Su Xiaoqi tidied her belongings and had just stood up when she heard a wail.
Then came a flurry of footsteps.
She paused and looked towards the two-story building where Chu Yunlang resided. Soon, a sharp shout rang out:
"Guards! Seize that fake doctor downstairs!"
Su Xiaoqi's heart tightened. It was a man's voice, speaking in Da Liang's official dialect, but with a strong, rough Northern Chu accent that grated on the ears like walking on sand.
Following the sound, she saw the man shouting wore the fur robes favored by the Northern Chu people. He had a saber at his waist and a fox fur hat that covered half his face, revealing a full beard. He was in the action of raising his hand to summon his men when his eyes met Su Xiaoqi's.
"Chu Lege, what are you doing?" Chu Yunwei stepped forward, reprimanding him sternly.
Chu Lege lifted his head, revealing a pair of narrow, sharp eyes. He cupped his hands towards Chu Yunwei and said, "Eldest Young Master, this woman is a spy sent by Da Liang to harm Second Young Master. Second Young Master was merely suffering from acclimatization. He was lying in bed, and perhaps in a few days, he would have recovered on his own. But after her treatment, his condition has worsened. He just vomited blood, and it was black and viscous, indicating poison."
Su Xiaoqi's heart tightened, and she looked at Chu Lege in disbelief. Poison in her medicine? Impossible.
She didn't have time to speak and turned to rush towards Chu Yunlang's room. However, the situation was different from when she first arrived. The surroundings were filled with tall, burly Northern Chu guards in fur robes, armed with sabers. As soon as she moved, they drew their sabers and blocked her path securely.
"Bold slut! How dare you try to harm our Northern Chu's Second Young Master! Guards, seize her!"
"Chu Lege, you wouldn't dare." Chu Yunwei stepped forward. He had been captivated by Su Xiaoqi's increasingly refined appearance when he first saw her and had remained silent, but he had been closely observing her every move. He could tell that she genuinely cared for Chu Yunlang. Moreover, knowing her character, he absolutely did not believe she would poison Chu Yunlang. Thus, he firmly stood in front of Su Xiaoqi, clearly intending to protect her.
"Eldest Young Master, step aside. This is the culprit who tried to harm Second Young Master. If you associate with her, are you not afraid of facing the wrath of our Great Chu Emperor upon your return? Are you not afraid of my Ironclad Guards?"
Chu Yunwei's voice faltered slightly. "Chu Lege, speak properly. Madam Shen is not only a physician but also an official's wife from Da Liang. I can guarantee that she would never do such a thing."
Chu Lege let out a cold snort, showing no respect to Chu Yunwei. He raised his voice, "Hmph, you guarantee? You, a hostage abroad, what guarantee can you offer?"
With that, Chu Lege ordered his men to seize Su Xiaoqi again. This time, no one intervened. The Northern Chu Ironclad Guards, with imposing might, advanced towards Su Xiaoqi. However, they didn't even touch a thread of her robe. The one leading the charge was stopped by Zhang Yu and Yu Changfeng, who were standing behind Su Xiaoqi. Having witnessed the dispute between Chu Yunwei and Chu Lege, he angrily declared, "Stop right there! Is this how your Northern Chu treats guests? Our sister saved your master, and instead of thanking her, you want to arrest her. Do you really think Da Liang people are easy to bully?"
Though his temperament was lively, he was not an impulsive person. Despite being provoked by Chu Lege, he still had a sense of proportion. He knew that in such a situation, as a Da Liang person, he could not cause conflict with the Northern Chu guests visiting Da Liang. Nevertheless, he could not allow them to arrest Su Xiaoqi. Therefore, he stepped forward to block Su Xiaoqi, his gaze firm, refusing to retreat.
Su Xiaoqi stood still throughout the entire ordeal, coldly observing everyone around her, especially Chu Lege, who had not appeared before but had inexplicably shown up now. She couldn't help but suspect that this was a conspiracy targeting her, or the Duke of Yu's manor, or even Da Liang itself. Although their status was not high, they were Da Liang people, and that was beyond doubt. Therefore, if the Northern Chu people truly intended to cause trouble, redirecting the conflict to national disputes was also plausible.
Su Xiaoqi felt a wave of depression. She thought it was truly unfair that even when she came out to save someone, she was being plotted against. Of course, now was not the time for self-pity. She suppressed her many speculations and her thoughts churned. She looked at Chu Lege, slowly walked forward, suddenly sniffed the air, and a realization dawned on her. She spoke coldly, "You say I poisoned Young Master Chu. Do you have any evidence?"
Chu Lege chuckled sinisterly. "Evidence? How amusing! My cousin, Chu Yunlang, was fine lying there. After taking your medicine, he vomited blood. Who else could have harmed him if not you?"
Su Xiaoqi was not at all flustered and said leisurely, "I have no recent or past grievances with him. Why would I harm him?"
"Hmph, because your Da Liang has ill intentions. You've already taken our Eldest Prince as a hostage and are still not satisfied. You must be intending to seize our Second Young Master at this opportunity, thereby cutting off our country's line of succession. I will report this matter in writing to our Emperor, urging him to strengthen border defenses." Chu Lege's words became increasingly grave.
Alright, it was confirmed that they intended to blame them for this. Su Xiaoqi no longer held back. "May I see your Second Young Master? If I truly caused him to vomit blood, then I will admit to the crime!" Su Xiaoqi wisely did not offer the alternative answer. At present, they were the ones in control, and the others were at their mercy, with no room for maneuver.
As expected, Chu Lege refused. He had searched all over Great Chu to find this kind of medicine, which had similar effects to acclimatization sickness. He had originally intended for Chu Yunlang to be tortured to death silently, to die on Da Liang's territory from acclimatization, with no involvement from his retinue. But he never expected such a capable divine physician to arrive. After less than half an hour, she had saved someone who was clearly on the verge of death. When he heard what Miao Yun and Miao Jing conveyed, he was beside himself. Fortunately, he had a capable person by his side, who immediately offered an excellent solution. The person who gave him the idea devised this plan to kill two birds with one stone. Initially, he didn't think much of it, but now it seemed extremely effective. With such a favorable situation, how could he possibly give this female physician another opportunity to investigate Chu Yunlang's room? Furthermore, that person had also instructed him to quickly conclude the matter. Only then could the truth of the situation be successfully concealed. Otherwise, a powerful figure would inevitably intervene, and all his stratagems would appear as child's play in that person's eyes. He completely disregarded reason and roared, ordering his subordinates to tie up all the Da Liang people present and take them to the Da Liang government office, so they could see for themselves how the Da Liang people were harming their Great Chu people.
Su Xiaoqi could see that there was a conspiracy and a scheme behind this. The ultimate goal was to kill Chu Yunlang and then frame them for it. How could she let them succeed! Su Xiaoqi approached him, saying, "You dare not let us see, but do you dare to summon an imperial physician? You don't dare either. Because it is you who poisoned your Second Prince, to frame us."
As soon as she said this, the surrounding Northern Chu people looked at Chu Lege. It seemed they were not entirely a monolithic group. At least many among these so-called Ironclad Guards did not completely obey Chu Lege. Upon hearing Su Xiaoqi's words, many of their expressions changed.
"That's right, Chu Lege. You are my father's nephew. I suspect you want to harm both me and my royal brother, so you can usurp the throne." Chu Yunwei, after a long silence, followed Su Xiaoqi's lead and spoke again. While everyone might hesitate to believe an outsider like Su Xiaoqi, Chu Yunwei was, after all, a prince of Northern Chu, and his words carried significant weight.