The Poison That Worsens with Treatment

Ouyang Qiangang drew a deep breath before speaking.

"Your Majesty, after I met with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Crown Prince a few days ago, I discovered something."

"And what was it you discovered?"

"When I examined His Highness's pulse, I detected an unnatural vibration in his heart—as though some foreign object were lodged inside it."

Emperor Changsung held his breath.

"A foreign object, you say?"

"Minuscule, but unmistakably present. And it is continuously stimulating the blood vessel leading from the heart to His Highness's brain."

Ouyang Qiangang hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"What is more startling is that the energy emanating from this object is profoundly sinister and malign. It is unlike any natural illness I have ever encountered."

"Sinister and malign, you say?"

"Yes. It feels as though someone deliberately crafted it for the purpose of siphoning away life force. This kind of energy resembles the workings of dark arts or demonic cultivation."

The Emperor's face drained of color.

Ouyang Qiangang's voice grew more grave.

"And there is one more anomaly. His Highness the Crown Prince is unquestionably suffering from a grave illness, yet he strains mightily to appear healthy in my presence. For a man possessed of such formidable willpower to show no change in symptoms for thirty years... that is medically ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very difficult to explain."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"A natural illness could never hold perfectly steady for so long. Ordinarily it worsens by degrees, or improves somewhat—but in the Crown Prince's case, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it is as if someone is deliberately maintaining his condition at a fixed point."

Ouyang Qiangang looked the Emperor squarely in the eye.

"Your Majesty, might I ask you one question? When His Highness the Crown Prince was born, did anything unusual occur? Even the smallest detail."

The Emperor fell deep into thought.

"At the time... the court physicians did remark on something strange. That the child was far too quiet. A newborn's cry is normally loud and robust, but the little prince scarcely cried at all."

"Was there anything else out of the ordinary?"

"Ah... yes. He was gripped by a high fever for days afterward—enough to frighten the physicians."

Ouyang Qiangang's expression darkened.

"Which physician attended him at the time?"

"I can't quite remember... wait. That physician vanished suddenly not long after. He left the palace claiming his household had met with a calamity, and we never heard word from him again."

A heavy silence settled between the two men.

Memories of the past flickered through the Emperor's mind—every illness the Crown Prince had endured since childhood, all those countless moments when the court physicians had frowned and shaken their heads, unable to find a cause.

"Your Majesty, if I examine the Crown Prince's pulse directly, I can give you a definitive answer. However..."

"However?"

"If my conjecture is correct, this could become a very dangerous matter indeed. A faction capable of sustaining such manipulation for thirty years will be capable of anything the moment I uncover proof of the truth."

For a long moment, the Emperor could not speak. Disbelief and turmoil churned together in his eyes.

"Truly... is such a thing even possible?"

"It is possible."

The Emperor's face went from pale white to a hot crimson of fury.

"The audacity... the sheer audacity of whoever would dare do this to the imperial house!"

His voice was low, but the killing intent laced through it seemed to freeze the entire room solid.

"Your Majesty, much remains unconfirmed. But the Crown Prince's condition can be treated."

The Emperor stared straight at Ouyang Qiangang.

"You truly believe you can save the prince?"

"I do."

Ouyang Qiangang's gaze hardened as he went on.

"It will be extremely dangerous. A faction that has sustained manipulation this intricate for three decades has almost certainly placed the palace itself under watch—my movements included."

A terrifying killing intent flickered to life ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the Emperor's eyes. Ouyang Qiangang had just implied that the dark sect was watching even him.

But he was no ordinary man.

After a moment, the Emperor recovered his composure and spoke.

"If this ever comes to light, the entire empire will be shaken to its foundations."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"But I cannot lose the Crown Prince."

A resolute light kindled in Changsung's eyes.

"What do you need? What must be done to save my son?"

"First, I must complete the treatment of Princess Myeonghwa. Only then will I approach His Highness the Crown Prince with all due caution."

"Good. However..."

The Emperor fixed Ouyang Qiangang with darkened eyes as he continued.

"This matter must remain absolutely secret. No one may know. Not a single soul."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

After sinking into deep contemplation for a moment, the Emperor drew a small object from within his robes.

It was a palm-sized tablet of gold, exquisitely engraved with the Nine-Dragon Crest, the emblem of the imperial house.

"Take it."

Ouyang Qiangang carefully accepted the dragon tablet with both hands.

"This is called the Nine-Dragon Divine Token. It bears the weight of my authority; with it, you may pass freely into any corner of the palace. Moreover, without my express command, no man may interrogate you or raise a hand against you."

The Emperor's voice dropped lower.

"Remember this well—from this day forward, you are my eyes and ears, and my unseen blade."

Ouyang Qiangang tucked the dragon tablet deep into his robes and bowed with utmost deference.

"I am deeply honored by Your Majesty's grace."

He was no longer a mere physician. He had become the Emperor's secret agent.

As Ouyang Qiangang lowered his hands, the invisible barrier that had enveloped the room dissolved away.

But the heavy silence hanging between the two men did not lift so easily.

In a hidden chamber beneath a certain manor in Huangdu, a single candle guttered in the darkness, and two shadows faced one another.

