The Crazy Emperor's Pampered Cousin

The poison Xie Yanzhao was afflicted with is an incurable secret poison in this day and age; contact with it is fatal, and there is no one who can survive.

However, Shen Tinghe had read in modern medical books that this poison was not a dead end.

Only the Azure Cloud Beard can cure this, and it must be taken within fifteen minutes of poisoning.

In this era, the green cloud beard was still an unnamed wild grass growing on the cliff face, resembling ordinary weeds, only slightly darker in color, making it extremely difficult to spot among the moss and rocks.

The cold wind was like a knife, sweeping across the steep cliff face.

Shen Tinghe gripped the rough vines tightly and climbed down step by step.

Only one thought remained in his mind: to save Xie Yanzhao.

As for the abyss beneath her feet, the whistling wind in her ears, and even her instinctive fear of heights, she forcibly suppressed them all.

The rough vines rubbed against my palm, quickly causing a burning pain.

She bit her lip, her gaze sweeping over the rock face inch by inch, until she finally spotted a few plants with deep blue, thin leaves next to a protruding rock about twenty meters below the cliff.

It's Qingyun Beard!

But there was a huge bird's nest next to it, and a fierce bird of unusual size was standing menacingly by the nest, its black bean-like eyes staring intently at her.

Shen Tinghe reached out to pick it, but the bird suddenly took flight and pecked her hand hard with its sharp beak!

"Hiss—" she gasped in pain, and blood instantly seeped from the back of her hand.

Having succeeded in its attack, the fierce bird became even more arrogant and swooped down again.

Shen Tinghe's heart trembled, but she knew that she could not retreat now.

She flung her wide sleeves wildly, her voice cutting a path through the wind: "Get out! Get out of here!"

From the cliff top came Yuan Chi's anxious shout: "Crown Princess! What's wrong?"

"I'm fine!"

She called out in response, and as the bird was swept aside by her sleeve, she suddenly leaned forward and plucked off the entire tuft of green whiskers, holding it firmly in her hand.

"Pull me up!"

Yuan Chi and the others quickly pulled up the rope.

When she stepped back onto the cliff top, her hair was disheveled, there were several bloody scratches on her cheeks, and her hands were covered with peck marks.

Yuan Chi was shocked and was about to speak when Shen Tinghe tucked Qingyan Xu into his arms: "Let's go."

The horse's hooves trampled the wild grass as it galloped back.

Several imperial physicians were surrounding Xie Yanzhao, taking his pulse and examining his eyes, but all of them had heavy expressions and shook their heads and sighed.

"The toxicity is bizarre and unprecedented..."

"This...this seems to be the long-extinct Jiu Yuan San..."

"Is Jiuyuan Powder...?"

But there is no cure!

The imperial physician dared not utter the rest of his words and could only swallow them.

Gu He gripped the knife handle tightly, veins throbbing on his forehead. If he weren't afraid of disturbing the diagnosis, he would have already cursed aloud.

Just then, Shen Tinghe rushed into the crowd and knelt down beside Xie Yanzhao.

His face had turned pale, his lips were dark purple, and his breath was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

She forced herself to steady her trembling hands, took out the Azure Cloud Beard from her bosom, quickly plucked some branches and leaves, and handed them to Yuan Chi: "Crush it, be quick."

He then grasped the rootstock, carefully pried open Xie Yanzhao's teeth, placed the pale blue grass stem between his lips, and squeezed out the juice.

One drop, two drops... the juice slid down his throat.

Shen Tinghe fed all of Qingyun's roots and stems.

Finally, Xie Yanzhao's pale face and dark purple lips returned to normal at a visible speed.

She grasped his wrist and pressed her fingertips against his pulse.

Although the poison has not been completely eradicated, the ferocious energy that was surging through the heart is slowly subsiding.

Shen Tinghe breathed a sigh of relief, only then realizing that her back was soaked with cold sweat.

At this moment, the imperial physician stepped forward for a second examination and was immediately astonished: "The pulse has stabilized! This... what kind of miraculous herb is this?"

