Chapter 62 Detoxification

With Song Shiyu’s reminder, Wang Rukai once again set about preparing the antidote.

Li Xubai had already given up all hope in Wang Rukai, so he simply turned his head away and closed his eyes.
Out of sight, out of mind.

As the day broke brightly, the first ray of sunlight pierced through the window. The candles in the Wende Hall extinguished one by one, their thin wisps of blue smoke curling and dissolving into nothingness.

"Your Majesty, please partake of some breakfast," You Zhong said as he entered the hall carrying a simple meal.

Zhao Yizhen’s morning court session had ended very quickly today.

Perhaps the court officials were still shaken by the assassination attempt of the previous day, feeling guilty about their own cowardly behavior in the face of danger, and knowing that Li Xubai’s fate hung in the balance while the Emperor was in an abysmal mood, no one dared to provoke his wrath or risk being settled accounts with later.

Consequently, today's morning court session featured neither memorials impeaching anyone, nor flattering memorials singing praises, nor anyone foolish enough to dash their head against a pillar in protest.

This morning court was likely the cleanest and quietest one Zhao Yizhen had presided over since ascending the throne.

Yet a quiet court did not bring a peaceful mind.

He returned to the Wende Hall, and before he had even settled into his seat, the news came that Wang Rukai’s attempt to formulate the antidote had failed once again, and Li Xubai had slipped into a coma.

His mood was so wretched he could not stomach a single bite. Facing the breakfast You Zhong had brought, he blurted out the first curse of his life: "Get lost!"

And so, You Zhong cleanly got lost.

Yet after just a brief moment, he cleanly rolled back in, bowed, and reported, "Your Majesty, Official Sheng requests an audience."

"Quickly, summon him!"

Sheng Yanming walked in expressionless. Having stayed awake the entire night, his complexion was pale and ghostly, making him look like a malignant spirit crawled straight out of the underworld. In his hands, he carried a thick stack of confessions, and the bloodstains on his robes had not yet dried, exuding a reek of fresh blood potent enough to knock someone unconscious.

Looking at Sheng Yanming’s ghastly appearance, Zhao Yizhen felt a rare wave of pity for Sheng's wife—not being frightened unconscious by this terrifying visage truly made her a heroine among women.

"Yanming, how did it go?" Zhao Yizhen asked impatiently.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Military Virtue Department's Investigation Bureau has raided a total of seven Liao espionage hideouts in Bianliang City and captured eleven individuals. These are the confessions, and this is the antidote for the 'Fading Youth' poison," Sheng Yanming said, bowing deeply.

Zhao Yizhen flipped through the pages one by one, still harboring some hesitation: "Is this antidote genuine?"

Sheng Yanming spoke the truth without reservation: "Your minister extracted some toxic blood from Lord Li’s wound, had all eleven captives drink it, and after their poison flared up, administered this antidote. Only after confirming that the poison was successfully neutralized did I enter the palace to report back."

Zhao Yizhen’s heart finally settled. He handed the antidote to You Zhong: "Take this and let Wang Rukai examine it further."

Seeing You Zhong retreat, Zhao Yizhen asked Sheng Yanming, "You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Come, keep Me company and eat a little."

Sheng Yanming refused with absolute solemnity: "Your minister has been away all night, and my wife must have worried herself sleepless. I am anxious to leave the palace and return to comfort her. Please partake of the meal yourself, Your Majesty."

Zhao Yizhen: "......"

Zhao Yizhen heard the sound of his own heart shattering.

***

After taking the antidote that Sheng Yanming had seized from the Liao spy den, Li Xubai woke up within a mere half-hour, and the "Fading Youth" poison was completely purged.

Wang Rukai let out a long, shuddering breath; his head was securely saved for yet another day.

With utmost care, he extracted the arrow from Li Xubai’s back, applied healing ointment, bandaged the wound, left behind a restorative herbal prescription, and bolted as if fleeing for his life.

He practically looked as though a fierce ghost were nipping at his heels.

Song Shiyu shook her head and chuckled.

Li Xubai ground his teeth heavily: "Consider that old fellow lucky for running fast. I'll find another chance to torment him later."