One man knelt, his face hidden behind a black mask, while the other—wearing a mask carved in the likeness of a demon—sat in a chair and looked down upon him.

"My lord, I have a report."

The kneeling man spoke with careful deliberation.

"Speak."

The voice of the so-called Lord behind the demon mask was cold as a frozen lake.

"Thanks to the Life-and-Death Divine Doctor's treatment, Princess Myeonghwa's illness is improving at a remarkable pace. If this continues, he may well cure her within the month, just as he promised."

"Hm..."

"And once she is cured, the Emperor will be certain to let that man examine the Crown Prince."

The Lord nodded slowly. The masked man pressed on.

"If he heals the Crown Prince's illness—or worse, senses the secret hidden within it... decades of our sect's painstaking work could come crashing down."

"Our superiors have reached the same conclusion."

Killing intent crept into the Lord's voice.

"The man's treatment of Princess Myeonghwa must fail."

"But my lord, if we kill Hahu Gang, the Second Prince will be gravely disappointed. He intended to wield Hahu Gang as his own blade."

The Lord let out a cold, contemptuous laugh.

"A blade grows dull with use, and when it does, you simply cast it aside. The Second Prince is still far too young. True power belongs only to those who do not fear to stain their hands with blood—and he does not yet understand that."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"In any case, Hahu Gang was always a variable. The variable may have swayed the greater tide for a time, but once he provokes the Emperor's wrath and dies for it, the sway will vanish."

The Lord's eyes burned with a passion bordering on madness.

"To open a new age, the ancient tree of the empire must first be felled. The Crown Prince is merely the first cut. I will not allow some green whelp calling himself the Life-and-Death Divine Doctor to stand in the way of our great work."

"This affair will also prove a valuable lesson for the Second Prince."

His subordinate nodded in agreement.

"But my lord—how will you proceed? The guard around Myeonghwa Palace is airtight."

The Lord drew several slender sticks of incense from his sleeve.

"These were crafted by the Demon Physician for precisely such an occasion. A lethal poison called Soul-Dissolving Ascension Incense."

"A lethal poison, you say...?"

"There is no antidote, and it is colorless and odorless. But the true terror of this poison lies elsewhere."

A wicked smile curled across the Lord's lips.

"The more diligently Hahu Gang works to treat the Princess, the more violently this poison will worsen her condition."

The subordinate's eyes grew dark and grim.

"Then to all outward appearances, the Divine Doctor's treatment will appear to be failing."

"Precisely. It may even come to look as though he himself is killing her."

The Lord chuckled low in his throat.

"Heh heh heh. Tell me—what do you suppose will happen if the Emperor's beloved daughter dies at that man's hands?"

"The Emperor's fury... would be beyond imagining."

"Exactly so. The man will be torn apart by the slowest, cruelest execution the Emperor can devise, the imperial house will drown in grief over the Princess's death, and in the midst of that chaos, the Crown Prince's illness will only deepen..."

He handed the vial of poisoned incense to the masked man.

"And our design will flow smoothly onward once more."

"We need only reach the maidservant who tends the Princess. Carrying it out will be no trouble at all."

"Do it tonight, this very evening. By tomorrow, after the man completes his treatment, the Princess's decline will appear to be his doing."

"Understood."

The subordinate bowed deeply, then hesitated.

"But my lord—what if the Divine Doctor discerns the poison's true nature...?"

"Impossible. This poison is the Demon Physician's masterwork, perfected over ten long years. Even a physician of Hahu Gang's caliber—one who supposedly rivals the Divine Sage Buddha's Hand—could never identify it."

Absolute certainty rang in the Lord's voice.

"And consider the perfection of the trap: if the man halts the treatment, the Princess dies; if he continues, she dies all the faster. Whatever choice he makes, it will end the same way—dismembered limb from limb."

The candle flame surged once, then shrank again.

His subordinate offered a deep bow and left the underground chamber.

The footsteps faded into the distance, then vanished entirely.

Left alone, the Lord slowly raised a hand to the black mask covering his face.

Ssshh—

The sound of the mask coming away echoed faintly through the silent chamber.

But the candle's feeble light refused to reveal his true face. The thick darkness still shrouded his identity.

Only two eyes gleamed coldly out of the blackness.

The Lord set the mask down carefully on the table.

Gazing down at the grotesque demon face carved into it, he let a single venomous word slip from between his lips.

"Life-and-Death Divine Doctor..."

Then he picked the mask back up and set it on his face once more.

Ssshh—

Cast in the candlelight, his shadow loomed on the wall like some colossal monster, dancing there for a long moment before it was snuffed out along with the flame itself.

The chamber sank back into profound darkness.

All that remained was the dark, and the cold silence.

Deep in the night, in the warehouse at Yeomga Manor, Ouyang Qiangang lay resting after finishing the day's engraving work, staring up at the ceiling and lost in thought. Moonlight seeped through the gap in the window, casting a soft glow across his face.

Akasha, I always assumed someone would try to interfere with the Princess's treatment one way or another—but it's been half a month and nothing has happened. It's too quiet. Don't you think so?

Ouyang Qiangang rose and looked out the window.

If I succeed in curing the Princess, I'll be formally granted the chance to examine the Crown Prince. These people aren't the type to just sit back and watch that happen.

The question is—what form will it take?