“Second Prince has lost too much blood and needs the blood of his immediate family as the guiding drug.”
Concubine Qin clenched the handkerchief in her hand. “To save Kun’er, I’m even willing to donate my life, let alone some blood. How much blood do you need?”
Seeing Concubine Qin’s appearance of a loving mother, Su Muge revealed a trace of irony in her eyes, wondering if she could continue saying her grandiose words later on.
“Concubine Qin, please rest assured. I don’t need much blood; a bowl is enough.”
Hearing it, Concubine Qin secretly exhaled. A bowl of blood was not much indeed. She was still fine after having lost much blood during the menstrual period every month.
“Okay, come on, get a bowl.”
Xia Hourui was touched by the affection of this mother and son. Although he was Xia Houkun’s biological father, he could do nothing due to his poor health.
Suddenly, Xia Hourui looked at Concubine Qin with tender and protective feelings.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side.”
Concubine Qin looked at Xia Hourui tenderly with really pitiful eyes.
The maids brought all the things needed for blood collection.
“Concubine Qin, please take off your coat.”
Su Muge took out the scalpel from her medical kit and started disinfection.
“Take off my coat? Why do I need to take off my coat for collecting blood?” Concubine Qin was puzzled.
Su Muge walked towards her with the scalpel; the sharp blade seemed extremely scary under the candlelight.
“Oh, I forget to say that I need your heart blood, Concubine Qin.”
“Heart blood!” Concubine Qin nearly jumped up from the chair.
“You mean, you want to take my heart blood!?”
Su Muge nodded seriously. “Yes.”
“You, you…”
“Concubine Qin, please rest assured. I just need to pierce the scalpel into your heart and draw the blood out. You won’t be dangerous.”
Xia Hourui wanted to see through Su Muge’s trick, however, her little pale face was so serious. “Only the heart blood can do it?!”
“Your Majesty, only the heart blood can fit the best.”
After her words came out, there was a weird silence in the palace.
Even if Concubine Qin didn’t understand medicine, she knew the great importance of the heart to a person. If Su Muge made any mistake, she would probably die!
Even if Su Muge would be held accountable afterward, it would be in vain if she died!
But she had already promised just now, so there was no way back at all.
Seeing Concubine Qin sitting stiffly, Su Muge knew she was afraid.
Had she been afraid already? It was just the beginning!
“If you are afraid, Concubine Qin, I’ll have to find another way. But I don’t know how long Second Prince can hold on before bleeding to death…”
Xia Hourui glanced at Xia Houkun lying motionlessly in bed. “Can you ensure the successful operation of blood collection?”
Su Muge bowed slightly. “Your Majesty, the success rate is 70%.”
That was to say, there was 30% uncertainty!
Concubine Qin glared at Su Muge secretly. Her intuition told her that Su Muge must have been intentional!
“Fine! Come on!” If anything happened to Xia Houkun, she would have no good ending without her son by her side after Xia Hourui’s death. So she’d rather gamble.
Looking at the decisive look of Concubine Qin, Su Muge knew she had been determined. “Please forgive my offense.”
Su Muge had a bamboo couch brought in the room and asked Concubine Qin to lie down and take off her coat. And then Su Muge tied her limbs up with ropes.
Concubine Qin was panicked; the feeling of being manipulated made her so panicked!
“What, what are you doing?”
“Concubine Qin, I’m afraid that you will struggle during the operation and hurt yourself.”
Xia Hourui asked others to retreat.
Su Muge took the scalpel, looked at Concubine Qin from above and disinfected her chest with a disinfected cotton cloth.
“Don’t be nervous. It may hurt a little. Hold on. It’s gonna be okay.”
“Ah!”
Before Muge could finish her words, Concubine Qin felt her chest so painful that she couldn’t help crying out.
Su Muge promptly stuffed a cotton ball into her mouth.
She had secretly applied only a little anesthesia to Concubine Qin.
“Um, um …”
Concubine Qin almost passed out in pain, but she couldn’t even make a sound with her mouth blocked.
Although Xia Hourui had witnessed plenty of deaths, he still felt uncomfortable with his throat a bit dry while looking at Concubine Qin’s chest being pierced.
Su Muge pierced the scalpel accurately into Concubine Qin’s sternum. With the sharp blade colliding with her bone, it was truly painful without sufficient anesthesia.
“Eh! Ah!” Soon, Concubine Qin started shivering.
When Su Muge took out the scalpel, Concubine Qin rolled her eyes and passed out in pain.
Su Muge put on an act to take a bowl to collect her blood.
After the bowl was filled with blood, she slowly bandaged her wound.
“Concubine Qin made such a sacrifice for Second Prince; I’m so moved by her.”
Xia Hourui twitched his eyes, feeling Su Muge’s words with a strong irony.
