Chapter 98 Confrontation
Chapter 98: Confrontation

He just looked at the somewhat panicked Doctor Xu with a hint of sarcasm on his face, and after a moment he turned to the shocked Empress Ma and the other two, and said with a cupped hand: "Please forgive me for not being able to pay my respects to you because I have a knife on my shoulder."

Queen Ma snorted coldly and said, "Do you really want to die? It's already this hour, and you still have the mind to talk nonsense!"

After her initial anger, Queen Ma immediately calmed down.

The first reaction was that Ye Xuan wanted to murder the prince, but think about it and it's simply impossible.

Although the Jinyiwei were criticized by the court, they were extremely strict in selecting personnel. Most of them were meritorious people or descendants who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang in conquering the world. There was no doubt that they were loyal to the Ming royal family.

If it was said that he was instigated by the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the first target should have been Zhu Yuanzhang. There was no reason to attack Zhu Biao, who was just a prince, first.

The most important thing is, if Ye Xuan intended to murder, then the knife should have been stuck in Zhu Biao's back, not in the bed frame!

Ye Xuan chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, please understand. I am here to save you, not to murder the Crown Prince."

"Rescue the emperor?" Queen Ma asked in surprise, her eyes suddenly fixed.

It was not known whether it was an illusion or not, but in her peripheral vision, Empress Ma seemed to see that when Ye Xuan said the words "save the emperor", Doctor Xu's body trembled invisibly.

Ye Xuan nodded and was about to walk into the dormitory. As soon as he moved, he felt a dangerous chill on his neck.

He couldn't help but look at Empress Ma, revealing a bitter smile and saying, "I wonder if the Empress could ask these two generals to put down their swords?"

"Mother..." Chang opened her red lips and looked at Queen Ma.

Zhu Biao, who was too straight, was frightened instead. He just looked at Ye Xuan without saying a word, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

Queen Ma waved her hand, signaling the guards to put away their knives.

The two guards hesitantly put away their knives, but kept close to him, as if they were ready to take him down if Ye Xuan made the slightest move.

Ye Xuan stepped into the bedroom and was about to reach out to pull out the Embroidered Spring Sword that was inserted into the bed frame, when he felt the two East Palace guards beside him tense up their whole bodies, so he wisely withdrew his hand and shrugged helplessly.

Queen Ma shook her head helplessly and asked, "Ye Xuan, you said you came to save the emperor? If you can't explain it clearly today, even if you have done a great job in curing His Highness, I will not be able to save your life."

Ye Xuan smiled calmly, pointed at the embroidered spring sword still stuck in the bed frame and said: "My embroidered spring sword is made of fine steel. Once it encounters corrosion from highly toxic substances, it will show a slight change in color. You can observe it carefully."

Queen Ma and others were shocked when they heard this.

How could such a poisonous substance appear in the bedroom of Crown Prince Zhu Biao of the Eastern Palace?

With feelings of shock, anger and suspicion, Empress Ma and Lady Chang turned to look at the steel knife.

There were indeed a few drops of light yellow liquid on the blade, emitting a pungent smell.

"Isn't this... the medicine Ye Xuan presented to me?" Chang said in surprise, "It should have been dropped by Doctor Xu's shaking hands just now, and I didn't expect it to drip onto the knife."

Ye Xuan chuckled when he heard this, "Your Highness, please take a good look. The medicine didn't just drip onto the knife. I intercepted it with my knife at the critical moment." "Why..." Before Chang finished asking, she saw the strange color change on the place where the knife surface came into contact with the drops of medicine. "What...what's going on!"

Although no one knows the reason, the colorful color on the blade reminds people of the venom of a poisonous snake, exuding a strong sense of danger.

Empress Ma, who had accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang in his conquests, immediately looked solemn and exclaimed: "This is poison!"

"Why is there poison in the medicine, Ye Xuan!"

Although Empress Ma was kind and generous, it did not mean that she would continue to be generous even if her own son was poisoned.

Seeing the shock and anger in Empress Ma's eyes, Ye Xuan said helplessly: "Your Majesty, please understand. Someone else poisoned her."

"You are the one who presented this medicine. If not you, who else could have poisoned it?" Chang accused angrily, but suddenly stopped in the middle of her words.

Everyone in the room, including the two Eastern Palace guards, looked at Doctor Xu who had been standing aside.

Empress Ma looked cold and said in a heavy voice, "Doctor Xu, what do you have to say?"

Doctor Xu panicked and fell to his knees with a plop. He said, "Your Majesty, I have countless opportunities to murder the Crown Prince. Why did I do this today?"

At this point, he looked up at Ye Xuan and said bitterly: "He must have poisoned the medicine and framed me while taking the opportunity to save the emperor. His intentions are really sinister. Please understand, Queen and Crown Prince!"

Hearing this, everyone looked at Ye Xuan again.

What Doctor Xu said was not without reason. Ever since Crown Prince Zhu Biao suffered from a back carbuncle, Doctor Xu had been the main person in charge.

If she really wanted to kill the prince, she should have poisoned the countless medicines she had prescribed in the past. Why did she have to tamper with Ye Xuan's medicine?

Ye Xuan said calmly: "After I left the East Palace last night, I found a famous doctor who specializes in treating difficult and complicated diseases among the people and told him about the prince's condition."

"According to a doctor, the prince has contracted a poisonous dragon sore that is almost incurable. A person who suffers from this disease will develop large areas of poisonous sores on their backs. Once an attack occurs, the pain is unbearable."

Doctor Xu was still kneeling on the ground. Hearing this, he snorted coldly and said, "We in the Imperial Hospital already knew all this. Do you still need me to tell you?"

Ye Xuan sneered and said, "Yes, although this poisonous dragon sore is rare, the Imperial Hospital is full of experts. Even if it cannot be treated, it is not difficult to see it. But..."

At this point, Ye Xuan paused and said, "Which doctor can tell me that although there is no cure for the poisonous dragon sore and the condition is severe, it is not as severe as the prince's!"

"You...what do you mean?" Doctor Xu suddenly became a little panicked. Empress Ma and others keenly caught Doctor Xu's subtle emotional change.

"Don't you know what I mean?" Ye Xuan sneered, pointing at Zhu Biao's back and said, "If an ordinary person gets the poisonous dragon sore, it will take at least five years from infection to the point where it becomes life-threatening like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has only been ill for the past two or three years, as far as I know!"

"Let me ask you, even ordinary people can survive for several years in the absence of medical care and medicine, but why is it that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's condition is getting worse under the care of your Imperial Physician Xu and even the entire Imperial Hospital, and is even far worse than those ordinary people who have given up treatment altogether?"

(End of this chapter)