jdhmnovel Chapter 533 Li Chu is poisoned
Chapter 533 Li Chu is poisoned
In Chang'an City, two days ago, Dugu Jingyao received a letter from Li Chu, which said that their mission had been completed, and they had also arrested a corrupt official who was on his way back, so Dugu Jingyao could rest assured.
After reading the letter, Dugu Jingyao finally felt relieved. At least she could leave Jinling City safely. She didn't know if Dugu Xin's support was useful, and she didn't know if Li Chu and the others were injured.
However, there is no point in thinking too much about what happened before. Now I just hope they can return to Chang'an safely.
Thinking of this, Dugu Jingyao called Shi Jian in and asked, "Is there any news from the Nanyang County Prince's Mansion?"
Shi Jian replied, "Tinglan hasn't replied yet. The Prince of Nanyang probably hasn't set out for Chang'an yet."
Dugu Jingyao smiled with relief, thinking, "It seems I wasn't wrong about her. This Tinglan is a smart person. But she just couldn't understand why she, who is obviously quite smart, fell for someone else's trick in the first place."
Thinking of this, Dugu Jingyao nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. Keep watching and tell me when you have any news." Shi Jian agreed.
Dugu Jingyao added, "By the way, Shijian, you should also send someone to keep an eye on Gu Shiyi's movements. Who knows if they'll find out the prince has returned safely and try to stop him? If anything happens, we'll send the Dugu family army to support them."
Upon hearing this, Shi Jian was somewhat worried about Li Chu and the others, especially Li Xi and Gu Shiyi, who both viewed the Chu Palace as a thorn in their side. Of course, she was most worried about Feng Shengyi, who had promised her that he would propose marriage upon his safe return from this trip. Although she hadn't verbally agreed at the time, she was still looking forward to that day.
Therefore, Shi Jian was very concerned about this matter. Even when Dugu Jingyao was taking a nap or did not need her very much, she would go to monitor the movements of the Prince of Nanyang's Mansion in person.
Soon, three days passed, and Li Chu's journey was relatively smooth. Except for Magistrate Du and Mrs. Du who tried to escape several times, everyone else was thinking about making amends.
Fortunately, they were all discovered by Li Chu, Guo Ziyi and several independent soldiers, so Li Chu was also poisoned.
Because it was Li Chu who discovered it the first time, and when they left Jinling before, they were in a hurry to get on with their journey and did not search Prefect Du, Madam Du and others.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Du had a trick up her sleeve to escape, carrying poison with her. Fortunately, Dugu Jingyao seemed to have foresight and prepared a medicine that could cure all poisons for them.
Li Chu blew the whistle immediately after being poisoned, and then fell into a coma. Feng Shengyi and others soon arrived. Dugu's army arrested Du Zhifu and Madam Du. Feng Shengyi brought poison test and antidote medicine with him. After giving it to Li Chu, Li Chu did not wake up immediately.
Guo Ziyi and the others were extremely worried, so they searched for the nearest city and found the best local clinic to see a doctor. Fortunately, the toxin had entered the body soon after it was taken, and the antidote had not harmed the internal organs. With the regular use of the decoction, the toxin would be expelled within five days.
But there were too many of them. If they entered the small town, they would probably alert the enemy. Moreover, there were so many people in the town that if Magistrate Du and Madam Du tried to escape, they would probably not be so easy to catch. So, they chose to camp in the suburbs.
Since there were still some toxins in Li Chu's body that had not been cleared, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and others discussed and decided that they would take seventy soldiers of the Dugu family to escort the prisoner back to Chang'an first to avoid any further trouble. Li Chu would be left behind to be taken care of by Feng Shengyi and the remaining soldiers of the Dugu family.
Since this was the decision, the next morning, after adding some "ingredients" to the meal of Prefect Du and Mrs. Du, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and others continued their journey back.
Because the toxins had not yet been completely eliminated, Li Chu was less lucid and occasionally vomited blood while detoxifying. To facilitate observation, Feng Shengyi brought four soldiers from the Dugu family army into the city to stay at the same inn. Feng Shengyi also gave the remaining soldiers from the Dugu family army silver and told them to make their own arrangements at a nearby inn, communicating via code.
Finally, as the doctor said, after drinking the medicine in the evening of the fourth day, he vomited some blood again. In the morning of the fifth day, Li Chu was the same as usual, and Feng Shengyi finally felt relieved.
When Li Chu learned that Guo Ziyi and his men had already returned to Chang'an, he felt that they had done the right thing. After all, the night is long and dreams are many, and who knows what tricks Prefect Du and Madam Du will play next.
Not long after, Feng Shengyi asked the doctor to come back for another checkup. After taking the patient's pulse, the doctor stroked his beard, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile, "Haha, this young man has recovered. This is something I didn't expect. After all, this poison is very fierce. It is basically impossible to recover without an antidote."
Li Chu asked in confusion, "Do you know what kind of poison this is?"
The doctor said, "This is a poison from Fanyang. It's as famous as the Yunnan poison, but it spreads faster than the Yunnan poison."
When Li Chu found out the source, he asked Feng Shengyi to pay the doctor the consultation fee and sent the doctor away.
Li Chu was alone in his room, thinking. He always felt that Mrs. Du was strange, different from the Du Zhifu. After being arrested, the Du Zhifu was still a little scared and even begged for mercy. But Mrs. Du was very confident, as if she knew this would happen. Or maybe her purpose was to kill Li Chu and others...
Li Chu thought back to what the doctor had just said. The poison came from Fan Yang. He remembered that it was once An Lushan's territory. Could it be that this Mrs. Du was a member of the An family?
However, the An family had been executed for treason, and even their children were not spared. Moreover, Mrs. Du had been married to Prefect Du for ten years. Ten years ago, An Lushan's eldest child was only seven or eight years old. Could she be a branch of the An family?
No, this matter must be thoroughly investigated, otherwise it will always be a disaster. He felt uneasy. However, it would take them another seven or eight days to return to Chang'an. Finally, Li Chu decided to send a pigeon to Dugu Jingyao, asking her to investigate in Chang'an first.
Li Chu asked the waiter for a pen and paper and wrote, "The corruption case may be related to the An family. Please ask A Yao to send someone to investigate immediately." When Feng Shengyi returned, Li Chu asked Feng Shengyi to send a pigeon to the Yunnan Palace immediately.
After breakfast, Li Chu said, "Now that the king is well, let's get ready to set off."
Feng Shengyi said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will inform the rest of the Dugu family army to gather outside the city in half an hour."
Li Chu nodded, and Feng Shengyi left the room to inform the remaining Dugu family soldiers.
Half an hour later, everyone met as agreed, ten miles outside the city, at the spot where they had camped a few days ago. After confirming everything was alright, Li Chu said, "Now that the king has recovered, I'll trouble you all to follow me and speed forward. Do you have any objections?"
A soldier from the Dugu family stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we have been resting here for a few days and are now well rested. We are willing to accompany Your Highness to speed up and catch up with Lord Guo and Lord Li." Upon hearing this, the other soldiers from the Dugu family also agreed.
Li Chu bowed and thanked the soldiers of Dugu's army, who said they were unworthy of the honor. Li Chu then arranged for Feng Shengyi to provide horses for several soldiers who had no horses. Once everything was ready, they rode their horses and continued on their journey back to Chang'an.