Chapter 1014 - 1016: Picking a Quarrel on the Road_1
Dongqing was especially agitated when she saw Huzi, grabbing his hand and saying, "Huzi, are you alright? Did your master not beat you?"
She anxiously took Huzi’s hand to check and after inspecting both hands, she found that not a single finger was missing.
For a moment, Dongqing was both thrilled and perplexed; thrilled that her younger brother was unharmed and perplexed about the bloody severed finger she had seen. What was going on?
Bai Ruozhu then noticed Huzi’s fingers and realized that Dongqing had been deceived by Lu Dan, but at least it was good news—Huzi was not missing any fingers.
But what about Huzi’s pulse?
Huzi, seeing his sister, seemed a bit upset, calling out dully, "Sister."
Dongqing also sensed something was off with her brother and began to cry, saying amidst sobs, "It must have been that bastard who abused Huzi and caused him to become like this."
After crying for a while, she suddenly pulled Huzi, saying, "Come, we must kowtow to the young miss. If it weren’t for her, we could never have been reunited in this lifetime."
But when Dongqing tried to pull Huzi, he did not move. She sheepishly turned to Bai Ruozhu and knelt down, saying, "Young Miss, Huzi must be traumatized; please don’t blame him."
After saying that, she kowtowed to Bai Ruozhu again to thank her for saving her brother.
"You may rise. Now that your brother has been rescued, you should calmly help me as a witness, telling His Majesty about how Lu Dan threatened you," Bai Ruozhu paused, "Right, Lu Dan is Huzi’s master."
Dongqing’s attention was caught by the words "His Majesty," and she started, "Meet His Majesty? I, I’m a bit scared."
People of that time held a fear of the emperor, finding the prospect of meeting him terrifying even without having seen him.
"If you’re not afraid to die, what else is there to fear?" asked Bai Ruozhu, raising an eyebrow.
Dongqing’s gaze suddenly became resolute; she had already died once, what else was there to be afraid of?
After that, Bai Ruozhu left Dongqing and her brother together, while she and Jiang Yichun returned to their room.
"I’ve ordered Jinglei to keep an eye on that Lu Dan and Shanlei to watch Huzi. However, I feel there’s something very wrong with Huzi; I’ve emphasized to Shanlei to be careful," said Jiang Yichun.
Bai Ruozhu also felt that Huzi was very peculiar. Although he appeared as dazed as Xiaosi was with his autism before, he gave off a completely different impression, as if entwined with some evil aura.
But if you were to ask her where the evil aura was, she couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Huzi’s gaze was dull, yet pure, and he had no inner strength.
If suspecting he was controlled by Lu Dan, but unable to determine it because they couldn’t feel his pulse.
Early the next morning, Jiang Yichun went to the palace for the morning court session. Bai Ruozhu then got up, fed Dengdeng breakfast, and prepared to send Dongqing and her brother to the palace after receiving a letter from Jiang Yichun.
Of course, a human witness was not enough; Jiang Yichun also looked for physical evidence and went to capture Lu Dan as well.
After feeding her son, Bai Ruozhu handed the child over to Nanny Zhang to be taken to the Main Courtyard. She then went to find Dongqing and her brother.
However, as soon as she was halfway there, Shanlei came hurrying over and said, "Madam, you must take a look. Something is very wrong with that Huzi; he’s trying to strangle his sister!"
Bai Ruozhu was also shocked and hurriedly quickened her pace, using her light footwork to rush to the small courtyard in the east.
"Dongqing, what happened?" Bai Ruozhu saw Dongqing clutch her neck and asked with concern.
Terror still lingered in Dongqing’s eyes, "Miss, Huzi was fine just now, but suddenly he went mad and strangled my neck, no matter how much I yelled, it was useless."
Bai Ruozhu glanced at Huzi, who was tied to a chair, and saw him baring his teeth and desperately struggling, looking at Dongqing with hatred in his eyes as if he wanted to tear her apart.
He was still calling her sister yesterday, so why does he suddenly want to kill Dongqing now?
"He must be controlled by that Lu Dan, and judging by the time, Lu Dan must have noticed his absence," Bai Ruozhu said.
"My lady, I just tried to press Huzi’s acupoints, but it was ineffective on him, so I had no choice but to tie him up," Xiaosi said from the side.
Bai Ruozhu felt even more convinced that Huzi must be hiding some secret. With Xiaosi’s expertise, how could he fail to press someone’s acupoints?
"Miss, what should we do? Will Huzi be alright?" Dongqing asked.
After thinking it over, Bai Ruozhu felt it wasn’t right to keep Dongqing in the dark, so she told her directly, "Huzi has no pulse and his acupoints can’t be pressed. There’s something very strange about him. I don’t know what evil technique his master used on him, but he might have been in pain all this time. If we can’t catch his master and get to the bottom of this, then he’ll continue to suffer."
Dongqing’s face turned as white as a sheet, but her gaze gradually steadied, "Miss, I’ll listen to you. I’ll tell everything I know to the Emperor!"
But in this state, how could they bring Huzi to the Palace to meet the Emperor? He would probably be stopped by the guards at the Palace Gate.
It was then that Chenfeng came to deliver a message, saying Jiang Yichun had summoned them to the Palace for an audience.
Chenfeng was alarmed by Huzi’s state and after thinking, he said, "My lady, why not try the Golden Needle on his acupoints? It might work on him?"
Seeing Dongqing worried for her brother, Bai Ruozhu explained, "Let me try. It won’t hurt Huzi, it will just make him pass out temporarily to prevent his controlled emotions from going haywire and causing him harm to himself."
Dongqing could only nod in agreement; Huzi’s frenzy was not a solution either.
Bai Ruozhu took out a silver needle and aimed for his acupoint. Because Huzi was fiercely twisting, it made it difficult to proceed, but after a long aim, she finally inserted the first needle, and to her discovery, the Golden Needle was effective on Huzi. His movements were hindered, and she took the opportunity to insert a few more needles, finally immobilizing Huzi, though he didn’t fall asleep as she had expected.
She couldn’t help thinking back to when Jiang Yichun and the others rescued Huzi; he also lay there with his eyes open, unresponsive.
Deep down she felt that Huzi was no longer human, at least not a normal human, but she couldn’t bear to see such a ten-year-old child come to harm and clung to a sliver of hope.
Because Huzi was immobilized, entering the Palace afterward went smoothly, but just as they were heading to the Imperial Study Room, they were stopped by a beautifully dressed noblewoman and her maidservants.
"Don’t you know to pay respects to my lady Lin Cairen?" A maidservant blocked Bai Ruozhu and screeched.
Bai Ruozhu thought to herself that a mere concubine was acting so haughty, but as she was on her way to the Imperial Study Room and didn’t want to cause trouble, she curtsied to Lin Cairen and said, "Your humble servant Bai from the Bai Family pays respects to Lin Cairen."
Lin Cairen was quite radiant, but at that moment, she slightly tilted her head up, which made her appear somewhat arrogant, spoiling her overall appearance.
"From where did this noble wife emerge? I’ve never heard of you. Such improper respects, utterly lacking in decorum," Lin Cairen said with disdain.
The maidservant beside her pushed Bai Ruozhu, "Pay your respects again, and keep doing it until it satisfies our Cairen!"