Proud Feather

Chapter 19 Poisoning
When Chu Ling heard the voice, he let out a breath of relief.

The scheduled drama has finally arrived.

In her previous life, the deterioration of her relationship with her father was caused by Tian Huier.

In her current life, she went to her grandparents' home to relax, and Tian Huier invited her to the Dahuai Temple and led her to see Jinghui. Jinghui was quite capable, and he saw that she was emotionally damaged, so he brought her here again and again under the pretext of curing her illness.

Chu Ling was young at that time and was hit by the death of his elder brother. Under Tian Huier's repeated instigation, he took Jinghui as his close friend.

By the time the emperor found out, the news had spread like wildfire, and he was so angry that he wanted to kill Jinghui.

When Chu Ling felt sad and upset, she benefited from Jinghui's repeated comfort. She would never let him die because of her and would never let her father kill her.

Her father was furious and said something without thinking, saying that she was learning bad things instead of good ones, and that she was as arrogant and extravagant as her great-aunts at such a young age. Fifteen or sixteen was the age of rebellion, and Chu Ling could not bear such accusations, so the father and daughter had a big quarrel.

With Chu Ling's protection, Jinghui finally saved her life. This incident also became a thorn between them.

From then on, the two could no longer open up to each other. Even if there was occasional warmth between them, they would still end up misunderstanding each other.

It was not until her father's death that Jinghui transformed herself into the abbess of Dahuai Temple and frequently went in and out of the palace. When she looked back on the past, she realized that she had been plotted against.

Just like right now——

"Father!" Chu Ling looked at the person who came in surprise.

The emperor walked over quickly and glared at Jinghui fiercely.

Jinghui looked at the monk in charge of reception and immediately bowed, "This humble monk greets your Majesty."

The emperor was furious. He stared at him for a few seconds, then turned and said, "I told you to come out and relax, but you're hanging out with this evil monk? Come back to the palace with me!"

Chu Ling frowned and argued: "Father, your words are too harsh. I am here to treat my illness, what are you talking about?"

"You know it's unpleasant! What's being said outside is much worse than this!" The emperor realized his daughter had been badly deceived and immediately shouted, "Come here, capture this evil monk!"

The accompanying guard answered yes and immediately stepped forward to arrest Jinghui.

"Your Majesty!" Concubine Tian Shu exclaimed, "The matter has not been clarified yet, you can't kill anyone!"

Chu Ling immediately followed up when he heard this: "Father, how could you kill innocent people?"

The emperor hadn't originally intended to kill anyone, but after hearing her words, he couldn't believe it: "You actually blame my father? Don't you know that I'm doing this for you?"

"For my father's sake, don't listen to those rumors. We didn't do anything!"

"Nothing, then what were you doing just now?"

"Jinghui is teaching me how to identify medicines!"

The emperor didn't believe it at all. His daughter, whom he held in the palm of his hand and who was not yet fully sensible, how could she be deceived by a monk?

He quickly made up his mind and said, "You will return to the palace with me first!"

Chu Ling refused: "You have to promise not to kill him."

The emperor's temper, which had been suppressed for a while, was ignited again. He shouted angrily, "You are still arguing with me! Fine, fine, I must kill him. What do you think?"

Chu Ling couldn't understand: "Father, how could you do this? Jinghui treated me and comforted me from time to time. He is my benefactor! How can we repay kindness with hatred just because of a few rumors?"

The emperor couldn't understand: "Benefactor? Didn't he just treat you? The imperial physicians have treated you countless times since you were a child. Why don't you consider them benefactors?"

"How can this be the same?"

"How is it different?" The father and daughter were talking at cross purposes, and the emperor was also angry. "You are accusing your father of repaying kindness with enmity just for a monk like this. Do you still know the distance between relatives and strangers?"

"I……"

The emperor was still angry: "Do you want this monk or my father? You decide for yourself!"

Chu Ling's face turned pale and he was unable to respond for a moment.

Concubine Tian Shu suddenly realized something was wrong and shouted, "Princess!" The emperor was stunned for a moment, then watched Chu Ling close her eyes and fall down.

"A Ling!"

