Chapter Thirty-Two: Inevitable Death

  In this world, apart from the Purple Mystic Country, there are two other major countries: Qinglan and Haiyue. The rest are peripheral vassal states. The Purple Mystic Country has distinct seasonal changes, while Qinglan is mostly high mountains and hills, and Haiyue borders the great sea. The three major powers are evenly matched in national strength. General Li's Three Years' War was fought against Qinglan. According to reason, a defeated country should pay tribute to the victorious country every year. However, this time Qinglan not only paid tribute but also sent their crown prince! Marriage alliances are indeed the most commonly used political tactic, yet the Purple Mystic Country has never had a history of marriage alliances with any other nation. Three days after General Li's triumphant return, Ziyuan received a letter from the Qinglan envoy.

  Qinglan Emperor personally wrote, on the yellow silk fabric, every word was sincere and heartfelt. He wanted to form a Qin-Jin alliance with Zi Xuan, Qinglan's tenth prince... Who exactly is he? But it didn't say which royal relative or minister would be married to him either. Zi Yanran must not have been able to bring Qinglan's tenth prince into the palace...

  "Prince Ye has arrived!" With the servant's announcement, Zi Ruoye floated into the grand hall, finding Zi Yanran frowning at a silk book on the table, while Liu Qingyue stood beside her.

  Her slightly drunken eyes flashed with a hint of light, and she had just discovered that the edge of the silk book was embroidered with green leaves. Was it a letter sent by Qing Luan from the defeated country? She raised her head to look at him, only to find that Ziyue's eyes were flashing with a hint of evasiveness, and he slightly furrowed his brow. "Imperial sister, what is the meaning of summoning me so early in the morning? It's not reasonable for this king to come to court so early."

  "Cough, cough." Under Liu Qingyue's encouragement, Zi Yanran slowly spoke out about the things on Qing Luan's letter. The more she spoke, the quieter Zi Ruoye became, listening to her with an increasingly unsettled and turbulent heart.

  "Eldest sister, isn't it that you haven't even mentioned who the person for the arranged marriage is? Can't you just find a young and talented man to pair with?" Zi Ruoye smiled faintly, but her smile was exceptionally gentle, with a hint of threat in her eyes.

  "Ruo Ye, you also know that the prince of Qinglan cannot be humiliated. On the surface, it's a marriage alliance, but even if it's a political marriage, we can't just marry anyone off casually..." Zi Yanran said with a bitter tone, her face full of worry.

  "What then?" Zi Ruoye smiled and sat down on the ground, pulling out a small wine jug to drink from.

  "The prince of Qinglan cannot enter my harem..." Although they were defeated, it's easy to dodge open attacks but hard to guard against secret arrows. If he entered her harem, wouldn't that be like releasing a time bomb? Now...it's not the right time yet. Zi Yanran glanced at Zi Ruoye who was sitting on the ground with a faint gaze, her eyes flashing slightly.

  "What's next?" He directly lay down on the floor of the grand hall, his voice was faint without any ripples.

  "So I intend to grant him as your imperial concubine." Zi Ruoye was the highest-ranking person besides her, and although becoming an imperial concubine was slightly humiliating, as a defeated nation they couldn't make too many demands.

  Consort! As the king's consideration, Ziyuanran did nothing wrong. However, Ziruoye turned around and looked at Ziyuanran seriously, "Imperial sister, were all the words you said last night empty?"

  Ziyanran pursed her lips and looked at Ziruoye with the same seriousness and solemnity, "Ruoye, I know your difficulties, but I insist on doing so."

  "Eldest sister, why are you so insistent? Must you arrange a marriage for her? She only has less than two years of life left! Why bother letting an innocent young man become a widower?"

  "The envoy of Qinglan will not arrive until September... This imperial decree, I will temporarily not issue, it's just to inform you in advance." Ziyan looked at the puzzlement in Ziruo Ye's eyes, but was unwilling to explain.

  "Ah……there's actually a beauty entering my palace, I'm definitely overjoyed." The previous second was still puzzled, the next second was already smiling and accepting, Zi Ruoye said with a smile, bidding farewell to Zi Yanran and swaggering out of the grand hall.

  She can get a royal marriage decree for Liu Qingyou, then she can also get a way out for that tenth prince who has not yet been born. There are still more than eight months... It should be enough. Moreover, the imperial edict has not been issued yet, as long as that imperial edict has not been announced to the world, everything is still an unknown number.

  Yun Ning sat in the carriage on her way to Yi Shang Tang, but all along the way, she was thinking about the poison in Zi Ruo Ye. Her gentle and soft eyes were filled with murderous intent at this moment, and even the air around her seemed to have solidified a bit.

  "Master, Doctor Shang has arrived." The young servant lifted the door curtain and respectfully invited Yun Cong to come out. Although Young Master Yun had always been favored by the prince, he had always treated these servants kindly, so everyone liked him.

