Zhou Yan was left speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Madam, if something goes wrong tomorrow after you've done this and the Prince finds out when he returns that you've gotten into trouble, what should we do then?"
Gu Ying smiled and shook her head gently. "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Zhou Yan sighed and closed his mouth.
...
The next day, at first light, the people of Yueyang couldn't sleep anymore and gradually gathered at the gates of the Qingjiang Manor.
Early in the morning, Gu Ying had Yin Lan help her dress up beautifully. Huai An was disguised as the Prince. Together with everyone else, they headed towards the sacrificial altar.
The altar was built on the dangerous beach of the Yu River, standing over six meters tall. The black Yueyang city flag blew vigorously in the cold wind on the wooden structure.
The vast crowd knelt on the ground, watching Gu Ying and "Zhao Changdu" walk up the high altar. In the center of the altar, a big fire had already been lit, just waiting for the Yin-Yang couple to jump in, begging the gods for forgiveness and to eliminate the plague in Yueyang.
Everyone looked up at the country and city-toppling beauty in white. Their eyes showed gratitude, bewilderment, agony and sympathy.
But they were helpless. To survive, they could only sacrifice her and the Prince.
"Your Highness, My Lady, the people of Yueyang will always remember your grace. After you leave, every household will worship your memorial tablets—"
"There's no need for that."
Gu Ying's voice was cold. The corners of her lips curled up into a flawless smile. Fine silver tassels hung down from her temples, adding a touch of softness to her composure and peerless beauty, as if a goddess had descended to earth.
Someone asked in a trembling voice, "My Lady, what do you mean?"
Gu Ying looked down at everyone arrogantly. She slowly said, "Today, I will reveal the truth about the Yueyang plague before the gods!"
The people clamored, "What does My Lady mean?"
"You didn't believe me and His Highness before, you didn't believe this plague was actually caused by poisoning. But I have found evidence!" Gu Ying shouted, "Today, I will bring out the murderer before all of you! If I say one false sentence, I will jump down from this altar before everyone!"
"What? There really is a murderer?"
"Of course!" Gu Ying smiled confidently. She waved and had people bring Zhu Yulou and Li Yang up.
Seeing Zhu Yulou, everyone was confused. "Isn't that Doctor Zhu? Why would Doctor Zhu poison us?"
Zhu Yulou was ashamed beyond words with tears streaming down his face. He didn't know what to say and could only kowtow to everyone over and over begging for mercy, while saying words asking for his life to be spared.
"How could this be? I know Doctor Zhu. Doctor Zhu doesn't seem like a bad person. "
"He has always been quite honest and decent. Why would he harm us? Giving so many people poison wasn't out of hatred, right?"
"You guessed right," Gu Ying interrupted everyone's discussion. She explained clearly how Zhu Yulou was exploited by Jiang Yin, and how he secretly put poison into everyone's medicinal soups. Then, under everyone's doubtful gazes, she took out a packet of poison from her arms. Her eyes were cold as she announced in a loud voice, "This is the poison that Jiang Yin had him make. It is called Xueshang Qingfeng. It is made mainly from snowy wormwood and dendrobium. It causes people to first show red rashes on their skin. Then it invades the heart and lungs, and eventually the whole body rots and decays into pieces!"
Everyone rolled up their sleeves and looked at the red rashes that had appeared on their bodies. Some people had already begun to show skin decay.
Everyone was scared out of cold sweat. They started cursing at Zhu Yulou.
Zhu Yulou cried, "I really didn't mean to. That young master Jiang drugged me. I had no choice but to...I'm so sorry everyone!"
"So many lives, how could you do it!"
Zhu Yulou hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"No, we can't believe His Highness and His Lady. What if she was only trying to escape sacrifice and deliberately found someone to frame? Then we would still die!"
"That's right!" Incited by someone, people began to doubt again.
Huai An was furious and wanted to explode. Gu Ying grabbed him to stop him. She raised her hand to calm everyone down. "There's no need to worry. Now that we have the poison, it wouldn't be hard to make the antidote. Let me test it out and see if what I said is true or false!"
Hearing this, everyone looked up at the altar in unison.
