Mercenary Princess - Chapter 97
The military doctor bowed to Rongyue with a look of shame: "This poison comes from the Western Regions. It is extremely peculiar, colorless and odorless, making it very difficult to detect. Moreover, the symptoms of poisoning vary from person to person... I failed to detect the poison on His Highness in time, which is truly a dereliction of duty..."
"Do you know the antidote for this poison?"
"When I was young, I went to the Western Regions with my master and learned some of the poisons there. Coincidentally, this was one of them..."
Rongyue's eyes lit up: "So you know how to solve it?"
Upon hearing this, the military doctor sighed deeply: "It is possible, but it is missing a crucial ingredient."
"The prologue?"
"The taste of the desert orchid is irreplaceable."
She had heard of the Desert Orchid, which takes sixty years to sprout, sixty years to bloom, and sixty years to bear fruit. Its flowers have six petals, each extremely small and pale yellow. It was said that just one pound of it could cure all poisons. It's a pity that the Desert Orchid is so difficult to cultivate, and even those that survive take over a hundred years to bloom. Therefore, there are probably no more than three such plants in the entire world. Such a rare medicinal herb, placed in the vast sea of people, is like finding a needle in a haystack. How can anyone possibly find it?
"If only it had been a few years earlier, when Emperor Shunde of Louxi Kingdom was on the throne..." the military doctor sighed regretfully, shaking his head repeatedly.
What does it have to do with anything?
The military doctor quickly bowed and replied, "General, you may not know this, but during the reign of Emperor Shunde of Louxi Kingdom, our Nancha Kingdom and Louxi Kingdom were on friendly terms, and a great desert orchid was hidden deep within the Louxi Kingdom's palace..."
"You said that Louxi Kingdom has a vast desert called Tinglan?" Rongyue looked at the military doctor excitedly.
"Indeed. If it were a few years ago, given the friendship between our two countries, Louxi Kingdom would have certainly given Nancha Kingdom a lot of face if we asked for a single petal of Tinglan. Alas, the current Emperor Yongwu is a foolish and treacherous ruler who listens to slander and has become hostile to Nancha Kingdom. If he wants to take Tinglan from the desert, he will have to resort to force... alas, it will be difficult!"
Difficult? As long as the Great Desert Orchid is settled, even the most difficult problems will no longer be problems!
Zichen Palace
After the court session, the old emperor squinted his shrewd eyes, sat upright on the golden dragon throne, and repeatedly rubbed the armrests of the throne with his hands, his expression inscrutable.
"Someone, summon the Imperial Guard Commander, Deshun."
As soon as the words were spoken, the young eunuch waiting in front of the hall hurriedly ran to the central hall and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Summon the Imperial Guard Commander, Deshun, to see His Majesty—"
The eunuch waiting at the entrance of the main hall interrupted his words, calling out towards the entrance of the outer hall: "Summon Commander Deshun of the Imperial Guards to see His Majesty—"
...
Stepping into the hall, De Shun knelt and bowed in the center: "Your subject, De Shun, Commander of the Imperial Guards..."
"Come here."
"yes."
After De Shun ascended the platform, the old emperor asked in a low voice, "Tell me, what did Lord Jian say when you were ordered to go to the Jian residence to fetch people that day? Tell me everything without omitting a single word."
"Yes. That day, I was ordered to go to the Jian residence..."
...
Holding the imperial edict in her hand, Rongyue kept sneering, her eyes flashing with a sharp, cold light.
To send her with an army of 60,000 to attack the Louxi Kingdom and obtain the Great Desert Orchid to cure the Second Prince's poison? 60,000 against 300,000? This is utterly ridiculous! They claim she's a prodigy, capable of defeating overwhelming odds and returning victorious? And that the Louxi Kingdom is currently plagued by widespread suffering, rebellions, and endless war, and she can seize the opportunity to storm in and sweep through the Louxi Dynasty? This old emperor clearly can't tolerate her and wants her dead! The 60,000 troops entering the Louxi Kingdom are like a stone thrown into the sea—gone without a trace! To kill her, he's heartlessly dragging so many people down with him. Truly, the power plays of those in power, the art of emperors!
But thinking about it, it makes sense. It's one thing for a subject not to shield the prince from arrows, but to expect the prince to shield him—no emperor would tolerate that! This incident reminded her of something: either there were people in the army who disliked her and wanted her dead, or there were spies of the emperor. Because of the second prince's injury, she hadn't sent anyone to inform the emperor…
After about ten days of recuperation, Tuoba Chen's back injury gradually improved, and he was now able to get out of bed. Although he couldn't see the road clearly, martial artists have extremely sharp hearing, and after a few days of adaptation, walking short distances was no problem.
Following the sigh, Tuoba Chen got up and came to Rongyue's side. He reached out and hugged her, asking in a low voice, "What's wrong, Xiao San? Did you run into some trouble?"
Fearing it would delay Tuoba Chen's recovery, Rongyue did not tell him about the imperial edict. After quietly putting the edict away, Rongyue casually replied, "It's nothing."
