Chapter 301
Chapter 301
The warrior who opened the door said, trembling.
“Your Majesty, the Third Prince... seems to have passed away.”
Hearing this, King Qiang trembled, and his consort, Su Mo, shivered as well. Zuo Baiyu spoke in a shocked voice.
“Impossible. How could this be?”
He immediately rushed into the room, where a strange corpse met his eyes. The body was flushed red, a smile on its face. It had clearly been dead for some time. In that moment, Zuo Baiyu felt as if he had been struck by lightning, nearly collapsing to the floor.
*What... what is happening? Last night, Arohan was clearly getting better. Besides, it was just chickenpox and a rash. How could he die overnight? What on earth happened?*
From outside, King Qiang asked in a furious voice.
“Zuo Baiyu, what is the meaning of this?”
The warrior said.
“Your Majesty, the Third Prince has truly passed away.”
Shen Lang shouted sharply.
“Zuo Baiyu, you have some nerve. Not only did you fail to cure the Third Prince, you killed him. Didn't you sign a military pledge last night, swearing to die if you failed? Now you can fulfill that promise!”
Zuo Baiyu froze, unable to react for a moment. His head spun, and his vision went dark. What could have possibly gone wrong?
Just then, Shen Lang shouted from outside.
“Zuo Baiyu, you deceitful Taoist, you've caused the Third Prince's death. Come out and face your execution.”
Taoist Zuo Baiyu finally came to his senses and pointed at Shen Lang.
“You! It must have been you! You must have done something to cause the Third Prince's death.”
Shen Lang said in a feigned voice of surprise.
“Your Majesty, I am wronged! I didn't take a single step near either of the isolation rooms yesterday. Everyone can attest to that.”
It was true; Shen Lang had certainly not gone near the rooms. Even King Qiang could confirm it.
“Do I truly possess the ability to take a life from a hundred paces away? Master Zuo, you seem to overestimate me.”
“Then it must have been that tall brute and the woman with you! The two of them must have killed the Third Prince.”
Hearing this, Aronana, who was in her room, grew furious.
*How dare you frame someone as kind and good-hearted as Big Dummy?*
Her face covered in smallpox pustules, she stormed out of her room. Everyone instantly jumped back several steps, terrified of being infected. Aronana stood before Zuo Baiyu and said coldly.
“I was right across from him all last night. If someone had gone to kill Arohan, do you think I wouldn't have known? You killed him. You.”
At this, Zuo Baiyu screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Your Majesty, this is all a conspiracy! They are framing me!”
Aronana picked up Big Dummy's iron staff and sneered.
“You signed a pledge to die if you failed. Now die quietly!”
Squelch!
Aronana thrust the iron staff with all her might, instantly piercing Zuo Baiyu's body and pinning him to the ground. His heart was impaled, and he died instantly. The Taoist from the Hidden Yuan Society had finally gotten a chance to achieve greatness, a chance to reach the dazzling peak of his life, but because he had met Shen Lang, he died before his ambitions could be realized.
Shen Lang closed his eyes.
*Ah! How satisfying. An enemy dies without me even lifting a finger. Master Zuo, wasn't it too soon to die without even making it onto my list of enemies? One of my foes, Gang Leader Lü, at least lasted a day before dying. You didn't even last that long. From now on, I will enjoy the success you were meant to have. How lonely it is to have no enemies. How empty it is to have no enemies.*
* * *
Aronana returned to her isolation room, where Big Dummy remained by her side, constantly comforting her. “Little Dummy will definitely cure you,” he said. All the royalty of the Qiang Kingdom were both shocked and terrified.
*Was the legend of the divine physician Zuo Baiyu a lie? He failed to cure Arohan and killed him instead? Then how did he treat the two young princes before?*
Shen Lang said.
“Your Majesty, the two young princes actually survived thanks to their own luck. Besides, the smallpox they contracted was a milder form, which has a very high chance of self-recovery. Zuo Baiyu simply took the credit for it. But once someone contracts malignant smallpox, death is a certainty, one hundred times out of a hundred.”
King Qiang could somewhat understand what Shen Lang was saying. The milder type of smallpox produced fewer pustules. In contrast, malignant smallpox caused a shocking number of pustules to cover the entire body, making the person look as terrifying as a demon before they eventually died.
“Shen Lang, you keep saying you can cure smallpox. Is that true?”
“Of course, it's true. The fact that Zuo Baiyu is dead proves that I am the only one who can cure smallpox.”
“Then prove it to me. Hurry up and cure Nana.”
“I will, of course, cure Princess Nana and save the people of the Qiang Kingdom. But first, I have one condition.”
King Qiang's face twitched as he spoke coldly.
“Speak.”
“You don't need to stand on ceremony. Write a letter admitting your guilt, send it to the State of Yue via an envoy, and apologize to my king.”
Hearing this, King Qiang was enraged.
*With Zuo Baiyu dead, you dare to threaten me, Shen Lang? A whelp like you dares to look down on me?*
The enraged king couldn't help but reach down and scratch his groin. It was itchy, but as Zuo Baiyu had said, it was probably from overexerting himself during their relations the day before.
“Guards! Lock Shen Lang in an iron cage and chain him like a slave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
And so, Shen Lang was chained by the Qiang warriors and locked in a prisoner cart with many other slaves.