Gu Ying looked calm and tranquil. She told Yin Lan to bring the antidote over, then personally pushed open Li Yang's jaw and poured the medicine into his mouth.
Li Yang glared at Gu Ying bitterly. Gu Ying gave him an innocent smile, then turned to look at the people below. "This is His Highness King Shu. He had been living with you this whole time. I'm sure you know he has long been infected by this so-called plague. So I just fed him double the dosage of the antidote." The rashes on his skin will certainly disappear within an incense stick's time. If he does not recover, then I will willingly jump down from here to sacrifice for you all. What do you think?"
Zhu Yulou had secretly researched and developed the antidote himself after obtaining the poison. So producing the antidote was very fast.
Gu Ying smiled self-deprecatingly. "Don't you trust me enough to even give me one incense stick's worth of time?"
The people below looked at each other. "My Lady, we did not mean that... Alright, we will wait one incense stick for you. How about that?"
Most people echoed supportively, only a minority still had doubts.
Gu Ying closed her eyes quietly to wait for the antidote to take effect.
After one incense stick burnt out, Li Yang indeed felt that the antidote made him regain strength. Not only that, the red rashes on his face, hands and legs had also begun to fade away.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "The rashes are gone! His Highness King Shu is cured! Everyone look!"
Gu Ying opened her eyes slowly and indifferently. She untied Li Yang's bonds first. Facing Li Yang's gnashing of teeth at her, the apricot eyes blinked playfully. "Your Highness, sorry about that."
Not waiting for Li Yang's response, her foot kicked him down the altar.
"Gu Ying! You, you...!"
Seeing Li Yang tumble down, everyone rushed up and surrounded him to check that his rashes were gone. Li Yang felt extremely annoyed and glared angrily at the indifferent woman still standing on the altar.
Despite his anger, when he met her smiling eyes bent like crescent moons, his anger dissipated against his will.
Oh well! Considering that she was pregnant and had looked after him diligently for seven days, he would begrudgingly help clarify this matter for her!
"This king is the beloved Shu Prince of Father Emperor. Don't worry, after this poisoning incident that even harmed me, once I return to Bianjing, I will definitely uphold justice for all the people of Yueyang!"
Zhou Yan was left speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Madam, if something goes wrong tomorrow after you've done this and the Prince finds out when he returns that you've gotten into trouble, what should we do then?"
Gu Ying smiled and shook her head gently. "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Zhou Yan sighed and closed his mouth.
...
The next day, at first light, the people of Yueyang couldn't sleep anymore and gradually gathered at the gates of the Qingjiang Manor.
Early in the morning, Gu Ying had Yin Lan help her dress up beautifully. Huai An was disguised as the Prince. Together with everyone else, they headed towards the sacrificial altar.
The altar was built on the dangerous beach of the Yu River, standing over six meters tall. The black Yueyang city flag blew vigorously in the cold wind on the wooden structure.
The vast crowd knelt on the ground, watching Gu Ying and "Zhao Changdu" walk up the high altar. In the center of the altar, a big fire had already been lit, just waiting for the Yin-Yang couple to jump in, begging the gods for forgiveness and to eliminate the plague in Yueyang.
Everyone looked up at the country and city-toppling beauty in white. Their eyes showed gratitude, bewilderment, agony and sympathy.
But they were helpless. To survive, they could only sacrifice her and the Prince.
"Your Highness, My Lady, the people of Yueyang will always remember your grace. After you leave, every household will worship your memorial tablets—"
"There's no need for that."
Gu Ying's voice was cold. The corners of her lips curled up into a flawless smile. Fine silver tassels hung down from her temples, adding a touch of softness to her composure and peerless beauty, as if a goddess had descended to earth.
Someone asked in a trembling voice, "My Lady, what do you mean?"
Gu Ying looked down at everyone arrogantly. She slowly said, "Today, I will reveal the truth about the Yueyang plague before the gods!"
The people clamored, "What does My Lady mean?"
"You didn't believe me and His Highness before, you didn't believe this plague was actually caused by poisoning. But I have found evidence!" Gu Ying shouted, "Today, I will bring out the murderer before all of you! If I say one false sentence, I will jump down from this altar before everyone!"
"What? There really is a murderer?"
"Of course!" Gu Ying smiled confidently. She waved and had people bring Zhu Yulou and Li Yang up.
