Chapter 183: Diplomatic Mission to Xiliang

The ambush and capture of Qi Min caused a major uproar. The situation became even more sensational when the Regent went alone into the enemy camp to rescue her, bringing the matter to its peak. No one remained unaware of this incident.

The Regent brought Qi Min back, but she had fallen into a coma. The military doctor examined her and found that she only had whip marks and a slight fever. The doctor prescribed medicine, which the Regent personally fed to her, keeping watch over her throughout the night.

The next day, something urgent arose in the army, and Luo Cheng came to personally call on the Regent. However, just as the Regent stepped out of the tent, he collapsed.

The military doctor examined him for a long time but couldn’t find any issues, yet the Regent remained unconscious, and his condition visibly worsened.

Everyone in the army was in a state of panic, completely overwhelmed with worry. Luo Cheng searched everywhere for a doctor, but since they were in a border town, doctors were very scarce.

Later, by chance, he heard a rumor in town that the enemy army was harboring a Grand Shaman. Luo Cheng hurried back to the camp, only to hear that Qi Min had woken up and left the camp.

Luo Cheng thought Qi Min had gone to seek medicine or treatment for the Regent, feeling that she was quite loyal.

However, after leaving, Qi Min didn’t return for more than two months.

The Regent remained in a coma for over two months.

Luo Cheng felt a growing resentment toward Qi Min, assuming she hadn’t gone to seek treatment for their master, but rather fled back to the capital to resume her life as a pampered young lady, avoiding responsibility.

When he suddenly saw Qi Min again, he was stunned. She had lost a significant amount of weight, her hair was disheveled, her face pale and haggard, yet her eyes were sharp and bright with an unusual intensity.

Luo Cheng ignored her.

Qi Min cast him a cold, sharp glance before returning to her tent. Luo Cheng couldn’t help but think that the Regent had saved a heartless ingrate. Without wasting any time, he followed the lead he had received and found a wandering monk who was helping to suppress the poison Gu within the Regent.

Luo Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. For two consecutive days, Qi Min didn’t come to visit the Regent, later saying she was utterly exhausted and had slept for two full days and nights, even the sound of the training horn couldn’t wake her.

Now that everything was coming together, Luo Cheng couldn’t help but think more deeply.

Qi Min was now the Empress of Xiliang, and the monk from back then was from Xiliang’s Baima Temple.

At that time, she disappeared for over two months, returning haggard and significantly thinner. If one were to calculate it, the distance from the border town to the capital of Xiliang, traveling day and night without rest, would require several top-tier horses to run themselves to death just to make the round trip in two months.

At that time, had she gone to Xiliang to seek out the monk?

But why didn’t she personally bring the monk back?

Could it be that she was trying to hide the fact that she, too, was afflicted with the poison Gu?

Luo Cheng couldn’t think of any other explanation.

If the mother Gu was indeed in Qi Min, then according to what Su Wan had said, did that mean Qi Min was nearing her end?

Gu Huaizhi noticed Luo Cheng’s unusual behavior. “Do you know something?”

Luo Cheng shook his head. “I’m not certain.”

Su Wan said, “Tell us what you’re thinking.”

Luo Cheng glanced at the Regent, who was quietly coughing, hesitating for a moment, but he also knew this matter couldn’t be hidden. If Qi Min were to die, the Regent wouldn’t survive either.

Luo Cheng gritted his teeth and said, “I suspect the mother Gu is in the Xiliang Empress.”

He then laid out everything that had happened at the time.

The Regent remained unusually quiet, leaving his thoughts unreadable.

Su Wan lowered her gaze, surprised to learn that the mother Gu was in Qi Min. Her deteriorating health must be the reason for the rush to crown the Crown Princess, wasn’t it? If that were the case, it also explained their intent to form an alliance.

Gu Huaizhi asked, “Luo Cheng, have the arrangements been made?”

“Young Master, everything is prepared. We can set off for Xiliang in five days,” Luo Cheng replied.

“No need. We will depart in three days,” the Regent decisively concluded.