* * *
Inside the prisoner cart, Shen Lang was at ease. Time was on his side, after all. King Qiang's malignant smallpox would soon break out. The underlying symptoms were already appearing.
*Aroqiang, I'll be waiting for you to come begging me to save your life. Then, I can take whatever I want. I, Shen Lang, may not be able to cure real smallpox, but I can certainly cure the fake smallpox that's about to erupt on your body, King Qiang. I never expected things to go so smoothly! Zuo Baiyu, it would be rude to refuse your achievement, so I'll gladly accept it. Hahahaha! Hehehehe!*
* * *
When King Qiang's consort, Luo An, heard that Taoist Zuo Baiyu had been killed, she was utterly devastated and burst into tears. As Shen Lang had predicted, she and Zuo Baiyu were cousins and were related to Shu Tingyu. The difference was that Shu Tingyu was a direct descendant, while Zuo Baiyu and Luo An were from a branch family. In a large clan, direct descendants held high positions, while those from branch families were often in an ambiguous position with no prospects for advancement. That was why Zuo Baiyu had learned medicine and toxicology in the non-mainstream field of alchemy within the Hidden Yuan Society.
However, Luo An's situation was even more miserable than Zuo Baiyu's, despite being from the same branch family; she had become one of King Qiang's women. She and Zuo Baiyu had been lovers years ago, and their old flame had recently been rekindled. The Hidden Yuan Society had not informed her of the overall situation or her specific mission. Her task was simply to remain hidden by King Qiang's side and cooperate with Zuo Baiyu, with no clear instructions. For the past few years, her life had been not just joyless, but so painful that she no longer wanted to live. King Qiang was no different from a beast.
In the courts of other kingdoms, women were desperate to have the king visit their chambers and serve him. For example, in the State of Yue, Ning Yuanxian's women would use all their talents and skills, waiting with bated breath for the king to come to their rooms. Some consorts would even go so far as to curry favor with the eunuchs who attended the king.
But in the Qiang Kingdom, the consorts felt endless terror at the thought of serving the king in bed. Every time they attended to him, they were left covered in injuries, so pained that they wished for death. In the last decade, several of the women King Qiang had plundered or taken by force had already died. Watching them perish, Luo An felt that her own life was truly wretched and pitiful, as if she were in a hell with no hope. Then, Zuo Baiyu appeared, and like a welcome rain after a long drought, a ray of hope shone in her life again. Zuo Baiyu had promised to take her away from this sea of suffering. And now, that lover of hers, Zuo Baiyu, had met a miserable end, falling for Shen Lang's scheme.
*It must have been Shen Lang who killed him. I'm sure of it!*
Forcing herself to endure the pain, she ran to the palace, knelt before King Qiang, and said in a trembling voice.
“Your Majesty, Shen Lang must have murdered the Third Prince, Arohan, to kill my brother, Zuo Baiyu. I implore you to avenge my brother's wrongful death.”
King Qiang was genuinely angry.
“You are injured, my consort. Go and rest.”
Luo An was also furious inside.
*And whose fault is it that I'm injured?*
Just then, the Crown Prince of the Qiang Kingdom, Arotai, strode into the palace. For the past few days, he had been dealing with the smallpox epidemic raging outside the palace walls. To be more direct, he was in charge of executing everyone who contracted the disease. But no matter how many they killed, the number of infected kept rising. In the end, they could only enforce strict quarantine and stop the executions. If they continued, more than half the population of the Qiang Kingdom would be wiped out.
Moreover, the smallpox was spreading more fiercely than ever, showing no signs of stopping. With the Qiang Kingdom on the brink of collapse, countless citizens despaired. Even the Snow Mountain Divine Temple could do nothing, so they begged the heavenly gods to save them. Soon, rumors began to circulate that the Qiang Kingdom was being punished for the great number of people it had killed in recent years.
The Crown Prince of Qiang was very tall, around one hundred and ninety centimeters, though not as tall as King Qiang or Princess Aronana. Furthermore, he was not the eldest son. King Qiang's firstborn had already died of smallpox, so Arotai's position as Crown Prince was now firmly secure. While other royals could still contract smallpox, he had already suffered from it and recovered, meaning he could not get it again.
“Father, another three thousand people died today.”
Arotai's words made King Qiang's heart ache as if it were being squeezed. Did the Qiang Kingdom even have a large population? It was only a few hundred thousand. With thousands dying every day, it was clear that the kingdom would be finished in a matter of months. Crown Prince Arotai continued.
“Before, only the old and weak were dying, but now, even strong young men are perishing one after another. We've even started seeing deaths from smallpox among our cavalry. It's becoming unbearable.”
King Qiang's head throbbed. Smallpox had broken out every few years in the past, but it had never been this severe. Luo An, who was beside him, spoke.
“This must be Shen Lang's doing. He is skilled at harming people. He once killed tens of thousands of the pirate Qiu Tianwei's men in a single stroke. This is surely his plot.”
“Father, if this continues, it will be a disaster. Even if only half our people die, our Qiang Kingdom will be finished.”
“Your Majesty, didn't Shen Lang say he could cure smallpox? Tell him to cure Nana. If she isn't fully recovered in three days, it means he was lying, and you should have him killed.”