White Calculation Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Celestial pill (2)

The person on the bed who had his eyes shut and his head lowered, pressed his lips tightly together.

"Leave the box of pills here.  You can leave."

The usually cold and ruthless voice now sounded a little hoa.r.s.e, a little mellow and a little unspeakably……awkward?

Ji Xiaoli caressed the box and was a little reluctant.

Although her body is now full of divine energy, the celestial pills are such precious things!

Her love for her Shifu really did not exceed her feelings for the whole box of celestial pills!

Although the person on the bed had his eyes closed, how could he not understand her hesitation?

"Since I am already your Shifu, I will certainly help with your celestial cultivation.  You don't need pills."  The person threw out a sentence coldly.

With great trust for her Shifu, she gritted her teeth and put down the pills.  She repeatedly looked back as she walked away.

After she had left for a long time, then only did the person on the bed moved and raised his eyes to stare coldly without focus into emptiness.  A long time later, he picked up the box and broke off a little piece from a pill before he slowly sent it into his mouth.

He had no intention of consuming the pill and only wanted to have a feel of the taste.  After swallowing, he felt a heat in his lower abdomen.  But he only needed to suppress it a little and the heat was like a spoonful of warm water on an iceberg……..the heat instantly dissipated.

As compared to just now, this is simply the vast difference between the sky and earth.

The young Lord Guoshi slowly opened his eyes and there was not the slightest trace of warmth in his eyes.

**8**8**8**8**

The next day, early in the morning, Lord Guoshi entered the palace.

He had arrived a bit early and the Emperor was still busy in the morning court.   Just then, the Empress Dowager Cixiao summoned him and was invited to the inner palace.

The Empress was also present in the palace of Empress Dowager Cixiao.  After offering his greetings, the Empress asked with some anxiety.  "Do you know what happened to the Sixth Prince while he was in Guoshi Residence yesterday?  After he returned, he hid in his room and refused to come out!"

"Yesterday, Chen* was unwell and did not see the Sixth Prince."  There was no change to Chen Yubai's expression.  "Where does the Sixth Prince feel uncomfortable?"

(Chen is used by ministers, officials, and n.o.bles to refer to themselves when they speak to the imperial family.)

"He refused to let anyone inside his room and he also refused to come out.  He did not even touch last night's dinner and today's breakfast!"  The anxious Empress said with a frown.

The young Lord Guoshi became silent for a while and then said.  "If it will make Niang Niang feel at ease, why don't Chen visit the Zhaoyang Palace?

"Then Guoshi is troubled to look into this matter."  The Empress Dowager Cixiao and the Empress exchanged glances and both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since Ah Song returned from the Guoshi Residence yesterday, he has been acting strangely.  They were afraid that he might have provoked some strange spirits or something similar.  Even if Lord Guoshi had not entered the palace today, they would have to think of a reason to invite him.

They did not expect Lord Guoshi who was normally a cold and unfeeling person would have such an exceptionally pleasant temperament today!

Chen Yubai smiled slightly and immediately left for Zhaoyang Palace where His Highness, the Sixth Prince resided.

Yesterday, the Sixth Prince had rushed back with his face covered by his sleeves.  All along the way, when he was greeted by the palace servants he kicked and sent a few of them flying away and then rushed into the room without coming out again.  This morning even when the Empress came in person to see him, he refused to open the door.

However, Chen Yubai would certainly not request for him to open the door.  With a light flick of his sleeve, the door bolt instantly broke and the door swung open automatically.

Just as Lord Guoshi walked in leisurely, a little axe studded with rubies that belonged to the Sixth Prince flew directly at his face.  At the same time, the Sixth Prince's voice roared.

"Who permitted you to come in?!  Get out ! !"

Lord Guoshi shifted his body slightly sideways and the sharp and beautiful little axe flew straight at the door.  With a thud, the axe was wedged in the door, causing the Empress who was standing anxiously at the door to turn pale and almost fainted.

The palace servants around the Empress let out shouts of – 'Protect the Empress' – which resulted in the imperial guards rushing in.  In the chaos, Chen Yubai had already reached the side of the Sixth Prince's bed.  He reached out his hand to pull away the quilt that was covering the Sixth Prince and flung it far away.

When had His Highness, the Sixth Prince, who was used to behaving arrogantly in the palace since he was a child, been given such savage treatment?  Instantly, he became angry and jumped up from the bed to throw out a fist punch.  How could he be bothered with the person in front of him that even the Emperor had to give in and tolerate to some degree……the Lord Guoshi?

