Ji Wushang held Nan Xucong in his arms, thinking to himself, "Everything will be alright, Cong, we'll be at the manor soon."
"Wu Shang, Wu Shang..." Nan Xu Cong murmured. Ji Wu Shang immediately lowered his head upon hearing this. "Cong, what's wrong?"
"No, don't sacrifice yourself for me... for me..." He didn't know if he was dreaming or awake, his hand searching for Ji Wushang's hand, which Ji Wushang immediately grasped. "Cong, I'm here, I'm here..."
"Wu Shang, Wu Shang..." His eyes opened, then closed, then opened again, then closed again.
Ji Wushang hugged him tightly, then turned and called out to the coachman outside, "Sir, could you please hurry?"
"Almost there, almost there!" The driver immediately quickened his whipping.
Ji Wushang cradled Nan Xuzong's head, letting him lean against him as much as possible.
But at that moment, the carriage suddenly stopped.
"Who's inside? Get down and check!" A louder shout rang out. "What are you doing out of the city! Get off the carriage right now!"
Ji Wushang was shocked. Damn it, they were going out of the city! He had said it was the Prince Zong's Mansion, which was inside the city!
When she lifted the curtain, she was surprised to see that the person was Ma Rui. "Second Young General Ma!" She had seen Ma Rui more or less at several banquets, and she believed that Ma Rui also recognized her!
Ma Rui looked at Ji Wushang, then at the coachman, "You're the Fourth Princess Consort, why are you leaving the city?" He had met her a few times before, but unfortunately, they weren't meant to be. However, it was quite nice that she was now being pampered by the Fourth Prince! He had also learned from his third sister, Ma Ruyi, that Ma Ruyi and Ji Wushang were very close... Therefore, Ma Rui recognized Ji Wushang very well and respected her greatly.
Ji Wushang was furious. "I've been tricked by this coachman! Please, General Ma, save the Fourth Prince!" Ji Wushang said, pulling the curtain open even wider.
Ma Rui saw that Nan Xuzong had fallen into Ji Wushang's arms, and both of them were dressed as ordinary people!
He leaped off his horse and immediately dismounted, and Ma Rui rushed forward.
The coachman was utterly stunned by what he saw, especially since the carriage contained the Fourth Princess and the Fourth Prince!
He immediately dismounted from the carriage and knelt down, kowtowing, "Please spare my life! Please spare my life! I was blind and didn't know that you were the Fourth Imperial Consort and the Fourth Prince! Please spare my life!"
Ji Wushang sneered, "Where is my gold hairpin?"
Ma Rui was even angrier. This man not only coveted Ji Wushang's gold hairpin, but also wanted to drag him out of the city? His purpose in dragging him out of the city was simple: greed for money and lust! Because he probably thought Nan Xuzong would die!
"The Fourth Imperial Concubine's gold hairpin!" Ma Rui immediately kicked the coachman in the back. The coachman lurched forward, "Here, here..." he said, trembling as he pulled the gold hairpin from his pocket.
Ma Rui snatched the gold hairpin away, and after checking that it was undamaged, handed it to Ji Wushang with both hands, saying, "Please, Fourth Imperial Concubine."
Ji Wushang put away the gold hairpin. "Thank you, General Ma Ershao."
Ma Rui nodded. "Men, drag this man out and behead him!"
Upon hearing this, the man immediately began kowtowing repeatedly, pleading, "Spare me! Spare me!"
"Wait a minute," Ji Wushang said coldly.
The man looked up at Ji Wushang, wondering if Ji Wushang was going to let him off the hook.
“By crippling this man’s eyes, ears, and speech, and exiling him to the frontier, it can be considered that he is accumulating good karma for himself,” Ji Wushang said coldly.
Ma Rui paused for a moment, then said, "Someone, do as the Fourth Princess Consort says!"
"Ah, spare me, Fourth Imperial Consort, spare me!" The cries grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared from sight.
"Please take me and the Fourth Prince back to the Prince Zong's residence immediately. He has caught a cold and has a high fever, and urgently needs medical treatment." Ji Wushang immediately got off the carriage and was about to kneel down in front of Ma Rui.
Ma Rui immediately helped Ji Wushang up, saying, "Please, Fourth Imperial Concubine, rise."
"I'll escort you back immediately!" Ma Rui said, gesturing for you to proceed.
Ji Wushang nodded earnestly, "Thank you for your help, General Ma. If you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, I, Ji Wushang, will do my utmost to help you!"
"You're too kind, Fourth Princess. You've helped my sister many times. It's an honor for me to help you and the Fourth Prince once!" After saying this, he turned around and gave instructions to the deputy general beside him. He then asked Ji Wushang to sit back in the carriage. Ma Rui then put the lasso on his own horse and became the coachman himself. He turned the two horses around and hurried towards the Prince Zong's residence.
