Cold Blooded Wife

81 The Scroll (8)

While everyone else was busy whispering about Wu Xingxie's looks, General Tang interrupted as there were more serious things to discuss.

"Your Majesty, since the assassins have been dealt with, I think it's most important to have everyone take the antidote. My men should have arrived with the antidote."

If he hadn't said this, those in the room would've forgot they were still waiting for the antidote. A few of the guests were fidgeting as they craved more of the drug. The substance began to spread more since a few hours had passed since they ate.

One of the guests, who happened to be a scholar craved it so badly, his body began to quiver slightly. His eyes scanned the hall, looking for any food or drink but they had been removed. He desperately needed that taste
once more.

"Give me more!" The scholar stood up and demanded as if he lost his mind. His eyes looked red, and his body was trembling as he glared at the people around him.

"Give me more!" No one expected for him to grab the person sitting near him so when he did, General Tang reacted immediately.

He grabbed the man's hands, pulling them away from the other person.

"The antidote will be here soon! Just endure a bit more." Genaral Tang held the man in place and the emperor snapped out of his trance, ordering for the guards to bring General Tang's men in.

The guards quickly left the hall to allow the soldiers who had been waiting outside the palace's gates enter. The distance from the gates to the banquet hall was about 15 minutes so it took nearly another half hour for them to go and come back with General Tang's men.

In that time, more and more guests became wild, begging for the drug. It was so addictive, they felt the need to run out and search for the foods with the drugs in.

The guards were ordered to hold back anyone who showed signs of addiction so that they would not attack anyone else.

Wu Xingxie returned to her seat, watching the hysteria unfold before her eyes with amusement.

While everyone was worried about who would be affected next, the emperor was stressing about the whole incident but when he saw Wu Xingxie, he felt glad that she was safe.

"Imperial Father," Princess Shuchun spoke up.

Hearing his daughter call him, the emperor glanced at her, gesturing for her to talk.

"Don't you think it's strange? First, nearly everyone was drugged and there was an assassination attempt. If whoever is behind is trying to destroy the empire, do you think it's a foreign force?" Analyzing the situation, Princess Shuchun thought it was too weird. The only reasonable explanation for this was if a foreign nation was trying to wipe the central government once and for all.

"If there's an anarchy, they could easily launch an attack on the empire, killing our citizens." The Crown Prince added, supporting her thoughts.

It made sense, so the others nodded in agreement. Even Wu Dingxiang who felt everything was suspicious wondered if that was the case. However, the drugs were all under his control, so who exactly smuggled them in the palace? Another thing he was perplexed about was that if they wanted to drug the guests, why send assassins?

"Your Majesty." Wu Xingxie's voice called out.

Hearing her voice, the emperor immediately turned her way and let her speak. He wanted go see what she had to say.

"Thank you." Wu Xingxie properly thanked since he allowed her to speak as palace rules.

"I think that it isn't a foreign force behind this."
Wu Xingxie boldly stated her opinions.

The emperor had a look of shock but he continued to listen to her explanation.

"First of all, the drug was a way to make the guests addicted to the point where they can't think straight. If the guests left before it started to take effect, who do you think they would blame for their current state once at their homes?"

Wu Xingxie's words made much more sense, because everyone knew what she was implying. Even the emperor didn't think of it that way.

"So you're saying, whoever is behind this is trying to sow discord between my officials and I?" The emperor finally understood what their intentions were.

"Exactly. The officials would think that Your Majesty wanted to kill them individually but since it happened to so many people, it would be seem as genocide. Your Majesty would go down in history as someone who plotted to assassinate his own court officials."

The emperor glanced at his wife and children. They all had a look of embarrassment because if that happened, the other clans would surely unite and destroy them. The reason he worried Wu Xingxie would be injured was because Wu Dingxiang would not let this go. Even though he was the emperor and had his own army, the skills of his men was inferior to those trained under the Wu Clan. Due to the laws created by the five main clans, he could not forbid Wu Dingxiang to have his own armed forces.

"Since it's like that, I will be responsible for everything that had happened. This matter will be thoroughly investigated so that no misunderstandings occur." The emperor declared, as the troops with the antidote finally arrived outside the banquet hall.

The whole time Wu Xingxie spoke, General Tang registered how cunning she really was.

He had no idea what her intentions were but, the scroll she handed him was something he undoubtedly had to follow.