The Evil Emperor's Favorite: The Sickly and Poisonous Concubine Goes Crazy

The next morning, just as the sky was turning pale, the Beiyang Palace was already busy. Gu Yan'an and Su Jingning traveled light, only taking Mo You and Yun Ya with them, and they quietly left the palace. The noise of the caravan obscured their whereabouts.

Imperial Capital, Xuyang Palace.

Mu Xi, wearing a dark red palace gown with wide sleeves, sat on the soft chair by the window with his back to the palace gate, looking up at the raindrops dripping from the eaves, as if in deep thought. A drizzle was falling outside the window.

Soon after she returned to the palace after revising the memorial for her father, the emperor's palace urgently summoned the imperial physician, and then there was news that her father had been poisoned and was in a coma. She wanted to see him, but was stopped in the palace by Concubine Xian on suspicion of poisoning. She also ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate, but everyone in the court didn't know that the Minister of Justice was a student of Prime Minister Liu.

The next day, the emperor woke up and issued an unexpected decree. He urgently summoned the crown prince back to the capital to supervise the country, removed her from her position in the Imperial Camp, and transferred away the people around her.

She went to her father's bedroom in the dark of night. Her father was still in a coma. They said that her father had been poisoned by a strange poison that they had never heard of and they didn't know the cure. The virtuous concubine did not allow anyone to visit him on the grounds that the emperor's health was more important. When her father was awake occasionally, he only saw Prime Minister Liu and asked him to handle state affairs. She asked the emperor to see her father, but was rejected.

Now, every place in the palace is filled with Concubine Xian’s people and Liu family’s confidants.

Apart from Concubine Xian, she couldn't think of anyone else who could be responsible for this poison.

The virtuous concubine and the crown prince wanted to seize the throne, and my father was controlled by them.

Her father and grandmother had fought for many years, and in the end, her grandmother was defeated, and the Shen family, which had controlled the court for many years, fell. She grew up under her father's lap, watching their open and covert struggles. Her way of dealing with people, her scheming and planning were all taught by her father, and she could guess what he was thinking.

No matter how well and virtuous the prince had disguised himself over the years, he had never been the crown prince in his father's heart.

"Yinggu, I know that the people in this palace cannot hold you back. Please help me deliver a letter to the Grand Tutor's Mansion."

There was a letter beside Mu Xi. She was looking out the window. Ambition and coldness gradually gathered in her deep eyes. The aura of a superior around her made people bow down unconsciously.

The virtuous concubine thought that if she stayed obediently in Xuyang Palace for a few days, she would be imprisoned.

"Yes." A palace lady in dark green clothes standing behind her responded in a low voice. She took the letter and left the palace quietly.

Grand Master's Mansion.

Yinggu sneaked into the mansion secretly. In the pavilion, an old man in plain coarse clothes was sitting cross-legged on a futon, holding a black piece in his hand. His wrinkled face looked even more wrinkled because he was at a disadvantage in the game of chess.

"Okay, I lost again! The gold workshop in the east border is yours. Let's play another game on the farm in the western suburbs. The farm has this much harvest a year!" He threw the chess piece away with an unconvinced look on his face, compared a number to the young man sitting opposite him, and continued.

"Grandfather, I have something else to do today, let's do it next time." Qi Nanfeng stood up, bowed to the old master, and wanted to leave. Mu Xi was still imprisoned, and he was in no mood to gamble with his grandfather.

"Stop! You are not allowed to go anywhere! Have you forgotten what Xuyang said?"

Old Master Qi shouted loudly.

Qi Nanfeng paused, sighed, and sat back down.

"But it's been a few days and she hasn't sent any news. I don't know what's going on in the palace."

"Here I come." Old Master Qi raised his head and said.

Yinggu bowed to Old Master Qi:

"Greetings, Grand Master. Princess Xuyang has a letter."

Qi Nanfeng quickly got up, took the letter and opened it.

Master Qi smiled, stroked his goatee, and looked at Ying Gu: "Miss Ying, do you have anything else to say?"

Ying Gu took out a brocade bag from her bosom and handed it to the old Grand Tutor Qi: "The master said that the old Grand Tutor is a veteran of two dynasties and a teacher to all the officials in the court. It is most appropriate to give this thing to the Grand Tutor. I also ask the Grand Tutor to stabilize the court when necessary."

Grand Tutor Qi looked at the brocade bag for a long time before he put it away and nodded to Yinggu.

After Qi Nanfeng finished reading the letter in his hand, his expression gradually became serious. He turned his eyes to look at Ying Gu:

"Is your Highness okay? Are you injured?"

"Your Highness is fine and not injured. Please rest assured, young master."

The worry in Qi Nanfeng's eyes faded a little, and there was no trace of the unreliability in his brows. "Aunt, please tell His Highness that I will complete the matter within three days. Please wait for me for another three days."

Yinggu nodded, bowed to Old Master Qi, then turned and left the pavilion.

