Chapter 168: Begging for Medicine, Her Threat

Wanyan Lü stared at her in a daze, completely failing to anticipate that the calm and composed woman before him would recount the events that had transpired in that dark, damp cave on Mount Fengming with such meticulous detail, even deducing his innermost thoughts with crystal clarity.

Watching the gentle, serene woman in green lower her head to sip her tea in such a leisurely manner, he found himself at a loss for words, though deep within his heart surged an irrepressible impulse to strangle the woman right then and there.

Shen Qianmo raised her eyes to look at him, smiling faintly. "Crown Prince Wanyan's calculations were well-made, but unfortunately, you lacked a bit of luck. You never intended for the Prince Consort of Nanzhan to die, yet he dropped dead suddenly. You never meant to injure Murong Jing, but he was left gravely wounded and unconscious. Right now, Princess Yongle and Prince Yanping share a common hatred and have sworn to track down the poisoner, demanding a life for a life. Can the Crown Prince shoulder this entirely by himself? However..."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "It seems to me that the Sixth Prince shares deep fraternal bonds with the Crown Prince; does the Crown Prince need to consult with him?"

Because the matter involved internal strife within her own country, Princess Yongle had not publicized the true cause of the Prince Consort's death, continuing to claim outwardly that he had perished from insect venom. Consequently, Wanyan Lü was entirely unaware that the Prince Consort of Nanzhan had not actually died at his hands.

"What do you want?" Wanyan Lü's complexion turned ashen, his sinister gaze as venomous as if it had been steeped in poison, wishing he could tear Shen Qianmo to pieces on the spot.

As a dignified Crown Prince, he had always enjoyed whatever he desired back in Northern Di. When had he ever been threatened so blatantly?

Shen Qianmo smiled faintly. "It's very simple. This Princess consort merely desires the Blazing Fire Lotus in Crown Prince Wanyan's possession."

The Blazing Fire Lotus? Wanyan Lü froze for a moment, before suddenly bursting into triumphant laughter. "Ha ha... So the Princess Consort of Xuan went to such painstaking lengths to lure this Crown Prince into the Prince of Xuan's estate simply for the Blazing Fire Lotus! What is this? Could it be that Meng Yuanheng's cold toxin has relapsed? Or is it that the cold toxin in his body was never cured at all?"

The Blazing Fire Lotus was a supreme medicinal herb for subduing cold toxins. Ever since Meng Yuanheng was afflicted with the cold toxin seven years ago, people from the Prince of Xuan's estate had never ceased their search for it. Regrettably, the Blazing Fire Lotus grew exclusively in the hidden habitats of the ancient divine beast of Northern Di, the Fire Qilin, and required the beast's excrement as nourishment to thrive. Yet, following the gradual extinction of the Fire Qilin in Northern Di over the past century, the Blazing Fire Lotus had likewise withered and vanished, becoming nearly impossible to find in the mortal world.

After acquiring the Azure-Eyed Spirit Fox—whose blood was equally effective in treating the cold toxin—the Prince of Xuan's estate had ceased its obsession with finding the Blazing Fire Lotus. Originally, according to Situ Gong's treatment regimen utilizing the spirit fox's blood across twelve courses of therapy, Meng Yuanheng's cold toxin could have been thoroughly cured with no future relapses. Unfortunately, the Battle of Jinling Pass had disrupted the scheduled regimen, leaving the cold toxin within Meng Yuanheng's body uncleansed to this day.

To achieve a complete cure this time around, the spirit fox's blood had lost its efficacy, leaving the Blazing Fire Lotus as the sole antidote.

Ever since then, the secret guards of the Prince of Xuan's estate had investigated everywhere and searched extensively, only recently discovering that Wanyan Lü, the Crown Prince of Northern Di, happened to possess a single stalk of the Blazing Fire Lotus.

However, Wanyan Lü was hardly a fool. Realizing that Shen Qianmo had gone to such elaborate lengths to acquire the Blazing Fire Lotus, it was undoubtedly meant to suppress the cold toxin within Meng Yuanheng.

That being the case, did it mean Meng Yuanheng's cold toxin was indeed uncured and his body afflicted?

"Crown Prince Wanyan is overthinking it." Seeing the gloating expression on Wanyan Lü's face, Shen Qianmo said calmly, "The Prince's health is in no serious condition; needing the Blazing Fire Lotus is merely a precaution to be fully prepared. Besides, I have bestowed such a massive favor upon you. If you don't pay some price in return, wouldn't that show a lack of sincerity?"

In truth, Meng Yuanheng's physical condition was not nearly as untroubled as Shen Qianmo claimed. The cold toxin was the most yin and frigid poison in existence; while uncleared residual poison might not harm the body in the short term, its long-term effects over the years were immense. Furthermore, the heart-wrenching agony he had to endure every full moon filled Shen Qianmo with profound anguish.

Therefore, her eagerness to obtain the medicine was far from as serene as she appeared on the surface.

Yet before Wanyan Lü, no matter how frantic or impatient she felt inside, she had to maintain her composure; otherwise, she would be led entirely by the nose.

