Chapter 163: Frightened, this is a corpse (2/2)

“Changping!” Han Yunxi cried out. Her first reaction was to run over and rescue her. Even though she and Changping were enemies with a grudge, saving lives was more important than anything else!

Quickly, she turned over Princess Changping, only to see she’d knocked her forehead hard enough to draw blood. The bleeding hadn’t stopped, but she lay there with her eyes closed as if she was sleeping. Han Yunxi was just going to stop her bleeding when her detox system suddenly sounded out a warning: poison!

Didn’t she bump her head? Unless she bumped it after she got poisoned?

How could she have been poisoned? Who poisoned her?

The detox system couldn’t immediately identify the type of toxin, which mean that this was no ordinary poison. Han Yunxi had no time to think too much. She immediately started up her scanners to examine her patient, but it wasn’t long before she grew dumbstruck. Her face turned ashen pale as her arms holding Princess Changping began to tremble. The scanners had given her an alert that…that this was a corpse. As a result, the scanners started up their systematic program for scanning dead bodies!

She was holding a corpse, so…Princess Changping was dead!

“Ahhh!” With a shriek, Han Yunxi unconsciously pushed Princess Changping aside and stood up, staring at her in disbelief as she backed away. As a doctor, she’d seen her share of life and death, so corpses weren’t frightening things.

But! The person before her eyes was…was Princess Changping, the same girl who’d been gamboling about before her just a few days ago. She was actually dead! She’d been poisoned to death! Han Yunxi never expected this to happen, so when she rushed to the rescue, she’d completely overlooked the signs.

How can this be?!

As a doctor, she was naturally sensitive to signs of death, but this had happened too suddenly. Han Yunxi’s mind was still blank when a court lady’s voice rose from outside the door.

“Princess, I’ve found the thing you were looking for! Are you still not finished yet? You have to hurry, something’s happened at the family feast. Why don’t you go take a look…” This was the voice of Princess Changping’s personal servant, Shuang Hong.

Han Yunxi unconsciously turned to look out the door and met Shuang Hong’s eyes as she skidded to a stop inside. They stared at each other before Shuang Hong screamed. “Ah…someone, come! AHhhhhHHHH….hurry, someone come…!”

Han Yunxi only stood there, not thinking of much as her heart began to pound. Shuang Hong kept shouting as she ran inside and held Princesss Changping. But as soon as she touched her, she realized something was wrong. Her finger trembled as it shifted beneath her nose to check for breathing before she pushed her away in fright, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Ah…ahHHHHhhh… The princess is dead! Dead!”

By now, a whole crowd of court ladies and eunuchs had arrived. When they saw the scene inside the room, everyone grew flustered and backed away, each and every face ashen pale. Only an older, experienced mama was calm enough to send someone to find an imperial physician, others to report to the empress dowager and empress. The first imperial physician to arrive on the scene was Gu Beiyue. As soon as he saw what had happened and Han Yunxi standing by the door, his gaze grew uneasy.

Shuang Hong saw Gu Beiyue and threw herself at him as if she was clutching at lifesaving straws. “Imperial Physician Gu, the princess, she…the princess…sobsobsob… Hurry and save the princess! She’s definitely not dead yet! Definitely not dead!”

It wasn’t clear whether Shuang Hong had been scared witless, or if she was just deceiving herself while deceiving others. The changes in a body happened very quickly once it stopped breathing. Princess Changping lay on her back on the ground, her eyes shut and her forehead badly mangled. Her body had already started to turn stiff while her face was completely white. Gu Beiyue could tell at a glance that there was no saving her.

Still, he walked forward to gauge her breathing by placing a finger beneath her nose, took her pulse, and checked for the cause of death. It was at this point that everyone gathered by the door scattered aside to make way for the empress dowager, empress, and Long Tianmo.

“Changping! Changping!” the empress dashed forward. As soon as she saw the person on the ground, her vision turned black and she narrowly avoided collapsing right then and there. Fortunately, Long Tianmo caught her in time.

The empress dowager leaned on her walking stick as a mama supported her by the arm. Her face had turned completely white as her body shook. She almost had trouble standing up straight. Long Tianmo took this all in, both angry and afraid. His tone was ruthless as he demanded, “Gu Beiyue, exactly what happened?”

Gu Beiyue lowered his eyes as he bent down and retreated to one side before kneeling down. “Esteemed Empress Dowager, Esteemed Empress, Your Highness Crown Prince…please restrain your grief[1]!”

“What?!” the empress dowager cried out in alarm. For a second she couldn’t catch her breath as her eyes stared, wide and shocked.

“No…no! It can’t be! Impossible! You’re speaking nonsense! Rubbish!” the empress gave Gu Beiyue a vicious kick and ordered, “Hurry up and save her, save her! If you can’t bring her back to life, I’ll bury you alive with the dead!”

Gu Beiyue resumed his kneeling position, his voice heavy. “Esteemed Empress, please restrain your grief.”

“I don’t believe it! I won’t! Changping, my daughter! My daughter!” the empress suddenly began to wail as she struggled free from Long Tianmo’s arms and threw herself at Princess Changping. She shoved and pushed at the body with all her strength, but the person…truly was dead.

“No! Changping, how could you…how could you abandon muhou?! Changping, just what happened? My daughter! My daughter…sobsobsob…”

In an instant, everyone in the room kneeled down, leaving nothing but the sound of the empress’s heartbreaking sobs. Long Tianmo stared at little sister, unable to fathom the sight. “Gu Beiyue, she was perfectly fine. How could she have died?” he demanded.

She was dead, but what was the cause of death?

The wound on her forehead wasn’t enough to take a life.

-o-

[1] please restrain your grief (请节哀) – qing jieai, a phrase used to offer one’s condolences (for a death).