Once the Seed of Doubt is Planted
This kind of unwavering trust, this willingness to brave any danger for the other with a single word, warmed Jiang Zhaoying’s heart. Then, she bowed deeply once more toward Jiang Jianzheng.
“Despite all precautions, unforeseen complications arose. Perhaps it is because Song Chengyu met someone he truly loved and momentarily lost control of his emotions.”
Hearing this,
The Emperor’s eyes grew thick with murderous intent.
“Investigate who seduced Song Chengyu.”
“Yes.”
Eunuch Chen accepted the order. As he passed Jiang Zhaoying, he gave her a deep look. This young woman’s words were sharp indeed. With just a few simple words, she had dragged the woman Song Chengyu was hiding into the open.
It seemed
the woman Song Chengyu was protecting would meet a gruesome end!
“Draw the blood.”
The Emperor, already impatient, waved his hand and gave the command. Palace attendants swiftly stepped forward and began to unfasten Song Chengyu’s robes.
His pale chest gleamed faintly in the light. Just as an attendant raised a dagger to plunge it in forcefully, Jiang Zhaoying’s voice softly rang out.
“Your Majesty, allow this humble subject to do it.”
Such a perfect opportunity—to cut open his chest, to carve out his heart, to exact her great revenge—how could she let it slip away?
Her clear, pleasing voice was a delight to hear. Only then did The Emperor look at Jiang Zhaoying—a small figure kneeling on the cold floor, her beautiful face deathly pale, so fragile it made one want to hold her close and cherish her. Yet she said she wanted to carve out the heart and draw the blood for him.
The Emperor’s interest was immediately piqued.
He reached out a hand… Eunuch Chen, who had just returned, hurried forward to help him sit up. The Emperor smiled.
“Then you go.”
Jiang Zhaoying promptly stood up. A young eunuch hastily rose, bowing as he presented the gleaming, cold dagger. A palace maid holding a silver bowl followed closely by her side.
Song Chengyu lay quietly in the center of the hall. The wind from the doorway swept in, brushing back and forth across his chest, like the tip of a blade hovering over his heart.
“When my father divined this hexagram, I wrote to you, urging you to maintain your integrity. At our wedding, you swore before me to heaven that you would never take concubines or maidservants, that you would never do anything to betray me. Knowing all this, why did you still commit acts that betrayed The Emperor?”
The knife’s tip traced a line across Song Chengyu’s pale chest. A thin red mark appeared, and beads of blood instantly welled up.
A subtle change in the tension of Song Chengyu’s body was visible to the naked eye. Even in his feigned death, immense fear left him utterly disoriented.
He did not want to die, he could not die!
The Emperor watched all this coldly. He took the hot tea Eunuch Chen handed him and sipped it slowly, as if drinking Song Chengyu’s fresh blood.
Perhaps he had felt some gratitude toward the Song family before, but since they had clearly warned him long ago and he still engaged in such disgraceful acts, it was a capital offense.
He deserved to die!
“Hurry up.”
The Emperor spoke with displeasure, thumping his cup down on the table with a clunk.
He was already impatient to recover. For this heart-wrenching pain, he had even sent people out to search for highly skilled Daoist priests and alchemists, preparing to refine elixirs.
“Yes.”
Jiang Zhaoying obediently replied. Then, gathering hidden strength in her wrist, she slowly pressed the knife’s tip deeper into the flesh. The sight of blood staining the pale skin was truly exquisite.
The Emperor leaned forward slightly, narrowing his eyes. Light refracted into them as he watched the somewhat eerie scene in the center of the hall, inhaling the scent of blood. An inexplicable flicker of satisfaction passed through his gaze.
What a pity.
That bastard Song Chengyu didn’t take care of his own body, causing the medicine’s efficacy to be halved.
What crime should they be punished with?
The Emperor coldly pondered this question, but at that moment, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the hall, followed by a loud thud as someone fell. Eunuch Chen shot a sharp glance at Eunuch Wu, who rushed out immediately, only to collide head-on with Madam Song who was charging in.