Clearly, however, Wanyan Lü was not buying it. He stared at Shen Qianmo with a sinister gaze, malice flickering in his eyes. "Don't take me for a three-year-old child. The Blazing Fire Lotus is only useful for subduing cold toxins and serves no other purpose. For the Princess Consort to seek it out with such effort shows just how terrible Meng Yuanheng's condition really is. Hmph! You want this Crown Prince to use the Blazing Fire Lotus to save Meng Yuanheng? In your dreams! I've heard that those afflicted with the cold toxin never live long—at most ten years, and at least three years before they inevitably die. Meng Yuanheng must have contracted the cold toxin seven years ago, right? By that calculation, doesn't that mean he has at most three years left to live? Ha ha..."

That stalk of the Blazing Fire Lotus was something he had accidentally stumbled upon while hunting a Fire Qilin a few years ago. In truth, such a plant, which could only suppress cold toxins and was neither pleasing to the eye nor edible, had very little use to him. At the time, he had merely ordered people to seal it away carefully because of its worldly rarity and the principle that rare things are valuable.

Yet, no matter how useless the Blazing Fire Lotus was to him, asking him to take it out to save Meng Yuanheng? Never!

He wished Meng Yuanheng would drop dead sooner!

Wanyan Lü laughed with unbridled arrogance, while Shen Qianmo simply watched him calmly, not even a ripple stirring in her gaze. When Wanyan Lü finished laughing and saw Shen Qianmo's expression remain utterly unperturbed, he was somewhat surprised. "The Princess Consort of Xuan truly maintains her composure. Aren't you worried at all? If Meng Yuanheng dies, it will leave just you—an orphan and a widow—to suffer in this bitterly cold northwestern land."

Shen Qianmo could only emit a bitter laugh inwardly. Composed? She was merely trying her best to put on a serene facade, forced to keep her cool because she had no other choice.

Cruel though Wanyan Lü's words were, one thing he said was not wrong: those afflicted with the cold toxin never lived long. Judging by Meng Yuanheng's current physical state, no matter how brilliant Situ Gong's medical skills were, he would live for at most another decade.

Wanyan Lü gazed at Shen Qianmo for a long moment, then suddenly smiled with wicked amusement. "Getting this Crown Prince to hand over the Blazing Fire Lotus is not entirely impossible. The Princess Consort simply needs to show some sincerity."

Shen Qianmo raised an eyebrow, looked at him with perplexity, and asked, "I wonder what kind of sincerity Crown Prince Wanyan desires?"

Wanyan Lü looked Shen Qianmo up and down, smiling with an air of pure wickedness. "I've heard that the Princess Consort of Xuan is one of a kind in this world—accomplished in both literary and martial arts, with extraordinary intellect. How about... you follow this Crown Prince from now on? That would surely be far better than suffering in the northwest following that doomed wretch Meng Yuanheng. What does the Princess Consort think?"

With that, Wanyan Lü burst into another fit of triumphant, wild laughter.

Hearing this, Shen Qianmo likewise looked Wanyan Lü up and down, before letting out a light chuckle a moment later. Yet, within her customarily serene eyes flashed a rare glint of severity. "Crown Prince Wanyan probably doesn't understand me very well. I have a rather unpleasant habit... if someone displeases me, I will make damn sure that person has an equally miserable time. Even if, as you say, the Prince has only a few years left to live, as long as he draws breath, he remains the master of this northwestern land, standing high above and commanding the winds and rains. But Crown Prince Wanyan is different. If you were to lose your title as Crown Prince, do you honestly think you would still have any good days ahead of you?"

"Audacious!" Wanyan Lü's expression shifted, his gaze turning even more venomous. "I am the legitimate eldest son of the Di monarch and the officially invested Crown Prince. Who could possibly threaten my position?"

"Is that so?" Shen Qianmo arched her delicate brows, a look of profound disdain playing at the corners of her lips. "Yet why have I heard that Crown Prince Wanyan has made enemies on all fronts in your esteemed country and is walking on thin ice? On the contrary, the Sixth Prince is both virtuous and capable, with throngs of supporters, and his birth mother, Noble Consort Yi, currently enjoys imperial favor. Rumors say there is already talk within your imperial court of replacing the Crown Prince. Does Crown Prince Wanyan still believe your position is unthreatened? Furthermore, if I were to publicize what the Crown Prince did on Mount Fengming, how do you suppose the nations of Nanzhan and Xiliang would react? And how would the Sixth Prince act? As the heir apparent of Northern Di, instead of considering the bigger picture or caring for the stability of the state, you only know how to use underhanded conspiracies to provoke conflicts and vent your personal frustrations. How would your subjects evaluate you?"

"Now that you have caused the death of the Nanzhan Prince Consort and gravely injured the Heir of Prince Yanping, throwing the northwest into turmoil, even if the Prince were magnanimous enough not to haggle with you, the nations of Nanzhan and Xiliang will certainly not let you off. When both countries simultaneously press their grievances against Northern Di, if the Northern Di monarch still wishes to avoid offending them, he will undoubtedly have to give them an explanation. Do you truly believe your position as Crown Prince can be preserved then?"

Shen Qianmo paused, lowered her head to take a sip of tea, and then raised her eyes to study the kaleidoscopic expression of alternating pale and dark shades on Wanyan Lü's face. Twitching the corner of her mouth, she continued, "Without the title of Crown Prince, given the methods of the Sixth Prince and Noble Consort Yi, you should know better than I what kind of life you and your empress mother would lead in Northern Di. By then, I fear you, Wanyan Lü, will be nothing more than a good-for-nothing piece of trash. How dare you still have the audacity to spout nonsense and ask this Princess consort to follow you? It is an absolute joke!"