Killer Queen: Tyrant, prepare to die!

pain.

It felt like an invisible hand was gripping my internal organs, kneading them roughly, and then tearing them apart little by little.

When Shen Qingci regained consciousness amidst excruciating pain, she found herself curled up on the cold ground.

There was a metallic taste on her lips—she had bitten them until they bled.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you're awake?!"

Jinshu's eyes were swollen like peaches from crying, and she was hurriedly wiping her sweat with a damp cloth.

The cloth was torn from tattered clothes, and the water was cold, but Jinshu's hands were trembling violently.

"You scared me to death... I couldn't wake you up no matter how much I called you, and your body was burning hot..."

Jinshu's voice choked with sobs.

"This servant wants to go and call for help, but... but who would care in this cold palace..."

Shen Qingci opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but her throat felt like it was blocked with sand.

Just then.

"Squeak—"

The old wooden door was gently pushed open from the outside.

There were no footsteps.

But when Jinshu suddenly looked up and saw the hunched figure at the door, she was so startled that she dropped the wet cloth in her hand.

"Eunuch Li..."

Li Dequan was still wearing that faded eunuch's robe, his back hunched like a small mountain.

He walked in slowly, carrying a chipped, rough porcelain bowl instead of a broom.

The bowl contained half a bowl of water.

He walked to Shen Qingci's side and squatted down—

This movement should have been difficult for an elderly man who looked to be in his seventies or eighties, but he performed it with remarkable ease.

"Your Majesty," Eunuch Li's voice was hoarse, like a broken bellows, "have some water."

Jinshu wanted to stop her, but she didn't dare.

Shen Qingci looked up at the wrinkled face in front of her.

There was a strange clarity in his cloudy eyes at this moment.

She didn't take the bowl; she just looked at him.

Eunuch Li didn't urge him; he just held the bowl and waited quietly.

The room was deathly silent.

Only Shen Qingci's suppressed breathing and Jinshu's tense gasps could be heard.

After a long while, Shen Qingci finally reached out and took the bowl.

My hands were still shaking, and a few drops of water spilled from the bowl.

She tilted her head back and poured half a bowl of cold water down her throat.

The cool water slid down my throat, slightly relieving the burning sensation.

But it was only "slightly".

"Thank you." Shen Qingci handed the bowl back, her voice hoarse.

Eunuch Li took the bowl, but instead of getting up, he took out a rough little paper packet from his pocket.

The paper package was opened, revealing a brown pill, about the size of a fingernail, that emitted a bitter smell.

"This," he handed the pill to Shen Qingci, "can temporarily suppress the poison. For twelve hours."

Shen Qingci did not answer.

"Conditions?" she asked.

A faint hint of approval seemed to flash in Eunuch Li's cloudy eyes.

"Your Majesty is a wise woman." His voice remained calm.

"This old servant only asks one question: Does Your Majesty wish to live?"

Shen Qingci smiled.

He laughed so hard he coughed, and then tears welled up in his eyes.

"My father-in-law thinks," she gasped, her eyes sharp as knives, "that if I didn't want to live, would I have endured this long?"

Eunuch Li looked at her.

Looking at this deposed empress who was so thin she looked unrecognizable, with a pale and ashen face, and who could barely sit up, I was struck by her beauty.

Looking into her eyes, I saw the burning hatred and... the light of survival.

"Alright." Eunuch Li nodded and placed the pill beside her. "Then Your Highness, please prove it to this old servant."

"How can you prove it?"

"Within three days,"

Eunuch Li slowly stood up, his hunched back stretching long in the dim light.

"We obtained three medicinal herbs from the Imperial Pharmacy."

He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his sleeve and placed it next to the pills.

The paper listed the names of three medicinal herbs: Blood-Dried Vine, Jade Marrow Fungus, and Nine-Death Resurrection Grass.

Shen Qingci glanced at it.

They are all rare items.

Especially the Nine Deaths Resurrection Grass, which is said to grow only on the summit of the far northern snow mountain, and the imperial palace's medicine storehouse has no more than three ounces of it.

"These three ingredients are the foundation for understanding 'the death of youthful beauty'."

Eunuch Li's voice echoed in the empty room.

"Without them, even if Hua Tuo were alive today, he wouldn't be able to concoct an antidote."

"If Your Majesty can retrieve it, this old servant will believe that Your Majesty truly has the ability to survive."

"At that time, this old servant will... do everything in my power to help."

After saying that, he didn't linger, turned around, and walked out of the house step by step.

The hunched figure disappeared outside the door, so quiet that even the sound of his footsteps was inaudible.

It was as if he had never been here.

Only Shen Qingci and Jinshu remained in the room.

Jinshu rushed to Shen Qingci's side and grabbed the pill.

Looking at that piece of paper again, tears welled up in my eyes again:

"Your Majesty, how...how is this possible..."

The Imperial Pharmacy is heavily guarded. You're still sick, how can you steal medicine?

Moreover, I've never even heard of these three herbs before..."

Shen Qingci remained silent.

She picked up the pill, held it to her nose, and smelled it.

The ingredients are very complex, but with her medical expertise,

I can identify several of them: some are analgesics and sedatives, some protect the heart, and others are... potent drugs that temporarily stimulate potential.