"You're lying to me!" Tuoba Chen gently stroked Rongyue's head with his chin, complaining, "If you were alright, would you sigh? Would you sneer?"
He even knew when she sneered? That's impressive.
"You'll soon be mine too. As the saying goes, husband and wife are one. What can't we confide in each other? Mistress, could it be that you... despise me, this useless person?" At this point, Tuoba Chen's voice turned gloomy.
Hearing him bring up this topic for the nth time, Rongyue, already exasperated, was too lazy to explain again. Her tone became slightly aggressive: "What do you want me to do to put your mind at ease? A cripple, a cripple, you've only lost a pair of eyes. Oh, not really lost them, there's still hope. Why are you so self-deprecating? Tuoba Chen, I'm tired, I'm really tired of living. Please stop being so unreasonable. I don't have the energy to explain to you again and again. Yes, that's right, all the suffering you've endured is my fault. So if you feel it's unfair, just give the order, and I can gouge out your eyes on the spot without hesitation!"
An eerie silence once again filled the space between the two. After an unknown amount of time, a voice, laced with suppressed anger and pain, broke the silence in the tent: "So it was I who made your life so painful..."
Rongyue's silence was tantamount to acquiescence. Angrily shoving Rongyue away, Tuoba Chen slammed his fist on the side table: "Jian Xiaosan, you finally despise me, don't you! You've actually been itching to leave me all along, haven't you! I knew it, I knew it! No matter what I did for you, you wouldn't appreciate it, not even a shred of gratitude! Because you're heartless, you're cold-blooded! Jian Xiaosan, how cruel you are! I abandoned my pride, my princely dignity, to please you, to win your favor, hoping only for a place in your heart, even if it's just a tiny sliver! But what did you do? You trampled my sincerity underfoot, disregarding all my feelings for you! Jian Xiaosan, let me tell you, even if I, Tuoba Chen, am still infatuated, I will never waste my energy on a woman like you again! Get out, I don't want to see you again! Get out—"
Amid Tuoba Chen's reprimands, Rongyue left the military tent with heavy steps. After summoning several attentive attendants to take good care of Tuoba Chen, she ran swiftly along the training ground. However, after running several laps, she still felt depressed, with nowhere to dispel the pent-up anger in her heart.
Suddenly, she felt a strong urge to talk to someone and confide her troubles. She took a jar of wine from Fan Luo, patted the gray jar, and headed towards Tuoba Jie's tent. For no apparent reason, she longed to chat with this enigmatic man. After all, he and Tuoba Chen and his entourage were to return to Ziye tomorrow, and this parting might be forever. Whatever conspiracies or schemes, she didn't care; talking to this man she couldn't understand might even bring her some unexpected pleasure.
"Ah Sheng! Who gave you the audacity to act on your own initiative!" Tuoba Jie's eyes were filled with gloom as he stared fiercely at the Xuanjia soldier kneeling before him.
The soldier known as Asheng, clad in black armor, raised his head and said firmly, “My lord, although I acted on my own initiative, I do not believe I was wrong! The Second Prince was injured because of the General, which is the perfect opportunity to strike at the Grand General! Look, as soon as the news reached His Majesty, he issued an edict ordering him to attack the Louxi Kingdom. Isn’t this a clear attempt to kill him? In any case, this Grand General serves the Second Prince and cannot be used by you. Without him, my lord, you will have one less formidable enemy in the future!”
"Who...who are you!" Tuoba Jie's sharp gaze shot towards the tent entrance, a chill emanating from his body, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Rongyue walked in with a grin, carrying a wine jar. He sat down at the table behind Tuoba Jie as if no one else was there, opened the wine jar, smelled the aroma, and exclaimed, "Good wine!"
Volume Two: The Resolute Heroines, Chapter Twenty-Nine: Touching Moments
Looking suspiciously at Rongyue, who was drinking by herself as if no one else was around, Tuoba Jie gave the black-armored soldier a meaningful look, signaling him to leave. The black-armored soldier glared at Rongyue viciously before getting up and leaving.
Tuoba Jie pulled up a chair and sat opposite Rongyue, staring at Rongyue who was drinking alone. He gave a cold laugh: "The General is not serving in the Second Prince's tent, but has condescended to come to my tent to drink. This truly makes me extremely apprehensive!"
Her eyes, like pools of autumn water, lowered slightly: "I came here today specifically to chat with you, have a few drinks to relax, that's all. Please don't be so sarcastic, okay?"
Sensing the frankness in her words, Tuoba Jie's eyes flickered, a fleeting stirring in his heart. While he was lost in thought, Rong Yue, seemingly at odds with alcohol, downed three large glasses of strong liquor in quick succession, barely taking a breath. The pungent aroma of the liquor wafted into Tuoba Jie's nostrils, causing him to feel inexplicably displeased and furrow his brow slightly.
Tuoba Jie snatched the wine jar from Rong Yue's arms, his brows furrowing: "This kind of strong liquor is harmful to the liver and spleen. General, you'd better drink less of it!"