Madam Song fell to the ground, and when she looked up, she saw her son’s chest covered in blood. She let out a terrified scream and, ignoring the pain, crawled forward on her knees, crying out.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please show mercy, Your Majesty… This humble woman… perhaps this humble woman has a better way to cure Your Majesty.”
Jiang Zhaoying’s brows and eyes flickered slightly.
Jiang Linzheng also looked up at his daughter. Seeing her expression, he knew her scheme had reached its crucial moment, and only then did his tense back gradually relax.
Xu Zhiyan’s fist, hidden in his sleeve, also loosened. Wei Jiuzhao swiftly glanced at their reactions, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
Perhaps.
He should also trust Ying’er, just like his master and junior brother.
Jiang Zhaoying hurried to Madam Song’s side to help her up.
“Mother, is there really another way to help His Majesty? Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”
Madam Song suddenly turned her head and glared viciously at Jiang Zhaoying, shoving her away. Jiang Zhaoying fell heavily to the ground, and in her pain, her eyes filled with grievance and worry as she retreated to the side, her face deathly pale.
“Oh?”
The Emperor’s eyes immediately lit up as he pointed at Madam Song.
“Do you truly have a better method?”
Madam Song crawled tearfully to Song Chengyu’s side. Seeing the bloodstain on his chest, she was so frightened she could barely breathe. Trembling, she reached out to touch Song Chengyu’s chest and found the wound wasn’t very deep—the Heart’s Blood hadn’t been drawn yet. Only then did Madam Song slump to the ground, gasping for breath.
“Madam Song!”
The Emperor’s displeased voice rang out coldly. Madam Song snapped back to reality and hurriedly took out a small, exquisitely crafted purple box from her bosom.
“Your Majesty, do you recall that the late Emperor once bestowed a pill to my husband, the Marquis?”
It seemed there was such a thing.
At that time, the Emperor was still a prince, quite young, and didn’t have a deep impression of the matter.
He only remembered.
That year.
Several tribes bordering the Da Ye Kingdom rose in rebellion one after another. Though the battles weren’t large, they plagued the border people endlessly. Song Qingcheng followed the late Emperor into battle and later, to save the late Emperor, suffered severe injuries, nearly dying several times. The late Emperor ordered a widespread search for renowned physicians, who refined two pills, one of which was given to Song Qingcheng.
Song Qingcheng recuperated for a full year before recovering. Everyone thought he had taken that pill.
A few years later.
Song Qingcheng died, and they assumed the pill had been ineffective. Little did they know Madam Song had never brought it out.
“Your Majesty, there was indeed such an incident.”
Eunuch Chen said softly. In his view, the Song family only had this Song Qingcheng who was somewhat respectable.
“It’s also this humble woman’s fault for being too anxious. In panic, I forgot everything. The Marquis once instructed that this pill should not be taken out unless absolutely necessary. So even when Song Chengyu fell ill, I didn’t dare to bring it out. It suddenly came to mind just now, so I fetched the pill and rushed into the palace in a hurry.”
“Your Majesty, the Tianyi tribe possesses the most precious medicinal herbs, so the medicine they produce must be effective. If Your Majesty does not believe it, this subject’s wife will first give half to Song Chengyu. If he awakens, it will prove the medicine works, and Your Majesty can then take the other half.”
“Imperial Physician Leng, go and examine it.”
Chief Astronomer Jiang whispered to Imperial Physician Leng, who nodded and hurried forward to take the small box. He gently sniffed it, then exclaimed with great surprise and disbelief.
“Excellent medicine, truly excellent medicine.”
Eunuch Chen stepped forward with a small dagger and divided the medicine into two halves. Madam Song then fed one half into Song Chengyu’s mouth, helping him swallow it slowly with warm water. The inner chamber fell into complete silence.
Jiang Zhaoying watched this scene quietly, a faint smile curling at the corners of her red lips.
Without this miraculous pill, let’s see how the Song family will ever revive from the dead again. The Emperor would not believe she had only one pill. The consorts in the palace, even the noble families, would all turn their eyes toward her. Once the seed of suspicion is planted, it will only grow larger and larger.