Chapter 56: The Sickly Prime Minister Poisoned to Death by Her Beloved

Shi Qingyi might not have believed it, but not going meant waiting for death. Sitting idly by was out of the question.

However—

Shi Qingyi fell silent for a moment, then furrowed her brows. “Where is Chancellor Xiao now?”

Thanks to her scummy behavior back then, when Xiao Jinse was on the verge of death from illness, she had been admiring flowers in the rear garden. She had no idea where Xiao Jinse was at the moment.

In the past, she had never sought out Xiao Jinse. It was always Xiao Jinse who accommodated her, who came looking for her. Except for the matter of letting her out, Xiao Jinse had never once gone against her wishes.

The maidservant stared at her in disbelief, blinking as a faint flush of anger colored her eyes.

Xiao Jinse valued her greatly, and the servants who stayed by her side to attend her were all trusted confidantes who had followed Xiao Jinse for years. At this moment, the maid bit her lip tightly, hardly able to believe that at this life-or-death juncture for her lord, the person Xiao Jinse cherished most didn’t even know where she was staying.

Shi Qingyi’s expression cooled slightly, and the imposing aura of someone long accustomed to high positions pressed down. “Do I need to ask again?”

Unexpectedly, the little maidservant suddenly turned from sorrow to joy. She hastily wiped her eyes. “Your Highness, come with this servant…”

The Prime Minister’s Mansion hadn’t originally been built on a lavish scale. Xiao Jinse had an indifferent personality and didn’t care much for such external luxuries.

It wasn’t until later, when Shi Qingyi moved into the Prime Minister’s Mansion, that she feared her beloved—accustomed to gold and jade—might feel wronged. Only then did she gradually expand the grounds, even demolishing several other estates to do so. Despite full compensation, it still drew plenty of criticism.

In truth, the courtyard where she resided was only a few steps away from Xiao Jinse’s. The little maidservant led the way in a hurried manner, and soon they arrived beside Xiao Jinse’s courtyard.

Just at the entrance to the courtyard, a bitter medicinal scent wafted out. A maidservant was decocting medicine beside the bamboo grove outside. When she caught sight of that flash of vermilion skirt hem, she froze, nearly thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Why would the Eldest Princess, who had always despised the Prime Minister to the extreme, come here?

These past few days, they had gone to invite her several times, only to be driven away each time. Rumor had it that the princess was even willing to go flower-viewing rather than visit the Prime Minister.

The generals who had received favors from the Prime Minister had even wanted to directly drag this heartless woman over so the Prime Minister could see her one last time. No one knew when the Prime Minister might breathe her last. If the Prime Minister died, she would surely have to accompany her in death!

They said as much, but when the Prime Minister was briefly lucid, she had stopped them. That woman, ill and breathing faintly, leaned against the bedhead, her voice hoarse and indistinct. Her confidante leaned in close to listen and heard her say that no one was to harm her.

“If she wants to come, let her come. Cough cough cough… If she doesn’t want to… then no need.”

A person who was ordinarily proud beyond measure remained proud even now, though a shadow of gloom flickered in her eyes. She coughed even harder, clutching the embroidered bedding tightly, her eyes half-closing as her hoarse, grating voice continued.

“Don’t make things difficult for her…”

Though she said that, during those rare moments of clarity, she would still glance toward the door from time to time. Each time someone entered, a spark of light would flare in her eyes, only to extinguish quickly upon seeing who it was. She waited with longing for the one who would never come.

The little maidservant’s eyes reddened even more, and she stood frozen in place until the maidservant behind Shi Qingyi pushed her. “Why haven’t you gone to report it yet?”

Shi Qingyi couldn’t stand their dawdling. She frowned and strode past them into the inner room. Though early spring had already warmed, the room still burned with silver frost charcoal. The mingled scents of medicine and blood made Shi Qingyi wrinkle her nose.

The personal maidservant had been carefully watching the Eldest Princess’s expression. Seeing her frown, she feared this hard-won visitor might be driven off, and her eyes instantly reddened. “This servant will change it right away…”

Please don’t leave. Just look at her… look at her once…

That instant of humility made Shi Qingyi’s chest tighten uncomfortably, as if the whole world knew how desperately Xiao Jinse loved her.

The gauze curtains were half-drawn, casting dim light in the room. The woman inside had her long hair disheveled, half her body nestled in the brocade quilt, the other half propped up on soft pillows by a maidservant who was feeding her medicine. Upon seeing Shi Qingyi, her hand trembled, nearly spilling the bowl of medicine onto the floor.

She then hurriedly lowered her head. “Miss, look quickly—Your Highness is here. Your Highness has come to see you…”

Xinyi, who had grown up with Xiao Jinse since childhood, was the closest to her. No one else dared address the woman who wielded supreme power in the court as “Miss.”

Xiao Jinse was truly gravely ill. Even hearing the voice calling her, she couldn’t wake. Her eyelids struggled but couldn’t open. Her lips were scorched white and peeling, her breathing faint, and it was unclear if she was conscious.

Tears rolled from Xinyi’s eyes. “Your Highness, please come take a look at her…”

Even now, her tone was pleading.

A vein throbbed on Shi Qingyi’s forehead, making her feel even more like a monster.

Fearing Shi Qingyi might be toying with them, Xinyi watched her closely the moment she took over Xiao Jinse, as if ready to hurl her off the bed to her death if she tried anything.

Xiao Jinse’s body was ice-cold. Shi Qingyi frowned as she grasped her hand—it was utterly chilled, without a trace of warmth even in the room heated by silver frost charcoal. The woman had no strength at all and slumped directly into her arms. Shi Qingyi caught her boneless form, and her heart gave a sudden jolt.

