Chapter 383 Heart-eating Worm
Xia Zihan also wanted to take a look, but unfortunately, the palace compound was heavily guarded. With her little skill, she might be discovered within three minutes of entering.
After seeing off Doctor Bai, Xia Zihan returned to the courtyard uneasily.
On the thirtieth day, Doctor Bai had not returned yet, so she made an excuse, left the Zeng sisters behind, and hurried to the Second Prince's Mansion.
Before other guests arrived, Xia Zihan inquired about what was going on in the palace.
Princess Qinghui said, "I know that the person who treated the emperor's uncle was Doctor Bai."
Then he sent all the maids out and whispered sneakily, "My father told the staff, and I happened to listen."
Then, he told Xia Zihan that the emperor was still in a coma. The court affairs in the past few days were being handled by several senior members of the court, and the second prince had stayed in the palace to guard the emperor for two consecutive days.
"I heard my father telling his staff that the matter with the emperor's uncle was not simple. Someone must be trying to harm the emperor's uncle. My father was worried that something would happen to the emperor's uncle, so he stayed by his side."
Xia Zihan's heart beat hard and she told her, "Don't tell anyone else about this."
"I'm just going to tell you to listen alone." Princess Qinghui pouted her lips.
Doctor Bai was invited by the eldest prince. Even if she didn't tell Sister Chu Yu, Sister Chu Yu would still know.
Princess Qinghui glanced at Xia Zihan and said, "Sister Chu Yu, those are adults' business, we don't care."
"Well, I'll just ask around." When will it be her turn as a small county leader to take charge of royal affairs?
Xia Zihan found it funny, and the worries in her heart suddenly disappeared a lot.
Because there was something on his mind, Xia Zihan lost interest in playing and felt a little unmotivated all day long.
She stayed up until evening before saying goodbye and going back.
As soon as she returned to Chu House, she asked the boy guarding the door, "Is Doctor Bai back?"
"No, County Lord."
The boy thought that Doctor Bai had gone to collect medicinal materials.
Doctor Bai often goes to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs. He would go there for several days before coming back. Sometimes he would not come back for several months in order to keep a precious medicinal plant from maturing.
Xia Zihan's heart was lifted up again after she had just put it down.
But this time, the eldest prince did not send a secret guard to inform her. She did not know what kind of poison the emperor was poisoned. Could her master cure it?
If she couldn't solve it, what she was most worried about was whether her master would be involved?
In the evening, when Xia Shiming came to see her, he saw that she looked worried.
"What's wrong with you? What happened? Is there anything you can't solve? Tell dad and see if dad can help you?"
Xia Shiming felt distressed and concerned.
Xia Zihan hesitated and told him the matter.
Xia Shiming frowned and said, "The emperor has not been to court these days. He said he was infected with the cold. It is the second prince, Duke Lu and Prince Yu who are handling the court affairs together."
"But..." Xia Shiming lowered his voice, "I heard some rumors from Mr. Wang. I heard that the emperor was seriously ill. The queen and Concubine Lu were serving the emperor day and night. Several princes also If you dare to leave the Emperor, you will worry about the Emperor..."
Xia Zihan understood what was left unsaid.
It was just that he was worried that the emperor would fall into a coma, so he left like this.
By then, the court will definitely be in chaos.
Her father is a Hanlin bachelor, so it doesn't involve anything. She doesn't worry about her father much.
She was worried about the Chu family and his son.
Chu Xuanyu commanded 100,000 troops and held military power. When guarding the border, he resisted the Tatars and repeatedly performed extraordinary feats.
In the eyes of the princes who took over the throne, Chu Xuanyu was just a piece of sweet pastry, a plate of braised pork, and a plate of steamed abalone.
Everyone would want to win him over to their side.
It's a pity that Chu Xuanyu is the emperor's confidant. Chu Xuanyu only listens to the emperor's orders, and his relationship with the emperor is not at all farther than the relationship between the second prince and the emperor.
They are not real brothers, they are better than real brothers.
If the person who poisoned the emperor came to power, as long as Chu Xuanyu was around, he would definitely live in trepidation and uneasiness, like a thorn on his back or a lump in his throat, fearing that Chu Xuanyu would kill him and avenge the emperor.
The only one who could make Chu Xuanyu obey was the third mother and son of the Zhuo family.
As long as he has Zhuo in his hands, he is not afraid of Chu Xuanyu's revenge, and he can also use Zhuo to threaten Chu Xuanyu to guard the border for the rest of his life.
That way, he won't be afraid of another Tatar invasion, and he can sit back and relax while sitting on the throne.
Thinking of this, Xia Zihan shuddered suddenly in his heart, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
If she were the second or third prince, once she became the emperor, she would immediately send people to arrest Zhuo and threaten Chu Xuanyu to serve him. Therefore, once the news of the emperor's death spreads, the Zhuo family, mother and son will be in danger.
No, she had to prepare in advance.
Aqi left Zhuo and the twins under her protection, so she couldn't let him down. Even if she died, she couldn't let Zhuo be caught.
