Chapter 145 - Sacrificial Messenger (1/2)

”Isn't this too much? Exactly how many times do they think they need to poke someone?... Stupid brats, waste of good material.” Doctor Lou grumbled as he examined Lei Xing's arms. He put them down and put a salve on the wound on her forehead and then some on her red cheek. He then sighed and said, ”Go and call her husband.”

”Can't you just give her the antidote?” Ah Jin asked with knit eyebrows. They were currently at Doctor Lou's house which was a little courtyard located behind the pharmacy. After the three Zou people returned to the servants and guards, they waited a bit for Lei Xing and Prince Yi to return. After a while, the servants then scattered to look for them.

Doctor Lou called her and told her Lei Xing was here and so she came over to get her.

”No.”

”But y-”

”If I say I can't then I can't.” Ah Jin narrowed his eyes at him and he squinted back at her and indignantly said, ”What? It's not like I'm the one who did this...I didn't!”

Ah Jin sighed, ”I will just get a carriage and take her back with me.”

Doctor Lou shook his head, ”Not allowed.”

”Why not?” Ah Jin asked feeling a bit exasperated.

”You see those golden needles sticking out on her head? If you move her, they'll move and it could kill her...Not allowed!”  Doctor Lou finished shaking his head again.

”Then take them out.” Ah Jin bluntly responded.

”No. If I take them out, she'll wake up and be clinging to everyone, what if she attacks some servants or guards? Or worse attacks me! How would you I recover from that? Too much trauma...” Doctor Lou shivered and then continued, ”Also it looked like she'd rather die than suffer that humiliation so-...Or we can lock her in here like this and after four days of aching bones and muscles, immense pain...She'll be back to normal...Probably...You might not know this, but Xing Xing is very afraid of pain so -... Stop with all these questions, just go call her husband!” Doctor Lou suddenly barked then pouted, tired of having to explain.

Ah Jin looked at him for a while and he squinted back at her, then she sighed and turned to leave, Doctor Lou suddenly went, ”Oh wait! I want to send a message.” He got up and went to the corner and quickly wrote a note, blew on the ink and then folded the paper and walked up to Ah Jin, before she could take it, he drew his hand back and then squinted at her and warned, ”Don't open it, it's for his eyes only.”

Ah Jin pursed her lips and nodded, then he gave it to her and walked back to Lei Xing on the bed, as Ah Jin left he added, ”You all better not try to trick me, if not she won't be here when you return.”

***

Meanwhile back at the palace, the Emperor had returned to Lei Xing's palace after staying for a few performances. The darker it got, the more he felt his mood drop and so he lost complete interest and left. Xiao Ruo informed him that Princess Nalan had sent for Lei Xing and she had left sometime in the afternoon. He reasoned that she must have intended to return in time for the banquet but then got sidetrack by the Princess.

He did not think her missing the banquet was that important, after all, he could always get her to perform for him personally, which would definitely be better than one with onlookers. But he could not deny feeling somewhat annoyed that she forgot about it.

He was also feeling a bit unnerved for some reason and wanted to send ford her, but then he dismissed it as him feeling disgruntled with being sidelined. Instead, he returned to the royal study to do some work to distract himself. After a long while, he was about to ask after her again thinking that it was really too late for her to still be out, when Bi Lo arrived trailing behind Eunuch Li.

The Emperor frowned, he had instructed for them to inform him the moment she arrived. Before he could open his mouth to speak Bi Lo dropped to his knees and kowtowed, ”Your majesty, please kill us for our incompetence!”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes and felt even more unnerved and coldly asked, ”What is the meaning of this?”

Bi Lo glanced up at the Emperor and then gulped. His brother had sent him here to come to get help while he continued to search for Lei Xing. After she and Prince Yi ran off, they had moment's delay when some other stupid merchant started some sort of showcase that redirected the crowd.

They managed to keep track of their heads, but then arrived at an intersection and were not sure which way they turned, so they split up but still could not find them. They eventually saw Prince Yi walking back but he was alone and there was no sign of Lei Xing. They quickly went the way he was coming from but they still did not see her. They then went back to her carriage where the servants were waiting but she was not there either. They searched and located Princess Nalan's group but there was still no Lei Xing.

Bi Lo faced the ground and squeezed his eyes shut then blurted out, ”We can't find the Noble consort!” Then he quickly added, ”We lost her at the merchant's festival. We searched everywhere, still searching...But we have no clue where she went, we even checked Prince Yi's house, but he's alone, she's not there an-”

”My brother's house?” The Emperor coldly asked knitting his brows in confusion. He was concerned but he was baffled as to why his brother's house was a place to check for her. It was an odd place at an odd time for her to be.