tallest building

Chapter 363 Black Scorpion

The screams coming from inside the box startled everyone present.

"What's going on? Quickly open the box!" Duke Feng was so shocked that he stood up in a cold sweat.

His son is very pampered, and on top of that, he is already ill. How can he not be anxious?
"Yes, yes." The troupe leader was also panicked at this moment. Even though he had planned to harm people beforehand, he was terrified at this point and opened the box with trembling hands.

Feng Tianzhu's face was very pale, deathly pale.

"Are you holding it in?" the Empress asked. "Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

"My son, where do you feel unwell?" At this moment, Duke Feng had already run onto the stage and taken his son out of the box.

"Dad, something bit my foot, and it hurts terribly," Feng Tianzhu said, his lips trembling.

"Where? Where were you bitten?" Lord Feng asked anxiously. "Quickly take off your shoes and socks!"

At this moment, Gong Chang'an and the others also ran onto the stage.

"A scorpion! There's a black scorpion in this box!" Xu Mang exclaimed. "It must have stung Brother Feng!"

"How could there be scorpions?!" Duke Feng's eyes turned red. "This is murder! This is murder!"

The troupe leader had already knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "I deserve to die! I deserve to die! I don't know when a scorpion crawled into this box."

He was the one who put the scorpion in there. It was an extremely venomous black scorpion from the northern desert. Even a strong laborer would have a hard time surviving if stung, let alone a child.

However, he had been warned beforehand, but he insisted that he was unaware of the situation, since the weather was cold in the mornings and evenings and insects would seek out warm places to hide.

At worst, we can use the person guarding the box as a scapegoat; that would be an exchange of lives.

"My son! My son!" Duke Feng cried out hoarsely. Feng Tianzhu, whom he held in his arms, had already fainted. His lips were black and his face was blue, clearly indicating that he had been poisoned.

By this time, the guards had already come up and kept an eye on the members of the acrobatic troupe, forbidding them from making any unnecessary movements.

The imperial physicians arrived quickly, and after trying to suck out the poison from his blood and administer medicine, Feng Tianzhu still didn't wake up.

Upon seeing this, Duke Feng also fainted from anxiety.

The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, which was supposed to be a perfect occasion, has been completely ruined.

"Su Qingyun, you must save the heir of Duke Feng!" The Empress was naturally anxious as well. Although the banquet in the inner palace was organized by Consort Jing and Wen Mingqian, it was ultimately his responsibility.

At this moment, Consort Jing was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground and could not stand up no matter what she said.

"How could this happen? How could this be? Isn't this an unexpected disaster?" Consort Jing was so anxious that she was covered in cold sweat.

How could she have imagined that it would actually lead to someone's death?

Grand Tutor Dong was practically grinding his teeth to powder. How could these idiots do such a thing?!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, we have tried our best to cure the poison in Prince Feng's body, but it seems that things are not going well." Su Qingyun stepped forward to report, "Fortunately, the Prince's pulse is not too weak yet. Please allow us to take Prince Feng back to the Imperial Hospital for careful treatment."

"You must do your utmost to cure Prince Feng, and I will reward you handsomely," the Emperor said.

"Your Majesty, I dare to be bold," Su Qingyun said through gritted teeth, "Although the palace has antidotes, their potency may not be enough. If Your Majesty could use the rhinoceros horn from Nanyue..." "Why not?" the Emperor said decisively, "What is more precious than human life?"

Rhinoceros horn is a good detoxifying agent, and the horn of a rhinoceros from the highest heaven is even rarer.

Everyone hurriedly carried Feng Tianzhu and his son to the Imperial Hospital. After this incident, the banquet naturally ended.

The members of the acrobatic troupe were all imprisoned, and the officials who had attended the banquet all left the palace.

Wen Mingqian and his mother followed him all the way to the Imperial Hospital, busying themselves with everything and not even having time to drink water.

After the powdered rhinoceros horn was administered, another quarter of an hour passed, and Feng Tianzhu's pulse calmed down slightly.

"The pulse is more stable than before." Su Qingyun also breathed a sigh of relief. "Now we're 20% more confident. We'll leave two people here, and the rest can go back and rest. Tonight is the real danger."

At this moment, Duke Feng also woke up. Hearing what the imperial physician said, his heart was still hanging in suspense, but he also had some hope.

"We can't have too many people here; it's not good for the patients," Dr. Wu said. "Let's have them take turns staying with the patients!"

After some discussion, it was decided that two people would stay with them while the rest went home.

"Mother, those people were after me." Gong Chang'an clenched her fists as she returned to Mingjing Palace. "It was my sworn brother who took the blame for me."

"Could it be because you two changed your clothes?" Wen Mingqian had also noticed something amiss before, but there were too many people around to ask.

“Yes,” Gong Chang’an nodded. “When we were playing together, Brother Feng said my clothes looked nice. I didn’t think much of it and figured if he liked them, I would just give them to him. Anyway, we often swap clothes when we’re together.”

“That’s right. Those acrobats don’t recognize you. When outsiders point you out, they just tell you what kind of clothes you’re wearing,” Wen Mingqian said. “It must be because you hadn’t changed when they told you before. After you changed, the troupe leader only recognized the clothes, not the people.”

"Who could it be?" Gong Chang'an asked bitterly. "If Brother Feng really suffers any mishap this time, I..."

Feng Tianzhu was a hard-won child; he was the only heir of the Feng family.

If something happens to him, not only will he lose his life, but the Feng family's title will also be revoked.

"No need to say more, it must be Grand Tutor Dong." Wen Mingqian said with absolute certainty, "There can be no one else but him."

"It's true what they say, 'Old man who doesn't die is a thief!'" Gong Chang'an cursed. "That old scoundrel is truly despicable!"

“He didn’t succeed today, but there will definitely be more to come. He will not let this go easily,” Wen Mingqian said. “We must be careful.”

"His Majesty must know," Gong Chang'an said. "This old scoundrel is ruthless; we'd better finish this quickly."

As dusk fell, Wen Mingqian and Gong Chang'an brought food to the Imperial Hospital to visit the Feng family father and son.

Feng Tianzhu remained unconscious. Duke Feng seemed to have aged ten years in an instant; his already gray hair had turned almost completely white in just half a day.

He neither ate nor drank, but stayed by his son's side, holding his son's hand, just gazing at him intently.

"My lord, please eat something." Gong Chang'an stepped forward. "Young master will be fine. Don't overwork yourself."

“Chang’an,” Lord Feng turned his face and said in a hoarse voice, “come and talk to Tianzhu. You two are best friends, and he loves playing with you the most. He will wake up when he hears your voice.”

Wen Mingqian and his mother were heartbroken upon hearing this, and at that moment, they had a thousand words to say but could not find the words to comfort them.