His Rui

Chapter 568 The Rotten Plants

Xi Ying could see that once the General would come to know who had poisoned Yi Jie, he would not hesitate to kill that person.

With a cold and emotionless face, the middle-aged General took out his wife from the carriage and then followed Xi Ying Li Rui to the Plum Courtyard.

All this while, he never looked at Yi Jie and Li Rui’s eyes never moved away from her mother. Her forehead had a small frown and her eyes were deathly cold as she said to her father

”The poison must be inside Mother’s body for a long time to make her look like this.”

The words made General Li look down at his wife who was in his arms unconsciously and his face was morphed into shock. 

Yi Jie’s face was deathly pale. However, her lips that had been slightly blue before were no longer blue.

Li Rui who sensed his father’s shock looked in the front with a cold face and said

”It happens when one is fed ‘Suriyan’. The poison makes one’s body hollow from the inside. When it is about to approach its most deadly phase, it shows its sign but just for a few moments. Mother’s lips looked slightly blue a few moments ago as Father said…”

Li Rui looked at her father for affirmation. It was obvious that she heard everything inside the carriage when Xi Ying and her father were talking.

”If Mother had been asleep, then we would not have even gotten to know that she had been poisoned …not even after the poison would have already done its work.”

General Li inhaled sharply when he heard this. He suddenly felt a little happy that Yi Jie didn’t sleep when he had been forcing her to do so.

”We need to hurry. The poison will soon start to take the most deadly form inside Mother’s body.”

The three of them quickened their pace and Xi Ying who had been silent until now, finally asked Li Rui.

”Rui, how long do you think the poison had been inside Second Madam Li’s body?” 

  Hearing this question, Li Rui looked at her mother’s face again and said a few moments later.

”Almost a nine to ten shichens perhaps…”

”Then it should be around after yesterday’s morning.”

Li Rui nodded her head and both of them looked at each other as they said

”This means the poison was from the Imperial Palace.”

And General Li’s eyes only had more rage after hearing this. He will dig out this person who wanted to kill his beloved woman… regardless of whoever it was.

.

.

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General Li’s eyes were slightly red from the corner as he laid Yi Jie down on the bed.

Li Rui couldn’t help but remember the last time she had seen her father like this. It was perhaps when her mother had a normal fever a few years ago. It was a normal fever but her father had taken the whole manor on his head and had disallowed everyone to step inside his and her mother’s courtyard. He didn’t want anyone to disturb her mother’s rest so that she could recover properly.

She perhaps couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling inside his heart now.

Seeing the tight hold of his father on her mother’s hand, Li Rui looked away and said as she walked towards the table that had a different kinds of herbs and books.

”Father needs to go out.”

”Why?”

General Li asked immediately.

The next moment, however, he understood. His presence might affect or disturb Li Rui when she will treat his wife, but he still couldn’t help but ask his daughter

”Rui, can’t Father stay here?”

Li Rui sighed as she turned around and looked at her father. She shook her head lightly and said softly

”No!”

She just knew that if her father stayed here, then she won’t be able to perform the acupuncture. General Li had never seen his daughter performing acupuncture. It was not that Li Rui thinks that his father doubted her ability but she just knew that her father would not be able to see as she would prick her mother with needles and then cut her finger’s flesh to let the poison-filled blood out from her body.

Even she was not sure whether she would be able to do it.

Before this, whenever she had performed acupuncture, the person lying in front of her was not related to her by blood. Even last night, she had prepared her mind for a few moments before she had performed acupuncture on Yi Huiqing whom she treated like her Elder Sister.   

Then the woman lying in front of her was her mother now.

But to let the poison out from her mother’s body as soon as possible, Li Rui knew that she would have to use acupuncture.

Li Rui sighed softly when she saw that her father was still standing there. She could only look towards Xi Ying and XI Ying nodded his head immediately.

He walked towards General Li.

Xi Ying had thought that he would feel a little awkward as he had never talked to General Li except for some bickering or Empire matters. Even when he was thinking of how he talked to the general a few moments ago, he felt a little awkward.

But seeing the worry, fear, and panic on General Li’s face, everything came out of his mouth naturally.

”General Li, you are only delaying Rui. She needs to start the treatment as soon as possible.”

Saying this, Xi Ying used force as he freed Yi Jie’s hands from General Li’s hands and then took General Li out of the room.

On their way out of the room, Li Rui also asked Xi Ying to send Li Hua, Liu Lan, and the old physician inside the room.

So as soon as Xi Ying and General Li exited the room, the three more persons entered the room one by one. Li Hua was shocked when she saw Yi Jie on the bed and asked her mistress what happened.

However, Li Rui told her that they didn’t have any time for all this, and Li Hua who understood immediately nodded her head and asked her mistress what she needed to do.

Li Rui asked Li Hua and Liu Lan to remove the clothes from her mother’s body and then with the old physician, she went to the garden in the back of her courtyard. 

The old physician held the lamp as he saw her probing one herb and then another. When Li Rui finally seemed to have found one, she sighed in relief. However, her eyes sank when she noticed that the plant was already rotten.

The part of the plant she needed to make the medicinal paste so that it could fight against the poison inside her mother’s body was already rotten. She carefully looked at other roots but soon she came to know that all of the roots were already spoiled. And there was only one pot of this plant in her courtyard.

Now, what will she do?