After a long and complicated process, they finally returned to the Prince Zong's residence. Ji Wushang immediately sent someone to fetch the imperial physician from the palace, and also sent someone to inform Huangfu Xuan.
After tidying up inside and out and changing his clothes, he went to the main hall.
Inside the main hall, Ma Rui was sitting and drinking tea. Ji Wushang stepped forward and bowed gracefully, saying, "Thank you again for your help, Second Young Master Ma."
"You're too kind, Fourth Princess Consort," Ma Rui said. "How is His Highness the Fourth Prince now?"
"Much better." Ji Wushang nodded. "I've had someone inform His Highness the Crown Prince."
"That's good." Ma Rui was relieved. "I'll be going now. There are still things to take care of in the city."
"General Ma, why are you going out of the city to search?" Ji Wushang asked quickly.
“Since the Midsummer Festival, some unidentified individuals have entered the city by disguising themselves as actors. Now is the time when there are many people and the actors are about to leave the city. The Crown Prince has ordered us to be on high alert and not to let any unidentified individuals out.”
"Yes, that's something we need to pay attention to," Ji Wushang nodded. Huangfu Ting and the Yao clan rebels should all have been wiped out, so what other unknown individuals are there? One very likely possibility is that the neighboring countries have begun to stir with unrest.
"Then I'll take my leave." Ma Rui cupped his hands in farewell.
"Hongfei, see General Ma Ershao off for me!" Ji Wushang said.
Turning around, Ji Wushang quickly walked into the Moxuan Garden.
At this moment, the imperial physician was still treating Nan Xuzong, but everyone around him was anxious and had no idea how to proceed!
Ji Wushang looked on anxiously, "Is it still not working?" Ji Wushang stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, we are utterly incompetent! Please spare our lives!" The imperial physicians all knelt on the ground in the next second and kowtowed, begging for their lives!
Ji Wushang's face twitched as he looked at it. "It's clearly a cold and high fever, but you say it isn't! What use are you quacks?"
"Fourth Imperial Consort, please spare him! His Highness's pulse is normal, but he is unconscious with a high fever. This is extremely strange! Your Majesty, I am truly foolish and do not know how to treat him." One of the imperial physicians said, then looked at the other physicians, who nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, it is indeed very strange!"
Ji Wushang's face was deathly pale; it had been the same when she took his pulse earlier...
She sat slumped in her chair, lost in thought. "You, get out of here! Don't tell anyone about this, or I'll take your heads!" she said, giving them a fierce look.
The imperial physicians all quickly acknowledged and withdrew.
Ji Wushang walked to Nan Xuzong's bedside. His face was flushed, but his temperature was alarmingly high!
She sat on his bed, her hand touching his burning face, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Cong... is there really no other way? Tell me, what should I do? Cong..." She leaned against Nan Xu Cong, sobbing softly.
Is he just going to suffer from the poison like this, and die from the pain?
At that moment, someone knocked softly on the door.
Ji Wushang turned her head sharply and walked out of the inner room.
Upon seeing Huangfu Xuan and Ma Ruyi, Ji Wushang wiped away his tears and quickly stepped forward to bow, "Greetings..."
"Please rise, no need for formalities." Huangfu Xuan immediately helped Ji Wushang up, and then went into the inner room.
Ma Ruyi stepped forward to help Ji Wushang up, "Wushang."
“Crown Princess.” Ji Wushang’s eyes were filled with tears. Ma Ruyi gently patted her shoulder and said, “It’s alright, don’t worry too much, there will definitely be a way.”
Ji Wushang nodded, agreeing with his own thoughts, but there was truly no solution at the moment!
Hurry up, the two of them go inside.
At this moment, Huangfu Xuan stepped forward and saw that Nan Xuzong's face was burning red. He was shocked and thought, "This... I'm afraid there's no way to save him." He hadn't expected that just the day before yesterday, no, yesterday, when they met, Nan Xuzong was standing there without any injury or poison, chatting with him. But now, he was lying on this bed, completely motionless!
Upon hearing this, Ji Wushang immediately stepped back. "No, no, there's still a way! Third Brother, please help me, help me find, find the Ghost Doctor or my master, Doctor Cui! They, they definitely have a way!"
Huangfu Xuan and Ma Ruyi listened in silence, heads bowed.
Ji Wushang narrowed his eyes, "You, you're not going to help me?"
"Please accept my condolences. Doctor Cui and the Ghost Doctor have been killed by the King of the Western Regions." Huangfu Xuan couldn't bear to say it, but he still said, "The incident happened the night before last. After you left, I sent people to burn down the underground palace and ordered that anyone who came out should be shot dead with arrows immediately. But no one came out. Today, I sent people to search the underground palace. It was empty. In the lowest underground palace, we found two corpses, Doctor Cui and the Ghost Doctor. They were both put in huge urns and then dried up and died."
