After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

"Yes."

Liu Ji nodded and, while packing his medicine box, secretly observed the person beside him.

He was still so handsome, with a faint lotus fragrance emanating from him; even just a trace of that fragrance could last for a long time.

The silk handkerchief in his hand was slightly hot. He stuffed it into his medicine box, stood up, and took his leave: "Your Majesty, this humble subject takes his leave."

After leaving Qiyue Palace, he conveyed these words to Mo Yan. Mo Yan listened without saying a word, but silently drank another large bowl of medicine.

He wiped his lips, then, without looking at Liu Ji, said, "Step back."

"Yes."

Carrying his medicine chest back to the library, he saw his master still consulting ancient books. The library was extremely quiet, with only the sound of turning pages audible.

He quietly put away his medicine box, went to a corner, and pulled out an ancient book to look it up.

The cover read: Medicine King Valley.

Day two.

After drinking several bowls of medicine, Mo Yan's symptoms did not improve at all; on the contrary, they became more and more serious.

His once rosy lips were now stained a dark purple, and several thin, dark purple lines had appeared on his wrists, making one think of the words "his days are numbered" the moment they saw him.

He coughed up another mouthful of black blood, his brows furrowed, and before fainting, he gave Wu Xu a task.

Although Wu Xu was shocked, he had no choice but to do as he was told, and ordered several thick iron chains to be brought over to lock Mo Yan's hands and feet.

Time passed, and most of the day quietly went by. Mo Yan, who was on the bed, opened his eyes.

His clear pupils turned completely red, and driven by instinct, he struggled violently, causing the chains to rattle loudly.

A terrifying sound came from his throat; at this moment, how could he still maintain the dignity of a monarch?

Wu Xu watched as his palm was pinched raw by his fingertips, and drops of blood dripped onto the ground.

"Your Majesty..." he murmured.

But Mo Yan had already lost his mind. His wrists and ankles were cut by the iron chains, and blood gushed out, staining Wu Xu's eyes red.

He could no longer hold back and headed straight for Qiyue Palace.

With a dagger as cold as iron in his hand and an icy expression on his face, Wu Xu stood outside the gate of Qiyue Palace.

Upon seeing him, the guard stepped forward and asked, "Sir, what are His Majesty's orders?"

"Um."

He nodded: "Open the door."

The guards obediently opened the door, watching Wu Xu's figure disappear from sight before the palace gates slowly closed.

Upon entering the courtyard, Wu Xu's hand holding the dagger trembled slightly. Without pausing, he went straight to the door.

"Eunuch Wu?"

Only Lu Shu was guarding the entrance. He was startled when he saw him, then exclaimed with delight, "Is His Majesty coming to see the Empress?"

His Majesty hasn't come for several days. The people in the palace are very good at fawning on the powerful and bullying the weak. They mistakenly thought that the Empress had fallen out of favor, so their attitude towards her has become much worse.

This has resulted in him being the only one left serving the emperor and empress.

Fortunately, the Queen didn't care about these things, otherwise she would have been so upset.

Wu Xu's appearance gave Lu Shu hope, and he couldn't help but look towards the door: "When will His Majesty arrive?"

"His Majesty won't be coming anytime soon."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shu's smile vanished completely.

Even when His Majesty was angry with the Empress before, he would never stay away for this long. This time, however, he has been absent for several days in a row. Could it be...?

Has His Majesty truly grown tired of the Queen?

Lu Shu's heart sank to the bottom, and he couldn't help but worry about Chu Junci.

Chu Junci was found by Mo Yan at Luoxue Cliff. After being brought to Zhao Kingdom, he was destitute and all alone. In the past, when Mo Yan doted on him, no one dared to bully him. But once Mo Yan abandoned him, all that awaited him was...

Lu Shu shook his head, not daring to think about it anymore.

"Then what brings you here today, sir...?"

"I have something to say to the Queen. You may leave."

"…yes."

After Lu Shu left, Wu Xu pushed open the palace door and met Chu Junci's gaze, who was playing chess.

Without uttering a word, he slowly stepped into the hall and stood before Chu Junci.

"Your Majesty."

Chu Junci looked at him as well, "Is something the matter?"

"There is indeed something that requires Your Majesty's help."

Wu Xu's expression and tone were off, and Chu Junci instinctively felt something was wrong. He reached for the dagger on the table, but at that moment, Wu Xu moved.

He held a dagger and stabbed straight at him.

Chu Junci dodged to the side, and the dagger cut off a few strands of his hair.

The strands of hair twirled in the air before falling to the ground.

"You're going to kill me?"

"It's not about killing you, it's just about using the Queen's heart's blood."

"Heart's blood?"

As they were talking, Chu Junci finally touched the dagger, and the sword and blade clashed, producing a piercing sound.

He suddenly remembered Mo Yan's injury: "Did something happen to Mo Yan?"

"Your Majesty need not ask so many questions, since you don't care about His Majesty anyway."

Wu Xu said coldly, "This servant will not kill you. With just a few drops of my heart's blood, you will still be the most honored queen of the Great Zhao."

Wu Xu's behavior further proved that something had happened to Mo Yan, and Chu Junci's heart was in turmoil for a moment: "Take me to see him."

"There's no need."

Mo Yan doesn't want to see Chu Junci now, and Wu Xu doesn't dare let him see him either. He knows that once His Majesty finds out about this, he will definitely stop him.

He wasn't afraid of death; what he feared was His Majesty's death.

With his eyes growing increasingly sharp, Wu Xu aimed his blade at Chu Junci's heart: "Your Majesty has been so good to the Empress; now it is time for the Empress to repay him."

"Oh."

Chu Junci resisted, but just because he couldn't defeat Mo Yan didn't mean he couldn't defeat Wu Xu.

The two exchanged blows until Chu Junci kicked Wu Xu's dagger to the ground, then held it to Wu Xu's neck: "What exactly happened?"

He suddenly remembered that Mo Yan had said he was infected with a Gu worm, and guessed, "Could it be related to the Gu poison that Mo Yan was infected with?"

"How dare you ask?"

Wu Xu's words were full of dissatisfaction, and Chu Junci turned his head: "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean...?"

Wu Xu murmured, staring at Chu Junci's face: "Why do you think His Majesty found you at Snowfall Cliff?"

"For the sake of the snow lotus?"

Chu Junci only had a vague understanding of this matter, and Mo Yan had never mentioned it to him.

"That's right."

"His Majesty has been suffering from Gu poison for more than ten years. Two months ago, after the Imperial Advisor deduced that the snow lotus grew at Snowfall Cliff, His Majesty immediately led people there."

"But who knew that after searching the entire Snowfall Cliff without finding a trace of Snow Lotus, I found you at the bottom of the cliff instead."

"You were unconscious in the snow, your body exuding the fragrance of lotus blossoms. Combined with the mysteriously vanished snow lotus, do you dare say that you didn't take the snow lotus or even consume it?"

"..."

Faced with the questioning, Chu Junci pursed his lips. He had lost his past memories and didn't know if he had really consumed the snow lotus.

But the scent on him was indeed a bit strange.

Wu Xu continued, "If His Majesty were to follow his usual temperament, he could kill you, extract your heart, and use it to make medicine to cure the poison in your body, but unfortunately..."

He didn't say anything more, only saying, "His Majesty is now suffering from a deadly poison, and only your heart's blood can cure it."

"Mo Ci, considering how good His Majesty has been to you, wouldn't it be better to give him some of your heart's blood?"

"Not too much is needed, just enough to be used in medicine."

"..."

Chu Junci lowered his eyes, and when he looked up again, he said, "Let's make a deal."