This pill can suppress the poison for twelve hours, but the price is that the body will be weaker after the effects wear off.

It's like drinking poison to quench thirst.

But she had no choice.

She tilted her head back and swallowed the pill.

The bitter taste melted in my mouth.

Immediately, a warm current rose from my stomach and quickly spread to my limbs and bones.

The excruciating pain receded like a tide, and although my body was still weak, at least... I could move.

"Jinshu." Shen Qingci propped herself up on the ground and slowly sat up. "You just said you have acquaintances at the Imperial Pharmacy?"

Jinshu was taken aback, then remembered something, and her eyes lit up:

"Yes, it's Physician Chen!"

Physician Chen had previously received favors from the master.

He was a very skilled doctor, but he was too straightforward and refused to curry favor with the Liu family.

Therefore, he was ostracized in the Imperial Medical Academy and was often assigned to organize the medicine storeroom...

Physician Chen.

A blurry figure flashed through Shen Qingci's memory—

He was around forty years old, with a thin face and a perpetually furrowed brow, but he was never perfunctory when treating the palace servants.

Is he reliable?

"It should be reliable..."

Jinshu wasn't quite sure.

"The master said that Physician Chen is a rare honest person."

Moreover, his mother was seriously ill before, and it was the master who secretly hired a famous doctor to save her…”

Shen Qingci closed her eyes.

My mind started calculating rapidly.

The Imperial Pharmacy was located in the backyard of the Imperial Hospital, not very close to the Cold Palace; one had to walk through most of the inner palace to reach it.

Although the nighttime guard was not as strict as in the previous dynasty, the frequency of patrols was not low.

With her current physical strength, even with the pills, it would be difficult for her to make a round trip without alerting anyone, and to steal the medicine.

unless……

"Jinshu," Shen Qingci opened her eyes, her gaze terrifyingly calm, "go to the Imperial Hospital."

Jinshu was startled: "How can I, how can I go?"

People in the Cold Palace are not allowed to move around freely...

"Just say it," Shen Qingci interrupted her, "I have suddenly fallen ill and am coughing up blood. I need the imperial physician to save my life."

Jinshu's face paled: "But...but what if the imperial physician really comes and finds out that Your Majesty..."

"No one will come," Shen Qingci sneered. "A deposed empress, dead is dead. Who cares?"

Jinshu was stunned for a moment, then she understood.

The Empress wanted her to use the pretext of seeking medical treatment to scout out the Imperial Hospital and, incidentally... make contact with Physician Chen.

"When you see Physician Chen, you don't need to say much, just ask him one question."

Shen Qingci stared at Jinshu, speaking slowly and deliberately, "You just say:

"The daughter of the Shen family asked, 'Do you still remember the kindness we showed you in the past?'"

Jinshu nodded vigorously: "This servant understands!"

"Then," Shen Qingci continued.

"Observe the location of the Imperial Pharmacy, the guard shift change time, and... the approximate area where rare medicinal herbs are stored."

"Your Majesty, are you going in person?"

Jinshu panicked.

"You're still not fully recovered, and there are definitely eunuchs on night duty at the Imperial Pharmacy..."

"So we need you to scout ahead."

Shen Qingci pressed her lower abdomen, which was still aching slightly.

"Eunuch Li only gave us three days. We don't have time to plan carefully."

Jinshu bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes again.

But this time she didn't cry; instead, she wiped her eyes hard.

"This servant...this servant will go right away!"

"Wait," Shen Qingci called out to her.

"Be careful. If someone gives you trouble, don't try to tough it out; safety first."

Jinshu nodded emphatically, then turned and ran out.

The room fell silent again.

Shen Qingci leaned against the wall and slowly stood up.

The pills continued to work, and she could feel her strength gradually returning, but she also clearly sensed that this recovery was at the cost of exhaustion.

She walked to the window and pushed open the dilapidated window.

Night had fallen, and the area outside the Cold Palace was pitch black.

Only the torches of the guards patrolling the palace walls in the distance flickered in the darkness like will-o'-the-wisps.

Three days.

He stole three rare medicinal herbs from the Imperial Pharmacy.

This is an almost impossible task.

but--

Shen Qingci looked down at her pale, thin hands.

Then, slowly clench your fist.

"Ling Ye," she whispered to the void, "you are the 'Night Phoenix' who crawled out of a hail of bullets."

"Can't we even handle an ancient imperial pharmacy?"

In the darkness, a cold smile curved her lips.

At that moment, a faint warmth suddenly came from my lower abdomen.

It's like that tenacious little life is responding silently:

Mother, I'll help you.

Together...

Let's tear a hole in this damn sky!

The room fell silent again.

Shen Qingci leaned against the wall, feeling the toxins in her body that were temporarily suppressed by the pills.

The medicine was very effective, but she knew it was only temporary.

Eunuch Li was right; without those three basic medicinal herbs, she wouldn't have survived a month.

As for the fetus... although it had desperately absorbed the toxins to save her, this action was undoubtedly depleting its own life force.

If this happens several more times, the baby is very likely to die in utero.

She lowered her head and gently placed her hand on her lower abdomen.

The area is still flat, but if you look closely, you can sense a faint but tenacious vitality.

"Little one," she whispered, "hold on for three more days."

"Your mother will take you to get your medicine in three days."

"Let's survive together..."