Chapter 129 Escape
Su Muge put the willow leaves behind Xia Hourui and waited.
Then she took out some medicine powder from her medical kit and burned it with fire. Instantly, the room was filled with a smell of burning medicine.
“Rustling”
In a while, there were some strange sounds in the room.
Su Muge moved Xia Hourui’s body to check the willow leaves under his body. Some had already been gnawed.
“This, this is …”
Finally, Su Muge could be sure that Xia Hourui was poisoned by poisonous insects.
“All the poisonous insects love willow leaves. Once they smell willow leaves, they can’t help getting out. But they move so fast that ordinary people can’t catch them.”
“So, what shall we do?”
Su Muge frowned; it was hard to handle indeed!
“Eunuch Yi, there are troops reaching the palace gate!”
“What?” Eunuch Yi was scared with a pale face.
“Hasn’t the King of Jin already returned? Didn’t he stop them?”
The King of Jin, Xia Houmo, was back?
“Miss Su, please treat His Majesty as soon as possible. I’ll be back soon.”
If the rebels rushed into the palace, she would be buried with Xia Hourui!
She hoped Xia Houmo could stop the rebels!
Su Muge picked up the willow leaves that had been gnawed by the poisonous insects. It was clear that there were bloodstains and something like jellied bean curd on some of the willow leaves.
These poisonous insects were gnawing his brain!
If they were not taken out as soon as possible, these insects would soon devour Xia Hourui’s brain.
Su Muge didn’t care about Xia Hourui’s life and death. However, with civil strife but without the establishment of the Crown Prince, if he died, the people of the Chu would be bound to suffer a lot.
Su Muge gritted her teeth, took out the silver needles from the medical kit, and inserted them into the acupuncture points near Xia Hourui’s brain. In this way, those poisonous insects could be stopped from getting into his brain to some extent.
She had learned from an ancient book that many poisonous insects could be drawn out with psychedelic. She wondered if it would work on the brain-gnawing insects.
She quickly wrote down a prescription and gave it to the imperial doctors standing beside.
“Send people to get these medicines immediately. I need them.”
Seeing Su Muge’s serious look, the doctor dared not to delay and took the prescription to get the medicine himself.
Soon, the doctor came back with the medicine.
She put the medicine in a copper basin and ignited it. Then she took out a white porcelain bowl, dissolved the medicine in it, and put it beside Xia Hourui’s pillow.
The burning medicinal herbs gradually emitted white smoke, making people unable to open their eyes.
“Close all the windows. If you can’t stand the smoke, please go out. The smoke will remain for a while.”
Several imperial doctors couldn’t bear the smoke and left the room after closing all the doors and windows.
Even if Su Muge was wearing a mask, she couldn’t help shedding tears.
“Tick”
Just as she couldn’t bear it anymore, she heard a soft sound in her ear.
The voice of “tick” continued.
Su Muge blew the smoke in front of her and looked into the bowl. There had been several black insects that were smaller than ants.
“I’ve made it!”
But she didn’t stop the smoke until no more insects came out.
“One, two, three … there are nearly ten insects in total. So disgusting.”
Su Muge put the bowl on the table and pulled out the silver needles.
Now the poisonous insects had been taken out, but it was still unknown whether the insects had hurt Xia Hourui’s brain and to what extent. She could only wait and see if he could wake up by himself.
For the following several days, Su Muge was forced to stay in the palace. Xia Hourui was still unconscious. Besides the imperial guards, there were no other people than several imperial doctors and maids in the whole palace.
Eunuch Yi hadn’t returned since he left that day.
Su Muge wanted to know about the situation outside, but the imperial guards refused to tell her anything. So, she could only give it up.
“His Majesty wakes up! His Majesty wakes up!”
Hearing the sound from the room, Su Muge, who was standing in the courtyard, turned around and walked in.
After entering the hall, she found Xia Hourui had opened his eyes.
Xia Hourui was emaciated with sallow complexion; his eyes were drooping and his spirit looked very bad.
“Your Majesty, you are awake.”
Su Muge found his mouth a little twisted and his eyes dull, which were the symptoms of stroke!
“Well, I, where …?” Just as Xia Hourui wanted to speak, he began to drool.
A maid took the handkerchief to wipe his slaver.
“Your Majesty, you are in the imperial palace now.”
Xia Hourui nodded. It was too hard for him to speak, so he directly stopped talking.
The maid informed an imperial guard of the news that the Emperor had awakened, and the guard immediately went to repost the news.
Instead of meeting Eunuch Yi, Su Muge met Concubine Qin with red eyes.
“His Royal Highness has ordered that no one can enter without his token.” An imperial guard guarding the door stopped Concubine Qin.
“Presumptuous! Open your eyes and see clearly. How dare you stop me?!”