This development was so unexpected that everyone present changed their expressions.

Concubine Tian Shu hurried to see Jinghui, but saw Jinghui standing there in a daze, obviously having not expected this at all.

"Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician!" the emperor shouted.

Where can we find an imperial physician now? Fortunately, one of the eunuchs who accompanied us knew a little about medicine and hurried over to take our pulse.

After feeling the pulse, the eunuch was also stunned: "It seems... poisoning?"

The emperor looked at Chu Ling's pale face, and memories came flooding back, turning him into panic.

Poisoning. The prince he had trained for more than 20 years died of poisoning not long ago!

And now, his beloved daughter was suddenly poisoned!

"Go back to the palace, quickly! Go back to the palace!" The emperor picked up his daughter and turned to leave, not even willing to let anyone else do it for him.

After taking two steps, he turned around and stared coldly at Jinghui and everyone on the ground: "Come here, seal off the Dahuai Temple! Not a single monk is allowed to escape!"
-
In the evening, Yang Yu, the young master of the Ningguo Mansion, finished meeting with his friends and slowly returned home in a carriage.

Halfway through the journey, the carriage suddenly stumbled and almost collided with the car next to it.

"What's going on?" Hearing the chaos outside, people shouting and horses neighing, Yang Yu lifted the curtain of the carriage.

The servant jumped down swiftly: "Sir, wait a moment, I will go and take a look."

The carriage couldn't move, so Yang Yu nodded.

He wondered why it was so crowded on Ping'an Street, the main thoroughfare, and where were the Jinwu Guards?
After a while, the servant came back and reported: "Sir, something big has happened. The Dahuai Temple in front has been sealed off, and these people are pilgrims who have been driven out."

Yang Yu was even more puzzled: "Why was Dahuai Temple closed?"

The servant said, "I asked around and it seems that someone of honor has met with an accident in the temple."

"What kind of noble person is this? Why is there such a big fuss?" Yang Yu frowned and thought to himself, even if something happened to him in the Dahuai Temple, at most the courtyard would be sealed off, right?
Just as I was thinking about it, the curtain of the carriage next to me suddenly opened, and someone said with a smile: "I know, ask me!"

Yang Yu took a closer look and was a little speechless: "Kang Xiaojiu."

Young Master Nine of the Kang Palace emerged from his carriage and said unhappily, "Yang Yu, do you know how to speak? What do you mean by Kang Xiaojiu? My surname is Chu! The royal surname!"

Well, he already mentioned the country's surname, so he really couldn't joke around. Yang Yu corrected his address and said, "Chu Xiaojiu, is that okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay." Chu Xiaojiu jumped into his car familiarly and sat down next to Yang Yu. "Do you want to know who got into trouble? To put it nicely, I'll tell you!"

Yang Yu didn't want to say it. Although they were both relatives and nobles, he and Chu Xiaojiu really couldn't get along.

So he said, "Even you were kicked out, so his status must be higher than yours. Is he a royal family member? A duke? A prince?"

The first one was confirmed, but the last two were denied. Yang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Is it Princess Jiahe?"

Chu Xiaojiu was shocked: "How did you guess that?"

Yang Yu spread his hands. "Isn't this easy to guess? With status higher than that of a prince, and also being a member of the imperial clan, then it can only be a few princes and His Majesty's children. The old princes don't worship Buddha, so why would they come to the Dahuai Temple? Of the rest, only Prince Xin, the Crown Princess, and Princess Jiahe can leave the palace. I heard that Princess Jiahe is currently at the Duke of Anguo's Mansion..."

Chu Xiaojiu was convinced and leaned over to whisper, "A monk has come to the Dahuai Temple. It is said that he has some magical skills. Princess Jiahe was frightened a few days ago and has been looking for him for treatment. Today, the princess suddenly fainted in the temple. It is said that she was poisoned..."

"Poisoned again?" Yang Yu's expression changed slightly.

"Yeah!" Chu Xiaojiu muttered, "You find it strange too, right? One or two of them are poisoned. Why are there so many poisons lately?"

Yang Yu murmured, "Something big has happened..."

　I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year and good luck in the new year.

　　(End of this chapter)