Children of Loulan

Chapter 481 The Imperial Physician Disappears

Finally, a courtier stood up. He took a deep breath, bowed respectfully to Keremu, and asked cautiously, "Your Highness, there have been rumors in the palace recently that the king has been poisoned and is unconscious. Is this true?"

Keremu sat beside the dragon throne, looking at the courtier expressionlessly. His eyes were cold and sharp, making people shudder. After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, his voice was so cold that it seemed to penetrate people's bones: "Since you said it was just a rumor, why do you have to question me again?"

The courtier continued calmly, "But this rumor is so hurtful! The person who spread this rumor wanted to slander His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! As long as His Royal Highness can get the King to show up, then this rumor will naturally fall apart!"

When Keremu heard this, his face darkened and he shouted in a deep voice: "How dare you! Are you teaching me how to do things?" There was a hint of majesty and dissatisfaction in his voice.

The courtier was obviously frightened by Keremu's scolding, but he still said bravely: "Your Highness, please calm down. I have no such intention. But I think that since we all know that someone is deliberately slandering Your Highness, Your Highness should stand up and prove his innocence to set the record straight! Otherwise, won't this rumor spread more and more fiercely?"

Keremu sneered and retorted: "Humph, prove your innocence? Do I have to cooperate with anyone's investigation just because they make up something? Isn't this too absurd!"

The courtier wanted to argue a few more words, but was interrupted by Keremu's impatient wave of his hand: "Okay, no more words! Let's adjourn the court!" After that, he stood up and left the court without looking back.

For several days, the court debated the matter endlessly, but Keremudu, relying on his authority as the crown prince, suppressed the debate by force. He knew that as long as he delayed for a few more days until the imperial physician developed an antidote, all the problems would be solved.

However, what he never expected was that an accident happened again. The imperial physician who had been developing an antidote for the king suddenly disappeared overnight!

This news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking Keremu. He slammed the table and stood up, staring at Ziya with eyes wide open, and asked in a stern voice: "What do you mean missing?"

Ziya was frightened by Keremu's momentum and quickly replied respectfully: "Your Highness, at noon today, the imperial physician's medicine boy went to deliver food to him as usual, but found that there was no one in the room. Not only that, the medicine residue in the room was scattered all over the floor, and it looked like there had been a fierce struggle."

Keremu's brows knitted tightly together, and his expression became increasingly gloomy. "So, he was kidnapped?"

Ziya nodded and continued, "Not only that, the king's pulse record and the handwritten notes of the imperial physician recording the dosage of medicines were also taken away."

After listening to this, Keremu sneered, his voice full of disdain and ridicule: "Haha, it seems that the person behind this knows everything about my every move! He took away the imperial physician and the pulse record, just to accuse me of patricide and usurpation of the throne!"

You know, only a few of them knew that the king was poisoned. And the imperial physician who was responsible for developing the antidote for the king was Keremu's confidant. In the entire Imperial Hospital, only this imperial physician knew the whole story and had been secretly developing the antidote for the king.

But now, this crucial imperial physician was suddenly kidnapped and his whereabouts were unknown, which made Keremu's situation extremely difficult.

As expected, in the court the next morning, someone made the king's pulse case public, just as Keremu had expected, and confronted Keremu face to face. The man asked sharply, "Didn't Your Highness say that the king was in good health before? Then what's the matter with this pulse case? Could it be that someone deliberately framed and wrote it randomly?"

Facing his question, Keremu's face was as gloomy as water, without any ripples. His deep eyes stared at the other party closely, and a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He said slowly: "Where did you get this pulse case from?"

His voice was low and cold, as if it carried a hint of chill, which made people feel fearful. However, facing his pressure, the court officials showed no fear.

He straightened his body and responded in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Your Highness, please answer my question first. The king has been recuperating in the queen's palace since he was injured. How could he suddenly be poisoned? Your Highness, please give me and all the civil and military officials in the court an explanation!"

The courtiers' words were sonorous and powerful, causing a commotion in the court. Then, voices of "I second the motion," "I second the motion," and "I also second the motion" rose one after another, sweeping in like a torrent.

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the court became tense, and the court officials stood up one after another, echoing his words in indignation. For a moment, the voices in the court intertwined, forming a strong pressure that pressed directly against Keremu.

Seeing the courtiers below standing up to question one by one, Keremu's face became more and more ugly. His eyes widened and glared at everyone, and he shouted angrily: "Okay, okay, are you going to force the emperor to abdicate?"

"We dare not!" Another court official also hurriedly stood out from the crowd. He said respectfully, "I just want to ask Your Highness the Crown Prince to tell us the truth. What is the king's current condition? If he was poisoned as the rumors say, has the poisoner been caught? Is there an antidote for the poison? If the king is not poisoned, then I beg Your Highness to invite the king out so that we can rest assured!"

Facing the relentless pressure from the civil and military officials, Keremu was a little flustered. He was secretly thinking about how to deal with it while glancing at everyone out of the corner of his eye. At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from the door of the hall, interrupting Keremu's thoughts.

Keremu's heart tightened, and he quickly signaled the eunuch beside him to go out and check the situation. After receiving the order, the eunuch hurriedly ran to the door of the hall.

Not long after, the eunuch came back panting and reported to Keremu with a horrified face: "Your Highness, it's... it's the imperial physician who wrote this pulse case!"

Upon hearing this, Keremu's face suddenly changed, and he asked suspiciously, "Why is the imperial physician making a fuss outside the hall?"

The eunuch replied tremblingly: "Your Highness, he... he was injured, as if he was thrown at the gate of the hall..."

Keremu's eyes widened and he roared angrily: "What? You are injured and thrown at the door of the hall?" His voice was deafening, as if the whole hall was shaking.

However, before he could stop roaring, he heard the voice of a court official: "Since the imperial physician is outside the hall right now, why not invite him in to ask? Since he wrote this pulse case, let him come in and confront Your Highness face to face. If he really made up stories about Your Highness, Your Highness can order his entire clan to be exterminated!"