Bouncing up, he threw out punches and kicks repeatedly.

Chen Yubai was too lazy to even entertain him for a little while.  With a flick of his sleeve, he flipped up the jade pillow* that was lying on the bed and hit it on the back of the Sixth Prince's head.

(In the olden days, people would use hard pillows made from blocks of jade, stone, wood, porcelain or bamboo instead of soft stuffed pillows.)

The body of the angry Sixth Prince immediately became limp and dropped back on the bed with a thud.

Surrounded by palace servants, the Empress walked cautiously into the room only to see her son lying there with his body twisted on the bed with his head and face completely dyed in a suspicious earthy yellow color.  Her beloved son, the pearl in her eyes, who always loved to be neat and clean since young, now has a ridiculous and miserable look for the first time!

"This!……"  The Empress screamed.  "What happened?!"

The voice of Lord Guoshi sounded a little solemn.  "Servants!  Bring a basin of water to clean up the Sixth Prince."

Immediately, the palace servants flew to get water and towels to clean the face of the Sixth Prince who was lying motionless on the bed.  However, even after several basins of water and rare species of herbs were used, the pretty face of the Sixth Prince remained a glittering gold color.

All the imperial doctors were summoned but it was the first time they had seen anything like this.  If they were to write the wrong prescription for this, it would spell disaster for them.  Anyway, the Sixth Prince is not poisoned nor is he sick and Lord Guoshi is also present.  It would be better for them not to get involved and so all the imperial doctors expressed their inability to do anything about it.

The Empress then placed her last hope on Lord Guoshi.

But Lord Guoshi wrinkled his eyebrows with a frown on his face as he stared at His Highness, the Sixth Prince with an expression of……..sombreness.

"Lord Guoshi……"  The Empress was so scared that her legs became weak and the palace servants almost could not hold her up.  "What can be done?…….  Lord Guoshi ! !  Save my son! !"

The Sixth Prince lying on the bed moved his lips and seemed to be trying to give them an explanation but his acupoints were already tapped.   At this moment, he could only squeak out in a weak voice and the squeaky sounds he made were like daggers twisting in the heart of his Imperial Mother.

Lord Guoshi took out a box from his sleeve.  From the box, he extracted a pill and handed it to a palace servant with instructions that the pill was to be fed to His Highness, the Sixth Prince.

However, Murong Song's eyes were still good and when he saw the familiar box, his beautiful eyes widened!

The palace servant was the same servant who went to the Imperial Pharmacy to steal the medicine that day.  Holding the medicine in his hand with a bitter expression, he was in a dilemma……..to go ahead or to retreat……both choices were difficult for him……..

The look exchanged between master and servant was caught by Chen Yubai and he sneered in his heart.  On his face, he deliberately showed his displeasure and when the Empress saw his expression she became fearful.  She pointed at the palace servant and ordered him to be flogged to death.  Then she instructed her personal momo to serve the pill to the Sixth Prince immediately.

Naturally, the personal momo of the Empress was not any ordinary person.  Her skills were gentle and thoughtful yet at the same time very powerful which ensured the Sixth Prince smoothly swallowed the pill into his belly.

Lord Guoshi smiled faintly as he kept watch on the whole process.  When the Sixth Prince was released, he calmly stepped forward to check the Sixth Prince's pulse carefully.

His cold black eyes were lowered slightly and out of the corner of his eyes, he was observing the changes on the Sixth Prince's face.

At this time, the poor Sixth Prince felt the numbness in his body gradually receding and had recovered some strength but the pill had already settled in his belly!   His mind was full of images of miserable Old Nine* after eating the powerful laxative.  Vaguely, he could feel his stomach starting to hurt.

(Old Nine refers to the Ninth Prince.)

"Oh……quick……give me……the gong…….bucket*, ah.……"  He cuddled his stomach and shouted out weakly.

(Gong barrel is the bucket for human waste.)

A cold light flashed across Chen Yubai's eyes.

The Empress who was surrounded by palace servants was unable to hear clearly and she asked with worry.  "What should be done?  Is he poisoned with some strange poison?  Does Lord Guoshi have a way to solve it?"

Lord Guoshi lowered his eyes and let out a sigh.  "It's afraid, this time Emissary Qian Mi has to be troubled."

The blood of the Qian Mi ethnic minority in the world is one of the best medicines in the world.  The body of the Qian Mi Holy Lady is even more yin and it is rumored that her blood can even wake up a dragon from a deep slumber.