"Grandfather, what did Aunt Ying mean just now? What did she give you?" After Aunt Ying left, Qi Nanfang turned around and asked the old tutor.

Old Master Qi flicked his snow-white goatee and said impatiently, "It's meaningless. Go do your work quickly. I have business to attend to as well."

As he said this, he left the pavilion. Qi Nanfang's mind was full of the instructions in Mu Xi's letter. He didn't dare to delay and didn't pursue the matter any further. He turned around and prepared to leave.

But he saw Su Jingmo being brought into the mansion by servants, and he was just about to go look for him.

"How did you come?!"

Su Jingmo glanced at the letter in his hand, and sure enough, it was a good idea to come to this nerd Qi Nanfeng's place.

"It took a lot of effort to get here after getting rid of several gangs. What did Mu Xi say?"

Qi Nanfeng subconsciously hid the letter behind him, but Su Jingmo took it away: "What are you hiding? Are you still hiding it from me?"

Su Jingmo and Mu Xi both learned martial arts. Since childhood, Qi Nanfeng could never beat them and was bullied by them in turn.

Su Jingmo quickly glanced through the contents of the letter, his brows gradually furrowed, his face became serious, then he gently placed the letter on the table, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.

"Do as she says. Wait for me at Mule Dai Pavilion on North Street tonight at midnight. I will secretly send you away. You are familiar with the secret manpower she has deployed in various places over the years. You must do your best to mobilize people from all over the country to delay the prince from entering the capital. One more day of delay will increase the chance of success. My status makes it inconvenient for me to leave the capital. I will first go to Tianji Tower to ask for medicine, then contact the people on the list in the letter and jointly write a letter to ask all the ministers to meet His Majesty and plead for His Highness."

"Okay. The prince's men are probably watching you too, so be careful." Qi Nanfeng warned.

"understood."

Su Jingmo nodded in agreement, and did not stay in the Grand Tutor's Mansion any longer, but quietly left through the side door.

After leaving the Grand Tutor's Mansion, Su Jingmo went straight to the secret door of the Tianji Tower.

"A question worth a thousand gold, a request worth a thousand gold, what does it want, sir?" The shopkeeper inside the door greeted Su Jingmo who came in with a smile.

Su Jingmo took out a silver slip and handed it to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper lowered his eyes and asked Su Jingmo to wait. After Su Jingmo waited for half a cup of tea, a young waiter came up and made a gesture to Su Jingmo: "Sir, please come in."

Su Jingmo followed him into the inner courtyard and entered a teahouse, where someone was waiting.

"The poison you are asking about is called Soul-Falling Inducement. It is both a poison and a Gu. It originates from outside the East China Sea. The poisoner can mix the medicine needed by the Gu worm into food, incense, tea, and clothing. The amount required by the Gu worm is extremely small and almost undetectable. The poisoned person will not feel anything at first, but will gradually become sleepy and finally comatose. The period of sleepiness is when the poisoner can control the person."

"How did the poisoner manipulate it?" Su Jingmo asked.

"The soul-guiding incense has a special smell that will control the Gu in the body of the recipient, making him obey its orders."

The waiter paused and continued, "As for what you want, if you wait for a few days, you may get it. The antidote for the Soul-Falling Induction was taken away by someone half a month ago."

"What? Who took it away?" Su Jingmo asked anxiously. The person who took the antidote was most likely the one who poisoned it.

The waiter smiled and shook his head.

Su Jingmo knew the rules of Tianji Tower that no information about the employer could be disclosed, so he couldn't ask anything.

"How many days do we need to wait?"

"At least half a month." The waiter replied softly.

Half a month, I can’t wait another half a month.

"Please hurry up."

Su Jingmo sighed softly and left Tianji Tower. At least he had found out what poison His Majesty had been poisoned with.

He had to pass the message to Mu Xi first, but after leaving the palace yesterday, the palace issued a ban and even he could not enter.

He frowned slightly, lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, thinking that perhaps there was someone who could see Mu Xi, so he headed west.

In Xiliang Prefecture, as soon as Su Jingmo entered the prefecture, a red bone whip swept straight towards his face.

With a "bang", it hit the door frame hard.

Princess Feng Ziyan of Xiliang came out with her face raised, wearing a gorgeous peacock blue Xiliang costume.

Without changing her expression, she smiled at him and said, "Sorry, my hand slipped, General Su."

Su Jingmo took a step back and waved his hand: "It's okay."

"Alright, Su Er, stop acting like a princess here. If you come to my house for no reason, it must be something bad." Feng Zi Yan put her hands in front of her chest, disdain in her big eyes.

"Tell me, what do you want from me, Princess?"

Su Jingmo bowed to Feng Ziyan in a proper manner:

"I do have something to ask of you, Princess. I hope you can help me."

Feng Ziyan's eyes were filled with surprise, and her attitude became more restrained, but still a little awkward:

"Tell me what you want to say first, and I will consider it."

"It's not a big deal. I just want to ask the princess to come to the palace to deliver a message for me." Su Jingmo said lightly.