Finally, she reached out to touch her forehead, and her expression darkened.

—It burned so hot her palm felt scalded. This temperature was likely nearing forty degrees.

Xinyi handed over a bowl of medicine with a pitiful look, cautiously. “No matter how we try, we can’t get her to drink it. Your Highness, could you perhaps…”

Could you feed the Prime Minister? What if she’ll drink it for you?

“What’s the point of more medicine?” Shi Qingyi’s voice carried a chill as she waved the bowl away.

The tears in Xinyi’s eyes froze.

“Your Highness, you… you…”

Was this declaring the Prime Minister beyond saving? Everyone knew she hung by a thread, but she hadn’t stopped breathing yet. How could they—how could they refuse medicine?

Shi Qingyi ignored her shocked face. She took a cloak from the bed and draped it over the unconscious woman, her voice turning icy.

“Prepare a carriage. Find a steady-handed coachman. Put charcoal braziers inside, and have several imperial physicians follow outside.”

As she spoke, she moved efficiently, adjusting Xiao Jinse’s collar with care before wrapping her tightly in the cloak and rising to leave.

“Where are you taking the Prime Minister?” Xinyi hadn’t recovered from her shock and cried out. Everyone present stared at her in stunned confusion.

“Where else? To see a real doctor.”

Shi Qingyi’s status was exalted, her high position lending her authority. She carried the now-unconscious woman out. Xiao Jinse had wasted away to skin and bones, so light she didn’t even make a sound when lifted.

“No—” Xinyi blocked the door but didn’t know what to say. The Minister of War guarding outside eyed them menacingly. “The finest imperial physicians of the realm are already here in the mansion. May this subject ask where the Eldest Princess intends to seek treatment for the Prime Minister?”

“To a doctor who can actually cure her,” Shi Qingyi’s eyes grew colder. “Are you going to stop me?”

“This subject dares not, but the Prime Minister is already—”

“If you don’t dare, then get out of my way!” Shi Qingyi’s expression turned stern in an instant. Her noble bearing, honed by years in power, carried the arrogance of imperial blood. It left them speechless.

In the brief moment of hesitation, the beauty in vermilion palace attire had already pushed through. Her face was cold and fierce, and no one dared bar her path as she smoothly reached the Prime Minister’s Mansion gates.

Only then did someone snap out of it in panic, swords crossing before her. “The Prime Minister said you’re not allowed to leave—”

Xiao Jinse had finally confined her, with heavy guards perpetually at the mansion gates. The sole ironclad order was that the Eldest Princess Shi Qingyi could not leave. Fail to enforce it, and they’d lose their heads.

This obstruction at such a time was absurd. Shi Qingyi’s face turned to ice—this truly was an ironclad order. Without Xiao Jinse’s approval, even a corpse couldn’t leave; Shi Qingyi would have to rot inside.

“Host, host, what now!” The System spun in anxiety.

In the previous life, this plot point should have happened two days later, when Xiao Jinse was at death’s door.

The Xiao Family of Jiangnan had finally produced a minister who stood above all but the emperor. News of the Prime Minister’s critical illness struck the family like a bolt from the blue.

The Prime Minister was barely of age, without even a drop of bloodline left behind. Not only had she no time to groom a successor, even if she had heirs, the Xiao Family might never again produce such a once-in-a-century genius.

The Xiao Family was an ancient clan of a thousand years, after all. Expending all their accumulated connections, they finally persuaded a revered miracle physician to come all the way to the Capital City to treat the Prime Minister.

But this divine doctor had an eccentric temperament. Renowned as the world’s top physician, he flatly refused to enter the Imperial City, no matter what. With no other choice, they had to have the Prime Minister leave the city for a visit.

Now—

Cold light flickered in Shi Qingyi’s eyes. In the dire moment, as soldiers closed in, she suddenly thrust out a hand and seized Xiao Jinse’s slender, pallid neck. “Xiao Jinse’s life is in my hands. Who dares move now?”

Shi Qingyi hadn’t used any real force, but unluckily, Xiao Jinse chose that exact moment to cough—coughing so violently that she actually jolted herself awake. Her eyes half-opened and immediately fixed on the hand at her throat.

Shi Qingyi: “…”

System: “…”

The world fell silent for an instant. Wordless tears rolled down Xiao Jinse’s cheeks, splashing onto the back of Shi Qingyi’s hand like a branding iron.

Xiao Jinse’s eyes were filled with gloomy ruthlessness, soon giving way to utter desolation.

A long wind blew down the street, distant onlookers pointing. Then the gravely ill woman spoke, her voice terrifyingly hoarse.

“Stand down… Let her go…”

…

Even after boarding the carriage, Shi Qingyi still doubted her life. How was it so perfectly timed? How?

Xiao Jinse struggled to stay upright in the carriage. Heavy rains had fallen in the Imperial City these past days, leaving the mountain path to the Divine Doctor’s Grass Hut muddy and slick. Suddenly, the carriage jolted over a stone, lurching forward. The Prime Minister couldn’t steady herself and pitched ahead.

She braced for a fall to the ground, but instead collided solidly into an embrace.

Shi Qingyi held Xiao Jinse, her hands meeting nothing but bones—gaunt enough to alarm anyone.

Xiao Jinse’s shallow breaths brushed Shi Qingyi’s neck, so faint they seemed ready to vanish at any moment.

No one knew that as she slowly opened her eyes, her gaze was filled with gloom.

Qingyi still wants to kill her.