Chapter 190: Is There a Way to Cure the Poison?

Dongfang Qi said coldly, "Put away that hypocritical look of yours! Aside from your brother, no one will fall for that act!"

"Crown Prince, are you truly so heartless, disregarding the friendship between our two nations?" The one speaking was still that Feng Guo envoy.

Lin Qingyue said, "Lord Xie, do it!"

Xie Shouzheng leaned in and whispered, "Are we really doing it? We aren't just trying to scare them?"

Lin Qingyue said, "This concerns the Flying Corpse Silkworm; I absolutely will not allow any leniency!"

Just at this moment, the Feng Guo envoy released a spirit bird from his robes, and it zipped away. Its speed was like lightning.

But the next moment, after the spirit bird let out a sharp wail, it suddenly plummeted from high in the air.

It landed precisely, without a hair's breadth of deviation, into Lin Qingyue's hand.

Lin Qingyue looked at the snow-white, three-inch-long bird and said with a smile, "So, you were carrying this kind of messenger spirit bird; no wonder you dared to be so fearless. What a pity, without this Prince's permission, not even a bird can fly out of here!"

"This is a Startled Swan Sparrow; it can travel three thousand miles a day, and its movements are extremely fast—even an arrow cannot catch up to its speed. How could you possibly catch it?"

Ling Xue's face turned deathly pale at this moment. With her final trump card exposed, she could not help but feel flustered.

Seeing an opening, Lin Qingyue flicked her red Nether Umbrella, and with a 'swish', it flew out. Twelve flying daggers shot from the twelve bone tips, flying toward Ling Xue like shattered moonlight.

Ling Xue panicked instantly and hurriedly drew her whip to block.

But the speed of the flying daggers was simply too fast; before she could even execute a defensive move, light and shadow flashed past. The next moment, extremely shallow bloodstains appeared on Ling Xue's wrists, arms, knees, and legs.

Ling Xue fell to her knees with a 'thump', and Prince Ling Zhen, whom she had been supporting, immediately lost his balance and collapsed to the ground.

Ling Zhen was completely drained of strength and could not even speak; he could only watch helplessly as his guards, unaware of the truth, began to clash with the people of Qi.

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a sharp shout was heard: "All of you, stop!"

Dongfang Qi held his blade against Ling Zhen's neck: "Ling Zhen is in my hands; if you don't want him to die, drop your weapons!"

Although blades were at his throat, Prince Ling Zhen knew he had been saved, and tears of excitement streamed down his face.

But at the thought that he had already been poisoned by the Heart-Gu and would soon become a Puppet Human, he could not help but feel a wave of sorrow.

The people of Feng Guo were terrified that the Prince might be injured and dared not act rashly again.

Xie Shouzheng and the others took this opportunity to disarm them all.

"If you dare to kill our Prince today, you will surely suffer the wrath of Feng Guo in the future!"

"Even if no message gets out, once they don't hear from us for a few days, Feng Guo will know something has happened. Crown Prince of Qi, do you really intend to place our two nations in a state of mortal enmity?"

Dongfang Qi said, "If it weren't for the sake of the relationship between our two nations, I would have slaughtered all you fools long ago. Can't you see it? Your Prince has been poisoned. And the one who poisoned him is his own sister, the Princess of your Feng Guo!"

However, these words could not convince those people; they clamored one after another, demanding that Dongfang Qi release him.

Although Ling Xue was already heavily injured and all her joints had been broken by Lin Qingyue's flying daggers, she still laughed wildly: "They won't believe you. I am the Princess of Feng Guo, Ling Zhen's own sister; how could I possibly harm my imperial brother?"

"My imperial brother is different from me; he is the son my Imperial Father loves most and has placed great hopes in. If you harm him, it is equivalent to tearing up the peace with Feng Guo. War... how many years has it been since it began? Hahaha... fight, let's fight! It would be better if the whole world were destroyed!"

She lay in a pool of blood, laughing loudly. In just another quarter of an hour, the Heart-Gu poison would begin to take effect.

Ling Zhen, her good brother, would completely degenerate into a puppet; at that time, whatever he said or did would be controlled by her, his sister's, will.

If the people of Qi killed Ling Zhen, the two nations would surely go to war.

If they did not kill Ling Zhen, Ling Zhen would be controlled by her will and would point the finger at Dongfang Qi and Lin Qingyue for the plot—even if she were to die, she would plant the command in Ling Zhen's mind before her death.

War, after all, was unavoidable.

"The peace that Feng Guo has relied on the Princess to trade for through marriage all these years is finally going to be broken. Hahaha..."

Dongfang Qi frowned and asked Lin Qingyue, "Is there a way to cure the poison?"

Without a word, Lin Qingyue stepped forward and plunged a blade into Ling Zhen's chest to release his heart blood.

This action made the Feng Guo people gnash their teeth in hatred, shouting: "Stop hurting our Prince! Your Highness, Your Highness!"

Ling Zhen had been on the verge of falling into a coma to become a puppet, but it was that blade from Lin Qingyue that jolted him awake with pain. His nature, which had been gradually fading, began to recover.

Lin Qingyue ignored them and stared at Ling Zhen's wound until the black blood had drained away. She then pressed several acupoints near his heart to stop the bleeding, and after passing her palm over the wound, the gruesome gash began to show signs of healing.

After finishing all this, Lin Qingyue clapped her hands and asked, "How is it? Can you speak?"

Ling Zhen slowly opened his mouth and uttered a slurred sound: "Th... thank you!"

The voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the clamor of the Feng Guo people.

But Ling Xue, who was nearby, heard it clearly, and she suddenly widened her eyes: "How is this possible? Once the Heart-Gu poison is planted, it cannot be cured. How could you... how could you..."

Lin Qingyue sneered, "Although this Prince does not know where you learned these evil, crooked ways, the person who taught you to raise the Flying Corpse Silkworm must be a complete amateur."

"All things in the world have their opposites; the cocoon spun by the Flying Corpse Silkworm is poison, but the blood of the mother insect is the cure. Fortunately, you didn't know this, and you foolishly planted the mother silkworm into Lin Ruzhen's body."

The Feng Guo envoy, who had been clamoring, heard their conversation and saw the color gradually returning to Ling Zhen's face; only then did he realize that the situation seemed somewhat unexpected.

Although Ling Zhen was still weak, he tried his best to explain: "Everyone, please... do not misunderstand. Just now, I... was poisoned by Princess Ling Xue. The Crown Prince of Qi and Prince Chaolan are... are here to save me."

Having finally finished this whole sentence, he was so weak that he was gasping for air.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up, and it would not trigger a conflict between the two nations, so they could breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at Ling Xue again, there was no longer any of the previous affection in Ling Zhen's eyes.

"Crown Prince, I am truly... sorry that such a thing has happened. But Ling Xue is, after all... a person of Feng Guo; I hope you can hand her over to me. Please rest assured, she... having committed such an outrageous act, will certainly... receive severe punishment."

Dongfang Qi did not speak, but used his gaze to consult Lin Qingyue.