Seeing Zhu Yulou, everyone was confused. "Isn't that Doctor Zhu? Why would Doctor Zhu poison us?"
Zhu Yulou was ashamed beyond words with tears streaming down his face. He didn't know what to say and could only kowtow to everyone over and over begging for mercy, while saying words asking for his life to be spared.
"How could this be? I know Doctor Zhu. Doctor Zhu doesn't seem like a bad person. "
"He has always been quite honest and decent. Why would he harm us? Giving so many people poison wasn't out of hatred, right?"
"You guessed right," Gu Ying interrupted everyone's discussion. She explained clearly how Zhu Yulou was exploited by Jiang Yin, and how he secretly put poison into everyone's medicinal soups. Then, under everyone's doubtful gazes, she took out a packet of poison from her arms. Her eyes were cold as she announced in a loud voice, "This is the poison that Jiang Yin had him make. It is called Xueshang Qingfeng. It is made mainly from snowy wormwood and dendrobium. It causes people to first show red rashes on their skin. Then it invades the heart and lungs, and eventually the whole body rots and decays into pieces!"
Everyone rolled up their sleeves and looked at the red rashes that had appeared on their bodies. Some people had already begun to show skin decay.
Everyone was scared out of cold sweat. They started cursing at Zhu Yulou.
Zhu Yulou cried, "I really didn't mean to. That young master Jiang drugged me. I had no choice but to...I'm so sorry everyone!"
"So many lives, how could you do it!"
Zhu Yulou hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"No, we can't believe His Highness and His Lady. What if she was only trying to escape sacrifice and deliberately found someone to frame? Then we would still die!"
"That's right!" Incited by someone, people began to doubt again.
Huai An was furious and wanted to explode. Gu Ying grabbed him to stop him. She raised her hand to calm everyone down. "There's no need to worry. Now that we have the poison, it wouldn't be hard to make the antidote. Let me test it out and see if what I said is true or false!"
Hearing this, everyone looked up at the altar in unison.
Gu Ying looked calm and tranquil. She told Yin Lan to bring the antidote over, then personally pushed open Li Yang's jaw and poured the medicine into his mouth.
Li Yang glared at Gu Ying bitterly. Gu Ying gave him an innocent smile, then turned to look at the people below. "This is His Highness King Shu. He had been living with you this whole time. I'm sure you know he has long been infected by this so-called plague. So I just fed him double the dosage of the antidote." The rashes on his skin will certainly disappear within an incense stick's time. If he does not recover, then I will willingly jump down from here to sacrifice for you all. What do you think?"
Zhu Yulou had secretly researched and developed the antidote himself after obtaining the poison. So producing the antidote was very fast.
Gu Ying smiled self-deprecatingly. "Don't you trust me enough to even give me one incense stick's worth of time?"
The people below looked at each other. "My Lady, we did not mean that... Alright, we will wait one incense stick for you. How about that?"
Most people echoed supportively, only a minority still had doubts.
Gu Ying closed her eyes quietly to wait for the antidote to take effect.
After one incense stick burnt out, Li Yang indeed felt that the antidote made him regain strength. Not only that, the red rashes on his face, hands and legs had also begun to fade away.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "The rashes are gone! His Highness King Shu is cured! Everyone look!"
Gu Ying opened her eyes slowly and indifferently. She untied Li Yang's bonds first. Facing Li Yang's gnashing of teeth at her, the apricot eyes blinked playfully. "Your Highness, sorry about that."
Not waiting for Li Yang's response, her foot kicked him down the altar.
"Gu Ying! You, you...!"
Seeing Li Yang tumble down, everyone rushed up and surrounded him to check that his rashes were gone. Li Yang felt extremely annoyed and glared angrily at the indifferent woman still standing on the altar.
Despite his anger, when he met her smiling eyes bent like crescent moons, his anger dissipated against his will.
Oh well! Considering that she was pregnant and had looked after him diligently for seven days, he would begrudgingly help clarify this matter for her!
"This king is the beloved Shu Prince of Father Emperor. Don't worry, after this poisoning incident that even harmed me, once I return to Bianjing, I will definitely uphold justice for all the people of Yueyang!"
