Chapter 255: A Body Under Siege

That herb did not belong in fever medicine!

Pfft…

He spat out the remaining medicine in his mouth.

At once, a sharp pain surged in his dantian.

While biting his lower lip, he realized someone was trying to harm him.

“Sui He, you go out first. Don’t let anyone in today, no matter who, male or female.”

“Uh… yes, I understand.”

Yue Mingxuan collapsed back onto the bed while struggling to suppress the pain in his dantian.

Not long after that it began to calm, but he knew it was only temporary.

This wasn’t exactly poison, yet it struck directly at his body’s foundation.

After staying up all night, his spirit was already depleted and there might even be lingering yin energy in his system.

Now, with this added blow, his vital energy had suffered a severe loss.

It would take months to recover.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand, he had once been a perfectly capable military doctor, so why was he now forced to live like this?

Such open and hidden struggles, schemes and intrigues, none of it suited him at all.

How carefree life had once been.

Now he found himself missing the past more and more.

…

After Shang Qinghua returned, Moonless Cicada came as well, briefly recounting what had happened the previous night.

He mentioned that Yue Mingxuan had had no idea he was being followed and had even gone alone to the burial grounds in the back hills.

He’s truly fearless as if he did not value his life.

“Are you certain there were only five? No one hiding in the shadows?” Shang Qinghua asked.

“Yes. Everything was checked thoroughly. Nothing was overlooked.”

Still, he felt the matter was not so simple.

He had Moonless Cicada remain by Yue Mingxuan’s side.

Yue Mingxuan was making more and more enemies; although he could still navigate danger without protection, Shang Qinghua did not want even the slightest mishap to befall him.

He had known the night before that Yue Mingxuan had left the palace and had not slept at all since, whether out of worry or something else, he could not say, but sleep had simply refused to come.

Now that things had quieted down, drowsiness finally crept in.

Just as he drifted off, urgent knocking sounded outside the door.

He spoke softly, “Come in.”

The guard outside was the one he had stationed at Yue Mingxuan’s quarters.

After he woke up, he asked, “What is it?”

“Someone added another ingredient to Prince Yue’s medicine.”

…

Recently, the palace had been in a season of troubles, one incident after another, all revolving around Yue Mingxuan.

Yue Mingxuan himself did not bother to consider whether his condition was serious.

He was simply too exhausted, so he just lay down and fell asleep.

Only after waking did he remember the matter.

He had not wanted to trouble Gongsun Xing, but after taking his own pulse, he still felt something was wrong.

With no other choice, he said, “Sui He, go fetch Gongsun Xing for me.”

At that moment, Gongsun Xing and Wang Jian had just woken not long ago.

The two were talking when a message arrived.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Jian asked.

“Something’s happened to Mingxuan. I’ll go take a look,” Gongsun Xing replied.

“I’ll go with you.” Wang Jian threw on his outer robe and followed behind Gongsun Xing as they headed out.

His head hurt so badly…

Yue Mingxuan felt that his current state was extremely strange.

He had only called for Gongsun Xing and Wang Jian coming along was understandable, but why… why had Shang Qinghua come as well?

“Why are you all here? I’m actually fine… I only asked Gongsun Xing to check my pulse. I couldn’t quite read it myself…” Yue Mingxuan said, sounding somewhat guilty, a trace of unease flickering in his eyes when he looked at Shang Qinghua.

Gongsun Xing glanced at Shang Qinghua, then pulled Yue Mingxuan who was still lying on the bed closer and took his pulse.

The moment his fingers touched the wrist, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

Inside Yue Mingxuan’s body surged a restless current of internal energy that refused to settle, as though he had been desperately suppressing it just to appear normal and speak as he was now.

Gongsun Xing’s gaze darkened.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and struck Yue Mingxuan squarely in the chest.

There was no internal force behind it, just an ordinary palm strike from a man.

Wang Jian and Shang Qinghua were momentarily stunned.

Yue Mingxuan’s body tilted to one side; he opened his mouth and abruptly spat out a mouthful of black blood and his face immediately turning deathly pale.

“How long were you planning to keep forcing yourself to endure?” Gongsun Xing asked calmly.

Yue Mingxuan gave a bitter smile, his voice hoarse as he spoke. “I knew I couldn’t fool you.”

He wiped the corner of his lips and raised a hand.

Sui He hurried over to help him sit up.

His entire body was weak; he needed Sui He’s support just to move.

Maintaining the appearance that nothing was wrong and even keeping some color in his face had already cost him a great deal of effort.

Waves of intense pain throbbed through his head and the same turmoil churned within his dantian, a force crashing back and forth.

He truly did not know what to do anymore.

“When I came back today, I had a bit of a fever. While Sui He went to fetch medicine, someone added a Blue Sky Leaf into my prescription. At first I was half asleep and didn’t notice. Later I spat it out, but I’d already drunk more than half,” Yue Mingxuan said, pressing a hand to his chest.

Shang Qinghua had not expected it to be so serious.

This was the first time he had ever seen Yue Mingxuan look so terrible.

As he listened, Gongsun Xing’s brows knitted tightly. Then he stood up and pulled Wang Jian along. “I’ll prepare and decoct the medicine myself. During this time you must rest properly. Otherwise, you won’t recover and your condition will be ruined for good.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep