Chapter 145: Poison!

Qiu Jianhan was fuming inwardly but he could only play along; feeling somewhat out of sorts, his face had taken on a sour expression.

He spoke with a long face, "Why do I feel that this old official does not really understand Your Majesty's words? Your Majesty is at the prime of life; I'm certain that you are feeling worn and distressed due to worrying about the empire's affairs, but why would you feel helpless?"

The emperor rubbed at the spot between his brows again and said grimly, "Of late, I have been listless, and insomnia has become a nightly problem."

Yun Yang's eyes were directed at the spot between His Majesty's brows.

Why did His Majesty keep on rubbing at that particular spot?

How could he not know that the old marshal was admonishing him?

It seemed that the emperor was so dismissive of his affairs recently so much so that as astute and quick-witted as he was, he could not fathom the implied meaning of the old marshal's question.

He did not even notice the tone the marshal was using; even worse, he failed to observe Qiu Jianhan's despondent expression.

It was a peculiar situation indeed.

Yun Yang coughed and asked in concern, "I notice that Your Majesty has been rubbing at that area between your brows. Is Your Majesty feeling a throbbing pain there?"

Qiu Jianhan turned his head immediately, his gaze flying to the spot that Yun Yang had mentioned.

As on official, it was taboo to look at the emperor directly or on even at a parallel level; needless to say, it was even more of an affront to direct your gaze at the emperor's lethal point. The emperor's closest officials were not exempted from this, but how could the old marshal be concerned of such taboo right now?

He had noticed earlier that the emperor had been massaging the spot between his brows far too often previously, but he had not been overly concerned about it. After all, His Majesty had been having the habit for several years now.

He had long forgotten when exactly it was that the emperor had picked up this practice.

"Yes, I do feel a throbbing sensation around the center of my brows. It's very uncomfortable. I feel dizzy all day long and am tempted to head to bed, but when I've laid myself down, I can't fall asleep. I keep thinking of these affairs of state. In the end, I gave up trying to sleep."

His Majesty's voice was troubled even as he continued to rub at his forehead.

It was as if the motion had become a subconscious reflex and was not controlled by the mind anymore.

Yun Yang replied, "I see. I hazard that Your Majesty must be overly worried about the affairs of state and have over-exhausted yourself. Adding these two together, it's easy to overwork your body. However, I don't think you've experience much success by rubbing your forehead like that. This nephew has learned of a few relaxation techniques from some experts; should this nephew be so bold as to offer a massage for Your Majesty?"

As he spoke, he gave a surreptious glance at the old marshal, speaking volumes with his eyes.

Qiu Jianhan understood the unspoken message, and played along. "Since this child is so filial, why not let him try, Your Majesty? Let the younger generation show some degree of filial piety."

The emperor's body was not something an ordinary person could simply lay a finger on; what was more, his head.

Just a slight mistake would be considered a heinous crime, a familial extinction catastrophe!

Qiu Jianhan's words had undoubtedly brought about a certain degree of risk to himself.

Having had a hand in persuading the emperor to relent, he would definitely be pulled into the whirlpool if Yun Yang had ulterior motives; a nine familial extinction would be inevitable by then.

"Yes, that would be a good idea." His Majesty put his hand down and closed his eyes tiredly, sitting relaxedly on the chair.

Yun Yang positioned himself behind him and stretched his hands to place both his index fingers at the emperor's temples.

The Endless Divine Art quietly worked its magic.

Qiu Jianhan stood right in front of the pair, his entire body slightly tilted and ready to act; his eyes bored holes into Yun Yang's hands.

If Yun Yang made any wrong moves, the old marshal would not hesitate to kill him. Although he trusted him wholly, he could not help but feel slightly nervous seeing Yun Yang's hands at the emperor's temples.

Yun Yang's Endless Divine Art had only gone through the emperor's meridians once but his expression had turned dark immediately.

The old marshal's heart grew heavy as well, watching his expression. When Yun Yang retracted his hands, the emperor had fallen into a deep slumber.

Perhaps this was the one and only period of quality rest the head of the empire had experienced in many years.

"How is he?" the old marshal asked nervously.

"It is indeed like what Ling Xiaozui has said." Yun Yang inhaled deeply. "His Majesty's condition is extremely critical. It should be due to a prolonged consumption of one or a few different kinds of poison. His meridians wouldn't be in such a mess otherwise."

"His Majesty's cultivation and mystical Qi is still intact and are all safely stored within his dantian. Perhaps this is why the emperor didn't notice any oddities within his body. He didn't know that while his mystical Qi can still flow, his meridians are as good as gone. He is barely hanging on by a thread and the victim wouldn't even realize it himself. Once the accumulated poison reaches the tipping point or if the emperor were to be engaged in a fight, his meridians would break apart from the overload and it will bring about as swift and sudden death, as the mystical Qi within his body has nowhere to go!"

Yun Yang's tone was grim. "The discomfort between the brows is the only external sign of the poison. Unfortunately, this also indicates that the poison has gradually wormed its way to His Majesty's brain..."

The old marshal felt his world splintering around him. "That serious?"

Yun Yang nodded worriedly.

Even though the old marshal did not know much about the ways of poison, hearing that the poison had gone to the brain frightened him immensely. He knew that His Majesty's habit of rubbing between his brows had started a few years ago; he was chilled to the bones just thinking about how much the poison had spread now with the long amount of time that it had been allowed to course through his body.

"Is... is there still a chance of a cure?" The old marshal's voice wavered as he asked hopefully.

"We can only leave it to god now." Yun Yang said, "I have checked His Majesty's internal condition. It's not optimistic indeed. Ling Xiaozui's pills, even if they're magical pills, can only soothe the situation but could never wholly cure it."

The old marshal's gaze was aggrieved, he was rendered speechless for a moment, unable to even experience any form of anger.

He could only feel an indescribable grief, fear, and heartache growing within him.

Such a wise emperor, perpetually striving to prosper the nation, a man of great strategy and bold vision - the emperor of Empire of Yutang who served the nation and its people for his entire life had actually been poisoned silently in his own palace for years.

The implications behind this revelation were terrifying to say the least.

"My cultivation skill... is different from others. It helps to recover and expel poison."

Yun Yang gritted his teeth. "I can't enter the palace often, though. If Old Marshal can think of a way to bring His Majesty to the Residence of Yun or the marshal's own residence every half a month, I can help to comb his condition through with mystical Qi... With the three pills, there might still be hope..."

Yun Yang did not say those words merely to pacify the old marshal; to his surprise, he had found out that the Endless Divine Art was a poison's nemesis. Wherever the Endless Divine Art traveled to in the emperor's body, the poison there would instinctivey avoid it.

The poison that did not move aside in time would be destroyed entirely, like boiling water poured on the snow.

No matter how enchanting the Endless Divine Art was, the poison within the emperor's body had spread to his meridians. It still would not help with only one or two sessions of combing through even if Yun Yang's art of cultivation went another level higher.

The only hope now was to expel the poison through frequent bouts of healing sessions in addition to Emmie's air of vitality.

Old Marshal Qiu's eyes radiated hope. "That's good enough for me. Leave these all to this old man, you just have to focus on healing him."

Yun Yang replied, "It is my responsibility to do so but His Majesty's meals and environment must be carefully monitored from now on. Although it cannot be determined that the poison came from food or a daily object, the poison should not be allowed to harm the emperor further! A cure would be impossible otherwise."

An icy glare flashed in Qiu Jianhan's orbs. "This must be the conspiracy of a traitor! Whoever it is, he or she has to be eradicated immediately!"

Yun Yang shook his head and replied, "No, we can't do that."

Qiu Jianhan frowned. "Why not? How can we still allow the perpetrator to keep on doing so?"

Yun Yang chuckled humorlessly. "It would be an easier task to capture the culprit and force them to hand over the cure, wouldn't it? But this method is unattainable; it is within sight but beyond reach."

"Why is this unattainable?" The old man's temper rose; his eyes wide with anger as he began to breathe harsh, ragged breaths.

"Old Marshal, please think about it. This perpetrator managed to poison the emperor in the own palace and yet has not been discovered for years. What does this mean? What can it mean?"

Yun Yang continued, "This in itself is something extremely terrifying to consider."

"Firstly, one must be an expert of experts to be able to poison the emperor in this manner. Secondly, there must be a mastermind orchestrating this entire thing. Thirdly, the country is currently facing it's most challenging times; it can't afford such turmoil and neither can His Majesty's body afford such turmoil as well."

Yun Yang's chuckle was void of humor. "I have a question for Old Marshal. If... and I am saying only if... If the mastermind behind this were to be His Highness, the crown prince, what would Old Marshal do? If the investigation leads us to the empress, what would Old Marshal do then?"

Old Marshal Qiu's eyes were wide, obviously dumbfounded by Yun Yang's bold guesses.

"Does Old Marshal know how many people His Highness the crown prince has to think up ideas and strategies for him? How many forces that are involved and how big a profitable organization it is that surrounds the future head of an empire? As for the empress or the concubines, how many influential groups are there surrounding each of them?"

"Worse still, if the perpetrator were to be found and he or she were to be an extremely skillful expert who was peerless, what do we do? Wasn't it due to Ling Xiaozui's high cultivation base and unrivaled skills that he could walk in and out of Yutang's palace so easily?"

Yun Yang continued, "The Empire of Yutang is struck with flood woes internally and has other empires preying upon it externally; it is a seeting mass of calamity. How can the Empire of Yutang face a large-scale rebellion? His Majesty is sinking fast and there is poison spread within his entire body. Any vigorous action or overwhelming emotion could cause a regret of a lifetime. Old Marshal, how can this time be the best time to sort out such a thing?"