Chapter 86: Flesh Torn and Blood Spilled
Lie Chang'an's injuries were extremely severe. The Crown Prince rushed him back to the Eastern Palace that very night, arranging for him to be treated by the imperial physicians in a side hall.
The Emperor and Empress, upon hearing the news, could not wait and came immediately. The Empress Dowager, advanced in years and having been tense for quite some time, was so overjoyed at the news that she wept tears of relief. Now, at last, she could rest peacefully, unable to resist her fatigue.
“How is it? Chu’er, how is General Chang'an?”
The Empress followed the Emperor into the side hall, hastily asking the Crown Prince.
“Mother, please be calm. The imperial physicians are still inside tending to him.”
“I will go see for myself.”
The Emperor could not wait another moment and strode into the inner chamber.
“Your Majesty.”
The imperial physician, seeing the Emperor arrive, hurriedly knelt to pay his respects.
The Emperor waved his hand and asked urgently, “How is General Chang'an’s condition?”
The physician glanced at Lie Chang'an, who lay unconscious and gravely wounded on the bed, his expression grave as he replied, “That General Chang'an managed to return alive is thanks only to sheer willpower. He already suffered from serious old injuries. This journey to Mount Wangya to gather the antidote must have cost him dearly—his body is covered in knife wounds, large and small. Because they were left untreated for so long, they have become inflamed and festering. I have cleaned and dressed his wounds, but the long journey has exhausted him, and his injuries are too severe. He has developed a high fever and is barely conscious... Whether he survives or not is now up to fate.”
“No! That is unacceptable!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the Empress's eyes widened. She immediately commanded, “You must save him! The Princess still needs his blood as the key ingredient for her medicine. How can he die now? If you cannot save him, you need not live either!”
The imperial physician was startled, trembling as he knelt and knocked his head to the ground. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will do everything in my power.”
The Emperor's expression grew heavy. Seeing his cherished subject so gravely wounded and barely clinging to life, he felt deeply uneasy.
With a sigh, the Emperor said mournfully, “How did he come to be like this?”
The Crown Prince, standing nearby, quickly answered, “Before setting out for Mount Wangya, General Chang'an went to the barracks and personally received one hundred strokes of the cane.”
“What?” The Emperor was stunned. “One hundred strokes?”
That could kill a man!
“What did he do? Why would he submit to such punishment?”
The Crown Prince replied, “He believed that the Princess's misfortune was entirely due to his neglect of duty and failure to protect her.”
“He...” The Emperor was so angered that he could only sigh helplessly after a moment. “We have always known his nature—stubborn, deeply sentimental, and unwavering in his convictions.”
“It is those one hundred strokes that have left him so gravely injured now.”
The imperial physician echoed his sigh. “A hundred strokes are enough to kill, yet he still traveled the long road to remote Mount Wangya, scaling cliffs to harvest the 'Blood Blossom,' each cut drawing blood…”
The Emperor frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
The physician bowed and explained, “Your Majesty, do you not recall? The ‘Blood Blossom’ blooms only when fed with blood, as its name suggests.”
He stepped to the bedside and rolled up Lie Chang'an's sleeve. “Please look, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor leaned in and saw that the emaciated arm was covered with countless thin, long knife wounds, clearly inflicted by a blade. Each cut was deep, every inch of skin split open, the sight so harrowing it tugged at the heart.
The Crown Prince, though he knew the truth would be brutal, found himself breathless upon witnessing it firsthand.
The Empress too turned pale.