The steward hurriedly sent someone to summon Xiao Yunlin, but Xiao Yunlin did not come. Instead, the maid who served him arrived.
The moment the maid entered, she fell to her knees and began to sob.
“Your Highness, please save the Second Young Master! The Second Young Master is about to die!”
“Nonsense!” Prince Ling’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. “Someone, drag her out and beat her to death!”
The Prince Ling of this moment was like a lone wolf provoked into fury, radiating a dark and sinister aura.
The maid trembled all over and kept kowtowing as she begged for mercy.
But before long, the guards covered her mouth and dragged her away.
Xiao Yunming was so frightened by his father’s appearance that she hid in the maid’s arms, not daring to make a sound.
“Someone! Bring that unfilial son here!”
In Prince Ling’s eyes, Xiao Yunlin was merely unhappy that he had imprisoned Secondary Consort Wei and was deliberately pretending to be ill in his room to threaten him.
A mere child actually dared to challenge his authority? He was completely overestimating himself!
After a while, the guards returned, carrying Xiao Yunlin by the arm.
However, he looked nothing like what Prince Ling had imagined.
Xiao Yunlin did not struggle or cry. His eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, and his body completely motionless.
Prince Ling assumed that the concubine-born son’s scheme had been exposed, so he was deliberately pretending to be pitiful in order to escape punishment.
People with dark hearts were always accustomed to judging others by their own twisted way of thinking.
“Drag him out! Give him ten hard strokes!” The thing Prince Ling could least tolerate was a lack of discipline.
His eldest son, Xiao Yun'an, had been ruined by the Princess. This concubine-born son had to be properly taught.
Prince Ling also had another purpose: to make an example of someone.
He wanted Xiao Yun'an to understand that if he dared defy his decision, Xiao Yunlin would be his fate!
The guard hesitated for a moment before saluting Prince Ling.
“Your Highness, the Second Young Master seems to be in bad shape.”
“If he is beaten now, I’m afraid his life may be in danger!”
All the servants in Prince Ling’s residence knew their master’s temperament. The guard had dared to speak despite the risk of losing his life only because he had once received a favor from Secondary Consort Wei.
When the steward heard this, he immediately stepped forward to examine Xiao Yunlin. His expression changed at once.
“Your Highness, the Second Young Master is burning all over. We don’t even know how long he has had this fever…”
Before the steward could finish speaking, Prince Ling suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The steward was so frightened that he dropped Xiao Yunlin and rushed to the bedside.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?” The steward stared at the bright-red blood and was scared half to death.
“Someone! Quickly summon an imperial physician!” the steward shouted. A guard immediately ran off.
Prince Ling was somewhat dazed. He stared at the blood staining his robes and inexplicably felt that this scene seemed familiar.
That’s right!
Wasn’t this exactly what had happened to the Emperor?
Except that the Emperor had fainted, while he had not.
Prince Ling secretly circulated his qi. He did not feel anything unusual in his body, aside from the place where he had landed on his backside.
Could he have been poisoned as well?
How was that possible?
Prince Ling shook his head and lay back down. His body seemed to feel somewhat better.
“Father, are you all right?” Xiao Yun'an asked anxiously.
In his eyes, his father had always been like a ferocious lion that could erupt in anger at any moment—something no one dared offend.
Yet now, he was watching the great mountain that had once loomed over him collapse.
Xiao Yun'an suddenly felt that his father was not quite so terrifying anymore.
Prince Ling turned his head and saw that both of his children were staring at him nervously. He felt somewhat disgusted.
Only weak people needed sympathy and concern.
He did not need either!
“Speak! What happened yesterday? The servants said you were abducted. How did you sneak back into the residence?”
“Who gave you the idea? If you dare conceal even a single detail, you can give up your position as Heir Apparent!”
Xiao Yun'an lowered his head as though thinking. In reality, his eyes were filled with hatred.
Xiao Yunming pouted, wanting to cry, but when she saw her father’s grim expression, she did not dare make a sound.
Xiao Yun'an raised his head.
“Father, my sister and I encountered masked men on the way to school.”
“I took advantage of the servant boy blocking the masked men and ran with my sister into a pastry shop.”
“Then I hired a carriage, hoping to go to the palace and find you.”
“On the way, I sensed that something was wrong with the driver, so my sister and I got out.”
“But just after we ran out of an alley, someone threw a sack over us.”
“After that, we knew nothing. We don’t know how we returned to the residence, either.”
“When we opened our eyes, we saw one of the residence’s maids and realized that we were home.”
Prince Ling frowned. Their account did match the information the guards had uncovered.
“You truly didn’t see who attacked you?” Prince Ling asked again.
Xiao Yun'an and Xiao Yunming shook their heads at the same time.
They had been terrified out of their minds. How could they have paid attention to the attackers’ identities?
Meanwhile, the steward had Xiao Yunlin placed on a soft couch outside. He then ordered a maid to bring a wet cloth and place it on Xiao Yunlin’s forehead.
The steward secretly shook his head.
The Second Young Master did not look as though he would make it.
Not long afterward, the imperial physician arrived. He first examined Prince Ling.
“Your Highness merely has excessive internal heat. The vomiting of blood was caused by his emotional agitation. Now that he has expelled the blood, he should actually feel better.”
Prince Ling felt the same way. After vomiting blood, the pressure in his chest seemed to have eased.
The imperial physician then examined Xiao Yunlin’s pulse. The moment his fingers touched Xiao Yunlin’s wrist, his expression changed.
He quickly opened the cloth bundle he carried and took out silver needles. After pulling open Xiao Yunlin’s robes, he began inserting the needles one after another.
The steward hurriedly had Xiao Yun'an and Xiao Yunming escorted outside.
Seeing the imperial physician’s expression, Prince Ling frowned.
“How is he?”
The imperial physician inserted more than ten needles in one breath before wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Your Highness, the Second Young Master’s fever is not coming down. His condition is extremely dangerous.”
“I have now used my family’s traditional acupuncture technique. I hope it can save his life.” The imperial physician’s face was full of regret. If he had arrived earlier, he would have had a better chance.
Now, all he could do was his best and leave the rest to fate.
“What?” Prince Ling shot upright, ignoring the pain in his lower back as he looked toward the soft couch.
“Imperial Physician An, no matter what, you must save him! If he dies, I will hold you responsible!”
Imperial Physician An trembled all over.
“Your Highness, I will do everything I can.”
As he spoke, Imperial Physician An removed the silver needles from Xiao Yunlin’s body and inserted them in several other places. Then he quickly wrote out a prescription.
The steward immediately ordered someone to collect and boil the medicine, but then he saw Xiao Yun'an and Xiao Yunming secretly hiding by the doorway.
“Brother, is Second Brother going to die?” Xiao Yunming asked after overhearing Imperial Physician An’s words.
Xiao Yun'an clenched his fists.
“He deserves it!”
After saying this, Xiao Yun'an waved to a servant boy in the distance. The boy hurried over.
“Run to Mother’s residence and tell her that Father is injured and Xiao Yunlin is dying!”
The servant boy looked astonished.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” Xiao Yun'an glared at him.
“Brother, why are you telling Mother? Do you want to make her happy?”