Shen Tinghe had no time to explain, and quickly ordered, "The poison has been contained. Please remove the arrow from His Highness immediately. After removing the arrowhead, first apply hemostatic powder, and then apply crushed leaves and branches of the Qingyun Beard."

The imperial physicians immediately responded, no longer daring to be negligent in the slightest.

Shen Tinghe knelt down in front of Xie Yanzhao and gently supported his upper body against her chest.

The imperial physician cut open the back of his clothes, revealing the short arrow deeply embedded in his flesh.

Her gaze met his for a moment, then quickly looked away, unable to bear looking any longer. She simply hugged him tighter, pressing her cheek against his loose hair.

The sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh was extremely soft, yet it felt like it was cutting into her heart.

She felt the body in her arms tremble suddenly, and heard his soft murmurs escape his lips in his unconscious state:

"Yuan Yuan..."

"Yuan Yuan..."

Shen Tinghe's tears finally fell, dripping hot onto his neck.

She whispered in his ear, her voice choked with sobs, "I'm here, Xie Yanzhao, I'm here."

Fortunately, Xie Yanzhao was wearing armor plates, so the arrow did not penetrate deeply; the main problem was the poison on the arrow.

Now that the poison has been neutralized, removing the arrow and bandaging the wound were very easy.

The arrowhead was removed, and the blood that gushed out was quickly suppressed by the hemostatic powder.

The mashed leaves and branches of the Chinese tallow tree were applied to the wound, and the bleeding finally stopped completely.

The imperial physicians bandaged the wound thoroughly, and several of them took turns checking the patient's pulse.

After confirming that the poison had been neutralized and that Xie Yanzhao was no longer in immediate danger, they carefully moved him into the carriage, which was covered with a thick blanket.

Shen Tinghe held his cold hand the whole time, and didn't let go even after they returned to the camp.

When they returned to their tent, Gu He had already dispatched his personal guards to surround the entire camp like an iron barrel.

Everyone was ordered to stay in their tents and not to go out.

The outside world only vaguely knows that a major assassination attempt has occurred and someone has been seriously injured, but no one knows who it was.

Inside the Shen family's tent, Madam Shen had walked to the tent door for the sixth time, lifting the curtain slightly with her fingertips before letting it fall back down weakly.

She turned around, her eyes red-rimmed, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Why haven't the people who went to scout returned yet? Who was injured? If it's Yuan Yuan..."

Before he could finish speaking, his throat tightened and his body swayed.

"Mother!" Shen Chengzhou stepped forward and firmly supported his mother's arm.

Mr. Shen also got up from his chair and helped his wife to sit down, gently patting the back of her hand with his broad palm.

"Don't panic. Yuan Yuan has been clever since childhood and is blessed with good fortune. She will be safe and sound."

But his own brow was always furrowed, shrouded in an inescapable shadow.

The curtain was finally lifted, and the maidservant who had been sent rushed in, clutching a thin piece of paper tightly in her hand.

"Madam, Master, this was secretly handed over by someone from the Crown Princess's side. They said it was for you."

Madam Shen practically snatched it away, unfolding it with trembling hands.

There was only one line of hastily written small words on the paper:

"Father and Mother, your daughter is well, please don't worry."

Madam Shen stared at the handwriting, looking at it repeatedly until she confirmed it was her daughter's own handwriting. The breath she had been holding back suddenly relaxed.

Tears streamed down her face as she clasped her hands together and repeatedly murmured, "May the Bodhisattva protect me... Thank you, Bodhisattva, for protecting me... It's not my Yuan'er."

Father Shen felt somewhat relieved, but his worries quickly shifted to another matter: "Do you know who was injured?"

The maid shook her head: "The messenger didn't say anything more, he just gave me this."

Mr. Shen nodded and waved for the others to leave.

The tent fell silent. Yuan Yuan was unharmed, and the one who had been seriously injured in the assassination attempt was most likely His Highness the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince is so badly injured... Beneath this calm hunting ground, who knows what turbulent undercurrents are lurking.

In the other tent, Xie Xuancheng's face was ashen.

The teacup on the table in front of him had gone cold.

"Still can't find out?" His voice was very low, but it was filled with anxiety.