Song Shiyu smiled and said, "Actually, by the time this antidote was delivered, Grand Physician Wang had already formulated the exact same one."

Li Xubai raised an eyebrow slightly: "Then why didn't he say so?"

Song Shiyu replied, "That old man has an extraordinarily stubborn temper; no one can ever guess what goes on in his mind."

Li Xubai could not fathom Wang Rukai’s actions.

Clearly, he had already concocted the antidote, so why not present it to the Emperor? Why make the Emperor believe he had toiled all night to no avail?

"You Zhong said the antidote was seized by Sheng Yanming from a Liao spy hideout. I find myself somewhat puzzled," Li Xubai asked with a focused gaze. "Weren't the attackers assassins from Western Xia? Why use a poison originating from Liao? Does Western Xia not possess its own poisons? Or could it be that Western Xia intended to frame Liao for this deed?"

Hearing this, Song Shiyu glanced to her left and right.

Li Xuzhang and Li Yunnuan must have exhausted themselves thoroughly the previous night, for they had not yet woken up.

She ladled a bowl of porridge and handed it to Li Xubai, watching him eat as she spoke, "There is something I haven't told you yet."

"What is it?" Li Xubai was slightly startled. Then, as if recalling something suddenly, he nearly dropped the porcelain bowl onto the floor: "Are you insane? You actually went on a nocturnal reconnaissance of the Chuangong Palace!"

Song Shiyu laughed: "Your guess is spot on. Rest assured, I know what I'm doing. This imperial palace," she swept her gaze around the surroundings, her expression desolate and forlorn as if looking through layers of palace walls to see her past self in another lifetime, "this imperial palace used to be like my own home. I know it better than anyone."

Li Xubai choked.

This porridge was truly choking.

"Guess what I saw in the Chuangong Palace?"

"What did you see? That I certainly cannot guess," Li Xubai shook his head.

Song Shiyu collected her thoughts and said, "I went to Empress Dowager Yang’s bedchamber and heard two women inside speaking in the Liao language."

"Liao—Liao language?" Li Xubai was struck with horror, a preposterous notion taking root in his mind: "Is—is Empress Dowager Yang a person of Liao? This, how could this possibly be!"

Song Shiyu shook her head: "Empress Dowager Yang’s identity was subjected to rigorous verification; there can be no mistake. She is certainly not from Liao. She is a citizen of Dayu with a clear and unquestionable lineage."

"Then—then it must mean people from Liao have infiltrated her household," Li Xubai reasoned. "There was a loophole in vetting the palace maids' identities. Can you tell who was speaking?"

Song Shiyu shook her head helplessly: "I am not familiar with the people currently serving in the Chuangong Palace, so I couldn't distinguish the voices. However, if they were to speak in front of me once more, whether in Dayu speech or Liao language, I would be able to tell."

Li Xubai was helpless as well. The people of the Chuangong Palace were not individuals they could casually interrogate, nor was the Chuangong Palace a place they could search at will.

"Then what did they talk about? Since you could tell they were speaking Liao, you must have understood them as well," Li Xubai quickly finished his bowl of porridge and motioned for Song Shiyu to give him another.

Song Shiyu smiled faintly, handed him a refilled bowl, and continued, "I did understand. It was precisely because I heard them discussing how the poison you ingested was a modified version of 'Fading Youth' that I reminded Grand Physician Wang. Moreover, your antidote seemingly must have been delivered by them to the Liao spy hideout." She paused slightly. "They never seemed to harbor any intent to kill. Otherwise, once they learned that Grand Physician Wang had failed to concoct the antidote, they wouldn't have racked their brains trying to figure out how to make the antidote appear plausible."

Li Xubai found himself utterly bewildered by the labyrinthine plot, unable to grasp why the Liao people would pull such a stunt. Yet this did not hinder his acute analysis of the loopholes within the narrative: "According to what you said, they only began scheming to have the antidote appear plausible *after* discovering that Grand Physician Wang had failed to brew it. If so, how on earth did they manage to smuggle the news out of the palace and deliver the antidote in such a short span of time?"