Empress Dowager Duan Mi was able to have sole control over the inner palace and was powerful enough to compete with the previous Emperor's sovereignty was in reality deeply related to her mysterious connection with the Qian Mi ethnic group.

When the Empress heard Lord Guoshi's advice, she immediately sent word to Empress Dowager Cixiao and the Emperor to request for Emissary Qian Mi's help.

Zhaoyang Palace erupted into chaos.

The glittering gold-colored Sixth Prince was lying on the bed cuddling his painful belly.  The Empress felt so anxious that she was about to faint.  A group of palace servants was gathered around the Sixth Prince and another group of palace servants surrounded the Empress while Lord Guoshi stood idly at the side.  He was watching the Sixth Prince with interest and noticed that his hands which were originally holding his painful belly while he was shouting had gradually moved downwards.

The expression on the Sixth Prince's face had turned weird and confused.

**8**8**8**8**

The character 'Song' in the name of the Sixth Prince, Murong Song is the name of one of the most prominent families of the Great Ye Dynasty.  His mother and grandmother were from the Song Family whose history was older and much n.o.bler than the Great Ye Dynasty.  The Emperor has many sons but the Sixth Prince is the most valuable and unrivaled prince among them.

Therefore, when the Sixth Prince became ill, Empress Dowager Duan Mi who is usually arrogant and aggressive did not dare to refuse and immediately sent Emissary Qian Mi over.

The beautiful woman with purple-colored hair wearing purple clothes stood in front of the Empress to perform a formal greeting before turning to Lord Guoshi to offer a bow.

The Empress's meticulously groomed appearance and makeup were already in a mess.  When she saw Emissary Qian Mi coming in, she hurriedly stood up and said to Chen Yubai.  "Lord Guoshi!  Emissary Qian Mi is already here!.  Please hurry and save the Sixth Prince!"

Just now, her poor son still had the strength to cry out in pain but now both his hands were clasped around his knees.  His whole body had curled up into a ball with his face buried and he trembled and struggled, rolling on the bed like a little beast that was trapped.  The servants near him were even kicked by him and were sent flying away.  It looked like he is in terrible pain!

Qin Sang gave the curled up Sixth Prince a look from afar and her delicate eyebrows subconsciously lifted.

But she immediately regretted this momentary distraction and felt ill at ease.  Sure enough, when she lifted her eyes again, she met a pair of cold deep black eyes.

Lord Guoshi was staring at her and his lips were slightly hooked into a cold smile.

Qin Sang had a bad feeling but it was already too late.

"Niang Niang……."  Chen Yubai was looking at her coldly as he spoke.  "Please leave so it is convenient for Emissary Qian Mi to treat the Sixth Prince."

The Empress naturally agreed and led everyone out of the room.  Chen Yubai was the last person to leave but before leaving he smiled at the beautiful woman whose face had changed color.  With a wave of his sleeve and the door closed behind him.

A continuous stream of sounds drifted from the bedchamber ~~The sounds of things being swept onto the floor…….the sounds of the Sixth Prince's rapid breathing……the low voice of Qian Mi's reprimand……two people's footsteps chasing around…….the m.u.f.fled sounds of being hit……the Sixth Prince's painful moans coupled with the sound of pleasure and subtle groans………and the sound of Emissary Qian Mi's flapping clothes as she flew.

Lord Guoshi stood steadily and calmly at the door with his arm crossed and his eyebrows were slightly raised.  His calm and relaxed appearance looked outstanding.

In the end, an 'Ah' sound came from the Sixth Prince as if he had obtained some kind of ultimate release and then came the sound of a heavy person falling on the ground.

The Empress who had anxiously waited for a long time finally, could not stand it any longer and ordered a servant to barge in.

The bedchamber was in a mess…….the table was overturned and the stools were scattered all over the place.  Things were smashed and scattered everywhere.  The bed curtains were pulled down and hanging half-way down to the floor.

The Sixth Prince had fallen on the cold gold-brick floor and was already unconscious.  His clothes were in a mess with the cloth band around his waist turned inside out and his face was flushed.

The beautiful Emissary Qian Mi of the Great Ye Kingdom was standing a good distance away from the Sixth Prince.  The beautiful face was gnashing her white teeth in misery.  The front of her purple dress was in a mess, her sleeves were partly torn off and her hands were raised with her fingers lightly touching her temples.

As soon as the door opened, she lifted her head and looked over.  Lord Guoshi was the last person to enter and she glared at with her razor-sharp eyes that could not wait to flick flying daggers at him to slash him into a thousand pieces!

With a very pleased expression, Lord Guoshi brushed his sleeves as he smiled at her.