Chapter 142: Relieving Qi Yanzhou’s Fire Poison

Qi Yanzhou suddenly remembered the time when he was in the prison of the Dali Temple. At that time, Ye Chutang had also been so uncomfortable that she had vomited.

Back then, he thought it was because the environment and the smells of the prison had upset her.

Now, however, he realized that wasn’t the case at all.

Someone who was willing to open someone’s chest and carve out their organs—how could they possibly be bothered by the smell of blood?

Ye Chutang was pregnant with his child?

When Qi Yanzhou thought this, Ye Chutang looked at Concubine Jiang and chuckled lightly.

“Do you know that slandering someone’s son could get you beaten to death?”

Concubine Jiang was frightened by the murderous intent in Ye Chutang’s eyes and quickly begged for mercy.

“Miss, I didn’t mean any harm, it’s just…”

Ye Chutang wasn’t interested in listening to her nonsense. She said, “Shan’er, drag her out and slap her fifty times. Don’t dirty your hands—use the shoe soles to beat her. If she dies, it’s on me. If you get tired, let Le’er take over.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Shan’er dragged the howling Concubine Jiang out of Ning Chu Courtyard, removed her shoes, and began harshly slapping her face with them.

Ye Chutang ignored Concubine Jiang’s pitiful screams and turned to Qi Yanzhou.

“Prince, please follow me to the bedroom.”

When Qi Yanzhou heard the word “bedroom,” the image of Ye Chutang pulling him onto the bed earlier flashed through his mind, and his ears turned slightly red.

Ye Chutang didn’t notice Qi Yanzhou’s unusual reaction and entered the bedroom through the main house.

“Prince, please wait outside for a moment. I’ll prepare something.”

She needed to take out the necessary items to treat his fire poison.

After a short while, Qi Yanzhou heard Ye Chutang call him, “Prince, please come in.”

Ye Chutang was sitting on the imperial concubine’s couch.

There were many things on the low table in front of her.

She first checked Qi Yanzhou’s pulse. Her usually calm face stiffened slightly.

“Prince, your fire poison has worsened, and the time left for the southern border witch doctors is getting shorter.”

Implied in her words was that Qi Yanzhou’s chances of survival were lower now.

Although Qi Yanzhou didn’t want to die, he was not a person who feared death.

“Life and death are fated; I will do my best.”

Ye Chutang felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this, but she simply said, “I will do my best to save you, but first, I will treat your internal injuries.”

She began acupuncture on him with silver needles dipped in medicine.

Qi Yanzhou watched Ye Chutang’s focused expression and asked the question that had been bothering him.

“Miss Ye, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

He knew it was a sudden question, but he couldn’t help it; he really wanted to know the answer.

Ye Chutang was relieved that she had finished inserting the needles before he asked the question; otherwise, she might have made a mistake with the needles.

She was clear that if Qi Yanzhou knew the child was his, he would definitely not ignore it.

But she wouldn’t marry a man who had other women in his heart.

Whether it was a loveless marriage or a bad relationship, neither was what she wanted!

“Prince, is it appropriate for you to ask this of an unmarried woman?”

Qi Yanzhou knew it wasn’t appropriate and quickly apologized.

“Miss Ye, it was rude of me.”

Ye Chutang adjusted the silver needles on Qi Yanzhou’s body and asked, “What kind of answer do you want, Prince?”

Qi Yanzhou thought he wanted Ye Chutang to be pregnant with his child.

But he couldn’t say that.

Because an unmarried woman’s pregnancy would bring her enormous harm.

“Whatever the answer, this prince will respect Miss Ye’s decision.”

Ye Chutang changed the topic, “Prince, have you thought of a way to break the deadlock?”

Currently, the Emperor was only daring to secretly set traps for Qi Yanzhou, out of some caution.

If he were no longer here, the Qi family would face utter destruction!

In her view, if Qi Yanzhou didn’t overthrow the imperial power, the Qi family would not have a future.

Qi Yanzhou thought of a method but hadn’t decided whether to implement it.

“Exile.”

The plan was to first leave the capital and secretly scheme to overthrow the imperial power.

Exile required the right opportunity, and he had yet to come up with a flawless plan.