  "Okay, thank you. Wait for me here for a moment, I'll be right out." Yun Cong said lightly, nodding her head, and got off the car to enter Yishang Hall.

  Inside Yishantang, there was a doctor diagnosing and prescribing medicine. Yun Cong walked in, and her pink dress immediately caught everyone's attention.

  Her face was like a peach, always with a faint smile, as if the air around her had softened. When Yao Tong saw Yun Cong enter, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Young Master, do you want to see a doctor or pick medicine?" Having just seen the horse carriage outside with the eye-catching Ye Wang Fu sign, it was clear that this young master in front of him was definitely a noble from the Ye Wang Fu.

  "See a doctor." From her bosom, she took out a pale blue token and handed it to the medicine boy. The medicine boy took it and looked at it, his face changing from shock to reverence, and hastily invited Yun Cong into the inner house.

  Lin Dafu, who was sitting in the inner hall, saw a stunning young man brought in by Yao Tong. He took over the jade token with a puzzled expression, looked at it for a moment, and then quickly knelt down to respectfully address him, "Your Majesty! I didn't know you were coming, please don't mind." After finishing speaking, he yielded his seat and let Yun Cong sit down.

  Yun Ning nodded slightly, her voice soft but with a hint of authority. "I've come today to ask something, so let's dispense with the unnecessary formalities." She sat down casually in a nearby chair, pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve and unfolded it gently, revealing the faintly pink medicinal pill in the palm of her hand.

  "Enchanted!?" Lin Dafu exclaimed in surprise after seeing the pill in Yun Qing's hand. Why would the young master have a hypnotic pill, one of the three great poisons rumored to be created by the elusive and unpredictable Notorious Wanderer? Yet, it was said that no one could track down her whereabouts. Strangely, all three great poisons had this unique characteristic: once poisoned, the victim could only wait for death, with no other recourse.

  "Lin Dafu seems familiar." Yun Ning put away the medicine pill and returned it to her own bosom, "Can that Ice Fire Lin Dafu be recognized?"

  Lin Dafu's eyes widened in shock, every doctor's wish was to cure all diseases, but these three great poisons were the only ones that no doctor in the world could cure. His voice trembled slightly, "Could it be that Your Majesty also has the Ice and Fire?"

  Yun Cong shook his head, "Ice and fire are more precious than intoxication. How can I find it?" he said lightly. "I don't have ice and fire. Today, I came to ask... if ice and fire were eaten together with intoxication..." He paused, took a deep breath, then continued to ask, "If ice and fire were eaten together with intoxication, what would happen?"

  What!?! Ice and fire eating together with intoxication? Is this the most absurd joke she has ever heard in her life? Does such a person still exist?!

  "Impossible! If both poisons are ingested at the same time, there will only be instant death as a result." Dr. Lin said, despite being shocked.

  Died instantly! But Wang Ye didn't! Should be the ice and fire poisoning that has been going on for a long time, recently took the anesthetic? But why... The eyes were filled with obscure and unclear colors, Yun Qing sat quietly, thinking in her mind why Zi Ruo Ye wanted to take the anesthetic.

  "Your Majesty, Lin has been practicing medicine for many years and has also studied these three major poisons. It is absolutely impossible for someone to ingest two kinds of rare poison and still be alive." Doctor Lin said with each word carefully chosen.

  "What's the condition of being afflicted with Ice and Fire...?"

  "The poisoned person will have the characteristics of Zhong Han Du, especially the lips will be frosty, but the five internal organs are like being roasted over a fierce fire... it's better to die than to live." Dr. Lin said lightly, if she had to choose, she would rather choose to be poisoned by Mi Xu than Bing Huo, because although both are highly toxic, Mi Xu is like its name suggests, people who are poisoned will be in a state of half drunkenness for three months before dying without suffering, whereas Bing Huo is at the other extreme, dragging on for five years, enduring all sorts of torture before slowly dying.

  The three strange poisons of the unruly and scattered people that year were, as she said, both heaven and hell on earth.

  "All right. I understand. You continue to see patients. Don't reveal my identity. I'm just Yun Cong." said lightly, and turned around to walk out of the hall with a swish of her pink skirt.

  The little servant came out of the cloud and opened the curtain for him. After seeing him go in, he drove the carriage back to the Wang Mansion.

  Yun Cong took out the intoxicating pill from his sleeve again, staring at the small pink pill. He remembered that there were about fifteen pills in the white jade porcelain bottle under Wang Ye's pillow... Why did he need to take so many? One pill of intoxication was enough to kill a person.

  Hayashi's medical skills were excellent, having been strictly trained by his doctor since he was young, and what he said could be trusted. Yun Qing let out a soft sigh, her heart aching for the life of Zi Ruoye.

  If it was certain death, then Wang Ye was fine in front of him... His eyes trembled slightly, and he must have missed something.

  Zi Ruoye returned to the Wang Manor but was informed by the housekeeper that Yun Cong had gone out, slightly surprised, after all, Yun Cong rarely went out.