The imperial guard kept his countenance. “Please don’t embarra.s.s us, Your Grace.”
“Get away! This is the imperial palace, not the place where your King of Jin has the final say!” Concubine Qin finally found out a little news about Xia Hourui; how could she be willing to leave so easily?
The guard kept his cold expression and refused to give way.
Concubine Qin was very angry. “What are you waiting for? These bold slaves have stopped my way. Don’t you know what to do?!”
The maids and eunuchs behind Concubine Qin were too scared to step forward. They were the imperials guards! How could they fight against them?!
“You! You useless things!” Seeing those people standing still, Concubine Qin flushed with anger.
“His Majesty wants to see Concubine Qin.” A maid came out and said.
Hearing this, Concubine Qin instantly withdrew her anger on her face and raised her head high. “Get away! His Majesty wants to see me!”
The imperial guards glanced at each other and could only give way to Concubine Qin, but they stopped the palace people behind her.
“His Majesty only wants to see Concubine Qin.”
“Humph!”
Seeing that she could finally enter, Concubine Qin gave up arguing with the guards and followed the maid into the hall.
Su Muge walked out with a bowl of medicine and greeted Concubine Qin.
At the sight of Su Muge, Concubine Qin thought of her marriage to Xia Houkun. She glared at her coldly and walked into the room.
Su Muge pouted silently and ignored her.
“Your Majesty, are you okay? I’m so worried…” As soon as she walked to the door, she heard the wailing of Concubine Qin in the room.
Xia Hourui let Concubine Qin enter to ask about the situation outside.
“Your Majesty, you don’t know that King Dingxi is so bold that he dares to rebel. Fortunately, Kun’er reacted quickly and drove the rebels out of the capital with the imperial guards. Now the King of Jin has also returned. Don’t worry. Kun’er will take King Dingxi’s head to meet you soon.”
Hearing her words, Su Muge rolled her eyes silently outside the room. She was so good at claiming credits to her son.
Didn’t she know about her son’s capability?
However, it can be inferred that King Dingxi didn’t gain much advantage.
Su Muge was sent out of the palace three days later. Xia Hourui had been completely conscious. He had got a stroke because of the poisonous insects or his falling. Since the disease was incurable, she handed the following treatment to the imperial doctors.
The street was more desolate than the palace; there was no pedestrian even at noon.
It was said that King Dingxi had failed and was fleeing to his fiefdom. Xia Hourui sent Xia Houmo to chase him, but the result was still unknown.
On the day of heaven worship, King Dingxi failed to kill Xia Hourui, so he was doomed to be defeated.
Being away for nearly ten days, Su Muge could finally rest a.s.sured when she stepped on the bluestone pavement of Peachblossom Courtyard.
“What has happened in the mansion these days?”
After a bath, Su Muge let Yueru help her dry her hair.
“Everyone is in the mansion these days. Everything is as usual.”
“Well, that’s good. By the way, is there any news of grandmother from Cheng Ran?”
Yueru shook her head. “Not yet. It’s not easy to get any news due to the chaos.”
“Let him continue inquiring. They must still be in the city now.”
“Yes.”
…
Xia Houmo led the troops to chase the escaping King Dingxi and sieged his people on a mountain.
“Your Royal Highness, the whole mountain is surrounded by the King of Jin’s troops. We can’t escape at all!” King Dingxi’s trusted follower said with a gloomy face. They could have almost succeeded! If the King of Jin had returned a quarter later, they would have succeeded!
After several days of fighting, King Dingxi had been so tired without rest for days. He sat in the dark woods with red eyes. The reason why he had been defeated so fast was that his troops had been hijacked halfway to the capital. Without reinforcements, he couldn’t resist at all.
“As long as we get out of the Chu’s territory, I’ll not lose!” King Dingxi grasped the cold sword stained with blood in his hand. Now they were very close to the border of Chu; they could leave here as long as they crossed a mountain and walked one night.
“But, Your Royal Highness, we are besieged now. We can’t cross this mountain at all.”
“How many soldiers has Xia Houmo brought?”
“At least ten thousand people.”
“Your Royal Highness, the King of Jin’s troops are already on the mountain and coming to us.”
King Dingxi stood up with a sullen face. “Go deeper into the mountain!”
“Yes.”
“There they are!” The following chasers found King Dingxi’s troops.
“Hurry up! Don’t let them run away!”
King Dingxi’s trusted follower found the chasers with an awful atmosphere. “Protect His Royal Highness and run away.”
“Yes.”
After staying up for so many days, King Dingxi was actually supporting his body with his mind now.
“Catch King Dingxi!”
With more and more chasing soldiers, the people protecting King Dingxi were fewer and fewer.
Just as King Dingxi had nowhere to hide, a black figure appeared and dragged him to a dark place.