One wrong move could lead to the annihilation of his entire family.

Ye Chutang thought that in a situation where they couldn’t confront the Emperor head-on, exile was a good choice.

This way, not only would the Qi family’s reputation be ruined in an instant, but they would also lose the wealth they had accumulated over the years.

“Prince, is there no better option?”

Qi Yanzhou looked at the silver needles trembling on his body and shook his head slightly.

“The Emperor wants to wipe out the entire Qi family. Only by leaving the capital can we avoid his repeated plots.”

Now wasn’t the time for confrontation; they could only endure.

“Miss Ye, if you were to carry out the exile of the Qi family, you could negotiate with the Emperor and avoid entering the palace as a consort.”

Ye Chutang looked at Qi Yanzhou, who was constantly considering her, and it was hard not to misunderstand that he had feelings for her.

She suppressed any unrealistic thoughts and removed the silver needles from his body.

“Next, I’ll treat your fire poison. It will be very painful. Would you like to use the painkiller?”

Qi Yanzhou knew that while the painkiller could temporarily numb the pain, it wouldn’t be helpful for recovery.

“No need, I can endure it.”

“If you can’t, Prince, just let me know.”

After saying this, Ye Chutang opened a small wooden box with ice leeches inside.

The ice leeches absorbed heat, and the inside of the box was covered in thick frost.

She handed Qi Yanzhou a pill, “Prince, please take it.”

Qi Yanzhou had long been prepared for the detox process and knew that before detoxification, he had to provoke the fire poison.

He trusted Ye Chutang and didn’t hesitate to take the pill.

Immediately, he felt an unbearable restlessness, as if his blood was boiling.

The hair that hung in front of him gradually turned from black to bright red.

His vision was also blood-red.

Qi Yanzhou felt that his skin would crack, and his body would explode at any moment.

When his endurance was about to reach its limit, and he was about to lose consciousness, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of his hand.

Immediately after, a coolness spread across his hand, dispelling the fiery heat.

The bone-chilling cold soon followed, as if his blood was freezing.

His body was either unbearably hot or freezing cold, torturing him to the point where it felt worse than death.

Ye Chutang saw that Qi Yanzhou was about to faint but still remained silent. She gave him a thumbs up.

“Prince, just a little more. It’ll be over soon.”

As Qi Yanzhou’s body became half fiery hot and half covered in frost, Ye Chutang placed the ice cicada on his hand.

The ice cicada absorbed the cold, and the frost on his hand rapidly melted away, returning to normal.

After a cup of tea’s worth of time, the fire poison in Qi Yanzhou’s body was suppressed, and Ye Chutang packed up the ice leeches and the ice cicada.

“Prince, how do you feel now?”

“I don’t feel any discomfort. My internal injuries seem to have recovered quite a bit.”

Ye Chutang wrote out a prescription and handed it to him.

“The fire poison has been suppressed, and it should keep you safe for about three months. You probably won’t be able to wait that long for your exile plan, will you?”

The half-month deadline given by the Emperor was fast approaching. Even if they managed to delay it, there wouldn’t be much time left.

If the Qi family were exiled, would she, a pregnant woman, need to travel long distances to detox?

It wasn’t impossible. Exile meant walking, and in three months, she might be able to cover…

Uh, a small part of Beichen Country!

Qi Yanzhou noticed Ye Chutang’s concerns and said, “Miss Ye, if you trust me, you can lend me the ice leeches and the ice cicada to detox. When we leave the capital, I will return them to you in perfect condition.”

The medical skills in Xize were comparable to those of Divine Doctor Xue. As long as they had detoxifying items and knew how to use them, they wouldn’t trouble Ye Chutang with such a long journey.

With that, he added, “Before the Qi family is exiled, our residence will be looted. If you wish to take any gold, silver, or jewels, feel free to take as much as you like. If there’s anything left, you can tell ‘Ghost Thief,’ and he’ll fetch it for you.”

Better to give it to anyone than the Emperor!

Qi Yanzhou’s plan sounded good, but it wasn’t feasible.

After all, only Ye Chutang had the means to keep the ice leeches and ice cicadas alive.