âSecond Prince has lost too much blood and needs the blood of his immediate family as the guiding drug.â
Concubine Qin clenched the handkerchief in her hand. âTo save Kunâer, Iâm even willing to donate my life, let alone some blood. How much blood do you need?â
Seeing Concubine Qinâs 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.
âConcubine Qin, please rest assured. I donât need much blood; a bowl is enough.â
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.
âOkay, come on, get a bowl.â
Xia Hourui was touched by the affection of this mother and son. Although he was Xia Houkunâs biological father, he could do nothing due to his poor health.
Suddenly, Xia Hourui looked at Concubine Qin with tender and protective feelings.
âDonât worry. Iâll be by your side.â
Concubine Qin looked at Xia Hourui tenderly with really pitiful eyes.
The maids brought all the things needed for blood collection.
âConcubine Qin, please take off your coat.â
Su Muge took out the scalpel from her medical kit and started disinfection.
âTake off my coat? Why do I need to take off my coat for collecting blood?â Concubine Qin was puzzled.
Su Muge walked towards her with the scalpel; the sharp blade seemed extremely scary under the candlelight.
âOh, I forget to say that I need your heart blood, Concubine Qin.â
âHeart blood!â Concubine Qin nearly jumped up from the chair.
âYou mean, you want to take my heart blood!?â
Su Muge nodded seriously. âYes.â
âYou, you...â
âConcubine Qin, please rest assured. I just need to pierce the scalpel into your heart and draw the blood out. You wonât be dangerous.â
Xia Hourui wanted to see through Su Mugeâs trick, however, her little pale face was so serious. âOnly the heart blood can do it?!â
âYour Majesty, only the heart blood can fit the best.â
After her words came out, there was a weird silence in the palace.
Even if Concubine Qin didnât 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!
âIf you are afraid, Concubine Qin, Iâll have to find another way. But I donât know how long Second Prince can hold on before bleeding to death...â
Xia Hourui glanced at Xia Houkun lying motionlessly in bed. âCan you ensure the successful operation of blood collection?â
Su Muge bowed slightly. âYour Majesty, the success rate is 70%.â
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!
âFine! Come on!â If anything happened to Xia Houkun, she would have no good ending without her son by her side after Xia Houruiâs death. So sheâd rather gamble.
Looking at the decisive look of Concubine Qin, Su Muge knew she had been determined. âPlease forgive my offense.â
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!
âWhat, what are you doing?â
âConcubine Qin, Iâm afraid that you will struggle during the operation and hurt yourself.â
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.
âDonât be nervous. It may hurt a little. Hold on. Itâs gonna be okay.â
âAh!â
Before Muge could finish her words, Concubine Qin felt her chest so painful that she couldnât help crying out.
Su Muge promptly stuffed a cotton ball into her mouth.
She had secretly applied only a little anesthesia to Concubine Qin.
âUm, um ...â
Concubine Qin almost passed out in pain, but she couldnât 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 Qinâs chest being pierced.
Su Muge pierced the scalpel accurately into Concubine Qinâs sternum. With the sharp blade colliding with her bone, it was truly painful without sufficient anesthesia.
âEh! Ah!â 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.
âConcubine Qin made such a sacrifice for Second Prince; Iâm so moved by her.â
Xia Hourui twitched his eyes, feeling Su Mugeâs words with a strong irony.
Su Muge returned to Xia Houkunâs bed. She took a deep breath and put her palm over Xia Houkunâs 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 Houkunâs 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, âYouâve stopped the bleeding of Second Prince?â
âYour 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 hasnât 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.â
Xia Hourui nodded. âOkay, hurry to get the medicine ready.â
âYes.â
Su Muge packed up her medical kit and carried the bowl of blood out of Jingâan Palace.
On the other side, Xia Houmo was still handling affairs in the Imperial Guard Barracks.
âYour Royal Highness, we found this in the belly of the black bears.â
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. âWhat is this?â
Donglin raised his eyebrows. âIt 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.â
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. âYour Royal Highness, it must be a conspiracy. If it were not for Second Princeâs timely appearance, the black bearâs paw would fall on the Emperor.â
Xia Houmo darkened his eyes. âWho followed Second Prince after dispersing in the forest at that time?â
Zuowei said, âIt 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.â
Donglin suddenly got a clue flashing in his brain. âYour Royal Highness, could it be Second Prince ...â
Xia Houmo tapped the table with his fingertips. âTo kill two birds with one stone, he was so cruel to himself!â
Zuoqiu hadnât figured it out yet. âDonglin, what does His Royal Highness mean?â
Donglin glanced at him. âWhat else can it mean? Someone put on a self-directed and self-acted play!â
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!
âYour Royal Highness, what should we do?â
âNothing. Iâve handed over my confessing letter.â
Donglin frowned. âYour Royal Highness, itâs obviously ...â
Xia Houmo stood up and looked at the endless darkness outside the window. âFather 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?â
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 Anâs room in a hurry.
âMadam, Li Mama is back.â 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.
âHow is it?â An asked in a low voice.
âIt is said that the Emperor suddenly ordered to send Eighth Princess back to the Imperial Palace somehow last night. As for the reason, I couldnât figure it out.â To get this news, Li Mama had spent a lot of money and finally learned it from a maid.
âHow can Eight Princess be sent back to the palace for no reason?â Anâs face turned pale. She felt some consternation in her heart, fearing that the accident would bring disaster to her.
âWhat about Concubine Qin? Is there any news about her?â
âOh my lady, how could I be so mighty and get information about Concubine Qin?â In the well-guarded villa, she would be stared at even if she took one more step.
âDonât worry, Madam. It has nothing to do with you. If you are interrogated, just insist that you donât know.â
An exhaled a heavy sigh. âHow could the bitch mother and daughter be so lucky!â
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!