Mysterious Husband [Vol 1-7] ✓

[Vol 3] Chapter 59

Arashi went beside the emperor as his eyes moved from his face to his hands and feet. Although the emperor had a white sheet covering him it seemed Arashi's eyes stayed on his hands.

His eyes narrowed down a little and he said, "I want a few moments with him, I want all of you to leave." 

We all began to move to the exit when he added again, "Except Bianka."

And I halted. I turned around and saw the others were giving me a confused look but didn't say anything. It seemed they were a bit offended as he let an outsider such as me stay while he told his family to go outside. The woman Akio gave me a distasteful look before leaving as the other two women and their maids left. Even the Empress left.

Arashi started his inspection while I stood by the bed watching him. He yanked away the cover and went near the emperor's feet, looking closely. 

I peered over to see what caught his attention and I saw his nails were a bit dry and it was turning purple as if his nails were bruised.

Arashi went back to where his head rested and inspected his eyes, then his mouth and stiffened. My wary eyes darted between him and the emperor but I dared to ask what happened. 

He said, "Bianka, give me a hand here and bring out my equipment from my rag."

 I nodded and went to his small bag he left by the door. I searched and found a leather purse. It was tied with small leather ropes. I knew he often used it during inspection as I went toward him and handed him.

He spread the leather wide on the bedside table and took a small metal stick. He said, "Get up on the bed and open his mouth wide. Wear those gloves."

He threw me a pair of hand shocks as I wore it. I got up on the bed slowly, careful not to wake the emperor up and get a death sentence in the process but Arashi said, "Don't worry, he is unconscious and can't hear anything."

I nodded and went to the other side of the large bed. I hopped on it and came to where the emperor's head laid still. He seemed like he was sleeping peacefully and I felt bad for doing this. 

As I reached I noticed his lips were a bit bluish and the under bags of his eyes were dark purple. His skin was dry and he looked too old as if his wrinkles grew too much.

I had never done these things but I realized that Arashi needed another hand so I opened the emperor's mouth wide. There was a faint smell of sweetness in his mouth and I didn't know why I felt it familiar. His teeth looked yellow and his tongue was blue and my hands shook. Why was his tongue blue?

It reminded me of snakes' tongues.

I looked at Arashi worriedly and feeling my gaze on him, he asked, "Can you recall this smell?"

"Yes. It smells familiar. But I don't quite remember it." I said.

"You might have smelt it when I was treating Prince Sen." He said.

My eyes went round. Yes! I smelt it that time. It had such a sweet scent that it was hard not to recognize it.

He looked at me with a dark face and said in a low voice, "He has been poisoned." 

A gasp left my mouth and I asked, "Why would anyone —"

"Shush." He shushed me and said, "Don't mention it to anyone. Alright?"

I nodded frantically, my heart hammering against my chest.

Arashi wore a pair of hand shocks and took the stick as he moved it around in the emperor's mouth and went deeper. 

And suddenly a small white pill came out and it looked as if it had been in his throat for a while as its outer ends were washed away. Arashi took a scissor-like thing but it was a bit small and sharp as he held the pill with it and took it out. He said, "Can you give me a cloth or something where I can put it?"

His brows ceased as he muttered, "I need to inspect it."

I took out my handkerchief and gave him as he put it and wrapped it perfectly before putting it inside his pockets.

He said, "I need cold water and a fresh cloth and the herbs in a green wrapper." He ordered, "Get me those quickly."

I immediately went to his bag and brought out all the herbs he had in his bag since I had no idea which one he was asking. There were three green wrappers and I took all three of them and went back to him.

I handed the wrappers as he took one of the wrappers and took a small quantity of the small, very tiny leaves which were dry. He said, "Take them all back. Be sure to close them tightly otherwise the effects will be gone."

I put them back inside his bag and went to the emperor's desk where I saw a mug. It wasn't hot in Wansai so the water might be cold in it. I poured it in a pot and gave it to Arashi. 

I didn't have any washed clothes with me at the moment and I asked, "Shall I go ask the empress or anyone outside for the clothes?"

He nodded as I went to the door and peeked outside. "I... Can I get a fresh cloth, Your Highness?"

The old lady nodded and asked one of her maids beside her to give me a cloth. One of them immediately went away and came back with a large cloth and gave it to me as I bowed to the empress. 

I was about to go inside when she asked, "Is everything alright?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, everything will be fine. Please don't worry, he will make everything alright."

Hearing my words, the empress's pale face got colors and a faint smile appeared. She looked so dejected that I wanted to wrap her in my embrace and tell her that your grandson was the most outstanding doctor I had ever seen. He would make things alright but I didn't have the right to even talk to her. 

I went to Arashi and gave him what he needed as he tore the cloth into small pieces and mixed the herbs into the water. 

He soaked it for a while and started to soak the cloth for a few minutes before putting it into the emperor's mouth. 

It seemed he cleaned his mouth to his throat and yet the emperor didn't move. I asked, "What was that white pill?"

"It is a medicinal pill for making the patients go into deep slumber and it makes the pain go away for a while." He looked at me and said, "But too much of it will kill you slowly. Your whiteness of the eyes and teeth will turn yellow and the nails and the tongue will start to become purple."

A gasp left from my mouth. Was it that dangerous?! 

"So why couldn't the royal physicians get it?" I asked.

"It is a western product. We use a similar herb for this but the western products are highly effective since they start working immediately." He said.

"Royal physicians aren't that knowledgeable in western products and if I used a similar herb, it would have taken a while. The side effects are different as well." He cleaned his mouth and he poured two-three leaves in his mouth. 

He said, "The herb doesn't make your teeth yellow, it only makes your tongue and nails turn purple. Because of the chemicals in the western product, his teeth became yellow."

Arashi's eyes became distracted as he whispered, "I am assuming that the doctor didn't get a clue or it was him who did it."

He even dropped a few of the small leaves in that jar. 

"Why would a doctor harm the emperor?" I asked.

"Maybe he got a large amount of money." 

He was right. But who would be this cunning to go for an emperor?

Arashi thought for a moment and said, "Don't let anyone know that he was poisoned. I want to observe some people first before disclosing it to the public."

I nodded. It seemed like here the situation was more dire than Godoyama and the emperor of Wansai was very fortunate that his grandson had arrived at the right time.

----
10th July, 22
1439