Su Muge returned to Xia Houkun’s bed. She took a deep breath and put her palm over Xia Houkun’s bleeding wound.
In a while, she felt the continuous output of heat and energy from her palm. After the bleeding had almost been stopped, she gritted her teeth and quickly withdrew her hands.
Looking at Xia Houkun’s wound, she found most of the bleeding had been stopped.
Su Muge cleaned his wound thoroughly and bandaged it.
Seeing Su Muge stop her movement, Xia Hourui hurriedly asked, “You’ve stopped the bleeding of Second Prince?”
“Your Majesty, most of the bleeding has been stopped. As long as he stays still, there will be no big problem. But Second Prince has lost too much blood and hasn’t passed the dangerous period. So I have to make a prescription with this bowl of blood as the guiding drug for him. Only after taking the medicine can he wake up.”
Xia Hourui nodded. “Okay, hurry to get the medicine ready.”
“Yes.”
Su Muge packed up her medical kit and carried the bowl of blood out of Jing’an Palace.
On the other side, Xia Houmo was still handling affairs in the Imperial Guard Barracks.
“Your Royal Highness, we found this in the belly of the black bears.”
Donglin put a wet and sticky cloth bag on the table and opened it.
Zuoqiu and Zuowei both stepped up to take a look out of curiosity. “What is this?”
Donglin raised his eyebrows. “It was a medicine discovered in the stomach of the black bears. Doctor Guima said this medicine would excite the beasts and make them crueler. Besides, there is no trace of soldering iron on the two black bears.”
After Xia Houmo took over the imperial guards, he ordered to mark every beast in the hunting field with soldering iron on their bodies to prevent such accidents from happening. But this work was done very secretly, unknown to many people.
Zuoqiu frowned and took a step back. “Your Royal Highness, it must be a conspiracy. If it were not for Second Prince’s timely appearance, the black bear’s paw would fall on the Emperor.”
Xia Houmo darkened his eyes. “Who followed Second Prince after dispersing in the forest at that time?”
Zuowei said, “It was Linsan. He said he was always with Second Prince at that time and he found Second Prince a bit strange and seemed to be in deep thoughts. When they were to enter the deeper forest, Second Prince suddenly turned around and ran away.”
Donglin suddenly got a clue flashing in his brain. “Your Royal Highness, could it be Second Prince …”
Xia Houmo tapped the table with his fingertips. “To kill two birds with one stone, he was so cruel to himself!”
Zuoqiu hadn’t figured it out yet. “Donglin, what does His Royal Highness mean?”
Donglin glanced at him. “What else can it mean? Someone put on a self-directed and self-acted play!”
Zuoqiu finally came to understand and was astonished at the great sacrifice. He was also present at the time and had witnessed the bloody back of Second Prince. If the black bear had directly killed him with its paws, his great efforts would have been in vain!
“Your Royal Highness, what should we do?”
“Nothing. I’ve handed over my confessing letter.”
Donglin frowned. “Your Royal Highness, it’s obviously …”
Xia Houmo stood up and looked at the endless darkness outside the window. “Father is now fully convinced that Xia Houkun will protect him at the risk of his own life. If I say anything against him at this time, do you think father will believe me?”
The Emperor would surely assert that His Royal Highness was shirking his responsibility and burst into great anger.
In fact, Donglin was a little confused. In the past, he always felt that there was some affection of father and son between the Ninth Prince and the Emperor. But now, it seemed to be just the relationship between the monarch and his subject.
…
In the guest courtyard of the imperial villa.
Li Mama walked into An’s room in a hurry.
“Madam, Li Mama is back.” Ruby lifted the curtain and whispered.
An was sitting on a chair in contemplation. Hearing this, she looked up and let Li Mama in.
Ruby retreated when seeing they have something to say.
“How is it?” An asked in a low voice.
“It is said that the Emperor suddenly ordered to send Eighth Princess back to the Imperial Palace somehow last night. As for the reason, I couldn’t figure it out.” To get this news, Li Mama had spent a lot of money and finally learned it from a maid.
“How can Eight Princess be sent back to the palace for no reason?” An’s face turned pale. She felt some consternation in her heart, fearing that the accident would bring disaster to her.
“What about Concubine Qin? Is there any news about her?”
“Oh my lady, how could I be so mighty and get information about Concubine Qin?” In the well-guarded villa, she would be stared at even if she took one more step.
“Don’t worry, Madam. It has nothing to do with you. If you are interrogated, just insist that you don’t know.”
An exhaled a heavy sigh. “How could the bitch mother and daughter be so lucky!”
Now Su Muge had appeared in front of the Emperor, making it even more difficult for An to destroy her again.
She thought she could destroy them by the hand of Concubine Qin this time. Unexpectedly, Concubine Qin was also useless!