"Enter the palace? Are you okay, Su Er? Your Majesty is poisoned and unconscious. You, the commander of the Imperial Guard, can't even enter. You want me, a princess from a foreign country, to deliver the message to the palace for you?"

Su Jingmo stood up and stared at him, shrugging his shoulders, looking a bit rogue:

"I can't help it. I know you can enter the palace."

Feng Ziyan laughed angrily: "Okay, this princess can enter the palace, but what can you give me in exchange?"

Su Jingmo lowered his head and pondered for a while, then raised his eyes to look at Feng Ziyan, his eyes more serious: "Haven't you always wanted to settle the grudge between us? After this matter, I will let you deal with it."

"Okay! This princess accepts this deal." Feng Ziyan replied sternly, with some anger in her voice.

On the second day, Feng Zi Yan somehow managed to enter the palace and met Mu Xi openly under the nose of Concubine Xian.

When Mu Xi saw that the person coming was the Princess of Xiliang, a strange look appeared in his eyes and he stood up and walked towards her.

"Why is Princess Zi Yan here?"

Feng Ziyan smiled at her:

"Princess, you forgot. Not long ago, you asked me to find a sacred flower from the Western Regions. The journey to the Western Regions is long, so your brother sent some seeds of the sacred flower from Xiliang. I remember that this sacred flower of the Western Regions is of great significance to the princess, so I sent it to you as soon as it arrived."

Feng Ziyan had been flamboyant in the Imperial Capital for nearly two years. She was not afraid of anyone in the Zhou Dynasty except the Emperor. She had the entire Xiliang behind her. Although she was a hostage in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Emperor was still somewhat polite to her. Except for some blind people, almost no one in the court dared to offend her.

Moreover, she had some friendship with the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, so Concubine Xian would not want to make things difficult for her.

While Feng Zi Yan was talking to her, she handed the letter in her sleeve to Mu Xi.

Mu Xi reacted quickly and hid the letter in his sleeve.

"I didn't expect the princess to find it for me. Xuyang thanks the princess."

Feng Zi Yan glanced at the people following behind her and slightly turned her body to block their gaze.

"Su Er asked me to tell the princess that there will be a turn for the better tomorrow."

"Thank you." Mu Xi's eyes showed a little more gratitude and he nodded towards Feng Zi Yan.

"Since the things have been delivered, Zi Yan will not stay any longer."

"Xuyang is inconvenienced right now. I will thank the princess another day."

Mu Xi watched Feng Zi Yan leave. The palace gate slowly closed again. Then she went back to the house and opened the letter.

She lowered her eyes and looked at him, her gaze gradually turning colder.

"Falling Soul Guide..."

Sure enough! It was done by Concubine Xian.

Seven days later, on the way back to Beijing from Dongjing.

The prince led the Tongzhou army back to the capital. He finally got rid of the ghosts that lingered along the way and bit him like wolves, and went into the dense forest to rest.

"Your Highness, the rebels and the letter of surrender from the Northern Frontier were escorted out of Hancheng by the Prince of Beiyang himself the day before yesterday."

"How is King Beiyang injured?" Mu Feng asked in a low voice.

"His injuries have not healed yet, and the doctor is accompanying him. He has been sitting in a wheelchair and has not come out since he got into the carriage."

"How many people are accompanying you?"

"Your Highness, there were 10,000 Beiyang soldiers accompanying the transport. However, after they left Hancheng, nearly 100,000 Beiyang soldiers returned to the camp from the north, but they took the route to the Imperial Capital."

The prince's expression darkened. "Let the rest of the Hua family go and rescue the prisoners. I want to return to the capital before them."

"How is Dijing?"

"It seems that something went wrong with Prime Minister Liu. I wonder who told him about the Hua family."

He frowned and pinched his forehead: "He wants to be a loyal minister who protects the emperor and the people, but he doesn't know that the Liu family has been rotten in secret for a long time. There is nothing to worry about. The lifeblood of the Liu family is in my hands. Even if he doesn't want to, he has to help me. What about the palace and Xuyang?"

"His Majesty is occasionally lucid, but he doesn't see anyone. The Queen is in control of the palace, but the ministers in the court have been petitioning on behalf of Princess Xuyang for many days in a row, and Prime Minister Liu couldn't stop them. Under pressure, the Queen withdrew the people from the Xuyang Palace."

Thinking about the people who had been biting them these days, Mu Feng's face darkened completely. These people were a mixed bunch, with wanderers, gangsters and bandits appearing and disappearing like ghosts, and even local officials were willing to stop him. If it weren't for these people, he would have returned to Beijing three days ago.

Xuyang, his good sister, he had looked down on her in the past. A sneer appeared on his lips, but that smile concealed deep fear and unwillingness. He had never thought that after years of careful planning, he would be stopped by a woman at the last moment.

"If anyone dares to block the way when we return to the capital with the imperial edict, she, Mu Xi, will be considered disobedient and plotting something bad."

"Yes!"