you want to wait?”

Xie Chaoyuan whispered an explanation: “There’s no way. Just now there was news outside that the monk died suddenly in the temple. The news will probably spread quickly, and we may not be able to hold the wedding tomorrow.”

Xie Chaoling was surprised to hear this: “You haven’t even taken action yet, and the monk died first?”

“Yes, it’s quite a coincidence,” Xie Chaoyuan looked at him with lowered eyes, as if hiding something, “I was planning to take action after our wedding, but who knew someone else would do it first. I don’t know who is so powerful. Perhaps it’s the same person who killed the fake prince. I just don’t know what his ultimate goal is.”

Xie Chaoling pretended not to understand his hidden meaning: “Then let’s just lock the door and have our own wedding. I don’t want to change the date.”

He then picked up the two jade pendants and handed them to Xie Chaoyuan: “And also, a few days ago, I was wandering around outside and happened to buy a piece of high-quality nephrite jade. I had these two jade pendants custom-made, one for each of us.”

Xie Chaoling said that he specially ordered them.

Seeing Xie Chaoyuan remaining silent for a while, Xie Chaoling pushed his arm: “Do you like it, sixth brother?”

“I like it. It’s a gift from my brother. Naturally, I like it,” Xie Chaoyuan lightly held the pendants in his hand.

Xie Chaoling smiled softly and took one of them, carefully tying it around Xie Chaoyuan’s waist, reminding him: “Don’t take it off from now on.”

Xie Chaoyuan also tied the pendant around his waist and then reached out to adjust it. After a moment of silence, he asked: “Brother, will you take it off in the future?”

“No, I will always wear it,” Xie Chaoling replied seriously.

Xie Chaoyuan stared into his eyes.

Xie Chaoling reiterated, “I promise.”

This was his commitment. He would keep his word, no matter what their future held.

Xie Chaoyuan didn’t ask again, and embraced him once more.