Upon hearing this, Ji Wushang collapsed to the ground!
Ma Ruyi quickly stepped forward to help Ji Wushang, but Ji Wushang pushed Ma Ruyi away, "It was, it was Yiyun Shangcheng who made it?"
"Hmm." Huangfu Xuan nodded. "This must be either the refining of Gu poison or the practice of some evil arts." Otherwise, they wouldn't use such a vicious method!
Ji Wushang's face was deathly pale, her eyes lifeless. Ma Ruyi looked at Ji Wushang, feeling sorry for her, and helped her up, letting her sit in a chair. "Xuan, I already told you not to tell Wushang about this..."
"I...I'm fine." Ji Wushang's gaze was resolute. She pushed Ma Ruyi aside and looked at Huangfu Xuan. "Then...can we go find the Old Man of the Snow Mountain?"
"The Old Man of the Snow Mountain has gone into seclusion and his whereabouts are unknown. It is said that the King of the Western Regions forced him to disappear." Huangfu Xuan lowered his eyes.
Ji Wushang felt as if his sky was about to collapse! All those who could help him, those who offered him a glimmer of hope, were either dead or had disappeared. Had he truly reached the end of his rope?
Or is it that fate only gives you one choice?
Ji Wushang's lips suddenly curled into a grin, and then he burst into loud laughter, "Haha, haha, I, I know a way, I will, I will save Cong!"
"What, what's your plan?" Ma Ruyi looked at Ji Wushang with some panic.
Ji Wushang gave a wry smile. "It's alright, I know." It's just going to the Western Regions to find him; I can go myself!
Huangfu Xuan looked at Ji Wushang, then at Nan Xuzong, and shook his head, "Fourth sister-in-law, you..."
"There's no need to try to persuade me," Ji Wushang said, looking at them. "It's inconvenient for me to take him with me, so I'd like you to help me take care of him." As Ji Wushang spoke, she stood up to kneel, but Huangfu Xuan and Ma Ruyi immediately helped her up. "Please get up."
“We promise you, but I’m afraid Fourth Brother won’t last much longer.” Huangfu Xuan took out a bottle from his bosom, opened it, and poured out the only pill inside. “Seven-Day Life-Extending Pill, Fourth Sister-in-law, you only have seven days.” Huangfu Xuan looked at her.
Ji Wushang gritted her teeth and knelt before Huangfu Xuan. "Ji Wushang kowtows to Your Highness the Crown Prince!" she said, kowtowing several times.
Huangfu Xuan's eyes softened. "Get up!" He stepped forward and put the medicine into Nan Xuzong's mouth.
"Six years ago, you took responsibility for everything we did. Now, what I'm doing is my atonement!" Huangfu Xuan stood up. "Go ahead. Is there anything I can prepare for you?"
“No need.” Ji Wushang sighed. She looked at Ma Ruyi and said, “When I was six years old, I saved the one who is now the King of the Western Regions. I never thought I would save a scourge. Hehe!” She turned around and slowly walked out.
Ma Ruyi looked puzzled and then turned to Huangfu Xuan, who then recounted the matter that Ji Wushang had mentioned.
As Ma Ruyi listened, she thought to herself, "So, there's something like this between them."
"Alright, let's take good care of our fourth brother. I'll send someone to secretly look after his wife." Huangfu Xuan glanced at Nan Xuzong. "Actually, I don't know much about the relationship between the King of the Western Regions and our fourth brother's wife. I'm afraid only the three of them know about these things."
The implication was that she didn't want to know too much about them.
Ma Ruyi nodded and stepped forward. "We in Fusang once had a spiritual technique. Within twelve hours of a person's death, when the soul leaves the body, the high priest can communicate with the soul and bring the person back to life."
“Isn’t this kind of spiritual art extinct? High Priest, your Fusang no longer has a High Priest,” Huangfu Xuan said at this moment.
“Indeed there is no high priest, but do you know who succeeds to the high priest position?” Ma Ruyi stood up and looked at him.
"Is it the Eldest Princess?" He looked at Ma Ruyi. "Are you the High Priest?"
“I am the High Priest, but I don’t know those spiritual arts.” Ma Ruyi shrugged. “I was just saying that, but I think the Fourth Prince won’t die. He has a long life. And I have a feeling that although the Fourth Prince’s wife’s trip to the Western Regions is fraught with danger, she will eventually turn the tide.”
"So what do you mean?" Huangfu Xuan looked at her. This woman in front of him was actually the High Priestess! He really didn't know her well enough! But thankfully, he was certain that her body and soul belonged to him!
“She will go to the Western Regions with her fourth sister-in-law. Her two maids, Hongfei and Cuiwu, will accompany her and protect her.” Ma Ruyi glanced at Nan Xuzong. “I hope my premonition is correct.”
Huangfu Xuan nodded. "I have things to take care of."