"Yu Niang, are you scared?"
Seeing his daughter's expression dull, Xia Shiming thought what he said had scared Xia Zihan.
Such an exciting thing, anyone who hears it will be shocked.
"Don't worry. If Doctor Bai doesn't come back, he must be saving the emperor." Xia Shiming racked his brains and comforted his daughter, "If you really can't save him, don't worry. The Queen is a kind-hearted person and she won't act casually." Punish Doctor Bai.”
"Well, I hope the master can save the emperor." This will also give the eldest prince a few more years to prepare.
The queen's power has steadily surpassed that of the Lu family. Especially recently, when the emperor is in low energy, he will summon the eldest prince to review memorials and handle government affairs on his behalf.
This phenomenon is both a good thing and a bad thing for the eldest prince.
The good thing is that those ministers who are accustomed to guessing the Holy Will saw that the emperor intended to let the eldest prince take over the throne. For a moment, those ministers who had always remained neutral and did not dare to take sides cheered and all sided with the eldest prince. This side.
This phenomenon does not bode well for the Lu family.
Concubine Lu regretted giving the emperor chronic poison. If she had known that the emperor would reuse the eldest prince when his energy was low, there was no way Concubine Lu would have been willing to administer the chronic poison that would take two years to kill.
If she wants to poison, she can hit it with one hit, and no one can investigate it.
But her father said that the emperor died suddenly, and even if the people at the hospital couldn't find out, it would still make people suspicious.
And often the person who benefits in the end is the murderer.
When the time comes, no matter whether the second prince or the third prince did this, the reputation of killing his father to seize the throne will be inevitable.
Concubine Lu was worried that her son would become the target of public criticism in the end, so she followed Duke Lu and used this chronic poison.
When she realized that the court was already very detrimental to her, Concubine Lu secretly sent her confidant to seek a dose of poisonous insects from the rivers and lakes, and secretly put it into the honey pomelo tea that the emperor was accustomed to drinking every night.
This poisonous insect, once taken, will not cause an attack on the spot, but will only occur three days later.
In this way, even if someone suspected Concubine Lu, Concubine Lu had no contact with the emperor in those three days.
Even if there is suspicion, there is no evidence.
But Concubine Lu would never have imagined that the eldest prince would actually know the famous Doctor Bai in the world.
After some investigation of the emperor, Doctor Bai determined that he had been infected by a rare poisonous insect in the world, the 'heart-eating insect'.
The bug was very, very small, as big as a grain of dust. It was difficult to detect its existence without looking carefully.
As for the bugs, there are no male bugs, all are female bugs, and they reproduce very quickly, but there are conditions for this.
Heart-eating worms can only reproduce in a warm place, and heart-eating worms like hearts very much. Once taken by a person, the worms will automatically take care of themselves in the human heart, and then they will breed quickly after being kept warm for three days. If they reproduce enough, they will begin to devour the host's heart until the host dies.
This is also the reason why the symptoms of heart-eating worms occur three days later after taking them.
The emperor had taken a small insect, not poisoned, so the imperial doctor at the imperial hospital could not diagnose and treat the emperor's condition.
The emperor fainted due to heart pain when he was reproduced by heart-eating insects.
When Doctor Bai rushed there, the heart-eating insects were working hard to breed the last wave of insects. Doctor Bai quickly fed the emperor a pill, then made a list of medicinal materials and ordered the eldest prince to find them.
The pill he fed to the emperor was actually a poison, which was poisonous to the seven-day soul-breaking soul. After taking it, if there was no antidote within seven days, the emperor would die.
Of course, Doctor Bai brought the antidote, so he specially gave it to the emperor.
Not only did the emperor eat it, but the heart-eating worm also ate it. After a while, the worm killed and injured a large area in the emperor's heart.
The insects kept dying and reproducing, but they had no time to bite the emperor's heart.
However, the emperor who is in a coma is experiencing the pain of ice and fire. He is tortured by the poisons and insects in his body. He is covered in sweat. Even in the coma, he still screams out in pain once or twice from time to time. My heart-broken empress Tears straight down.
It wasn't until the second day of May that Doctor Bai finally came back.
Xia Zihan was about to go to Xia's house to attend Xia Ziqing's wedding, when she met Doctor Bai in the front yard, who had just entered the door.
She rushed forward and said, "Master, you are lucky."
Seeing that Doctor Bai's face was tired and his steps were sloppy, she knew that he must have not had a good rest for several days and nights in order to develop the emperor's antidote.
However, his eyes were shining brightly, as if he had obtained some treasure.
Sure enough, Divine Doctor Bai laughed loudly and said very happily, "If you are lucky enough, you can get a few medicinal plants that cannot be bought with money, and the master will be happy."
After saying that, he said again, "Let's go and get to know some medicinal plants with the master. They are treasures."
Xia Zihan thought that she had to go to Xia's house, but it was still early, so it should be okay to delay it for a while, right?
(End of chapter)